Favorite Pictures of the Week

Don't ever tell me that my kids are bad eaters.

My beautiful boy.

Getting tickles from Daddy.

Choochy & Charlie in town

Our friends, Ty and Alaina Neal, drove in for a spectacular weekend of golf at Colleton River Plantation. While the boys were playing golf, Alaina and I spent quality time with our lovely children. Pictured above is Lainey's oldest girl, Frances, who is also known as Frankie, but is known to us as Choochy. She is right around the same age as Squeege, and they had a blast all weekend. It's so adorable to listen in on toddler conversations. For instance, this is a sample of a conversation that they had one afternoon while Squeege was using the bathroom:
Squeege: "Choochy, I pooped and peed! Come see my poop and pee!"
Choochy: "Okay!"
Squeege: "Lookit! You see my little nuggies? Look at my poop! Look at my pee!"
Choochy: "Wow! Good job, Squeege! Do you want me to flush it?"
Squeege: "Uh, no. I can do it. Thanks!"
Choochy: "Okay! You can do it!"
Squeege: "Yeah. I can do it." (pauses, then realizes he hasn't shown enough people his poop) "Mommy, you need to come see my poop!"
Choochy: "Do you want my Mommy to see it too?"
Squeege (very excitedly): "Yeah! Your Mommy can see it if she wants to!"
Choochy: "Okay!" (waddles upstairs to get her Mom, who is trying to put little Charlie down for a nap)

When not having intense and thought-provoking conversations about their bodily functions, the kids were more than happy to play together until completely exhausted. They behaved themselves surprisingly well while at Monster Pizza, occupied by each other and by the magnetic dart board. Lainey and I almost got to have an adult conversation. Almost.

Friday was spent at Hampton Lake, the happiest place on Earth. Our older kids splashed around in the wave pool while Lainey, Caroline (pictured above with her daughter Bella and my Garrett), and I socialized. I got my first sunburn of the year, which feels SO good right now. It feels especially good when Evan slaps me on the back with his "sword," which is really a yardstick.
Best story of the day: Squeege runs up to me and says, "Mommy, can I pee in the pool?" Not thinking much of it, I said, "Sure!" I figured he would just run into the wave pool, squat down, and go, like I do all the time. I mean, uh, like I've heard that other people do all the time... Nonetheless, I turn back around to attend to my youngest. Seconds later, a woman is running over to me, asking if "that boy over there" is mine. Amidst cackling from all around the pool, I notice that Squeege has stepped over to the edge of the pool, pulled down his swim trunks, and is about to pee into the pool! I bust out laughing, run over to him, and shuffle him to the bathroom. Ha ha ha. I guess I learned my lesson in pool etiquette that day.

This is Alaina's youngest daughter, Charlotte, who goes by Charlie. Isn't she gorgeous? She's just a few weeks younger than Garrett. Side note: we are super-lucky that all of our friends have gorgeous little girls who are right around our sons' ages. At least we'll like our in-laws! Another plus to having boys: we don't have to fork over the cash for the weddings!

Both Friday and Saturday night this weekend we had a babysitter, so we all went out and did some misbehavin'. It feels so good to go out on the town every now and then. It really makes you appreciate the nights you stay in with the fam even more.

During the day on Saturday we went down to The Salty Dog and hung around. Pictured above is our son, Albert Einstein. It was such a beautiful day, and it was the perfect opportunity to do the "tourist" thing. By living here full-time we really miss a lot of fun stuff that we feel is reserved for visitors. I can't believe we don't spend more time at The Salty Dog: they have the best view! And the best margaritas.

This weekend provided both Lainey and I a small taste of what things will be like when our littlest ones are older: constant playmates with a very volatile relationship. By Sunday we could tell that Choochy and Squeege were tired of one another. A little more fighting over stuff, a little less sharing, a lot more fit-pitching. At least we have that to look forward to....

Family Night @ Hampton Lake

Our friends, Jeff and Lorrie Spencer, own property at Hampton Lake, the most awesome family community in the history of mankind. It is an amazing place with awesome amenities and great events, all geared toward families. Last Thursday, we invited ourselves to one of their family events and made ourselves right at home. The picture above is my little Garrett with his "twin," Garrett Spencer.

After dinner, we took a boat ride around the lake. The above photo is of Squeege and Trevor Zinchini hanging off the side of the boat as we cruised around.

Squeege also got to be boat captain with Uncle Spency, but he seemed to be more interested in honking the horn than paying attention to where he was navigating.

LCC Egg Hunt

Our church, LowCountry Community Church in Bluffton, hosts the LowCountry's Largest Egg Hunt every Easter (side note: if you're looking for an awesome church with amazing people and a super-amazing pastor, you've got to hit up LCC!). We were unable to get the kids ready in time for the Bluffton hunt, but this year they also did an Egg Hunt at Hilton Head High School, so I packed up the munchkins and drove ALL THE WAY to the Island.

Once the announcer shouted "On your mark, get set, GO!" Squeege, in all of his hard-headed adorable-ocity, dug in his heels and refused to do anything I said. People were staring at me like I was insane as I jumped and hollered like a preteen cheerleader, trying to convince him that the eggs scattered all over the football field had CANDY in them, but nothing worked.

Until he saw other kids gathering the eggs in their baskets...

...and then he realized that he had just been given an opportunity that only comes around once in a millennium. Remember that game show where contestants raced around the grocery store and gathered as many groceries in their shopping carts that they could until time ran out? That's what it felt like as we barreled our stroller around the field, bumping Garrett all over the place as Squeege threw the little plastic eggs into the underseat basket.

He was thrilled about the whole experience, as you can tell. I think he has realized early on that he might as well just sit back and enjoy the ride. He's got his big brother for entertainment, and that's more than enough to keep all of us occupied.

Once the eggs were unloaded & disposed of in the recycling bins, Squeege wasted no time unwrapping the candy and stuffing his face to near sickness. In all of my motherly wisdom, I decided to take a toddler on a sugar high and a 6 month old to WingFest at Shelter Cove Community Park.

This is the result: a toddler who has just crashed from his sugar high, refusing to wait in line for the bouncy house. I've never spent $10 better. Nothing like letting everyone at WingFest see how well I've taught my son to throw a fit. At least we got out of the house long enough to avoid the mountain of laundry I've done such a good job of ignoring up until now. Mission Accomplished.

Lost Photos

My grandmother (thanks, Gan-Gan!) sent me a CD of photos from our trip to the NC Mountains this past November. Here's a few funny ones:

My sweet boy. Always a bundle of joy. Unless you have a camera-
then he's either screaming or pouting.

During cold season, it feels like this is all I do- pick boogers.

And when I'm not picking boogers, I'm pretending to drive choo-choo trains. Or cars. Or monster trucks. Or diggers. Or steamrollers. Or boats.

St. Patty's Day in Savannah

What were we thinking, right? It seemed like a great idea in theory- take the kids, ride the ferry from Hutchinson Island to River Street, walk around and enjoy the festivities. In actuality, it was much better than expected. My two girlfriends, Caroline and Elizabeth, and I drove to Savannah with our brood early in the morning so as to avoid the piles of vomit and puddles of urine that show up without fail every St. Pat's weekend.

We threw the kids into their strollers, which we then threw onto the ferry. Here's the munchkins getting all pumped up for their 1-minute boat ride:


We three moms and our three strollers walked around downtown for a while and enjoyed watching the parade with the only three pairs of sober eyes in Savannah. Surprisingly, we only saw one person completely incapacitated at 10:30 that morning, and it was a young woman being held up by two grown men, who seemed to be having trouble escorting her down River Street. If you're looking for a classy lady, you better stay away from Wet Willie's. Nothing good happens at Wet Willie's, at least from what we saw. Especially after I let Squeege and Garrett take a couple of Jell-O shots. Here's the end result:



Just joshin'. Squeege was just "croaking" and Garrett just wanted to chill. Both boys were angels, which is a phenomenon which I choose not to test next year. In retrospect, it was a nice experience to say I was one of the few who elected to subject my toddler to such Irish debauchery. I think if I turn back to look at the city of Savannah again I'll turn into a pillar of salt. Nonetheless, it was a nice day of fun & friendship with my homegirls. Next time we need to go to the petting zoo.

"Mommy, take a picture of my teeth."

Before and After

Here's the little dude at 6 weeks:

Snoozy & adorable, snuggling up in his car seat, his tiny little nose and mouth poking out from his Little Giraffe blanket. When his eyes were open, he enjoyed spitting up, pooping, and screaming.

And then here he is at 6 months:

Looking more and more like his Daddy every day. He's got two little teeth poking through his bottom gumline and he's just about to start crawling all over the place. I think he's going to be the spittin' image of Daddy, with the gangly chicken legs and the big, skinny hands and feet. He loves to laugh at his big bro, who loves to tickle him and blow raspberries on his tummy. He's still not sleeping through the night, despite eating more than should be humanly possible. Thank God he doesn't have his mother's hips, otherwise he'd weigh a metric ton by now.

the homies

So while Squeege is being way too cool & mature for everyone, Garrett is having a blast hanging with his new best friends, Max & Miles. He & his homies like to just hang around his MTV Crib, watch the fan, play with the hanging fish mobile, poop, pee, barf, scream, meow, etc.
Miles (pictured left) and Max (on the right) are just about the coolest kitties on the planet. We adopted them from the HH Humane Association (buy one get one free!), and they have rocked from Day 1. When they're not chillen with their BFF Garrett, they're hanging (literally) with Squeege:

does Squeege feel older?

he likes to cross his legs like an old dude, so that must mean he's WAY more mature than those wimpy little toddlers.

From IslandPacket.com

Let's face it: This dude is a ringer for Mickelson

MacGillivray gets a thrill from winning contest, appearing in commercial, meeting Lefty

By JAMES MCMAHON
jmcmahon@golfersguide.com

Published Tuesday, March 11, 2008

• Photo: Bluffton resident Mark MacGillivray, doing his best imitation ...
  Jonathan Dyer/The Island Packet
  Enlarge Image
  

Since the Verizon Heritage staged its first PGA Tour event here nearly 40 years ago, Lowcountry residents have always had a special relationship with the golfers that compete at Harbour Town Golf Links.

And while everyone has their favorite, there's no arguing the importance these golfers have played on the sporting landscape of our little corner of the East Coast.

For his part, Phil Mickelson (and wife Amy, of course) was among the most popular and most followed players when his schedule annually included the Heritage. While Mickelson hasn't visited Hilton Head the week after The Masters in quite some time, one local resident enjoys a connection with Lefty that goes far beyond being a rooting member of his gallery.

If you weren't really paying attention and you ran into Bluffton resident Mark MacGillivray you could easily mistake him for Phil Mickelson. And if you happen to be around Mark when he went into one of his Mickelson impressions, you might be convinced you were in Lefty's presence. From the way he stalks his putts, to the gestures when they fall and even in the sheepish, awe shucks grins, MacGillivray has Phil's mannerism stone cold down.

• Photo: of Phil Mickelson.
  The Associated Press
  Enlarge Image
  

"I'm not a left-handed golfer," said MacGillivray, a scratch golfer in his own right. "I guess I just have the mannerism a little bit more than the straight look-alike. I don't do it on purpose (most of the time) it's just something people tell me all the time."

Don't misunderstand; Mark is not one of those lifetime look-alikes that try to gain fame and favors based on his likeness to a celebrity. To the contrary, MacGillivray would much rather keep his Phil likeness and impression to his closest inner circle of family and friends. He doesn't fool people into thinking he is Lefty, rather he entertains those lucky enough to be around when he decides to channel him.

"I've never wanted to be some look-alike that travels across the country doing impressions like some circus clown," said Mark, a vice president and mortgage loan officer at Bank of America. "Just around the golf course I'll ham it up and do the impressions a little bit."

So, why then am I writing about MacGillivray and his Phil persona?

Because Mark's likeness to Lefty, his deft impression of him and a little bit of good fortune all conspired to find the Colleton River resident clear across the country last month shooting a commercial with one of golf's most likeable professionals.

Acting on the suggestion of a client, MacGillivray entered Crowne Plaza's "A Meeting With Phil" contest, submitting a video of him impersonating Lefty on the golf course. The contest, which will culminate in a series of six "A Meeting With Phil" commercials, sought every-day golfers that in one way or another had a tie to Phil. Categories included people struck by a Mickelson tee ball, the next great player, left-handed golfers and Mickelson look-alikes. Almost on a whim, MacGillivray entered the later of the categories with little or no expectations it would lead to a part in two of the six national commercial spots.

Having watched the video, it really is spot on to Mickelson's mannerisms, and that, coupled with the similar features between the two, led the producers of the commercials to invite MacGillivray out to Las Angeles for a casting call.

MacGillivray and his wife, Heather, headed out to Las Angeles, where he found 20 or so other Phil look-alikes all competing for a place in the commercial. There was only room for four in the commercial, and Mark left the West Coast grateful for the opportunity but expecting nothing more.

To his surprise, several days later MacGillivray got the call that he had indeed been chosen to appear in the ads with his favorite golfer, and four days later he was off to the West Coast again, this time to San Diego to shoot the spots.

What was once an impression for fun had turned into an opportunity not only to co-star in a pair of national commercial but to do so with one of the most popular players on the PGA Tour. Mark and Heather would meet Mickelson on the first day of shooting in San Diego, and their longtime impressions of Lefty would be immediately confirmed.

"It was a real honor to be there and meet Phil," MacGillivray said. "We've always been fans of Phil Mickelson so it was cool to meet him. He had a great sense of humor and was really self-deprecating through the whole thing."

Sitting face-to-face with four varying images of him, MacGillivray said, didn't throw Lefty off, and Mark looked to break the ice during the pair's first conversation together.

"I do have the man boobs," MacGillivray said. "So I told Phil that 'well we both have the man boobs.' He was like, hey now."

The commercial, MacGillivray said, is along the lines of the "Man Laws" campaign Miller Lite ran much of last year, with "the look-alikes" all sitting around a table with Mickelson, interacting with the two-time Masters champion. While Mark has yet to see the spots in their final form, he said they will air during the Verizon Heritage.

"I just hope I don't come off looking like a boob," MacGillivray quipped when asked about seeing the commercials for the first time with friends and family around. "After getting all this un-sought-after attention and then everyone knowing to expect the commercials, you just don't want to look like a boob."

In addition to spending time with Mickelson, MacGillivray and his wife were fortunate to meet CBS analyst David Feherty and Mickelson's popular caddie Jim "Bones" MacKay. While he enjoyed both, Mark was especially impressed by Feherty, who is well known for his humorous, engaging personality.

"Feherty was unbelievable," MacGillivray said. "He was non stop. He really is a genius."

Playing the role of ambassador to his Lowcountry home, MacGillivray used a small portion of his time with Lefty to encourage him to make a return to the Verizon Heritage, where he was a regular during the 1990s.

"His comment was they are just working so hard on the majors these days that he is just so worn out when (The Masters) is over," MacGillivray said. "But he did tell me that Harbour Town was his favorite course on the PGA Tour, and both Feherty and Bones backed that up separately."

Well, we might not have Mickelson here during Heritage week, but thanks to Mark MacGillivray there's still a little hometown connection to one of the area's favorite professional golfers.

Squeege's Monster Birthday Party

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Friday night was Squeege's birthday party at Monster Pizza. It was a ton of fun, with a bunch of little munchkins running around, terrorizing the fine dining establishment. Total chaos- like a room full of monkeys. We pretty much drove away anyone else who wanted a Monster Pizza that evening, so we had full run of the whole joint. Thanks to Julie and Damon for sacrificing their busy Friday night for us! It was so great to have all of our buddies there to celebrate our oldest dude's 3rd birthday. I can't believe he's been a part of our lives for 3 whole years already! I don't even remember what life was like pre-babies. No wonder I slept until 11am every day- I didn't have anything awesome to get up for like I do now!

Speaking of awesome, Garrett is almost 6 months old already. He's the big .5! He's got a little tooth poking through, and two new nicknames as of this afternoon:

• when he has gas, his name is Vladimir. As in Putin.
• when he spits up, his name is Barfolomew.
  

So I have two little dudes ready for their next checkups, which means both are going to be leaving the doctor's office screaming, because it's time for more shots. YAY!

More Phil stuff...

Okay, so I know this blog has become all about the whole Phil thing, and I apologize. But when we look back at this stuff when we're old and wrinkly, we're going to want to remember every bit of this stuff. The following is an excerpt from something I steefed* from the commercial set in San Diego.

(Preface: this is a bunch of ideas that the producers had for the Phils to do. The commercial probably won't feature all of these. Also, there were to Phil look-alikes named Mark, so "Mark Braces" is my hubby. It's a lot funnier when you know that Blake is an Asian actor they threw into the commercial. He looks nothing like Phil.)

LOOKALIKES:

Mike Slyce: Asks Phil a styling question- "How do you get your hair to go like that, like what do you use? Mine always sticks up here." The discussion takes a diversion from golf to grooming.

Dave to Mike: One look-alike mistakes another look-alike for the real Phil.
Dave: Nice to meet you Phil, I'm a big fan. I watch you all the time. It's an honor to be here.
Mike: I'm not Phil, that's Phil.

Group: Discuss whose individual parts would make the perfect Phil look-alike - "Your nose is great. If he had your nose and my hair, that would be a perfect Phil."

Mark Braces: The look-alike next to Phil copies every tiny movement that Phil does.

Dave Coonan: Realizes that the look-alikes could help Phil by signing his autograph for fans. They practice Phil's signature on the jotters.

Blake: Blake nods along to other people's stories, as if the same thing happens to him all the time. He's tormented by that stuff all the time.

Group: Tell them to mimic the style of Phil's laugh, the first time he laughs at something.

While someone else is talking, one of them studies Phil and tries to fix his own hair to match Phil's.

One of the Phils sits sideways on, because that's his better Phil side. Phil should ask him why he is sitting that way.

ACTUAL STORIES WE CAN ASK THEM TO RECOUNT:

Group: Discuss the perks of being mistaken for Phil: getting free carts, window seats at restaurants.

What are the downsides? Overhearing people say Phil's no way as good as he used to be.

Dave Coonan: When you're being intimate with your wife, you don't want to hear it then.

Mike Slyce: How taxing it can be- "Sometimes I'm not in the mood to be Phil Mickelson, like if I'm at the airport and I've been in meetings all day."

Bradley: Having a golf course in a panic, because they thought I was Phil, and nobody had forewarned them I was coming.

*to steef is to steal, but it sounds a lot cuter when you say you steefed something.

The Golf Channel- Commercial Plug

Click here to see the segment that was featured on the Golf Channel this morning about the upcoming Crowne Plaza commercial with my super-famous hubby!

On a side note, I think we need to have one of those super-famous combo names, like Brangelina. What should it be? Meather? Hark? Heathark? Marther? Hmmm....pretty lame. Scratch that idea.

From the Blogger Archive

February 24th, 2008

Okay, so lots has happened since I last posted. I have become the wife of a huge celebrity, so I might start getting my personal assistant-slash-nanny to post on my blog from now on.
If you haven’t read it in all of the tabloids already, my husband has been chosen by the Crowne Plaza to be the Phil Mickelson look-alike in their upcoming ad campaign. We’re heading to San Diego tomorrow morning to film the commercials and do the print ads. I’m pretty sure that Phil Mickelson is going to think we’re awesome, so he might ask us to be his best friends. No offense, current best friends, but if this occurs, I will instantly drop you like hot cakes. Unless you suddenly get your own plane. In that case, I’m open to negotiations.
Nonetheless, the next time you read about me, it’ll probably be on the cover of Us Magazine. But just in case, you should keep checking my blog. I’ll order my assistant to write something interesting in the next day or so.

NEWS FLASH

Even celebrities like myself have horrible episodes in their charmed lives, as witnessed by Britney Spears. The same night that my husband found out that he was selected to be in the Crowne Plaza ad campaign, he got a phone call from his stepmom, who said that his father was having a heart attack. Terrified, Mark had to forego the birthday trip to Atlanta with me and the boys to visit his ailing father in Tampa. Thankfully, Mark’s father is okay. He spent two days in the ICU, but is now resting at home. Thanks to everyone for their continued prayers for his health and speedy recovery.

February 25th, 2008

This morning was spent packing up, checking in at the Atlanta Airport, and waiting 45 MINUTES at the Security Checkpoint, where I overheard one guy getting a cavity search. (“Now, I’m going to touch you in some very sensitive areas. Are you okay with that?” The guy who was doing the cavity search was as gay as a football bat, and he had “randomly” chosen a handsome man. I’ve never seen anyone so excited as they pulled on their purple latex gloves. I think we might have been on Candid Camera.)

So I’m on the airplane, flying out to San Diego right now, thinking about my babies. I already miss them so much! I talked to Evan last night before he went to bed, and he kept saying, “Mommy, I want you to come home.” And then he started bawling! Not the cry that I usually hear, but the super-sad cry that just melts my heart. I was sitting at the Corner Bakery in Atlanta crying my eyes out, thinking about how I’m not going to survive 4 days away from my babies. A nice guy must have overheard me blubbering like a baby, because he brought me some tissues.

But on the other hand, I do need a break. I’m sort of burnt out on this whole Mom thing. Yes, I love my children, and yes, nothing makes me happier in this whole world, but I guess I’m not cut out to be SuperMom for all of eternity.

I also feel like my husband and I have gotten disconnected to the point where we’re just roommates and caregivers, not best friends. This vacation in San Diego will be a great opportunity to spend some quality time with him. And because the stork visited us before we got married, it will almost be like we’re honeymooning, so it’ll be nice!

Monday Evening

After settling in and getting ready, Mark and I went and had a delcious dinner at Croce’s, named after the late musician Jim Croce (the dude who sang the song “Operator”). It was super-cool, with a jazz band playing & yummy yummy food. After din-din we walked around downtown San Diego, which is really laid-back. If you’ve never been to California, I’ll let you in on a little secret: it’s exactly how you would imagine it. Sunny & 70 degrees, always. Lots of really nice people & palm trees. We didn’t get back to the hotel room until about 4:30 East Coast time. I had a lot of help keeping my eyelids opened from double espresso and sugar-free Red Bull, that’s for sure.

Tuesday

My body must have been on East Coast time, because I woke up at 6:30 and went downstairs for some breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Mark joined me a little bit later, and we headed to Balboa Park, where there was so much beautiful architecture & lots of beautiful gardens.

We then went to La Jolla, which is about 10 minutes North of San Diego. We went to an awesome waterfront restaurant called George’s for lunch. Here’s a shot of us, with the best seat in the house! The weather was beautiful, the food was dee-lish, and of course, the fact that we could have an adult conversation was fantastic!

We had to be back at the hotel by 1pm for the first day of Mark’s shoot with Phil. I waited around a little bit with him and the other look-alikes, and I got a few Phil sightings in before I got restless and went back to the hotel room for a little catnap.

After his first day of shooting wrapped up, we went downtown again for drinks & dinner at The Palm. The other look-alikes joined us, and so did a really hilarious guy that Mark had met while waiting in the Charlotte airport on Monday. This guy, Mike, was so funny. He had me cracking up all night.

Wednesday

The boys had to start shooting at 8:30am that next day, so I decided to do the tourist thing & catch a trolley tour. My initial desired destination was the San Diego Zoo, but, of course, they had to stop at the outdoor mall before that. How could I resist? It would be rude of me to not at least check it out.

Meanwhile, two hours passes by, and I get a call from Mark that they’re almost done shooting for the day. I decide to hop back to the hotel and watch the rest of the production. I got there just in time to get to meet Phil! I just about died whenever I was talking to him. He’s super-nice & friendly, and SO CUTE. SOOOOOOOOO CUTE. I was beaming like I just won the lottery.

We went to Old Town San Diego that evening, and that’s all we could talk about all night. In between yummy margaritas and enchiladas, we talked about the shoot, the producers, and, of course, Phil. We had so much fun with the other look-alikes, who were all really nice and funny. Their commercial debuts the Thursday of our Heritage golf tournament!

It was a short trip, but totally worth it. I could have spent another week here, doing the cheesy tourist stuff & enjoying the perfect weather, but I MISSED MY BABIES SO MUCH I WANTED TO BARF.

*for photos from our trip, please go here

My little buckin' bronco

Squeege's Birthday Extravaganza

Squeege's birthday was tons of fun. The Georgia Aquarium was so cool, and Meme's condo is in the heart of Buckhead, so everything was super-close by. For more photos, go here.

Phil is my best friend.

Can't put the experience in San Diego into words. For more photos, go here.

Look for the commercials starring my husband and my new boyfriend to start the Thursday of Heritage (April 17th).