The Smith Family Comes To Charleston

Last weekend, The Smith Family came to visit us for the weekend. I don't think we have seen them in almost two years! We became good friends when we lived in Atlanta and now we miss them so much. On Friday night, Mike, Lara, Chris and myself went to Ru de Jean for dinner and had a drink at The Market Street Pavilion. It was a fun night to relax and catch up.

Saturday morning we hit the beach and then in the afternoon went for a boat ride. We cooked out at the house and the Moye Family came over that night to watch some Carolina football. The kids loved playing together. I am not sure what Alex thought of all the ladies, but I don't think it bothered him a bit! Sunday morning we had brunch at Poogan's Porch and attempted to go on a horse and carriage ride downtown, but Emerson was not as impressed, so we had to jump ship halfway through the tour. Maybe next year we can try again. Thank you Mike, Lara, Alex and Morgan for a fun weekend.

Thank you, Aunt Mandy, for Emerson's game day dress!

A Visit From Aunt Katie And Erik

Aunt Katie and Erik came to visit us the other weekend. We had a great time grilling out at the house, getting some sun at the beach and going downtown Charleston for the Farmer's Market one morning. We even snuck in a little shopping on King Street! Thank you guys for coming to visit us and Happy Birthday, Erik! We hope you liked your Dora card Emerson sent you.

Emerson Goes To Visit Aunt Melissa and Uncle Thomas

We had a great time in Greenville the other weekend. Aunt Melissa and Uncle Thomas bought their first house this year, so we had to check it out!

Emerson and I went up early to visit Aunt Melissa at Kidnetics (she is an occupational therapist for children). We got the tour of the building and met many of her nice co workers. On Friday, the three of us girls went to the Greenville Zoo. We had a fun time and the monkeys put on a most unusual show. Put it this way, it wasn't something Emerson needed to see! Emerson wanted to show her belly button in a few pictures, I hope we don't have a little flasher on her hands like Aunt Melissa when she was younger. Chris arrived Friday night to join the party and on Saturday morning we all went to the Children's Museum of the Upstate. It was amazing. There are exhibits for all ages. Emerson's favorite ones were Grandma Betty's Farm, the toddler play pond and the market where she could go grocery shopping. You will see that Chris and Uncle Thomas had their share of fun as well. The museum was really neat and if you are in the Greenville area, you have to take your little ones. We had a nice lunch on the patio at Saffron and then walked around dowtown Greenville later on that afternoon. We were lucky to have such nice weather.

Thank you Aunt Melissa and Uncle Thomas for a great weekend.

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Kaitlin's Kitchen Shower

A few weeks ago, Kaitlin's bridesmaids hosted a kitchen shower for her in Atlanta. Emerson and I left Charleston a night early to break up the visit and stay in Aiken for the night with Grammy and Grandad. Grandad and Emerson ran around the yard together and Emerson even went swimming with Grammy. The shots of her in the yard are so darn cute.

The kitchen shower for Kaitlin was beautiful. We had it at Mandy and Brian's country club- it was perfect. Props to Brian for the flower decor. He picked them right out of the backyard and even did the flower arranging. The bride had a wonderful time and received some beautiful serving pieces along with much needed kitchen gadgets. We are looking forward to the wedding weekend in Nashville next month. Best wishes Kate and Troy.

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Emerson's First Day Of Preschool

Today was Emerson's first day of preschool. We had a good breakfast, got ready and took some pictures on the back porch. I walked her into class and her teacher greeted us. I gave Emerson a hug and kiss, told her I loved her and would be back to pick her up in a little bit and off she went. I never looked back, it killed me. I started to tear up as I walked through the parking lot and then quickly told myself to snap out of it. I had no doubt she would be fine as I left her in class, but it hit me how fast I had so stay bye (they tell you to make your goodbye fast) and that my little baby was actually in preschool! Emerson is growing up so fast.


As I walked in Emerson's class to pick her up, the teacher reported that Emerson was the ONLY child that DID NOT cry when their mommy left them. I was so proud of her! Emerson was so busy going down the slide that she didn't notice me for a few minutes. When Emerson did see me, she ran over and grabbed my arm. She then took off to to show me how she climbed on the big jungle gym and went down the slide on her own- several times. She was having a ball. She almost fell asleep on the way home and took a wonderful nap. I think we are going to have a wonderful year.

Making sure Mommy packed a yummy, nutritious lunch!

Emerson reminds me of her cousin, Madison in this picture.

Trying to take a sip of her water while still in the holder.

Going down the little slide.

Going down the big girl slide!

Emerson Watches The Gamecocks

Emerson had a fun time watching the big game Thursday evening. Since Chris was at the game, she wanted to have a cold one in his honor. Watching the Gamecocks drives people to drink anyway! Don't worry grandparents, it is an unopened can!

Fun With Emerson

Emerson and I had a great day. This morning we met her teachers for Mother's Morning Out (two days a week) and a Methodist church preschool here in town. She walked in the room and stared at them for a few minutes and then it was go time with all of the toys. I honestly don't think she will have any problems with me dropping her off next Tuesday for her first day. It will probably be more me having the problem of leaving her! She is growing up fast, and we are enjoying every second of it. And yes, I will have some pictures of her first day.

After we met Emerson's teachers, we were off to lunch at Red's on Shem Creek. Yes, I did say Red's. It was a beautiful day and we wanted to do something outside- so this was perfect. We walked around for a bit, looked at the boats and took some pictures.

After lunch we went to visit the Moye girls. Emerson wasn't smiling at that point because she was ready for a nap. Later in the day we went to the farmer's market, walked around and listened to the live music. We had a great day and are looking forward to a fun weekend with Daddy and Aunt Katie and Erik are coming to visit us.

And she's off!

Go Gamecocks!

Emerson kicked off the season today with her Gamecock sticker, courtesy of Pops.

Thank you, Pops! I thought I would have a hard time keeping it on her, but she never even knew it was there.

Good luck, Gamecocks!

Hilton Head 2009

The Deason family vacation is something I look forward to every summer. We have always had our family vacations- even when we were really young. I can see the picture now... we are at this putt putt place in Myrtle Beach and Jacki has very blond curly hair and she is trying to hold the putter while I am standing there watching, and posing for the picture of course. Family vacations are something that Chris and I want to share with our family as well. It is a great time to relax, hit the beach and just be with family.

This year we were thrilled to add 3 more people to the mix. Emerson, Andy and Erik. Thomas and Chris are old pros at this by now, so they took the "new guys" under their wings. I know my dad is thrilled he isn't outnumbered anymore with all these crazy girls. We stayed in Palmetto Dunes and loved it. We played tennis, rode our bikes all over the trails, went to the beach, played horse shoes, bocce ball, hit the pool and kayaked down the river that ran through Palmetto Dunes. Of course, we went to The Old Oyster Factory for dinner one night and took turns cooking at the house.

Emerson's favorite thing to do is run around the beach and get into the water and make drizzle castles. We love taking her to the beach so she can roam about. At the pool, she wants to get in and out of it which makes it hard on us. She is just so busy, she can't decide what she wants to do next! You will notice that Emerson had her share of ice cream cones, (she got that sweet tooth from me and I got it from my dad). She sure did enjoy all of the attention from her aunts, uncles and Grammy and Grandad.

Flip cup is also a staple at our family get-togethers. I don't think you will have any trouble picking those pictures out of the bunch. Mom even played A-hole with us, except she drank lemonade instead of beer. I didn't get any pictures of that though, sorry.

Thanks mom and dad for a wonderful vacation and we are already looking forward to 2010!

If you like a picture of Emerson that is an outside shot, let me know. I am going to enter a few of her in a local contest here in Charleston. Just shoot me a little reply on this post. Thanks!

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