Chippy, the Elf on the Shelf

Santa sent us one of his special elves this holiday season.  We named him Chippy, and every night, he flies back to the north pole to report Santa about how good or bad Natalie and Grant have been.  Then he flies back, and lands in a new spot every night.  One morning, we caught him with his girlfriend, Barbie...

Shout Out

I just want to give a shout out to Delta Air Lines, who dealt with our annoying peanut allergy so nicely this past weekend, even though we are all non-revs and aren't supposed to ask for special treatment.  On the way to Cincinnati for my grandma's 100th birthday party (more on that later...), they chose not to serve peanuts to everyone on the plane.  I mean, this was after a 4 hour delay that made us a half hour late to my Grandma's party, so the least they could do was not kill my kid, but I digress... On the flight back, they didn't serve peanuts AND they made a special announcement on the PA that my little guy had a severe allergy!  I kind of felt like a celebrity.  That plus the Woodford Reserve made that flight a lot less stressful.  Good times.

GG's 100th Birthday Party

My Grandma, Frances Swales, turned 100 on December 7.  100 years old.  Can you imagine the things she's seen in her lifetime?

Todd, the kids and I flew to Cincinnati on Saturday the 3rd.  Well, we tried to anyway- our flight was supposed to leave at 8 am.  There was a problem with the engine, so we never boarded, but instead, they announced they were flying in a part from (ironically) Cincinnati, and then we would be taking the plane that brought the part BACK to Cincinnati.  Since the 8 am flight was the only one of the day, they kind of had to get us there.  A bunch of people got on the non stop to Columbus, but we had a car waiting for us in Cincinnati so we decided to wait.  We didn't take off until 12:30, and didn't get to Cincinnati until about 2:30, about a half hour before the party started.  We all changed clothes in the bathroom (ah, memories of my childhood!) and quickly got our rental car.  The kids were surprisingly VERY well behaved, and slept most of the flight.  Of course, Grant woke up with conjunctivitis ... UGH.  It seems like it's never ending with him lately.

Above is a picture of the whole family- minus my cousin Patti.  My grandparents had two children, my dad and my Aunt Martha, who passed away in 2002.  She had 3 kids, Mike, Patti, and David.  And then of course, there's us!

Here is Grandma with me and the kids.  This is the first time she has ever met Grant.  She met Natalie once back in 2008.  The party was really fun!  There was a great big cake, and ice cream for everyone.  Brie's mom Darlene made this great poster of Grandma that everyone signed, wishing her a happy birthday. 

After the party, mom, dad, Cory, Brie and the four of us went out to LaRosa's for some dinner.  The kids were totally spent, and there was a long wait, but thankfully, Cory and Brie's hotel room was right next door. So we took the kids over there for about 20-30 minutes and watched some TV and played trucks.  It totally did the trick.  Since it was also Cory's birthday, mom and dad got him a cake.  Here we are posing with the cake... which would later slide down dad's jacket when he tried to pick it up.  No more post-party alcoholic beverages for you! 

We all got a great night sleep and since our flight didn't leave until 4 pm on Sunday, we got to go visit with GG again.  I love the picture below- it really looks like Grant and GG are having a lengthy conversation! 

Grandma even got a letter from President Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama, wishing her a happy 100th birthday - very cool!!!

After our visit with GG, we went back to the farm to eat a quick lunch and let the kids take a quick (around an hour) nap.  While Todd and my dad went out to get some lunch for us, Natalie, Grant, Nana and I walked around the farm and went over to Mount Pleasant Cemetery, which is next door to my grandparents house. 

Here the kids are running around outside, right before I put their coats on them.

Coats required, it was chilly.  Hey, let's head over to the cemetery!

The conversation about the above picture went something like this: Me: "Natalie, please do not dance on the graves of deceased people!  It's disrespectful!"  My mom:  "Oh it's okay, that's so-and-so's grave and she's not dead yet!"  Oh, fantastic! 

A few minutes later, Ben came by on his ATV (he lives across the street, his grandpa is my dad's cousin, I think).  He came over to drop off some venison sausage, and Grant and Natalie got to sit on the ATV for a few minutes.  Ben was so sweet to let them sit there.  He even let them rev the engine!  Thought Grant might have a heart attack! 

After nap, we headed to the airport and had an uneventful flight home, thankfully.  Wish I could say that I stayed put for a few days... but the next weekend, I went to Atlanta for my friend Sally's baby shower.  She is having a baby girl, Maley Marie, in January!  I was only there for about 48 hours, but it was so good to see my friends Sally and Jen!!!!



Grant at 2 years

Here is an update on what my little sweet boy is like at 2 years old.  First, I'll give you the stats.  Grant went for his 2 year check up on 11/2, just a few days after his 2nd birthday.  He was 34.75 inches tall (60th percentile), weighted 29 pounds (64th percentile) and his head is 50.5 centimeters.  I love my big boy! 

Second, we learned that Grant has a severe peanut allergy (which we kind of already knew of course) and a mild allergy to pistachios.  Boooooo.  This is not cool AT. ALL.  However, not totally unexpected because of the Labor Day weekend reaction he had, plus Grant's cousins Gordon and Ryan both have peanut allergies!  I pretty much knew from the moment I found out I was having a boy that he would have some kind of peanut issue.  Of course, it's never fun when his pediatrician says, "Yeah, his allergy is off the charts!"  Um, great.

Third, let's remember what Grant is like at 2 years old.  The kid is a talking machine!  I always tell Todd that Grant isn't as clear as Natalie was with her words at this age, but he certainly has as many words as she did!  He must have close to 100 words, if not more.  He speaks in 4 and 5 word sentences.  He is OBSESSED with anything that has wheels.  Trucks, cars, trains, front loaders, cranes, tractors, back hoes, dump trucks, firetrucks, you name it.  He knows them by name.  At dinner, he will eat and then say, "I finished!  I watch TV?  I watch trucks?"  Of course, this sounds more like, "I finisss.  I watt TV?  I watt twucks?"  But we know what he means!

He's a pretty good eater too.  Last night he ate 1.5 grilled cheese sandwiches, and tonight, about 2 hot dogs and a bunch of mandarin oranges and some dried apple rings.  He still loves his milk!  He asks for it every morning and says, "Peas" when he wants it (mostly when prompted though).  Some other things that are kind of unique that he likes to eat are:  cooked carrots (sometimes), peppers (orange, red, yellow), cucumber slices, any kind of fruit, and his latest favorite... ketchup.  He LOVES sweets, just like his sister, but obviously now that we know he has a peanut allergy, we have to watch this a little closer.

He's still a good sleeper.  We put him down around 7:30 every night and he sleeps until 5 something, when Todd goes in, gives him a small cup of water, changes his diaper and puts him back to bed.  He loves teddy bears and loves to sleep with Blue Bear, his taggy blankie, and his blue blanket. 

He's a sweet boy too.  Maureen says he is always SO good with the babies at her house.  He hardly ever touches them, but he kneels down and is sweet to them, and he doesn't even mind it when baby Liam follows him around.  He tolerates his sister, although I feel this year that is going to change!  He's almost always sweet with mommy and daddy, although lately he will whine for the other parent when one doesn't give him what he wants!  It's pretty funny.   

We love you little buddy!!!!!  (And we love the haircut we got you not long after this picture was taken!)

Update on my eyes

This post is for Rob, who asked in the comments section of my last post about this how my eyes were doing.

Well, it's been over 2 months and they are GREAT!!!  I don't have any pain at all, and my vision is perfect.  I have another follow up next week, so I'll be sure to post more on how I'm doing, even if it's just a quick blurb.  As you know, I didn't have Lasik- I had advanced surface ablation, which is a little different with the same out come.  I had a slight astigmatism, and slightly weakened corneas, so this was determined to be the best procedure for me based on these things.  The recover was kind of tough for a few days, as I felt like scratching my eyeballs out, but it only lasted a few days, and a few adult beverages took the edge off and I slept for 12 hours straight.  The best thing you can do for your eyes is SLEEP.  So if anyone plans on doing this, and has ASA rather than Lasik, I recommend you either a) get a babysitter if you have kids or dogs, or b) make sure your spouse has a handle on the kids/dogs.  But about 5 days after the surgery, they took out the hard contact lenses, and that made a BIG difference.  Every day got a little better, and a week after surgery, I would say I was pretty close to 100%.  For a few weeks, I was having a bit of trouble with halos (and I think almost everyone gets those) but I have been taking my eye drops and vitamin C religiously, so that has helped.  With it now being dark when I go to CrossFit in the morning, or dark when I drive to the chiropractor at night, I've noticed a huge improvement.  The moon still ocassionally halos, but that's about it.  It doesn't affect my driving, because even if the "red light" haloed, I could still see that it was red!  People, houses, street signs, etc. did not have halos.  Just bright lights, and only when you look directly at them. 

When I last went to the doctor, I was 20/16, and could even read a few letters on the 20/12 line.  I had to go searching for it, but I was previously -2.00 prescription in one eye, and -1.75 in another. I think I was about 20/90 and 20/80, or pretty close to that.

Halloween 2011

Happy Halloween!  OK, I'm a little late, but better late than never, right???

This year, Natalie went dressed as an Auburn cheerleader.  She decided at the first house that she didn't want her props- her megaphone or her shakers/pom poms.  Grant only made it about 4 or 5 houses and Todd had to take him home.  He didn't get it, didn't care for candy, and was only excited about the fact that it was dark outside! 

We went over to our friend Chris' parents house to pick up our friends Chris and Tiffany, and their kids Jackson and Samantha.  Sammi was a princess, and Jackson was Buzz Lightyear!  Here are 3 out of 4 of the kids waiting to go trick or treating!

Here you can see Natalie waiting patiently at a door for someone to answer and give her candy.  Grant has already turned around and is ready to take off and fly around the neighborhood so he can save a few damsels in distress.

See?  Here he is, saving this lady, ahem, Mommy, from the cold, fall night! Let's go Mommy!!!

Finally Daddy had to take him home.  Daddy tried his best to get in on the Halloween act!  At least he put forth an effort, which is more than Mommy can say.  Mommy was only concerned about staying warm.  That being said, I realize neither of my kids have coats on.  Neither wanted them on!  I figured Grant was only out for a few minutes, and if Natalie wanted a coat, she was big enough to ask for it.  She finally did, with about 3 houses to go!

Here's Natalie with Jackson and Sammi (and Tiffany!) at this awesome lady's house- she gave out Matchbox cars and candy!  Natalie was sweet enough to get a car for her brother, since he had already gone home.  We just love going trick or treating with our friends the Kelley's! 

Grant's 2nd Birthday Party

My little buddy turned 2 on October 30.  Sniff sniff.  For his birthday weekend, we went down to Grammi and Bean's house for a little family birthday party.  We got there Saturday right before lunch, and while the kids took a nap, Bean made us some cocktails.  This is what ensued:

After the kids woke up, we snapped a few pictures of Natalie and Grant on the stairs in their Halloween costumes.  Natalie is an Auburn cheerleader, and Grant is Superman!  Here he is attempting to fly!

Then we took a nice Bailey family picture on the stairs.  Natalie grabbed her props for this one!

After a delicious dinner, we got to enjoy some yummy birthday cake that KK made for Grant!  It's Lightning McQueen!!!  Can you believe she made this?  It's so awesome!  Wish I had talent like this.  Good thing I married into a talented family!

I love the picture below of Grant and his Godmother Nauni. 

We sung happy birthday to Grant, and of course, we only have a really long video and no pictures, but we did snap a few of him devouring his cake.  Double fisting!!! 

Here is a kind of blurry picture of most of the family (minus Nauni, who's taking the picture!) at Grant's birthday feast!  Little buddy was so cute and really loved his cake and ice cream.

After dinner, we opened presents!  Grant really loves this Lightning McQueen car that Seth got him.  Forget the other presents dad, I wanna play with LMQ!!!  The kid has a one track mind, and there's gotta be at least 4 wheels going on that track!

Mommy, Daddy and Sis got him a big loader.  He loves loaders, dump trucks, and tractors.  It's the funniest thing.  I've never seen anything quite like it! 

It was a great 2nd birthday celebration with our wonderful Bailey relatives, who showered baby boy with love, cake and presents!  I hope someday he realizes what a lucky boy he is!

Little girls and lipstick

This is what happens when you let little girls put on their own makeup...

Auburn-Florida Game

War Eagle baby!  Todd and I were lucky enough to have my mom come up and watch the kids for about 48 hours while we went down to Auburn for the Auburn-Florida game.  My besties and I try to do this at least once a year, although this year, we actually went twice, if you consider we all went to the National Championship game back in January.

Me and Ayala on our way to the potty with Jordan Hare in the background.  The bathroom was at the Livestock Arena.  Man, only in the south...

Nice pic of Jordan Hare, and oh, did I mention we are reigning National Champions?

Here we are putting up the tent for the tailgate.  This pic isn't as funny unless you know Todd, Lee and Braxton were just sitting around beneath the other tent, having a drink and watching us work.  Thanks guys.

I can't believe I'm putting this picture on this blog, because really, this just isn't me.  First of all, I hardly drink beer anymore.  Second of all, I most certainly don't shotgun.  Well, at least not in the last 15 years anyway.  But I got called out by the Gator fans, so what's a girl to do?  It was only me and Sherpa representing Auburn and all of the other girls were too chicken to do it.  The Crossfitting competitor in me couldn't let it go. I came in first of the three girls (the other two girls were Gators), but third to last overall, ha ha. 

A bunch of us didn't go to the game.  Kim and Rick, Ayala and Lee, and Sherpa, Todd and I decided to go downtown and watch it at the new bar/restaurant that is located where Buffalo's used to be, not too far from Toomers.  This is what our poor, sad trees look like after that crazy Bama fan poisoned them.  Not so good.  The restaurant was kind of lame, but the waitress was nice, and they had TVs, and it wasn't crazy packed.  And... we won!  17-7!  We worked those silly Gators!

The good thing about being where we were is that we go to go roll Toomer's ONE. LAST. TIME.  For having just beat the Gators, I was pretty sad.  Look how pretty it looks!  Not quite like '94 (what a game!) but I'll take it.

Toomer's Drugstore really needs to be open for post game lemonade! 

One last pic before we went back to the hotel for our 3 hours of sleep.  We had an early morning flight out of Atlanta (hour time change, 2 hour drive, had to return the car, etc.) But here we are, 2010 National Champions baby!  This year, not so much.  But it was fun while it lasted.

Pumpkin carving on a warm fall day

Natalie and Daddy carved a pumpkin together on a nice, warm fall day in early October.  Grant wasn't at all interested.  So I had to chase him around the yard.  Here they are, getting ready to start the pumpkin!  (Note: Natalie had a super cool green fairy band-aid on her leg that Grammi had given her after getting a bug bite at their house).

Here is Grant, wondering if he can break loose from this joint.  It was really warm out, so he had fun just running around and playing with his firetruck and remote controlled car.

He just really liked playing with the remote control.  Never mind actually using it to make the car drive and spin around.  Natalie did a great job of helping daddy scoop out the pumpkin guts!

Todd was trying to get Grant interested in pumpkin carving, but he didn't want any part of anything he couldn't remote control.

I would like to tell you that this is the finished product, below.  However, it was getting late, so after cutting the top off and scooping out the guts, they put the project on hold for dinner, bath and bedtime.  Within a few days, the pumpkin rotted, so Todd had to go buy and carve a second pumpkin!