Photo Montage (Pennsylvania Trip)

This photo cracks me up, because it looks like one of those shots a friend takes when everyone has been drinking too much ...

Beautiful Amy sleeping ...

Sour grape!


Notice how wet the sweatshirt is ... obviously he's teething

Poor Collin spent most of the visit exhausted ...

Aren't those PJs adorable?

See I told you they were cute!

Love to all of you guys. We miss you horribly.

xoxo,

Ode to Owen

So, as most of you know, Owen is our nephew (son of Stephanie and Collin; brother of Aubrey). You may remember that Owen was born about three weeks early and was a pretty sickly little newborn. He had to wear a heart monitor at all times; had some reflux and apnea problems; and for awhile we were all silently very worried about the little guy. Well, that was before he started eating solid food.

Here's a shot of Owen when he was a newbie:

And this is the kiddo now:

And this is why he look so healthy:

This child is huge now (I mean that in a good way, of course). He's about 9 months younger than Allen, and he weighs 3 pound more than him (and is quite a bit shorter too). He's adorable though. So happy all the time, and such a good eater. Now that he's walking, I'm sure he'll slim down some more too.

But I digress. Back to his cuteness. I was so pleasantly surprised to find that Owen loved his Aunt Leggy (that's me, for those of you who don't know my nickname). Every time I came into the room, he ran towards me and body-slammed me until I picked him up. Or he'd climb over people to reach me on the sofa. His whole face lit up. You have to understand that until I had Allen, I really wasn't a kid person. Kids didn't like me ... they sensed my fear and just cried when I held them. So, Owen is the first kid besides my own who actually liked me! I was so excited.

But then we started to notice a pattern. Every single time I held him, Owen managed to ... um ... well, he copped a feel. He grabbed my boobs. Don't scoff ... if it had been once or twice out of all the times I held him over the week we were there, I would have said, "Coincidence!" But every time he caught sight of me, he wanted me to hold him. And every time I held him, his hands managed to find my boobies. No joke! Oh well, at least he was happy to see me, right?

Anywho ... being that Owen is only about 16 months old, he doesn't really talk a whole lot yet (he says a few words that Mom and Dad understand, but not those of us who only see him every few months). In general, he tends to communicate in a series of grunts and screams (like even when he calls his dad, it comes out "DAAA"). And in sign language that his Mommy taught him. I wish wish wish that I could have caught it on video, but at least I have some stills I can share with you. And let me tell you that if this kid wanted a car and signed the word "please" to me, I'd probably give it to him. It literally makes your heart melt!

"Please"

"Thank you"

Telling us where Jehovah lives (technically not sign language as in ASL, but still adorable)

And, if you say to him, "Owen, do you need a spanking?" He puts his hand to his chest and gasps. It's hilarious.

Owen, baby, Aunt Leggy and Uncle Brian miss you and send you tons of kisses. And we miss and love you too, Collin, Steph, Aubrey, Missy, Tim, Annie, and Pam.

xoxo,

Apologies

I've been a total slacker these past few weeks, and I apologize for that. I could make tons of excuses, but I won't. Instead, I will backtrack to the Pennsylvania trip, and then backtrack even further to Kristen's visit at the end of October.

Hope you enjoy, and again, please accept my sincere apology.

xoxo,

Photography

On Sunday, a photographer from Atlanta came and took photos of Allen and the rest of our family. Since Josh and Kristen are here, we decided to do some family shots. I hope they turned out well. The photographer -- Sean Randall -- was awesome and really engaged Allen, so I'm sure the photos will be beautiful.

I'd like to post more, but I'm exhausted at the moment, so I'm having trouble remembering everything. I'll post more tomorrow.

XOXO!

Unsuccessful Sleep-over

Tonight was Allen's first sleep-over at Nana and Papa's. He made it until about 10:15 before Papa called to say that's it's not going to work out. My poor little baby. Daddy left to get him, and I hope he'll be OK once he gets home :(

Oh well, I guess we'll have to try it again another time.

Cars Trivia

Thursday was a crazy day for us, and we ended up not eating until after meeting (including poor Allen, who was pretty darn good at the meeting in spite of being hungry. So as we were sitting at the table eating, we were of course looking for Allen to entertain us. And he did not disappoint.

Daddy asked him if he could say, "This place is crack-a-lackin'" (Marty the Zebra says this in Madagascar). Allen said, "Cacka-cackin!" It was hilarious. Alas, he would not repeat it for the camera, but we did catch these charming bits when we played the Cars "trivia" game with him.

Note (the video is only cute until about 1 minute 10 seconds in; then it gets boring. I have no video editing software, though, so I had to post the entire clip.)

The above video is probably not as amusing if you haven't seen the movie (repeatedly), but basically, McQueen always says "Ka-chow," Chick Hicks says, "Ka-chiga Ka-chiga," and there are a couple scenes where Mater says, "Well shoooot." I tried to find some clips of the movie, but was unsuccessful.

That's all for now!

XOXO,

Tubby Time

When I arrived home this evening, Allen was happy as could be. He was playing with his cars; he had a move in the DVD player; he was eating a granola bar. Life was sweet. Then about 7:00, Mommy said the dreaded T word ... tubbies. Just the sight of me standing up and clapping my hands, caused him to throw himself back onto the couch and cry.

I gave him some juice treats, promised him that I would take the tubby with him, bribed him with all the sweetness I could think of, and he still screamed bloody murder when we tried to get him upstairs for his bath. He screamed (and I'm not exaggerating) all the way up the stairs and while I got him undressed. He screamed when I put him on the floor to walk into the bathroom. He screamed while I ran the water. He stopped when I told him he could sit on the potty and I'd read him the potty book.

He started up again when we were done on the potty. He screamed while I got his hair wet. He screamed while I washed it. Then he splashed and played with his binky in the water. Then he screamed while I rinsed him off. Now, as you can imagine, with all this screaming, I went as quickly as I could. So, I finally get him rinsed off and he stops screaming, smiles, and says, "All done!" I start draining the water. He plays for a minute, and then starts screaming, "Tubby Tubby" because the water was draining out.

I think you get the idea, right?

Needless to say, Mommy came downstairs after the kid was in bed and poured herself a nice big glass of wine :)

More to come tomorrow, my loves. I still have at least one more post from the Pennsylvania trip to share with you ... In the meantime, like my sassy little outfit today?

XOXO,

P.S. Don't you think legwarmers are awesome? I'm thinking about ordering these for the shop. What do you think??

Take your kid to work day

Today was "take your kid to work day" at the shop. Brian had some work to do at my Mom's, so Allen spent about half the day at the shop with Mommy and Nana. Of course, this was the one day that he didn't want to sit and watch Cars. Instead he pressed all the buttons on the DVD player, hid in the stock "room," threw sidewalk chalk around the shop, and threw a tantrum when he couldn't stay outside (it was really cold here today).

Finally, he started helping Nana stock a shelf with new merchandise. He would pick up an item and take it across the shop to her. She kept saying, "Thank you, sweetheart!" He was so happy to help her. I was standing where the merchandise was sitting on the floor, and I think I moved something, and Allen said, "Thank you sweetheart!" It was adorable. He also said, "Sugar Mama" right after I did (I say Sugar Mama instead of another choice word when I hurt myself). It's so much cuter when he says it though, because it sounds more like "Sugah."

Finally, Daddy came to the shop, and the three of us went to get "pizzie" across the street. We told him to say hi to Mister Bill, and he said, "Hi Sticker Bill!" I kind of like that, don't you?

That's all for the "working" post today. More to follow."





P.S. In case you're wondering what Allen is doing in the above picture, he is taking the lids off the candles and "sniffing" them to make sure they smell good. He would "sniff" and then say, "Mmmm!"

Mommy glow; Inspiration

Jenn, please don't hate me, but I think this is a gorgeous shot of you. You look radiant, happy, and perfect. And you are each of those things. I love you, Jeff, and that gorgeous baby of yours. You are an awesome Mommy (just think of those dimples when Amy smiles), and you're doing a terrific job. Hang in there, and remember that we're here for you. Love you love you love you!

And Kissy, how proud am I to know that M thinks you're an inspiration. She's right. Your faith is certainly something that I want to emulate each day of my life. You're like a big sister to me ... oh wait, you are my big sister ;) xoxo

Goodnight,

People Wait! Boogie Night

Before I post about the Peanut, I'd like to say that I don't like any of your responses to my puppy post. C'mon guys, I want a new "baby," but I'm not ready to have one of the human variety. Support the need ... is it really that much more expensive to have two? (that's not a sarcastic question ... I'm serious. I've never really noticed the expense of having Mia. Is it noticeable with two dogs?). Though, I have to say that with four negative responses, my confidence is wavering. Anywho ...

Tonight, my child was atrocious at the meeting. I can't even begin to explain how bad he was. Testing limits ... yelling ... I don't know what came over that child, but I was at my wits' end. It didn't help that Daddy is still sick and stayed home tonight. But I don't think that was all it was. That child deliberately did things I told him not to do. It was awful. Even Nana was surprised and said, "he's testing you." If she says something negative about the Peanut, then you know he was naughty.

Two positives from the meeting though ... 1) he said "Amen" really loudly and enthusiastically at the end of the meeting (we were in the bathroom for the first prayer because he was throwing a fit, so maybe he said it super loud to make up for that); 2) when the first two people walked out of the Kingdom Hall, he yelled, "People, wait!" and continued to yell that for the rest of the time we were there. Except for when he was rolling around on the floor ... oh and on the stage too (see what I mean about being naughty?)

Also, we discovered today that he now says, "I got you man (or I got chew man)." I'm not sure where he learned this, but it certainly is amusing.

Now onto more positive things ... dinner with the Todds during our Pennsylvania trip. Allen and Ava were hilarious. Here are some shots at dinner ...

Uncle Brian taught Ava to stick her tongue out (I'm sure her Mommy and Daddy are forever grateful for that one)

Contemplative Ava

What a cutie!

Even cuter close up!


Allen wearing Ava's barrette

As hard as I tried, I could not get one single nice picture of the two of them.


I think Ava grabbed Allen's butt ...

Once we got outside and finished the supposed "posed shots," the kids decided to dance. Tony provided the "beat" ...

Ava getting down!

The two of 'em groovin'

And groovin' some more!

He moves like such a white boy ...




And hugs at the end of the night (I can't wait to display this picture at their wedding!)

XOXO my loves, I've got to go to sleep now!


P.S. I'm only five viewers away from the big 500! Let's hope I get five more new viewers in the next couple days!

Adding to the Family?

I'd like your comments and thoughts on this post. Brian and I have the opportunity to adopt a pure-bred Shitzu puppy (pretty much free of charge). Here's a picture of the litter (we're interested in one of the brown ones). What do you think? Should we do it??

Aren't they the sweetest little things? I'm already totally in love with our little "Basil," or "Henricks," or maybe "Oscar"? Also would love your thoughts on names ...

XOXO,

Visiting with Amy

Before I get distracted with other stories, I'll continue my recap of our trip. Friday morning we got to see darling little Amy. Allen was the sweetest with her and also took it upon himself to check on Bailey throughout the afternoon (Jen and Jeff's dog). Brian totally fell in love with Amy, and almost put her in his pocket and took her home. Jenn and Jeff were lovely hosts (and fabulous parents too), and we enjoyed yummy food and chocolate cake (thanks again guys, we had an awesome time). And now without any further delay, the pictures of our afternoon with Amy.

My little Allen actually put her to sleep by rubbing her head. She ended up sleeping for about an hour after that. What a good boy ... think he's ready to be a big brother??

More to follow!

Stay Back, Stinky, Groucho

So, I have like a skillion pictures from our Pennsylvania trip to post, but it's already almost midnight as I begin this post, so we're going to have to do it in several parts. I hope to post them all by early in the week.

Before I get started, I am sad to say that we did NOT win the chili cook-off (although, I do think that our chili was the best there). On a very positive note, we had a record night at Joli (for those of you who are curious, we did better than we did on Oktoberfest), doubling our month's sales in one evening! Woohooo!!!

But I digress ... Back to the true subject of this blog, my hilarious son Allen. Before I begin the recap of our Pennsylvania trip, I'd like to share two cute stories from this weekend ...

While we are still obsessed with Cars (and the collection has grown exponentially over the past few weeks), we are also branching out to Madagascar. I thank McDonald's for that, since their happy meal toys are the characters from the movie (promoting Madagascar II, of course). So last night at Nana's, Allen watched part of cars and the decided he wanted to watch "Agasca" (Madagascar). Papa, Nana, Big Dude (aka Uncle Mark), and Ashell (aka Aunt Michelle) all sat down with him to watch. At one point, Alex (the lion), tells Marty (the zebra) to "Stay Back!" Allen decides to pick this up. "Stay back!" he starts to say to each of us.

A few moments later, Nana decided Allen needed is diaper changed. She stands up, and he starts backing away (he has this thing with walking backwards lately -- it looks like he's trying to Moonwalk), and he says, "Stay back, Nana, stay back!" Fabulous, eh?

Tonight as I was getting Allen changed for bed, he informed me that he had to go potty. So we went and sat on the potty and read the "Potty Book." We read the whole thing (it's actually pretty long), and when it got to the part about putting a sticker on the chart, he wanted to pick a sticker out. So we said, OK, stand up so we can see what sticker to put on (he gets a smaller flower sticker for sitting, and a big sticker that says various things like "Hooray for Pee" if he goes). Lo and behold, he went peepee in the potty! Good job, Allen.

After we flushed the peepee and washed his hands and brushed his teeth, he says to us, "Poopy is stinky!" Ain't that the truth!

Now onto the first part of our family trip recap.

On Thursday, Daddy and Allen got haircut. Allen sat in the chair for the first time without freaking out. Sadly, I didn't have my camera with me then (it wasn't really a planned haircut), but we did get a couple shots that evening before meeting. Note that he was NOT happy that we were going to meeting because it meant that the cars had to stay home.

Stay tuned for additional installments of the Pennsylvania Trip recap. Goodnight kids!

XOXO,