More Trains, Balls, and Dirt

We are beyond excited to announce that we are PREGNANT with BOY #2!  I am just about 20 weeks, so almost half way there!  Baby Boy is due on July 30th, but if he is anything like his brother I am expecting him sometime early August!  We had an ultrasound last night and everything looks great! 

1 Year Old Davey

David Rodney Young is officially 1 Years Old!  How time flies.  We celebrated with Grandma & Grandpa Plaster in Branson MO.  Since his birthday was on Memorial Day, we had the whole weekend to celebrate!  We left NC at 3 am on Friday and drove all the way through.  David was such a happy baby to travel with.  He slept and then he smiled some.  He woke up so happy each time and as long as we gave him attention, he was a happy boy.  This was quite different than the last time we traveled with him, which he screamed the whole way from Branson to Nasheville.  It was very much a pleasant surprise!  I am so happy we were able to visit Doug's parents.  We had a nice visit and Davey had a blast with them.  He warmed up with no problem.  We celebrated his day with breakfast at the Cracker Barrel and then we had cupcakes.  He was so tired that we had to wake him up to open his presents and eat his cupcake.  I should have let him sleep but we were leaving for Nashville and had to get on the road.

At 12 months old Davey is doing so much more.  He took his first steps in Branson.  Although he still isn't quite walking yet.  We gave him a little push car for his birthday and he pushes that thing all around the house.  He loves it!  He is also signing now.  He knows milk, water, more and food.  He gets excited that we can communicate on some level.  He talks a lot more and tries to mimic what I say.  He is obsessed with his tongue, and loves to stick it out and move it around.  He loves his Daddy.  Each time he hears Doug coming in the door after work, he gets so excited.  He also loves eating off my plate, for some reason he thinks it tastes better.  He is also starting to use utensils now.  He is still breastfeeding, but hopefully will be weaned soon. We have tried to wean him twice this last month, and each time we were almost there he got sick and all he wanted to do was breastfeed.  So it has been a long process.  He is starting to like cow's milk, but his favorite drink in his sippy cup is water.  He loves the dogs tons and tries to open up the door to go out and visit them.  Luckily he can't open doors yet, but he still lets me know when he wants to go out there.

He is such a precious little boy.  It took us so long to conceive him, that we really thought it would never happen.  Little did we know that Heavenly Father had the perfect little boy to send us, all we had to do was wait.  We just needed to be a little more patient and have a little more faith.  I am so glad for our little miracle baby.  He really is a miracle.  A blessing to my life, and a blessing to Doug's life.  He has made so many things perfect.  He is full of such happiness and goodness, that I can't help but smile.  I am so grateful that I get to be his mom and that I will be the one to raise him.  His birthday and his own existence marks the day that our new chapter of parenting began.  We love him and cherish every minute of it.

11 Month Old Davey

At 11 months Davey weighed in at 24.5 lbs. & was 31 inches long.  He loves to wave and stands up holding on to furniture!  He loves his toy cars and pushes them all over the house.  He still loves his baths and his meal time.  His favorite food is smoothies right now.  Ever since he figured out how to wave he does it all the time.  He loves dancing and music.  He had a blast spitting while Grandma was here.  She would make noises with her mouth and then he would copy her.  They pretty much had their own greeting.  He loved every minute of it.

Grandma Davenport's Visit

My Mom came out from Cedar City Utah for a visit.  We talked her into staying for 2 1/2 weeks, and we loved having her here.  We have missed her ever since she left.  Doug was on a business trip the first week she was here and so it was nice having someone here with me.  We took walks and went on lots of drives showing her around the area.  We stopped at some of the random cemeteries on the sides of the roads.  Some might think that to be strange but I loved it.  Cemeteries are so peaceful, and it is always interesting to see how old they are. We also worked on a project of redoing my table and chairs, but more on that to come.

We took a trip down to Charleston SC.  It is such an awesome place to visit!  We took a tour of Fort Sumter, where the Civil War had begun.  We also went and explored the downtown area.  We walked and walked and walked, it was great!  There were so many beautiful historic houses and churches.  Plenty of Revolutionary and Civil War history.   Each corner you turned there was something to be seen.  The city of Charleston encompasses everything I have imagined the south to be.

There is also this huge bridge over the Cooper River that intrigued me.  They have a pedestrian lane on the bridge and each time we drove over it, there were mounds of people either walking or running it.  So I had it in my head that we had to run up the bridge.  I somehow convinced Doug that this was something he needed to do, and so together we ran up the bridge while my Mom and Davey walked around towards the bottom of it.  It really was inspiring.  Once you get to the top you feel as though you are on top of the world.  I loved it.  They also have a really cool park at the base that we went and had a picnic at.

We couldn't come all the way to Charleston without visiting a plantation and so we went and did a tour at the Magnolia and Garden Plantation.  The grounds at this plantation were beautiful!  There were ponds and flowers and private gardens and bridges and so much more.  It was breathtaking.  We also learned that the Charleston dance was actually started at this plantation.  I thought that was very interesting.  There was also an old oak tree in Charleston named Angel Oak that we visited.  It is HUGE!  I don't think I have seen a tree so big.  So we took lots of pics.

At last we visited the beach just south of Charleston in Folly Beach.  This was the first time my mom had touched the Atlantic Ocean.  It was a perfect day to go.  We also ran into our friends the Toone's there.  It was ironic, they were leaving as we were just getting there.  Such a small world.  This was Davey's 3rd time to the ocean.  Each time before he hated the sand and water, but this time he loved the it.  He just sat in the water and splashed around in it.  It made my day that he finally loves the beach as much as I do.

Another adventure that my mom and I took was to Greeneville SC.  We had learned that one of our relatives, My Great Great Great Grandfather Meeks was buried in a cemetery down there.  So we did our research and found a church cemetery of where he was likely to be buried.  We found the church and we also think we found the grave site, but can not confirm because there was no name.  But it was surrounded by other family names and so we believe it to be the one.  It was a fun day.  There was also a cute park in the middle of downtown Greeneville that we went and walked around.  There is a waterfall that runs through the park.  It was a beautiful place to end the day.  We loved having Grandma here!  Davey warmed up to her  beautifully and the day after she left I could see in his eyes that he missed his friend.  We can't wait for her next visit!