November and December 2010

Yep, it's going to be another long one! Mommy's been REALLY busy with work, so the blog has not been tended to. But I'm baaack, so it's on now!

First off, we'll start with your FABULOUS 2nd birthday party! Because of your love for Nemo and all things aquatic, we went with an Under the Sea theme. Your daddy went ALL out with the decorations, and I must say, I think your cake turned out really well! Thank goodness for Emme! She made the cakes themselves while I was out of town, and then transported them to Franklin, so I could decorate them when I got back into town (the day before the party!). All in all, the party was a great success. You had so much fun with all of your friends, and you actually blew out one of your candles! I was so impressed!! Who knows what you'll be into next year, but I can't wait to start planning that party!!

You had another momentous event in November as well - your first Eskimo cookie! These are your Emme and Uncle Jimmy's favorite cookies that they've been making since they were kids. These are like gold in our family, so I couldn't wait to have you try them. By the look on your face, I see you feel the same way about them that we do!!!

I don't know if I wrote earlier this year about the huge flood that hit Nashville, but one of the victims was the Opryland Hotel. They finally reopened in November, so we took you there to see all of their gorgeous Christmas decorations. You loved looking at the lights, and you even got to ride a train! Mommy and Daddy liked it too because we went a little early in the season and there were no lines and no crowds - NICE! The only downside was Santa wasn't there (you did run into Mrs. Clause in the hallway though!).

For Thanksgiving we went to Ripley and to Little Rock. Emme made you a really cute brown overall outfit that you wore to Uncle Rob and Aunt Pam's. You were so cute, but being the wild, 2-year old that you are, you busted a hole right through the pants of the outfit! Oh well!! You'll also notice a t-shirt that you wore to see your Grandpa and Meemo and Beepo. Yep, that's right - you're going to be a big brother!!! Can you believe it? Mommy can't! We've told you a couple of times, but you don't quite get the concept yet. I think once Mommy's belly starts growing, you'll figure it out. But that shirt was a really cute way to tell everyone the news. You wore it in Ripley and in Little Rock, and everyone pretty much had the same reaction - "Ahh, that's cute"; doubletake; "Wait, what?!?!" Hee Hee!!

Well, December has been just as eventful (maybe more) than all the other months. You had your first visit to the ER! Your daddy was picking you up from school and you guys were walking past that big porch swing they have out front. He was trying to get you in the car, and you didn't want to go, so he had you by the hand and you went limp and POP! You basically pulled your elbow out of joint. We weren't sure at first - we though you'd done something to your wrist. But you wouldn't move your entire arm all night, so the nurses said to take you to the ER. We found out there that you had Nursemaid's Elbow which is really common with 2-year-olds (especially stubborn ones!). The doctor basically popped the elbow back in place in within 5 minutes you were running around the room like nothing had happened. Your daddy and I were so happy that it was so easily fixable, and you were fine.

We also got a huge snowfall in Nashville in December too. Mommy had to work, so Daddy stayed home with you and you guys played in the snow! He even bought you a sled! It looks like you guys had a blast!!!

I'll update you on Christmas in the next post. It was so much fun, but it's not over yet (you've got one more surprise coming, so once that's in place, I'll post all about it!). Until next time, Kiss Kiss from Mommy.

Fall is here!

This is going to be another long one, Buddy. Mommy's been REALLY busy with work, so I haven't had a whole lot of free time to write in the blog, but I'm going to try to recap the past few weeks (if I can remember everything!).

For Uncle Jay's birthday, we all (you, me, Daddy, Granddaddy, KK, Uncle Jay, EP and Baby Grant) went to Pickwick Lake for the weekend to celebrate. We stayed in your Fullen cousins' condo and had a blast. We played on the playground, walked on the dock at the lake and got to see lots of boats (really big boats!). I think Uncle Jay enjoyed his birthday (and you did too)!

You even let Baby Grant watch Nemo with you!

After we got back home, we decided to go ahead and give you another one of your birthday presents early. A tricycle! It's so cool because it grows with you. Right now we push it and you just sit there. Soon you'll learn how to pedal and you'll be off and running (or biking!).
One weekend, you and I headed to Little Rock. Our mission was to go to the World Cheese Dip Championship!! Doing this meant we had to leave bright and early on a Saturday (missing the last zoo class - we made 2 out of the 6 classes! Oh well, we'll call it a donation to the zoo!). So we packed up and left and got to Little Rock mid-afternoon. We picked up Emme and Papa and headed out to the park for the Championship. WELLLLL, Mommy was crushed to find out when we got there that they had RUN OUT OF CHEESE DIP!! Seriously!?!?! Yep, it happened. So we loaded back in the car and headed back to Emme's house. The rest of the weekend was way more fun! You got to have a cookout with Uncle Jimmy, TJ, Sarah, Kevin, Dennis, Ruthie and Aunt Edith! You went on a tractor ride with Papa and played ball with TJ.
We even raced golf carts - we smoked Aunt Edith!!
Then we visited with Grandpa and Meemo and Beepo. You were so cute giving your goldfish to Riley (their poodle). Such a good sharer! We got to have our usual US Pizza as always, too!

Last weekend we went to the pumpkin patch with the gang. You had a blast!! There were animals, a maze and all kinds of great kids activities. You and Abigail were so cute going back into the woods (you guys keep sneaking off in the woods together - anything we need to know!?!?) and playing. Then you all found the troughs with corn and that kept you very entertained. We were even able to take a group picture!! You can't see it but we were covered in dust. It was so dry and I think we all had a nice layer of dust all over us. But it was still loads of fun.

THEN (I know, there's more!), you and Daddy loaded up and drove to Ripley for a few days. Mommy didn't know what to do with herself with all of the free time, but I found some good uses for it. But I sure was glad to see you back home!! I think you guys had a lot of fun. From what I hear, you got to see tractors and cows, and you played in a sandbox and went to the park!

In between all of this, you've started a new class! You're now in Miss Jessica's room upstairs (and back with Berkley!). You seem to have adjusted very well. I wasn't sure how you'd handle it, but you seem to be doing just fabulously. I think the main reason is that there are some toy sea creatures in the room. You were so excited to see a stingray!!!! And Miss Jessica is so impressed with how smart you are (including the fact that you even knew what a stingray is!). She keeps writing on your daily reports how she's just amazed at how much you know (colors, shapes, animals)!! You're Daddy is trying to take credit for this, but we all know who's the brains behind this operation, right!?!?!

Speaking of school, they had their annual Fall Fest this past Friday night. With your love of all things aquatic (and Nemo, especially), Mommy decided that you'd be awfully cute dressed up as Nemo for Halloween. So this was our first chance to wear the costume. You weren't too thrilled about getting in it, but once you were in, you were OK. As soon as we got there they were taking pictures so we put the headpiece on and you actually kept it on for pictures!! I couldn't believe it. But very shortly after we got there, it was "Nemo off!" If only you'd known what a celebrity you were at school! While you were walking through the halls, all of the little kids kept saying "There's Nemo!!" They were so excited!
Once we paraded you around to see all of your teachers, we had a bite to eat and then you played in the jumpy house! You did NOT want to get out of it, so I wasn't quite sure how I was going to get you out (it was an infant jumpy house, so there was no way Mommy was fitting into it to get you out).
But luckily one time you bounced and fell right by the opening, so I snatched you out as soon as I could get a good grip!!! I know, it sounds horrible, but it really wasn't that bad! Then you went back inside and played with Bella (she's one of our friends from your old class)! She is so cute (I wish I had a picture of you too). You guys kept giving each other hugs - it was so precious. HOWEVER, you got a little excited and kept pushing her down. I know it wasn't mean spirited, you were just really excited. Poor, sweet Bella - every time you pushed her down, she'd cry for a second and I'd make you apologize to her and then she'd just laugh and you guys would hug. It was so precious!!!! But after about the fourth push, it was time to go!

I think that wraps up the past few weeks (I won't say in a nutshell because this has gotten pretty long, I know, sorry!). We'll talk soon because we've got lots coming up for the Halloween weekend. Kiss Kiss from Mommy!

End of summer fun!

Hey Buddy! Well, we survived a 3-day weekend at the lake with all 4 couples AND kids! It was actually a lot of fun and not too stressful! Of course, things didn't go as planned. Uncle Jay got a stomach bug, so he and EP didn't come until Friday, but everyone else came on Thursday. We were supposed to leave a little after work, but by the time your Daddy got home from work and we got everything packed and ready to go, I think it was almost around 8:30 by the time we left!! So needless to say, you slept the whole way! Friday morning we got up and went to the lake! It was your first boat ride, and I think you really liked it! You got to ride in the boat, swim in the lake (you can thank me later for that one - the water was freezing!!!), and play on the shore with rocks (what fun!).
We tried to get you to take a nap on the boat but you and Abigail kept playing, so that just wasn't working. We took you home and you slept like a champ! Each night you all 3 took a bath together, so of course we had to get the blackmail shots!!


Then the next day we took a big group picture. This has been in the making for months! We girls chose your outfits, and Emme made every single on of them!! They turned out super cute! We couldn't have asked for anything better! We wrangled you all Saturday morning, and found the perfect spot. I must say it was quite a production to get this picture! Jason was manning the bubble gun to distract you all. The rest of the guys were in charge of moving the bench around to the perfect spot. All of the moms were trying to make sure that everyone sat still and poor Nicole was the one taking pictures! I think she did a fabulous job though, and she got some great pictures!!!


After that, we took you, Abigail and Ellie to the park so you guys could play out some of that energy!
I think it just got you more wired up though. I put you down and you weren't having it. The Arkansas game was on at the same time too, so your Daddy laid down with you for a while, but you just weren't going to sleep. So I finally loaded you in the car to drive you sleep (another one of my sneaky tricks) - that took about 2 minutes!! And boy did you need it. I think I finally had to wake you up at 4:30 to make sure you'd go back to sleep at night! All in all it was a great weekend!

Then this weekend you had another class at the zoo. Your Daddy had to work, so I took you by myself. And let me just say, you were NOT on your best behavior! You didn't want to sit in the circle; you wanted to run around (and out of) the room; and then when you saw the animal crackers, it was all over!! I was a nervous wreck trying to make you sit still. Wouldn't you know at this class, they'd have an animal that needed complete silence before they would bring it out! It was a baby lynx and I guess they didn't want any distractions, since it was probably unpredictable. You actually made it through though. I'm not sure how I kept you quiet and subdued for it, but you were! More of the terrible two's coming out, I guess!!!

You also got an early birthday present today! Mommy had bought you an art easel a few months ago, and your Daddy made it very clear this weekend that he was tired of having his clean closets filled up with toys that I was hiding from you. SOOO, since you have no idea when you're birthday is right now, I decided to go ahead and give you that present! You LOVE it!! I'm so glad!! We drew all kinds of pictures today and you kept going back from the chalkboard side to the crayon side and back again! Just wait until you see your other present! It's going to come early too (hint: it's much more enjoyable in warmer weather!).

Here are few more Ryanisms for you (these aren't really words, but more sayings!):
- As you can tell from the blogs, I call you Buddy a lot. Now that you're repeating EVERYTHING we say, you say Buddy as well. So before bathtime, we were getting out your squirt toys and you saw the frog and said "Hi Buddy" to it!! So stinkin' cute!
- This one is a definite sign that we go to Target WAY too much. I told you this week that we were going to the store, and you asked "red balls?" (Target has these big red balls in front of the store that I always point out to you.)
- You're starting to play with your toys and associating real life things with them (you're getting so big!!). So you were playing with your toy horse and he was laying on his back and you said "change diaper?" And when we were at the zoo, there was a meerkat on its back and you said the same thing!! I know it sounds silly, but it seems like such a milestone to me!

OK, this one was a long one! Hopefully you didn't give up halfway through it!! It's worth it!

Until next time, Kiss Kiss from Mommy!

Zoo

Hey Buddy! This past week's adventures include lots of times with friends (yours and mine!). I had my annual girls trip to the lake with my bunko friends so Granddaddy and KK came up to help your Daddy with you. I had fun, and I know you did too!

We signed you up for a class at the zoo, so since I was out of town, you went with your Dad, Granddaddy and KK. From what I heard, you had a great time coloring and looking at animals (and hanging out with Abigail and Ellie who are taking the class too!).

We also went to the Carnton concert (the first one we've been to all summer, but the last one they have!). You had a blast dancing and eating, but your favorite thing was running around ALL over the field with me chasing you - fun! I think I'm glad we only made one of those this year!

To make sure I remember some of the cute things you say, I'm going to add some Ryanisms as they come up. Here are some recent ones:

Poot = Fruit (and boy do you like "poot!")

Coomie = Smoothie (I've been making you a blueberry spinach "coomie" and you love it! I'm so sneaky!!!)

That's it for now. I'll fill you in on our next adventure soon! Love you! Kiss Kiss from Mommy!

Birthdays & Trains

Boy oh boy, have you been busy!! Last weekend you celebrated two birthdays - Abigail's and EP's! First we celebrated Abigail's 2nd birthday with an Elmo-themed birthday party!! She had a big blow up house for all the kids to play in too. You weren't too sure about it first, but once you saw how much fun the big kids were having, you got the hang of it and LOVED it! Elmo also made an appearance at the party. We weren't quite sure how you were going to react, but you handled it a little better than I would have thought. You were suprised to see him and somewhat excited, but you certainly didn't want to go anywhere near him!! It was such a fun party, and you had a FABULOUS time! (And you looked so cute in your birthday outfit that Emme made you!)

Then the next day we celebrated EP's birthday (we won't mention the number!) at Ellie's house. We were supposed to go to an outdoor concert that night, but it got rained out, so we ended up going to Ellie's house instead. You and the girls played and played (you even had a tea party with them). You guys were so cute pretending like you had gone to sleep! I believe this was right before an unfortunate incident involving Abigail's tailbone and the stairs (and possibly you!). The boy in you is coming out, and it's taking it's toll on these poor girls! I'm not sure how many more times I can say "Gentle, gentle!" But we'll keep saying it until you get the point!

Speaking of "the boy in you," I believe we've hit the terrible two's with a vengeance! Just in the past week or so, you've become very headstrong about doing everything yourself, from walking to putting the lid on the milk carton, to not getting in the carseat. Is this really supposed to last for a whole year!!? Can you cut Mommy some slack, and get this out of your system fast? I'd really appreciate it, k-thanks!

On to happier subjects, this morning we went to see Thomas the Train!!! He rolled into Nashville, so you, me and Daddy went to go for a ride on him! You had SO much fun. Before we went for a ride, we checked out the train set tent, and you had the best time!! We had to literally pull you out of there kicking and screaming when it was time to ride the train. I see a Christmas present in your future, and it's name is Thomas!
What a fun time we've had! And the weekend has just begun! I'll have lots more to tell you next time. 'Til then - Kiss Kiss from Mommy!

Mommy's Big Birthday!

Hey Buddy! We've been celebrating so many things lately!! Mommy's birthday was a couple of weeks ago, so we headed to Little Rock to see the family and celebrate! You did so many fun things. We visited Grandpa and Meemo and Beepo, and they were so sweet to buy you toys (I think they thought it was your birthday and not Mommy's!!). They knew exactly what you liked, so they had bought you trucks! You had so much fun playing at their house!

Emme had bought a super cool pool for you (it's been crazy hot this summer, so that was perfect!). You loved playing in it, but you didn't care much for the the sprayer!

The next day we out to the farm and you helped Emme pick vegetables. You picked a few tomatoes, but Emme did most of the work! Then we went to the barn (and I use that term loosely - it's more like a metal building used to store old vehicles that don't run and a cool tractor!). We had breakfast and then you and Papa rode on a real tractor! You LOVED it! You're definitely all boy!!!

You know, your 2nd birthday is coming up soon, but I think we've already hit the terrible 2s! My sweet, quiet little boy has turned into an independent, willful boy who doesn't want to do much of anything I tell him to! Ahh, the fun has just begun, huh?!! I know we'll get through it, but I'm hoping this phase won't last very long!! On the bright side, you're talking up a storm, and it's so cute!! And you love to sing songs in the car! I'm so impressed with how you know words to songs and even to some of the books we read. How could you not though, when we read them OVER and OVER!!!

In the meantime, we've got lots going on! This afternoon, we're going to Abigail's 2nd birthday party! There's going to be lots of surprises, and I can't WAIT for you to see them. I'll definitely fill you in in the next blog! Kiss Kiss from Mommy!