The US National Whitewater Center

Did you know the US Nat'l Whitewater Center was in Charlotte, NC? National as in Olympic Team??? Oh yes, my friend, it is. I went to the USNWC as a Senior in college and wasn't too fond of it, actually. I love rafting and kayaking (the Center's specialties), but I am almost uncomfortable doing those things in a man-made, concrete, circular facility with pedestrians crowded around. Ben, on the other hand, thinks it's awesome. He has gone a few times since we've lived in North Carolina, and last weekend I finally decided to be a good wife and come along to watch and support him.

In all fairness, the place is pretty cool. It has expanded a lot in four years, and now is an adult's playground. It not only has whitewater rafting and kayaking routes, but mountain bike trails, hiking, adventure ropes course stations, zip lines, paddleboarding, etc. I've been interested in stand up paddleboarding for a while, so Ben convinced me to try it here! I'm really glad I did, it was so fun! And probably the closest I'll ever get to feeling like 007 (10 points if you understand that reference!)

Ben tried it, too...

We put my light t-shirt over Whit's head to protect him from the sun. 

We had him in the baby tent on the side of the river while we took turns paddle boarding. I am so glad we bought that thing- it was a great investment! It keeps him shaded and bug-free, it makes it easier for him to sleep or get a diaper change, and he doesn't seem to mind it! Win, win, win. 

 And Ben got some really amazing photos of Whit smiling!!!! Yay!!!!

Unfortunately, that is all we have evidence of from our fun, adventure-packed day. The SD card we had in our camera was a 2GB disguised as a 32 GB, so all the photos we took became unreadable after we filled up the 2 GB. Stupid China.

I guess we'll just have to go again!

Whit's Blessing

In our faith we don't perform infant baptism because we believe babies are born perfect, but we do have a common practice of a Baby Blessing, where the father (or another male who is a righteous priesthood holder) gives him an official name and blessing. My baby's blessing was something I'd been looking forward to for years. The baby usually wears white, the dad holds him in a ring with other friends and family members in the front of the church congregation for the blessing and holds the baby up for everyone to see at the end, then proudly walks back to their seat and the leader of the congregation welcomes the baby as the newest member. It's sort of a right of passage for the parents (and the baby, of course).

Ben's mom stayed with us for the week leading up to Whit's blessing, then his dad, sister-in-law and her two daughters, my grandparents, mom, sister, and her children also came in to town to celebrate with us. We had a BBQ lunch before church started, complete with a special cake I made just for the occasion! 

Our family enjoying lunch before church started... 

My Opa, the man Whit is named after:

And a silly song I wrote for Whit to the tune of KIDS from Bye Bye Birdie... 

The whole group in our church building after his blessing: 

(Take a close look at this picture. Every single kid is doing something funny! I love it.)

The proud parents: 

We love you, Little Man!

And a BIG THANKS to all our family who traveled from far and wide to be here with us :)

Oh The Places You'll Stay

 A poem for my baby..

Oh, The Places You'll Stay

Today I read “Oh the Places you’ll Go”. No, not to myself, but my seven-week-old.

I love that it teaches people of all ages to have fun and try hard despite challenge or wages.

It’s a great lesson to learn more than once through the years, but today’s recitation caused just a few tears

Yes, crying is something I do quite a lot- not because I’m depressed, ‘cause unhappy I’m not,

I’m just sentimental for (won’t you agree) Whit shouldn’t grow up “just as fast as a weed”!

He already weighs a new pound every week and we’ve all but forgotten his once-wrinkly knees,

He’s started to smile, his head stands erect, his intelligent gaze you’d never expect

He now sleeps through the night without dawdle, and often succeeds in out-maneuvering the swaddle,

During Tummy Time he inches and squirms towards the wall so it’s only a matter of time ‘till he crawls

And then he’ll be standing, then walking, then run, and I do understand that that phase will be fun

But it’s coming too soon! I wish time could slow down until some magic back-to time machine can be found

But here is the truth, the gist of the facts is that time will keep ticking so I’ll do well to relax

And enjoy this not-newborn-baby ‘fore he disappears into unrecognizable teenage-ish years

When he leaves on his mission, goes to college, gets married and he has his own tiny baby to carry

For now he’s still mine and all mine he’ll remain (though I suppose his Dear Dad has a similar claim)

He still grips my finger and sleeps on my chest, he follows my gaze so I feel very blessed

To be trusted with this delight of a bundle so I’d better step back and try not to grumble

I’ll just hold him tight (but not too tight, don’t worry) and try to prevent moving on in a hurry

Because yes, there are mountains waiting for Whit to climb, and roads to be chosen but, in the meantime,

Put all those thoughts out of sight and away and let’s appreciate all of the places you’ll stay. 

Baby at the Beach!!!

We made a last-minute trip to the beaches at Wilmington, NC, for the long Labor Day weekend. When you live 3.5 hours from amazing beaches (as in fun and touristy but still casual and old-fashioned) you should go more than once a year, right? The last time we went was just over a year ago because we needed a diversion after Eleanor was born, but this trip was all F-U-N!

Before we were stormed out, of course ;)

We bought this great pop-out baby tent for Whit the night before we left. It is really lightweight and easy to set up and came in really handy! We do a lot of things outside, so this will be very useful for a long time :)

Getting ready for his first dip in the ocean...

...and it's not too bad!

We dipped his feet in a few times and he seemed pretty indifferent to the whole experience. He eventually started to pull his legs up, but we didn't get the standard scream I was expecting. Like I said, he's a pretty intense little guy. 

 These are some of the first photos I have with Whit! I'm usually behind the camera (and have some great shots of Ben and Whit), so I'm thrilled Ben got some good ones of me and my baby!

I think his body language is pretty funny in this one :)

 I love this one! When Ben saw it he surprisingly said, "Wow, he looks happy." Insult, or observation...?

We spent Sunday touring Downtown Wilmington, got some authentic gelato (my first! We even did it right with a scoop of pistachio. I was skeptical, but it's really good!)

...And a walk by the river!

It was a great place to go, and I know we'll try to go again!