Family of three soon we will no longer be!

This sweet picture was taken by my sweet in-laws at one of Jack's soccer games ( Go Dinosours!!)

As I enter my 36th week of pregnancy, it is really sinking in that our family is about to change. I cannot imagine what it will be like, but I know once Shepherd Daniel arrives, I will not be able to understand what life was like without him. So I sit, I go to work, I sew, I go through each part of everyday with the wonder and anxiety of the unknown that is upon our family!

Jack was born when I was 36 weeks along, so I feel for sure that it could be ANY day now!

I have really been trying to take it easy. My body is DEFINITELY tired!

Jack Blu is as sweet as ever! He was playing legos yesterday and he built a big tower with stairs. He had two little men. One was Jack, and one was momma. Momma was at the top of the tower and Jack was at the bottom. Jack went up the "stairs" and shouted MOMMA!

Momma said-it's my JACK  BLU! Then they hugged. I have always LOVED the way that when Jack gets home from somewhere with his daddy, he RUNS to me and screams my name and we hug like it has been a month even if it was just a short trip to the store- HA! I think his little imaginative play moment says that he loves it too!

He washed all of the pacifiers for his brother last night. I was trying to get him to put each one in the bottle basket that goes in the dishwasher so that I could run them on the antibacterial cycle, but he insisted that he wash each one by hand.

His vocabulary is expanding so much lately. He really likes to use big words. He told me the other night that if it thundered, he would be frightened. I wish I could think of some of the other big words he has been using! It is so cute and funny! 

He will eat his vegetables to get big and strong like a bad guy and milk makes his bones big!

I love that boy!

I keep forgetting to say that we found what we are having!!!!!!!!

It's a BOY!

Blu is getting a baby brother!

We are so excited!

Jack had it in his head that it was a girl, and he still gets hung up on that a little bit.

When I say something to him about his little brother, he says..."why do you say brother? It is a girl?"

He is starting to come around, though. He told Big D the other day that the Dr. TOLD us it was a boy. That is what we say when he insists it is a girl. "No Jack, the doctor said that it is a boy".

So I think he starting to get it!

I have already made Jack a Big Brother shirt. I am excited now to make a matching one for the new little munchkin.

Now....the name game begins!

MONSTER JAM 2012

Well, we have quite possibly started a new family tradition. We went to our first Monster Jam truck show downtown and we all had a ball.  It was a TOTAL monster truck weekend!  We kicked off the weekend on Saturday night with a trip out to Dallas GA to the Little Ceasars to see Gravedigger Legend. They had a lot of different trucks around town for people to come and see, but since Gravedigger is Blu's favorite, we decided to make the trek!

It was SUPER cold! But it was SOOO worth it! Blu had been pretty close to a monster truck before when we went to the little show at Dixie Speedway, but to actually sit on the tire blew his little mind! Gravedigger Legend is driven by Adam Anderson. Adam is the son of Dennis Anderson. Dennis Anderson is the creator and driver of the original Gravedigger Monster Truck. Got all that???

This year marks the 30 year celebration of Gravedigger, so he was a pretty big deal at the show. Father and son even raced at one point. SOOOO cool!



If it was not for the fact that it was about 30 degrees outside, I am pretty sure that Blu would never have left that truck. He was in HEAVEN!

Before the show on Saturday night, we had to make a quick stop at his classmates birthday party. It was a catch air in Marietta. You know, one of those in door bounce house play places? It was really fun. Jack had a ball. He had not had a nap that day and I was hoping that he would sack out on the way downtown.

He did not.

Oh well. Thank goodness he slept late that day. We have been seeing the beginning s of a no nap life. If he sleeps in on the weekends, (something he NEVER used to do), then he can survive without a nap. Makes birthday parties a little easier. Not so sure if it is going to amke my life easier! HA!

Anyway, we rode MARTA ( blu was in heaven because it was a train) downtown to the show and it was so cool. It was really loud and smelled of fumes and there was popcorn and dipping dots, italian shaved ice, and really expensive souveniers to be had. We all had a ball. We actually left at intermission because Blu said that he was ready to go home. Poor little guy barely made it through the train ride back to the car!

We had a great time! I think tickets for next January are in order!



Christmas...and another surprise!

Our Christmas morning was AWESOME!

Blu was so proud that Santa came to see him!

Momma and daddy were a little on the tired side...

Poor Blu was up half of the night coughing and momma in her kerchief lay in fear that he was going to decide to get out of bed and catch Santa in the middle of the night!

But it was worth it for all of the smiles!

He is so grown up. He could open all of the matchbox cars on his own.

Sniff. Sniff.

Well, here's to the end of one of the worst year's in my record books.

Losing mom will forever define who I was for the past few months and who I will be forever going forward. I just hope that I can continue to grow into this loss and arrive at a comfortable place that will allow me to overcome this constant sadness.

On a completely different note...

This new year is sure to bring nothing but goodness!

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Blu's little brother or sister.

The boy or girl part should be determined on Monday the 9th and I am SOOO excited!

Happy New Year!



Jaunty and Dunnants

This is a picture of Jack at this time last year. WOW! He has grown so much. People still comment on his chubby cheeks, but they have really slimmed down so much in comparison.

Anyway, this is just a quick post, really more for records sake for me and Big D.

So Jack is really getting into imaginary play lately. I hear him talking to his toys ALL of the time now. He and Big D have been palying tractors before bed almost every night lately. They each have a tractor and Jack has named the "farmers" that drive them. It is sooooo funny. They are called "Jaunty" ( that is always his), and "Mr. Dunnants". That is usually played my me or daddy. It just cracks us up. I mean...I get coming up with nonsense names and words and such, but the funniest part to me, is how NO NONSENSE they are to him. He is totally straight faced and serious and calls the same names each time.

Jaunty and Dunnants.

Man, I hope I am spelling them right?? Maybe I should ask Jack how he spells those names?

Other things he is doing now:

counting to 10 in spanish

calling his colors the spanish names for them

( and to think, I was afraid he was color blind because he was slow to learn his colors in English...he has blown right past that now!!!!)

counting to 20 in english

He can look at his name and point and call out each letter

He is starting to enjoy washing his hands

He likes to straighten up his "crazy" hair in the mornings with a wet brush

He loves to snuggle with me

thank goodness

What will I do when if he ever stops wanting to snuggle with me????

Will there be a day when he ceases saying, "OK mommy, let's snuggle"?

That's all!!!

So proud of my big growing boy

Next stop- Halloween pictures and maybe even a video.

They are "bad to the bone"

Pumpkin Farm

Not a lot of words for this one....not a lot of time, but this place is AWESOME!!!! Burt's Pumpkin Farm.
It is in the North Georgia Mountains, and it was straight out of a story book!!!

Dan and Jack getting homemade pumpkin bread and apple pies from the barn...Dan said you could watch them making the big batches of pumpkin bread.

There was even a hayride!!!

We stopped here, and these pumpkins told all about the pumkin farm...one of them was named gourdy- HA!

This little area was a hot spot- peopla had brought picnics and were spreading out on blankets in the sunshine...such a cool fall outing!

When I Grow Up

Here is Boy Blu with his "Uncle Brad". Some of our friends went camping last Satuday night. They anchored their boat at the campsite and we went out to meet them on Sunday.

When Blu realized that all his buddies were on shore...well, he just started swimming!

 He swam a LOOOONG way and Uncle Brad met him and walked him up to camp!

 He is getting so stinking big.

Yesterday morning in the car he said, "momma, I need to ask you something". For those of you that do not know my Blu, he speaks VERY plain for a 3 year old. I said, OK, what?

Out of nowhere, he just said to me, "where do you work"?

I told him the name of my company and that really did not help him. I finally said, "I build houses. I mean, I HELP build houses".

When the builder needs the brick, I pick the color,

when he needs the paint, I pick the color,

when he wants the cabinets, I pick the color.

I was trying to keep it simple, people!

So this morning, as he is waving at Dan pulling down the street, he said,

"mommy, where is daddy going?" I said, " he is going to work". Blu said, "Oh, where does daddy work"?

I said, daddy builds buildings. Blu asked, "like the warehouse"?

*that is where we store our boat*

I said, "yes".

he said, " I want to build my house. But you I will have to pack my toys"!

How cute!

Then he said..."momma, when I grow up, I want to come to work with you".

Melt. My. Heart.

It would be even more precious if we weren't in a housing crisis!

Lawd...I hope this economy changes before Blu grows up!

4th of July/ Camping Adventure/ Birthday Party EXTRAVAGANZA! -3 part series continued

3rd Birthday Party! SO proud of my BIG BOY!

Finally- the last part of "the series". It only took me a month and 1/2 to get it all in! WHEW!
In case you missed part 1 or part 2, you can see them here or here.

A quick background...we joined a park at Lake Allatoona called Cushing Park. It was founded back in the 50's as a retreat exclusive to Delta employees and their families. A few years ago they opened it up to the public. We were looking for a place to store our boat, so we joined. They have a pool, campgrounds, cabins, boat slips, boat houses, bath houses..all kinds of cool stuff. STRAIGHT OUT OF THE 50's. Well, except for the boat slips and docks. Those are updated and actually super nice!
Anyway- July is HOT for a kids birthday party, so as soon as we joined, I knew that I would just do Jack's party there at the pool and rent a pavillion. Worked out PERFECTLY! I rented a couple of cabins starting the weekend of the 4th and we stayed the entire week right on through to Jack's party the next Saturday.

It was a camping themed party- so this banner welcomed everyone!

It says happy campers and I tell a little about how I made it here.

 You can see little hints of Delta and airplanes and such all around the Park, like this cute little airplane on the playground! Always a hit on the small fry circuit.

 Rayna and Gavin

 Aunt Jarah and Aleah

 You can see Tiffany here in the background. It is a gated park which is nice, but can get kind of complicated for a party. She and Brad, her husband manned the gate and let the guests in. Thanks to Brad and Tiff...wouldn't have been much of a party without the guests!

Big D had downed a tree in our back yard a few weeks before the party, so I had him make us some "stumps" for the party table!

 Nick and Caroline, our awesome neighbors!

 We had a jeep pinata. Jack LOVES pinatas. Whenver we go to a birthday party, he asks ahead of time if he will get a turn to swing at the pinata!

 Grace posing with the pinata

 Our neighbor, Christopher, really did a number on it!

Jack had already opened one of his gifts. A monster truck, his new obsession!

 The goodies! Everyone's favorite part of a pinata!

 Our friends Jim and Julie were there with their girls!

 KK taking a picture of Uncle Josh taking a picture of her

Uncle Josh taking a picture of KK taking a picture of him

 Baby Raynor

 Rials

Sophie likes her sucker

 No camping party is complete without smores on a stick, right?

Peanuts were a crowd favorite.

All good campers eat hot dogs, right?

My friend Rayna got the stickers for the tops of the party favors. Animal crackers for the littles and trail mix for the bigger kids!

 The cake.....The cake could be it's own post!

 It was a tree stump to go along with the theme. "Jack is 3!!" is "carved" into the tree.

 The campground is on top complete with a jeep, tent, and campfire.

 So cool. I love the critters. This cake was made by my very talented neighbor. If you live in the Atlanta area and need a cake, you should check her out!

 The coolest part about the cake was that Jack ADORED it! Once he saw it, he pretty much stayed right beside it. He just stood and admired it and asked everyone to look at it!

 It was SUPER cool when we cut it open. I loved the camping theme, but I wanted to add some color. SO we did! It tasted great!

 Blowing out the candles! Make wish buddy!

 We had given him his birthday present the night before the party on his REAL birthday. He gets a knife each year from his daddy. This year it was an engraved swiss army knife.

 His big present was his very own, very first bike!

 I think he likes it!

 We opened the rest of the gifts once we got home from camp.

There was just way too much action at the party for unwrapping gifts! He got lots of cool monster trucks and he LOVES them all!

The whole party was a success!

Happy Birthday Jack- mommy and daddy love you very much!