Fried Okra

This blog has moved

2010-04-17T00:44:00.001-04:00

This blog is now located at http://lizcjones.blogspot.com/. You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here. For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to http://lizcjones.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.

Zoo Pictures from yesterday are on the shutterfly site.

2009-07-24T09:53:00.001-04:00

http://friedokrasharedphotos.shutterfly.com/

Three new albums on my photo site

2009-07-05T23:04:00.000-04:00

http://friedokrasharedphotos.shutterfly.com/

Recent stuff about Owen

2009-07-05T23:00:00.000-04:00

Fourth of July - Owen wouldn't wear the American flag t-shirt and plaid red white and blue shorts. He insisted on wearing his star wars shirt and orange pants.
- Owen liked the fireworks, but got kind of bored after about 10 minutes of them. He said he wanted to "pop them." He wanted to get a big ladder to climb up so he could pop them. (whatever that means).
- We also watched some of the ones on TV from Washington D.C. He called the Washington Monument a castle and said that the castle was popping the fireworks.
- Owen curled up in my lap during the fourth of July parade. He said it was too loud. When the ABSURDLY loud Legion train came by, his whole body shuddered and he buried his face in my chest. He did like looking at the horses at the end of the parade and afterwards, he said that he liked it.

School - I'm trying to decide about school. He went to one a few times. He says that they don't have books and that he is trapped in a cage in the playground and he cries and misses mama when he's at school. I know that if I leave him consistently for a long enough amount of time that he'll get used to it, but I don't know what to do. It is going to be very hard for both of us for a very long time.

Potty training - I'm clueless and Owen is completely stubborn and refuses to use the potty. I don't know what I'm going to do. I think he'll be wearing pull-ups to prom.

Phase - Owen is going through this negative, possessive stage that is very annoying. It doesn't help with potty training and it seems to have been amplified by the whole school experiment. It is driving me crazy.

Fear of water - while most kids can be entertained for hours with a swimming pool, Owen seems to be afraid of the water. He doesn't like the idea of going swimming, but if he hangs out by the pool long enough, we can usually convince him to get in and cool off. He then seems to really enjoy it, but he doesn't ever want to stay in for very long. If anyone splashes him or shoots him with a water gun or if he swallows any water, that is usually the end of his swimming for the day. Oh, and he refuses to put on a bathing suit - he screams and cries and tries to take it off when I put one on him. This fear of water seems to have carried over to bath time. He hates the bath and screams and fights every time I wash his hair.

Ghosts - He likes to pretend he's a ghost and make us scream. Then he'll say, "now you be a ghost and I say, 'AAAAAAAAAAAH!'"

Another thing - Lately he picks things or characters for people and himself to "be." One example was when he said, "ma, you R2D2, I the death star." He constantly does this with characters in books, on TV, etc.

New photos - The Beach

2009-05-20T13:54:00.001-04:00

I put some new photos on the photo site from our trip to the beach.

http://friedokrasharedphotos.shutterfly.com/

iPhone Photos posted

2009-05-13T00:22:00.001-04:00

I just posted almost all of my photos taken on my iPhone since I got it in November 2007. Here is the link:

http://friedokrasharedphotos.shutterfly.com/

New photos of the Game Ranch and our visit from Mike and Scott

2009-05-04T11:28:00.002-04:00

http://friedokrasharedphotos.shutterfly.com/

Locked out

2009-04-28T23:18:00.002-04:00

So, we got our new dining room table on Friday. Holly started freaking out and barking when the delivery guys got here, so I put her in the laundry room with her food, water and bed. After they all left, I let Holly outside in the backyard. Owen and I were playing Mario Kart on Wii and Holly started scratching on the door to get back inside. I got up to let her in. She was still freaked out by the delivery people, so she wouldn't come inside. I started calling her and trying to get her inside. I walked outside for a second to go get her and Owen came running out behind me. The wind blew and the door slammed shut. So there we were, locked outside with no shoes, no phone, nothing but the remote control to the wii that I was still holding.

I carried Owen around to the front of the house and we went and got the mail. I kept saying to Owen, "don't step on the caterpillars," since our driveway and porch are completely overrun by dead and live caterpillars. We walked around for a little bit and Owen played in the dirt/sand at the end of our driveway. I kept hearing the phone ring and figured that Austin would probably get a little concerned if he couldn't reach me. It was really hot and Owen kept wanting to go inside and get sidewalk chalk or other toys to play with, but I kept telling him that we couldn't get anything from inside. I asked if he wanted to walk down to the neighbors' house and he said, "yes." We walked down the driveway, but the street was scorching hot, so I had to carry Owen down to the neighbors' driveway. They were really nice and pulled some toys out for Owen to play with while I called Austin. Austin had just stopped by to see if we were home, so he was totally freaked out that we weren't home and the lights were on and the wii was still on, etc. He drove down to pick us up so we wouldn't have to walk back, but it made for a very interesting afternoon.

New Photo Web Site

2009-04-23T22:57:00.003-04:00

I've been working on this new photo site through Shutterfly. i created it as a way to share photos, besides my blog, which I have been neglecting horribly. This way people can browse through my tons and tons of photos without having to load them all onto the page and they could even order their own copies if they want to. Anyway, maybe it is me just being lazy so I don't have to upload and resize all of the pictures for my blog, then upload them again to Shutterfly to print them. Anyway, it will certainly be easier for me to put them on the web to share a lot faster.

With that being said, I can concentrate on this website for posting my thoughts and things that are going on with Owen and life in general. I think I will be able to post more and much faster since uploading my pictures to the other site will be so much easier. Of course, I might not have as many people looking at this site, since it will just be rambling. But, whatever.

I will post here when I put more pictures up on the photo site. Here is the link:

friedokrasharedphotos.shutterfly.com/

Hmm...

2009-04-20T15:28:00.000-04:00

I need a nap.

Owen's latest phrase

2009-04-06T10:26:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, clear as a bell, Owen started saying, "watch, I will show you," when we aren't doing something correctly. I was helping him with his yogurt and he said, "no, turn over like this. Watch, I will show you." Then he took the spoon, got the yogurt and turned the spoon upside down as he put it in his mouth. I said, "Owen, if you can show me how to do it, you can do it yourself." But, he still wanted me to feed him. Typical.

An update

2009-04-06T10:05:00.004-04:00

I know most people probably know everything that has gone on with me and my family in the past few months, but for the sake of my records and to fill in anyone who doesn't know what we've been going through, I thought I'd make a list. Hopefully, this will explain the blogging hiatus.

- Around Thanksgiving, we had to put my grandfather in a nursing home.
- We also closed on our house around the same time.
- At the beginning of December, we found out that my mom would be laid off at the end of the month.
- We started moving in during the first week in December.
- We unpacked and decorated for Christmas throughout the month of December.
- We had our family over for Christmas (including, aunts, uncles and cousins).
- We had some friends over for New Year's Eve.
- In January we found out I was pregnant.
- At the end of February, we visited relatives in North Carolina.
- I had a miscarriage on the trip. I was in the hospital in North Carolina the day I would have been 12 weeks pregnant.
- Owen's birthday party was at our house a week after the miscarriage.
- And then, we did our taxes.
- And now, I am back to blogging.

Owen's 3rd Birthday Party

2009-04-01T23:56:00.005-04:00

Trip to Eagle Springs, NC to visit cousins 2

2009-03-30T10:49:00.004-04:00

Trip to Eagle Springs, NC to visit cousins 1

2009-03-30T10:46:00.003-04:00

Owen and Daddy

2009-03-30T10:44:00.001-04:00

Wyatt

2009-03-30T10:42:00.001-04:00

I posted some pictures of Owen at the playground in my letter, but I wanted to post these two of Wyatt too.

Way back in February, Corinne, Owen and I went to "Snow Mountain" at "Stone Mountain"

2009-03-28T15:16:00.002-04:00

It happened to be a very warm week in the middle of a bunch of cold weeks and this particular day it was 70 degrees. It was very hard to decide what to wear and what to dress Owen in in the seventy degree snow. In retrospect I would've gone with short sleeves, warmish long, waterproof pants, gloves, and snow boots (melty ice is very slippery!).

To Owen... (33-36 Months Old)

2009-01-11T00:39:00.008-05:00

I can't believe you are three years old. You are turning into such a great little guy. I haven't written you a letter in awhile, but I have been keeping a list of some things I want to include.

Let's start with December. We moved into the new house in the beginning of December. When the movers came, you did amazingly well dealing with it. You talked to some of them and showed them your trains and you didn't seem to mind the hectic atmosphere. You did try to escape every once in awhile since the front door was open for most of the time, but the movers helped turn you around and pointed you back to the house. I spent much of my time darting after you. When we were cleaning out the old house, you found your daddy's old Frogger handheld video game. It was like your security blanket during the move. If you set it down or misplaced it, it wasn't long before you'd say, "Oh no, frogger!" and you would calm right down after we found it.

We started decorating for Christmas as we were moving into the house. We moved the Christmas decorations and Christmas tree before the movers even came. You really liked all of the decorations. We decided to get a train to go around the tree. We knew how much you loved trains, so we figured you would love it. I guess it was too loud for you, because every time we turned it on, you started running away saying, "turn train off." You loved the riding the Pink Pig at Lennox. Even in February you were still saying, "go ride the pink train, go ride the pink pig train."

We spent most of December getting the house ready for Christmas and unpacking. We had most of my dad's family and daddy's parents over on Christmas day. On Christmas morning, you were very excited to see all of the toys Santa brought you. You were especially interested in the geotrax train and airplane set. Santa also left a small, indoor trampoline in the playroom. You didn't find that until Wyatt and Ethan showed up. You had so much fun jumping on it, playing in your football ball pit and just being around Ethan and Wyatt and the rest of the family. It was really a fun day.

We also got to see Mike and Scott right after Christmas. You had so much fun with them! You really enjoyed showing them your whoopie cushion and playing trains and frisbee with them. We (your daddy and I) have been listening to the Ricky Gervais show lately and every time you pick up his iPod, the picture of Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington comes up on the screen. You always say, "Mike and Scott!"

You spent the night for the first time away from me at Granny and Papa's on New Year's Eve! I was sure that they would be calling me in the middle of the night, but you slept really well. I was so proud of you. You even spent the night another time a few weeks later. I got to sleep late for the first time since you were just a little baby! You actually have been sleeping a lot better at the new house than you ever really did at the old house. You get up earlier than you used to, but sleeping through the night is AWESOME! Your bedspread has cars on it, so you call it the "cars bed." Your bed is your crib, converted into a full bed. You really seem to like it.

You saw me taking down the Christmas decorations soon after New Year's, but you didn't start missing the tree until about February. Every once in awhile, you say, "where'd the Christmas tree and train go?" And you still ask me to sing frosty the snowman sometimes.

It took Holly a little bit of time to get used to the new house. I was cleaning dog poop off the floor one night and started gagging. I walked out of the room for a minute and when I came back in, your daddy was saying, "what's mama say?" and you were answering by making a gagging noise (I guess if I had to spell it, I would say, "whick"). According to you, most people say, "whick" - mama, daddy, granny, papa, nanny, grandaddy. But, Ethan and Wyatt have their own things. You say that Wyatt says, "Marks, get set, goooooooo!!!" and Ethan says, "AHHHHHHHH!!!" and makes a goofy face.

You have been very concerned about us for the last few months. Whenever I make a loud noise or say ouch or do anything out of the ordinary, you say, "mama, you ok?" You do the same thing with daddy and other people.

Some of your latest funny phrases are: "please," "pretty please with a cherry on top," "I'm nuts about you," "oh brother" (you say, "oh brubber"), "sorry 'bout that," "mama [or daddy, nanny, granny, etc.], what are you doin' with that stuff?"

You are very polite when you want to be. You say thank you very naturally to people. I have also noticed you saying excuse me and bless you. Of course you say please a lot too. And you say sorry way too naturally (I'm sorry about that).

Every night after your bath, you go running out to your daddy saying, "daddy, I got the towels. I got the towels daddy." Then you climb up in his lap wrapped up in your towels and snuggle with him, while I get your pajamas and toothbrush and water ready for you for bed. It is very sweet.

Something you do that is not so polite is saying "no, I don't like..." You use this phrase a lot when you are in a bad mood. You even say it about things you really like if you are fussy. I've heard you say it about food, people, toys, brushing your teeth, baths, etc. I've even heard you say, "no, I don't like outside." Another thing that is not polite is when you take a bite of food that is too big and decide you need to spit it out. It is pretty gross. You make this noise like, "ahhhhhh" and I know that you are about to spit your food out. I call it your "eject noise." Hopefully, you will grow out of that.

You like to talk on the phone now, especially to your cousins, but you really enjoy pushing buttons on the phone and hearing the person you are talking to, scream on the line. It can be kind of annoying.

You love play-doh and drawing. You can play with play-doh for a remarkably long amount of time and I have seen you go through almost an entire pad of paper in one drawing session. You have certain things you like to draw. For awhile, you only drew one shape - it was sort of a leaf shape. But, recently, your daddy taught you to draw spirals ("spy-rohs"). You also like to draw dragons. Most of your dragons are sort of a crescent shape with one dot for an eye. The way you control your hand when you are drawing is pretty impressive. Sometimes your creativity knows no bounds, and you end up drawing all over yourself. You also sometimes stray off the paper and onto the table/wall/couch or whatever else is around. This usually ends your drawing sessions and lands you in time out. And this is why you are only allowed to use washable markers!

You are obssessed with candy. It drives me crazy sometimes. Of course you love to go to the doctor and to get haircuts because they have suckers there. And that's about the only time you are allowed to have suckers. One morning you woke up and said, "go to doctor's house. Get blue sucker."

I can see some fears developing. You don't like loud noises. You don't even like being in crowds when people are clapping or laughing too loud all at once. You like your remote control dinosaur but you stay pretty far away when you are controlling it. You also have this walking lightning mcqueen that you love. You push the button to make it go and then run as fast as you can and jump up on the window seat or into a chair or something. The other night, you told me to hide pluto because he was "too scary." I had to take him out of the room to make you happy. You also have been getting scared when people try to tickle you or grab you to pick you up too suddenly. You and daddy were playing the other day and he ran around the corner and then jumped out at you. You completely freaked out. You let out this super sonic high pitched scream and started crying. He had no idea it would scare you so much.

We have had the occasional really nice day lately and you love the playset in the backyard. You call it your playground or your park. You have nearly fallen asleep on the swing quite a few times.

You and Holly drive me crazy sometimes. Sometimes the two of you get along well. You'll throw her toys, she'll run after them, and you both play hard and tire each other out. But, sometimes, you get too rough with her. You go to time out a lot for that. The other day she was sleeping and you pretty much attacked her face and jumped on her. Before I could even do anything, she started snapping and barking at you, but she didn't even do enough to draw blood. I'm sorry, but you totally deserved that one. You also try to feed her table food all the time. You are also always accusing her of trying to eat things. When she licks you, you say, "Holly eat Owen," or sometimes, "Holly eat face." You also say things like, "Holly eat lightning mcqueen" or "Holly eat trains."

You still call our house "new house." The other day you were really tired and you said, "go to new house, go to cars bed, go to sleep."

You love music. Your favorite songs are "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Wild Thing." I have a video of you singing wild thing wearing nothing but your underwear - that will surely be used for blackmail one day ;-). You also tell daddy to "play heavy music" on his computer. You really do seem to like some of it.

Another one of your obsessions is video games. You love Pac Man - of course, you call it "blue ghost." We went and got barbecue one day and they had an arcade version of Pac Man. I let you play it a little bit. For the next two or three days, you said, "go to blue ghost's house. Put the quarter in. Play blue ghost." You also really like to "play" Mario Party 8 on the Wii (you call it "ma-wee-o party 8" and you always want to be green Luigi, "red Luigi," or "green dinosaur."

You have also really liked Star Wars lately. You especially like R2-D2 (Bopper tee-too). When the movie starts you say, "here it comes. Here comes the Star Wars. Here comes," over and over again. You also constantly say, "what's that?" talking about robots, people, things, etc. You call Luke Skywalker, "Skywalker" - "what's skywalker doing?" or "there's skywalker." You also call Darth Vader, "Darth Mater."

Our trip to visit relatives in North Carolina ended up being a lot more eventful than we would have liked, but I think you really enjoyed it. Of course you were on the verge of getting sick and there was a lot of craziness going on, so you weren't quite yourself for much of the time, but you liked the keyboard and the piano at Randy and Patrice's house, the dogs at all of the houses, the gumball machine, the red and blue pullback cars, the stoplight and the pink and blue teddy bears at Ted and Jon's house, the organ and the viewmaster at Viola's house. You also really got along with a lot of our relatives in North Carolina.

On the way home in the car, you started doing this thing where you had a car in both of your hands above your head. You started pulling it from one hand to the other saying, "mine! mine!" as you switched hands. It was really odd that you were fighting yourself for a toy.

Leading up to your birthday, I looked at cakes with you on the internet. You decided that you wanted a Thomas cake and a Thomas party. I took you to the party store to buy decorations and order your balloons. Then we went to Publix to order the cake. When we left the bakery, you started asking, "where's Thomas cake?" You asked about the cake for weeks before the birthday party.

You had a great birthday party. It was at our house and it was an unseasonably beautiful 70 degree day. Although it started with you bumping your head on the counter and crying and screaming, you ended up having a great time. You liked playing with everyone (only a few incidents where I had to remind you to share), you liked the ice cream and cake and you liked the presents. It was just a really nice time. I had to rush you to get everything opened because each time you opened a new present you wanted to stop and play with it. You loved the Yoshi figure that Wyatt chose for you. You also loved the chalk, the Caterpillar tractor toys, the infrared remote controlled Lightning McQueen, the Spiderman stickers, Thomas legos, Little Einsteins Globe and game, all of the other art supplies and the cars. You are still going through all of the toys each day and playing with new ones that you hadn't noticed before.

Before the party, Amanda and Corinne came to help decorate. Amanda spent the night and got to see you in an awful mood for many hours. You were on antibiotics, but you did have an ear infection, so I understand why you acted up so much. Right before the party, you had a blast playing with Amanda and Corinne. You and Corinne invented this game in our room where you were each on opposite sides of the bed. You would be looking at each other and both say, "bye" and start sliding down so you couldn't see each other any more. Then you would run around to her and laugh and run back saying, "say bye again!" It was really cute. And you and Amanda played with cars back and forth and balloons for a long time that morning.

I am just so amazed at how fun you are right now. You make me laugh so much every day. You are just such a miracle to me and I adore you!

Love, Mama

Time to catch up on photos! 4 - Misc (keep scrolling for more photos, including Christmas pictures)

2009-01-01T22:20:00.005-05:00

First, are pictures of a house here in Loganville that decorates in kind of an interesting way for Christmas. You really have to park and get out to appreciate all of the elements of this display. Their decorations have evolved a lot since we first saw them back in 2005: http://www.lizcjones.com/2005_12_01_friedokra_archive.html.

And the last two pictures are of Holly after her haircut. She lost the bow about 2 minutes after I took these.

Time to catch up on photos! 3 - Ann's Birthday

2009-01-01T22:12:00.002-05:00

Some of these are Owen's first attempts at Photography. I'll let you guess which ones!

Time to catch up on photos! 2 - Aquarium (the week before Christmas)

2009-01-01T22:02:00.002-05:00

Time to catch up on photos! 1 - Our professional Christmas photos

2009-01-01T22:00:00.001-05:00

Mike and Scott's Christmas Visit 12_27_08

2008-12-31T01:05:00.001-05:00

Christmas 12_25_08 Part 2

2008-12-31T01:03:00.001-05:00

(Some of the Christmas pictures were taken by me, some by my dad and some by my uncle, Tom. There are two parts.

Christmas 12_25_08

2008-12-31T01:00:00.002-05:00

(Some of the Christmas pictures were taken by me, some by my dad and some by my uncle, Tom. There are two parts.

Christmas Eve 12_24_08

2008-12-31T00:56:00.001-05:00

Our New House!

2008-12-02T01:03:00.003-05:00

I'll post more pictures soon, I promise!

The Wiggles

2008-11-17T00:31:00.001-05:00

Lenox/Pink Pig/Toys R Us

2008-11-17T00:23:00.003-05:00

Friday Poll 11_7_08 Time Change

2008-11-07T09:26:00.001-05:00

How did the time change affect you?

Stone Mountain and Mom's House

2008-11-05T21:30:00.002-05:00

to Owen, one more thing...

2008-11-01T21:36:00.002-04:00

I will support you through thick and thin and we will work through any mistakes you make along the way, but if you EVER decide to go to the University of Florida, well I just don't know... I think I could handle almost any other college. Even Georgia tech (although that school tends to turn a lot of people into total jerks - family excluded, of course). But, just say no to gators, son.

Halloween 2008

2008-10-31T23:42:00.002-04:00

Friday Poll 10_31_08 Scary Movies

2008-10-31T00:06:00.000-04:00

What is the scariest movie you've ever seen?

To Owen... (31-32 Months Old)

2008-10-30T23:03:00.003-04:00

This is a long letter. After all, I've been writing this for like 2 months!

I started showing you the Peanuts Halloween special back in September. You really like it. And you really love Snoopy. There is one part of the special where Linus is playing music and Snoopy is dancing and reacting to the music. When the music starts to sound sad, Snoopy starts crying and acting really sad. The first time we watched it, you started crying and got really upset. I thought that I wouldn't be able to show it to you again for awhile because it upset you so much. But, the next day you said, "watch Snoopy on TV (although TV sounds more like TB when you say it)," so I put it on. That time, when it got to the "sad" part you started crying again and said, "Snoopy's crying." I told you that Snoopy wasn't really that sad. He was just acting sad and he'll be okay in a minute. That usually calms you down, but it still does upset you a little bit when we watch that. You are very sensitive about other people being upset. In this picture, you were crying because there was a little girl crying on the playground at the zoo.

You say the Georgia bulldawg cheer, "Goooooo dawgs, sic 'em... woof, woof, woof." It is so cute. Of course you don't have the attention span to actually watch a football game, but you will watch a little bit of it and say the cheer a lot. You also cheer with us and say, "yay, a touchdown!" when we make a touchdown. The best thing to distract you so we can watch the game is play-doh. You LOVE play-doh. You especially like it when we make footballs out of play-doh. Lately, you go to your daddy a lot and say, "daddy, watch football."

You are into all kinds of art. You love to draw with crayons, markers, chalk and pens. You also love to paint and cut paper with scissors and glue paper together. You like to draw, but you also like to make me draw (or sculpt if we are playing with play-doh). You say, "draw aaaaaaaaaaaa...." or "make aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....." and then whatever you want me to draw. You usually start with easy things like, "draw aaaaaaaaaaa... car" or "draw aaaaaaaaaa... train," but then you start coming up with more complicated things to draw like the Wiggles, or purple Oswald or Snoopy, etc. Corinne was over one night and you were getting us to make things out of play-doh. You had us make things like balls, squares, triangles, etc. All of a sudden you said to Corinne, "make aaaaaaaaa... car." She only had a tiny bit of play-doh, but she was trying to make the car. I guess she was taking too long because you started saying, "make a car, make a car!!!" We're trying to work on your patience and politeness!

You drew your first face a few weeks ago, and you made your first play-doh sculpture recently too. You took little pieces of play-doh and piled them up to make sort of a green and orange blob. I asked what you were making and you said, "make nunkey's house" (nunkey is how you say "monkey"). You even showed me where nunkey's door on the house was. I got you on videotape talking about it.

The weather has been so nice for the past month or so, that we have spent many hours outside each day. The little boy next door lets you play with his Hot Wheels. You enjoy that a lot. You are getting very adept at pedaling tricycles and Big Wheels. You can even pedal Ethan's big Harley Davidson tricycle bike. You love to explore outside and take walks and you could probably spend hours throwing rocks down the storm drain. You are very curious about things.

Candy is getting to be sort of an irritating issue. I guess like most kids, you love candy. I don't mind giving you a little bit every once in awhile, but you ask for it all the time. The grocery store and restaurants are probably the worst problem because you see it there on your level and throw temper tantrums when I tell you no. Sometimes I stand my ground, but I do give in sometimes too.

You always want suckers when we go to the doctor or to get haircuts. The other day, we took Holly to the vet to get groomed. I said, "Holly is going to get her haircut." I could see you thinking about that for a second and then you said, "Holly haircut, blue sucker!" Rather than bothering explaining, I just said, "yeah, I think they might give Holly a blue sucker, but it is for her because she is the one getting a haircut."

Something that you've started saying a lot is the phrase, "How 'bout..." It is so funny when you say it. We'll just be sitting down playing or something and you'll say, "how 'bout... [dramatic pause] a popsicle?" or "how 'bout... A blue sucker?" Another funny one is "Oh man this is fun!"

You really enjoyed going to the zoo. You were sort of interested in the giraffes. You said, "let's count the giraffes. 1, 2, 3." You didn't seem to care about the lions, or gorillas AT ALL. You liked the birds in the atrium alright. You were quite interested in the Naked Mole Rats. But, of all the animals, you were the most fascinated by the little turtles in the reptile house that were eating lettuce. I guess it was because you could look at them so close, and they were actually moving around, eating the lettuce so close to you. You talked about it for days!

You woke up the other day really liking dinosaurs. I think it might have been that we have been reading "How do dinosaurs say goodnight?" a lot lately. But, that day you said, "watch dinosaur on TB, mama." You kept asking and asking. Finally I found a Blue's Clues that was all about dinosaurs and put it on for you. You loved it! That same day, we went to Target and you fell in love with "Spike," this Fisher-Price remote control dinosaur that is like 4 feet tall. It was on display in the toy department. You kept pushing the buttons, making it go again, and again, and again. I would make you go down another aisle and as soon as we would finish, you would run back to Spike and push the button to make him go again. You would say, "orange button, mama. Dinosaur goes ROAR!!!" and you would dance and jump as you watched him move around. I wonder if you would like it as much when it isn't in the glass box and without the background music that plays on the display model.

You count EVERYTHING nowadays. "Mama, let's count the cars... Let's count the eyes... Let's count the flags... Let's count the stars, etc, etc." It is really cute, but it gets a little tiring when we're trying to get you to go to sleep and you won't let us turn the page because you want to count all of the donuts, or neckties, or cows, etc.

My car is kind of gross. The inside is gross enough, but a few weeks ago, I decided that I needed to at least get the outside of the car washed, despite the fact that I thought it might freak you out. I explained to you what the car wash was. As we started to go through, there were some stuffed fish hanging in the entrance. You said, "blue fish, blue fish." Then I just tried to act upbeat and say, "oh, look at the colorful soap... And here come the spinny things, scrub, scrub, scrub... Almost done... Now the blowers are drying the water off, etc." You said, "car wash, blue fish, fun, go to car wash again, mama." So, every once in awhile, you ask me about the car wash and want to go. You almost always scream, "no, nooooooooo" as we start to go towards the car wash. Most of the time, we don't actually go, but if we don't, you usually ask to go to the car wash again later. Sometimes, even though you are saying no, I take you through anyway. After it is over you say, "car wash. Fun. Car wash, again, mama?" So, I guess you really like the car wash... But I'm not sure.

You did tell grandaddy one of the most descriptive stories I've ever heard from you when you told him about the car wash. You said, "car wash, blue fish, round and round and round," and your hands started pointing as you were saying, "swish, swish." You also said a lot of unintelligible things, but you just kept talking about it. It was so cute!

The other day we were taking a walk and Sara, from down the street, started talking to us. She gave you a little Wizard of Oz doll and said, "here Owen, you can hold this." It was so sweet. Then she saw a bird flying into a tree. She said, "that's a mama bird going to see her baby." She was really sweet and patient with you. You seem to really love it when older kids pay you attention. The next day, we saw another bird and you said, "mama bird, baby bird, tree." Ever since then, you have been really interested in mama animals and their babies. Anything small is a baby and if it is big, it is a mama. One of the funniest examples was one day when you were playing with some lego animals and you said, "mama cow, baby cow" although the "baby cow," was actually a pig.

Disney movies are finally starting to hold your interest. You love "Peter Pan" and "Cars" now. When you are watching Peter Pan, you repeat some of the words with the same proper, not-quite-British accent that the characters use. You say, "Pita Pan and Tinka Bell." You also sing, "you can fly, you can fly," and during the part where Peter is looking for Tinker Bell, you shout with him, "Tinka Bell, where are you? Where are you, Tinker Bell?" When Cars is on, you get super excited and jabber on and on about everything going on. Particularly, you are interested in the tractors and you love the part when Sally and Lightning McQueen go driving together. During the races you say, "go Lightning McQueen, go!" and "oh no Lightning McQueen!" You also shout after Mac, "Mac, where are you?" when Lightning McQueen gets lost.

You love asking about and making animal noises. You have been asking me about really hard ones though lately... "What's a bat say? What's a deer say? What's a bunny say?" But, you also have started asking me what things say, "What's a train say? What's Lighting McQueen say? What's a pumpkin say?"

When you asked what a candle says you answered by making a blowing noise like you were blowing out a candle. You also like to smell candles and when you do you say, "Ah, smells so sweet." You say the same thing when you smell flowers or other scented things.

I just love all of the funny things that you say and do. We do have our rough moments, but there are so many wonderful moments that far outweigh them. I love you and I feel so lucky that I get to share so many wonderful moments with you; I will treasure this time always.

Love, Mama

Friday Poll 10_25_08 Laughs

2008-10-24T00:39:00.001-04:00

What is something that has made you laugh recently?

Friday Poll 10_17_08 Disney Movies

2008-10-17T11:59:00.000-04:00

What is/was your favorite Disney movie?

Zoo 10_10_08

2008-10-16T23:49:00.002-04:00

Last week, we went to the zoo. It was a lot of fun and the weather was great. Hopefully, it will be that good tomorrow for Stone Mountain.

Great Pumpkin

2008-10-14T10:14:00.003-04:00

You know, Charlie Brown is kind of a weird kid and kids are mean, so I understand why he gets picked on so much by the other kids. What I don't understand is why, when they are all trick-or-treating, Charlie Brown only gets rocks. I mean, do the adults have to be that mean too? All the other kids get candy, but they give Charlie Brown rocks. Just wondering...

Friday Poll 10_3_08 Decisions

2008-10-02T23:49:00.001-04:00

Is there anything that you tend to be very indecisive about?

Friday Poll 9_26_08 Surprises

2008-09-26T23:24:00.000-04:00

Have you had any interesting surprises lately?

Friday Poll 9_19_08 Stress

2008-09-19T23:15:00.000-04:00

What are you stressed out about?

To Owen... (30 Months Old or 2 1/2 years)

2008-09-15T09:51:00.000-04:00

This has been a wonderful month. You are going through such a great stage right now. I just adore your personality, your cute little smile, and everything about you.

Your vocabulary just grows by leaps and bounds every day. Your sentences are becoming more complex, your pronunciation is getting more decipherable, and your comprehension is getting so much better. You get so excited about things now. You start off a lot of sentences by saying, "look mama...", "look daddy...", or "wow mama..." or "wow daddy." And you'll say whatever you want us to understand over and over again, until we show that we understand you. The other day you kept saying, "yum, yum, yum, applesauce is good." You must have repeated that about fifty times.

We have a problem with our TV back in our bedroom. For some reason after we have it on a HD channel, if we pick something to watch from our DVR, it messes up the color. Specifically, the red doesn't show up. Since you usually watch Oswald back there after your bath, sometimes the blue octopus (Oswald) appears to be purple because of the color problem. Now, you ask specifically to watch "purple Oswald" and sometimes cry if he's blue. It is hard to explain to you that he's only purple on the TV in the bedroom. You also sometimes ask for "purple Joe" from Blue's Clues, although he really looks more green than purple.

You LOVE smoothies. You like them almost as much as you like popsicles (which is A LOT). Every once in awhile, we drive to Grayson to get you a kid sized smoothie. Sometimes, out of the blue, you say, "swoopie, swoopie" and run to the door. You get so excited when I say, "okay, let's go get smoothies."

You are very into your trains right now. You know a lot of their names and you can sing the song (fairly well) at the end of the Thomas episodes. You love to make choo-choo noises. We went to Stone Mountain a little while ago and rode the train around the mountain. At first you just sat there on the seat next to me while we waited for the train to start. After a little bit, you started saying, "all done, all done" and I told you that we hadn't even started yet. You crawled into my lap and held onto me. You sat very still throughout the whole ride. You got excited whenever we passed trains and told me what color they were - "greeeeeen train," "a reeeeeeeed train". Other than that you were pretty quiet about the whole experience. When we stopped, you said, "more train, more train, again."

We also went to the train museum in Duluth last week. You liked looking at the "big trains," but you did not like walking through them. You did like the model trains that were set up - especially the tunnels. You also really enjoyed playing with the train table in the gift shop (of course). We also went on a train ride. It was a really slow ride - the train basically goes one way, stops, the train switches track and goes the other way, stops, goes back the other way, switches track and goes back to where it started. You didn't say much except every time we stopped you said, "all done." The next morning right after you woke up, you went running to the door saying, "go see trains, ride train, see big trains." So, I guess you liked it!

You also love the basement. I put a lot of your toys down there in my office and in the spare room down there. You have a slide, and all kinds of other toys set up to play with. Plus, I sometimes put the wiggles on my computer, so you can sing along and dance while you are playing. You also sometimes make me play pool while you roll the pool balls around on the table or drive your tricycle in circles around the pool table.

You like to give "thumbs up" signs a lot. Except you hold up your index finger and nod your head. Sometimes you even say, "alright," or "yeah." It is very cute.

I just cannot express how much I love you and how glad I am to have you in my life (even though you've been calling me mommy lately).

Love, MAMA

Train Museum 9_5_08

2008-09-09T19:50:00.002-04:00

Mike and Scott's visit 8_30_08

2008-09-09T19:46:00.001-04:00

Recent Photos 9_8_08 Some of these aren't so recent actually

2008-09-09T01:20:00.002-04:00

These were from a while back. I thought it was funny that there were almost as many dogs as there were people at this party.

Notice the stack of pancakes.

Fun at Wal-Mart.

Don't most parents just take pictures when their child is trying to take a nap on the floor at Wal-Mart?

I know someday he'll probably kill me for this picture.

Watching Curious George...

You can figure this one out.

Nine Inch Nails

Choo-choo

The playground.

Such an odd child...

Friday Poll 9_5_08 Trivia

2008-09-04T19:54:00.001-04:00

What is one of the most useless or obscure pieces of trivia that you know?

Seriously????

2008-08-29T23:23:00.003-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aI6EAsKvgg I don't know if the actual video makes me feel worse or the comments on youtube talking about how much the Tech fans liked it. It makes me cringe to watch it - I would be so embarrassed if this was Georgia.

By the way, go dawgs!!!

Friday Poll 8_29_08 Tooth Fairy

2008-08-28T23:34:00.002-04:00

How much money did the tooth fairy used to give you? How much should she give to kid's today?

Ethan

2008-08-26T21:53:00.000-04:00

My nephew, Ethan lost his first tooth! I can't believe how old he is now. Congratulations, sweet boy!

Oh, deer!

2008-08-23T22:07:00.003-04:00

So, I'm sorry about the lack of posting lately. We have been very busy being the wishy-washiest people alive, trying to figure out our housing situation in the last couple of months. We were going to build a house, and then we decided to buy a house - so we had to get our house ready to sell, then we decided to build a house after all. Anyway, it has been quite the process and I'm just glad that things finally seem to be getting started and we have a direction. So, I'm getting really excited now! Here are some pictures that my father-in-law took of some deer who live on the land where we are building. I hope we don't chase them off.

Friday Poll 8_22_08 Obsessions

2008-08-22T07:34:00.002-04:00

We all have things that we do that are mind numbing and time consuming, but we can't stop doing them. Whether it is a tv show, a game on the Internet, a video game, a book you can't put down or some other thing that keeps you up too late or sucks your free time away, it is hard to break away from these obsessions. So what is your current or recent obsession?

To Owen... (27-28 Months Old)

2008-08-18T10:12:00.002-04:00

Owen, you are such a mess. We have had a lot of fun in the last couple of months. Not to say they haven't been difficult, because they have been, but they have also been a lot of fun. Hearing you talk and communicate with us is so neat. It sometimes isn't super easy to understand you and sometimes you get very frustrated when we can't figure out what you're saying, but it is getting easier to interpret your language. You are putting a lot of words together and making short phrases and sentences now.

A lot of times you will skip over words that you don't know to make your own sentence or command. You will say "mama, uh-a-a-aaaaa popsicle" when you want a popsicle or "mama, uh-a-a-aaaa choo-choo tracks" when you want me to play trains with you. It is kind of hard to type how that sounds, but it is really funny.

You can also name all of the Wiggles and the Backyardigans and all of the characters on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Little Einsteins. And, Handy Manny is "nanny, nanny." Yes, maybe you watch a little too much TV.

You say bye to a lot of things now. When a show is over you say, "bye agains (Backyardigans)," or "bye Tigger and Pooh," or "bye Mickey Mouse (Dickey Mouse)." The other day when we were leaving the house you said, "bye Holly, bye toys." And at your last haircut you started saying, "bye suckers, bye cookies," as we were walking out of the door; you must have said that randomly for a couple of weeks after that haircut.

You are getting really into toys that have lots of pieces. You really enjoy puzzles (and you are getting much better at putting them together), building blocks, Legos and train tracks (or choo-choo tracks). You love for me to build towers and houses. A lot of times, when I am building, you'll say, "door, door" until I make a door. You like to make towers and trains out of food, boxes, shoes, or whatever multiple objects you can find.

For a long time, it was very difficult for me to cook without having you crying and screaming under my feet, trying to get me to play with you. I have sort of solved this problem by having you "help" me in the kitchen while I'm cooking. I bought you a little cookware set that came with a pot and pan and tea kettle and all kinds of cooking untensils. It is so cute. I give you those with a bunch of uncooked oats, or I fill up our colorful plastic nesting bowls with water and set them on a bunch of towels in the kitchen. You can sit and stir and pour and play while I get my stuff done. Of course, there is quite a bit of clean up involved afterwards, but I know you're having fun.

You are also enjoying art a lot (really anything that is messy). You like chalk and paint and drawing. I really like aquadoodle stuff, since I can either give you the aquadoodle pen filled with water or a plastic paint holder with water and a paintbrush and it doesn't make quite as much of a mess as real paint. Of course, when you stayed with Nanny and Grandaddy the other day, they let you fingerpaint which you LOVED!!! They said you just dug in the paint with your hands. When we came to pick you up, the front half of your hair was green. You looked like an emo kid or something. I'd let you paint more, if you didn't have the desire to dump out all containers of anything (paint, water, legos, shampoo, cereal, etc.).

The other day, you disappeared for a few minutes and it was way too quiet. I started looking for you. When I got back to our bathroom, you had emptied the entire bottle of baby shampoo in the bathtub and you were sitting in it, fully clothed. You were rubbing your hands around in it and you looked up at me and said, "Washy hands, washy hands." You had shampoo dripping from the front of your hair down onto your forehead and nose. You have since done this quite a few times. We are going through a bottle of shampoo about once a week at this rate. I must remember to move the shampoo out of your reach, every time I leave the bathroom!

The grocery store has been getting a little bit easier (knock on wood). I have still been having trouble getting you to ride in the cart, but you have also been listening a little better and not running away as often. Some trips are better than others though. The other day was kind of funny when you tried to get into the eggs. I stopped you and said, "okay, we need to leave the eggs. Say bye, bye eggs." You left without any fight, but pretty much yelled, "bye, bye, whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttteeeee eggs." I've noticed that when you say the colors of things you do that a lot - like, "bluuuuuuuuueee crayon" or "reeeeeeeeeeeeedd bicycle." It is very emphatic.

You are also absolutely obsessed with numbers and counting. The grocery store is a good place for this. You'll run up to the apples and start counting them, or say, "mama, count apples," and wait for me to count. You also count stairs when we go up and down them. You are crazy about the Goodnight Moon 1, 2, 3 counting book. You get very excited about counting the telephones and the socks especially, for some reason. You can count to 12 easily and then you start saying, "uh-teen, or-teen, it-teen" and things like that along with me while I count to twenty. When I stop at twenty, you usually say, "ready not, here comes!

I have really been tickled at you lately when you sing along with songs and try to talk along with some of the dialouge and words in your shows and books. And when you sing "row, row, row your boat" you sing it really fast and try to make me sing along really fast.

The other night, we were playing in the basement and you said, "mama, spider." I said (because I was a little nervous), "where's a spider, Owen?" You said, "where'd it go? Where'd it go?" I said, "I don't know. Do you see a spider somewhere?" You said, "there it is." I never did find a spider, but it kind of freaked me out a little.

Sometimes, you come up with some odd names for things. One of the weirdest trains of thought I was able to follow was when you were sharing a milkshake with me one night. You kept saying, "chocolate milk," so I said, "milkshake." You said, "milkshake... milk-shape... milk-triangle... triangle-shape!" So a few days later, we had another milkshake and you took a sip and said, "yum, triangle-shape!" That has to be one of the strangest names for a milkshake that anyone has ever come up with.

One night, we were singing along with the Ramones on Rock Band and you started copying us saying, "hey, ho, let's go." You started thinking we were saying, "A, O, let's go." Then you started singing various other letters in the song. Mostly, you sing, "P, S, let's go," or "P, X, let's go."

You can pedal your tricycle, you know your colors, shapes, numbers, animals, animal noises, and most letters. It is just amazing to me how fast you are growing up! I love you so much.

Love, Mama

Friday Poll 8_15_08 Concerts

2008-08-15T01:36:00.001-04:00

I may have asked this already, but maybe it has changed. What is the best concert you ever went to?

Friday Poll 8_8_08 The Olympics

2008-08-08T10:33:00.001-04:00

What is your favorite Olympic event?

Friday Poll 7_31_08 This Summer

2008-08-01T09:38:00.001-04:00

So far, what did you do on your favorite day of the summer this year?

Friday Poll 7_25_08 Movie surprises

2008-07-25T18:43:00.003-04:00

(I know I'm late again!) We watched Zodiac last night. I was really thinking that I'd hate it, but I actually enjoyed it a lot. What is a movie that you watched that you were expecting to hate, but ended up liking anyway? (by the way, I also liked The Orphanage a lot more than I thought I would, although it made me cry a lot).

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

2008-07-18T10:56:00.001-04:00

My dad is sixty today!

Friday Poll 7_18_08 Books

2008-07-18T10:53:00.000-04:00

Read any good books lately?

2008-07-15T19:31:00.002-04:00

(from a Backyardigans episode where they are protecting an egg) "no one said this adventure was going to be OVER EASY."

Friday (er... Monday) Poll 7_14_08 House

2008-07-14T14:47:00.001-04:00

I know, I'm a horrible blogger. I missed 2 fridays in a row. So, here is a much belated Friday Poll for y'all (if anyone is still looking at my website!). What is your favorite thing about your house?

Friday Poll 6_27_08 Movies

2008-06-27T03:27:00.001-04:00

What is the worst movie you've ever seen?

Happy Birthdays!

2008-06-27T03:25:00.000-04:00

Happy belated birthday to my cousin, Matt. Also happy birthday to my uncle Doug and cousin Caroline. And happy early birthdays to Tim and Joe.

Parade

2008-06-26T22:46:00.003-04:00

Austin was in this parade for the baseball team. He got to drive a really nice Corvette. I wish I could've gotten some better pictures, but Owen was having some issues.

Nanny and Grandaddy's House

2008-06-26T22:36:00.002-04:00

First time in the pool this summer

2008-06-26T01:22:00.002-04:00

By the way, this was last week...

Savannah

2008-06-24T23:45:00.002-04:00

Friday Poll 6_20_08 Funeral Songs

2008-06-20T00:46:00.002-04:00

I'm sorry if this is really morbid, but I saw the question on one of those survey emails I got today and I've been thinking about it all day.

What song do you want played at your funeral?

By the way, I think my answer would be instrumental versions of "Mad World" (the Gary Jules arrangement from Donnie Darko) and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

Sorry, but this is one spa treatment that I'm gonna pass on...

2008-06-17T22:42:00.001-04:00

http://in.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idINN2542211820080425

Recent Photos 6_17_08

2008-06-17T22:06:00.001-04:00

Friday Poll 6_13_08 Summer Vacation

2008-06-12T23:37:00.001-04:00

Are you going anywhere on vacation this summer?

The Beach

2008-06-09T00:31:00.002-04:00

Friday Poll 5_30_08 Animals

2008-05-30T10:32:00.000-04:00

If you could be any kind of animal, what would you be?

Zoo

2008-05-29T22:16:00.002-04:00

Once again, I have like a million pictures. And if you want to see all of them, you can go to this link.

I think we've created a monster.

2008-05-27T15:49:00.002-04:00

Owen is obsessed with popsicles. And he knows where we keep them. Every morning he tries to get me to give him a popsicle before we eat breakfast and every time he thinks about it, he runs to the freezer, opens it up and brings me the box of popsicles. One morning the first word out of his mouth was popsicle. And usually he says, "a Popsicle?" like it is a question. Sometimes he'll put his face right up to mine and say, "a Popsicle?" Although it is VERY hard not to laugh and give in, we have to say "no" a lot. And Owen screams and cries and acts like he's two years old. We were out of popsicles this morning (and I wouldn't have given him one before breakfast anyway). I was in the back of the house getting dressed. Owen came running in with a box of frozen hamburger patties shaped like Mickey Mouse. He said, "a dickies" (that's how he says mickey). I didn't give him a hamburger for breakfast, but it was really funny. I can just imagine his thought process. He must've been thinking this: I sure would like a popsicle. I'll check the freezer. Hmm... No Popsicles? Where'd they go? There must be something else good in here. Hey, I see Mickey Mouse. That must be good. "Mama! A dickies?".

Friday Poll 5_23_08 Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-23T13:52:00.002-04:00

So, does anyone have any plans for Memorial day?

And, by the way, happy birthday, Jake! And happy anniversary tomorrow, Austin (we've been married 5 years).

A good cause

2008-05-20T22:48:00.005-04:00

Austin is being locked up in jail to fight Muscular Dystrophy. He needs to raise $2,400 to get out. If you can help out, you can donate money at the following link:

https://www.mdaevent.org/ParticipantInfo.aspx?j=f916d977-83b4-4d15-bb34-c06b6457f69e

Friday Poll 05_16_08 Ice cream truck

2008-05-16T20:54:00.002-04:00

Did you used to get treats from the ice cream truck? What was your favorite thing to get? Or what is your favorite kind of popsicle?

I feel kind of guilty about running over that homeless man's hat in Atlanta Sunday. Sorry, man.

2008-05-13T13:04:00.001-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mommies out there!

2008-05-11T23:02:00.001-04:00

Too expensive, but sooooo cute!

2008-05-09T16:23:00.002-04:00

I could never afford them, but these are the cutest clothes for kids that I have ever seen. Especially the girl clothes. It might be good that I don't have a girl. We'd probably need a second mortgage to pay for all the cute clothes!

Friday Poll 5_8_08 Mother's Day

2008-05-08T23:30:00.002-04:00

It used to kind of make me mad every time my mom used to sing, "You can't always get what you want," by the Rolling Stones. But now, that song is very special to me. The follow up to that line is, "you get what you need." Now, I love that song. Not only does it remind me of my mom, but it is just a great song. It makes me feel better when I listen to it. Every time I'm disappointed about something, that song always makes be feel better - like everything is going to be okay.

So, my question for mother's day weekend, is what is something that your mom used to always tell you?

To Owen... (25-26 Months Old)

2008-05-07T23:50:00.002-04:00

I missed your 25 month birthday, so this letter will cover two months. We have good days and bad days, good hours and bad hours, good minutes and bad minutes, but I love you no matter what. Sometimes I think, this is so hard and feel like I'm breaking, but then a few minutes later you are laughing and dancing around in a circle and I think, this is why I keep going.

The main thing is that you are wanting to be very independent. While I try to sometimes let you be independent, you are still two years old and I must keep you from seriously injuring yourself and others (which really is not an easy task for the parent of a two year old). So, this need for independence has manifested most obviously in your need to eat without the restraint of a high chair. I noticed this first when I began having to push you down into your high chair at home and snap your tray on while you were kicking and screaming. Then, once you were in the chair, you would hardly eat anything because you were so irritated by the "cage" I had put you in. So, after the fourth or fifth time you did this, your father made the suggestion to just let you eat at the table with us, without the tray attached to your high chair. After you gobbled your food happily, we realized that this was the correct answer. Maybe a week or two after this, we moved you out of high chairs in restaurants. Ideally, we like to trap you in a booth, because it is still not super easy to keep you sitting still while we are eating. We are trying to eat out at restaurants less.

You talk so much now. You know almost all of your letters and you sing along to the alphabet song sometimes (at least parts of it). You can count to ten, but you don't always do it in order. Most of the time you say, "won, two, tree, saidnen, eight," but you can identify all of the numbers 1-10 when you see them. You sing more of "Twinkle, twinkle little star" than you used to. One of the cutest things I've ever seen is when you are really excited during an episode of Little Einsteins. First of all, during the intro song when they sing, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1," you sing along. Then, in every episode, to get the rocket to go, the characters ask you to pat along with them. You start saying, "pat, pat, pat" and patting your legs and your tummy. Then, you raise your arms over your head as they take off. Then, you say, "there it goes." It is so darn cute - I've got to get it on video. And you call rocket, "rocky." It is also pretty cute when you see a clue on Blue's Clues. You say, "dere it is! A blue!" and point to the screen.

For many months now, you have been very reserved and keep to yourself in Gymboree. I don't think any of the moms think you even know how to talk. At the end of class, the teacher always brings out a clown puppet named Gymbo. The other day, she was going through the whole routine and you were on the other side of the room. She, and all of the moms (and some of the children) call, "Gymbo" with our hands up to our mouths. We do it three times and then we sing a song to get Gymbo to come out. This day, after we had called for Gymbo, your little voice called, "Jibbo" from across the room. Then, while we sang, I kept looking over at you dancing along with the songs.

You wouldn't get into your carseat if I didn't make you, but I don't really want to be arrested (and it is best that you are safe and all), so I often have to wrestle you into it. And, though you are okay about riding in your carseat for the most part, when given the opportunity, you would probably spend an hour playing in a parked car. You love to pretend you are driving and crawling around all of the seats. You especially like the van when the seats are down because you can just run around back there (when it is empty enough). Sometimes, if I don't grab you fast enough, you just take off jumping from seat to seat trying to get away from me. Fun times.

I guess that the most trying parts of motherhood for me so far has been our visits to doctors and the dentist. You had your first two cavities filled right before your second birthday and the other two right around the end of March. It was pretty awful. I held you in my lap and held your left arm down. Your father held your right arm and the dental assistant held your legs. The dentist gave you novocaine, but you were awake. And you screamed, and fought, and screamed, and cried. And I felt awful. Then you fell asleep. Both appointments were pretty much the same. Although the second appointment was a little better because those cavities weren't as bad and we knew what to expect. I'm sorry I passed on the gene for crappy, weak teeth.

We also had your surgery this month. Actually, a couple of weeks before the surgery, we had the VCUG. They first gave you an ultrasound. Now, I've had a few ultrasounds myself and I know they aren't really that bad. I guess you didn't get the memo. From the time we held you down on the table for the ultrasound until it was over, you screamed and cried as loud as you could. Then, it was time for the actual VCUG. This test basically involved you being cathetarized and then the doctors looked at what was happening in your kidneys and bladder under a kind of x-ray machine. You didn't like this test AT ALL. I held one arm, your daddy held another arm, and there were two nurses each holding one of your legs. After the test, the nurse kept talking about how tired she was after holding your leg. She said that when they saw that it was a two year old coming in, she didn't expect it to be too terrible, but she said that you fought like a four year old. You are so strong!

The surgery seemed to go well. Of course we won't know the results until the follow up tests. You did so well, though. The procedure was scheduled for 9:15 in the morning, but we had to be there by 7:15. And we had about an hour drive. We left our house around 6:00. Of course, we couldn't feed you or give you anything to drink. You were actually pretty pleasant until around 8ish, when you started getting a little bit cranky. They gave you Loritab to drink around 8:30. When that started kicking in, you just started staring at the TV in a daze. You seemed pretty relaxed and happy (I wish we had some of that left over). When it was time for surgery, I went in to the operating room with you until they put you to sleep. I set you on the table and you started crying and grabbing me, not wanting to be set down. There was a foam circle where I was supposed to lay your head. You picked it up and acted like you were driving. We finally got you to lay down, fighting and crying, and they put a mask over your face. I kept saying, "I love you," and "I'll be here when you wake up." Your eyes started rolling back in your head and closing and you were asleep. I was ushered out of the room and your daddy and I went to the recovery room to wait for you. When they brought you out, you were out of the anesthesia sleep, but you were asleep. You slept for awhile. Finally, the nurse came in to talk to us and give us instructions about post-op care. While she was talking you sat up and started thrashing around trying to get your IV out of your arm. You were drowsy most of the way home and finally feel asleep a little bit before we got back to Loganville. We got some food and when we walked inside you saw the chicken nuggets we got for you and started saying, "chicken, chicken." You were glad to eat and drink and then started running around like nothing had happened. You took another nap later, but you seemed back to your old self the next day.

You love animals. You know most of the animal noises now. Of course when we ask what a dog says, you say "ruff, ruff" but it sounds more like the "f" word (other words you say that sound like the "f" word - "fork", "frog", and sometimes "truck"). It is really cute when you meow like a cat because your voice gets so high. Also, you tell us that a frog says "ack." Unfortunately (or fortunately sometimes) our very sweet, passive Holly, has taught you to have no fear of animals. One day, about a month ago we were taking a walk and these huge dogs started barking at us. You just went marching towards the fenced-in yard where they were with no fear at all. I let you get about 10 feet away and I said, "Owen, you can't just go up to those dogs. We don't know those dogs, but you can say hi to them." So, you stood there waving, saying, "hi, dog. Ruff, ruff." (and you know what that sounded like). You and Holly are great friends. You throw her toys to her, feed her and run around the house together, chasing each other.

I try to not take you to the grocery store much any more, but when I do, I have to race through the store as fast as I can before you start melting down. We actually had a very pleasant visit the other day, but it involved you sitting in the part of the cart where the groceries go, so I didn't have too much room for the groceries. But, since you were so well behaved, I didn't really care that much.

You hate it when I brush your teeth, change your diaper and/or clothes, start your bath, tell you it is bedtime, give you your medicine, take things away from you, and make you go inside or leave the car. And when I say you hate these things, I mean that you cry and scream and whine very loudly; you have quite the temper, I'm afraid.

And you are going through a very shy stage. Most of the time when people try to talk to you, you put your head down, or hide or cry. One day we were at lunch and a lady came up and started talking to us. You put your forehead on the table and I could see you peeking out of the corner of your eye. Finally, you sat up and turned your plate over and dumped your food on the floor. I think you were trying to give her the message that you didn't want her there any more. We'll have to work on being more subtle as you get older.

I try to do crafts and activities with you, but you are still a little bit destructive. When we tried to paint, I had to keep you from painting the porch and me and you rather than the paper. When you play on the back porch in the sandbox or with your water table, you usually end up throwing most of your toys off the porch. You also try to bring your toys from inside and throw them off the porch. You have also thrown your clothes and your shoes and our broom off the porch before I could stop you. And, speaking of your clothes, many times you end up pouring water from your water table all over yourself, and I end up stripping you down to your diaper to play in the sandbox. Sometimes you try to get your diaper off, but I am not letting you play in the sandbox completely naked - sorry.

You love stickers. You put them all over yourself - on your shirt, hands, face and especially on your feet.

You pick up phones a lot now and say, "hullo, hi" just like an adult would do. Of course you never do this when there is a person on the phone. You also have been so cute lately saying "mama" after things. You say, "thank you, mama" a lot. And sometimes you say whole sentences that I can't understand and follow them with "...mama." You also have been saying "oopsie daisy" a lot and many other small sentences and phrases. You do all of the motions that go along with "the wheels on the bus" and make choo-choo and car noises. And you love your whoopie cushion and when people act like they're sneezing. You are such a boy! You also say the names of the people you are around the most now - mama, daddy, nanny, grandaddy (which sounds a lot like granny), papa, granny, Becca (Becky), Wyatt (Why-u), and Ethan (effin). You also know most of the names of your favorite TV characters - from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - Mickey (still "Dickie), Minnie, Daisy, Donald, from Oswald - Oswald, Weenie, Henry, Daisy, from the Backyardigans - Pablo, Uniqua (which sounds like "Becky"), from Sesame Street - Elmo, Cookie, Oscar, Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, from Blue's Clues - Blue.

You prefer playing with things like medicine droppers, sippy cup valves, nasal aspirators, spoons, forks, and rocks to toys.

And, you hide things. Things are constantly ending up in weird places all over the house. Toys in the silverware drawer, my shoes in the kitchen cabinets, blocks in the laundry basket, toothbrushes in the dishwasher, food in your cars, etc, etc.

You also like to get in things like laundry baskets and TV cabinets.

Despite the typical two year old temper tantrums and quest for independence, you still make me laugh every single day and I wouldn't trade my time with you for the world.

Love, Mama

Grove Park Inn

2008-05-07T23:16:00.002-04:00

We went to the Grove Park Inn this past weekend for a Board of Governor's meeting for Austin's dad. It was a nice getaway, but I wish we could've stayed a little bit longer.

Earth Day 4_22_08

2008-05-06T23:51:00.001-04:00

Owen and Wyatt 4_22_08

2008-05-06T23:49:00.000-04:00

Just wait...

2008-05-06T16:43:00.002-04:00

There's this annoying commercial I saw on the TV the other day. These three new moms are sitting around eating chips while their babies are sleeping peacefully in their infant carriers. One mom says, "we should have these play dates more often." And then they all laugh, smugly. There are so many things I hate about the commercial. First of all, the moms are way too put together to have new babies. They all look like they've slept all night uninterupted for weeks. And I really doubt that all three babies sleep so well at the same time of day - in their infant carriers - that's a bunch of BS. And lastly if these moms were real I would feel like shaking them or slapping them in the face and saying, "enjoy it while you can because someday these babies will be two and your playdates won't be so easy any more and you'll regret being so smug and stupid." And, I know two is a rough stage and I am just bitter. But, I also know that it will only get harder and that's when I start to wonder if I will ever want to have another child. Don't get me wrong, I love Owen but some days are so hard!!!

Friday Poll 5_2_08 Guilty

2008-05-02T09:50:00.001-04:00

What is something that makes you feel guilty?

No Friday Poll Today

2008-04-25T12:48:00.002-04:00

We made it back from Owen's surgery just a little bit ago. Everything went well. He is awake, but still a little bit out of it because of the anesthesia. We are taking it easy today - we all have to recover a little bit!

Congratulations, Lacey!

2008-04-22T20:49:00.000-04:00

http://lay-c.com/blog/

Oh no.

2008-04-22T09:29:00.000-04:00

Owen just realized that he can stick things in his ears.

Busy time

2008-04-21T23:53:00.003-04:00

I'm sorry that I've been neglecting the old blog lately. My calendar has been sort of full. And I've been kind of worried about some things. My grandmother is finally doing better, but she has had an awful time suffering from gallstones and having to have her gallbladder removed.

Also, Owen had his follow-up checkup about his kidney reflux. He still has it and when we followed up with the urologist, they scheduled his surgery for this Friday. It is a very minor procedure called Deflux, but they still have to put him to sleep which scares me. But, I think it will be better than him having to keep going back for the yearly hell that is a VCUG. And, he would eventually still have to either have this procedure done later, or we would wait until he is about five or so when we could see if he has grown out of the reflux; at that point, if he hadn't grown out of it, he would either have the Deflux procedure after all or he would have to have a more invasive corrective surgery. Anyway, I think we are making the best choice to go ahead and do this. If all goes well, he could be off daily antibiotics in about 6 weeks after Friday which would be AWESOME!

Anyway, between doctor's appointments, birthdays, and other daily obligations (like squirrel evictions) and appointments, I have had very little down time. So, in the meantime, if you haven't seen them yet, here is the link to my dad's pictures from Ethan and Wyatt's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese: http://www.campbelljack.com/ph/Chuck%20E%20Cheese-2008/

Friday Poll 4_18_08 Inspiration

2008-04-18T10:22:00.000-04:00

What inspires you?

Happy Birthday, Austin!

2008-04-12T02:00:00.000-04:00

I love you!

Friday Poll 4_11_08 Commercials

2008-04-11T10:25:00.002-04:00

Lately, there are two commercials that really make me cringe. I posted the links to them below. So, which do you think is worse - the Meatloaf commercial or the one with all of the annoying celebrities?

Meatloaf

Mariah Carey, Carlos Santana, Donald Trump, Martha Stewart

Or, are there any other commercials that bug you?

Happy Birthday Ethan!!!!! I can't believe you are 6 years old!

2008-04-09T00:57:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, Amanda!

2008-04-08T01:19:00.000-04:00

Wish us luck!

2008-04-07T00:37:00.002-04:00

Well, we have to go in for Owen's yearly VCUG Monday at 3:00. We will be finding out soon if his kidney reflux has improved any since last year. It is not a fun test and I'm not looking forward to it, but maybe there will be some good news.

Friday Poll 4_4_08 Field Trips

2008-04-03T23:02:00.002-04:00

Where was your favorite place to go on field trips when you were in school?