A little bit of this, and a little bit of that

The funniest part was when he first put these on he put them on his head and not his face...trying to copy mommy!

All by myself!!!

Right before he decided to eat a big wad of it!!

this was from our visit to Aunt Kim and Uncle Jay's on the 4th

And of course our days are filled of LOTS of this!!!

Learning The Hard Way

Another one of the great devotions I receive. Hmmmm, I wonder if the person who wrote this had a look into our house?

"A wise son heeds his father's instruction, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke." Proverbs 13:1 (NIV)

As of January, I am now the mother of three boys under four years of age. Our house is full of testosterone and a loud, unbridled enthusiasm for life. This is most true of our middle son Dylan. He is wild and rambunctious - a boy through and through.

If you were to watch him enter a room, you would notice that he makes a mental list of every structure that he can scale, leap off of or turn over. He is as creative as he is fearless. It's a dangerous combination.

To make matters worse, he has an extremely high tolerance for pain. My husband Chad and I are regularly amazed at the bumps, scrapes and knots that do not elicit tears or pleas for comfort. He is remarkably tough. Or stubborn. I am not sure which.

Unfortunately, he has gotten more brazen in his attempts of late. He has noticed that I spend most of my day incapacitated with a nursing child in my arms as my primary responsibility. This has greatly slowed or halted my efforts to keep Dylan from his version of "extreme sports." If the mere warning from my voice was enough to stop my little acrobat, he'd be fine. However, my two-year old doesn't always listen the first time I say, "No."

So I have resigned myself to the fact that he is going to learn a few lessons the hard way. He is going to fall. He might even get hurt. I can't always be there to physically remove him from every obstacle he scales. I can't prevent every painful consequence of doing precisely what he chooses.

While I was praying for him the other night I asked God to make him more sensitive to my voice and to protect him when he ignores me and falls. I prayed for a graci ous and forgiving attitude when he does need my comfort. In the quiet of my bedroom the Creator whispered, "I'm pretty good at that; that's how I often parent you.

"I knew in an instant what God meant. I regularly dive head-first into a situation analyzing how I'll attack it. It's not long after God has chastened my heart that I move onto the next dangerous display of independence. If I would simply listen to His voice, I'd be fine. He has desired on many occasions to protect me from painful consequences, to protect me from myself. Instead I chose to learn the lessons the hard way. I wish I could say it only happened once or twice, but like my two year-old, I am remarkably tough, or stubborn. Neither is a good characteristic for a child.I finished my prayer that night asking my Heavenly Father to forgive my toddler-like ways. I am trying to listen more carefully to His voice. I want to respond immediately. I am sure to encounter fewer bumps and bruises along the way. More importantly, I am sure to enjoy the smile and warm embrace of my all-gracious Father.

Lawson Family Fun

So lately Jarrod has been working ALL the time. Many mornings he's gone before we wake up and if we're lucky he'll get about 30 minutes with Bo before bedtime. After that he goes for a run, showers, eats dinner, back to work downstairs. Then during the weekend he's usually working Sunday afternoon and night. Thursday night we talked about how much he works and how we need a "family day"...no phones, computers, voicemails, etc...and we decided Saturday would be the day!

We woke up that morning and headed downtown to the Aquarium. Great aquarium and I highly recommend it, but not on a Saturday. Luckily we got there pretty early because by the time we left you could not move. Think Times Square with kids and fish!! We knew it would be crowded, but Saturday's are our only day to do outings like this so we do what we can. Bo really loved looking at all of the fish and all of the people, I swear he thought they were all there to see him!!

After the Aquarium, lunch, and a nap at home we headed out to spend the afternoon at another great park we have found called Sims Lake Park. It has a great walking trail, very peaceful! There's a little waterfall/creek Bo likes to play in and we usually feed the ducks. Saturday night we had a very tired little boy so after he went to bed Jarrod and I grilled some steaks and shrimp and enjoyed a much needed night together! We rented a movie too, but by 10:30 I was fast asleep on the couch, but I heard it was good!

Beluga Whales, they were great!

He was absolutely mesmerized by this...I think we need a tank like this at home!

Time for lunch!

Looking at the sharks and stingrays with daddy...you could reach in and touch them!

Feeding the ducks with dad at Sims Lake Park

It took a little while, but he finally realized the bread was for the ducks and not for him to eat!

No day is complete without a little Cars before bed!

New Buddies

I just had to get these up asap, because they are too stinkin' cute! A few weeks ago we made some new friends while playing at the Mall of Ga. They have a great toddler area, almost exactly like they had in Austin where I took Bo a lot. I noticed these two adorable, active, little twin boys and I just had to meet their mom. Her name is Kathy, and she is so cute and totally someone I see myself being friends with! She also has a beautiful 4 yr old little girl Lilliana. Ever since then we meet up just about every Friday at 10:30 and let the kids play, we have some adult conversation (so refreshing), lunch at Chick fil A, then home for nap time! We all have a great time. Nate and Noah are 2 months older than Bo. It is so nice to have someone with little boys the same age that I can say "do they do this", "is this normal", "should I be concerned" etc...Especially right now as we enter this crazy toddler phase!!! Something tells me the boys are going to be big buds! Here are some pictures from this morning...

Bo, Nate, & Noah...here comes TROUBLE!!!!

The boys here with Kathy...the kiddos were more interested in the train!

Again...the train takes precedence over mommy with the camera! But aren't they SO cute!!!

Family

Last week my parents came to town for the first time since we moved into our new house! It was so great to have them here. For the most part Bo did great, however he has entered the mommy phase and I couldn't even leave the room without him running after me screaming and crying. He loves Pop and Bebe so much, he just wants to make sure he can see mommy!

While they were here we went shopping, went to the park, out to dinner, and had all of my family over for dinner. It was such a treat to have everyone together. My Aunt Becky was in town from NC so we were even able to see her. I think the last time I saw her was 6 years ago!

Bo had so much fun playing with his grandparents and he loved to watch Cars with Pop down on the floor! I don't think they realized what having a toddler is all about, since it's been about 30 years for them. They definitely were worn by the end of the day. And the screaming and trantrums...well Bo is not a mild mannered child, he never will be so if you plan to visit you may want to bring ear plugs! Thanks so much for making the trip, we love you both so much.

One of the many times we had Cars on.

Mom, Uncle David, Uncle Sam, and Grandmoms

My aunt Amy trying to entertain Bo

Mommy, Bo, Bebe, & Grandmoms

3 out of the 6 kids...Aunt Becky, Aunt Amy, Mom, and Grandmoms

18 Months

I truly cannot believe our little man is a year and a half!! Where oh where does the time go? I do not have his stats yet because his doctor's appointment isn't for another two weeks. I'm moving him to a new pediatrician and is was that long before she could get him in.

What I can tell you is how busy he is!!! He does not stop, I'm not kidding, I'm not being dramatic, he honestly, truly does not stop except for bedtime. My parents were here for a few days last week and they couldn't get over it. And forget walking, he now RUNS everywhere he goes. If you put him down you better be ready to take off running or he'll be half way to China!

He's become so independent, wants to do everything on his own and doesn't want the first bit of help. Including eating with a spoon (which he does not do well), dressing himself, undressing himself, and anything else he's trying to figure out. This has lead us to quite a few battles which in turn become full blown tantrums. I'm talking about the throwing himself on the floor kicking and screaming, vains popping out of his neck, with a face the color of a tomato kind of tantrum. I have a feeling spanking might be in our near future. Timeouts don't seem to be cutting it these days!

He's full of personality. I've had strangers tell me they've never seen such an animated toddler! Today at Toys R Us the girl helping him said "hi" when we walked up and Bo quickly smiled and said "HI". She fell in love with him and kept calling her co-workers over to see Bo! Mom can tell you...while they were here we went shopping and she strolled him around while I helped dad. When we met up she said she couldn't get over the people, especially the men, who stopped and commented on how adorable Bo is. He loves to "talk" to everyone we pass, especially at the stores when we are checking out.

He's still attached to his lovie. He loves to put it over his face when he decides to go to sleep. Once you see the blanket on his face you know he's actually going to sleep. Last night I went in to take it off and three times in a row, in his sleep, he grabbed it and put it back on his face! Guess that's his way of shutting out the world!

He loves for you to chase him... he runs around hysterically laughing! It's cute, unless you are trying to get out the door, get him dressed, or fed. He's in a serious mommy phase. I can't even leave the room without him screaming and crying and running after me. It's more if someone else is here, he's scared I'm going to leave. He's very clingy especially when he first wakes up from his nap. Wants to be held and snuggled with while he eats a snack and watches Sesame Street.

Right now his biggest thing would be Cars...the movie! He loves it...Jarrod and I just watch him as he sits completely still and watches it (not the entire thing of course). It mesmerizes him!! He will sit while holding his small cars (two of them being Lightning McQueen) and watch the movie as if he knows exactly what it's about. The funniest is when he sees me turn on the tv he'll do his car noises telling me to turn on the movie. If there is a "Cars" item in the store and he can see it, watch out...he will all but climb out of the buggy to get it. It's amazing how much he loves these things, he's such a boy!!

He's growing up so fast. He's full of life and is such an adorable little boy! And just like last year we celebrated his 1 1/2 birthday with cake and ice cream!!

Paul McCartney

Last night I stayed up to see this...Paul McCartney had not been back to the Ed Sullivan Theater since the Beatles first played in 1964. It got us so excited because Jarrod and I have tickets to see him in concert this summer when he comes to Atlanta. I remember years ago saying if there was one person I could see in concert it would be Paul McCartney....one of the great musicians that has ever lived!

What happened to "Thank You"

So I might be getting on my soap box a little bit, but my mom and I were talking a few days ago about how she had written a thank you note to a friend who had taken her to lunch. I thought it was just wonderful and such a nice gesture. I remember being young and my mother making me sit down to write thank you notes to everyone who had ever given me a gift no matter the occassion. I never could understand why I was forced to write a note to a grandmother who I saw all the time. And let me tell you...if you didn't write one it was talked about!! I kept thinking it must be her generation.

Today people are so busy they seem to be too busy to even say thank you. I realize that not everyone has time to sit down and write twenty different thank you notes for a gift, I understand...really I do...I'm at home with a toddler all day. However, what about a phone call? Personally I would rather talk to the person and hear how much they appreciated the gift, especially when it's someone I don't see that often. When people say they are too busy to say "thank you" it makes me think...what about the person who took the time to go out and buy the gift? They were able to take the time to choose something and I bet if they hadn't you'd be offended!

Right now Bo is obviously too young to write thank you notes or pick up the phone, but I can assure you when he's old enough I will be doing the same thing that my mother did...sitting down with him and helping him write thank you notes. Even though he'll probably complain the entire time like I did, I want him to learn the importance of manners..."please" and "thank you" along with "yes ma'am" and "no ma'am"...we're southern...it's what we do! People want to know that you appreciated their gift, no matter how small. More importantly they sometimes just want to know that you received it. It doesn't have to be a formal, hand written letter. Just a simple "thank you" would be nice! I can promise you, still to this day when I receive something from my grandmother I always call immediately to say thank you. It always brightens her day and mine!

1st Haircut part 2

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Playtown Suwanee

About two weeks ago I took Bo to this great park are about 10 minutes from our house it's call Playtown Suwanee. All it is, is a huge playground area for kids. Apparently back in 2004 hundreds of people in the community came together to build it, and it's just adorable! It's shaded, has picnic tables and restrooms so it's great if you are wanting to take a picnic. It's also fenced in, one way in one way out which makes it so easy to keep up with your little one, you don't have to constantly be chasing them around the place. Bo loved the sand of course. It has an area for toddlers which is just perfect for us. I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot of time here!!

Toddler area

"Big kid" area

in the sandbox

Bringing mama a leaf!

Jackpot...found my goldfish in mommy's purse!