Night At The Water Park

Tonight we took Tyler to meet a friend to play in the water fountains at the Worlds Fair Park. Tyler talks about his good friend Elijah from school all the time, and we wanted him to get in a little extra time with him before the move. Everyone had a great time getting soaked. Tyler is going to miss all of his great friends he has made while living in Knoxville.

Tommy gently introducing Carson to the water...

Tyler with his good friend Elijah.

Carson ready for action!

Birthday Bike!!!

July 12th is Tyler's 4th birthday and we have been talking about getting him a bike for a while now. Since our last official weekend living in Knoxville is this weekend, we decided to get one now and let him ride while we still have a parking lot (and since 99% of all his toys are in North Carolina). Tonight was the big night and we headed to Toys R Us. Tommy and Tyler tried out every bike in the store and finally settled on a green and blue one- and a snazzy new riding helmet. Tyler being properly fitted with his helmet and posing beside his new ride before taking off.

And he is off!

Poor Carson trailing behind holding "Peanut" while Tyler rides off into the sunset.

A Shell Of A Find

Tyler spotted a turtle tonight after we had a huge storm. It was not shy and trying to crawl as fast as I have ever seen any turtle move to avoid a portrait session. It was not successful. Nothing gets a free pass on getting out of having their picture taken on my watch.

Walk Around The Sun

Today was a really big day for Tyler. First, it was his last day at June Bug Camp (which is held at his Montessori school)- and also Tyler got to celebrate his birthday early with a wonderful Montessori tradition. The event is called "Walk Around The Sun"- and since Tyler has a summer birthday, his teacher Mrs. Ella let us celebrate early. Apparently this ritual is very exciting for the birthday child, and not knowing what to expect- we came with camera and video in tow.

The event started with lighting a candle, while all the other classmates sat in chairs around the table watching.

Tommy and I were asked to bring in a birth picture of Tyler, one year picture, two year picture and three year picture. Mrs. Ella then held up each picture for the class to see and Tommy and I were able to share stories about each picture and talk about that time in Tyler's life. (And no, I did not cry- I was so proud of myself. I kept the stories very light- especially his birth story).

Then came the exciting part! After each picture, Tyler held a globe of the Earth and made a circle around the candle- symbolizing the Earth traveling around the sun for every year he was old. The class sang a special song each time Tyler traveled around the room.

After Tyler completed his four times around the sun, he got to make a wish and blow out the candle. Then we all sang the traditional "Happy Birthday" song and feasted on peach cobbler and ice cream. His wish by the way was to go and get to play in the pool. This was such a sweet and special way to recognize Tyler's birthday. Thank you Mrs. Ella for always putting such thought into each child.

24 Weeks

I am 24 weeks and one day. This morning I went to my doctor to have an overall workup and everything looks fantastic. Our little girl has a strong heartbeat (and strong leg muscles- she can kick!), she is just above the 50% in development and was moving all over the place and yawning during the ultrasound.

As for me- my blood pressure is so low that I could be in a comma (90/60), I have only gained a total of 10 lbs...not really a bragging point if you knew what I started at, and I passed my gestational diabetes test with flying colors!

I am so thrilled everything is progressing along and feel so blessed that my little girl is strong and healthy. Below is a picture of her face in 4D and then a picture of me...in 4D.

Not Everything That Falls Out Of Tree Lands On Their Feet...

Tyler fell out of a tree today and cut his hand pretty deep. His doctor checked him out and said if not for the location of the cut, he would require a few stitches. He instructed us to keep it bandaged, clean and for Tyler to take it easy for a few days. He also suggested putting warm soapy water in a bucket and just letting Tyler play in it to help clean it out. Of course Tyler walked around all day with it bandaged while dramatically extending it from his body with his palm facing towards the heavens. Below are pictures of the cut after 9 hours of healing and freshly cleaned, Tyler and Carson playing in the soapy water, and Tyler properly thanking Carson for helping him play in the soapy water.

Peanut

Everyone knows about Tyler's bear named "Blue Bear"- but I have failed to blog about Carson's "Peanut". I felt I had slighted Carson by not giving him his own possession crutch that would make naps impossible if without.... so I found him a blanket attached to an elephant head- lined in a satin cloth. And thus, "Peanut" was born. Carson has taken to this rag like crazy and does not leave the house with out it. Having learned my lesson after a few Blue Bear M.I.A. scares, I purchased two. So consider Carson's blanket officially documented.

Storm Trackers

As I blog, Tommy and the boys are curled up to the front door watching the best lightening storm. Every time the windows would rattle with thunder, Carson would smile and get all excited. I guess there is hope for him attending 4th of July fireworks afterall this year.

Very Unfortunate Situation

Thank you for logging on to our new address. We are 99% sure a disgruntled and semi mentally unbalanced former student of ours just hacked into our blog and posted a really untrue and inappropriate comment.

I could not stand the thought of anyone looking at our site that was not a friend or family member so we changed address. For the future (just to be extra cautious), please do not give out our address without me approving it first or link it to your personal blog. I have several friends linked to mine and understand if you want me to remove it.

Thank you for understanding and I look forward to blogging soon!!

With Friends Like These...

Tommy and Tyler were playing outside tonight and ran in to tell me that they saw this huge hawk fly over them clutching an enormous fish which was still alive and gasping for breath. After retelling what they witnessed, Tyler exclaimed, "That fish made a new friend."

The Foods I Crave

The reasons I keep this blog are three fold. First- it is connect all of our family and friends to our lives and allow those interested to read about what we are in to and watch the kids grow (and watch me grow too :) ). The second reason is to serve as a baby book. Our children will be able to look back at this blog (hopefully printed and bound in the years to come) and read about what they were into. The third reason is more personal. I have a horrible short term memory and use this blog often to reminisce. I have been known to look back at entries several months before and it is like reading it for the first time. This is why I am sometimes going to be documenting random thoughts which you will ask yourself, "Why did she blog about this? Does she really think this is interesting?" Well, no- I am sure it is not that exciting- but if I don't get it down here, I might not get it down at all. So without further ado... The foods I have been craving with this pregnancy and past pregnancies...

Tyler: Japanese Hibachi teriyaki chicken and fried rice with extra shrimp sauce.

Carson: Anything citrus-( especially grapefruit) and puff Cheetos.

Baby girl: Bagels with cream cheese (especially gourmet cream cheese like sun dried tomato or artichoke), anything covered in goat cheese, and jalapeno poppers (cream cheese or cheddar stuffed with ranch dressing).

And one wonders why I gain so much weight when pregnant...

Starting From Scratch

Well, we are in trouble. Tommy and I had picked out a name we were going to use if we ever had a girl, only now Tommy says that he is burned out on the name because we have talked about it too much over the years. Figures. I knew it was too easy. We went through this with Carson also. It took us FOREVER to agree on a name that we both liked. Folks, I am worried. No plan B, just our one girls name that we were going to use. And our taste in lady names is very different. Just to give you a hint, Tommy said he liked the name "Autumn". We are in for a long and bumpy ride.

Carson's Angels

Okay-bad pun on "Charlies Angels", but you get the picture. Tonight we all met my sister's family, my mom and grandmother in Oak Ridge at the pool to eat dinner and play. Tyler putted around the pool all night in his life vest while shooting people with his super sprayer while the women of the family took turns passing around Carson. He loved the water, but really loved the baby wading pool where he could stand. Carson turned 15 months yesterday and went for his checkup this morning. His stats: 24 lbs. 13 ounces, length 31 inches. 50% percentile in both height and weight. Healthy growing boy!

Me and Carson (the only bathing suit picture you will ever view of me on the blog...unless I drop all of my weight after giving birth and then some and get super tanned and toned. Then you will see me in a bikini in every post- including my Christmas card picture).

Ma holding Carson while he stuffs his mouth with 50 crackers.

Carson and Aunt Becky

The Quilt

My mom announced last year that she was going to make every one of her grandchildren a quilt. Not being a sewer (or quilter) myself, I was still able to grasp the man hours this was going to take to complete them all before the youngest one was 5 years old. She has been stitching away at nights for months and presented Tyler with his the other day. The squares are filled with bugs and dinosaurs and Tyler loves it! I cannot wait to put it on his bed in North Carolina. Thank you momma- it means a lot to both of us!!!