There is plenty of room!

Rhett was moonlighting last night and I had a raging headache so at about 8:15 Claire and I both headed for bed. On nights when Rhett is gone I have started to let her have a special treat by sleeping with me. I love it - she is so sweet and cuddly when she is asleep as opposed to when she is awake and going 100 mph. On the way to bed I notice she had her arms full of My Little Ponies and she said "Mommy the ponies are going to sleep with us tonight". I was in one of those headache hazes so I just said "Claire, there is no room for the ponies in my bed". I stopped by the bathroom to brush my teeth and she came running in saying "Don't worry, Mommy there is plenty of room for the ponies!". I look at my bed and don't you know there was a huge pile of ponies in Rhett's "spot". Fine. I'm not going to fight this battle tonight I just want to go to sleep. I climb in bed and then Claire climbs in and squishes between me (now on the edge) and the ponies (with lotsa room over there!). I quickly explained that the ponies didn't need quite that much room and move her and the ponies over.

Ford is cracking me up lately. His favorite activities are 1. shredding toilet paper into a zillion pieces - this can keep him quietly occupied for about half an hour - sometimes worth the clean up and sometimes not :) 2. playing in the shower. If the water is on and he is naked that is just bonus. If I can't find him the first place I look is in the shower. He just loves it in there. 3. cruising around our ottoman as fast as he can and stopping to take little breaks to clap for himself. 4. Reading his favorite book "A Dog Needs a Bone". He LOVES this book. He turns the pages on cue and at a certain point when I make a howling noise he looks at me in eager anticipation for the sound effects. This is the only book he will let me read. If I dare try to read another he starts squirming and trying to look for this one - when I pull it out he sits quietly and happy as a little lark while I read it yet again!

A few recent pictures

I was just downloading some pictures from the past week and thought these were cute:

Here's the birthday boy on his actual birthday enjoying a cupcake. We went for his 12 mo check up today and he was 22 lb 7 oz (50%) and he is 31 in (80%) his head circ was 70%. He's gone from the 80% to the 50% in weight but considering the way he eats I'm assuming it's because he is nursing so much less and doesn't drink that much milk yet. We are down to nursing just once or twice a day :( He's always been a bit leaner than Claire was as a baby so I suspect that he will also take after his Daddy - long and lean. It's funny to look back at what a chunk Claire was as a baby and see how thin she is now. I remember when we went in for her 12mo and it was the first time she was not in the 90% for anything! I saw that 80% and felt like I got a "B". Ha! Today we got some immunizations including his flu shot. Overall he is very healthy and for that we are very thankful. Having healthy children is not something I take for granted considering all of the sick kids I've taken care of over the years.

These are from our second visit to a pumpkin patch this year. This one has lots of fun activites and Claire LOVED it. When we left she said "We're coming back to the pumpking patch tomorrow!". She rode the big tractor to the patch (which after 4 years of visits to this patch I have just realized that the "patch" is staged. I think they must buy them somewhere and scatter them in this big ugly field. The kids don't seem to notice and it has taken me this long to realize it so I guess it doesn't matter), she rode the little tracter train, played in the tee pees and her favorite . . .

riding a horse all by herself!! I couldn't believe that she did it by herself - I was so proud of her and I needed tell you how proud her Daddy was when I told him about our little cowgirl! Ford got a little ride too (with some assistance) and he had a huge grin the whole time. Claire was particularly intrigued when the horse in front of hers, um, went poo poo. Lot of interesting things to see with animals! She still talks about when we saw the hippo "go" when we were at the zoo last year!!

One year ago today . . .

A year ago this morning I met my sweet Ford for the very first time. Oh what a precious day. I get all goosy just thinking about it. It was such an intesely emotional day for me. We had been waiting and waiting and waiting for him to come. Finally I relented and agreed to an induction several days after his due date. All it took was breaking my water and he was here an hour and a half later. Whew. That was the toughest hour and a half of my life for sure (those tears you see are tears of pain mixed with tears of joy). I was so emotional about the whole induction (I'm a die hard romantic and wanted the wonderful birth story to unfold on it's own. I also wanted a drug free delivery -insert coments about how crazy I am here - and knew that probably wouldn't happen with an induction). Anyway, I went in feeling emotional then coupled that with the intense pain that followed during my short labor and the boom! there was this precious little person in my arms and my heart exploded with love . . . again!

Just looking at this picture brings back such emotion for me. There is just nothing like the moment of seeing your child's face for the first time. Thinking back on my life those of have two of my favorite moments of my whole life. It is so strange because you have already bonded so much with "the baby" and fallen in love with that mysterious little creature moving around in your belly. But then the big moment comes and out pops this little person that you have never seen before. There is this moment of "oh, that is what you look like". It's funny because you can't really imagine what they are going to look like and then you see them for a moment and you can't imagine them looking any differently. It is a surreal moment that just binds your heart to theirs.

His personality has been pretty much the same since those first moments in this world. Calm, quiet and sweet. (Well, except he throws everything now). He didn't cry when he was born at all. Of course that made me nervous but he was just as pink as can be but quietly checking everything out. So sweet. My MD and the nurses were awesome - so supportive of what I wanted to happen after he was born. He came straight to my chest immediately after he was born, we said hello for a few minutes, he nursed right away and the we just held him and ohhed and ahhed until we were finally curious about how much he weighed and handed him off to find out. I really felt like it was our moment - which it was - and I'm so grateful to have that sweet bonding time with him.

And then this sweet moment when Claire came to meet her brother. It was almost too much to bear! I will never forget seeing her standing there holding a little puppy as a present for her new brother. She was so excited and grabbed him like she was an old pro. I remember coming home from the hospital and rocking Claire in her room and just bawling. I'm still not sure why but I've talked to lots of new moms who have done the same thing so I'm quite sure it is normal and I tell other new moms the same thing. I was just so proud of Claire and how she seemed to love her brother so much and be such a sport about the whole new baby thing. I loved her even more, I loved him so much and it was just too much for my soul to take! We are so thankful for our two amazing kids. Watching them grow and sheparding their hearts is a priviledge and an honor that we do not take lightly. It is a lot of responsibility on many different levels but honestly we just have so much fun. I can't imagine my life without these awesome little people. Wow - I can't believe it has already been a year . . .

Happy Birthday Lil' Bulldog!

We celebrated Ford's 1st birthday on Saturday in Athens. We had our entire extended family together for the TN game and had a birthday/tailgate party at my parents' house. It is always so much fun to have everyone together especially now that we have a growing number of little people as part of our family. Never a dull moment these days! Here is Ford's cake which I thought turned out great! Take the Cake in Winterville did it and I couldn't believe it only cost $25! It was delicious too!

Ford had a little football to eat for his cake. There was never any doubt on whether he would like it or not! He jumped right in and enjoyed every bite!

He went straight to the tub when he was done and was a big chocolate mess! I had to dig chocolate icing out of his ear! Overall I think he had a great time and it was a fun way to celebrate his first year! We are thankful that everyone was able to be there and party with us too!

Here is our growing little family! It sounds funny that we have a 2 year old and a 1 year old now (as least for the next few months!). Ford got lots of trucks, cars and other "boy" toys that we have been seriously lacking around here. All he does is throw everything so I figure it doesn't matter if he is throwing a baby doll or a truck, right? Everyone can rest a little easier now that we have a nice little collection of trucks and cars :)

First trip to Add's

It wasn't too long after I moved to Athens when I was in 4th grade that I asked my mom if I could meet my new friend, Susan, out for lunch. Needless she did a double take and was trying to clarify if what she was hearing was actually what I was suggesting that I do. Yes, I explained I was going to walk to Susan's house a couple miles from my own and then we were going to walk to have lunch together at Add's Drugstore. At some point my Mom agreed to our lunch plans but I think she talked to Susan's mom at some point before she agreed. And that was the first of many, many trips to Add's over the years.

What a wonderful small town thing. Add's drugstore has a quaint little lunch counter that serves up the best grilled cheese sandwiches I've ever had still to this day. I'm still not sure why they are so good- after all there are just three ingredients - bread, cheese and butter - but mmmmm are they good. They have lots of other lunch counter favorites although I've mostly stuck with grilled cheese over the years. They have hamburgers, a mysterious meat product call "Steak-um" that I've never tried, BLTs, hot dogs . . . you get the idea. Our sweet friend Laura created her own favorite the "LT" when we were in high school and didn't eat anything. You round out your meal with some hot crinkle fries and a vanilla coke (a real vanilla coke not one that comes premixed in a can) and if you still have room - the best milkshake in town. They used to make them a little too big for the cups so they would give you the extra in a small little dixie sized cup and something about that little milkshake shot always tasted extra special.

During the summers Add's is packed with little kids like we were when we first started going, all the cool high school kids, a few college kids who have somehow gotten in the loop and all the way to the die hard Athens faithful who hobble up to the counter on their way to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy. What a fun place with such great memories from growing up.

So now the tradition continues as I took Claire and Ford for the first time and it was quite a hit! Anytime you eat on a swivel stool when you are 2 it is a guaranteed good time. Add to that the fact that you get to watch your food cooking and have the promise of ice cream and it is just plain yummy fun!

Ford loved it too. He eats like a Georgia linebacker and this day was no exception. He ate an entire grilled cheese sandwich plus a few bites of his sister's, his share of fries and about half of my milkshake. No doubt he would have slurped down the whole milkshake if I hadn't insisted on having some too! Not a whole lot has changed at Add's in all these years. There are new faces behind the counter, the prices are slightly higher (I used to be able to eat lunch for less than $2.50 including tip) and there are unfamiliar faces sitting on those swivel stools but still there is that small town sense of unity in a place like that. We talked to no less than 3 people that my mom knew while we were there - old neighbors, long time acquantances and the like. I wonder if we will live in a place where my kids can share in fun neighborhood traditions like Add's (and Hodgson's too). I wonder if they still exist? I wonder what my answer would be if my 9 year old wanted to walk to eat with her friends considering "how much things have changed since I was her age". Oh my, I am a mother!

Missing: Fall

We have had a lovely string of awesome days . . . warm, mid-eighties, not a drop of rain in sight, clear blue skies . . . just about perfect - FOR JULY! It's mid-October and I am done with warm weather. I will compromise and take a nice warm up in the afternoon but, please, for the love of all things good, let it be chilly in the morning! My children have long since outgrown their summer clothes we were expecting to have moved into our next season of clothes by now. I see the cues every where . . . pumpkins, cinnamon brooms in the grocery store, big beautiful mums on front porches (I bought my mums a month ago and they have long since passed. Too HOT and probably not enough water but that is another story) but the weather is just not matching up with the season. As I type this my AC is plugging away . . .
Anyway, despite this dreadful wonderful weather while we were in Athens for an extended weekend my Mom and I took the kids to the pumpkin patch - mostly to get pictures but we also got two pumpkins. I was excited because there was a church that just had a big yard full of pumpkins which makes for fun pictures. The pumpkin patch we usually go to (and will once it cools off a bit) is a lot of fun with pony rides and a tractor pull out to a real pumpkin patch but the real thing isn't as pleasing to the eye as a sea of orange pumpkin bliss.

So off we went all corduroyed up in the swealtering heat to the pumpking patch and had fun taking pictures and picking out the perfect pumpkin for our porch.

Yes that is a pumpkin Super "G" for Georgia that Claire is playiing ring around the rosie in - only in Athens!

I didn't get a single good picture of Claire but Ford cooperated with me so I got some cute little pumpkin shots of my little pumpkin!