The one with the ghosts and the goblins....

Happy Halloween!!! We had a great Halloween. We didn't go in the new nieghb, not many kids, the lots are too big and there are hardly any street lights- so word on the street was everyone goes else where. They were probably thinking DANG kids moved in next door and now we have to buy candy!! But hey it worked. We trick-or-treated with friends again and Cooper was all in the action. He loved it, wasn't scared, a little timid at first, but got the hang of it quickly. Hey, all I have to say is trick-or-treat and I get CANDY!!! As most kids, he can't wait to eat the Candy. So along the way, he had a lollipop, nerds, skittles, ressee cup, gold fish and Cheetos!! Yes, the kid was in HEAVEN when someone gave him Cheetos! I took several pictures throughout the last few weeks... enjoy!!

Getting all hyped up!

Love

The one with our new home...

It's official, as you know, we are home owners for a second time! And boy does it feel different than the first time. It's really hard to explain, but Georgia never felt like home. Probably because our immediate family was mostly in Jacksonville. We rushed into the first house to try to be in it before Cooper was born, and well you know how that turned out. We were always on the go, traveling with Cooper, so nothing ever felt permanent. And then we were led here. Our new home feels great. It feels like us, big yard, lots of trees, a ton of room to play and of course, the big seller: the Pool! We didn't go for another new build, we didn't want the cookie cutter feel with the houses built on top of each other. It worked for us in the beginning, but we just appreciate character and the outdoors too much for that anymore. Oh and did I mention, the HOA here won't be sending me letters for my pine straw being too gray! YAY!!

It needs shutters, don't you think?

* please note those curtains came with the house!! They will be removed in due time!



The Play Room WILL be getting a TV soon


The house has everything we want and need. 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (who wants to clean anymore than that!!??) an inside laundry room, an extra room for the kids- which used to be the formal living room, but nothing about the McCarty's says "Formal", a large family room open to the eat-in kitchen and of course the kitchen. My recent obsession while house hunting has been white kitchen cabinets, black granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances, and you know what? This house had it ALL!! I know Josh was praising Jesus when we found this gem, because he wouldn't be signed up for a kitchen remodel!! And something else I haven't really appreciated before, CARPET!! The San Marco house was fully hardwood flooring and the Georgia house had hardwoods on the main level which makes it tough on the knees for a crawling baby. Not to mention you can't make a pallet on the living room floor and have movie night.... but now we can! It's the little things you learn from house to house, like the carpet thing and having a hall closet that can hold your vacuum cleaner that really make the difference! Too bad the pool is freezing to play in.... by freezing I mean 78 and for those who are thinking that's not cold come on over for a swim. It's so "cold" Cooper won't get in and when kids won't get it, you know its too cold.

What you don't see is them shivering!

Until next time.....

LOVE

The one with the crawler...

No, not the creepy crawler, although its Halloween time... We have an 8 month old crawling baby in da house!! Can you guess who it is?? Miss Addison Kate and she doesn't ever want to sit still anymore! She's been on the move for a little over a month now. She wants to chase after her big brother who keeps stealing her toys. I would too. Oh the joy having these 2 kids interact, they really do love each other. Addison just laughs and giggles at Cooper. He's been into turning the lights on and off and that just cracks Addison up. Nothing sweeter than children giggling.

We made the big move a few weekends ago. FINALLY.... we are getting settled in our new home. We've done all the big projects, like paint and replace some of the fans now onto actually unpacking. What a chore. A shout out to all the guys Josh recruited for moving day, which totaled about 12. They knocked it all out in about 4 hours... yes, they took everything out of the San Marco house, boxes and babies, and placed everything in the new house. They were on fire.... plus it was a Saturday and football had to be watched, another incentive to scoot your boots! Anyway, we have already fired up the green egg, swam in the pool and finished off a few bottles of wine! We are really going to love it here. Both kids are doing great. They are sleeping through the nights (knock on a big ole piece of wood, hoping miss Addie's continues down that path!!). Cooper is consistently using the potty (and the bushes outside). Its hilarious, every time we pull up to the house, Cooper gets out of the car and pees in the yard. "Hi St. Johns County, we are the new redneck family next door!"

I'll have pictures to come of the house, stay tuned....

LOVE

The one where we count down...

The count down is on baby!!! Everything seems to be in order for our October 1 closing date. ANNNDDD we haven't even started packing yet! If you don't know, Josh and I are the wait til the last minute type of folks. We have always been and probably always will be. I remember being in school and not writing term papers until the night before. My brain just never kicked into gear until it was forced too. Like now, I can think of 100 different things I would rather do than pack... like shop or drink wine! After the burglary we are more anxious than ever to move. Not to mention as the kids grow, this house is getting smaller. Addison is almost mobile, so her toys are all over the floor. Alongside Coopers trucks, blocks, ropes, toy Nerf guns and animals. Oh yea, not to mention the forts I trip over constantly :) If only they had their own play room, ahhhhh seems like a dream, but its reality in a few weeks! I have a feeling we will be spending most of our time in the pool. Speaking of pool, here is a video of Cooper swimming on vacation...

So the other day, I was getting dressed to go have lunch with my friends and Cooper came in the room, he said "Mommy whatcha doin in here? You look beautiful today!". If that doesn't make your heart melt, I don't know what will. His sweet little innocent voice trying to pronounce beautiful was so precious! You know where I think he gets it from? His sweet daddy. Josh my appear like Mr. Hard guy, but he is so sweet and is sure to give this momma some compliments when they are due (I'll take them even when they aren't "due"). It goes to show how great of a father, leader and role model Josh is. Who knew Cooper was picking up so much from just hearing us talk. Glad its the good stuff, with the Gators loss who knows what he heard last Saturday! Good thing its a BYE week :)

As soon as I get the camera out, Coop is ready to run, at least one kid is smiling!

Have a great weekend!!
LOVE

The one with the family vacation...

After the robbery, we were able to still take our planned vacation to Siesta Key. A week long of no work, no schedules and no baths... yes, no baths (or hardly any...). The 2 story, 3 bedroom beach house we rented also had a pool. So I took on the motto- hey if you went swimming, you took a bath! We didn't spend much time at the beach like we planned. Cooper was more interested in the pool and Addison loved floating in the pool. Anytime she was cranky in the house, you could bring her to the pool and she would flip on her happy switch. So needless to say we are all a little water logged this week. There really isn't much to disclose from the trip, because we were such bums. The house had a grill, so we grilled out each day and night. We saw the sun set one night at the beach. Usually we were cooking or vegged out on the couch to relaxed to move to catch it every night. The beaches are gorgeous over there. Yards and yards of white sand before you get to the crystal clear water. No waves, so there weren't any surfers and no sea shells. I didn't find any sharks teeth like I was hoping. But Cooper did enjoy building sand castles, while Josh, mself and Addie sat in the shade! I must be getting older when I prefer the shade over a nice bronze tan.

Total vacation mode



Grill Master



Sand Angels

The new and trained McCarty beer runner...



We did get to see my old college roomies, Erin and Shannon. It was like a mini reunion. They came over Labor Day. Its funny reminiscing on how much times have changed. Shannon just had a baby girl a month ago, Erin and Ben are getting married next year and I have 2 kids.... what?! It seems like yesterday we were back in college without a care in the world.

LOVE

The one where we were robbed....

LITERALLY!!! And not a car break in, full on random stranger picked our locks to get in our house. Thank The Lord, he didn't make it past the kitchen. I heard the back door open around 3:15am. It took me a minute to come too, but I could see the male standing  in the between the cracked bedroom door. Talk about heart racing. I hit Josh to wake him up, ( you know, because he's "deaf" in one ear) I said josh someones in the house. It too took him a minute to figure out what I said. Again, Josh someone is in the house. And then he was gone. I'll forever ( or maybe for a while) have that image of a man standing over my kitchen counter stealing from me and my family. Fortunately he only made out with my phone, both our wallets, about $20 and my mental sanity! The cops came, but the guy was long gone.... In speaking with all the neighbors, another 3 cars were burglarized too. And why he chose to break in our house is beyond me, probably on drugs. But we are safe, so that's all that matters!

So some good news: Cooper is peeing in the potty! We just haven't got to the whole poop thing down yet, I guess that will come with time too. But he will go on his own now- still working on the aiming, but does that really ever get any better?! LOL The sticker/ cookie incentive worked. Look at what a few weeks did. We don't do the stickers anymore, he kinda forgot about those and the cookies I would give him! Which is probably a good thing! Anyway, we are making progress. Any tips on how to make kids poop in the toilet?

his new favorite expression, as in "No more pics Mom"

Addison had her 6 month check up. She's doing GREAT. 17lbs 3oz. and she's in the 89% for being so long, she is 26 inches. She's also getting up on all fours, ready to crawl any day now. Which the doc said they usually crawl around 9 months, but I think she is watching Cooper run around and wants to be just like him. She is all smiles when she looks at him. They are both so cute together. We are very blessed to have such a close loving family!

LOVE

The one where we go green...





We are going green or at least trying!! We started a garden! It started out with carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, radishes, strawberries and green peppers all in one pot on the porch. That's right, all in ONE pot!! Since everything started taking off, corn included, we expanded and built  a big garden! We added chilies more peppers and basil! It's so awesome watching it all grow! A few weeks back my first tomato appeared! Small and green but full of life! Cooper, bless his little heart, is also excited as our garden grows! He came up to me just a few weeks ago with the tiny green tomato in his hand with sheer and pure excitement said, " mommy look, look a tomato!!" Slightly disappointed because that was the only mater, I was over it in an instant when I saw his big ole happy face smiling from ear to ear like it was the biggest and juiciest tomato ever!!!







Going Green (and GO GATORS!)









The loan green mater, that is no more....

The neighbs!!!



So, if you haven't tried pizza on the green egg, I don't think that you have LIVED. OMG my favorite cook out ever. Pizza on the egg. Fresh basil (from the garden!), mozzarella and tomatoes... as you know not fresh tomatoes this time!! But the pizza was amazing. We will be doing this again!!


LOVE