It's a family affair

With the exception of Mamaw Sherry, Papaw Doug, and Aunt Trish, we have came full circle on seeing all the family. After spending much of the summer "hunkered down," we finally did some visiting this last month. Well, technically, Mawmaw and Pawpaw Freddie came to see us. The boys really enjoyed having someone other than me and Shane around to entertain with their antics.

We also had a trip to Albemarle to visit Aunt Patsy, Grammy, Pawpaw, Dale Cynthia and Jesse. Pawpaw celebrated his 57th birthday and we had some AWESOME Sweetshop cake. Roland and Duncan got to ride on the four-wheelers and were in hog heaven. Me and the boys went to the fair with Dale Cynthia and Jesse and watched the demolition derby. It gives Roland hope to think that you can earn money being destructive. Jesse brought a friend and his little brother, which worked out perfect for Roland. He never has anyone to ride rides with, so it was exceptionally fun for him to have a little guy to hang with. I think Grammy and Pawpaw needed a rest when we left. Sadly enough, I forgot the camera-again.

Then, off to New Bern. We haven't saw Grandma Avis and John in what seems like forever. They have been to India since we last saw them. It is an Indian tradition to give babies a gold ring and as a result Duncan got his first jewelry. Here he and Roland are sportin' the gold. How cute is that?

The boys had a great time playing with Uncle John. He has tons of matchbox cars and tons of energy. Those are two of the major requirements for making little boys happy. Much to my disbelief, John is taking driver's ed. Roland Shane and John did some deer spot lighting with John as chauffeur. That's just scary. What would a blog be withour some random pictures? Again, I know I am partial, but I just think they are both so cute-most of the time.



My personal favorite...

Until then...

Big Daddy turns the Big 39

Happy Birthday to Shane!

Wow. I can not believe Shane just turned 39. He was 23-almost 24-when we met. It seems like yesterday. He might not be quiet as hyper as when we met, but he is not far from it. And, he is only 1 pound more than when he was in high school-he still has the six pack to prove it. A little less hair on top, but overall life is good.

He still has the ability to make the guys and girls (big and small) giggle and squeal when he flexes his arms and wears his lizard ear ring.

And of course, occasionally he bites off more than he can chew. Or maybe the lizard did. All I know is this thing was holding on for dear life.

Sitting Pretty

Fun and hectic. That's the story here. We have had a lot of little dramas this month, but I did want to take the time to post a few pictures of Duncan. He is still growing like a weed, and is the sweetest little guy-as long as he is not being ignored. He is finally getting some hair, but it is so light you just can't see it. He can now pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo, but he has the most fun laughing at Roland. Roland is more than happy to be the source of so much entertainment. Among his many first, he also took his first plunge out the back door and scraped his face on the steps. Luckily he is a fast healer and seems no worse for wear. Of course, we went to visit my family the next day and had a lot of explaining to do. We have never had much luck there. I don't think we ever had a professional picture of Roland took that he didn't have some kind of head or face wound the night before. Oh well. I hope you enjoy these pictures of Duncan as much as he and I enjoyed this beautiful weather.

Where'd my baby go?

Duncan got his first tooth. And then the 2nd,3rd,and 4th with in a couple of weeks. Tooth #1 is only 6 days old when this picture was taken, so I let him use my old prosthetic for effect. I will miss the big toothless grin.

My neighbor always tells me that her two boys were total opposites growing up, and Shane's Aunt Betty said of her two boys that she had "two only children." I am curious as to how ours will turn out. Roland always only played with Buckwheat (the white one), and Duncan always plays with Oscar (the black one). Roland was never scared of anything, Duncan is easily startled (and one of the most pitiful looking creatures on the face of the planet when such event occurs). The list goes on. The really surprising thing is that Oscar let this kind of thing go on. Duncan's first 1/2 pull-up. And tada, the first full pull-up. From this moment (7/22/08), it has been officially ON. No rest for the wicked, eh?
Helping Big Brother take a bathEnjoying the swing
Duncan also had is first fight. It was a rough bout, and at times I was skeptical of the outcome, but Duncan managed a TKO. "Double stuff"- was not enough to take out my boy.
It just seems you can never capture how cute or funny things look on film, but Duncan had the prettiest wavy hair on this day. Excuse the mosquito bites.
We are looking forward to some of the grandparents in the coming weeks, so hopefully we will have lots of great pictures. For the moment, we are going to try to weather the storms as we await Hannah and Ike.
Our love to everyone.

Summertime

I do not think I can even begin to tell you how quickly life passes before my eyes. It has already been one year since Roland started pre-school. He has just moved up to the 3 year old class (no thanks to a January birthday), and appears to really like it. We still have some drama when we get ready to leave the house and getting in the building, but once he gets in his classroom it is like he is in a different world. His new classroom has a ton of puzzles, and Roland happens to be the puzzle king. If you are good you get a sticker at the end of the day and then at the end of the week you get to go to the "treasure chest." The first week, lasting only three days, Roland did not get a sticker for the first two days. I was worried about the his chance at getting any treasure, but he pulled through and came home with a pirate.

He really is a very sweet boy, even though he chooses not to be at times. He asks me every night if I am going to sleep with him and then we go through "I don't want you to go" and "I'm going to miss you" before I finally drag off to work feeling guilty. It is a lot easier to leave when both boys are screaming and crying and I think of how peaceful and quiet it is at work. Although Roland can be a mama's boy, I don't want to undermine how much he loves his daddy. They definitely have their "the nut doesn't fall far from the tree" moments. Here they are at Roland's first Vacation Bible School. Roland had an awesome time, but when it came down to the last night an time for them to sing for the parents, he clammed up.

This one is a little bit Brokeback Mountain, but Roland is not really into clothes right now, literally or figuratively. I figure he should enjoy his nudity while he is still cute enough to flaunt it.

And, every mom's dream, her baby's first tattoo. All it is missing is "I love mom." Roland practically lives in the pool, hence the constant nudity.
We also took some time this summer to explore our femininity. When you don't have girls, you have to make do with what you do have.
Doing what they do best-watching TV and eating donuts. True love.
As always, we also spend a lot of time in the white swing (hammock). I like seeing this brotherly love. The big brother is in full force. He is constantly telling Duncan that he can't put such and such in his mouth because he is going to choke or consoling him while he is crying with some "it's okay Duncan." Occasionally, Roland pushes Duncan down or beats his hands until he falls down, but I am sure he does it for Duncan's own good.

Beach Here We Come

This has been a fast month. Shane switched jobs and had a whole two weeks off work. I do not think Shane has ever been out of work two weeks in his life. I had a list so long of stuff for him to do that I am sure he was glad to go back to work just to get some rest. In the meantime, we took a couple of days to go to the beach. First stop, Waffle House! We are frequent fliers at the Waffle House so we thought to get a picture at our home away from home - a consequence of living the 3rd shift life. There are only so many places that you can get breakfast at midnight. We have met a lot of really awesome people at the Waffle House and occasionally the boys have even gotten some money now and again from random people, just for being so cute. This day, all we got was hats. They go nicely with the Waffle House football we have. Okay, maybe we go there a little too much.

Roland and Duncan love the water park at the hotel we stay at. Shane and I do too. It is one of the few places we can sit back and relax while simultaneously wearing down the two babies. Roland loves the slides. His feature trick was belly-flopping off the whale's mouth (you can see it to the left of the dinosaur). From the stunned look on his face, I don't think he'll be trying that one again any time soon. We are not sure what brought that on-but it was funny.

Duncan did get to take an early morning walk with dad on the beach. What a chic magnet.
Duncan's only time on the beach was no so memorable. Maybe next time.

The highlight of our trip was going to Medieval Times. No eating utensils-no problem. I was loud and boisterous, Shane ate until he couldn't move, Roland did not say a word for 2 hours and ate 1/2 of a chicken, and Duncan alternated between chewing on a rib bone and banging it on the table. All things said, I think we all found our calling in life.

A Real Price Family Shoutout

Although Duncan did not win the pick me contest, he got almost 1300 votes! This is amazing since he only had 8 votes when I sent out an email begging people to vote. We would like to thank everyone for all the relentless voting. A special thanks to Mammaw Sherry for her persistent emails to friends, family and Moose Lodgers, to Aunt Cynthia for bringing on board all of the people at Stanly Community Collge, and to Alan and Paul for working so hard to beat the system. We certainly gave number nine a run for her money. I still think he is a good looking little guy. Thank you all!