Daddy Fridays

On Friday, Alina stays home with Justin and they have lots of fun together. Today, they went to the park after they took the trash. Alina loves the swing! This time she even got to go on the slide (in the baby bjorn with Justin of course). I am really glad that they have this time together. Justin is such a great daddy and a wonderful husband. He's been doing a lot of the cleaning on Fridays so I have more time with Alina on the weekend. Thanks Justin for being so amazing!

Hey Daddy! What channel is Noggin?

Go GameCocks!

Wiped out from playing with Daddy! This week and last week:)

My friends went back to school...except Jo-Jo!

So here are some great pictures of Alina and the Rogers' children. I had to go back to school before the kids went back, so for several days Alina had lots of fun with all four of the Rogers' kids. Joel even posted on his blog about Alina (check his blog out by clicking on Joel's Brain Blog, he's pretty amazing for a fourth grader!). Now its just Alina and Josiah, but I know they have fun together. The other day Pauline told me that when Alina was getting fussy Jo-Jo (Josiah) just kept bringing her toys to soothe her. What a sweet guy!

Jesse, Alina and Joel

Riley, Alina and Joel

Alina with her buddy Joel - thanks Joel for being such a good friend to Alina!

Back to School

Well, this week I returned to school and teaching 7th graders. The kids came back on Wednesday. So far, we seem to have a nice bunch of kids, but it has only been three days. Its amazing how teachers have to really get back into teaching all day. By Thursday morning we were all talking about how our feet and back hurt and how we've lost our voice from going over the syllabus with each class! I think I must be getting old, my feet are usually sore, but this year my back has really been hurting too. I have a lot less kids than usual this year, only 16-22 per class which is really nice! Since I'm not coaching any more I think it will be a little easier year, even though I will miss the girls and my friends that I coached with. I'll just have to go to games and competitions:) Alina has been going to Pauline's again and she just loves it. It seems she really enjoyed the days when all the kids were there (cause I had to go back before kids did so her kids were home). I think Alina and Jo-Jo will be great friends this year!

Gone to Texas

We went to Texas this summer like we usually do, but this time instead of two dogs, we took two girls. Alina of course, and Alex. It was great to have Alex come along and help with Alina in the car. We stayed with Justin's parents the first five days and with my family the second half. It was great to see our family and friends and see them spend time with Alina. We also had a chance to go on several dates, since we had so many babysitters! We went to lunch, saw Harry Potter, took Mark and Alex to Fort Worth and spent a day at Six Flags. We also had fun hanging out and playing lots of Settlers and splashing in the pool at mom's house.

Here is Alina with her great-grandmother, Granny Bea

Alex had the opportunity of a life time when she got to get up on this longhorn in the Fort Worth Stockyards. It was fun for all of us!

Hanging out in the pool with Papa Ovi

I was also able to attend a shower, and help throw a shower for Irina. This was at Cindy's house where we had my shower almost exactly one year ago. We are very excited about Lily and can't wait to meet her!

Pawley's Island

Last weekend we went with Matt and Jessica, and Jessica's family to Pawley's Island. They were staying a whole week, but we just stayed Saturday and Sunday so we could leave for Texas on Monday. It was so nice of the Marshalls to have us!! The weather was perfect and we had a wonderful time. Alina really does love the water, and she just sits in my lap and lets the waves hit us. Its so much fun! We spent time on the beach, played games and had some good food. We wished we could have stayed longer, but Texas was waiting:)

Daddies and babies going for a walk. Patrick is growing so fast! Can't believe he's almost as big as Alina, but four months younger!

I love the beach!

Playing Bocce Ball on the beach, Jessica won!

Justin loves to ride his board on the waves

Say Cheese!

So Alina loves the camera! Whenever we take it out she smiles and looks right at the camera. Some of our favorite pictures are from bathtime, we love how cute she is with a towel over her head and these pics from a few days ago will help you see why.

She could be in a Bible movie with this look!

Raaaggrhhh!!!!!

Baby Kate

Saturday we went to visit our friends', Kelli and Kyle, new baby. She was born July 9th and her name is Katherine Anslee. She has a head full of hair! We went with Jason and Leslie to Atlanta, where we met up with Chris and Marcie. We ate lunch at Chipotle and then headed north to Dalton to visit Kyle, Kelli and Kate. They are living there with her parents for the summer. In August, they will move to Waco, Texas where Kyle will be teaching at Baylor. We are so excited for them!

After having dinner with Kyle and Kelli we headed back to Atlanta and played some Settlers with the Waters and the Tutens. We stayed up way too late! Sunday morning we went to Christ Church with Chris and Marcie. We really enjoyed their church. After lunch at an organic, gluten-free pizza crust available, save the earth pizza place we headed back to Columbia with the Waters. It was a great time of hanging out with friends and meeting baby Kate.

Doesn't Leslie look good with a baby?

Proud mama:)

Alina thought Kate was pretty cute too!

Can you believe all this hair? And so dark!

Marcie and Leslie

Alina loves Jason, and Leslie, but especially Jason!

Cindy, Charleston and Columbia

This past weekend Cindy finally got to come and visit us in South Carolina! We've been waiting for a long time for this and are so excited that she was able to hang out with us. We hadsuch a fun weekend.

She flew in on Thursday afternoon and we hung out and watched Confessions of a Shopaholic, which is a very cute and fun movie. Even Justin liked it!

On Friday, we had an appointment with Alina for her six month check-up, but from there we headed down to Charleston. We ate lunch at Hymans and walked around the shops on King Street and the great houses on the battery. Then we headed for Folly Beach for some fun in the sun. We didn't stay too long, because it was windy, but we all had a great time.

Saturday we hung around Columbia. I took Cindy to the flea market just for fun, we did find a bag for Alina for her trip to Texas! Then we ate some SC style barbecue (mustard-base) and headed to Columbia for a few hours. I showed Cindy around USC and we went to the Gourmet Shop in Five Points. That night we hung around the house and Matt and Jessica came over for a game of Settlers. It was a great weekend!

This is one of our favorite houses on King Street.

College of Charleston

Alina really liked sitting with us in the water. She thought the sand in her toes was a neat feeling! We can't wait to take her back to the beach.

Cindy and I at USC

She is the cutest! (at least I think so)

Still Tall and Skinny

Alina turned 6 months on Tuesday! She is doing so many fun and new things. She sits up very well, she laughs and "talks," and she is just so much fun! On Tuesday, Pauline and the kids went with me to get her pictures made. Some of the proofs are below. She was pretty fussy but they got some cute pictures!

On Friday we went to the doctor for her six month check up. She is on the same growing curve. She weighs 15 lbs 1 oz (25th%) and is 26 3/4 inches long (75th%), still tall and skinny! Dr. Cope said she is very healthy and is doing very well. We also began giving her food today, she had carrots for the first time! At lunch we mixed them with rice cereal and she ate it really well. At 4pm, we gave her just the carrots and she made a few funny faces but took them also. We are having lots of fun with our big girl!

Fourth of July

Saturday we went with Matt and Jessica to Jessica's parents farm in Clinton. It was such a neat place, calm, relaxing, great place to just hang out. We enjoyed some bbq for lunch and then played in the pool. Both Alina and Patrick seem to really enjoy the water. Alina will easily spend an hour playing in the pool! Jessica and I took a ride around the farm while the babies slept, and I got to drive a golf cart, I think it was my first time, then we played in the pool. The boys played frisbee and bocce while we hung out. The dogs ran around and Major and Linus swam in the pool while we all hung out. Macy mostly hung out by herself, she's just weird. For dinner we ate steaks and grilled veggies. Everything was great! Then we played in the pool some more once the kiddos were down for the night. Jessica's father and brother put on a firework show for us, the dogs were not that excited about that! We had a great time:)

Hello? Are we going swimming? I have my swimsuit, hat and sunglasses, I'm ready to go!
Finally, enjoying the cool water on a hot summer day! We put lots of sunscreen on, don't worry grandmas.
Linus loves to swim and chase whatever balls the boys were throughing. Patrick also likes hanging out with his mom in the pool.


Playing hard will wear a dog out! Major took breaks in the shade, Macy like laying under a tree to cool off.

Justin holding Patrick:)

Playing PIG in the pool, our own version using Patrick's float as a "basket." I'm not sure who won or if we even finished the game.
Jessica relaxing while Patrick was taking a nap. The kids did great, they slept and ate well and loved playing in the pool! While they were sleeping, Jessica and I enjoyed some pool time too.
Justin, Matt and Chris (Jessica's brother) played bocce ball and the dogs were very interested.
We had so much fun! Thanks Jessica and Matt for inviting us up to the farm and we look forward to hanging out there again sometime.