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Funny or scary?

The first thing that is both funny and scary is Bo saying the word "octagon". He received a shapes puzzle for Christmas and we have been working on learning the names of them. Forget circle and square, but octagon and diamond are a piece of cake for this kid. And he even associates the octagon with the stop sign and says "stop!" It's amazing and scary what they learn. You can also add "basketball goal" to the list.

He's also learning that tissues are for blowing your nose. We now have to keep the kleenex box out of reach or else Bo would be blowing his nose every five minutes...and not so much being successful at the necessary wipe of the nose to get it clean. At least he's using a tissue and not his shirt sleeve...yet.

Of the many pre-baby convictions we thought we would not budge on, you can add TV to the list of things we have budged on. In the midst of lots of colds and lots of rain, Bo has probably watched Sesame Street maybe 10 times (over a couple of months time). AND HE ALREADY KNOWS WHO ELMO IS!!! We were looking at Christmas pictures on the computer today, me asking him the names of our family members, when all of a sudden he says, "Elmo." There were presents in the picture with Elmo wrapping paper. Amazing. Scary, and amazing.

This video definitely falls into the funny category.




One question: What are some creative indoor activities for toddlers with colds when it's rainy outside????

To Infinity and Beyond!...and back.

Many apologies for the few who take the time to check on us through the blog. It has been a little over 2 months since I posted. I decided to take a break from it over Christmas, but I guess I could have warned you about that.

If you can't guess from the title, our Christmas travels were complicated and long. Good, but long. We boarded a plane with 3 suitcases, a stroller and a car seat all headed to Atlanta. Not to overshadow the positive, our blessings were the flight was only 1 hour 45 minutes, Bo had his own seat, and all the luggage arrived on time. In short, our itinerary:

Dec. 18th - Fly to Atlanta (spend 2 days with Robert's brother, Jon, sister-in-law, Amy, nieces, Abby - 3.5 years and Julia - 9 mo.)

Dec. 20 - drive 2 hours to Macon (spend a week with Robert's parents and grandmother)

Dec. 27 - drive 2.5 hours to Augusta where we meet my parents, have a Chick-fil-A lunch and then drive 1.5 hours to Lugoff, SC (spend a week with my parents, Mimi (my grandmother), brother Tanner, sister-in-law Audrey and niece, Shelby - 2 years old)

Jan. 4th - Board a plane in Columbia, SC with 5 suitcases (notice how many we started with), a stroller and a car seat to fly back to Houston.

Some highlights included:

• our walk around the neighborhood with Abby as Bo rode in style (obsessed with bikes, tricycles, anything you can ride)
• watching cousins play (and fight) together
• Bo's new vocabulary - basketball (favorite word), mine, bat (as in baseball)
• going on two dates to the movies and one double date - YEAH for grandparents that love to babysit!!
• Bo sitting with the other kids during the Christmas Eve children's sermon - so cute!
  
• the first Christmas Bo actually helped unwrap presents - even if they weren't his!
• being taught how to make homemade cinnamon rolls by my sister-in-law, Audrey
• of course, precious mealtimes and hang - out time with family and friends

We arrived home exhausted and glad to be back in our own beds after 18 days! Of course, we caught a cold and spent the next week with sore throats and stopped up noses, another reason the blog has not been updated. Nevertheless, we are back to "normal" and getting back into the swing of things. Holidays are very special times, but getting back to routine is another kind of special.

His new red corduroy shirt...he got to where it our first Sunday back in Houston, b/c it was cooler, not cold, but cooler.


Our walk/ride around the block.

Bo kept giving his Grammy hugs, one right after the other, about 10 total. It was cute.


The best of Bo's dress-up outfits and the best of Mom's funny faces.

Halloween Fun

I'm not as quick as others with posting cute halloween pictures. But better late than never! Our halloween fun started with trips to stores to complete Bo's cowboy outfit. We already had the vest and the hat, but went to Toys R Us for the horse (which Bo loves to ride around our apt.), Academy Sports store for the bandana and cowboy boots, which double as rain boots!, and Walgreen's to find our trick or treating pumpkin. Robert was on his way home from setting up for our middle school fall retreat, so our gracious friends, the Rasplicka's, let me and Bo come over to trick or treat with them in their neighborhood. Their youngest daughter, Betsy, is 4 1/2 and LOVES Bo. She hugs and kisses on him and likes to "manage" him, as Betsy's mom says. She was dressed as a "butterfly"...which her mom later described as a trailor trash princess! Still so cute!

Robert was able to meet us after the house to house fun, and we went out for a late dinner.


The cowboy and the "butterfly"


"I'm the new sheriff in town."


"Giddy-up horsey."

Happy Birthday, Tanner and Happy Half-Birthday, Bo!

Happy Birthday, Tanner! We love you!

In honor of your birthday, I thought about how I could make this a special post about you. Maybe, I could make a list of 31 things about you that we love. But, then I thought, 31 things is a lot, too much some might say. Then I thought maybe I could make a list of 3 things we love about you and 1 thing we don't so much love about you. But it's your birthday, so I thought telling you the things we don't like is not too birthdayish. So here are 4 things we love about you...3+1=4!

1)You are really smart, and we are all really proud of all that you've accomplished.

2)You're a great dad and a great husband. (from what I've heard)

3)You are a gifted leader...even though I was the one you just had to practice your skills on when we were growing up. I guess telling people what to do eventually comes in handy.

4)You have great tastes in movies...the majority of the time.

Hope your day was special!



It just so happens to be Bo's half-birthday! We usually don't celebrate half-birthdays nor are we going to tell our kids when they are 3 and a half, or 5 and three-quarters. There aren't many things more annoying than a kid who gets a one-up on another kid because he says he's three-quarters older. Just my opinion. Moving on, I figured 1 and a half is a pretty big milestone. He's definitely a toddler, not a baby anymore. And he's definitely making his opinion known more often. And he's definitely testing his boundaries. But, he is still a sweet boy who blows kisses and likes to cuddle when we read. He's a big boy...literally. In the 90th percentile for both height (33 3/4 in.) and weight (31 lbs. 8 oz.). If he keeps this up...watch out!

Impromptu Trip to San Francisco! (Part 1)

Obviously, from the title of this post, you've picked up the fact that we took a trip to San Francisco recently. My brother and sister-in-law (Tanner and Audrey) received two free tickets earlier this year from being bumped from a flight. The tickets were going to expire at the end of the year, so they flew me and Bo out to visit for a week! So great to be a stay-at-home mom and have the flexibility to fly last minute...and so great to have a husband that lets me take off on the spur of the moment across the country! The time we spent out there was precious for several reasons. One, we live far away, and don't get to see each other often. Two, since we live far away, the kids don't get to see each other that often either, so it was great for Shelby (turns 2 this month) and Bo to be together, especially at this age, and for us to see them playing together and loving on each other! Three, Tanner and Audrey are moving to Belgium in April to be missionaries. So any time we spend together is sweet, knowing they will be even further away next year and the years following.
Here are pictures from our visit to the pumpkin patch, which also included live animals!


Shelby and Bo with the cows.


My big boy posing for a pumpkin picture.


He was saying something when he lifted his hands up to this scarecrow. Who knows what he said, or what was going on in his little brain. Probably something ingenious.

My Little Angel