Am I Raising a Meathead?

Am I raising a meathead?  This question has been running through my head for the last 8+ months.  D's personality has really developed this past year and it is AWESOME.  He was always fun but now he's like really fun.  I finally have a backup singer for Journey's - Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'.  There is nothing better than picking him up from daycare and hearing about his day.  Examples: "All my friends are mad at me" and "I got put in timeout". You never know what is going to come out of his mouth, like asking loudly who the woman is behind us in line at Marc's.

Here is a current list of his favorite things: working out, baseball and cars.  He was my right hand man during my Insanity workout: doing suicide drills, taking his shirt off and constantly bugging me when was I going to workout next.  Then came the car obsession.  He wanted to know what everyone drives and now he knows every make on the road.  It keeps him very busy in the backseat screaming out the make of every car that passes and if it matches anyone in our family.  "That's a Volkswagen like Uncle Pat!"

Workin' out

I married into a baseball family and D has put meaning into the phrase, "It's in his blood."  He is obsessed with baseball.  He knew all the players, their numbers, and their batting routines.  He does Nick Swisher better than Nick Swisher!  I walked into his room one night and found him standing next to his clock radio.  I heard Tom Hamilton...He had found the Indians on the radio!!  Needless to say he's going through withdraw now that the season is over.

His first laptop!  

Today was his 3rd birthday and it was so much fun!  He finally got it.  The last 2 years he clearly had no idea what was going on, but today he knew it was all about him.  We had a low key party with my side of the family, with plans with Andy's later this weekend.  I went to Dollar Tree and bought every Mickey Mouse thing they had, offically turning into my mother-in-law who is a Dollar Tree fanatic.  He was so excited for every part of it.  Tomorrow he is going to be real disappointed that things are back to normal.  Meathead or not, he is pretty awesome and I can't wait to see what this next year brings.

Happy 3rd birthday big D!!

Go Tribe - I'd like to say he shares my enthusiasm for life!

Megan's Wedding

The Winters/Mullins Wedding Party - Eric Boneske Photography

It's been a busy start to fall and this post is long overdue!  Labor Day weekend we headed south for my college roommates wedding in Wilmington, North Carolina.  It was the first time we left D for more than a night.  (Like both of us, I left for the bachelorette and Andy's been on business trips, but you get what I'm saying!)  After work on Thursday we headed south on 77, dropped D off at a Flying J where my parents picked him up, and loaded up on Smart Water and dill pickle seeds.  The West Virginia hills are even scarier at night, but we made it to our hotel at 4:30am!  I hadn't been to Wilmington since tagging along with Megan for Spring Break 2004.

*Hamming 

After Megan insisted there was nothing for us to do to help her on Friday, we headed to Wrightsville Beach.  First stop was Meg's coffee shop where she is the Marketing Director, Port City Java, a must on your next trip.  We had not been to a beach since 2008 and it was glorious!  We underestimating the suns powerful rays on a cloudy day and got fried.  Nothing soothes a burn like fish tacos, we were directed to Tower 7 and it was delicious.

My favorite - Eric Boneske Photography

When we got to the wedding venue they were filming Sleepy Hollow.  For those of you who don't know Wilmington is a hot spot for TV shows!  I was disappointed I wasn't asked to be an extra.  The Brooklyn Arts Center is an old converted church.  The wedding was held in the courtyard, we were getting ready in the parsonage, and the reception in the church.  Megan couldn't have looked happier, was hamming it up and thankfully Andy caught this*.  Barry's friends and family were all so sweet, we were able to look past them being Atlanta Braves fans as long as the 1995 talk was kept to a minimum.  Dinner was at the Bluewater Grill, we again stuffed our faces with seafood and shared our favorite stories.  It was so fun catching up with Megan's sister, Rachel who is on the NEWS in Florida!  After dinner the other half of Club 509, Lydia and Alanna, had made it to town so we headed out with the groomsmen to Hell's Kitchen, which was featured on Dawson's Creek.  None of us remembered that episode but it didn't matter.

Club 509 (The name of our dorm room and where this ^ all started)

Saturday started with hair appointments at Bangz.  It was a cute and haunted hair salon.  The little girl that haunts the place knocked over some magazines while we were there.  We then headed to the parsonage to get our make-up done and get dressed.  Megan's dress was breathtaking, her whole look came together so beautifully.  She looked perfect!  The ceremony was performed by a childhood friend of Barry's.  He did a great job and made it so personal.  This was my first wedding where they wrote their own vows, it was so neat and made me cry more than usual.  As they walked back down the aisle the wedding planner had huge heads made of Megan and Barry, stealing the idea from Megan who had done the same for Barry when he ran his first marathon.

Bring it Barry - Eric Boneske Photography

The reception was...PERFECT!  The decorations pulled everything together, I was obsessed with the chevron runners.  The tears were flowing as the father of the groom got up to give his speech which was filled with the excitement of him FINALLY getting a daughter (Barry's an only child).  It was so sweet and heartfelt.  The food was amazing and creative.  Philly cheesesteaks for Megan and pulled pork with shrimp and grits for Barry, we had to try both.  The DJ made it feel like we were at a dance club.  Many of the songs were the same ones we blasted in our townhouse, it was like 2005 again!  He played Fatboy Slim which sent Barry to the dance floor to perform one of the greatest wedding dances ever.  (Andy and I are still talking about it!)  I loved getting to see all the Wilmington girls that went to NOLA and the chance to show Andy off to them in his bow-tie!  We went to a rooftop bar after in an attempt to keep the night going forever!  Kent State knew what they were doing when they randomly put me in a dorm room with Lydia and putting a shy blonde on the floor below us.  Club 509 for life!  

Thank you Megan and Barry for an amazing time, we love you!

Nosy Rosie and the bride peekin' before the ceremony

         

The bride and Andy sharing a moment