Volunteering

Every year my company has a month devoted to raising awareness about volunteering projects in the local community. This year I signed up to volunteer for a few projects with Taylor in mind. She is at the perfect age to start doing some volunteering with me. It also gives us an excellent opportunity for some "girl" time.
Today we joined 20 other people and did yard work for the Carolina Raptor Center. We pulled weeds and mulched their plant bed out front of the center. It was super hot- temps in the upper 80's, but we had a nice time. Afterward, Jason and Owen met us there to walk the trails and view the birds.
It was a nice day!
Our next project is in May when we will volunteer at the Charlotte Children's Theater!


Owen in the Kelty-- he LOVES that thing!!!


Taylor and I hot and sweaty -- ew!

Oh My Goodness!!!

So much has happened- I don't know where to begin. I guess I'll start with Easter...


We took Taylor to an Easter egg hunt at the Latta Plantation. Latta an 1800 cotton plantation and living history farm that is surrounded by miles of nature preserve. It is literally down the street from our house so it is super convenient. We take Tay to their egg hunt every year and then we usually walk around to visit with the farm animals and walk through the old buildings. Unfortunately, it was pretty muddy because it rained a ton the day before so we didn't stay as long as usual.













Just down the street from Latta is this beautiful old stone built church with a large stone wall out front of it. Every time we drive past the church I mention to Jason how I would love to stop and take pictures by the stone wall- and we finally did it! I want to take the kids back to take some more pictures when it isn't so muddy out. There are these gorgeous stone steps out front of the church that would be so nice for taking pictures on.





Here are a couple photos from another egg hunt we took the kids to the week before Easter--





Owen's said his first word last Thursday. We were waiting in line at the grocery store and out of nowhere he started yelling "Dada, Dada, Dada!" Jason was thrilled, of course.

Owen is also pulling himself up all over the house now. Last Saturday Jason was sitting on the floor playing with him and he crawled over to Jason and pulled himself right up like he'd been doing it forever. Jason called for me and I got pictures!!!
His favorite spot to pull himself up is on the window seal in the living room. He loves to look outside and talk to the birds when we have the window open. It's too cute!




In doggy news, Sos is going to school! We enrolled him in training classes at PetsMart. His first class was last Sunday and he did excellent! There are only two other dogs in his class, which is great because that meens less distraction for Sos. Hopefully these classes will help teach us how to train Sos not to dig and chew on the deck! Cross your fingers!


Whew! That was a lot!

Owen's new game

Owen has figured out how to make Mommy, Daddy and Taylor fetch!




I know some people were wondering how to get to our YouTube page.
You should be able to go to the following link and it will take you straight to our videos.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=aliciaschieber&view=videos


We upload them pretty regularly, so check often!

Owen's first eye exam and Easter Egg Decorating

Owen had his first eye exam today. They say it's a good idea to have babies eyes checked early and since Taylor has glasses we figured it probably wasn't a bad idea. The doctor did a few different eye tests to make sure Owen's eyes are tracking properly. Then he put some drops in his eyes to dilate them. Owen passed all the tests with flying colors and didn't even cry once! Doctor Hamp said his eyes are super healthy and are developing as they should be! Good news!!
After his visit we came home and Taylor invited some of her friends over to play. It is spring break this week for her school district. I boiled some eggs and let the kids dye eggs in the backyard. They all had a lot of fun and I got some really great pictures. It was such a nice day today! I'm ready for the warm weather!


The Stonegate Farms Troop (from Left) Jaclynn, Chandler, Taylor and Trevor





Taylor and Jaclynn




And a couple pics from our front porch. Everything is so green from all the rain we've had. Beautiful!

Papa came to visit

For my 30th birthday, my Mom surprised me with a visit from my Dad. What an excellent gift! It was so nice to see my Dad considering the last time I saw him was during our visit home in August 2007. Way too long ago!
We had a wonderful visit. He met Owen for the first time. Owen immediately fell in love with my Dad. It was like they were long lost buddies. The first time he held Owen, Owen got a huge smile on his face then laid his head down on my Dad's shoulder. It was too cute!
Taylor was beside herself with excitement to see her Papa. They had a great time riding go-carts at the local mall. It's kind of their thing to do together.
We had a lot of fun and as always the time went by way too fast. Hopefully it won't be much longer before we can put our house on the market and move home.

Here are some great pics from the visit.




What a great picture!






Papa and Taylor at the race track


Tay's visit to see the Easter bunny.


This is my favorite picture!!!


How cute does my little man look? Anyone up for a round of golf???