happy (belated) two!

so belated.

i've been sitting on this post for a while. it's the big, monumentous occasions that are harder for me to write about. sometimes there is just so much to say that i don't say anything at all. but here goes.....better late than never!

see, my baby turned two.

and he knew just what to do at his "birfday pardy". he had us all rolling as he sang with us loudly (though pausing occasionally to wonder what we were laughing at). and with the last happy birthday to yyyyoooouuuu he promptly blew with all his might.

not many photos, due to momma hosting and doing the mom thing. but a few....

each time we asked him what he wanted for his birthday he would tell us, "a birfday pardy. and balloons. and blow candle out".

grandmama and grandaddy with all the grandkids.

party #2 with my family...

so sweet that he celebrated with his cousin. his mom and i celebrated our birthdays together too.

we did the birthday thing the same night as our christmas thing. big hit. and the best gift giving year ever. recycled dirty santa. everyone brought a "nice" gift from their home. i walked away with an apron that my great grandmother made! i'm already dreaming about wearing it while baking with my little girl.

but back to the birthday boy.

there is no one like him.

i'm wrapped around his little finger. always have been, and have a feeling i always will be.

my favorite things about him these days ~

"my do it!"

"why we can't mom?"

"can i hab a sammich mom?" (sandwich is my favorite word, for sure)

"i wuv you mom (insert sam smirk) "

the fact that he wants to be held and snuggled, a lot. despite the fact that it is physically killing me these pregnant days.

he may be small, but he keeps up with his big brother, and mimmicks everything he does.

he's turned into a daddy's boy, and wakes every morning with "daaaaddy! come! i want ceral (cereal) and miiiilk!"

he loves to sing "the abc song", and "trinkle, trinkle little star".

he has the most adorable voice ever. though you may not hear it much unless you know him really well. he's pretty shy. though wide open at home.

this time of year, the christmas season, has forever been altered by him. i think back to the day 2 years ago that he came into the world. watching the today show and seeing the rockefellar christmas tree takes me right back (it was that tree that brought him into the world....). oh how i worried about the logistics of his birth. and it all happened so perfectly.

sameul baby, our family is much blessed because of your life in it!

breaking news....

yes indeed, we are having a GIRL!!!

Needless to say, we are pretty excited around here.

Great Smokey Mountains

Wear's Valley, TN

Vacation with the family ~ mine

Hanging out in the cabin, sharing stories, grilling out (venison, of course), hot chocolate, a few surprises (to be shared on another post..), a brief trip to Gatlinburg...

but the highlight, for me, was our mini hike in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park with GG and Pop. Hopefully next year we can make it more than a mini.

Pop showed the boys how to make boats out of leaves and sticks and watch them float down the creek.

I didn't like it when someone swiped the camera so that I could be on the other side of it....

but I'm thankful for this moment captured. I'm always unconsciously brushing the boys hair with my hand. It's not about the hair. It's me saying "I love you so much and think you are the cutest thing that's ever walked this earth. Therefore I can't keep my hands off of you".

thankful.

for family.

love.

beauty.

and the one who created it all.

Pumpkin Patch

Wrapping up October....

We visited our "local" (an hour and a half north) Pumpkin Patch early October. We think we will make it later next year.

So. hot.

But fun.

Well, if truth be told...we had a few moments of fun.

An attempt at 4 cousins in one picture ~

An attempt at 2 brothers in one picture ~

(you tell how hot it was by their cheeks...)

Charlie was happy to hop on a pony. Sam, not so much.

Aside from the heat, the day might not have been so bad if we hadn't ended on such a sour note. Charlie wanted so badly to go down the inflatable slide by himself. But as it shook like jello as a herd of kids climbed with him, he freaked. Then he would get to the top and scream for Bryan to go with him. He did....but then Charlie would want to try again by himself......with the same results. It was heartbreaking for me because it wasn't about a kid wanting to slide over and over, but about my baby trying to conquer his fear and failing over and over.

We finally had to leave, with a very sad 3 year-old in tow.

But the tale of the inflatable slide ends happily, for a week later we encountered another, and beat it.

And thankfully, it has cooled off quite a bit since this hot day at the Pumpkin Patch.

just a saturday...

last weekend the boys met me downtown after a photo shoot. i was really excited to try the highly acclaimed trattoria central , especially because my pregnancy craving was pizza (bryan claims it's the best he's ever had). i'm sure if i wasn't pregnant i would have been thrilled that they were serving brunch only due to it being the weekend....but sadly i had to choke down my breakfast pizza while trying not to think about it. this speaks nothing of the restaurant. bryan loved his - i'm sure it was delish. totally a sick and pregnant thing. ugh.

the fresh squeezed oj though, i could have had 3 more glasses.

after walking downtown a bit i decided to pull out my camera, since i had it...

yeah, we always give our boys san pellegrino. heh.

though sam really does love "bubbly wa-der".

they would have loved to have been customers if it wasn't closed ~

but here, um, no.

new favorite game of "surprise" ~

can you tell who got the boys ready this morning?

i'll give you a hint.....

it wasn't me.

on another note, who stole my baby and gave me this little boy?!

ending our outing with a family "portrait" ~

mud muffins

i love when the boys actually play together. happily.

when the older lets the younger be his

sous.

brunch anyone?

speaking of ~

the hardest part of the day for me is always dinner time. you would think that i am the one serving them mud muffins. it seems the only "meals" that my boys will eat are pasta (plain) and peanut butter sandwiches (sometimes). though today while eating mcdonalds hamburgers sam was on repeat saying, "i like it....i like it.....i like it....".

thankfully they like fruit, but veggies........do pickles count?

though i used to be the queen of getting kids to eat healthfully (i still reminisce about the day i got kids that i babysat to not only eat, but even request broccoli), this short order cook needs some help. anyone?

welcome home daddy (and october)

it's a big event around here when daddy comes home.

sometimes it's even played out in the front yard, for all the neighbors to see~

tackles, tickles, flipping, and upside down spinning....

kisses...

smiles....

laughs....

and airplane watch pauses.

these days even after the party has died down, we stay outside just a bit longer.

goodbye heat and mosquitoes.

hello, october.

he was so proud of the pumpkin he picked out this morning. it had a handle.

after trying to teach them how to be gentle with the pumpkins, i finally gave up. and gave in to a good old fashioned game of...

pumpkin rolling?

happy october.