Following Suit

So, I'm gonna go ahead and join the "private" bandwagon. I have actually thought about it a lot. And it's not necessarily that I think some creepy guy is going to stalk my blog and cause harm to my family. It's that I don't like the idea of people from my past who I have no contact with anymore, keeping up with my life through my blog and not knowing it. And no, I don't think I (or my blog) is so popular that there are a bunch of people out there keeping up with my comings and goings. But, you never know. I would just hate to run into someone from high school or an old co-worker, someone who I haven't seen or talked to in years, and have them begin to tell me all about my life. So, I am just going to put a stop to that possibility. If you happen to be one of "those" people, now is your chance to come clean and let me know. I really don't mind if people are looking at my blog, I just want to know who is. Plus, putting a stop to any potential creepy stalkers is a good thing too.

So, there you go. I will be going private on December 20th. Leave me a comment with your email (comments will, of course, be blocked), or email me @ jamerlou@gmail.com. Have a great day :)

Belle-A-Roo

Ashlyn was born with quite the personality. Seriously. She is such a smart and funny girl, and she constantly keeps us laughing. Here are a few things she has said and done in the past few months:

One day I told Ashlyn that her cousin Madi was coming over the next day. Ashlyn was thrilled with the news and replied, "Oh! Madi is my very favorite friend. She is soooo strong."

After a long day of working in the yard, Brian came inside and said, "Man, I am sore!" To which Ashlyn responded, "You not sore Daddy, you just havin' a bad day."

Ashlyn loves movies, and she is always doing and saying things that she has picked up from her favorite flicks. A couple examples:

• One day, I noticed that the back of Ashlyn's neck and shirt was all wet and brown - chocolate milk. Huh? How did it get back there? Later, I saw her take her sippy cup, take a drink and then she shook out a few drops in one hand and proceeded to rub it all over the back of her neck. Well, that's weird. And then it dawned on me - she picked up the habit from Spirit. There is a scene in the movie where the Army general takes a swig from his canteen, then dumps some water in his hand and rubs the back of his neck. It is amazing what kids will notice and mimic.
  
• Driving in the car one day, Ashlyn is pretty quite and then asks, "Daddy, are you my conscience?" (Finding Nemo)
  

Ashlyn, being a typical kid, loves cereal. The other day as Brian was pouring her a bowl, he had apparently given her too much. She exclaimed, "WHOA! Easy man!"

Ashlyn loves to call her daddy when he is at work. One day, when she was on the phone with her dad, he asked her what she was doing and she replied, "Just hangin' with mommy."

After running some errands one afternoon, we arrived home and Ashlyn was quite tired and kept insisting that I carry her up the stairs, because, "It's too hard for me."

When Ashlyn noticed Trent crawling towards her room one day, she panicked, ran past him and slammed the door shut. When I asked why he couldn't go into her room she said, "Because he's dangerous!"

And my personal favorite - Up until now, I havn't been too private with my kids. Well, that has changed. When I got out of the shower the other day, Ashlyn came into the bathroom and gave me quizzical look, cocked her head to the side, paused for a moment, and then said, "You are...interesting." Okay then!

Sometimes it's hard to believe she is only 2 1/2. I love my girl!

Zoomania

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!

Trent really was a happy guy for his birthday celebration. The problem was that he had a late nap and had just woken up right before the party started, so he was a little sensitive at first. But after a few minutes, and some hugs and kisses, he was his normal happy self.

We started off the party by having the kids make paper sack elephant puppets and playing a bean bag toss game.

Then we had dinner - pizza, salad, and fruit. I used a white table cloth and put down strips of black crepe paper (zebra stripes) and had a bucket of peanuts on the table as well.

After dinner we played the classic game of eating donuts off a string. We called it "giraffe stretch" because the kids had to stretch their necks like a giraffe to reach the donuts.

And then it was on to presents and Trent got SPOILED!

I love Trent's expression in this picture -

Watch out! There were some wild animals hanging around.

I made lion cupcakes for the guests and a monkey cake for Trenters.

Trent did NOT disappoint when it came to having his cake and eating it too! He really gave us quite a good show. The cake was not at all recognizable by the time he was finished with it.


The kids all got bags of "ZOO food" which included: Monkey Poo (a.k.a. whoppers), Elephant Snax (a.k.a. circus peanuts), Gator Grub (a.k.a. goldfish crackers), and a box of animal crackers. And I made these favors out of Trent's baby food jars for the adults -

Thanks so much to everyone for coming to celebrate Trent's first year! We appreciate all the great gifts, which were greatly needed. Now Trent will be the best-dressed kid on the block with the best toys! And also a very special thanks to Monica for taking all the great photos. I didn't want to have to worry about taking pics during the party, so I asked Monica to do it for me and she did a GREAT job!

Lucky Day

Today is Trent's 1st Birthday! To commemorate this momentous occasion, I decided to let Trent do something extra special:





I love the look of hesitation in his eyes when he turns to look at me. He is definitely wondering why I am not telling him "no" like a do multiple times a day. The only problem with letting him do this today is that he is going to wonder why I am telling him "no" again tomorrow.

We have a fun "zoo party" planned for tonight with all of Trents' grandparents, cousins, uncles and aunts - except for Stacey, and she will be greatly missed. I will write all about the party later.

I love you Trent and can NOT believe how fast one year can pass by!

All Grown Up

I gave Trent his second 1st haircut last night. I say second, because I guess his first "official" haircut was when we shaved off his tail. But, since I actually had to cut hair off his entire head and not just a patch in the back, I'd say this actually counts as his first haircut.

Before:

During (he was not amused):

And then he'd had enough:

After:

Why does giving a baby a haircut make them suddenly look so old?
Goodbye baby, hello toddler: