Hilton Head

We had a great vacation in Hilton Head with the Clarks earlier this month! The weather was beautiful and HOT, we all got nice tans, and Mason enjoyed being thoroughly spoiled by his grandparents! He LOVES the ocean as well as the playground. Enjoy the pictures from our trip...

I've Queued at Wimbledon

Wimbledon started yesterday and every year it prompts a little trip down memory lane...

In the summer of 2001, between my junior & senior years at Carolina, I did a summer study abroad program. It was a great experience. The program was through Michigan State (yes, I was actually enrolled as a student there for one summer semester, even though I never set foot on the campus during that time). I didn't know a single other person that was taking the course, but I made some great friends, some of whom I continue to keep in touch with.

The first 2 weeks of the course were in London, which happened to coincide with the Wimbledon tournament. One of the lines on the tube goes all the way out to Wimbledon, so a group of us decided to hop on the train and check out the grass courts for ourselves! Unfortunately we didn't run into any famous tennis players, but we watched some practice matches and of course we had to sample the strawberries & cream!

Bye Bye Crib, Hello Bed!

Mason slept in his big bed in his new room for the first time last night! I'm so proud of him. I was curious (and admittedly a little nervous) about how this transition would go, but he did great! Mason has always been a champion sleeper, so I really didn't want to do anything to sabotage that, but we wanted to get him used to sleeping in the big bed well in advance of the baby being born so that we can use the crib for baby Roper. I could hear him through the monitor this morning happily jabbering away and waiting for me to come get him up -- he hasn't realized yet that he can get out of the bed on his own, which suits me just fine!

We are still in the process of getting all of his things moved into his new room, which he will share with the baby. I'll post pictures of their room after we get everything set up!

This is how I found Mason this morning!

Aunt Ruth's Annual BBQ

Every summer we look forward to Aunt Ruth's BBQ by her pool. Aunt Ruth is one of my favorite people -- she is a lot of fun and a fantastic hostess! Her BBQ is always a blast, and she has it catered by Henry's Smokehouse, which is one of the best. This year, she even had a DJ! Thanks, Aunt Ruth! We had a great time, as always!

Me and my sweet & beautiful cousin, Kate

Sydney (also a sweet & beautiful cousin) & Mason

The fellas -- Graem, Rob & Syd's new beau Jimmy

Uncle Rob & Mason

Miss Ruthanna

Mason with his cousins Caroline & Robert

When the sun went down, the dancing started up! I hate that I don't have a picture of Alice & Lee showing off their shagging skills!

Beach Pictures, as Promised!

Two years ago my tennis team made it to the state championships, which were held in Charleston. We rented a big house at the beach for a long weekend. It was SUCH a fun trip with good friends, we decided to make the trip an annual tradition.

Last year the guys chose the location of the trip -- beautiful & serene Lake Joccassee. This year, it was the girls' turn to choose, so of course we went back to the beach! We found a great house at Folly Beach that was perfect for the long weekend.

Mason loved the water! We are going to Hilton Head next week and I can't wait to get my little water bug back in the ocean!

Mason running away from the water -- this didn't happen very often! Most of the time he was running straight for the waves and pitched a fit every time we tried to get him out of the water!

I was very impressed with the sandcastle engineering skills demonstrated by the guys! Jay and Mason loved "helping" and playing in the moat!

Jay & Mason taking a ride in the wagon

Some of the other beach babies...Claire and Christopher

Ruth Ann, the happiest baby in South Carolina!The guys (minus Scott??)
Graem did a great job providing the ladies with cool beverages (courtesy of the gas-powered blender) while we soaked up rays on the beach!
The girls

For more great pictures from our beach trip, check out Tara's blog..."All Things McCarty"...the link is on the right side of the page.

Trip to Virginia

We have really been burning up the interstates lately! Two weeks ago we took a trip to Virginia with my side of the family and last week we spent a long weekend at Folly Beach with friends (more to come on that trip).

The trip to Virginia was centered around a monument dedication service at Spotsylvania Battlefield. Historians credit the South Carolina men of McGowan's Brigade for their valiant fighting during this battle of the War Between the States. Sadly, until a few weeks ago, there was no monument or marker honoring these men for fighting for what they believed in & defending their homes and land. My Daddy has been working for the past several years to have a monument erected to honor the soldiers. My cousin-in-law, Lee, is an architect and he designed the monument (didn't he do a great job?!?).

The inscription on the back of the monument gives some insight into the battle and I think the wording is so moving:

The Bloody Angle

"In the rainy gloom of May 12, 1864, Brigadier General Samuel McGowan's Brigade of South Carolinians battled their way into the disputed earthworks here, near the apex of the Muleshoe Salient. For 18 hours (!) the 1,300 South Carolinians defended these works against relentless attacks by thousands of Federals, sometimes engaging in hand-to-hand fighting. By battles end, 451 of the men were killed, wounded or missing. The slight angle in the works they defended would forever be known as the Bloody Angle."

The Confederates were vastly outnumbered in this battle: 52,000 troops vs 100,000 Federal troops! It is said that at the end of this battle, when the South won, there were no songs of victory or chants -- the soldiers simply wept.

Most of you know what pride I take in being a South Carolinian. I love to visit other places, but I have never lived anywhere else and SC is home. In fact, when Graem and I got married, he promised me that he'd never ask me to live anywhere outside of the Palmetto State. This trip renewed my pride in being from SC! I had ancestors that fought at Spotsylvania, and if you are a native South Carolinian, it is likely that you did as well!

More pictures from our trip...

One of my best friends, Virginia, married a fella from Virginia so now she lives in Virginia. :) It was nice to get to catch up with her during our trip.

We also visited Montpelier, the home of James Madison, "the father of the Constitution."

Rob & Kelli on the upstairs terrace of Montpelier

What a gazebo!Mason playing in the grass at Montpelier -- where the Madison children played once-upon-a-time!

We had a great trip...it was amusing to think about what our family trips will be like in years to come, when the number of children in our group will have increased from one boy to THREE boys!!!

Update on Baby Roper

Yesterday morning I had my 28-week check up. My doctor ordered an ultrasound because at my 18-week ultrasound my placenta was low and the doctor was concerned that it might block my cervix during delivery. Thankfully the placenta has moved up…but…Baby Roper is in the breech position, with his head up at my ribs and his feet up by his face in the style of James Smyth (whom Oakley delivered this way -- bottom first)!!! He is in the “diaper changing position.”

He also was not very cooperative with the camera – he was playing peek-a-boo and kept covering his eyes with his hands. It was really cute, but made it difficult to get any good pictures. Between the feet & hands, it was hard to get a good shot of his face. Graem thinks he looks just like Mason but it was hard for me to tell (and probably even harder to tell from these pictures because I had to scan these so the quality is not the best)! He still has plenty of time to flip into the "head down" position. Here are pics from all of his ultrasounds...

8 weeks

12 weeks

18 weeks (he is facing the camera in this shot)

28 weeks

28 weeks