Our First Tailgate of the Year

Last weekend we loaded the car and headed Northeast to Starkville. I couldn't wait to get to spend time with my family and to see how Andrew liked all of the tailgating festivities.

Andrew LOVED the day. He only slept 15 minutes in the car so I was worried about the day but there was so much for him to do and see that he never once acted tired. His cousin Emma played so nicely with him and entertained him.





It makes my heart happy that these two are getting to know each other.

Andrew brought books for his cousins Emma (6) and Ella (2). Emma was so impressed that Andrew picked out the book for her. She kept asking me, "did Andrew really pick this book out". It was a Disney princess book and I of course said, yes he did :)

Andrew got some quality time with his Granddad who read his book about Trucks to him.



Then we headed to the kids area where Emma and Andrew got to jump in a jump jump. Andrew liked it at first but there were too many big kids so he got out pretty quickly. We also visited with Bully. Andrew calls Bully a Bear and to his credit he does look like his brown bears at home. This picture is priceless to me. Apparently Andrew was not a fan on sitting on the life size "Bear" Bully.



About an hour to game time we made our way to the stadium. Emma wanted to hold Andrew's hand. He walked hand in hand with Emma and Grandmom.



All in all it was a great day. We stayed an hour of the game. Wish it was longer but we do what he can with a 21 month old. We got to see the pep rally and the airforce fly over. Andrew loves planes so this was big excitement for him - even though he got shy and huddled close when they came over the field. The planes flew pretty low so I could see how it would be shocking.

We plan to go back in October for another game!

Turtle

This weekend while Owen was mowing the yard he found a baby turtle that he thought Andrew would like. Of course Andrew loved seeing the turtle. Ralphie...was skeptical and gave us a look like, why are you bringing something else into this house.





We gave the turtle some lettuce and bread. Owen asked Andrew what we should call it. And Andrew was serious as he could be looked at his dad and said "turtle". Of course why would we think it needed any other name.

So after a little while inside we let the turtle go. Andrew told the turtle bye-bye and then we looked for it again on and off the rest of the weekend.

Devine Family Picture

A month ago my cousin Nellie had a Lia Sophia jewelry party in Mobile. My mom came to visit us that weekend and we (including Andrew) went to the party. Before the party my Grandmother's church was having directory pictures so we decided to get a family picture. It turned out pretty good. The lady taking the picture was so animated. She looked like a jack in the box with bird feathers - she was unique. Well after the 2 hour car ride and an annoying lady taking pictures - I think Andrew's expression sums up how he felt about the situation.




The picture is special b/c it is a memory with my Grandmother.

The Weekend Recap

Despite all of us not feeling 100% we still managed to have a pretty good weekend.

The big news of the weekend is Andrew is now sleeping in a big boy bed! This transition could not have gone any smoother. We are so proud of our little man and his ability to go with the flow.



We had been talking about his big boy bed for a while and we even put the head board in his room a week or so before we moved in the bed. I think this helped with the transition.



We went to Vessley's Nursery Saturday morning so Daddy could get some plants for the front yard. Andrew had a blast running in between the plants. He was adventure baby the whole time we were there.



Andrew loves airplanes. So we took him the airport in Hattiesburg in hopes to see a plane land. Luckily they have army and air force planes on display so we did get to see them. Andrew was unsure of the big planes and didn't run around like I thought he would.





After the airplanes we came home and had popsickles and sprinkler fun. Andrew helped Daddy water the new plants and we played and enjoyed the nice weather.

We even gave Ralphie a bath! So everyone enjoyed outside time :)



I think this picture is cute b/c it looks like Andrew is copying Ralphie and "sitting" like he does.

With all the fun of the weekend we didn't even notice that Andrew has popped out two more top teeth!

All in all a great beginning of fall weekend!

Did all of this really happen?

The last two weeks have been a blur and quite frankly not one the best two weeks of my life.

Let's start with 8/30/11 - I got a ticket for not completely stopping at a stop sign. Seriously!!! I didn't even see the cop.

Then came Thursday 9/1/11. I was so excited b/c Andrew and I were having our friends over for a sprinkler play date. I also thought the MSU game would be on tv - but it wasn't. I get off work and head to my car to realize I locked my keys in the car. So I had to wait for Owen to come and get me, we do a car switch - I pick up Andrew late and he is hysterical b/c he knows I am late. :( terrible day.

The following day Andrew gets sick - no big deal he has allergies.

Then Owen gets sick - terrible sick - no fun to be around. I don't feel great, but I don't think I feel too bad.

Wednesday 9/7/11 - I m bringing dinner (I bought dinner, did not make dinner) to a friend who had a baby. I don't want to stay long b/c I don't want to chance maybe being sick and getting them sick. I don't hug or touch baby. Then I back into their mail box. I knocked it over. I have white paint all over my car. Her sweet husband gets paint off my car and I am sweating b/c I am embarrassed and I don't want him to sense I don't feel good. Luckily sweet husband also fixes mailbox so I don't have to buy him a new one.

Thursday 8/8/11 I decide do go to doctor. I am sick! Yep, I am given a zpack and told to take the day off. So I do. I actually didn't "feel" sick so I thought I would do all sorts of chores to help me feel caught up on life - that was a failure. I became comatose and stayed in that state of mind for 3 more days.

Saturday 9/10/11 - I am getting ready and blow drying my hair. The dryer cord knocks off my newly bought foundation and it shatters. I cut my ankle and make up is all over the floor and counter. :( I wanted to sit down and cry over this.

So here I am today 9/12/11 still congestion and still feeling a little off, but I am can breath a little better and have completed my zpack so I am officially well, right? Isn't that how it works???

Seriously, what a week or two!!!

24 Weeks

I am 24 weeks pregnant with Sam.



Things are going well with the pregnancy. I pray for Sam every night that he is healthy and perfect. I have such a fear about this. Even when I wake up to go to the bathroom (which is 2-3 times a night) I pray for his health as I fall back asleep.

My center of gravity is definitely different now and that makes it hard to pick up Andrew. Luckily Andrew does walk more than I carry him, but he is a baby that likes his momma to carry him.

I still eat a lot of chocolate and my new obsession is the Mocha Madness from Tropical Smoothie b/c I can get it in decaf.

Sam moves a lot. Yesterday I felt a real punch. I feel Sam flutters frequently during the day. I think he is going to be strong and active.

Owen came home yesterday with a horror story. He said while he was getting his hair cut the lady told him her first child slept amazingly well from the start and her 2nd never slept. I told him that was a bad story and I didn't like it. I pray I have two good sleepers :)

We have decided to do a nautical theme for his nursery. This theme clicked and I am coming up with a lot of ways to decorate his room. So that is exciting!

My next doctor's appointment is at the end of the month for the glucose test. I hope I do well on this one. I have already noticed the fear of the test is creeping in on my thoughts.

I just can't wait to meet this little guy. I love him so much already. I keep trying to picture what he is going to look like. Will he have Andrew's concerned look when he arrives in the world. Will he be as big as Andrew? I know he will be is own little person but I do wonder if they will look alike. I don't think he will have dark hair b/c neither Owen or I have dark hair but will his have a red tint or be blond? Will he have a lot of hair, will it be curly, or will he be a bald baby? I know I will know these answers soon enough, but it is what I day dream about.

21 Months Old

Andrew is 21 months old. Hard to believe I am already planning his 2nd birthday party. His vocabulary is expanding by the day. He will attempt any word and does a good job with it. We are starting to have little conversations with him. For example; this was a conversation I had with him last night while we were watching the news. The news said that Federal Employees are in the top 5 of least liked professions - even lower than bankers. Well, Owen thought that was funny b/c he is in the banking business. So Andrew and I had this conversation during the news:

Mom: are you going to be a banker like your dad and mick?
A: No
Mom: are you going to be an engineer like your granddad?
A: No
Mom: are you going to play football for a living?
A: Yea

Andrew loves football - any ball really, but knows what a football is and plays with his football a lot. I love that he has interests at such an early age.

He is starting to argue with me over which pjs he wears at night and what "outfit" he wears to school. Owen and I sometimes have to tag team to get his mind off of a certain thing so he does not obsess over it.

He still LOVES his mommy :) and I couldn't love that more.

He went to the doctor on Friday b/c he acted like he didn't feel well and had a little fever during the day. He ended up having an allergy flair up - luckily no cold or virus. But while we were there, they weighed him and he is 27.4 lbs.

LOVES Ralphie! He thinks about Ralphie all the time. When we turn on our street to come home, he says "Ralphie".

He has a great memory and understands directions. If he is looking for a toy that is in his closet, I tell him that is where it is, and he goes and gets it.

If he wants to go in his room and play but the lights are off, he comes to me and says "lights" so I know to go turn them on for him.

This weekend we are putting up the big boy bed. I am anxious and nervous to see how he responds to it. I think he will like the extra space b/c he is getting pretty tall for the baby bed.

He is just so fun and loving.

Ralphie wanted to be in the picture with Andrew so when I tried to actually take a picture of the two of them...this is the response I got!

Andrew's Week

We have had a pretty uneventful week but I managed to take a picture and a video of Andrew so I wanted to post them :)

Lately, we have been going outside in the afternoons to let Ralphie out and Andrew plays as well. I bring him a Popsicle to stay "cool" One day this week he decided he was big enough to hold the Popsicle and eat it himself. He is gaining such independence - he will be 21 months on Saturday.

He is also in a phase where he wants to pick out his "outfits". He likes to say the word outfit and will go into his closet to pick out what he wants to wear. Sometimes I trick him by asking him if he wants to wear something with a ball or boat. I know he likes those things and it works. Last night however he wanted to wear monkeys. So a monkey outfit it was :)

Our new house shows Ralphie's hair more than the other one b/c we have darker wood now. I got the swifter sweeper out to pick up as much of the hair as I could. Andrew wanted to take over the job. He is so funny about it and concentrates on his task at hand. He loves having little jobs whether that is throwing something away in the trash, finding his shoes, or whatever it might be - he loves being asked to do something.

We went to Walmart after work on Monday and he now wants me to hand him the item so he can put it in the cart. He did this whole trip. I had to move the bread and banana's to the back of the cart so they wouldn't get smashed. Even the heavy items, Andrew had to have his hand on it while I put it in the buggy. This was fine by me, it entertained him :)