Birthday Parties are Fun!

Hey Buddy! I just had to tell you about the fun birthday party that you went to last week! It was your school buddy Jax's 3rd birthday, and he had his birthday party at Pump It Up. We'd never been there, so I was excited to check it out. We got there, and you immediately found your BFFs Berkley and Jameson! They had everyone in one room with a bunch of bouncy slides and houses. Then after about 30 minutes we went to another room with more bouncy houses! You guys played your little hearts out!

After about an hour of bouncing it was time for pizza and cake! You ate about one bite of pizza and then started asking about the cake. They had just brought it out, so I told you I'd go get some. Well just as I got to the cake table to get a very small piece, I looked down and there you were right in front of me taking the HUGEST piece of chocolate cake from Jax's mother! How did you get there so fast?! I guess you have your Mommy's sweet tooth, huh?!!

As you were chowing down on the biggest piece of chocolate cake I've ever seen, I was talking with your friend Radley's mom and dad (that's Radley in the blue sitting next to you). We were talking about where we lived and they said they lived in Crieve Hall. Well that's where Jeremy, Nicole and Abigail used to live, so I asked them where in Crieve Hall, and they said on Brentlawn. So I said, well that's crazy, our friends used to live on Brentlawn. I asked them when they moved there, and they said about a year and a half ago. And I said, well that's crazy, our friends moved a year and a half ago. So with a little more comparing notes, we found out that they had bought Abigail's old house!!! How random is that!?!? Such a small world!

We have Ellie's birthday party this weekend, so I'll let you know how that goes! Until then, Kiss Kiss from Mommy!

Tidbits

Hey Buddy - I don't have any pictures this time, just a couple of cute stories and one big event!

First off, I have to tell you about your obsession with a little girl in Jake's class. Little Morgan is one year old and is just so cute! You've always have an affection for her. Every time we drop Jake off or pick him up, you always go straight to Morgan and hug her (and knock her down a lot of times!). But the other day, you saw her across the room and started running to her all puckered up to give her a kiss. Morgan saw you coming and started running! It was the funniest thing watching you chase her around trying to give her a kiss! You finally caught her and she wasn't too happy about it! She just doesn't understand how sweet you're trying to be - but I do!


Last weekend we had Jake's 6 month pictures taken at Miss Laura and Mr. Derrick's. Your dad and I took 2 cars over there - just in case you weren't on your best behavior. But we didn't need them! You were perfect. They had cartoons all set up for you, so you got your first taste of the Pink Panther! You were such a BIG help getting Jake to smile too. You played peekaboo behind the camera, and got him to smile some really good smiles! I was so proud! And Miss Laura and Mr. Derrick were very impressed!


Now for the big event! I think we've finally gotten rid of the paci!!!!! This has been something that I've been trying to get rid of for a while but we've kept them around to get you through some of the other things you've been accomplishing (potty training in particular). Well, Mommy got really worried that the pacis are affecting your teeth, so a few nights ago we "took care of them." Hopefully when you read this you'll understand why I did it, but I had to cut holes in them to make you not want them anymore! You put the 1st one in your mouth and said it was broken. I told you that you had outgrown them and they don't work anymore because you're such a big boy. I asked you if you wanted to throw it away and you did! You just walked right over to the trash can and threw it away! I think it hurt me more than it did you. I know how much you LOVE your pacis (but maybe not as much as I thought if you can throw them away that easily!!) You wanted to find more pacis, and we looked for a minute or two but couldn't find any, so you just went about your business. You went to bed just fine without it. The next night you went looking for another paci and we went through the same thing. The only issues we've had are that you'll wake up in the middle of the night crying a little and asking for Paci, but I just remind you that you got too big for them and we didn't have anymore and you're just fine. I will say though that the going to bed process was a lot easier when we did have them because they really did soothe you and calm you down. The past few nights you've been WIRED at bedtime and it's been hard to calm you, but I'm sure we'll get it figured out.

You're getting to be such a big boy!!! Until next time, Kiss Kiss from Mommy!

Favorite Things

I saw the coolest idea on Pinterest (I wonder if this site will still be around when you're reading this? I'm totally addicted to it right now!). Every year around your birthday, I'm going to try to remember to ask you these same questions, and we'll see how your answers change through the years! Now, let's see if I remember to do this next year!!

Favorite Things - 3 years old

1. Favorite color - pink


2. Favorite toy - trains


3. Favorite fruit - strawberries, grapes, blueberries, raspberries (have I told you before how much you love fruit!?)


4. Favorite TV show - Toy Story


5. Favorite thing to eat for lunch - cheese (that's what you were eating when I asked you this! I promise we eat better than that for lunch!)


6. Favorite outfit - sweaters


7. Favorite game - HiHo Cherry O


8. Favorite snack - cheese


9. Favorite animal - giraffe & elephant


10. Favorite song - ABCs


11. Favorite book - Little Monkey Lost (we had just read that book)


12. Best friend - Daddy & Mommy & Jake :)


13. Favorite cereal - Cheerios


14. Favorite outside activity - Playing on swingset


15. Favorite drink - milk & water


16. Favorite holiday - Christmas


17. Favorite thing to take to bed - Santa blanket & monkey (sock monkey) & dolphin


18. Favorite thing to eat for breakfast - cheese (do you see a pattern here!? And no, we don't eat cheese for breakfast!)


19. What would you want for dinner on your birthday - beans & rice (your favorite thing to eat when we go to Mexican!)


20. What do you want to be when you grow up - I don't know (that's OK, you've got plenty of time to figure that one out!)

Christmas!!

Hey Buddy! Well, we've wrapped up Christmas and New Years! So here's a rundown of what went down!!

We started off by getting you your own tree for your room. We had a little prelit tree, so we put that on your dresser for you to decorate yourself. Uncle Rob and Great Aunt Pam had gotten you a Target gift card for your birthday, so we thought we'd use that for you to buy ornaments. So you and I went to Target one Saturday and picked out ornaments. You picked out Cars, Toy Story and lots of pink ornaments!! After that we went home and you decorated the tree. It was so cute to watch you do that all by yourself. You couldn't reach the top of the tree so all of your ornaments were in the lower 1/4 of the tree! But we kept them all there since that's where you put them!! As long as the tree has been up, you like to sleep with the Christmas lights on too!

In the middle of December, we had a visit from your Uncle Rob, Great Aunt Pam, Cousin Matthew and his little girl Ella. They were so sweet to bring you presents since we weren't going to see them in Ripley for Christmas. You guys loved playing with each other!!

We tried to get your picture taken with Santa one weekend, but once you got up there to him, all you would do is close your eyes. I guess you thought if you closed your eyes, he wouldn't see you!! But we took pictures anyway! We'll have a good laugh at these one day, I'm sure!!!

The week before Christmas I got a text from school (never a good thing). Your teacher said that you had cut your hair with scissors while doing an art project! I kind of laughed it off for a minute and then I got scared at how much you had cut off, so I asked her to text me a picture. She did and it didn't look too bad, so I wasn't too concerned. Well, a couple of hours later Berkley's mom posted a picture on Facebook of you AND Berkley saying that you both had cut your hair!! I had no idea that you had done this with Berkley!!!! Well, Berkley got the raw end of the deal!! She cut hers all the way to the scalp!! Luckily yours wasn't too bad and we were going to get a haircut anyway that week. But ooh my, it could have been so much worse!!! Lately you have become quite fascinated with scissors, so we're having to have lots of talks that scissors are JUST for cutting paper and nothing else!!!!

On Christmas Eve, you and I made Christmas cookies for Santa!! You were such a good helper, helping put the M&Ms and sprinkles on the cookies!! Now, I know you were trying to be sweet and sharing, but you tried to give your baby brother an M&M while I had my back turned!! I appreciated the gesture, but boy did it scare me!!!!

Then on Christmas Eve night, Granddaddy and KK came into town and Uncle Jay, EP & Grant came over and we had dinner and opened presents! Emme had made you and Jake matching shirts so we had to wear those! You guys got so many presents - it was crazy! You got some clothes, some games and puzzles and a basketball goal!! Every time you'd open a present, you'd say "cool!" Then right before bed we set out Santa's cookies, and you put out reindeer food that you'd made at school.

I don't think you're fully aware of how exciting Christmas morning is, because you slept pretty late. Mommy was so anxious for you to get up, I actually had to wake you up!! But once you came downstairs, it was on! You had more presents waiting for you, including the only thing that you had asked Santa for, Sally from Cars! Thank goodness Santa delivers on Christmas Eve or else you would have been one disappointed kid!!

The next day we went to Little Rock for Christmas with Mommy's family. As soon as we got there, it was time for Cookie Day, so you and Emme sat down and started decorating cookies! Your favorite decorations were the marshmallows! I don't even want to know how many marshmallows you ate that day!!

The next morning we opened your presents from Emme and Papa. The best present by far was the playhouse that Emme made you!! It is so cool!! Everyone got in it including Mommy, Emme and TJ!! You also got a cool backpack that looks so cute when you carry it!!! Then we went to Meemo & Beepo's for MORE Christmas presents!! You got some new trains and a new game for your computer! We really tried to get a picture of you with Meemo & Beepo but you were way to busy playing to accommodate!!

So after Little Rock we came back to Franklin to spend New Year's Eve with the Clarks. Granddaddy and KK were nice enough to come up and watch you and Jake while Mommy and Daddy got to spend some adult time with the Clarks. But before we did that, we let you and Grant, Abigail and Ellie play for a little bit, and then we tried to get a group picture. I have to say that even though we had 7 kids this year, we actually got some pretty decent pictures! You guys love your siblings and are so sweet with them, so it wasn't too hard!!

Now for the big news of December - you're pooping in the potty!!!!! It happened just like everyone said it would - one day you'll just do it! And you did. I was giving Jake a bath, and you said you wanted to potty. So you went and said you pooped. Of course, you've said this a million times and nothing has ever "produced" itself, so I just went along with it. Then I looked and you HAD!! I was so excited!!! And you've done it ever since. I feel like I want to shout it from the rooftops!!!! Good job Buddy! You're such a big boy!!!!

Along with you being such a big boy are some funny things you say!! The other day we were in the car, and we saw some diggers and bulldozers. You said "When I turn into a struction (construction worker, I'm assuming) I'm going to drive a digger. I need to do that tomorrow." You're so funny about timing. Everything is either today or tomorrow or last night, but it's usually never in the right context! But it's precious and I love it!!!

So I think that wraps up 2011!!! I'm really hoping I can post these sooner than I have been! That's my New Year's Resolution - we'll see how that works out!!! Until next time, Kiss Kiss from Mommy!!