Pictures of Halloweens Past

My last post inspired me to take a trip down memory lane and reminisce about Halloweens past--from my pre-blogging days. I even had to dig up some backup CDs for the first 3 years, so it was nice see baby Aidan and baby Logan pictures again. :)


2004: Aidan was the cutest darn Elvis I ever did see! The idea was inspired by his naturally crazy hair. Also, my first-ever homemade costume, woohoo. He got rave reviews (although people also thought he looked like Evel Knievel, which I totally get).






2005: My mom made this pumpkin costume when my sister and I were little and it was handed down to me for Aidan. Not sure he was a fan. :)






2006: Dalmatian and Fireman. I painstakingly sewed every one of those felt dots to Logan's costume and made Aidan's coat out of a sweatshirt and duck tape. Duck tape is magical. I had some time on my hands while I was out on maternity leave that year.





2007: Matching tigers. If I remember correctly, this was Aidan's request. Those tails ended up in their dress-up bin and have been worn countless times. Another ode to the magic of duck tape!







2008: Ninjas. Also known as the first year I bought costumes from the store and saved myself a bunch of time.





2009: Batman and Superman. Logan actually got that costume for his birthday because he wanted a cape so freaking bad. Another addition to the dress-up bin.





2010: As much as I wanted to find coordinating costumes for all three of them, Aidan and Logan insisted on superheroes again. Of course Logan being Wolverine (aka Logan) was perfect. Aidan was Venom. And I went the easy route with Lorelai and just stuck a bunny bib and some felt ears on her can called it done. Cutest bunny ever, though!





And then there's 2011 (the most random collection of costumes...until this year) and last year.

Ah, memories. I'm such a sucker for cute baby pics. :)

Glimpses

Every now and then, I catch glimpses of Aidan and Logan that transport me back in time to when they were little.

Just yesterday, Aidan cocked his head to the side and gave me this exact same look. In that split second, he was 4 years old again.


October 2008

And Logan with his puppy. Oh, that puppy. He's been attached to this thing since he was a baby. And to this day, he still likes to sniff/rub it against his lip when he's upset or tired. Every time I catch him doing it, he looks like a toddler to me.


(Left) almost 2; (Right) 15 months


In those glimpses, I feel sad that they're not so little anymore. And then I feel guilty—as if them being older is a bad thing. It's not a bad thing, just very bittersweet. I love who they are now and who they will become, but I'll always be incredibly nostalgic and miss the time when they were my sweet, snuggly baby boys.


(Left)Aidan, 10 months old, 2005; (Right)Logan, 9 months old

Flashback Friday: Cayman Island Turtle Farm

As my Timehop app so cruelly kindly reminded me on Monday, a year ago this week Adam and I were on our amazing second honeymoon cruise. With the chilly, dreary weather we've been having this week, it makes me extra bummed to know I'm here and not there. Sigh.

Anyway, since I completely forgot to post about our excursion to the Cayman Island Turtle Farm last year, I figured now was a perfect time to reminisce.




We got to hold sea turtles!!

We hadn't actually pre-booked any excursions for Grand Cayman, since we had already spent money on the Ruins of Tulum and zip-lining in Belize. I kind of figured we could just lounge on a beach or walk around. But at breakfast that morning, we just happened to be at a table with two different groups who were both going on various excursions to the turtle farm, and were talking about how awesome of an experience they heard it was.


There were all these separate tanks where turtles of the same age were grouped together. I love how hands-on it was, and how informative.

They totally sold us on it, so we at quickly and made a beeline to the excursion desk to see if anything was still available (a lot of excursions sell out early or leave first thing in the morning). We lucked out that there was still an open one that included a visit to the farm, lagoon snorkling, access to their swimming pool/slide and lunch.



It was totally impromptu, but I have to say that I enjoyed it as much (if not more!) than the planned excursions I had been looking forward to for months prior to our cruise. Getting to hold the turtles of different sizes was amazing, and snorkeling with them in the lagoon was really cool. What would have been really awesome is if they had some of the huge 500lb turtles in the lagoon...but no such luck :)







Afterwards, we had time to lounge poolside (and watch all of the iguanas climbing on the rocks), eat lunch (neither of us had the courage to order their turtle soup though!), and wander around the grounds and aviary. We also spent a bit of time gawking at the tank of GIANT turtles. Unfortunately, none of the pictures I took turned out, and you can't tell how big they really are from the video I took, but they were as big as me.



Adam and I kept thinking that was something the kids would have LOVED. That plus the trip to stingray city we took on our honeymoon, and the options for dolphin excursions put Grand Cayman on my list of places to take the kids one day. As fun as our annual trips to Topsail are, I would love to be able to take the kids on special vacations like this so they can experience more of our country and the world. Who knows if/when that'll actually happen, but I can dream, right? :)

Flashback Friday: The dating years

In honor of mine and Adam's 11th wedding anniversary tomorrow, I thought I'd dig up some old photos of us during the dating years. We're high school sweethearts, so we've been together a looong time. Almost 17 years total without any breakups! I had trouble finding photos of just the two of us from every year we dated (where in the world are all of my old photos?!)  but here are a few gems.


Funny story about Adam's hair in the prom picture. I was out getting my own hair done and when I got home, there was a message from him on my answering machine that started with something like "please don't freak out, but..." I remember immedaitely thinking he was cancelling on me. Turns out, he was trimming his buzz cut and when he went back to touch up some stray hairs, he didn't realize there was no guard on the clippers, so he had to shave his hair REALLY short. I totally didn't care, just as long as he was still taking me!






That's me and Adam with my mom and my sister after my UNC-CH J-School graduation.

I took extra summer classes to graduate a semester early so I could wedding plan without worrying about school.

...And then we got married on April 20, 2002. The rest is history. ☺

Flashback Friday: Raina's birth

Four years ago today, I was blessed to witness the birth of my sister's second child, Raina.


Raina, 1 week old

Oddly enough (and unfortunately), I don't remember the details as vividly as I do the birth of her first child (and my first nephew) Shaun, but I do remember that I got the call from my mom on that Sunday morning that my sister was close to delivering so I should head over to the hospital. Jillian didn't have to push for too long with Shaun, so I figured I should hurry.

I actually got there before my mom, who I think had to leave to take Shaun somewhere, but Jillian was at a 10 and was basically holding her legs together (with the blessing of her doctor and courtesy of what I imagine was a pretty darn successful epidural) until mom got there.



The delivery went smoothly and I'm proud to say that I was the third person (behind Jillian and my mom) to hold her. I'm truly grateful to my sister for allowing me to be there for both of her deliveries because it's a truly amazing thing to witness.



In the 4 years since that day, she's turned out to be quite the big personality in a little body (she and Lorelai weigh about the same amount!) who sure gives my sister a run for her money...which I'm sure is payback for all of the (many many) times she gave our mom a hard time. :) (J-you know I love you!)


June 2010

Despite her mischievous side, she's such a sweetie with a megawatt smile, and I'm proud to call her my niece.



And I'm also really glad to have a girl cousin close by for Lorelai to play with. I have a feeling Raina and Lorelai feel the same way.



Happy 4th birthday, sweet Raina. Love you, girl.