St. George 2011

We are blessed and thankful to have a trip to St. George Island every year. We look forward to it from the day we leave the beach until the time we arrive again. This year was one of our best! The boys are older and played well together (most of the time.) :) They liked being down at the beach for longer periods of time, and all of us adults got to relax and enjoy the beach for ourselves more than we have in the last couple of years. I think we were all needing the break.

Our first day on the beach!

Chillin


I thought I had hooked a big, nice fish. I was very wrong. So sad to catch a little sea turtle, but neat to see one up close. (I just noticed Bryan has a flashlight on his hat and it's turned on. Guess he was helping me look at the turtle.) :)

Pops & B hanging out on the awesome screened-in porch. By the way, the weather could not have been more perfect! Mid to low 80's with no humidity and a cool breeze. We hardly broke a sweat.

Lyndi & I took the boys to the park one morning for a change of scenery. We ended our play date with pizza & ice cream from B.J.'s. YUMMY!

Our one and only boat ride. See that nice man pulling our boat with his? Yeah, poor Ferrell's boat died on us. That man was kind enough to tow us back to the dock with his BRAND NEW, first time on the water, boat.


We were all tired and hungry after our evening stranded on the boat, but we had planned to celebrate G's 3rd birthday that night. He is the funniest little guy I've ever met. So glad we got to spend the week with him.


Breakfast with the Boys

Back out to play. They really like to run up and down the beach. Grant tried his best to keep up with Bryan. :) We think he was faster by the end of the week. Really!! (notice the dolphin?!)

Bryan and Pops wave jumping. Bryan was scared to get in the water at first. One day he had a horrible attitude so I grabbed him up out of the chair and ran to the water with him. He was hooked after that. :)



Our last full day at the beach we went to the end of the island to fish and look for seashells. We had seashells on the beach by the house we were in, but the end of the island has really nice ones. We got a couple of buckets full of shells and one bucket full of hermit crabs. They entertained us while the others fished.

Later that night we went to The Hut to have supper. Here are the boys waiting on us to get ready. Their movie of choice for the week was Peter Pan. They also LOVE Disney Channel's Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Pops gave them some "gold doubloons" and they were truly a treasure in their eyes.

And finally, in no particular order, group pictures!

Thanksgiving Program

I am waaaay behind on blogging and need to take the time to catch up with all the stuff that's happened in the past few months. But, I have to post this precious video of Bryan singing at his school's Thanksgiving Program. It's definitely priceless. (It's also 12 minutes long! ha!)

Quote of the Week

Bryan's teacher, Ms. Kay, told him to get ready for carpool. He said, "We gotta get our bathing suits!" :)

First Day of Preschool!

Today was Bryan's official first day of pre-school. We had open house last night and got to meet his teacher, Mrs. Elizabeth. She seems very nice and had things very organized in his room. His classroom theme is "Faithful Fish" and she had their names written on fish in several different places. She said their seat will change after this week so they can start to recognize their names before kindergarten. Of course Bryan spotted his right away. Glad to know he's a little ahead in that area. :)

We left the house a few minutes early and got there in plenty of time to sign Bryan in. On the way in all he said was, "You'll come back to get me." Oh yes, buddy! I'll come back to get you. :) Lots of moms (and some dads) were waiting for the hallway doors to open. Bryan was very quiet and took it all in. He's always been super observant and today was no different. We walked right to his classroom, hung up his lunchbox and "pack pack" and he lined up outside in the hall with his other classmates. I gave him a hug and kiss and went on my way. No tears from either of us. I'll save those for next year.



I was thankful to go to the grocery store alone this morning. I didn't get a whole lot done after that, but it was nice to have some time to myself. I (and Simba) went back to get B about 12:25 and he was playing hard in his room. He was happy to see me, but then said "I had fun at school!" I am SO thankful for that. Anything else I ask him he responds with, "I don't know." HA! He did tell me a boy pushed the school and hurt his hand. I have no idea what that means. He also told me Mrs. Elizabeth said, "Shhhhhh!" and "Line up!" Hope those weren't directed at him. hahaha! His folder that comes home with him each day had a smiley face for behavior. Yay! I'm so glad he had a good first day. Hopefully he will feel like going back on Thursday. :)

Funny Sayings...

So I'm WAY behind on blogging, but wanted to make a list of some funny things Bryan has said lately. I don't want to forget. :)

If he sees someone friendly he might say, "I want to talk to that." while pointing at them.

When he hears a phone beep he says, "You got a tessage."

I pulled out the tape measure one day to do something and he said "See how tall is me." Then he followed that by saying "I'm getting REALLY bigger."

If he wants you to throw him a ball he'll say "Catch it to me."

Today in the car he was talking about Allison's new puppy Casey and how she's at her house with Sydney. I told him Sydney wasn't there anymore and she was in Heaven. Then I asked if he knew how else lives in Heaven. He said, "Yeah! Mr. Fredrickson!!" :) (that's the old man in the movie Up!)

Today, he also pointed to the freckle on his arm and said, "See my pickle." HA! I about cracked up.

Christmas Santa

What a difference two years makes!:)

pumpkin patch visit

We had a wonderful time last weekend visiting the pumpkin patch with the Haefs and Fountains. We went to Old Baker Farm on a VERY cold morning. Bryan loved picking up the pumpkins and telling us how heavy they were. "This is sooo heavy." He also liked trying to drive the little tractors. All of the ones he found were on the side of the path for a reason...they didn't work! We all enjoyed the yummy kettle corn. It really was delicious. Hopefully we can make it a tradition to go there every year. So fun!

Help!

Ok blogger friends and family! I need your help. We are about to start putting together Bryan's big boy room and I cannot make up my mind on which theme to go with.

Here's his comforter:

I don't have any themed sheets or anything yet.

Here are my ideas for his walls:

These are some cool vinyl wall stick on things.




or



Those are the themes I've been thinking about. Which one is your favorite? I'm leaning in one direction, but I want to hear what y'all think!!! :)

check up

I should be blogging about our beach trip, but we haven't transferred the pictures over from the laptop. We did have a wonderful time and I'll try to tell you all about it this week.

Bryan had his 3 year check-up this morning. He weighs 36.2 lbs and is 38 1/2 inches tall. He's grown 2 inches and has gained 6 1/2lbs in a year. Amazing! Dr. Whitaker gave him a good check up, had him repeat words, checked his eyes, etc. All was well. He noticed that he does speak through his nose a little bit. We've noticed that too, but Dr. Whitaker wants us to go to a speech therapist to have him checked out. I figured it was something he would out grow, but who knows. :) He also did a vision test where they covered one eye and he had to say what picture he saw. His left eye was perfect, but the right wasn't so great. He missed 4 pictures. So we have to follow up with an eye doctor. (He also has a dentist appointment tomorrow.) On top of all that he had his MMR shot and flumist. I've put off the MMR due to all the controversy, but felt a little bit pressured about him having it today. I'm just praying for no harmful side effects...temporary or permanent. Will you join me? Thanks!!!

3 years old

Today Bryan is 3! That is so hard to believe! We've already had a couple of family celebrations so I think we will take it easy today and celebrate as our small family of three. He's already gotten all of his big birthday gifts, but he has a couple of new puzzles I can wrap up for him to open. His big present from us is a new big boy room. We will set that up after we get home from our beach vacation.

I asked him last night what he wanted to do for his birthday and he answered he wants to go to "Target popcorn." That's his way of saying he wants to go to Target to get popcorn! :) So, I think we will do that after he eats waffles for breakfast. His favorite thing to eat out is Mexican, but the only thing he eats there is chips and salsa, but I have a feeling that's what he'll want for supper. (We just had Mexican Saturday night. haha! Maybe I'll just get him some "chips and dip dip" for lunch. I love Mexican whenever. Matt won't want it again.)

It's crazy to think that 3 years ago this morning I didn't even know Bryan. Now I know him as a very silly, yet strong opinionated little boy. He LOVES to laugh and to make people laugh. I love that quality about him. Some other things he loves are his guitar, music of all kinds, Guitar Hero, jumping on the bed, chips & dip dip (of course), m&m's, Kashi cereal that he calls "kind cheerios", grapes, cheetos, "Hosanna" and "Better is One Day", tobyMac, Max & Ruby, Simba (Simma, as he calls her), Imagination Movers, Tom & Jerry, taking a bath, sleeping!, Miss Amy at church, and puzzles. Just to name a few. :)

He's learned to be scared of things. He'll say he's "very scary" and start shaking all over. One thing he repeats is that he's very "scary" of the robot. I asked him what robot? He said, "the robot in the wall." haha! Not sure where he came up with that. He's also scared of bugs. He likes to tell you where one is and then shout, "Can you GET it?" Some other funny Bryan quotes are "Can you make it too loud?", "sure is!", "where are my binoculators?" If you ask him when his birthday is he replies, "3 in Au-gest for your birthday." haha

Bryan, I am so proud of you. Everyday you get smarter! I love to watch you figure things out on your own. Most of the time you can, but if not, you grunt and we help you. haha You say please and thank you a lot without us telling you that you need to. You say yeah, but it sounds like no so we are working on saying Yes plain and clear. Some days are long and hard and I'm ready to see bed time come, but others I miss you lots after you go to bed. I can't wait to see what year 3 has in store. I pray God will help me teach you more about Him! After all, that's why we are here. I want you to love Jesus with all your heart and not be afraid to talk about him to your little friends. One day I was telling you that God made your nose and God made your eyes and just went on and on. You sat spellbound. Then the next day I told you how God made mommy, daddy, etc. You sat spellbound again. Another day I told you about how God loves you, mommy, daddy, etc. and you listened to every word. I pray that every time we talk about Jesus you are enthralled. I can't wait until you start asking biblical questions. I have a feeling you will have a lot of them. :)

I love you so much big boy! Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!
Mommy

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12

August In Review

There have only been 16 days this month, but they have been jammed packed full of fun! On top of that, I applied for a job at James Avery on Friday. Monday they called to set up for an interview on Tuesday and hired me Wednesday. I offically started yesterday (Saturday) and was thrown to the wolves. haha! Not really, but the store just opened on Friday and when I got there at noon yesterday the store was packed out. I kind of like learning that way though. Today was slower so I got to learn more about the computer system. I hope this job will work out for a while to make some extra money for us on the side, but not mess with me being a momma! That comes first.

The first weekend of August we went down to Albany to celebrate Bryan's birthday with our family there. We had a Lightening McQueen birthday party. We had a great time swimming, eating, and opening up new treasures. (Can you believe how big Grant is!?!?)



The week following we had a play date with our cousins that live here. We went to the McWane Science Center. We had never been before. I think B really had a great time. He loves his cousins too :)

Last week we drove down to my parents house. ML had a few days off so she and A hopped in the car (for 7 hours!!) and drove to see us. We celebrated Bryan's, Dad's, and my birthdays together. I love sharing my birthday with them. :) One of Bryan's favorite places is Monkey Joe's so we had to take them there. They had a great time together. Every time A & B get to be together they play better and better. One night they were dancing to a music DVD when A stopped and said, "I love you Bryan!" That's the BEST!!! Bryan tried and tried to tell Allison what to do, but she just ignored him. It was hilarious.


Another post is coming in the morning. It's the big 3 year old birthday!! :)

hair cut

Sug was here for a few fun days! :) We celebrated her birthday Wednesday night. Thursday we went to one of her favorite stores, Walton's Cabin, and then to get Bryan his first salon haircut. Granna usually cuts it, but we haven't seen her in a while and his hair was getting scraggly. We went to Sports Clips, which is a place just for men and boys. I figured they would know what they are doing. :) Bryan got paired with a really sweet girl who cut hair faster than anyone I've ever seen. I guess she knows how wiggly a 2 year old can be. Bryan did GREAT! He loved staring at himself in the mirror. When it was time to shave his neck with the clippers he couldn't stand it. He is SO ticklish!!!





He got a sucker from the hairdresser and some special treats from Sug at Target for doing so good. :) He's getting so big!

Busy month of May

The first weekend of May we celebrated Grant's first birthday. We went down to Valdosta for the big day. Grant really got in to his presents and cake. Bryan even took a pinch for himself before Grant could get a hold of it. :)

Cassie graduated on Grant's actual birthday. The Nobles had a pool party at their house and we celebrated her graduation and G's birthday, again. :) Bryan loved the pool, but wanted someone to hold him the whole time. Grant wasn't so sure about the water.

On Memorial Day weekend we celebrated Adele's 5th birthday. What a blessing and miracle she is!

Friday, Bryan and I met Julie, Margo, and Adele at the zoo. The weather was so nice and the kids really enjoyed seeing the animals. They got to feed the giraffes up close and personal. What a treat!

The hot weather has returned to the South, so Sunday Matt blew up the little pool for Bryan to splash around in. Of course he loved it!



On to June.... :) It looks like this month will be just as busy with Father's Day, birthdays, Backyard Bible Club, and weekly bible study.