Smokey Mountains

We decided to celebrate Crawford's 2nd Birthday in the Smokey mountains. Corinne, Cathleen, and I always talk about getting away and since this was convenient for us all we thought it would be a great way to spend Crawford's birthday. Brad's parents and brother and wife also joined us on Saturday for Crawford's actual birthday. The house was perfect. It had 3 stories so the kids could be on any of the levels while others were sleeping on another level. They had giant bathtubs in the rooms and a hot tub so the kids had a ball. Crawford just adores all his cousins and couldn't wait to chase them all over the house. When we first arrived we met at the world's biggest LED light show that is programmed to music. It was called shadrack and it was really neat! Ryan, Hayden, Cathleen, Crawford, Brad, and me drove through the lights and then stopped to watch the lights dance to various Christmas songs. Then we all got out and went and saw the petting zoo (llamas, ostrich, sheep, etc), said hello to Santa, and rode on a a kiddie train that they loved. Then we stopped to grab dinner and then went on to the house.

 

 

 

On Friday we got up and got everyone ready to go to Ripley's aquarium in Gatlinburg. I think all 4 of the kids had a ball. They would stop and watch the fish at the various places, then we got to go on a moving ramp to watch all the sharks!

 

Ryan was so sweet she wanted me to teach her about all the fish and so I would read her all the descriptions.

 

 

On the moving sidewalk looking for sharks.

                                       It's a hoot trying to keep up with 4 little munchkins! Hayden's so sweet and    always lets us hold her and love on her

                                             Aunt Cat with Ryan and Hayden

 

Above: There was a kid play area where the kids could run through tunnels and stick there head through peep holes!

 

Oh look all the kids are trying to take a picture and there is Crawford thinking "yeah right suckers I'm not sitting here"

After stopping to pick up a few ornaments for keepsakes we went home and Cathleen started making dinner and I did crafts with the girls. We made Santa faces with paper plates and cotton balls and the girls loved it!

                                                     Such a fun weekend with my sissys!

 

Ryan is such a big girl now and takes her crafts seriously.

 

Craw cheesing having the best time with his cousins. He would pop up wide awake in the middle of the night while we were there saying "haaa-deen" so cute

 

                                        Ryan wanted to do more crafts after dinner so I pulled out sugar cones and
                                       we painted them with green icing to decorate them as "christmas trees" and
                                       then added sprinkles and M&Ms.

                                            then Hayden and Crawford joined in on the fun!

 

Saturday December 15th was Crawford's birthday and I will do a separate post to highlight the day!

 

That morning the kids all piled into the hot tub and the girls just loved it and so we let Craw get in for a few minutes and he loved it just as much! Then we all got ready and waited for Nana, Bom-paw, Brian, Amy, Hope and Carter to come over.

 

 

On Sunday we all got up and packed up and Corinne and Cathleen hit the road. We decided to meet Brad's family at Wonderworks which is like a science type museum. Below the kids got to experience an earthquake.

 

                                     

                                            Viewing themselves in a giant screen with different types of imaging.

 

Next up was hurricane like wind simulation

 

 

We got to hold our hands in water that was as cold as the waters the night the Titantic sunk and you could time yourself to see how fast people had to drop due to hypothermia.

 

 

Crawford loved having Hope to share in all the fun with. Brad, Brian and I got to do a "space walk" aka a ropes obstacle type course and it was so freaky. I felt so scared of heights and nervous the whole time.

 

 

The kids got to play in the bubble factory.

 

 

The kids walking away from the giant light bright that they played with forever!

 

 

The kids running around playing on the giant piano.

 

Then the finished out the day riding a miniature carousel.

23 months

Crawford has always loved outside but we really try to take him to the park every day. (usually bom-paw or daddy) he just looves it and to see how happy he is there makes it all worth it.

 Crawford got to go in to his first Clemson game a few weeks ago and he just LOVED it. He literally had that expression on his face the whole time. He was so busy watching the crowd cheer, the balloons fly in the air, the fireworks or cannon go offf and he just had so much to watch. It was so fun to take him into a game I felt like I watched him more than the actual game.

 I thought Crawford would never like books. Everyone says "read, read, read to your child" and I was thinking yeah my kid won't let me get through 2 pages before he's over it. Well not anymore! He loovesss books. He can read book after book. His very favorite right now is Goodnight moon. He loves pointing and saying mooooon, pointing to the kittens, the mittens, the toyhouse you get the point. He also loves all his truck books and any book where you can move a flap.

I know I say this every month but you literally bring more joy and laughter to our lives each and every day. You are becoming such a boy and I love learning how to be a "boy" mommy. You can't get enough trains. I mean if you head one you "chooo choo" for about 5 minutes, you love pushing them around, you love them on tv. You really keep yourself so busy. You go from toy to toy in the house and just entertain yourself. You still love love puzzles (the wooden kind with say 24 pieces that you put together). You also are a champ at puzzle games on the iPad and can put them together faster than I could ever imagine. You love music videos (row row row your boat, itsy bitsy spider...you name it you could watch them forever!) You just started getting in a daddy phase..you wake up asking for him and when he's here you follow him everywhere it is so sweet! You love helping us with everything -putting the dishes up, getting the laundry out, getting your own diaper and jammies, your shoes,...you just know where everything is and love helping out. You are still our picky little eater. I am sure there are days you are starving because you just are too busy playing and won't come eat what we are eating. Your favorites are still pizza and cookies (oh dear). You are great at telling us yes, no and thank you (tannnk u) now. You love contruction equipment you know what a skid steer, excavator, backhoe loader (yeah I don't even know which is which but you sure do). I can't wait for all the fun that the holidays bring and to see what you think of Santa ...I am sure you will be scared to death!

Halloween 2012--Oompa Loompa

We decided to take Crawford to Corinne's house for Halloween so he could experience trick or treating with his cousins. I love watching Crawford grow and see how he interacts each time with each of the kids. Ryan (6) is just so sweet to him. Hayden (3) who used to push him down really plays so well with Crawford now. Blake (16 months) would do whatever Crawford was doing. It was a crazy couple of days with all the kids. I had seen an oompa-loompa costume on pinterest and just knew I had to replicate it. I had to chase Crawford around outside while trying to spray his hair green and attach those eyebrows but it was so worth it to watch him run around from house to house in his cute little costume.

He really had a ball following Ryan and Hayden from door to door. Then...we got to the house that had the giant chicken dressed up and he got scared...then he would run to the house with the girls but would stop about 20 feet from the door. Ryan would politely say "can I have a piece of candy for my baby cousin" it was a hoot.

Playing outside with the lawnmower before trick-or-treating

This trip Hayden and Crawford played so well together.

We met Meghan and Luke for lunch at chick-fil-a and after playing we walked back to the  car and as I tried to stand in the middle of the two and hold their hands Crawford pushed me away and ran around to hold Hayden's hand...soo sweet!

Trying to get a group shot. Ryan-mermaid, Hayden-fairy, Blake-pirate



The next night Ryan, Crawford and I went to Meghan's to visit Luke and have pizza with the. John pulled out some glow sticks and Ryan was fascinated. We had a ball watching the 3 kids play and Ryan played with all the baby toys and behaved so well and Meghan and I got to catch up and talk about how much fun it would be if we lived in the same city..sigh.

I took Hayden and Crawford to tata-rus while Corinne through a Matilda Jane open house and the kids had a ball running around on the bouncy floor. Crawford followed Hayden everywhere. Hayden was great and loved swinging on the rope into the foam pit. They definitely ran off some energy there!

Hayden likes wearing dress up clothes all.the.time such a girly girl! I just wish we lived closer so I could watch the kids create such sweet memories!

Crawford 22 Months

Crawford- I can't believe we haven't updated in 2 months. You continue to  crack us up every day! You are always smiling or lauging! It's so nice to see you so active and happy all the time. You wake up in a good mood and you go to sleep happy! You can easily entertain yourself and as long as you have something to do you are one happy little boy! In the past 2 months you have really started to be a "boy." You love trains, trucks, balls, any sort of constructoin equipment or tools. I am learning new pieces of equipment every day from reading you your truck books! We love teaching you new words or hand signals and it's so exciting to watch you learn every day! You are a whiz at the ipad and can put together puzzles faster than anyone. In the past few months you started mother's morning out, went to Kiawah Island with Nana, Bom-paw, Hope, Carter, Brian and Amy, you stayed with Nana and bom-paw for 9 days while mommy and daddy went to a wedding and on a trip to the pacific northwest. You are a tough cookie-when you fall down you have learned to wipe your hands and "brush it off." You love to play chase and have us run after you. You know all the football signals (touchdown, holding, false start, off sides, pass interference). Whenever you complete a task you clap for yourself and it's a hoot. You still love Mickey and your blanky during down time. You are still our picky eater -- you love cookies and ice cream, pizza, and chick-fil-a (Nana loves to share these things with you). You are also soo sweet and give kisses and hugs and want mama and dada to snuggle you. You are obbbsessed with Nana and bob-paw it's adorable. You ask for them on a daily basis and go look for them in the house. We will ask you where you want to go and you will say one of their names. I think the feeling is mutual. While we were away you dropped the iPad on your toe and have a black toe now (your first of many accidents to come). You get so excited to go to school and have adapted well. You now can say the colors -red, yellow, green, blue.

Some new words- elbow, baby, bear, thank you, meatball, cookie, milk pizza, pumpkin, Hayden, knee, keys, shoes...hmm just a few random words that come to mind

I am so excited that you finally like reading books. You will actually listen now and not just flip the pages by. You can point out pretty much any subject or object in any book we read.

 When we got home from our trip we knew we had to spend our last weekend as a family at the Denver Down farm. However, you will still a little under the weather and were not your normal crazy off the walls self.

 We did get to take a hayride and you were obsessed with the tractor that was pulling us along.

You had fun searching for a pumpkin that you could actually pick up.

Then you carried it around...

You went through a children's maze but everything else was swarming with people so we really just walked around. You will love it next year when you can run and jump on the hay and play all the different games and activities that they have set up.

I literally had NO idea how hard it would be to leave you for so long. I thought about you all the time and when I couln't skype with you when it was night time out west I was so sad. You bring such joy and entertainment to our lives and we missed you sooo very much. I know you created so many memories with Nana and bom-paw and we are soooo grateful for their help but we have literally soaked up every singe minute we have had with you since we have been home. I love your joy and zest for life. You have fun doing whatever it is we do and you surprisingly don't get fussy very often. You can ALWAYS find something to entertain you. 

We can't wait to celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving, your birthday, and Christmas with you!!

20 Months

Crawford-- you are such a joy! Every day I wake up and just can't wait to see your happy face! You love playing and you are on the go at all times. When you snuggle with us at night before bedtime it just melts my heart and we just can't get enough of you! Below are some highlights from this past month:

 You always walk me to my car when I am going back to work and you wave and blow kisses!

You love the gas pump that goes with your cozy coupe and when we ask you to go pump some gas you know exactly what to do!

turned a boring oil change to a fun adventure in the parking lot!

Playing with daddy!

Aunt Alexis and Aunt Jenny came to visit and we went downtown to the farmers market.

You caught a foul ball and the Drive baseball game and  you tried to throw it back and got a good laugh out of the crowd when you launched in on the top of the dugout

You love love downtown. We take you on walks and you love playing in all the fountains. This was your first time at the "splash pad" type falls and you had a ball putting your foot over the spickets and we would laugh when it would get you in the face. You kept running back for more.

We went to visit Aunt Brittany and Hailey in Chalotte. We spent the day at Birkdale and played in the splash pad, took a walk, and got yogurt. I can't wait for you to chase your little girlfriend around!
You are trying to give her a kiss in this picture!

You are at the age where you love love putting on our shoes. You will try for 10 minutes to get them on and then you start cruising all over the house in them.

We often take you to the different parks around Greenville and you run around like a wild animal. You will fly down the slides and chase the big kids and you always have a ball!

 We took you for your first dental visit and it went much better than we expected! You sat in my lap and laid your little head back while she polished up your teeth. You got a toy at the end and you had so much fun playing in the waiting room that you didn't want to leave!

20 Month Stats:
Weight- 25.5 pounds
Height - 33 inches
Diapers- Size 4
Clothing -- size 24 months and 18-24 months (though these are getting too short!)
Shoes- size 6

• Sleep- You had an interesting month of sleep. You went through a 2 week phase of waking up at 4 am almost every other night and then would come in our bed and sleep till 8 am. If you didn't wake up in the middle of the night it seems like you were up by 7 am which is early for you. We usually have you to sleep by 9 pm and you don't protest bedtime just waking up for some odd reason. We think it has passed! You don't like naps much and we can usually only get you to sleep for about an hour so definitely some sleep habit changes for our normally great sleeper!
• Eating-- well you are a very inconsistent eater. Some days you will eat anything we put in front of you (even salad!) other days you will eat some fruit and a piece of bread. You like all fruit and your slice of bread, pizza, and chicken and other than that you are very hit and miss.
• You love outside and will run to the door multiple times a day trying to get out (when we were visiting Brittany you opened her garage door, got down the stairs, and ran to the backyard and she lives on a lake so we went sprinting when we figured out that you got out!)
• You say a few new words- juice, ice, duck, yes (essss) and your very favorite word a tie between nooo and nana
• You are obsessed with nana (could it be that she gives you cookies, ice cream, and milkshakes on a daily basis?!)  You wake up asking for her and anytime I ask you who we are going to see you say "nanaaaa" Of course nana goes with "bom-paw" and you absoultely love him and how much times he spends loving on you!
• You discovered how to you the sprayer on the hose and love going outside to play with the hose.
• You have gotten to play in several bounce houses of all different sizes and you are obsessed  you can climb to the top of the big ones and fly down the slides
• You still grab our finger and want to take us everywhere to show us what you want
• You know the difference between all sorts of animals--sea animals and the normal farm animals and most animal sounds.
• You had your second hair cut this past month
• You are obseeeeessed with Mickey and literally zone everything else out when it is on. We can't wait to take you back to Disney!

You start mother's morning out next month and I can't wait to watch you make friends and continue to make us laugh with all the new words you say and the adorable things you do! We love being your parents and we are so thankful for all the happiness and joy you brings to our lives.