i give you - my belly & old beach photos

Matt and I are not very good at taking the "belly growth" photos. In fact, this is the first one and I'm 30 weeks already. And I think I was this far along with Lottie when we took one with her. Oops. Anyway, I give you - my belly.

front and center

side view

And since my last post on the beach, I've been feeling nostalgic and found these old photos of the very first time I went to Ocean Isle Beach with the Venables. I think it was in 2006 or maybe 2005? Matt couldn't make it but Cera did, and this was pre-LS - so wayyyy back when...

cera and megan on the beach on evening

here i am (a blondie) with megan hamming it up for the camera
(megan is cute here, me - not so much)

the group photo - we all fit in one house,
unlike this year when we had two homes

me, cera and megan riding bikes on a HOT morning (safety first!)

That's all I have for you now. I am going to wait until we finish up a few things in Lottie's room before I post the photos. But I can go ahead and brag on her, she transitioned into a big-girl bed like a rock star! She's all about "her new room" and her "big-girl bed" - we are so proud of her. She will go into the nursery and point to the crib, telling us it's for "baby brother" - she's such a sweetie. She also stays in her new bed and doesn't crawl out, she waits for us to come and get her. It. Is. Awesome.

PS - I tried to take a quick shower today and Lottie Sue was hanging out in our bathroom chatting with me and reading books. By the time I was finished she was gone and upon exploring I saw that her bedroom door was closed. I opened the door and saw her sitting at her stool (that had been moved to the window for better lighting I assume) with some of my make-up. She had my eyeshadow pallet in one hand and my eyeshadow brush in the other and she was applying black eyeshadow to her eyes using the mirror.

I said her name and she popped up and panicked, she started talking enthusiastically about us reading books and was trying her darnedest to keep me away from the make-up. It was funny, she was really sweating it. I wasn't mad and was honestly impressed that she was using the correct tool to apply the eyeshadow.

she's so goth

Blog to ya later!

ocean isle beach trip: a love that dares not speak its name returns & oodles of photos

Boy oh boy, I am finished uploading the photos from our fabulous beach trip. Phew! Dear blogger: Why can't we upload more than five photos at a time? WHY? Anywho, on with the post...

The Venables have been vacationing at Ocean Isle Beach, NC, for many many years and we have been lucky enough to be invited the past few years! This was the first year Matt has been able to make it due to his work schedule so this year was EXTRA special for us! I hope you caught the post I wrote last week. It has great Lottie Sue photos and the Mary Ann newsletter (plus news about a baby on the way for a certain couple we all know and love)!

The first night at the beach is dedicated to presentations, you never know what's going to happen...

Suzy makes the trip HAPPEN, people! She is the organizer, manager and director for the week - and she is GOOD! This year we decided to crown her Miss Ocean Isle, but going with true trash humor we gave her bunny ears for a crown, a plunger instead of roses and a "Miss Ocean Isle" sash that had seen better days. I'm not even sure it was spelled correctly.

Don't worry, she didn't let the power go to her head.

our reigning queen

bona fide mardi gras cups for everyone courtesy of the senior smiths

shon and chris get some love after
announcing they have a baby on the way

Please allow me to give you a little back story for the next set of photos...when Ronny was a wee child he wanted a doll in a bad sort of way. I think his parents decided on a dancing doll instead, and he loved her. He loved her so much he literally wore her out (dancing, I am sure) and the family ultimately buried her in the backyard, complete with a funeral. This story comes up often (as you can imagine) but Matt and I heard it for the first time a few weeks ago.

SO, of course we HAD to make a new and enhanced (breast augmentation, tattoos, belly ring - you get the idea - she IS a modern woman after all) dancing doll to return from the dead. I must give a big shout out to Matt's mom for helping with the bikini, it was awesome!). Oh yeah, we even wrote a letter with the Smiths...

That night a mysterious box showed up at the house addressed to Ronny. Enjoy...

My dearest Ronald,

A fortnight ago I found out you have been married for quite some time (and to a woman, no less!). Yet, try as I may, I cannot be at peace with our current state, my love. I have to reach out to you once more, if only to set my heart free. Allow me to pour out my heartfelt words into your friendly bosom, which I once thought to be ever in unison with mine.

Various sensations swell within the liveliest emotions of my despair. Oh, my almost bursting heart! I tell you your dear wife is not the most amiable of women; nay, I say she is the most wanton of harlots. I doubt not that you have tricked yourself into believing you are blessed in your matrimonial state. Please, let me rectify this.

It has now been nigh on five decades since I last felt the warmth of your skin against mine. I remember the clods of earth raining hard upon my worn self when in that shallow grave, but the sting of that injury pales in comparison to the wounds of my heart. I am willing to set aside the past. Much has changed over the years for me - and all for the better. I sincerely hold true in my heard your eye will be caught once you see how I have blossomed forth into the full fruits of womanhood.

I dare say I am here to win you back. Let us start afresh, my dear Ronald.

But no matter what decision you make, I shall always be...your dancing doll.

Forever yours,
Mary

ronny reading the letter and having NO IDEA what was going on

reunited (and it feels so good)

dancing again, just like the good ole days

ronny, mary and lianne (the most wanton
of harlots) take a new family photo
*can i just say that lianne's face is priceless here?

I suspect this won't be the last we see of Mary, she's heading back to NYC with Ronny and Lianne. I'm not sure how she will adjust to big city life, but I'm sure being with Ronny is all she needs.

OK, more photos!

all the pregnant ladies in the house, say yeah!

each night was game night

megan didn't have a sleeve so she used her top

one afternoon, with a few cooks in the kitchen
*megan let me make the dessert and instead of putting 4 teaspoons of salt in the crisp i put 4 tablespoons - not good but everyone acted like it was the best crisp in the world (good people)

me and my pregnant belly

papa tom (tommy's dad) made fish
piccata one night and it was delicious

lottie sue waring her glasses
(she wore these a lot and didn't want to take them off)

ronny and lianne (sans mary) on the beach

mary ann, megan, sam and tommy on the beach one night

lottie sue and andy pretend to be asleep on the hammock

now they're awake!

lottie sue checking out the other houses

shon plays a few hands of "go fish" with lottie and
andy while matt watches from the hammock

i try to get off the hammock but did a back-flip instead
*please note matt took this photo instead of helping his pregnant wife to her feet. nice.

lottie sue and dalton get their exercise one morning

lottie sue loves on a baby one afternoon

that gang's all here, the annual crazy photo

seated front row: mary ann, megan's legs, lianne, patricia, suzy, and matt

seated on couch: tommy, lottie sue, moi, suzy s., hampton, jennifer, andy, greg, spencer, london and teddy

back row: sam, mary the dancing doll, ronny, shon, chris, papa tom, tony and randy
*dalton is not in the photo, i think he was night night

megan and lottie sue horse around on the floor

shon, moi and megan holding a lottie sue

hanging out after dinner one night

matt didn't shave all week, and for some
reason decided to shave out a mustache
*he shaved it one i declared it an anti-aphrodisiac (as mary ann said)

greg, randy and tony enjoy a cocktail before dinner one night

shon strikes a major super-model pose

lottie sue making her rounds before dinner

spencer made necklaces for everyone
from shells he collected on the beach

here i am with my baby girl

randy and patricia enjoy one of the many
gourmet meals prepared that week

lottie sue wears chris's sneakers one night and is super cute doing so

megan, chris and myself on the beach one windy night

sam, megan and mary ann love each other

sam and mary ann on the beach

we tried to get a good shot but the wind was too crazy for my hair

lianne and ronny out AGAIN without mary

ronny and sam brace the wind

chris dances a tribute to michael jackson

here i am on the beach, the wind was so strong that night
(i did not get the money shot i hoped for)

sam and mary ann run around with lottie sue

we always end up stripping her down because she gets in
the water, she LOVES splashing around so much

lianne and lottie sue hold hands

mary ann and sam dance the riverdance with lottie sue

the wind gives shon a "tina turner" do

one of the sand castles dalton, papa tom and hampton made

lottie sue and dalton relax in the shade

preacher tony fights the angry sea - and wins

matt enjoys a game of beach ball

papa tom, matt and lottie sue build a sand castle

lottie sue running around the beach one day

here she is with hampton, another water-loving kid

her hair really lightened up over the week

matt and chris go out to boogie board

OK, I think those are the photos we have. I may find others on my phone but if I do I'll put them up. We had such a wonderful time at the beach! The company is choice and having nothing to do is just great. Our typical day is just waking up, eating breakfast, going to the beach, home for lunch, pool time, shower time, food time, walk on the beach and ending the day playing board games. It's perfect for me! We left the island once to make a grocery run. Otherwise we were beach bums.

And I MUST direct you to Megan's blog (yes, Megan is a blogger now - whee!!!). So please click here to read her post on the trip, she wrote an excellent post about it and has a lot of different photos than me (water balloon fight, earphones, underwater meetings and etc.).

Coming up: Lottie Sue has been kicked out of the nursery - she is really a big girl now. Last night was her first night in her new room and she did so well. More to come, plus the before and after photos of her new room. Whee!