Tea Party

She was a one-eyed, one-horse, flying...

How about the birthday outfit? Purple boots (compliments of gj). Purple velour super-star shirt. Belly paunch straining the middle. Rock-star, rhinestone kitty. Tongue hanging out, new Corinne move. Don't you love the tongue? This is a new thing. We think she just realized that she has a tongue and can make it go everywhere.



We've been having such a good time with Corinne as she comes more and more into herself. In leiu of a party we just relaxed with a few of Corinne's 'play dates', Ceily, Maxine, and Stella. The young girls socialized while the older girls slurped coffee drinks and devoured Anna's dark chocolate fondue. Whose party was it?!




The girls discuss the upcoming primaries while expressing their distrust of the toy industry. Ceily's voting for the candidate who will improve toy quality and monitor Chinese exports. Maxine is more concerned with wireless connections as her conversation on the Dora cell met with yet another dropped call. (Sigh).

Hey, Bridget, I'd like another muffin, please!

Michelle and Ceily light up the room.

What a great afternoon! The following Tuesday we headed to the doctor's office for the official one-year checkup. Corinne is in the 97% for her height/age and 75% for weight. Must be the bean and cheese quesadillas she's been inhaling during mealtimes.

We'd also like to welcome the newest addition to the extended family, Maren Benedict. My cousin, Jane Layton, just adopted a Guatemalan girl who is merely a month older than Corinne. I'm waiting for gj to send photos. Send photos, gj! :-) Jane Layton has been waiting patiently for months to finalize the adoption and her waiting finally paid off this past Wednesday when she and Maren met. Congratulations, JL, we can't wait to meet your little one! We love her already.

She's ONE!!!

Yep, One Year...One long beautiful year

The Birthday Cupcake

Some for me!

Some for Daddy...

And some for Mama...

Corinne has access to one cupboard in the house...

Can you guess what we keep in there?

She is very big about taking things out and putting things into containers. Many of her toys require placing blocks and shapes into appropriate spots. When she's not banging the crap out of them on the ground, smacking them together, or stomping on them, she gets them in the right spot.

Walking is definitely the transportation of choice now. Belly straight out and bum ready to squat, she toddles all over the house, very pleased with herself. We decided no better time than to train her early in womanly duties. hahahaha

She's a natural, isn't she? Look out Molly Maids! Actually, folks, we have the cutest video of Corinne on her birthday morning walking into the living room to find her new birthday gift: the scooter. We got a little carried away, and the video is too long to upload and post to the blog. Oops. That's why you are being entertained by the Molly Maid clip.

Corinne first met a scooter while playing with her cousings in Raleigh. It wasn't too difficult to decide what to do for her on her birthday! She couldn't wait to get the keys and be on her way! Anybody up for a Sunday drive this weekend?

Finally, this was the scene crossing the bridge from downtown onto James Island the other day. The storm front in the background had moved through earlier and offered this image. Looks like mountains in the distance. Hey look, Ranier's out!!!!

Thanks everyone for the wonderful gifts. You all have kept Corinne well equipped and continue to do so. We appreciate everything!!!

Happy Holidaze

Well, Its been a while since I've (Roman) checked in on the Corral. So what better a time than to submit photos from Christmas. The photos are in no particular order but are cute nonetheless. Instead of bringing Crumpton Christmas to Raleigh (where we would ultimately spend Christmas) we celebrated it on Dec 23 in Charleston; Just Mel, Corinne and I. We (Mel, Corinne, Chloe, Terra, and I) went to Raleigh on Christmas eve and stayed till Friday the 28th. We had a wonderful time. We left the midgets one afternoon with he grandparents and went to the movies. Made several trips to the grocery (they have Bell's beer in Raleigh now), and Derek had buddies over for a night of "Roman gives his money to strangers", or as most people call it-POKER.

WHAT A BLAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, Derek and Amy for the Hospitality, Gus and Owen for being such good cousins, Pappy and gj for the presence (presents), and everyone involved for such a wonderful time. Enjoy the pics.

Hows appropriate! Pappy (the CPA) giving a little financial lesson to Corinne.

Save, Save, Save!

Uncle Dude with the boyzz (Gus and Owen)

Christmas Morning

Corinne dressed up in her Christmas outfit.

Her stockings were so cute especially when she pooted- Her ankles swelled up ;)


Cousins! (notice Gus' attire- Lizard Boots and Firemans Hat)

Oh My God! itsa, itsa, itsa....

gj and Baby Corinne

So Happy Together

Cousins after Church

(no the boys aren't zombies-the red eye remover tool sucks)

Notice the Pug wrapping... Gee wonder who sent that Auntie A

Auntie A's puppets are a big hit. Got yer nose...

Corinnes attempt to "play along" with the whole Christmas thing was futile. I think she liked eating the bows the best.

Warm wishes

Since our last post, we've been busy getting ready for the holiday season. Corinne attended her first ever Oyster Roast at our friend Berta's. For anyone not familiar with an oyster roast, they are quite possibly our favorite pasttime during the Charleston winters. Prying open steaming hot oysters with blunt oyster knives (without gloves, of course) on a cold night leaves numb hands that need a raging fire to get warm. The hot sauce helps add some heat, too, if you're so inclined. Corinne loved the dogs. Berta has 3 big labs that would happily send a sloppy kiss her way. As you can see, she was eager to join them in their dog run.
We also attended the grand Folly Beach Christmas parade on Saturday along with a holiday parade party from friends from work, Tara and Brad with little Elliott. Many of the children at Tara's were infants. Corinne had a blast with new toys, new people, new stimuli. Corinne decided she wanted to join the parade.

The parade started at nap time, so she didn't last very long. Can you see the obvious whine starting here?

Corinne wasn't much help trying to put up the tree this year. She kept trying to eat it. It couldn't taste that good. I did some figuring and realized that I have had this artificial tree since I lived on my own in Glasgow in 1995! Hard to believe the fake fronds are still hanging on. But, hey, it works!

Roman is ending his last week away for work. Lucky for us gj came down for another bonding week with Corinne. Poor gj. It seems every time she visits the grandkids somebody is sick! Corinne has been battling a fever and vomiting all week. This is the first time we've had to really deal with her not feeling well to where she wouldn't (and couldn't) eat anything. Her spirits have been fairly low with whimpering (and an occasional whine). Of course, we would swim across the Atlantic and back for her if it would make her smile and feel better. After being vomited on for the third time, Mom and I headed to the Pig for popsicles and Pedialyte. Hopefully we'll see her perk up soon.

We're also hoping for some cool, wintery weather. I drove down Folly Road Tuesday listening to 'Frosty the Snowman' on the (cheezy) Christmas radio station with my AC cranked. I kid you not. It was 80 degrees outside. Ahhhhh!

Hope everyone is getting into the holiday spirit in your area. Until the next post..... Happy Holidays!

Many Thanks

Ahhh...the relaxing of Thanksgiving, eating large, melting into the couch like so much syrup. We've had a wonderful break just enjoying the daily routine without the hustle of the work week. Corinne babbles more and more these days, the majority of which is 'dadadadadadadada." I'm desperately trying to get that mmmmm sound in there :-) She's really imitating sounds, too. One of her favorites is the "Ah-oh" sound. She'll sing song this over and over to herself. This is one of the more popular spots which usually warrants one of those "Ah-oh's" from mama.


Roman aided the fellow fishermen of Edenton, NC last week as they stocked striped bass 'stripers' to their local waterways. He compared the small town to Beaufort, very quaint and historic. Meanwhile, Pappy and gj were enjoying hanging out in Charleston with the girls. Thanks again to Mom and Dad for helping us out.


Roman only works with 4 other people at the Hatchery, so everyone pulls a holiday shift at some point. He opted to work for Thanksgiving so he can relax with Corinne for her first Christmas and New Year's. We headed to Mt Pleasant to join Joel and Suzi's crew. There's never a shortage of fried turkey, Mandy's butternut squash, Nougettina (sp?) dessert, beer, wine, and extra kids to play with Corinne.

Ka-BOOM!

Jodi and Katie are being prepped for babysitting.

Christopher is thinking PROM in a few years :-)

We are so thankful to have so many good friends. Hope everyone enjoyed time with their friends and family as well. Gobble, gobble!

Walkin???

You see for yourself-
These vids were taken on the night before her 10 month b-day (11-9-07) Sorry for the delay in posting.





On one of the attempts, Corinne fell and hit her tooth/lip to my knee while recording the video and she's been a bit "gunshy" of walking ever since. At this point crawling is not only more efficient, but safer too!

Boogie Fever

The change in the weather seems to have nabbed us all lately. While we have been lucky enough (so far) not to develop pneumonia, the seasonal stuffy head, cough, and chest congestion has run its course through Corinne and me. How does Roman manage escape all of these maladies?!

We picked Corinne up from daycare several days last week for fever and wondered if it was the two more teeth she's cutting not just illness. (This makes #6 and #7).

We headed to a baby shower this past Saturday that was held at a clubhouse overlooking the Folly River. It was a beautiful night. Many of the couples had young children around Corinne's age. I got my first taste of chasing a fast moving baby all night long. Whew. I swear, she could not and would not be stopped. And she did NOT want to be held. We danced to Mystic Vibrations, a reggae band, and Corinne got her first taste of a live performance.

It was great to see old friends, too. Amy and Chris were up from Jacksonville. They lived in our house before we moved in. Glad to hear they are happy and prosperous!

Roman is off to Edenton, NC to play with more fish. Pappy and gj will arrive to save the day again.