In other yard news, did you know you could pour boiling water on grass to kill it?  Our walkway has been a bit overrun, and Karen told me that yesterday so I boiled a large pot and a teapot to see what would happen, and later this afternoon when I checked we had a lot of dead or dying grass up and down the walkway.  That’s looking much better now too.

After I finished all that and cleared the patio of pine straw sand I sat out on the porch swing with a slice of pizza enjoying a nice breeze when a guy walked up trying to get me to change my alarm system.  I’d have gone with it, but we’re locked in with our current alarm company and it’s too far in for them to buy it out.  It would have saved us a few bucks every month and we’d apparently have gotten some better equipment.  Ah well.

After Milly got up, we all met up with my brother Adam at the Wrightsville Beach park then headed on over to Anna and Barry’s.  We talked to them for a bit then all went out on the beach.  Adam got to play with Milly in the shallow water until one wave hit her in the face and she decided she didn’t want to be there anymore.  She went with Amanda to sit on the towel while Adam and I went out to jump waves and such.

The waves picked up after a little while and more surfers came out, so I suggested we go grab some boards.  Amanda said Milly seemed to be getting tired of being out there, so we all went in.  Barry was going to come back out with me and Adam, but after waiting a little bit Adam decided he didn’t really feel like going back out, so I took him back to his car and Barry and I went out to surf.

We caught some pretty decent waves.  Of note to me was that I took two nose dives and decided that I needed to take off at more of an angle.  There was another time I saw my nose getting ready to dip into the water, so I shifted my weight back and kicked the board to my left.  No spill and I was able to ride it in a good bit.

The wind picked up and started chopping up the waves.  Barry said he was about to go in, but as soon as he considered that it picked back up a little and we caught some more before going on in.

As usual, Milly ate pretty much the whole time she was at Anna and Barry’s.  She didn’t fuss but once, I think Amanda said, which is good because she didn’t take her afternoon nap.

Scout, Anna and Barry’s King Charles spaniel, isn’t feeling well, as evidenced by the fact that he didn’t get up to bother Milly while she was eating or when she left some food on the floor.

At home we had dinner, which consisted of some organic ravioli Amanda had picked up.  It was okay, but a little bland.  When Milly woke up and we gave her some for dinner, even she wasn’t interested in it.  The garlic bread with actual slices of garlic was very good though.

Zach Dotsey

Peggy and Earl (the aforementioned great-grandparents) were in town for a dental checkup so we ate lunch with them.  I checked my email when we had finished eating and saw that there wasn’t much going on at work at the time, so Earl and I took Milly to the little playground area inside the mall while the ladies, which included Amanda’s aunt, Anna, went to The Loft, though they later joined the rest of us.

We lost Amanda’s grandma for a few minutes.  Earl and Anna went to the parking lot so he could give her some veggies or something and Amanda, Milly and I stayed so the baby could climb on things for a few more minutes.  Peggy, we thought, was following Earl and Anna.  That turned out not to be the case.

After a few minutes Amanda and I decided we’d go and that we’d bump into her grandparents on the way out to say goodbye to them, but we only bumped into one of them: Earl apparently didn’t realize his wife was following him.  We split up, with me and Milly going back to the playground and Amanda and Earl heading off towards the food court.  Milly and I were the ones to find her.  Apparently she had just needed to go to the bathroom.

After Karen got here, she and Amanda went out for a bit.  They (and by “they” I think I mean Karen) bought some paint for the stairs.  It’s a project they’ve discussed a few times before.  They also brought some Jackson’s Bar-B-Que home for dinner.  I had just gotten Milly up from a nap a minute before they walked in the door and Michael joined us a few minutes later.  We all ate dinner together, and it was Milly’s first taste of BBQ.

Speaking of Milly food firsts, when we ate at the mall she also had her first whipped cream, her first milkshake and her first soda (Sierra Mist, which she drank from a straw).

Zach Dotsey

Amanda, Milly and I went to Wrightsville Beach this morning, getting there at about 11:30 I think.  We talked to Anna and Kirsten for a bit then went on out.  Milly played with a shovel and a pail for a little bit, then we decided to take her out to the water.  The waves were calm (though there were some surfers catching a little shore break) and the water was a comfortable temperature so we set Milly down in the shallow water.  She really enjoyed it.  She splashed around a bit and seemed to just like sitting there.  Amanda showed her a fiddler crab and after a bit I walked Milly out past the breakers (not very far out).  She wasn’t too into that though, so we went back to the beach blanket after that.

Milly had been at the edge of the ocean before, but it had always been too cold to put her in, so this was the first time she got to really play in the ocean.

I left the girls to go get my head wet.  I swam around a bit and did a little body surfing.  The water felt so good, and the water was pretty clear.  I opened my eyes under water and could see pretty well.

We were out on the beach for about 50 minutes before Milly decided it was time to go inside.  We hosed off at the Frazelle house then Amanda gave Milly a bath while I dried off in their hammock.

Milly hadn’t taken a morning nap and was a bit fussy on the way home, but when we got out of the car we found that Milly had just nodded off.  We had to pick up a few things, but since she was cranky we were going to drop her off at the house first then I was going to go back out.  If we’d realized she was already asleep we’d have saved a bit of gas.  As it was, I carried her upstairs (she woke up when I got her out of the car and fell back asleep when I put her in the crib) then I went out to get dog food and some parts for both of our toilets, which were both having their own separate issues.

Amanda spent a good bit of the afternoon cleaning up the house.  I helped a bit then “rested” on the couch once she started on dinner.  Dinner, by the way, was with Travis and Mona.  Milly was working on some leftovers when they arrived a bit before 6:00 and she ate throughout the adult dinner.  She ate so much that we didn’t bother giving her anything else at her usual 7:30 late dinner time.

Travis and Mona had to leave to get something they forgot at home and got back just as we were about to put Milly down for the night.  After she was down we introduced them to (what else) Puerto Rico.  Not only did they really seem to have a lot of fun with it, but they picked up on it quicker than any other people we’ve introduced it to.

Amanda’s winning streak in Puerto Rico came to an end tonight, as I switched up my strategy and won by, what, about six points?  She was second though, with Travis then Mona finishing out the order.  They stuck around to chat for just a bit after the game, but Mona was coming off an 11 day work streak and was tired.  I think it was about 10:30, a little after maybe, when they left.  Amanda was in bed shortly after.

Jeff and Eleanor should be here tomorrow afternoon.

Zach Dotsey

Despite the busy-ness I did go to lunch at the mall.  We went a few minutes early and picked up my new replacement wedding ring.  Amanda had “LOVE YOUR GIRLS” engraved on the inside of it, a reminder that it was also a Father’s Day present.  It’s titanium and very lightweight.  It also resembles Amanda’s wedding ring a bit.

We ate with Amanda’s grandparents and Michael, and Anna and Kirsten joined us a little later.  Milly was excited to see everyone.

Hannah and Barry, on a side note, are both about to head out of town.  Hannah’s going to Hatteras to go camping with some friends and Barry’s going to Costa Rica.

We went to a Night of Worship at Port City Community Church tonight.  The band really brought it and the crowd was really into it.  It was mostly music and singing, but there was also praying, a short message and communion.  It was really a nice thing for the church to put on.

Michael and Jenn watched Milly while we were at the church.  It started at 7:00 and we thought it would be done by about 8:00, so we let Milly go to Michael’s new apartment, but we ended up not getting out until almost 9:00, so it was a late night for the Bug.

Milly seemed to enjoy her time over there.  Everything apparently went well except for when Milly, who likes to take things and put them into other things, thought it would be cool to put Michael’s mobile phone in his drink.  Michael yelled, “No!” or something and Milly got upset and cried for a bit.  His phone is fine though, so we thought it was pretty funny.

LeBron James is leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers and going to the Miami Heat with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.  He made a ginormous deal about his decision, and I don’t really care because I don’t watch the NBA, but it was all anyone was talking about for a bit today and ESPN had like a two hour special on it.

On the plus side, since those three players are pretty much maxing out the Heat’s salary cap, some people are speculating that Jon Scheyer might have a good shot at joining the team, since he’d be a rookie free agent (and therefore cheap, but filling a role).  I hope it works out for him.

Zach Dotsey

After we got home we put Milly down for a nap.  They said she’d been good in Grow Zone and she didn’t complain until we were almost home.  She went right to sleep.  Amanda made us some bagels with egg and cheese and ham.

We got Milly up and fed her a few minutes early so we could go out and pick up some birthday presents for Gavin Holloman, who was celebrating his third birthday in a little room at the movie theater at Mayfaire.  The party was Toy Story-themed and Dana, Gavin’s mom, went all out, making cookies and cupcakes that looked like characters and things from the movies.  Seth, Gavin’s dad, had a Buzz Lightyear outfit and came in dressed up in it, but Gavin told him he wasn’t Buzz.  I don’t think Gavin’s reaction was quite what Seth was hoping for, but we adults enjoyed it.  Milly really enjoyed the cupcakes.

I finally met and had conversations with Seth’s siblings, Brent and Millie.  (Spelling the name with an “-ie” instead of a “-y” is the accepted norm, but it feels so odd to type that now.)  I’d actually talked to Millie briefly before, and she said I seemed familiar, but she didn’t really remember me.  And I’d reached out to Brent on Facebook a few weeks ago just because we have a ridiculous number of friends and acquaintances in common, so it was odd that we didn’t know each other.  But now we’ve met and he’s shared his iPhone 4 with me.  (I really want one of those.)

After the birthday party just about everyone else went to see Toy Story 3, but figuring Milly isn’t ready to sit in a theater that ling yet, we just took off and went over to Anna and Barry’s.  I’d told Amanda this morning that I really wanted to go surfing if there was anything out there since I knew it would be a little while before I’d get another chance to do it.

Well, it started thundering before we got to Wrightsville Beach, and when Barry and I walked out to look at the water there was some killer lightning off in the distance.  We hung out at the house for a bit and Milly got to play with Anna, Barry, Hannah, Kirsten, Maddie, Christian and Micah.

It finally did rain a little and the weather quickly passed, so Barry and I went out for a bit.  It wasn’t too bad out.  The waves weren’t breaking quite right, but I managed to catch a few anyway.  While Barry and I were out in the water, Amanda, Anna and Milly went for a walk, but not on the beach since the wet sand would have made walking on the beach a pretty tough chore.

Milly went right to bed when we got home around 6:00.  She’d only had one nap today and that one had been cut short.  Despite that, she was pretty good all day.  It might have helped that she had all kinds of junk food at Gavin’s party and she ate a lot during her time at the Frazelles’.  She was still tired when I got her up at about 7:45, but she was so sweet sitting in my lap drinking from her sippy cup (no bottles today!) and watching the end of Knocked Up.

Zach Dotsey
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My dad had gone to Lexington this weekend for an eighth grade reunion or something like that.  I talked to him (and Baba) right before he left to come back to North Carolina.  I also got calls from Mom, Erin and Adam.

This has been a bit of a mixed day for me.  Church was good.  They didn’t have the Cruisers room at Grow Zone, which is for the babies who can crawl but aren’t walking yet.  Last week they had us put Milly with the little babies, but this week she got to hang out with the walking kids.  I told her that while I was hoping she’d start walking today for me, she shouldn’t start walking in there.  And she didn’t.

On the way home Milly was very fussy.  It was a little past her nap time and Dr. Hill said she might feel bad a few days after her shots.  We decided to stop by Panera for some breakfast before going home, but that was a mistake because she started crying and would not stop for anything.  And of course it took forever to get the food, we were behind slow people coming home and we hit a bunch of lights.  It put me and Amanda both in a bit of a mood, but we got over it.

Michael came over to ride with us to Amanda’s grandparents’ house in Beulaville.  We got Milly up after about an hour’s nap and drove up there.  Wasn’t nearly as bad as the ride home, though Milly did get a little fussy towards the end of the hour-long trip.  The Frazelles, sans Hannah who was coming back from helping at a youth camp, were there before us and Amanda’s parents got there just a little after.

We hung out, ate lunch, hung out some more.  Peggy and Earl just recently bought a new TV and Michael helped set their remote up.  He and Amanda had to explain/convince them to use the satellite’s controller instead of the new TV controller, since the satellite’s remote can’t control everything.  Michael ended up talking his grandpa to swap TVs with him.  Apparently they’ve got the same one except that Earl’s can hook up to the internet, and he said he’s never going to get internet.

I started feeling a bit bad there, or maybe on the way there.  My skin was a little sensitive and tingly and my head started feeling a little swimmy.  Since I didn’t feel good, Amanda drove on the way back even though she drove there too.  Milly and I snoozed on the way home.

Milly hadn’t eaten much today, so we let her have a bottle tonight.  She didn’t finish that either though, so her not eating much might not be because of having switched to sippy cups yesterday.  She had a giant explosive poo that filled up her whole diaper when I got her up at 7:30.  She was pretty playful after eating what she did eat, but she also went right to bed when we put her down.

Amanda and I wound down watching some TV.  We watched the first two episodes of a miniseries called Persons Unknown, which is about a bunch of people who were kidnapped and are being held captive in a small town from which they are not able to escape.  It’s intriguing thus far.

Zach Dotsey

The spread for Milly's first birthday party

Actually, most of the family members who came showed up a little early.  My crew arrived at about a quarter of, and I was shocked to see Aunt Robbie with them.  I remembered after talking to her that she had planned on being around a little before Milly’s party, but she was supposed to have gone back before today.  It was really great to see her.  Not that seeing Mom, Dad, Erin and Aunt Reggie (who all rode together) wasn’t great, but I totally didn’t expect Aunt Robbie.

Amanda’s dad, Phil, came early and helped go get some thing.  Adam and Renee came, and Michael and Jenn, the whole Frazelle quartet, Amanda’s grandparents and David and Oxana all came.  As far as friends go, we had the Warkentiens plus Nick’s sister’s boyfriend; Charles, Deanna and their girls from across the street; Bonnie (also from across the street) made an appearance, then we had the Nowaks, the Clarks and the Boscaljons.  I got a call from Seth saying that Gavin was being pretty fussy so they and Dana didn’t make it.  I think (I hope!) I listed everybody.

It was a pretty good crowd.  When my family got here Milly had just gotten up and was a little upset by all the commotion, so she went upstairs with the ladies and they put her hair in pigtails and got her dressed.  She wore a little pink tutu that Amanda had picked out special for the day and a shirt she decorated with puffy paint.

Milly's first birthday cupcake

After a little mingling we dove into the cupcakes, or at least Milly did.  Actually, she didn’t even dive in like we thought she would.  Amanda made a giant cupcake just for Milly and put lots of cream cheese icing on it, but she mostly just daintily picked at it with her thumb and forefinger for a while.  Eventually she started open-palming it.  Amanda put a speck of icing on Milly’s nose and Erin gave her two little pink dots on her cheeks.  She looked a little like a clown.

When she’d had enough cupcake  I went to rinse her off in the sink, but it was too difficult so we just ended up stripping her down to her diaper and she and Eli got in the pool.  I was amazed at how much moisture a diaper can soak up.

We never got around to the finger painting, but maybe we will next year.  Or something.  We did move on to the presents though, and I think Milly has already learned how awesome birthdays can be.  I’m not going to list everything she got and who she got them from because I’m terrible at remembering that sort of thing and I know some things will be left out, but she did get quite a bit- lots of new toys and clothes.  Andra, who wasn’t able to make it, even sent something via Mom and Dad.

Milly's first birthday presents

Milly wasn’t really that into opening the presents herself, but she did enjoy playing with them as we opened them, as did Eli, Kenzie and Kimber.  When we brought out the gift from my parents, which was in the largest box, she did take the opportunity to climb on it.  She got up on the box all by herself and sat on it.  I’m telling you, that child is a climbing fool.

Everyone trickled out after the gifts were all opened, with the exception of David and Oxana who were staying with us tonight.  David wanted to treat us to dinner, so we made arrangements to meet Adam and Renee at Elijah’s.  We went early so we wouldn’t have to worry about a crowd or Milly’s feeding schedule.  We sat outside where it wasn’t too hot, ate some good food, drank a few drinks, went for a short walk on the river after dinner and just had a really nice time hanging out with my cousin and his wife.  It’s been a long time since I’ve had real quality time with Dave.

David and Oxana rode in the back on the way to and from Elijah’s and fed Milly on the way there.  It was funny listening to them interact with her.  Milly had a good time at Elijah’s too.  She ate pretty much the whole time, whether it was pieces of a cornbread muffin, fruits or mashed potatoes.  She didn’t drink much of her bottle in her last feeding of the night later on.

Adam and Renee came over to our place after dinner and after David read Goodnight, Moon to Milly and we put her to bed, we all played a game of Puerto Rico.  It’s a five-player game so Adam and Renee were on a team together.  Amanda beat me by one point but Oxana, in her Puerto Rico debut, killed it while Adanee or Renadam came in fourth with David in last.  Poor guy kept getting screwed when it came time to ship goods.

Zach Dotsey

I had to pick up my paycheck today and Amanda was meeting her grandparents for lunch, so I tagged along for that.  Normally I go to lunch too, but as busy as I was I was planning on staying home to work until I realized it was payday.  I went and met up with Peggy and Earl and the Frazelle girls, but I didn’t stick around too long to chat and Peggy and Earl dropped Amanda back off at home a little before 5:00.  Milly had missed her afternoon nap but apparently had been good the whole time.  She was wiped out for her evening nap as a result.  Amanda had to rub her back to wake her up, whereas she’s usually awake as soon as you open the nursery door.

Speaking of Milly, Amanda put her hair up in pigtails today, and when she was sitting on the floor she looked like a little girl (as opposed to a baby).

I went to a small group leaders meeting at Port City Community Church this evening.  It was the first one Amanda or I have been to since just before Milly was born.  (They’re held the second Thursday of almost every month.)  I went because they were taking collections of stuff for Haitian orphans and we had some things to take.  It also happened to be a state of the church address, which is pretty interesting.  I slipped out before the Q&A so I could get back to help out at home.  Amanda was making cupcakes for Milly’s birthday party on Saturday and couldn’t easily do that while getting Milly ready for bed.

After Milly was down and Amanda finished making cupcakes we played Catan and both lost.  I think it’s the first time we’ve played online together where neither one of us won.  Not that we cheat or anything, but we are pretty good.  Okay, Amanda’s pretty good and I’m just decent.

Amanda and Milly are planning on going to Richlands to meet little Abigail Erreca, the new baby of Amanda’s old friend Sarah and her husband Mike.  I may or may not be going- depends on how I feel about work.  I mean, I’d end up working at her parents’ house the whole time except for when we’re meeting the Errecas for lunch, but still.

Zach Dotsey

After that we all sat around and watched some TV, ending up on Goonies.  I fell asleep on the couch with Amanda.  I’d been up until about 2:30 or 3:00 this morning after driving Kirsten and Ali back from the Of Montreal show in Chapel Hill last night.

Speaking of Kirsten, she came over to help out with Milly today, which was great because Milly might be teething again.  She’s been very snotty and drooly lately.  Anna came not long after Milly got up from her nap because Kirsten had forgotten something at home, which of course we all know was just an excuse for her to come play with Milly.  Kirsten left around 2:00 to go home to get ready for training at her new job but Anna stuck around a little longer until Milly went down for a nap.

Amanda, in case you’re wondering, had a long day today.  She was helping out with something at one of the properties.  She knew this in advance, which is why we were able to get some help for the day.

It’s such a blessing and I’m so thankful to Anna and Kirsten that they were able to help today, because work was pretty busy today.  And by pretty busy I mean really busy.

Zach Dotsey

Joking, of course, but really she did just fine.  We had a fun time seeing a bunch of friends and lots of babies, and Milly really enjoyed having a giant cupcake.

In order to accommodate the 11:00 party, we shifted Milly’s schedule a little.  She woke up at 8:00 as usual (actually she woke me up at 8:00 when I heard her making some noise) but she was back to sleep soon after she finished eating.  For one, she was a little fussy, but more importantly we wanted to make sure she got plenty of sleep since she’d be at a party an hour and a half earlier than she usually gets up from her nap.

Oh, I mowed first thing this morning, by the way.  I always listen to my iPhone when I mow, but today the left ear bud wasn’t working so I tossed it out.  I thought that might possibly happen because the last couple times I wound up the headphones in the back of my iPhone case the front of the ear bud came off when I pulled the headphones back off.  I’ve had that thing for a number of years now, so I guess it was time.  I got the headphones from Amanda’s iPod, which hadn’t even been opened yet (the headphones, not the iPod) and used those.  The down side is that there’s no built-in answering/pause button or microphone on it, but it does have a volume control.

Anyway, after we got back from the party we put Milly to bed and did our daily P90X workout, which was arms and shoulders today.  It wasn’t all that bad, really, though I’d like to get myself some weights for it.  We’ve only got one set of five-pound weights and some stretchable bands.  Amanda used the weights and I used the band, which did fine, but I think I’d be more comfortable with the weights.

There is, for the record, no place on my body that is not sore with the exception of my forearms, calves, hands and feet.  And face, I guess.

We got Milly up at 4:00 and headed over to the Frazelles’ for dinner.  Barry and I went surfing first, though as sore as I still was (and am), I didn’t know if I’d be able to take my board out.  Fortunately the waves were of a decent size and I took out Terry (one of Barry’s boards), which is much smaller and lighter than my own board.  It took me a while to get out because the waves were coming pretty consistently, and I never really caught a good one.  I would like to blame all of that on the fact that my body was so tired, but surfing (and paddling) uses such different muscles that the soreness had absolutely no affect on it.  No, I’m just out of surfing shape is all, and Terry’s a harder board to catch waves on for someone who is used to bigger boards.  Still, I’m glad I went out.

Barry and I went in after about 45 minutes.  Anna made some really great burgers and tots with her chocolate chocolate cake for dessert.  Two of those three items are not in the P90X diet, and one is in only sparingly.  Barry said that since I’d surfed it was all okay though.

We hung out there for a bit and let Milly play a little after her last feeding of the night.  Hannah was there because her flight to Guatemala was postponed due to a volcanic eruption near Guatemala City, which is where they were supposed to land.  It was funny to see Kirsten and Hannah help Amanda put Milly’s pajamas on because Kirsten is now such a pro at taking care of her and Hannah hasn’t really had to deal with changing her that much, if at all, really.  I think she might have once before.  Anyway, it just amused me that the younger sister knew more about changing a baby’s clothes than her older sibling.

Milly’s gotten really good at signing “please”, which is to run your open hand in a circle on your chest.  She’s still not totally comfortable with “more” and will usually sign “please” for “more” now, which is understandable since both are used in similar situations.  It’s so ridiculously freakin’ cute though.

After we got home and put the Millster to bed Amanda watched on episode of Friday Night Lights before going to bed herself.  Her stomach was bothering her.  Anna had said that hers was too, and her guess was that it was the tater tots.

Actor Dennis Hopper died today, falling in his battle to prostate cancer.  It really is odd how celebrities seem to die in bunches.

Zach Dotsey