Buddy.....

"Daddy"?

"Yes, buddy?"

"Buddy, buddy, buddy"

--------------------------Next time he calls daddy:

"Buddy?, Buddy?"

----------------------------

Now, I am a little partial but this could be the cutest thing ever.......hearing my son go around and call his daddy buddy. Ready to go, buddy?....Buddy, do!! It's so cute!!! It's so amazing he picks up on that stuff so quickly. He is full on talking and saying sentences.....mind you we only understand half of the sentences but get the idea what he is talking about most of the time.



We put up and decorated the Griswold family Christmas tree this weekend....It seriously is a monster. Every year daddy lets me pick a big tree because I love a big tree. For three years we had dinky spanish trees or no tree at all so I am having fun getting huge trees. This year let's just say I went a little overboard.....Daddy turned down the first 4 trees I suggested and now I know why. I have no ability to relate how big these things are when they are standing next to each other......so after little man chased the puppies at the tree farm and we took pics on the sleigh we picked a tree..not sure why I couldn't see this when the tree was next to daddy and much taller but hey it was getting dark and I was hungry and pregnant in my defense. So, we got the tree and somehow got it out of the car......correction.....daddy got it out of the truck from where it was poking out the back end. Then after hacking away at the bottom in the freezing cold the sweet husband I have discovers I have picked such a big tree that it is bending the tree stand. That's right! So , next morning he gets a new tree stand for "up to a 10' tree" ---which by no means does this mean I can ever have a 10 foot tree, unless of course we move to the white house :) Anyway, it finally comes in and we have the cutting of the netting fully expecting to blow out a few windows and a squirrel to come popping out at us a la Clark Griswold, thankfully that didn't happen but it was a beast to get decorated and we barely had enough ornaments to cover the three sides that are showing and we have A LOT of ornaments. So, we are enjoying the "dree" as little man says and have discovered it is almost 9' tall. A little ridiculous I know but I was blinded by hunger and darkness :)
Needleess to say my tree privileges have been revoked in the years to come......

December is almost here......

The little lemon to the left (yes, I know it's upside down) and remembering this time last year w/ Little man

I love Christmas....everything about it.....the hustle and bustle of the shopping, the lights, smell of a freshly cut Christmas tree, eggnog....pretty much all of it. I am looking forward to little man's reaction to all things Christmas this year. Daddy already hung our lights outside and we had a dramatic plugging in of the cord at sunset a la Clark Griswold although thankfully there were no damaged Santas and Reindeer as a result nor was cousin Eddie in the driveway as a surprise either ;)

It's such a special time of year to be with the ones you love and share all those fun traditions but with it can come such stress. I look around and see all my friends leaving to go home to family and how stressed they are about upheaving the kids and how exhausted they will be running around to see everyone.....it's sad but true. Every magazine you pick up has tips on how to keep all the family happy at Christmas and I think , what has this come to? It makes me sad to see people so stressed out to go home and see family for Christmas but I can say I truly understand how they feel about it.....pulled in 50 million directions.....EXHAUSTED........kids are cranky and out of their element not to mention all these new people......did I mention Exhausted? It is great and wonderful and I know everyone means well but it's sad when people are having anxiety attacks over going home.....I have had a few myself I must admit. Logistically trying to work the schedule is a nightmare and you can always count on getting sick after flying so pad time in there for that. I figure this is my blog and I can talk about what I wanted to talk about today and it's the Christmas good times and the stress......it just is sad that people can't be excited about going home and sharing the holidays with their loved ones. I can remember as a kid being pulled in 50 directions and feeling that pressure as a kid......little man and baby will not feel that if I can help it.

Okay , I am off my soap box and on to talk about more funny things ......

like the fact that he says "booty"...Mommy messed up and said sit on your booty and now it's his favorite word and is saying it everywhere, doctor's office, grocery store.

He helped me make oatmeal cookies tonight and I could only think of this picture of Daddy when he was little helping his mama on a chair make cookies or a cake and it's too cute. He loves to help me measure and sort out the ingredients and then to taste as it goes along. I am not sure how butter and sugar mixed together taste but to him it was pretty tasty. He climbs up in his chair to help and says "I big boy" in the big boy chair. Last night I started crying after kissing him goodnight because he looked up and said love you mommy......man how I love that child. My grandma keeps telling me I will never have another one this sweet and maybe she's right but I'd like to think it's my wonderful childrearing ;) that made little man this way so maybe baby 2 will be this way too. Speaking of Baby 2 I felt it move..... a little flutter in my belly when I settle down at night and since this is old hat I know what I am feeling this time and it's not hunger pains or other issues we won't discuss. It's exciting to think Daddy will be home this time to feel the first kicks .....he had to wait several weeks before he felt it for the first time last pregnancy b/c he was gone so we are thankful for that little blessing. AND......Beau did have cancer but it was same as last time and we caught it and will be on the look out for more.....another blessing and prayer answered. BT's scare was a reaction to penicillin injection and has gone away so "it's not a tumor" in my best Schwarzanegger voice. Anyway, happy holidays to all.....don't stress too much and take some time for yourself and to remember what it's all really about anyway.....and it's not us :)

Scary.......

Let's touch on a few things......pee pee not happening anymore. We are not pushing it but encourage it and he gets on the potty but nothing happens , even with Reeses Pieces involved but singing itsy bitsy spider while on the potty is a must.....oh how I love to see Daddy sitting in front of a boy on the potty singing itsy bitsy spider....it's so cute although daddy doesn't think so.

He is talking so much it's crazy. I am so proud of him. Lovey is his favorite right now because he carries him everywhere. ***WArning****** if you don't want to hear about my pregnancy sickness skip this section although it will have a funny story at the end.

Another funny thing he is doing is copying me puking. We stood in the bathroom the other day and as hard as I try not to let him see me sick he does sometimes and let me add that that sweet baby comes and rubs my back and lays his head on me and says "mommy? " as if to ask if I'm okay. One of those memories I will never forget, it's burned in my brain because it's so sweet.....anyway......as we are in the bathroom he goes to the toilet and we say no, no and he says okay and then turns around and says "blaghhh" into the toilet just like mommy and looks at daddy and says "Mommy , blaghhh". Daddy nearly fell out laughing so hard and I said did he really just do what I think he did? Oh yeah, we have a fake puker on our hands now........too funny.

And on the last note, again please pray for our Beau because again he has some moles to be removed which look just like his melanomas from last time and we are hoping at least it's contained and hasn't spread. He is such a sweet dog and not sure what I'd do if I had to see him in pain....he just had his 8th birthday along with Mattie and he is aging fast.

On a lighter note does anyone watch DWTS, seriously what is going on with that show, deaths, stunning exits, fainting, etc. It's a whole different season. I don't know who I want to win....Love Jennie Garth, Scary spice rocks too but Helio is so darn cute with that huge smile (does he remind any of you VQ people of Geo?) Too funny!

Pee pee

YEAH!!!! We have been trying each night before bath time to get little man to use his new potty. Tonight it finally happened.......Normally when he sits on it he automatically says all done. We were trying to be casual about it and no pressure and so I turned my back and did something else really quick and he did it. At least now we know he gets what is supposed to happen. We made a huge deal and he got a fruit "nack" as a reward. Maybe you aren't supposed to do that either but oh well. So excited......

Last night we took him to a Halloween party on base for kids and he had a ball. That was his trick or treating. He dressed up a as a puppy dog , what else, right? He ran around with his gang and had a blast. Unfortunately daddy couldn't make it he was still at work .....don't get me started on how hard they are working the man. Shore tour, huh? What's that?? It will be more like 10 years in a row on sea duty........we'll see. Praying for patience and understanding......and again we all know patience isn't a virtue of mine but learning with little man . ........He has taught me a lot about myself and life in general. Sometimes I look at him and cry because I love him so much. Daddy thinks I am just hormonal right now.....maybe but we are so blessed to have him and he is so precious we are soaking up every second right now. Alright, I am now weeping so I will go get a shower and stop rambling about my son and how wonderful he is . I am now one of those moms :)

MMMMmmmm....

What a beautiful day it was here in the Northwest......I swear it reached the 70's.....like summertime. Beautiful calm waters, a light breeze and enough sunshine to give me a little pink tint to my cheeks. So not normal for October here either so maybe this is a good sign of the winter to come and maybe it won't be as harsh......maybe :)

Little man did something so funny today (or gross depending on how you look at it) I gave the dogs some leftover chicken vegetable soup and they each got a turn --when it came to be Beau's turn I had to hold the other two back to let him get his veggie fix.....while doing so little man snuck in behind me and I hear mmmmm. Yes, that's right ...... he was sharing veggies with beau....carrots mostly that all the other dogs had probably had their mouths on as well. Now, I can freak out because I am a germ freak or I can laugh because actually those veggies probably have less germs than the toys we played with at the library today. He was so proud to share with Beau and loved every second before I stopped him.

He got his beloved tractor in the mail today from Mimi's house and he was so happy he carried it all around with him......he got it as a present at the beach and he was so happy to be reunited with it it hasn't been out of his sight. He showed it to Lion or "nine" and Mammy. We took Mammy for a walk with little man in charge of the leash today but only to the mailbox and she was pretty good for him......until she saw a bird but luckily mommy grabbed the leash just in the nick of time.

It's off for teeth brushing with our new electric spider man toothbrush.......

Oh, how the time flies.....

Wow, every day is flying by and I love watching the little man grow. We are staying really busy with playgroups, meetings and getting outside as much as possible. He is saying so many words now ........newest one is plane or "lane" everytime he hears one and that is a step up from the last way to say plane which was "dis" not sure where that came from but was plane for several months. My heart is breaking because he is losing his southern drawl and saying bye bye instead of by by---please tell me yall understood that .....he is enunciating the "i" sound . But we still have "dawwwg" so that is a relief. :)
He is drinking from a cup when he isn't filling it with his squash and carrots to watch them sink to the bottom and giving me that devilish grin as if to say I'm so proud of myself. His other latest thing is to pass gas and say "whoa".....such a boy....bet girls don't do that!
This week the dogs are running for their lives as he is chasing them with any type of moving/ pushing apparatus he can get his hands on including the swiffer......poor guys. They are being very patient but I am getting longing looks as they stand by the door and say with their eyes " please let us out...even if it is subzero and windy and raining ....at least we can get some peace out there" :)
We are gearing up for several halloween parties. He has a puppy dog outfit from last year that still fits so we are going with that. Can we talk about halloween costumes? RIDICULOUS!!! Next year we'll put the sewing machine to good use and make one no way we are paying those prices.

I know. .......I know......

Wow, it's been a while.......where do I start. The little man is off and full on running ....away from Mama mostly with the remote, a telephone or keys ....all of which he isn't allowed to have :)

We had a great time visiting home and learned that the little man is likely to be a farmer or at least have someone ride him on any kind of apparatus that moves. Everyday he got a ride on something. As soon as paw paw came in the door he grabbed his shoes, paw paws shoes and said "do, do" ( go go ) to ride something. We wasted a lot of fuel but got in some good naptime too on the tractors. He had a great time at the beach as well as some of the photos will show. I will try to attach some good pics so you can see how much he has grown. He also caught his first fish with his Scooby Doo "fi po" .........too cute. It was fun to visit, Pcola, the Beach, Dothan and Jacksonville and see everyone's little ones.......they are either all growing up too fast or we are all getting old.....okay maybe it's both :)

It was hard to come from 80 + weather to 60- big jump but we have started to put away all the cute summer clothes and break out our parkas for the winter here. He is talking so much and we are having so much fun with him......he calls Mattie "Mammy" and points to them and says"no" or dad dog when they get in trouble. His favorite word is tractor and he enjoyed the hayride and pumpkin patch the other day although he wanted to drive the tractor.

Mommy and Daddy are settling into their winter routines of watching one show we have tivoed each night......CSI (any) , Greys, Dancing w/ the stars.......(you go Jennie Garth)!! and NCIS.

Well, little man is up from what was a terribly short nap but oh well......I was hoping for more time.....