First "Big Boy" Bath

Okay so I'm that overprotective first time mother that Katie talked about. I probably could have let him do this four months ago when he started sitting up. I was still using this bathtub. Oh well. Live and learn (and don't buy luvs they are terrible).

TV Can Be Educational!

Our morning routine goes like this: David eats and then he plays for awhile and gets himself good and worn out. Then I let him watch a DVD or a TV show to help him to wind down before we read a book and he goes down for a nap. This morning I was in the other room doing some chores when I heard David clapping. He knows how to clap but this time he was interacting with one of his favorite shows, "Blue's Clues". I thought it was so cute that I hit the skip back button (love our digital video recorder) to watch him do it again. This time David started clapping when Joe told the kids to clap, before he saw Joe himself clapping. I didn't know he could do it on command! When the show was over I decided to test his knowledge one more time. I asked him to clap his hands and he did it!

Daily Rituals

Andrea: "David, say mama"
David: "da da"
Andrea: "Say mama"
David: (Louder) "da da"
Andrea: "Mama mama mama"
David: (Even Louder) "da da, Da Da, DA DA"


7:00 a.m.
Jason: "Tonight I am going to bed early"
Andrea: "Me too"

11:30 p.m.
Andrea: "Tomorrow night I am going to bed early"
Jason: "Me too"

Preparing For Duck Season

Waiting for the command...

Sploosh!

Swimming upstream...

Almost got it...

Good boy Charlie!

"Friends in the Country"

Aunt Kay, Godmother Carol with David, and Granny


We had a wonderful visit yesterday evening with Kay, Carol, and Granny. David was literally shaking with excitement in my arms when they pulled in the driveway. First they ooohed and ahhed over the puppy dog and David. Then Aunt Kay fixed supper consisting of salad, bread, and hot italian sausage. It was soooo good! Kay said it so nice to have "friends in the country" and made sure she looked up at the stars before she left. Carol got to watch March of the Penguins and I am so proud of how she did during the "scary" parts. Of course she had to get some Charlie time in too. Granny entertained David by chasing him, playing ball, and dancing with him. We ended the evening with homemade peach ice cream from the local peach orchard...I never, ever tire of this ritual!

A Game of Tag

I've been tagged by Becky!

One Book that...

...changed my life
On Becoming Babywise. Q: Where would I be without that book? A: A tired, frustrated, confused mother.

...I've read more than once
Every one of David's books but the one we read most is The Animals of Farmer Jones

...I would want with me on a deserted island
I'm going to have to agree with Katie and Becky here and say that The Bible would be the most helpful

...made me laugh
???? Can anyone recommend any funny books? Apparently I haven't read any!

...made me cry
Elena's Birth Story. Okay so its not a published book, but it is a story written by our friend Julie about her daughter who was born with Cystic Fibrosis (See Lunch with the Ladies post). Not good enough? The Notebook.

...I wish had been written
How to survive on pabst blue ribbon funds with budwiser dreams

...I wish had never been written
Again, I'm going to have to agree with Katie here The "Duh" Vinci Code

...I am currently reading
Theology of the Body for Beginners

...I've been meaning to read
What to Expect the Toddler Years was given to me by a friend of a friend because she had two copies. I hesitate to open it because I was warned by several people not to read What to Expect When You're Expecting.

Tag...You're it!

Amanda (D's mommy)
Bethany
Tara
Jennica
Rebecca (Bobby's mommy)-time for you to start blogging!

Newest Family Member

Welcome Home

Sitting pretty...I mean handsome

Playing is thirsty work

Future hunting buddies

I'm still top dawg around here, right?

Jason brought home a bird dog puppy today. (For those of you who are counting this is number three.) Its a boy, however, he remains nameless. We are going back and forth between two names; one of us likes "champ" the other likes "boss" (note the georgia football lineage). We will take any suggestions you may have. Now is the time to shine all you commentless viewers! All you have to do is click on "other", type in your name and leave the webpage section blank. Jason only wants one syllable names for easy calling out in the field. I remain the only girl amongst 6 boys...I am severly outnumbered!

Why Buy Toys?

Food Fights

My nephew Ben loves to eat. Occasionally when he is finished with the food on his plate, he tries to take food off his mom's or dad's plate. One time he started to take food off of my sister's plate without asking and Lara corrected him. She said "Ben, its not nice to take people's food off their plates without asking. You need to say 'please can I have some of your food', sometimes they will say yes, and sometimes they will say no." Ben responded "And sometimes Ben will cry for it if they say no." He also tried a pretty clever trick the other day. My dad offered him a popsicle and gave him a choice of flavors. He picked one and ate every last bite. Then he said "Ben didn't like that one, Ben wants to try another one."

David likes to eat too, but most of the time he would rather play. Mealtime here can be best descibed using a few words of a song called "Airplane of Food" by Justin Roberts: "... please go ahh, please go ahh, pretty, pretty please go ahh...I can tell by the way you make that face, you're not in the mood, but won't you eat a little bit, eat a little bit, eat a little bit of this airplane of food."

Another Year Older, But 3 Candles Short

All I can say about this picture is... at least I weigh less this year than I did last year at 9 months pregnant

Birthday dinner at On the Border

Senor Ben

Tomorrow I will officially be another year older. I was feeling allright about it until I found out there were only 24 candles on my cake because there were not enough candles in one box! Anyway...let's get to the good stuff. My mom, my sister, and I spent most of the day shopping at the nearest outlet mall. It was so much fun-we haven't been shopping without children in years! Lara and Drew bought me a nice outfit while we were there. Then we met up with the rest of the family at On the Border. Next we headed home to open presents and to eat the birthday cake made with love by Pat. Carol got me Georgia koozies and UGA painted dish. Mom and Dad gave me birthday money. The next present was from J to the A Jason. I've offically been "pimped"! I got Georgia football Season tickets! When I became worried we couldn't go to all of the games for lack of babysitting ... Oma/Papa John and Granny gave me the gift of watching David for three games each!

The Countdown Continues...

I went to the allergist on Tuesday. After spending 2+ hours being poked/injected 100+ times with allergens and waiting for them to react, I decided I would give myself a little treat-I got a pedicure. I just happened to be at the nail salon at the same time as a local celebrity; Suzanne Yoculan. Who is she you might ask? None other than the long time coach of the UGA gym dawgs. I went to gymnastics camp at Georgia almost 20 years ago and she was the coach then as well. Anyway...it reminded me that I need to update my countdown until September 2!

Kidsignments

My favorite words are free, sale, and clearance. Since most of you hadn't heard of ferst foundations (see David's new bookends post) I've decided to make it a habit of sharing any good deals I come across. "Kidsignments" will be at the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds August 22-26. Visit http://kidsignments.home.mindspring.com/ for more information. I have never been to this event, but it sounds right up my alley.

I've Recruited Another One!

My friend Tara is a new blogger! Be sure to check out her blog entitled "Baby Evan on the Way" under my links. She is pregnant with her first so all you mom's out there be sure to give her your best advice!

Blogger can I start collecting some commission?

Heathers

My friend Heather came to visit today. We met playing church softball but we also attended youth group together, went to the same high school and college, she was my big sister in our sorority, and a bridesmaid in my wedding. As usual Heather went above and beyond the call of duty to come see us. She was on her way here when her car started to overheat. She stopped at the shop to have it fixed only to find out an hour later they didn't a part they needed and her car wouldn't be ready until tomorrow. Instead of calling off our "lunch date" she borrowed her mom's car and continued to drive the 2+ hours it took for her to get here. Thanks Heather, we enjoyed seeing you again!

David's 6th Haircut!

Oma is getting ready to cut as Papa John stands by...

what are you doing back there Oma???

Daddy holds David's head as he eats a fruit puff for distraction...

close your eyes David we don't want any hair in there...

that tickles!!!!

We started out the day with our prayer goup. (Mama forgot her camera or else you'd be looking at pictures of the yummy food we ate, our wonderful friends, and cute kids playing together). Afterwards we stopped in for a visit with Oma and Papa John. It was time for David to have another haircut (he has had five already, most of which I did myself...not an easy task as you can tell by pictures 2 and 3). Oma used to cut mama's and aunt Lara's hair so well when we were little I thought it might be nice for her to do it. Lucky for me she was up for the challenge! Also lucky for me Papa John let us borrow his camera and spent a good amount of time making sure I would have these pictures for this blog tonight...thanks Dad! Next we went to Granny's house to visit her and Godmother Carol. Again I would have pictures of that too if only I had remembered my camera! Such is life...

Parenting Styles

Right about now mama would pick David up, hold him and tell him everything was okay, but...

daddy decides to distract him instead...

its working! He has David's attention...

look daddy can juggle...

I can do it too daddy!

Jason has been working incredibly hard for several months now. Lots of late nights at the office, meetings and events in the evenings and on weekends, and working on the computer at home until the early hours of the morning. It had been wearing on him for awhile, but when it started to wear on me, he decided it was time to take a few days off. David had such a wonderful time with his daddy today. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. David started the day by panting like Charlie, then he wanted to juggle like daddy. Hum...David, mama is feeling a little left out! Its okay...I enjoyed seeing the difference in Jason's parenting style vs. mine...I think David might like daddy's better!

Grandparents Day

David's new toy from Oma and Granny

Giggle time with Papa John

Cuddle time with Oma

Bubble time with Mama

Oma and Papa John (a.k.a. pop, opa) came to visit today. David had so much fun. As usual he was into everything. Oma cited him a "speeding ticket" for crawling from one room to the next so quickly. Pop was in heaven drinking coffee, eating hot wings, and watching soccer in high definition on the big screen. Oma just enjoyed visiting and the change of scenery. I enjoyed seeing my mom and dad interact with David. Y'all come back now, ya hear?

What kind of Nazi are you?

Okay, I admit it. I am the noise nazi when my child is asleep. Tonight I found out why...I blew my nose in the room next to David's after he had been asleep for about an hour and he woke up! I really need to go to the doctor about my allergies...what kind of nazi are you?

Thought for the Day

Why do babies cry when they are tired? For the life of me I think I will never understand this phenomenon. If you're tired; go to sleep! My mom says that when I was little I used to just fold my hands together like a pillow put my head on my hands and say "sleep" when I was tired...now that makes sense!

David's New Bookends

Thank you Dolly Parton's Imagination Library and Ferst Foundation! David is enrolled in the Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy program (visit www.ferstfoundation.org) He will receive one book every month until he is 5 years old (60 books), plus these bookends ALL FOR FREE!!! The books come in the mail (we've gotten 5 so far) and I picked up the bookends at the library today.

Weekend in Review

We started with Avery's birthday party...

then we babysat my newphew Ben...

and now we are all pooped!

"Had a Hard Day. Mama Too."

My sister Lara, nephew Ben, and brother-in-law Drew


Instead of talking about my hard day, I decided to tell you a cute story about my nephew Ben (Andrew Bennett). He amazes me with how intelligent he is both conversationally and emotionally. One day Drew took on an extra project at work. That evening he had to work past Ben's bed time. As Lara was getting Ben ready for bed, he asked if daddy was coming home soon. Lara explained that he had to work late and Ben wouldn't get to see him until the following morning. Ben sighed and replied "Had a hard day. Mama too." He knew that Drew had a hard day at work, but also sensed that my sister also had a hard day taking care of him since she didn't have Drew's help! There is much more where that came from...

My "oldest" friend

Lauren and Evan

David was entertained by this phone for awhile...luckily we have the same toy at home...I just hadn't opened it yet!

David loves dogs...this is Lauren's dog Molly

Avery; the reason for the "girl crazy" post

I've been friends with Lauren since the first grade. We have made so many memories together. In fact she is the reason I can correctly spell the word together. I used to spell it togeather and Lauren taught me a trick; it spells TO GET HER (with no spaces). David and I went to visit her today. I can't believe it had been a year since I last saw her. She does remarkably well with two children and she says she's not finished yet! That is pretty good considering her son will be 4 months old in a few days, and starting tomorrow she is going back to school. Look for pictures of Avery's birthday party on Saturday!