Happy 3rd Birthday to our T-T, Tiny T, Till, Tillman

It doesn't seem possible that you are 3 years old. Everyone said time would fly, but I guess I didn't believe it until I'd experienced this myself. Two was OK for me, as it still sounded young, but 3 seems so old!  You have been our "test" child. Everything we do with you is a test in hopes that we get it right. You are extremely independent, strong willed, and cute as a button! 

Right up there will Elmo is all things John Deere!  Here's you and your gift from mom and dad-backhoe & front loader. This screamed TILLMAN when we saw it. Before bed each night you usually pick daddy for stories or mommy to look at the (com)"puter." When we look at the computer, you always request John Deere "stuff." Chick-Fil-A and John Deere certainly have a wonderful marketing teams, as they have gained your brand loyalty at such a young age!

Your love for tractors and all things outdoor, solidifies that your name fits you to a T (no pun intended). 

Tillman \t(i)-ll-man\ as a boy's name is of Old English origin, and the meaning of Tillman is "one who plows the earth". Occupational name. In agriculture, tilling the soil meant turning and loosening it before it was planted.

Remoting the monster truck in undies!

 In your 3rd year, you have grown a love for no clothing.  Hints the picture above. You go to bed fully clothed, and you wake up with things missing. You enjoy walking around with limited items around the house. You are something else, when it comes to clothes!  However, you do love a jacket...with a hood.  If it is 60 degrees or less, you claim it is cold and won't go outside without a jacket...that is zipped!  You are a true Southern boy (or bro as your dad would say...especially since you love a bow tie!).

Hands down your favorite gift from MiMi!

 At your 3 year old visit, you checked out just fine and growing well according to Dr. Clifford. He doesn't think you will be a basketball star (height 2%tile and weight 10%tile), but none the less you are growing and developmentally great!

Dough Nuts! Your favorite!

Tillman's 3rd Birthday Bash and a small world moment

It's Party Time! In his shirt made by CiCi

If there is one place that Tillman loves to go, it would be Chick-Fil-A...hands down.  He really doesn't enjoy eating there. Rather he plays his heart out and then eats his food in the car on the way home. The first meat he would eat.  We thought his was a complete vegetarian until he discovered the kids meal at Chick-Fil-A.

Caroline in her party dress for T-T bash

 So, needless to say his party was at "the chicken place," and it was Elmo-themed.  This kid simply loves Elmo.  Unsure how Elmo has captivated so many children's attention, but I'm sure glad it is he and not Sponge-Bob!  Tillman has a stuffed Elmo, Elmo phone, and an Elmo radio.  These toys get a lot of action. Since Tillman loves them so...Caroline naturally does as well. (sharing tends to be an issue :-) )

Tillman invited his school friend to his party. We had good eats and the playground to themselves.  Being that his bday falls during football season, Chick-Fil-A was dead, as everyone was at the game(s).

Jackson, a school buddy, joining in the
Celebration.

Looking back on the picture above, it is an example of how small the world is.  Now looking back on this (since I haven't written on the blog in forever), this is actually a distant cousin.  We are related through Jackson's mom side and my side of the family-the Sutherland Family.  My great great grandfather and Jackson's mom's great great great grandfather is the same person!  Due to the family being so large, they ended up spanning two generation.  We are lucky to grow up with some of our "kin folk" here in Charleston.  Wow, how the world is so small!

Last Summer Fling! Hilton Head Family Trip with Friends

 So, it has been far too long since I last posted.  I'm going to work my way through our last quarter of life!
We had the opportunity to go with some family friends to Hilton Head Island over Labor Day Weekend. It was fun for Nick to go since he used to vacation there as a child. Some of the same places we went were those he used to go with his family.  Hilton Head was his first taste of South Carolina. I'm sure he would have never thought back then on family vacation that SC he would call home one day.

 Here we are on the pier in Harbor Town looking at Daufuskie Island. Caroline looks a little sad in these photos, as she started running a temp on the trip.  Of course, I thought it was just teething, but I sure was wrong.  She ended up having an ear infection. Thank goodness to MUSC After Hours for being open on Labor Day, as we had to get her on some meds as soon as we got back to town.

 The fun still went on at the beach and pool for our two little ones.  This was a trip that we still had a 2 year old and a one year old.

Brother and sister love

Queen of the Beach

Tillman and his buddy Cole (and Mr Monkey)
 enjoying the yachts in Harbor Town
Tillman Popeye smile! 

Locking her in for safety at the pool

Water Hose-No Swimsuit required!

Sweet (and Wet) Caroline!

Mommy, get with it!

I think this started out as a blog, but has become more of a baby book for Tillman and Caroline. My head is about to explode with everything I'm trying to remember to write about the kids, as I've been off line for a while, but for good reason!
We set to close on our house on the 11.26.13 (Nick's Birthday). We have called it home for the past 5 years. This home has helped us grow as a family.  Many of hour of literal (Nick's) blood, (Nick's) sweat, (my) tears have gone into this house. It taught me to put my "big girl pants" on in a lot of ways. We welcomed Tillman and Caroline "home" to this house, so it will always hold a special place in our hearts.
Life has been all consumed with looking for a new house!  It is an exciting thing, but also a huge decision. Tillman has mentioned he wants a PINK house! Well, we haven't found a pink house, but we are on the search for the perfect house for our family.  Tillman and Caroline have gone to several house showing with us, so it has been fun to involve them in the process. We have even gone as far as putting an offer on a house, but were out bid for it.  We have taken the approach that if it doesn't work out, it wasn't meant to be. Surprisingly, I've been at peace with that approach!
Schools have been a huge factor in our decision making. This is the fourth real estate purchase I've been involved with in Charleston, and this is the first time I've been concerned with schools.  Wow, it is limited when it comes to an affordable home in a good school area. Recently, we've narrowed our search to the James Island area. I've even been visiting preschools to see where Tillman and Caroline would go, as it is the other side of town. The move from our "life as we know it" will be hard at first, but we are looking forward to the future.
Our goals in finding a house beyond the schools, is close to Charleston, new/newly renovated, and nice size lot! Seems easy, but that seems to be everyone goal.  Real estate is pricey in the Charleston area, so we've been doing a lot of number crunching to make sure we will be in a good spot.
I say all of this really to Tillman and Caroline.  We love you kiddos very much, and you are a huge part of our lives, so when making a home decision, we are putting our main focus on that for the future.  Please forgive mommy for taking a break on the blog. I promise, our new house will be filled with wonderful memories we will catalog for years to come!  Just where will we land?

Caroline's One Year Photos & Cake Smash

Getting warmed up

Cici made my outfit

Falling off the stool at the moment!

Tutus make everything fun!

Sassy!

Huge smile!

Huh...there's cake coming?

I love cake!

First bite!

Caroline's not sharing!

Caroline's 1st Birthday Party (a week of celebration)

Caroline had a week of celebration for her birthday.  It started of with a cake smash session with a local photographer.  Caroline was super active during the session.  Anything that wasn't bolted down, she was tasting, chewing, throwing, etc! This mommy got her work out that morning.

Smash Cake and her Caroline Cake

The weekend of Caroline's birthday we had a wedding for my cousin, Margaret. We headed to Lexington and did her party at CiCi and JRSs house that Sunday.  We had a small crowd of family and friends.  All the little ones helped Caroline blow out the candles and open gifts. 

All the kids singing to Caroline

Caroline was on the move for most of the party, so a little bit of help from the other little ones was much appreciated!  Tillman enjoys being Caroline's big brother, especially when that means CAKE!

Below are photos from her big week of her First Birthday.  The celebrations wrapped up on Seabrook at Pappaw's house.

Happy Birthday Caroline!

Cake Smash/dig...looks to be in a sugar daze!

In her Bday dress at the Margaret's luncheon.

Family photo op

After Daycare on 8.20.13

Celebration at Pappaw's house

Enjoying one of her Bday gifts...
convertible carseat! Pink of course!

Happy Birthday Sweet Caroline!

I can't believe you are 1. Mommy barely got off her baby weight, and here we are singing Happy Birthday to you!  Time goes by so fast.  I remember when you were born.  Everyone in the delivery room kept saying "wow, she has a lot of hair," at the time I was annoyed by the comments as you were taking a while to make an appearance (mommy was tired).  The hair comments continue to this day (people stop us everywhere we go).  A head full of dark hair has turned into a head full of sandy blonde curls. I always dreamed of having a baby girl, and when we went for your ultrasound to find out your gender, I was hoping for a girl. When they said you were a girl, I was overly excited!  You have colored our world pink and introduced us to tutus, hair bows, baby dolls and fairy tales! You are more precious than I could have ever dreamed. I love your cuddles and your squeals. You are one happy baby! 

We always knew we wanted more than one child, but learning how to divide time we were certainly concerned. You made life so easy. Since the day you were born, you've just been along for the ride. You'll go to just about anyone, rarely fussy, and love to smile and giggle. You are one of the most content babies I've ever been around.  Along with your go with the flow attitude, you are very quick to pick up on things-crawling at 6 months lead to walking at 9 months. You simply grew up too fast! You certainly were not one we held for very long, you've been on the go for most of your infancy. 

Many people say you look like your daddy and other's say you look like my grandmother, Kathleen. Your great grandmother was adored by many. We see her in your grins, curly hair, and facial expressions. This weekend, we learned of a saying that she used to say to her girls (all of which had curly hair).

There was a little girl,

            Who had a little curl,

Right in the middle of her forehead.

            When she was good,

            She was very good indeed,

But when she was bad she was horrid.

Although I don't think you have been horrid, it is certainly a cute little poem that fits you. I know that my Granny would have loved to meet you, and I'm so glad that her memory lives on through you!

Mommy and Daddy couldn't be more proud than to be your parents. We love you to the moon and back. You have made life more joyful, and your sweet presence can make the worst day a bright one! You will be the one that teaches the family all things girly. Be patient with us, you have 6 boys a head of you and one behind you  (so far)!  We know you will have those boys trained soon. You have already shown that you are a tough little cookie but prissy at the same time! You've given CiCi a little girl to smock and sew for and hand down my dresses when I was little. You've given your MiMi someone to shop for! Shopping and making for boys isn't the same as for a girl! You've melted your JRS's heart, and he loves to hold you (the first grand that he's gravitated towards/felt comfortable handling). You adore your big brother! First you would watch him go, and now you are chasing after him. You guys are well on your way to be best buds. Tillman loves you too. He is always concerned about you and enjoys spending time and playing with you. Oh, and we can't forget about Graham. Graham dog loves you too. He is always coming up to you smelling you, and he doesn't mind a bit that you tug and pull on him. You must have melted his heart too.  

Thanks for being you, Caroline Sutherland!  You will forever by my little girl with blue eyes and curls! Wishing you many more happy years.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy