The Malones

Mondays with Crosby

2012-02-06T11:44:00.000-06:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 3 years and 6 weeks old!!! His baby sister and I are now at 30 weeks!! And according to my fetal fibrinectin test from Friday, she is going to stay put another 2 weeks. What great news. Slowly but surely, we are getting there. Crosby will be meeting his sister before we know it. I am excited and nervous all at the same time! I am trying not to give it too much thought. I am pretty sure there is no way to really prepare for the jump from one to two kiddos. I have just been watching everyone else and praying we can do as well as they have! Soon enough...

On Sunday, we had our small group over for a Super Bowl party. It didn't matter that I barely even knew who was playing in the game this year. It was a great reason to gather with friends and we had a house full! I think the final count was 24, including kiddos and babes. I had every intention of taking a group picture. But, that never happened! It was too wild for all of that. But I did manage to snap a few pictures of 2 silly kiddos who managed to make their way into my closet!

Crosby came down in my cowboy boots at one point...

Miss Addy made herself at home in my tall, black, leather boots...

We might land ourselves on Inside Edition alongside Toddlers and Tiaras with these Julia Roberts look a likes!?! ;-)

The heels came out as well! I am pretty sure Crosby started out with the red pair. They were so sweet to share with each other...

I will definitely have to keep this as blackmail! There is nothing quite like a football shirt and cords with high heels! Silly kids. At least they are being worn by someone. I would hate to see myself waddling around in those these days. Something tells me that would NOT be pretty. And I am confident my back wouldn't hold me up anyway!

Blessingway

2012-02-04T22:02:00.000-06:00

I was treated to the most precious gift on Saturday, January 28th. Two dear friends, Melissa and Joanna, hosted a Blessingway in honor of me and Baby girl...

What is a Blessing way, you ask? Well, here is what was printed on the back of the invitation...

I had never been to a Blessingway until I helped give one for Joanna (with Melissa) last year. For several years, I had heard Melissa talk about the Blessingway her sister gave her before Margaret was born. It sounded like a lovely idea but I didn't really get until I helped host one myself.

Most people were a little confused as to what they could expect that day. We are so used to the way showers flow. Cake, punch, nuts, games, gifts and mingling. While the traditional shower is FULL of blessings for new parents-to-be, the Blessingway is an intimate and special way to speak blessings to a mom-in-waiting. Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of sweet treats and tasty beverages to enjoy while mingling with all the guests! But the majority of our time was spent listening to the beautiful words of family and friends who have been and are supporting me in bringing this Baby Girl into the world. Everyone's bead(s) were different. Some brought one. Others brought four. Some read meaningful scriptures. Others wrote out prayers. Each bead was representative of the person who brought it and the words they read to me. It was seriously one of the most precious gifts I have ever received.

To give you a better idea of what I mean, here are a few pictures of each bead I received...

Each bead was beautiful and significant in it's on way. But to see them all together... Beautiful! I will save that for the end! In the meantime, I have to share all of the candid pictures from the day. For the record, I was on the couch most of the time. I just had to stand and take a few pictures with the gals!

Joanna, Me and Melissa...

The beautiful table and decorations...

A little closer...

Beautiful AND delish. Makes my mouth water just thinking about the food!

I could hardly look at this table. Sweet Finley and Caroline were a special part of the day. Each of my children were remembered in a special way...

I could see all of these pictures hanging as soon as I walked in the door. Needless to say, I couldn't look at those either! Just seeing all of the pictures of my sweet boy and our little family made the ole eyes start watering! So emotional. The center picture was an ultrasound profile of Baby Girl...

Okay. These are seriously the BEST cookies I have ever eaten. I am still waiting for this recipe. Ahem... Not that I am really cooking right now. I still need to be prepared for the future!

Sweet Margaret climbed right up in my lap for a picture. She is just a doll...

Me and my sweet mom!

Jaclyn and me...

The two Danielles!

Me and LeAnne...

Lexi getting a few snuggles in with Malone...

Playgroup picture. Kara, Anne Claire (she is a little more than just a play group member ;-)), Courtney, Jenny, Bethany, Me, Heidi and Kristen...

Anne Claire and me...

Veronica and me...

Several friends weren't able to make it that day but sent their beads and messages in the mail. So special! Unfortunately, a kidney stone kept Lucy from making the occasion. She literally had surgery that morning! But, we called her at the end of our time and she closed us in a prayer over the speaker phone. You know your are in a good spiritual place when you can manage a beautiful prayer while under the influence of heavy narcotics!!! :-) It was a great close to a perfect day.

Finally, a picture of the BEAUTIFUL necklace Melissa created with all of the beads I was given that day...

I LOVE IT!!! How special it will be to have this necklace with me on the day we meet our sweet girl. What a beautiful reminder of all of the words spoken to me by friends and family I dearly love. Friend and family that love her already! What a special day...

Mondays with Crosby

2012-01-30T23:39:00.000-06:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 3 years and 5 weeks old!!! His Baby Sister and I are now at 29 weeks! I think this is the second time in my life I have said I was ready to be in my 30's. I am pretty sure the last time I uttered those words I was 29 weeks with Crosby. Waaaay back then, I was a newbie to the 30's (age-wise). Now, I am more like a pro. And to think half of my friends aren't even there yet. Yikes!!! But I can't complain. The 30's have been good to me. The obvious reason is pictured about. My sweet boy, Crosby! By far the best thing that has happened in my 30's. Or in my LIFE, for that matter!! He is such a doll.

Last night, we were getting him ready for bed. He said, "I want to rock with Mommy and Baby Sister. But I don't want to sit on that big 'ole belly." I laughed so hard I nearly sent myself into labor. Tonight he just rubbed the "big 'ole belly" while we rocked. So sweet...

I thought it would be a good idea to take perspective pictures since it has been a while. He is so compliant with having his picture taken these days! I don't know what happened but I am loving his little smile. So forced but cute nonetheless...

Crosby and his bear...

Big hand, not-so-little hand...

Mug shot...

Big feet little feet...

You can look back here to see the little Fox over the years. (Couldn't find them...will later!) I cannot believe how big my sweet boy is now. How time flies...

We had and eventful weekend to say the least. Lulu managed to land herself in the hospital with a kidney stone on Friday morning. She ended up having surgery Saturday morning and was discharged later that day. Thankfully, she is feeling MUCH better and is on the road to recovery.

Sweet friends gave me a Blessingway on Saturday afternoon. What is a Blessinway, you ask? I will have to tell you all about it! Only it deserves a post of it's own. Hopefully I will get it up in the next few days!

Mondays with Crosby

2012-01-23T11:37:00.094-06:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 3 years and 4 weeks old!!! I am glad to report this has been an injury free week! Well, I am sure there have been bumps and bruises along the way but nothing like last week! Although we have had our share of items knocked off the wall thanks to soccer balls being blasted through rooms and "pretend falls" in the hallway. Oddly enough, Crosby is not the reason for all of the above. His oversized, child-like father is to blame. I watched him do the same in his mother's house all through high school and am not sure why I am surprised. I guess I thought he had outgrown such behavior. Nope. Not at all. Quite the opposite in fact. Rather than recalling his mother's constant pleads to take it out doors, he has found it necessary to pass his rowdiness down to the next generation. And it seems the best time to engage in such activity is en route to bed!!!! have been told I might as well get used it because it appears somethings are just never going to change!

Baby Girl and I are now at 28 weeks! It is one of the big milestones so we are more than happy to be here. Womb life still appears to be stable. Friday's fetal fibrinectin test came back negative, which is what we were hoping to hear. Technically, that means I won't go into labor in the next two weeks. If that is the case (and I think it will be), it puts us right at 30 weeks. Boy am I ready for the 30's!! I actually have my eyes set on March 26th...37 weeks. That is when she will be considered full term. I would have no qualms with getting up on the 25th in an attempt to get things moving!

This week Crosby gets to share the limelight with two baby girls. He was able to meet his sweet cousin, Harper Jean this week!!! Justin and Katie welcomed the newest member to the Lipscomb family on Wednesday, January 18th at 10:52 am. We took a little trip to Baptist that evening so we could meet Little Miss...

For the first time in his life, Crosby was shy when we entered the room. Several of our friends were there visiting with the new family of three. For some reason, Crosby was a little intimidated. Hence the face in Blake's chest above! Fear not. It lasted all of 3 minutes. All I had to do was ask if he wanted to hold her. He was alllll about holding Miss Harper. Justin and Katie were kind enough to let her be our guinea pig! Luckily, the wild man did pretty good! There is hope that he will be gentle with Baby Sister...

Of course I mentioned wanting to visit Harper with Dr. B. (Katie uses him as well...) I can't say that he exactly knew I was going when I went. But, we left things with playing it by ear based on how I was feeling. I was feeling good! And I figured, if I was going to go into labor that night, I was in the best place to do it! Fortunately, that was not an issue. We got to have a nice little visit before heading back to the holding cell...I mean house. ;-)

We are so very thankful Harper's got here safely and is so healthy. It is going to be so much fun watching these cousins get to know each other. And of course we are hoping to make our final contribution when the Good Lord says it is time! Hopefully He has a little more baking time in mind!!

Mondays with Crosby

2012-01-16T17:10:00.103-06:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 3 years and 3 weeks old!!! His baby sister is now at 27 weeks in the womb! Sister is safely tucked away. Meanwhile, the big boy took a knock to the face on Friday night. I guess it is part of being a boy. Daddy/son chase time leads to son tripping over his own two feet (we are hoping his coordination improves...;-) ) and landing near eye first on the corner of the magazine rack! The son's response was as pitiful as you can imagine. Fortunately, the Daddy was still able to scoop him up and soothe his broken soul. Of course, preggo was about to fall apart and go into labor all at once. "Blake can handle this...Crosby does not need you to hold him...Blake is perfectly capable of comforting Crosby just as well as you can...But, nobody can comfort him like his mama. He neeeeeds me!!! Step back mother hen and let Blake be his hero right now..." Can you tell it took every ounce of energy I had to sit on my tush? Did I mention it gave me a nose bleed?!? It is probably just one of the lovely side effects of being with child. But the timing sure was ironic, no?

I just knew his eye would be black and blue after that hard knock. So I thought it would be a good idea to document his first black eye! This is him 30 minutes or so after the initial blow... (the picture above is too)

And don't judge me over the Bubba. Yes. He is 3 and still sleeps with a Bubba. Yes. I should have taken it away 2 years ago. I didn't. My guess, he won't go to college with it. And he is not seen in public with it. We ran it by Dr. P and he agreed it is not the time to be fooling with Bubba removal. So Crosby wins! And I get to enjoy all of the sweet loving he gives as soon as you pop that bad boy into his mouth! Okay. Back to the eye...:) Day 2...

Not too bad!?! Where is the black I was anticipating? Surely it will be black tomorrow...

Yea...nope! It ain't turning black! How disappointing. I mean, if you are going to whack your face on a magazine I think you should get the shiner to show for it! He looks proud of his wound on Day 3, regardless...

And Day 4...

The best we got was a little, yellowish, green discoloration and a couple of scabs...

What can you do? We talked the black eye up but it never happened! Something tells me there will be more bumps and bruises in our future. I pray they are all as minor as this one. I seriously don't think I could handle much more. Oh how it broke my heart to see my little man screaming his head off after this injury! I have already tried to ban Daddy/son chase time with absolutely no luck. Crosby would never go for it. He LOVES playing with his Daddy. The first words out of his mouth when Blake comes home are, "You better ruuuuuunnnn!!!!" Maybe we can just remove all furniture and pad the walls and floor!

As for Baby Sister...the fetal fibrinectin goes, we are good through tomorrow (Tuesday). I will have another test on Friday that should let us know about the next 2 weeks. No ultrasound. As of Friday, she was 2.2 lbs and looking good. The ole cervix was still in a safe range but I am not even really worried about those numbers an more. I am having minimal contraction activity. Probably what the average pregnant gal experiences. And I am still on a super low dose of barely any meds. There is a lot more that can be done if things start to go haywire. How nice it feels to be pregnant and relatively calm!

And here is the most recent picture of the little lady...

I thought this was such a clear picture. They took three 4-D pictures and she looks like a different baby in each one! So who knows if this is really what she will look like! We will know soon enough. For now, this will just have to do. I am fine with that!

And, she remains nameless. Not because I haven't thought of names. Somebody, whose name I will not mention, is not really into discussing names just yet! The best I can get is "fine" as a descriptor for each name I throw out. I am pretty sure this anonymous person and I have a million conversations (like, since we were 15...) about how the word "fine" is not an acceptable way to describe anything in this household. My clothes. My hair. My cooking. A child's name. You get the idea! So, until I can get a response that is better than the one that makes my skin crawl, Baby Girl/Sister she is! It seriously could be after she is born...

Sigh...

Mondays with Crosby

2012-01-09T22:01:00.000-06:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 3 years and 2 weeks old!! His Baby Sister is now at a gestational age of 26 weeks!!! (Although I think technically her gestational age is really 24 weeks but that will just do nothing but confuse folks so pretend you didn't even read that.) I am 26 weeks, and feeling good about it. More on that later...

Is that picture of Crosby not precious?!? Answer only if in agreement! He looks soooo big to me. And the hair is kind of tousled. Almost like he is posing for an add or something. Once again, I can take no credit for these pictures. Melissa Rick saved the week! If you have been following our family for a while, you know Margaret! Well, Little Miss had her 3rd birthday party on Saturday. (Her actual birthday is today, so, Happy Birthday Margaret!!!)

I didn't know if Crosby was going to make the grand occasion. On Friday afternoon, he came in from school acting pretty normal. He was a little whiney and said he was tired. Who knows how well he napped and he went to Monkey's Treehouse from 3-5. I figured he was just worn out. Then he started saying his mouth was sore. I used a flashlight and take a look, thinking it could be strep. Seeing how he has had a cough on and off for a few weeks, I have been watching for other symptoms. But, his throat looked fine. I noticed he had bitten down on the inside of his cheek, probably a few days before, and commented on it. Next thing you know, all he talked about was the sore in his mouth. And there was NO way it was sore. Yet he kept talking about it. And the whining increased. And he kept crawling in and out of my lap. Again, I just chalked it up to being exhausted. By the time Blake got home, he was falling apart. Tears started flowing and he was a mess. By 7:00 pm, I was rocking him and trying to get him to bed. But he couldn't settle. The tears really started flowing and he started saying he needed medicine, needed to go to the doctor, etc. You may remember my saying he has been doing this A LOT lately, when he is fine. But this was different. He really acted like he was in pain. It was breaking my heart! I was ready to throw him in the car and head to the ER. Instead, Blake ran to get ibuprofen. Meanwhile, I called the doctor and spoke with the nurse, while Crosby cried his eyes out. Pitiful!!! We followed nurses orders, gave him Motrin, and attempted to distract him with Mickey. It didn't work initially. But after 20 minutes or so, he calmed down. Next thing you know, he is trying to play with Blake?!? Then he was asking to eat dinner?!? What in the world had we just witnessed? He is a good actor but this was a completely different performance than we have ever seen! One that lasted over 2 hours! I kind of felt like I was out of my mind when I saw how quickly he changed his tune.

When I was talking to the nurse, she went ahead and made an appointment for 9:10 Saturday morning. He was acting so normal, I considered canceling. But, I couldn't send him to Margaret's party without having him seen based on Friday night's drama. Lulu and I got him dressed for the party, just in case, and headed to see the doctor. Sure enough, there was something wrong alright. My little fella had an ear infection!! Who knows how long he has had one. He had no symptoms other than a cough. No fever. No complaints. Nothing, until Friday night! Totally explained why he was pointing to the back, right side of his mouth, saying it hurt. Totally explained why he couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep. Pressure must have built up in his ear, causing him serious pain. Not sure if Motrin relieved the pain or if the pressure just released on it's on. I am just glad something helped ease my little man's pain. Seeing him hurting was definitely enough to send me in to labor!!! Thankfully, that didn't happen or we would have been in a real bind! WIth a diagnosis in place and a "he's not contagious" from the doctor, off to the party Crosby and Lulu went!

Margaret had a fairy theme this year. Needless to say, we are lacking tutus around here. But I did find this sweater with a castle that was handed down from cousin Gid! What better time to put it to use. Our "prince" even had a finger puppet horse in a little pocket attached to the sweater. You can see the poor thing dangling by the string in all of the pictures! Don't know that he rode in like a night in shining armor but he definitely made an appearance!

This one cracks me UP!!! Talk about blackmail. I am going to be pulling this one out when he is 16 and sharing it with all of his friends...

After a nice, long nap, the little guy was out the door again! This time he and his Daddy went to John Christopher's birthday party. Unfortunately, I failed to send the camera with Blake so I have no pictures to enjoy! JCLW's party was at Gymboree. I have never been there but Blake says he had a blast!

As for Baby Girl...her environment has been so calm the past few weeks. My numbers were normal again on Friday. I cannot tell you what this has done to my mental state. I am in such a good place right now as a result. What a blessing! Praying it stays this way for at least 8 more weeks. 11 would be nice too!

In the meantime, we will just wait for my niece to make her grand appearance! Come on Harper! It is safe to come out now. I know your parents would appreciate it!!

Mondays with Crosby

2012-01-02T23:03:00.000-06:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 3 years and 1 week old!!! Although Thursday was less than a week ago. I cannot abandon my opening sentence so I will just have to go with it!

My baby is 3. It is hard to believe that it has been three whole years since that blessed day he was born. Yet in someways, it feels like we have known this little fella forever. To try to describe in words the depth of my love for Crosby Fox is pointless. There are no words that do it justice.

To miss the celebration of his birth was a hard pill to swallow. I had hoped that a stretch of really good numbers with allow me to attend his party. Wouldn't you know, my numbers were the lowest they have ever been this entire pregnancy on Wednesday. Just in time for his party. And to top that off, I wasn't even feeling many contractions. It had been a "good" week. Sigh. For bad numbers. And for missing my little love's party.

But the show must go on. And on it went! I was on top of it this year. Knowing that I was pregnant and would likely be on bed rest, I jumped at the offer to book a half price birthday party at Monkey Joes. While having a party here would allow me to attend for sure, I knew it would be way to stressful. Having a party there would ensure the birthday boy would have a blast and would cause little or no stress on me. Or should I say Blake! They do most of the work for you. All you have you have to do is show up. And, pay, of course. They even give you invitations to send out. And I told myself I would send them out. I would NOT order any cute ones... But I needed an idea for a cake. And Crosby needed a shirt to match the cake. And I am good at breaking my own rules. Oh, I did it. I ordered them and I am so glad I did. It made me feel like I was doing something to put a special touch on his birthday. You have to admit the picture above is pretty cute...

So here he comes. The VERY excited birthday boy...

Since it was his birthday, he got to use a few quarters on the machines out front...

Like this one! I take it he was a fan...

And there is no doubt he had fun on the "jump jumps"...

Crawling in and out...

My boys. I have to give Blake major props. From what I hear, he ran around the whole time making sure he got all the pictures I had written down on a last minute list. He did such a good job. I think the tears that started falling down my face when they were headed out the door had something to do with him working so hard. Gotta love him...

Anybody seen the pizza???

Party crowd from one end of the table...

And from the other! Wait...where is the birthday boy???

Oh. Here there he is! He still loves singing the happy birthday song. Here lately, we have been a lighting candle, singing the birthday song someone in the room, and blowing the candle out! So silly! Little does he know I agreed to this game because I was secretly working on his ability to blow out a candle! Too bad it didn't help! Anyway, can you tell he was so excited to sing the song???

And then he tried to blow out the candles...

But I am afraid he just managed to spit all over the cake instead!! Sorry friends...

Crosby got a surprise visit from Monkey Joe himself! I am surprised he went to him so willingly but apparently he did. Maybe it is because he is 3?!?

Blake got all of the kiddos to line up for a group shot. Would you just look at those sweet things. I was told that Margaret wormed her way right up next to the birthday boy! The thought if it melts my heart...

I requested he wait until he was home to open his gifts so I could partake in the excitement. And I figure it would be to chaotic with all the little ones pictured above! I don't think he even noticed. He just wanted to get back out to the jump, jumps! He was very excited about them once he got home. He probably sat in this spot 5 minutes with me telling him to wait for one reason or another. Believe it or not, he did! Minus the fact that he pulled white tissue paper out of one bag and returned it about 50 times before he was finally given the green light to dive in...

Nugs had to get in the middle of the fun too!

Crosby standing in front of his birthday banner, which hung on the door for his big day!

There is one picture of me from the big day. Yep. Crosby took it. And it is about the only way I will allow myself to be seen on here these days. I will just say baby girls are rough on me and leave it at that...

Now if I can figure out how to get a video from the Flip to the MAC to the blog... Will keep trying!

As for Baby Girl...

We are officially at 25 weeks!!! And wouldn't you know, my numbers were back to normal on Friday. (after the party was over...) I am pretty sure it is safe to say I have the most dynamic cervix on the planet! If he didn't know I knew what I had seen on Wednesday, Dr. C would have written me off as a looney bin when I told him how drastically my measurements changed in a 48 hour period. He has no explanation. I am still a bit of a medical mystery, with no rhyme or reason for the insanity. I wasn't really even having many contractions. Who knows. Since Friday, I have given up my attempts to figure it out. Thankfully that leaves me in a mentally good spot. Now, that could all change tomorrow based on my appointment! But for now, I will take the sanity while I have it. Thankfully, Little Miss seems to be content kicking around in utero. We are just aiming for 9 or 10 more weeks. 11 or 12 would be good too but I don't want to be too greedy...

A 11:24 am...

2011-12-29T11:24:00.002-06:00

Crosby Fox turned 3 years old!!! Happy Birthday to my precious boy...

Mondays with Crosby

2011-12-26T16:29:00.032-06:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 51 weeks old!!! What a fun week it has been. There is not thing like experiencing Christmas through the eyes of a child. Somethings you picture them doing turn out way better than you ever imagined. While others don't exactly live up to the expectations you dreamed up in your head! So funny!

On Wednesday, we had an ornament exchange at our house with Margaret, Wells, Crosby and John Christopher. There are 2 more boys in the mix this year, Mercer and Thomas (JCLW's twin brothers). They didn't make it to the gathering though. Maybe next year! We tried to snap a good picture of all their sweet faces. This was the best I got! At least there are 8 eyes..,

We spent Christmas Eve at our our house with the Autrys. They had a gift for the little man and wanted to see him open it. Believe it or not, Crosby will actually sit, look at the camera and even offer a smile now!! Not sure what has gotten into him over the past few weeks but I will take it...

His hair may look a little crazy but he was being so sweet for the camera! Christmas miracle...

He was excited when I gave him the go ahead...

An Auburn shirt!!! We all laughed as he threw it aside and reached for the bigger gift! One day he will appreciate clothes...

Crosby with the Autrys. Seriously, I wouldn't be 24 weeks (today!!!) without the help of these two. What a blessing...

Meet Alphie! Justin and I had one when we were little. Technically I think it was Justin's but I played with it too. Such a blast from the past!

We put on his Christmas PJs and had him take a few pictures in front of the tree. Blake called this his sorority girl pose...

Love this little smirk!

Our tree was a disaster this year. Of all years...really??? First it leaked 16 liters of water on the carpet. That lead to pulling the carpet up and letting it dry. We finally got the carpet stretched back into place and the tree went back up. LeAnne (our blessing pictured above) spent hours decorating it only to have half the lights go out a few days later! At least it was big and looked beautiful. Although pictures don't do it justice...

And here is a picture of the tree AFTER Santa made an appearance...

Crosby had been talking about a bike ALL season long. I just knew he would be so excited to see what Santa left for him. Here he is coming down with stairs with a special book of GranBuddy reading the Night Before Christmas. I caught him just as he saw the red bike...

Much to our surprise, he proceeded to sit and listen to his book from Granuddy!!!

It didn't take too long for him to get his helmet on and test her out!

He was quickly making laps around the house!

Santa found this really loud light up gun for Crosby to play with!?! Is it bad that I am ready for the batteries to die on this one?

Crosby and his Daddy on Christmas morn...

And there is NO chance I will post the one of me and Crosby... Yikes!

More Christmas Day pictures with the family to come...

Merry Christmas!!!

2011-12-25T16:25:00.009-06:00

Wishing you love and laughter this Christmas season!

Mondays with Crosby

2011-12-20T01:04:00.000-06:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby turned 2 years and 50 weeks old!!! But wait, his birthday is next week so that means he should be 2 years and 51 weeks old?!? I am off a week. It seems like I was off a week when the year started and didn't know how to fix it. Due to leap year business maybe? Hmmm...

Another week. No pictures. Bummer. Luckily I have a few pictures left from a couple of weekends ago! Crosby was able to go to the Woodmont Hills Christmas Breakfast with the Malone/Cyr crew. As you can see above, round 2 with Santa did not go so well!! Apparently he was clinging to Blake for dear life. There would be no sitting in Santa's lap when Daddy was around. Only for Lulu! I guess he figured he told the man once what he wanted and that should be enough!

He was quite the big boy with another activity...

He came home telling me all about his ride on the horse! He let me know about the horse shaking it's head and throwing him forward in his seat. Pretty sure that one rattled him a bit but he didn't mention it himself. Nope. Only big, brave boys ride horses! We might have a picture of the wee-bit frazzled big, brave boy...

Then my non-crafty kid participated in cookie decorating AND building a gingerbread house...

He promptly consumed the cookie so I never saw his completed work. I did, however, see the gingerbread house. He may have completed 1/4 of the project, if I am being generous! And he immediately starting eating the candy off the top when he got home! I am just happy he sat and worked on both activities. It is not like my boy to sit...for anything!

Of course, I was sad to miss another Christmas activity with my little man. But it does melt my heart that these two are getting lots of great bonding time in right now. Blake hung the moon in Crosby's eyes...

I just love them to pieces!

I guess I lied. There is one tiny picture from this week. I didn't take it though. I stole it from Kara and thought I could post it as though I did take it! Except I confessed. While this playgroup picture was being taken, I was horizontal on the couch downstairs!

Yes. All 14 of these kiddos and all 8 of their mothers were at our house on Wednesday!!! Talk about full house. And let me say, it was LOVELY!! What can I say, I am a social being. I love to be around people. Some folks would be overwhelmed by this kind of madness. Me. I thrive in it! I am not one for to much organization or structure so this was right up my alley! And to think, there are 2 more baby girls who are scheduled to join the gang in early 2012! SIXTEEN kiddos! I think we will need to rent a warehouse to have enough space for this little ones to play. So fun! Oh how I love these children and their precious mommas! Did I mention just how funny it was to hear the mommas singing, bribing, clapping and cheering to get these faces pointed in the right direction??? It worked! And like usual, my child cooperated since I was not behind the lens!

On the baby front, I am officially 23 weeks today. One more week until Baby Girl is viable. While I am ready to be there, it is also a scary place to be. I hope and pray I make it well into my 30's before she makes an appearance. Caroline was born at 24 weeks and 2 days. She was just old enough to be given a chance at life, but was just to little to make it. I don't want to re-visit that place...

While my uterus has seemed more cranky (especially starting on Mondays...), my numbers were 3.6 cm and higher at my appointment on Friday. I am holding strong despite the activity I am feeling. Now if we can just convince my head that all is well! I am calm and at ease when things are quiet. It is a different story when things start to get rowdy. I know it sounds crazy to say I forgot how mentally challenging pregnancy is for me. But I did. I guess I watched lots of folks carry their precious babes with ease and let myself think, "It wasn't that bad was it!?!" Even reading back through my own blog, I realize just how much I left out from the last go round. I didn't even sound like I was the crazy person I now remember being. I tried not to complain and grumble too often but how quickly I was reminded what a mental struggle this is. And for whatever reason, I genuinely believed things would be different this time given so much space between pregnancies. I guess I am not meant to join the world of the walking pregnant! Oh how I was hoping...

Then there is perspective. I have my precious boy. And so far, a low dose of meds and bed rest has kept my numbers at a safe level. Thank you, Lord for your mercy and grace. For now, I will just pray this trend in continued at my appointment on Friday. I won't even worry about wanting to join in the Christmas gatherings or getting to attend Crosby's birthday party. One day at a time. One request at a time. I think I can, I think I can...

Mondays with Crosby

2011-12-12T21:57:00.033-06:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 49 weeks old!!! Yes, I am again extremely late in posting this. I can't blame it on the fact that we have been running all over the place trying to finish up Christmas shopping because that is pretty much done. And it was done from the couch with the help of a few "elves"! I will, however, blame it on the fact that the ole uterus was being cranky on Monday and sent me into a bit of a funk. If I said it was for no reason I would be getting ahead of myself so I won't mention that! At the time, it had me all anxious and worried. I just can't type when I get that way. Sooo...late it is!

Little man only has one more day of school before Christmas break! So sad for me. I love that he gets to enjoy 2 days of play time when he is there. And of course, he has had a fabulous time transitioning the past few days. No tears about going to school. Walked right out the door today like he owns the place. And now we are going to get a 2 week break to set us back again. Maybe not this time?!?!?! I snapped a few pictures of him before school Monday morning...

I am pretty sure he was in the middle of saying one of his silly Mickey Mouse Clubhouse lines..."Pineapple underpants!!!" Who knows why he finds that line so amusing but we hear it throughout the day. It may have something to do with his dad saying it too him all the time and snickering...

It is a shame that I only have 3 pictures from the week. The photo album (that I do not own) is going to be bare when it comes to November and December of 2010. So sad.

I did get a PRECIOUS picture of his baby sister on Friday...

My first thought, "She looks JUST like Crosby did when he was born!!!" And apparently I am not the only one who thinks that! A lot of folks have commented saying the same thing. So crazy! As far as that appointment went, my numbers were still up in the 4s! Yay for such good numbers at the 22 week mark. We have officially passes milestone #1. Finley was born at 21 weeks and 5 days. Now just wanting to get to 24 weeks...viability! I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Mondays with Crosby

2011-12-05T00:37:00.000-06:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 48 weeks old!! That means there are only FOUR weeks left until the first number switches. I am not really a fan of that number growing. The only thing that makes it a little less painful is the fact that I need March (at the least in my mind) to hurry up and get here. THEN life can slow back down to a snails pace! Think I could get that worked out. Maybe I can try the Little Einstein's trick-pat my hands on my legs and go super fast like Rocket. I'll let you know how that turns out...

So, last week was a mess. If you recall, Blake left Sunday for Scottsdale. He was gracious enough to get a Christmas tree for me before he left. He usually grumbles about doing it right after Thanksgiving because he thinks they dry out too fast. This year, he didn't say a word! What a sweet guy! I assured him we would keep it watered before he left. And water we did. A 2 liter bottle works perfectly to keep the base full. The first few times we filled it, the tree sucked the water right up. It was a thirsty little tree!

So we kept hydrating it. Over and over. I thought to myself... "Sure seems like a lot of water!" but I had not been so diligent in the past. (or should I say Lucy and LeAnne were diligent for me) Long story short, it was not until 16 liters later that LeAnne stepped near the tree only to come up with a wet heel! Yep. The base had a leak. How fun to discover at 10:30 at night, when you are on bed rest and your husband is in Arizona playing golf!! LeAnne and I just decided to sleep on it. I mean what could we really do by ourselves, seeing how I am useless. LeAnne managed to track down a neighbor in his yard to come assess the situation. He and his son pulled the carpet back for us and helped us get the carpet, padding and subfloor dry. What lovely neighbors I have!! And what a lovely mess we had to look at. We finally got a quote today to get the carpet stretched and are hoping that will happen in the next day or two. I just wanted to stare at a Christmas tree while lying on the couch. Is that so wrong??? One would like to think this would push me over the edge and make me go fake. Oh contraire. It is going to take more than a little water to keep me from my real tree!!! :-)

Little man had a busy weekend! Our church hosted the annual Family Christmas Breakfast. In keeping with the Malone family tradition, Blake had to work. And I suppose you can guess where I was. Thankfully, Lulu was more than happy to take him for us. And to top that off, she was able to take a few pictures of the event for me. I would have been up a creek had she not!

I am fairly confident Leighton and Crosby were sitting very still and sing along with the words...

...on the big screen!

At least that is what I am telling myself. I hear my little fella was asking for his mommy while he was sitting there. It kind of breaks my heart that I am missing all of these moments with him. I know, I know. I knew what I was getting myself into when I signed up for this. While I am praying the end result will make this all worth while, it is still hard to send him out the door all of the time. On a positive note, he still loves me!

And there is Miss Priss, Charlotte!

And then there is this kid. The one with his tongue out teaching my child lots of bad manners. Yep. That would be the preachers child! Lucas Graves. Right there. And his mother has her back turned, just ignoring it. Can you see the shock on Crosby's face? ;-)

Hehe!! I jest. We love Lucas Grave and his momma is one of the best out there! By using clues in the following picture, I have decided this was the meal portion of the Christmas breakfast! Wonder how much the little bird ate?

In case you didn't know, waiting to see Santa can be exhausting! Nothing like a little Veggie Tales to pass the time!

And then the moment he had been waiting for. Or maybe not so much...

Crosby has been consistent with 2 things this year. 1.) He is not going to sit with Santa. 2.) Santa is going to bring him a bike. For this reason, I am glad I did not make it to the breakfast. He would NOT have done this had I been there. It did not matter how many times we told him he had to sit with Santa so he could tell him about the bike idea. "How will he know if you don't tell him???" Crosby would come back with, "I can stand by him." Ha! At least he had a plan. Buuuuuut, Lulu threw him in Santa's lap before he could think about and here is what we got...

He was able to get his request out at least! But he wasn't going to crack a smile...

I am guessing they are saying "Ho, ho, ho!" Crosby is good at that phrase. He has been saying it since last Christmas!

Apparently, as he walked out of the room, he turned back to Santa and stated, "BIKE!" He said it twice in fact. He had to make sure Santa got it!

Next, my not-so-crafty boy headed to the craft room. He actually participated, with a little help I am sure...

This was his end result! A cute little reindeer to go on our...tree...

Posing with the reindeer on the stage...

And with his Lulu!

I am so glad Crosby got to make it to the Family Christmas Breakfast. At least he is not missing out on all the fun activities that take place during the Christmas season!

On Tuesday, I had an appt with Maternal Fetal Medicine. I had been crabby all weekend because the ole uterus was cranky. I was a big ball of anxiety. Which only helps a cranky uterus become more cranky. So stressful, my organs. Anyway, I fully expected my numbers to be awful as a result. My cervical length has been hovering around 3 cm for a while and I doubted we would still be there. Who would have thought it would be back up to the upper 3s and low 4s! Insane. But I would gladly take it.

I had an appointment with Dr. B on Friday. Things had been seemingly quiet so I wasn't to stressed about numbers. Wouldn't you know I was back down to the low 3s, upper 2s. Why can't I just have a normal uterus that carries babies like it was created to do? One that does not start to contract right when the second trimester starts... If only we could figure this one out.

At least we got to see Little Miss again...

And she was all over the place. The sonographer got a picture of her with her hands up by her face. Maybe you can see her right arm and fist over her right eye, with her little nose and lips right beside it.

Oh how I want to keep this little girl!!! We are at 21 weeks today. You may recall that we lost Finley at 20 weeks 5 days. We have passed one milestone but have so many more to go. I would so appreciate your prayers for us. I kind of forgot how mentally challenging this it is to have a uterus that is fighting against you most of the day. Needing lots of peace here on the Malone couch/bed!

Mondays with Crosby

2011-11-28T17:53:00.064-06:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 48 weeks old!!! And. yes, I know that was a week ago now. Yes, I know I am super behind. At least I have a good excuse! Well, I don't know that it is good but it is an excuse, nonetheless. I was crabby on Monday. My uterus (who really needs a name of her own at this point...something ornery) was being rowdy, the hubs was out of town and I was too preoccupied mentally to write anything! It didn't help that I only had a handful of random and less than exciting pictures to post! My plan was to post the next day after my appointment, but then chaos happened. More on that in the next post! Back to THIS Monday...

On Tuesday night, Gee Gee, Pop, Justin, Katie and, of course, Baby Harper, came over to our place for Thanksgiving dinner. We decided to meet a little early since Justin and Katie would be heading to Marietta to be with the Tenery crew on Thanksgiving day. Ornery uterus had been on her best behavior and I was excited to spend time with the family. Unfortunately, I only took pictures AFTER the meal. And only a few then. What can you do???

Crosby with Uncle Justin...

Aunt Katie (and Baby Harper), Crosby and Justin...

We got the family cradle out of the attic for Justin and Katie to use when little bit arrives. Wouldn't you know our BIG bit had to climb back in. I am pretty sure my parents have a picture of me doing the same thing when I was Crosby's age! I need to get my hands on that...

He thought he was pretty cool!

Crosby with Gee Gee and Pop. Not sure why it is so hard to get both of my parents smiling at the same time but this is the best we got!

And we managed to get one of our little family...

We had a delicious meal and a great time with the Lipscomb crew. Crosby headed to Columbia with my parents that night and made his way back home when Blake got off work the following day. That took care of Wednesday! Then it was time for Thanksgiving day. Dr. B really hesitated when I asked about riding to Columbia for lunch. In the end, he agreed that it should be okay as long as I was feeling good. Because things had been quiet for several days in a row, I felt comfortable riding down for a visit on the Malone's couch!

First things first for Mr. Cros. He was so excited to get to drive GranBuddy's tractor...

He loves the Kubota!! It makes GranBuddy even cooler in Crosby's eyes. It is the first thing he asks for when we go down there! "Wanna ride the tractor???"

Lucy managed to snap a few pictures of the Thanksgiving meal. This table was supposed to be for Sam and Gid. Buuuuut, somehow Crosby landed in Sam's seat!

Sam was a trooper and share the tiny table with Miss Charlotte. Poor guy could barely fit his long legs under the table. Such cousin love!

And here is proof that the rest of the family was there...

It is hard to take pictures when you are horizontal most of the day! Kinda makes me sad. I hate to miss an opportunity to document the little man's life. But, as I have stated, what can you do?? I am just thankful for the pictures I have!!

GranBuddy, Blake and Jason had a golf trip to Scottsdale, AZ planned for the Sunday after Thanksgiving. We weren't sure if Blake would be able to make the trip based on the current situation. But, I had such a great week and felt comfortable with him proceeding with the plans. Not to mention I had a friend staying with us the entire time he was gone! What a blessing and perfect timing! Too bad the ole uterus caught wind of the fact he was leaving and started back to her old ways. Sigh. I was really hoping a little early onset uterine dementia this go round. Apparently she is as sharp as a tack when it comes to being difficult! Somethings never change I guess! At least it was a happy and calm Thanksgiving!

I will be on time tomorrow. I promise. And will have a few more interesting pictures to share of my precious boy. And maybe a tiny girl... ;-)

Mondays with Crosby

2011-11-21T23:37:00.000-06:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 47 weeks old!!! He has had a good week despite the fact that I am stuck on the couch! Thank goodness there are so many people that love Crosby and are willing to help us make this time as easy for him as possible. He seems to be taking it all in stride. He has even had 2 tear free drop offs at school! That wasn't happening when I was part of the walking world. It sure makes it easier on my heart to see him adjusting. Now if it will last...

On 11.11.11, we welcomed the newest member of of the Malone family. Meet Anne Claire's newest bundle of joy...

Malone Alexander came into this world weighing a whopping 9 pounds and 1 ounce! Is he not adorable?!?! I was able to see him briefly the day he was born but I still haven't been able to get my hands on him. Soon! Fortunately, Blake was able to take Crosby to meet "Baby Malone" on Tuesday night. He was super excited about the idea of meeting his new cousin. Apparently the excitement was short lived and the toys quickly stole his attention. At least Lulu got a few sweet picture of their first meeting before Crosby was too distracted...

The cousins...

I think he likes him!!!

Just love this gentle pat on the head...

We are so thrilled for the Cyrs and excited to watch this little man grow. I just love this ever expanding family!!!

Crosby pulled out several of his new lines at the end of dinner tonight. I was able to capture a few of them on video. Meet "Mr. Winey Pants"...

I just love it..."I don't feel well...I'm upset." Doesn't he just look pitiful. And to think we just snicker. What kind of parents are we? Man he cracks us up! What a joy it is to have this boy in our lives.

Today, Baby Sister's gestational age is 19 weeks. Or maybe they don't count the first 2 weeks in gestational age and she in only 17 weeks... I guess I should look into that. Later. I am 19 weeks! I am happy to say I had a great doctors appointment earlier today. My uterus and cervix have been up to their old tricks...uterine contractions causing a shortened cervix. My numbers dropped at some point last week, sending me on full bed rest. BUT...the past few days have been so very nice and quiet. PRAISE GOD!!! My numbers were back up. Let me tell you how encouraging that is for me mentally and emotionally. Now we just need to keep it this way! We would love your continued prayers for Baby Girl...

Mondays with Crosby

2011-11-14T22:49:00.000-06:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 46 weeks old!!! Crosby had school pictures a few weeks ago. You know, the kind with cheesy backgrounds! But for cheesy background pictures, I thought these were pretty adorable. (And the background wasn't too bad!) Of course, I was too unorganized to remember that it was picture day. I thought it was the following week! Luckily, I sent him in something that matched. And I suppose the monogram makes it look a little more dressy! But the shoes... Oh well. His teachers thought he looked perfect so we went with it

Needless to say, his love for cameras left me a little concerned over how his pictures would turn out. I was so surprised to see that big grin when I opened his packet! And of course, I spent WAY too much money on these silly things. But who can NOT order their child's school picture??

Does he not look so big??? I cannot believe birthday #3 is just around the corner...

So I just have to post this video of my little on saying the prayer at lunch. I have been meaning to do it for a while. There are just certain phrases I want to remember. The first attempt at the 3rd verse is a favorite...

I just love his sweet voice... Precious. So is this next one...

I guess at 18 weeks, it is time to officially share the news. Baby Sister is set to arrive April 16th. Given my history, and the way things are already looking, that is unlikely. So, if you wouldn't mind, maybe you could start praying for our sweet little girl. We would appreciate it!

Mondays with Crosby

2011-11-07T22:26:00.000-06:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 45 weeks old!!! Does he not look 7 years and 45 weeks old in that picture?? Blake is not a fan of him looking like such a big boy. Me neither!! And his "trying to look serious but can't not smile" face cracks me up! This KID cracks me up!

I am starting to worry I took TOO much folic acid and DHA with this boy. The things he comes up with these days. He and Blake were sitting at the table and I was working my way there. I can't remember the exact conversation, but it had to do with us buying something. In a joking voice, I said, "Boy...we don't have that kind of money." Crosby relpies, "I have a wallet!" We laughed our heads off. Apparently he knows about wallets and the fact that money goes in them! Although he doesn't own a wallet that I know of!?! Who knows, maybe he has a secret stash somewhere...

How to you teach a child to blow properly? I haven't figured this one out. Neither has he! He spits more than anything. We practice blowing out candles but he just can't quite do it...

He just ends up with dandelion fuzz all in his mouth!

Old man Nugs came out to play with us this afternoon. Actually, he kept attempting to sneak off and roam the neighborhood!

We had to go after him a time or two. Then I forced him to sit for a picture with Crosby. He looks about as happy as Crosby usually does!

At least Crosby was in rare form this afternoon. He didn't whine every time he saw the camera pointed his way!

He actually stopped and looked at the lens a time or two!

He was LOVING being outside! But who wouldn't in this BEAUTIFUL Fall weather?!?

I think we could handle this weather year round. Well, plus a few days a week that are warm enough to allow for swimming!

You may recall, little man was feeling puny last Monday and skipped out on Halloween. (I realized he had a fever on his very first Halloween too. Wonder what that is about!?!?) Anyway, we headed to see Dr. Patton on Tuesday. He felt Crosby had some sort of GI virus. Thankfully, Crosby feeling much better this week. His belly seems to be on the road to recovery. However, you wouldn't know this based on Crosby's claims. I am pretty sure we have heard "I don't feel well" 100 times this week. Followed by, "I need to go see Dr. Patton." And if you say, "Dr. Patton is at home asleep, Crosby. You need to go night, night," he says, "I need to see another doctor!" Or even better, "I need to go to the hospital." Anytime he doesn't get his way or gets in trouble or doesn't want to go to bed, he attempts to use these lines for sympathy. I have tried to explain to him the story of the boy who cries wolf but he doesn't seem to get it! What a little trickster! Man I love this boy...

Mondays with Crosby

2011-11-01T10:10:00.000-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 44 weeks old!!! Unfortunately, this Monday didn't go as planned. Somebody was out of sorts. The ever so difficult trip to school went from much better to way worse. Somebody gagged on a raw carrot at the end of school and upchucked all over his clothes. Someone was whiney ALL afternoon. Somebody refused to put on his Halloween costume and go trick or treating around the neighborhood, even for Lulu and GranBuddy! Something just wasn't right... Good thing we had several opportunities to dress up BEFORE Halloween!

Friday was the "Pretend Parade" at school. Thanks to Sonja, we had 2 costumes to choose from. A sweet, soft cuddly lion and a scratchy, creepy, crawly...BUG! You can guess which one was my favorite and which one was his! I pushed for the lion but he was dead set on the "beetle", as he called it. So I made a compromise, beetle for school. Lion for Halloween! When were were getting dressed for school on Friday, he said, "My beetle legs are cold!!" Hilarious. I used that in my favor, telling him his beetle legs would be much colder at trunk or treat! Worked like a charm. Anyway, as you can see, the beetle was pretty stinkin' cute...

There was some sort of parade at school. I have every intention of being there to watch and photography the cutest bug in town. After our best drop off ever (only cried once we reached his hallway. I think wearing the bug distracted him!!), I decided it might make him upset if he saw me during the parade. So I had a friend snap some pictures for me. Kind of bummed but I didn't want him to meltdown and ruin the parade for the other kiddos. So, I have no idea what these are of!

Crosby with Miss Lisa...

The little beetle appears to be sitting down nicely!

I am going with "Singing Beetle"...

Staring beetle???

It really was a cute costume! But could he look bad in anything? I think not! I did get him to wear it to Animalia for a few minutes after school today. So I guess I have to give him a little dress up credit for today! It went downhill from there.

Anyway, Otter Creek had it's annual Trunk or Treat on Sunday. It is always fun to see our little friends dressed up. We ran into Lucas the Puppy right off the bat...

Then we found the rest of the gang gathered at the turn. We HAD to get at group picture for sure. Left to right: Annie (in a backpack carrier thingamajiggy), Dean, Addy, Leighton, Charlotte, Crosby, Mason, Maggie and Milly (in the stroller)...

The big kiddos up closer...

Loving...

his...

lion...

Loot!!!

I think he would sit for pictures for hours as long as he has candy in his mouth!

Cousin lovin'!!! Crazy to think Baby Malone will be joining us NEXT WEEK!! Cannot wait!!!

My precious lion picture. The color version!

And the family...

Sorry for the delayed post! Rough night. Finished just in time to take the little lion to the doctor! Should be fun...

Mondays with Crosby

2011-10-24T22:28:00.000-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 43 weeks old!!! Looking at those numbers is scary. Somebody's third (WHAAAATT????) birthday is rapidly approaching. Rapidly. We have been invited to lots of 3rd birthday's in the past few weeks. That can only mean his is around the corner. Can I just say I am not a fan of the idea.

So we attempted Gentry's Farm again on Saturday. We had to take an annual trip with the Rick crew. Unfortunately, Crosby had a short nap on Friday and didn't get in bed until 10:30 Friday night. What does that have to do with Saturday, you ask?? Everything. Somebody (CFM) was in a foul mood. Tears were shed. Parent eyes rolled. Many fits were thrown. But we had to get pictures of Crosby with Margaret and Wells. And we all know how much Crosby loves pictures...

I wanted one of him in the corn maze. I thought it was kind of cute that he attempted to pull this stalk out of the ground. It wasn't going to happen!

Then Blake told me to read the sign...

Oops!! Like I said, he wasn't quite strong enough to uproot anything! And it made for a funny picture anyway!

Happy in the tipi...

Just a swangin'...

With his best girl! Funny that he would NOT get in the tire last weekend. Only on top. Apparently Margaret can get her way with him!!

We finally managed to get the kiddos to sit for a group picture. Of course, it was like pulling teeth to get the one on the left to participate. "I will sit here but you cannot make me smile."

"I don't care that I look like a grump and my friends look adorable!"

"Okay. I can't pretend anymore. I am not happy about this."

And then Blake says something about monkeys and he smiles. Just in time for Wells to find some hay!

At least we got one of each child smiling! And you might recall having seen the outfit Wells is wearing in the past... Yea. Just looking back at that kind of made me tear up. That was way back when my green eyed boy had big blue eyes. And no hair. Although his current hair situation is quite a mess. Gotta love the Jim Carrey from Dumb and Dumber bang looks. Yikes.

"Do you want anymore taken off???"
"Uhhh, maybe a little?!?!"

BIG mistake on my part!! Please say it will grow back fast...

On a different note, my little fella seems to be adjusting to school slowly but surely. We had ZERO tears the Monday before fall break. Then we were out Friday, Monday and Friday for fall break. A little excessive don't you think??? Anyway. I was dreading starting back up today. I just knew he would regress. And he did a tad. We had tears right when his teacher came to take him from me. Thankfully he recovers as soon as I walk away. I am hopeful that we will have an easy go of it by Thanksgiving!!!

Mondays with Crosby

2011-10-17T22:07:00.000-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 42 weeks old!!! We had special visitor come to town this weekend. Crosby's cousins came to town!! He was super excited to see Sam and Gid on Saturday. We meet Lulu, GranBuddy, and the Cyrs at Animalia for a picnic lunch. It was a beautiful day to be outdoors. So beautiful that our child had zero desire to sit and eat. He just wanted to run and climb! Who am I kidding, they ALL wanted to climb. We tried getting pictures of all 4 cousins...

Man is that a hard thing to do!!!

I am thinking this is about as good as it got. At least all heads are up!

I couldn't resist sharing this one of Charlotte!!! She is such a ham...

After lunch, we headed across the road to visit a Fall favorite...

Gentry Farm!!! Of course I attempted a cousin picture on the wagon but that was even harder than the first round...

This was a bribery shot! I told Crosby that we could ride the on the hay (without hay) ride AS LONG AS he would be sweet and look at the camera! I know you can't tell by looking at the pictures I have posted, but he really was a little more cooperative when the camera was pointed his way. All I had to do was say, "Do you want to ride on the tractor????" He did!

Gid let me take a really good picture of him next to the scarecrow...

Crosby...not so much. The hay (without hay) ride was over and he wanted to slide! Good thing he will do anything Sam does!

We had to ride the little tractors again this year. It is always a favorite...

This year, Crosby was able to participate in more of the activities set up for the little ones. He had zero desire to stand in one spot last year. Playing in the corn troughs was not an option. But this year was different! He spent a good 10 minutes pour corn in and out of cups and funnels. Yay for increased attention spans!

I had to take a picture of these signs for my own sake! Guess what we studied this week in CBS...

How precious that the Gentry family has the Fruit of the Spirit displayed for all who visit!

It was especially meaningful to me this week!

I had to take a "special" picture of the one I want to work on more!

And here is another decent face shot of my boy, sitting and playing with tractors! Once again, YAY for increased attention spans!!!

A shot of the hay-less hayride...

Family shot in front of the wagon. Hello sunshine!

And the kids in front of the wagon. I think they were pretty well done at this point!

Getting a swing in before leaving...

We all got together again on Sunday for lunch. According to Sam Malone, we ate at "the best restaurant in Tennessee"... Shoneys! I managed to get one cute picture of Charlotte and Crosby while we were waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive.

Too bad I didn't have a good bribe for group pictures at Shoney's. Crosby was in a foul mood most of the meal and was not participating in photo shots! Beggars can't be chooser! At least we got a few on Saturday...

Mondays with Crosby

2011-10-10T22:28:00.000-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 41 weeks old!!! This week, it is really starting to feel like fall! Supposedly it was even cooler while we were at the beach. But we were at the beach so I have no clue! This weather feels GREAT to me. Cool nights and mornings. Warm days. I really don't think it gets much better than this! It does make dressing the boy a little difficult. The mornings are just cool enough that shorts and a t-shirt seem silly. But after lunch, I start to wonder why I dressed him so warm! So, we have been sporting the long sleeve shirt with shorts look. I mean, he has to get all of his seasonal shirts in one way or another, right?!? I attempted to take a picture of my favorite boy with my FAVORITE fall wreath. At least the wreath cooperated...

What tastes better in the fall than a homemade apple pie? WITH Crosby's name on it!!! Thanks LeAnne...

On a different note. The past few months have been rather difficult for me and my boy. Someone flipped a switch. All of a sudden, my happy go lucky kiddo has started crying every time I take him anywhere. School has been the worst. He cries as soon as he wakes up, "I not going to school, Mommy!" He cries during breakfast. He cries walking out to the car. He cries on the drive to school. And he has an absolute meltdown between the car and the classroom door. Pitiful!!! Heartbreaking. Most Mondays and Fridays, I am ready to pull him out of school altogether.

We have tried to talk it out. "Why are you sad to go to school/CBS/anywhere I am not?" I usually get, "I don't know." One day I got, "I miss you!" Rip my heart out would you???? For whatever reason, my little man is going through a spurt of serious separation anxiety.

But today. Ahhhh, today. We had a bit of a break through. He wasn't as tearful as this morning. I was able to distract him from focusing on being separated. I started thinking of ways I could make this a good day. Crosby has asked to go to Toys R Us several times lately. And seeing how he still has a gift card from his birthday, I thought I could use it in my favor!

He started to tear up as we were leaving but I was able to get him in the car and out of the garage without losing it. We headed down the driveway and I presented the plan. "Crosby, if you can be a BIG boy at school today, with NOOOO tears, maybe we can go to the toy store after school!!!!" He liked the idea. No tears when we pulled up. He was even playing around as we drove. No tears when we got out of the car. As we approached the door, his mood changed a bit. "Mommy hold you." So I picked him up and we walked into the building. Still holding back tears. We made it to the door and transferred him over to his teacher. With a quivering lip, he said, "I'm going to the toy store." Sweet thing was trying so hard and he did it! NO TEARS!!! Hallelujah!! I cannot tell you how happy this small break through made me! We made it to Toys R Us...

We spent a good 45 minutes looking at all the cars, pushing buttons and dancing to their tunes...

He was happy...

I was happy!

And he got to pick out a prize for being sooooo BIG!

Guess what it was...

2 more cars!

Boy was he proud of those 2 new cars...

Too bad he ran right out into the parking lot as we left the store and was not allowed to open them until Daddy got home! And then he was a stinker much of tonight! At least we had a good drop off?!?!? :-)

Unfortunately, Crosby will be out of school for 2 weeks due to fall break. What are the chances this will carry over when he starts back up????

Mondays with Crosby

2011-10-03T22:36:00.000-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 40 weeks old!!! And what a fun week it was! Once again, Uncle Ken and Aunt Dot opened their BEAUTIFUL home in Sea Island, Georgia for our family and friends. The weather was pretty well perfect! The rain showers held off for the evenings. During the day, the sun was bright and shinning. As Crosby likes to say, "Look...the sun is working!!!"

We attempted a walk around the pier on St. Simons on day but it was super hot. I did manage to snap a picture of the little man sitting on one of the most beautiful trees I have ever seen...

I can only imagine how old this tree is. The branches grow down, towards the ground and then come back up. Some of the branches even lie on the ground before stretching back up toward the sky. Just beautiful!

We spent A LOT of time at the beach and in the pool. Being that our trip was later in the month of September, I was a little worried that it would be too cold to swim. NOT the case! The water felt great. Luckily, I packed a bag full of toys for the little ones to play with. I learned that cups are a must have thanks to our weekend visit with the Gants. Corey, we spent lots of time making "tea" and "lemonade"...

Miss Eva was in on the fun too. Looking so cute in her monogrammed seersucker bathing suit...

Of course there was a lot of time for Blake to toss Crosby up in the air. A favorite pool time activity...

He gets so...

HIGH!!! And we wonder why he is as wild as a buck?!?!

Happy little fish...

Crosby always hugs the concrete dogs at the entrance of Animalia. I once told him that they never get any attention and he should give them a hug. Now he does it religiously. Same thing for the 4 lions that spray water from their mouths. They never get any love. That is until Crosby comes to town...

Loving pool time...

We attempted to take pictures of our kiddos at the beach. Yeah. They weren't really into sitting for pictures...

In case you can't read it because he wouldn't sit still, it says "Crosby"!

We like to break things up when we are at the beach. We cook some nights and let others cook for us the rest of the time! The boys did a great job grilling up burgers...

We did the usually bike ride around the island. So fun. Good thing we had Crosby there to help pump up all of the tires...

Crosby was super excited initially...

Then he realized he had to share. Not his strong suit these days!!!

Beautiful Sea Island Drive...

Bike train...

Jessica, Blake and the wagon train...

Wes is back there too!

We finally managed to get a family shot on our last night. We were NOT ready to leave...

Pretty sure the Edenfields weren't ready to leave either!

We had a fabulous week at the beach. Crosby was a little* on the whiney side this week. *The word "little" is an understatement. Apparently, he has developed a dislike for his clothes. He is opposed to wearing the shortall/jon jon. "I not like this shirt, Mommy!!! I not gonna wear this..." (said with the most whiney tone possible) He only wore them 90% of the time this summer. Why is he all of a sudden opposed? I hate to tell him but he is not gonna win this battle!

While I am at it, he also has an aversion to my hair being pulled back into a pony tail. "Mommy, your hair down!!!" (also said in the most whiney voice possible) The child cannot stand it when my hair is pulled back. He notices it first thing when I walk into a room. So bizarre. Although, cousin Charlotte is the same way about Anne Claire's hair!?! Maybe it is genetic?

So today, we are back into the ole routine. We headed back to school and it could not have gone worse. I am REALLY not a fan of this new separation anxiety business we are in the middle of. Something has got to give or this momma is going to lose her mind. As soon as I pry him off of my neck,give him to the teacher and walk around the corner, he quiets down. But man, getting to that point is enough to make me want to throw my hands in the air and give up. I am ready to just pull him out altogether. Sigh...

I will leave you with a few videos from the week.

Absolutely WILD at the beach...

Singing, swimming, little fish!

Mondays with Crosby

2011-09-26T20:15:00.002-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 39 weeks old!!! Can you guess where he is spending it????

Mondays with Crosby

2011-09-19T22:35:00.000-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 38 weeks old!!! It has been a low key kind of week. Not too much going on, which I appreciated coming off the previous weekend! Once again, I was a slacker at pulling out the camera. I did manage to catch this sweet moment between father and son on Friday night...

We had just been out for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant, hence the soccer jersey Blake was sporting! When we got home, the boys curled up on the couch and read a few books. Crosby is still a big fan of reading books. I am pretty sure we could read for hours each day. Love that!

On Saturday, we headed south to Columbia. Pop is such a handyman. He offered to save us a buck and change our brake pads. Fortunately, he had a helper...

Yep! Crosby assisted on the project! My dad used the jack while Crosby manned the wrench..

I am pretty sure he was just sticking the wrench in the holes of the hubcap and twisting. But I am sure it was helpful...

Once Pop got the lug nuts loose, Crosby was able to help take them off...

I am fairly confident that Pop could have finished the job in half the time had his "helper"not been there. But he wouldn't have had it any other way...

In the end, we had to lose the pants because he kept getting brake dust and grease on them. And I still haven't attempted to get that out! Yikes! Let's hope Dawn does the trick.

My little man has hit a phase the past month or so and it is breaking my heart. The kiddo that loved going to school now cries before we even leave the house. He spends the entire (2 minute) drive saying he is not going to school. When we get to his classroom, the teacher had to pry him out of my arms. It is pretty horrific for me, to say the least. But he is doing it every where. He did it at church on Sunday. He did it on the way to Columbia Saturday. He did it on the way to CBS on Wednesday. My little fella is all of a sudden very attached to us and does not want to be separated. I know it is probably just a phase, but it sure makes a momma feel guilty for changing up his routine. I am hoping this phase passed soon!

On the bright side of things, Crosby got to see his first rainbow today...

There is actually a second one behind it but it is hard to see. Crosby immediately made some reference to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse when he saw it. Apparently there is an episode titled Minnie's Rainbow or something. Then he and Blake start chanting, "Rainbow, Rainbow, GO, GO, GO" from said episode. He still loves Mickey, too. I prefer the books. But at least Mickey has taught him about cylinders and spheres. Who knew!?!? And who knew that Crosby knows my phone number! I had to give it out at Advanced Auto when I bought the brake pads. I got the first 6 digits out and finished the last 4!!! Seriously, the child knows way too much information! He just grinned from ear to ear when I asked him how he knew that!!! :-)

Mondays with Crosby

2011-09-12T21:50:00.080-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 37 months old!!! Yes. We are still here and all is well. The last week was absolutely nuts. So nuts that I didn't pick up the camera one time. Yes. I cheated. These pictures are from today. And today is technically Thursday. But, I have a really good excuse for being so behind. I am not sure who is to blame but it is either Dulles airport or United Airlines. Let's just say I am not a fan of either at the moment.

I had a lymphedema course to take in Pittsburgh over the weekend. The original plan was to leave Nashville at 12ish and arrive in Pittsburgh at 6:30ish. That would leave me plenty of time to get settled in my room and get plenty of rest for and 8-6 lecture on Saturday. That was the plan. All was going smoothly until we landed in D.C. at Dulles. We sat on the tarmac for 15 minutes waiting for the gate to open up. I knew it was going to be tight to get from one gate to the next. To make matters worse, the flight attendants had no gate information for us. I got of the plan and walked into a VERY hectic terminal. Made the call to go right to find a board with departure information. Of course it was 100+ yards away. And of course it was in the opposite direction. I took off toward my gate and noticed I had 6 minutes until the plan was set to leave. 4 minutes later, I ran up to the gate only to find 2 other folks standing there, out of breath, looking at a closed door. We were all on the flight from Nashville and we had all missed our connection. Lovely. I waited in a customer service line for an hour to have my flight pushed back to 10:20. That left me with 4+ hours to blow at Dulles and would have me to my hotel around midnight if I was lucky. But I wasn't. We boarded the plane and sat in it for an hour waiting for extra fuel due to bad weather. Double whammy. The only positive to this was we sat there so long we missed the weather we were adding extra fuel to avoid! I finally landed it Pittsburgh at 1:15 am. I checked in for my shuttle and was told it would be THIRTY FIVE minutes before they could pick me up. Ummmm, no. I could not stand outside an airport, by myself at 1:30 in the morning for another 35 minutes. I said I wanted to cancel the pickup and would just take a taxi. The taxi ride would only cost me EIGHTY DOLLARS!!! Thankfully he was taking another passanger further so I got a $20 discount for riding with him. I didn't care at that point. I just wanted to get to my room and go to bed. I am pretty sure I couldn't have gotten there any faster. George, the cab driver, was a mad man behind the wheel of the minivan. I feared for my life a few times... Anyway, he got me to Pittsburgh by 2:15. I was in bed by 2:30am and MAY have fallen asleep by 3:00am. It didn't really matter when the alarm when off at 6:45am. The course was awesome. But that didn't really matter either considering I was going on 3.5 hours of sleep. I struggled all day to keep my eyes open. Rather miserable!

We finished up the course on Sunday a tad early, 3:30pm. A classmate was kind enough to offer me a ride to the airport. No cabs or shuttle thankfully. I got there in plenty of time. Boarded my plane and headed to...Dulles. Of course the flight attendants had no gate information. But we checked that out on the computer before we took off so I felt confident. We landed and made it to my connection with no problem. We boarded the plane 5 minutes late but no big deal. I could handle 5 minutes. Then we sat. And sat. AND SAT. An hour and a half total. Come to find out, a baggage guy broke the "curtain" rod that covers the cargo door and protects if from luggage. The cargo door was deemed damaged and the plane could not fly with any luggage on board. They also needed 3 people to get off the plane. By that time, I was going to have to ask sweet Melissa to pick me up at 2:00am and I just couldn't do that to her. So I just got of the plane. Sure, United put me up in the Westin, paid my taxi drive there and gave me a $15 food voucher. All I really wanted was to go home, to my bed and see my boys!! I ended up making back to Nashville Monday morning at 9:10am. And my flight was even a little early. What?

As if travel woes weren't enough, my sweet Crosby cried every time we talked over the weekend. "Hold you, Mommy!!!! Hold you!!!" Nothing like telling your little one you can't love on them. Break my heart. And how terrible I felt for promising I would come in and give Crosby hugs on Sunday night when I got in. Not that he remembered but I sure did. I felt even worse on Monday because I was basically a useless mother. I let him watch the Disney channel most of the morning while I was in and out of sleep. Of course I was OUT when he took his nap. I still wasn't caught up on Tuesday and took another 3+ hour, full of crazy dreams, nap. I am finally feeling like I am back to normal! On Thursday! I know that was a boring story, but I just had to vent about it one more time!!! :-)

Switching gears to the one that really matters around here, Crosby Fox mastered his tricycle last week and I finally got pictures to document it...

He told me I couldn't take pictures of him at first...

Luckily he doesn't have eyes in the back of his head...

Because I snapped a few of him pedaling away!

On the way back home he didn't object...

He was more concerned about me catching him going "fast"...

I am not sure you can really pick up his "speed" in these pictures...

But you can tell he is pretty proud of himself...

"I can go FAST, Mommy!!"

My little speed demon!

Here's to a nice, calm, stress free week with my little man...

Mondays with Crosby

2011-09-05T22:41:00.001-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 36 weeks old!!! On Friday, his dad turned 1 year older! Crosby and I had big plans for Friday morning. When I was giving him a bath Thursday night, I made the mistake of telling him we were going to get up early and make pancakes and bacon for Daddy first thing in the morning!! Wouldn't you know Blake walked no more than 10 seconds after our conversation ended. Crosby yells out, "Gonna eat pancakes and bacon, Daddy?" Fortunately I was thinking on my toes and claimed he was confused about Charlottle's birthday party (which was Saturday) having pancakes and bacon like Leighton's party. Blake fell for it. Crosby looked at me like I had 2 heads! Oh well...nevermind the "Blake fell for it" part. I was just informed that he figured it out. Way to ruin it Danielle!!

Birthday Breakfast with Daddy...

At least I remembered to pull out the "special" plate I made for us to use on special days!

Saturday was Charlotte's 2nd birthday. It was too precious. I took lots of pictures. Problem is, I used Anne Claire's camera. And she has it at her house. So....I will have to post those when I get my hands on her camera. It is definitely worthy of a post! The decorations were just adorable. She even had a matching dress...

We gathered again on Sunday to celebrate Blake's birthday with the family. He opened gifts after lunch with a little assistance from the kiddos. There may have been a struggle at moments over who would help open gifts...

But it all worked out in the end...

Blake has been spending a lot of his free time fishing lately. Lucy decided to have a fishing cake made for his birthday. We all found it pretty humorous!

We headed to my parents later in the afternoon. Crosby has been so excited to show us his new truck...

I am still shocked that my father, Danny Lipscomb, has a Ford truck parked in his garage. Between 2 Chevrolets nonetheless! The things grandparents will do for their grandchildren...

Man this boy must really be loved!!!

Mondays with Crosby

2011-08-29T22:03:00.000-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 35 weeks old!!! What a fun week it was. We met up with the Wilsons on Wednesday and spent the morning hanging out in downtown Nashville. We caught a city bus and rode from the farmers market to the Shelby Street bridge! We had high hopes that fountains would be working so the boys could play. Too bad they weren't. We still made the most of it and had a great time exploring our great city!!

Jonas and Crosby checking out and excavator working beside the river...

Sarah and Asher taking in the view...

Crosby hanging out on the bridge...

Crosby on his first bus ride...

We made it back to the farmers market just in time for lunch. I started looking for my keys but had a pretty good feeling they were in my purse. Which was conveniently located in the trunk of my car!! Thanks to Sarah's quick thinking, she asked park ranger for help. Within 10 minutes, my keys were in my hands and we were ready to go! If you must lock your keys in your car, that is definitely the way to do it!

Yesterday, we attended Baptist's NICU birthday party. Because our boy is a marathon sleeper, we barely made the last thirty minutes. It didn't matter. Crosby had a blast in the 30 minutes we were there. And he got to see some of his best buddies!

He took part in a bean bag toss...

And did well. I bet it had something to do with the fact he was standing right next to the thing!

Then he and Margaret found a box...

Yes. A simple box led to LOADS of fun for all...

Free rides...

Lots of laughs...

Then he had to show off for the lady in his life...

Margaret was super impressed!

But the she had to return the favor...

And Crosby was super impressed!

Then they tag teamed and gave Jack a turn! Yikes!!!

We headed to Centennial Park for a little picnic afterwards with the Ricks and Spencers. The weather was AMAZING and the kiddos loved running around outdoors. Wells was just happy to get some food on his belly...

Crosby and Jack sitting on a statue...

Peekaboo...

Sweet Jack...

Jack, Crosby and Margaret...

These two just kill me! They chased each other all over the place...

And Margaret caught him!!

What a great day with great friends! So grateful to have our little ones here and healthy!

Crosby has gotten into playing instruments while singing these days. Of course, he prefers Christmas music! Here is his version of Jingle Bells...

And so I will remember, Crosby's top 2 year molars are on their way in and it doesn't seem to phase him one bit!

Mondays with Crosby

2011-08-22T21:40:00.000-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 34 weeks old!!! I am happy to say, this week's pace slowed quite a bit! I am liking slow for a change. That is not to say we sat around doing nothing, because I just don't have it in me. We did plenty. I just didn't feel pulled in a million different directions. Now that we have a set schedule, life feels much more relaxed. Ahhhhh. Feels good!

It was another week where the camera remained in it's bag until the last minute. I didn't take pictures on Tuesday as we waited at McDuffee's for an oil change. I failed to pack it along to a swim date with friends on Wednesday. We didn't take pictures of our near daily trips to Kroger, although we should start taking it seeing how often we are there. What ever happened to meal planning and shopping once a week???

But today. I pulled the camera out. We had a little fun in the backyard after school. Just me and the boy. I had to bribe him initially in an attempt to get a decent still shot. "I can't turn the water on until I get one cute picture!!!" And this is what I ended up with...

One silly...

that refused to cooperate...

So I gave in and turned the water on...

And he was thrilled...

He ran through the yard squealing his head off...

Yep. That is what he was doing in this picture. Just squealing...

This boy loves being outside...

And it gave me a chance to snap a few picture of him doing what he loves...

Fun times!!!

Mondays with Crosby

2011-08-16T07:50:00.000-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 33 weeks old!!! I cannot believe this was our last week of summer!?!? Where did the time go? And why have we not taken one single vacation? Oh yea. We have one planned in a few weeks. Thank goodness!

On Wednesday night, we 2/3 of the Malone crew at the Williamson County fair. You may or may not recall the same adventure this time last year. It didn't turn out quite like we had hoped. (minus the fried snickers) I was hoping this year would be better since we are dealing with an older version of Crosby. One who has had a little more time to balance the need for independence with the need for safety! Thankfully, this year went MUCH better.

He actually put on the apron and carried his basket through the farmers market. He needed a little help staying on task but was able to gather each item at each station. He and Charlotte stopped in to pick up a few eggs...

Then they grabbed an apple from the orchard...

Brushing the sheep and collecting some wool...

Attempted to get a picture of both farmers. This is as good as it got!

Unfortunately, I deleted the pictures of them gathering corn, planting corn and sitting on the tractor! Learned my lesson in keeping my memory card empty.... Anyway, this experienced farmer showed him how to feed a dairy cow so he could turn around and...

Milk her!!! And yes, water did come out of her udder if you did it correctly! Hilarious...

Family shot! Too bad something happened to the lighting and most of my body was dark. I did the best I could with Lightroom, but please know my legs aren't that pasty!

The Cyrs...

Attempting to get Crosby and Charlotte to pose as farm animals. Charlotte wasn't too sure about it...

But you can at least see she was having fun!!!

Playing with the goats...

I was glad to see Crosby climb into the corn pit. Good tactile stimulation for him...

He didn't even mind it being stuck to his feet!

Still on of my favorite exhibits at the fair...

They had all been lined up eating, just like last year's picture. But by the time I snapped a picture, the momma had had enough! Let me just say these little piglets are about the cutest thing I have EVER seen. I have said it before and am sticking to my statement. If pig would stay this tiny and cute, I would have taken one home with me. I mean precious. Too bad they get to be 200+ pounds or something...

I was impressed with the hair do on this Shetland pony...

Crosby has a new love of all things llama thanks to the "Llama llama Red Pajama...Mad at Momma...Misses Momma" books we have been reading. We just happened to be standing there when she was being taken out of her stall. Crosby got to meet her up close and personal...

After making our way through all the cows and horses and sheep and chickens and goats and pigs, we headed out to the rides! Since Crosby is a few inches taller than he was last year (> 36 inches!!), his ride options were much more exciting. I know it is hard to believe, but Crosby was all about the rides. And of course I had to snap a picture of him on every one...

Charlotte really wanted to ride but she couldn't bring herself to do it...

Riding on Nemo...

And look who we found riding with him!!!

Sweet Leighton!! Drinking lemonade from a cup half her size!!

We ran into the Mayfield clan as we were making our way through the rides...

I attempted to ride the tea cups with for the sole purpose of documenting Charlotte's first (and only!) ride. The carny said we had too many people in our cup so I quickly exited. I am not about to break a ride for the sake of a picture...

At least I was able to snap one of them in action. Let's just say Charlotte was ready for the ride to stop as soon as it started...

Crosby riding the roller coaster that went from 0-15mph in 1.5 secs. Or something like that. It did give him a jolt when it took off, which we could not stop laughing about...

Just relaxing on a fair ride...

We had to ride the panda again this year!

It was a big hit for the second year in a row...

But his favorite ride of all was the motorcycles. Imagine that!

Overall, we had a GREAT night with the family. I am already looking forward to going back next year!

We had a dear friend fly into town on Tuesday. Jessica spent Tuesday and Thursday night with us and we were thrilled to have her visit. She actually accompanied me and Crosby to orientation day at his new school! And she may have snapped a few photos for me!! ;-) Can't wait to see what she took... Anyway, we spent the day running around downtown Franklin. Eating lunch at Franklin Mercantile and saving room for desert at Ivey Cake! Well, I really just used that as bribery to keep Crosby in check while we pushed him WAY beyond his limits!!! He was GREAT...

Too bad I didn't get one of our cupcakes!! Little man fell asleep in the car at 3:45 as we were taking Jessica back to the airport! Seeing how he normally sleeps from 1-4+, he was quite the tropper. And yes, he still sleeps with Bubba...

Love this girl!!! Can't wait to spend a week at the beach with her in a few short weeks!!!

Friday was also Anne Claire's birthday. We had Crosby sing a little song for her...

I am not sure what the hind end in the air was all about but it sure made for a funny video. Much like this video of him singing a Yo Gabba Gabba song...

At least he said excuse me!! And at least his parents are so mature that they don't laugh about it... ;-)

Today was the big day...the first day of SCHOOOOOOL, as Crosby likes to say! He was pretty excited about starting back up. We have been talking about his new teachers, Miss Lisa and Miss Jodi all week long. I grieved all summer over which school to put him in, Otter Creek or the one near by. I knew the best option for our family would be the one closest to home for this year. It sure was hard to turn down the opportunity to spend this year with all of his sweet playgroup friends. I just can't look at their class picture... Sigh. Anyway, I am over it now. Sort of. :-)

I got my boy dressed and ready...

I promise he liked his backpack. I just happened to snap a picture after he had fallen backwards due to the weight of it! He didn't know how to walk with something on his back...

But he figured it out...

And melted my heart in the meantime...

Looking forward to a great year. And the 2 minute commute ain't bad!!! ;-)

Mondays with Crosby

2011-08-08T15:53:00.003-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 32 weeks old!!! By the looks of the picture above and the delay in getting this posted, I struggled the past 2 weeks. We have had lots of fun stuff going on. Too bad I was the ultimate slacker and did a poor job with photo documentation. Once again, I am mad at myself for not taking more pictures. What can I do now? Post what I've got...

On Wednesday, we got together with our friends to celebrate Leighton's birthday. She had a Pancakes and Pajamas themed party! How cute is that?? The kiddos looked so cute running around in their PJs. We managed to get them ALL to sit at the table to sing "Happy Birthday" and eat pancakes...

The birthday girl and her proud parents...

It looks like Crosby was slighted a pancake. Let me assure you he was not. I think this was actually in between pancake #1 and #2...

See, here he is digging in. No small bites for our boy...

Let me just say, the pancakes were DELISH! That is one thing I really struggle to make well. Gonna have to get that recipe from you Courtney. Maybe that will do the trick...

The boys were all about playing with tools. Actually, they just stood there, banging their tools on workstation, making LOTS of noise! No surprise there...

Of course we had to take a group shot of all the kiddos. All started out well...

Then we had a little ruckus going on to the left of the picture. And then there is Crosby who cries when his picture limit has been exceeded. At least we managed to get 8 out of 10 kiddos present!

And here is the proof that we used bribery to get the group picture. Yep, Lucas IS eating chocolate chips right out of Courtney's hand...

What a fun way to celebrate sweet LeiLei!! Good times for sure!

Over the weekend, we (me, Crosby, Anne Claire, Charlotte and Lucy) took a little road trip to Gadsden to visit the sweet Hawkins/Gant crew! This is were I went totally slacker. I guess it had something to do with the fact that we had 4 babes under the age of 3 in one house. And then there is the part where we spent most of the day in our bathing suits! Not only is it is hard to take pictures while swimming, Charlotte and Henley were the only ones that would allow a bathing suit photo to be posted online! ;-) Here is the ONLY picture I have of the kiddos. Of course Crosby was off swimming in the deep end so he didn't make the lone group shot... :-/

Pretty pathetic kiddo picture. I know. Here is further proof that we were all together last weekend. And if you can't tell, and I don't know why you couldn't, from left to right, Corey, Henley, Anne Claire, Charlotte, Melinda, Davis and Lucy. Crosby was on the diving board and I was behind him taking pictures...

Crosby attempted the diving board a few weeks ago. Much to my surprise, he was a little timid. Not this time. He walked right to the edge and jumped right off. He did this approximately 500 times on Saturday! Here are a few action shots...

He was actually wearing a swimsuit earlier in the day. This was swimming round 2 and I didn't feel like putting his wet suit back on. A swim diaper is technically all that is needed...right?

Same skills, different angle...

And if that wasn't enough diving board footage, here is a little more...

Crosby and Henley walked up to the front of the house to watch Grandy on the mower. Sweet Miss Henley grabbed on to the railing, just below a wasp's nest. Poor baby got stung right on her bitty hand. It nearly broke our hearts. And hers. She kept holding her hand and showing us her boo boo...

Crosby and Charlotte had a good ole time playing on this toddler sized sofa...

He kept pretending to be asleep. She just wanted a hug!

We had a great visit with the Gants. It was so fun to see how big the twins had gotten. We had not seen them since last year! It is amazing to look back at how fast our little blessing have grown! What special friends...

We headed back to TN on Sunday morning. Crosby got an abbreviated afternoon nap before we headed out to small group. We managed to get a picture of all the kiddos who were there that night. Kinda nuts to see how much we are growing!! Two families couldn't make it, both with a toddler each and a babe in the womb! Wow!

Left to right: Luke, Ainsley, Crosby, Addy, Dean, Annie, Lilyanne, Milly

What a great week with all of our dear friends!! Let's see if I can stay on top of things this week...

Mondays with Crosby

2011-08-01T23:04:00.000-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 31 weeks old!!! What is it about red Keds that melts my heart??? I LOVE them. I loves seeing these little legs with red canvas strapped on his feet. These are a little small side, leaving socks a no go. Even better, in my opinion! The cuteness factor may go up when socks are not included! He looked like a little doll today. In my opinion... ;-) But more of those pictures later.

On Wednesday, we got together with our playgroup buddies for a day at the pool. I almost got one of them ALL looking, happily in the vicinity of the camera lens...

We took a trip to Nolensville to swim at the Graves neighborhood pool. (Kara took more pictures if you care to see them. She was not a photo slacker...) We had such a lovely time with our sweet friends. Oh how I wish we had a neighborhood pool... Sigh. I am so thankful for friends that invite us to theirs!! It makes these HOT summer days a little more bearable!

Crosby and I took a little trip to the Feed Mill on our way home. Although it was technically in the complete opposite direction. I didn't plan on letting everyone know that we got Hatcher Farm chocolate milk, 2 chicken salad sandwiches, honey, and a pumpkin roll. But they busted us and posted our picture on Facebook! I am not scared to admit we were there and have plans to return in the near future!

Crosby has followed a pretty regimented bedtime routine since we was 4 months old. It usually goes something like this: eat dinner, play for a bit, take a bath, read (sometimes), say prayers, sing songs (Jesus Love Me -aka Baby Jesus, Deep and Wide/Wide and Deep, Zaccheus, and occasionally This Little Light of Mine) and put him in his bed. Blake has a different song list but he doesn't really stick to the same ones. If is a really late night, we skip the rocking and singing and just straight to bed. No big deal. He does whatever. But lately, we have encouraged a little "cuddle time"...

There is just something about "cuddling" with our little fella that we can't resist. We by no means do it every night. But is fun to do once a week or so. We are only talking 15 minutes tops. How cute it was to hear him come up the stairs tonight asking to "cuddle with Mommy and Daddy...turn this light out...get under the covers." Just plain precious!!!

On Saturday, we took our first trip to the library. He still LOVES to read so I thought he would enjoy picking out new books. Of course I had to take a picture of him at the front door...

Except it was my first time to take him. And we took that picture in front of the community center!!! Ahem. Yes. Here it the real library...

Too bad I forgot the real camera and had to use the phone! Not the fastest shutter speed around but it had to do! Once inside and in the children's section, Crosby found this digger book right off the bat...

He couldn't wait until we got home to read it...

He even had to hold it as we checked out!

First it was Davis Kidd. Now it is Borders. I probably sound like the grandmother telling stories of walking to school barefoot in the snow, but it sure makes me so sad to see book stores closing left and right. I am all about technology, but downloaded books are boarderline evil to me. I want my boy to hold the REAL thing in his hands. I want him to know the wonderful smell of a brand new paperback book! I am making a special effort to spend more time at the library. You know, before they are extinct! So very sad...

On a happy note, these two adorable cousins showed up at church in matching, Lulu made outfits. Totally unplanned! Charlotte's dress was from last Easter and Crosby's was from this Easter. Of course I had to use my cell phone once again. And like usual, these two would NOT sit still. At least you get the idea.

Crosby was far more interested in looking at Charlotte's goldfish than me!!

A sort of shot of his face...

Kinda looks like they are boxing! Promise no jabs were throne. This time...

Back to those red shoes. Did I mention Crosby looked adorable today? In my opinion anyway. He was dressed way too big boy, I know. But he still looked scrumptious. And speaking of technology, this one has it mastered...

Playing with Daddy's phone. Yep. He can get to any app he wants...

His version of "CHEEEEESE!" Really?

The "I am getting tired of this" face...

But I say he just looks like an angel. His hair even makes a halo...

Or something like it anyway!

And those red shoes...

Man I love this boy...

Mondays with Crosby

2011-07-25T23:10:00.000-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 30 weeks old!!! We took it easy today, leaving the house long enough to make a Kroger run. I'm pretty sure I haven't really been to the grocery store in a few weeks. Just quick trips about 5 times a week. There was a day when I made a weekly menu and went to the store once. I had very good intentions of doing so today. Then I decided the meat wasn't on sale enough for my liking and decided to hold of. Good thing sandwiches are BOGO on Monday nights during the month of July at City Limits! Too bad this is the last Monday in July! At least it saved me tonight. Wait...how did I get on this subject? Oh yes, Kroger. I need to go back. Good thing Crosby loves Kroger. It definitely has NOTHING to do with the free cookies at the bakery. Or the stickers he gets at the checkout line. And I am not talking about the smiley face stickers that let folks know we have been Krogering. I am talking about the green stickers that say we save didn't use plastic. He asks for those every single time. Not the smiley faces. Some of the cashiers have caught on and don't even bother with the smiley faces anymore! We go to Kroger way to often. And then there is Publix and the cookies with sprinkles. We go there, too. He requested Publix today but settled with their competitor. Chocolate chip was fine with him...

This week, we met up with a few of our favorite folks. It has been so long, you may not even recognize this sweet face...

Yep! That is the adorable Mr. Wells! He was a big hit with Crosby, who is completely in to babies at the moment. It is kind of precious to see him get on his belly with them, smiling and talking right in their faces. Patting them on the back. Requesting to hold them. Melts my heart. See what I mean...

So sweet. But who wouldn't want to love on this precious babe???

Our attempt to get one of all three kiddos was a miss. But I assure you, it doesn't get much cuter!!!

Can we get a decent one of 2 kiddos???

Nope! You will have to take my word for it...

We went swimming at GranBuddy and Lulu's on Saturday morning. We love it when Daddy is at the pool. Wonder why?

He is lots of fun! I am pretty sure he threw Crosby about 100 times. He loves it! However, the deputy dog is NOT a fan of horseplay...

So silly, that Nugget. We tried to convince he no one was being injured. He wasn't buying it!

I think I made a mistake last week. I have heard folks say the book "Mine-o-saur" is a great read for kiddos. We got it several months ago through Dolly Parton's Imagination Library but had put it aside. So, the other day I decided to pull it out without reading it first. Huge mistake! I am pretty sure Crosby didn't even know the work "mine" until we read that book. Now he does. And he is using it constantly!!! What have I done?!? How do I fix this?? I have created a "Mine-o-saur"!!!

Crosby continues to crack me up with his love for automobiles. We have been taking walks at night and he points out every single car we pass and tells me whose car it looks like. He points them out while we are driving. When we are in parking lots. And 99% of the time, he is right...

-Nissan Murano- "Like Mrs. Courtney and LeiLei's car"
-New Honda Pilot- "Like Mrs. Jenny's car"
-Older Honda Pilot- Black "Anne Claire, Jeremy & Bobby's car" Sliver "Like Uncle Justin and Aunt
Katie's" car. Varies between the 2 families if it is different color.
-2002 or older Honda Accord "Like Daddy's car"
-2003 or newer Honda Accord "Like Mommy's car"
-Impala- "Like Gigi's car" calls them "Impala"
-Truck- "Like Pop's truck" (kinda generic on trucks)
-Nissan Xterra- "Like Mrs. Jenny's car" who knew Jenny?? He has never ridden in it and I sure didn't think he paid attention to it! Told him it is Mr. Matt's so that is cleared up!!
-Older Honda CRV's -"Like Mrs. Danielle's car"
-Unmarked police cars-"Like Uncle Jason's car" although this Jason isn't really his "Uncle" Jason!!
-Volvo SUV- "Like Lulu's car" If it is white "Like Mrs. Melissa's car" he calls them Bumbos intsead of
Volvos!! Funny!
-Any Minivan-"Like Mrs. Kristen's"
-Older Toyota Camary- "Like Mrs. Jaime's" which he has only seen 1 time, this past week!
-Toyota RAV4- "Like Mrs. Kara's car"
-Honda Element- "Like Mrs. Sarah's car"

I think you get the idea. It kills me to know just how much attention he pays to cars and trucks. LOVES them! And has each make and model stored in his brain along with who drives them! Now if we could just erase the word "Mine"...

Mondays with Crosby

2011-07-18T23:10:00.000-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 29 weeks old!!! If you can't tell, he is feeling pretty cool these days! I think it has something to do with his new sunglasses. He has been asking for a pair for a while. He sits in the back or the car proclaiming, "I need my sunglasses!!" Yet he had none. He loves putting mine on and taking them off, over and over again. One pair finally snapped on Friday so I broke down and bought him a pair of his own. Actually, Walgreens had a deal...1 for $5.99 or 2 for $10. I figure one pair will last all of a week so might as well get two! Of course, I had to go to every children's shop in town in an attempt to find a cute pair. Apparently there is not such thing! We ended up with the lovely Lightening McQueen specs seen above, with red and green Mickey shades as a backup. I seriously tried! In case you didn't feel the total coolness, here he is again...

Yeah.

We had special friends come to town this week...The Normans!!! Saturday night, we had a Malone-Norman reunion in Columbia. Lots of food. Lots of kiddos. Lots of friends. Lots of laughs. Such a fun night!

Honey and Poppy Norman with all of the grandkiddos...

John, Cora, Johnny, Scout and Jaime...

Charlie, Vic, Juli, Jack and Lili..

Of course the number one follower of this blog, Jill, and her family were there. However, she opted out of a Fields family picture. Something about being 8 months pregnant and getting to sit out if you want to!!! And for the record, you look precious Jill!!!

Our little family...

Anne Claire, Charlotte and Jeremy...

The Malones and Cyrs...

Lulu and Crosby (GranBuddy was at MRH relieving the pain of women in labor and Miss Charlotte was done with pictures!)

Sweet Johnny...

And his adorable baby sister, Cora. This teeny tiny thing is barely 5 months old and is trying to crawl all over the place! I could eat her up...

Love seeing these two childhood friends together!

Time to eat. At least we tried to get somebody to eat!

The boys...

Time for S'mores!!!

Yummy!

Sweet Ann Cortner was trying to figure why in the world she was not in her bed!

Meanwhile, someone brought out water guns...

And the bigger boys found water...

And Scout lost her dress...

And John got soaked...

At least Scout found something to cover up with!

The kiddos were SOAKED...

But could care LESS!

And we didn't care either...

Because we were with great friends!

Mondays with Crosby

2011-07-11T23:36:00.001-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 28 weeks old!!! This week has been an interesting one. A few new firsts for Crosby. A LOT of new...how do I put it nicely... "attitude" from our little, precious, angel!!! Whew. He has been a spit fire this week! But I will get to that...

Wednesday we headed to OCC for a church family picnic. Crosby was super excited about the fact that there would be a "jump jump" to play on We could barely get the boy to sit and eat a single bite because he just HAD to get to the "jump jump." He could think of nothing else! Fortunately for him, all of his pals were headed that way so we joined them. Food is overrated...right?

"YES!!! I am in!!!"

100% genuinely happy boy...

Just love seeing Lucas flying through the air!!!

Looking so sweet... Emphasis on the word "looking"...

First sno-kone. By they way...where are snow cone places anymore?? Do they even exist? What I would give for a Snow Biz on a day like today with a 115 degree heat index...

Our church is building an addition to the church that will house the children's classrooms and the preschool. We were asked to write a prayer/blessing on the floor of that building. So sweet. I asked Crosby what he wanted to draw. One guess...

Yep...

That is a car wash! Not sure that is what they had in mind...

And of course we had to sit on a piece of construction equipment before we could go home!

Since Blake was off on Saturday, we wanted to do something fun as a family. Blake thought it sounded like a great idea to take Crosby fishing on the Harpeth River. I was unsure, but agreed. You just never know with this 2.5 year old...

Blake took his pole and I took the camera. I was thinking we were going to walk up to a small river, stand on a bank and fish. I was thinking I might get a little wet. You know, maybe to my knees. That is what I thought I was agreeing to. Yea. I was wrong! We had to cross the small river that was waist deep to get to the bank we were going to stand on. So much for only getting my feet wet. And did I mention I am NOT a fan of water that does not allow me to see my feet? I sucked it up for the sake of the experience and trudged through that nasty water. Crosby could have cared less if he could or could not see his feet. He only cared that his feet were touching the ground. But more on that later too...

Here are the boys. One with rod in hand. One wading through the water...

Blake actually did catch a fish. Of course I left the camera up the bank and missed the moment. Crosby actually touched his first fish and I can't even prove it! Oh well. I did get pictures of him floating down there river. A nice hard rain the day before had the water moving pretty quickly! Pretty fun...

I promise Blake is in the top left corner of that picture, ready to catch the floating babe. See. You can see his yellow shirt when I zoom in on the picture...

I promise releasing him in the water was not as far nor as dangerous as it looks!!! Actually, he was as happy as a lark...

That was until he got to Blake and his feet couldn't touch the ground for quite a while...

Then what has been happening A LOT this past week started again. Kicking. Screaming. Crying. Yelling. Demanding. Just about anything ugly you can think of was happening in this picture...

There was no rationalizing that "the water is up to Daddy's chest and your feet cannot touch" business. It was just hysteria. Oh yeah. We timed out on the bank. We popped the ole leg. Nothing was stopping this boy from going crazy. So we had to follow through with the threat to pack things up and leave. Granted we had to get right back in to cross the river to get back to the car. We looked like the Beverly Hillbillies leaving the Harpeth. Whoa. Who would have thought a trip to the river could turn so sour so fast!

***Sort of disclaimer...In case you haven't noticed, I try my hardest not to speak negatively about Crosby on here. Not because I want the world to think I have a perfect family. But because I can remember what it was like to desperately want him in my life. I remember how hard it was to hear folks complain about their kiddos. I just don't want to be that mom. Let me just clarify that I am absolutely in love with my wild boy and would not trade him for the world!!!***

Okay, now that I have that off my chest...Crosby may or may not have hit what some folks like to call "the terrible twos." Now, I wouldn't go as far as to say that he is in the terrible twos because most of the time, he is a complete ham that is so much fun to be around. But when things go awry, they go there fast!

Like Sunday afternoon. When Blake got another grand idea! Let's take Crosby to the soccer fields (at 7:30...bedtime) and kick soccer...

I think the happiness lasted all of 5 minutes. Here is one of them...

At least he actually kicked the ball rather than throwing it! Progress...

But he preferred standing next to the goal post and banging on it...

And watching the big guys play on the adjacent field...

Then he was done. No more pictures...

The "I am done with this" face...

Yea. He was done alright. He asked for water once. I realized it was in the car. Went to get it and he threw another one of those Beverly Hillbillies fits that makes you just want to crawl in a hole. Let's hope the Manchester United recruiters weren't there watching in the distance. Blake's new dream of moving to England because Crosby was asked to play for their 12 and under club team may have just died.

And tonight, we celebrated a birthday with someone special...

You got it! Pop's 30th was today. Oh. No. Maybe that is Justin who will be 30 on the 20th of this month. Yea. I think I have that confused. Well. It really was Pop's birthday. And we all met for dinner at J. Alexanders...

And just for the occasion, Crosby managed to have a fit free night! What a relief! Pop doesn't realize just how wonderful of a gift that was...

Have I ever mentioned how much I love my boy? ;-)

Mondays with Crosby

2011-07-04T09:18:00.125-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 27 weeks old! Well, he did on Monday anyway!! technically it is Thursday. Man...I am super behind this week and I don't like it one bit. Have the 4th of July fall on a Monday didn't help with the posting business. Me working on the 4th and 5th didn't help either! Then there was a church function last night and then I worked AGAIN this morning! Shooooo! I am worn out. Not really. The past 2 weeks have just been a little on the hectic side. But, I actually have TWO sleeping babes (sweet Charlotte is here!!!) so I thought I would try to catch up while I have a second or two...I hope! ;-)

Let's see, what did happen last week??? Ahhhh yes, on my one off day, which just happened to coincide with Blake's off day, we took Crosby to see his first ever movie in the theatre. Blake's idea. He hasn't been able to watch a full length movie at our house so I kinda had a feeling he wouldn't last. But, Blake really wanted to take him to see Cars 2. Why not! Unfortunately, I went off and left my camera on the table. Thank goodness phones have decent cameras these days!! You know I HAD to document Crosby's first trip to the movies. Or picture show, as my mom likes to call it!! ;-) Love you mom...

Anyway, here are the boys walking up. They kinda look like ants, I know...

Trying to get one of both my boys looking...

Somebody was too interested and what he was seeing through the glass doors...

Enough with the pictures. "Go that way, Daddy!!!"

Love seeing them walking and holding hands. Melts my heart...

I am pretty sure it was 10:44 when we got to our theatre!! Cutting it close...

I just wanted one picture of me and my boy...

Clearly that didn't happen! My phone's flash is quite powerful...

I love seeing this little head, sitting so still, trying to figure out what in the world he is seeing!!! It was just the Regal "R" at that particular moment...

Then he wanted to try out his own seat. Of course he didn't weigh enough to keep it from flipping up on him! Too bad I forgot to bring his booster in for that very reason!

And of course we had to give him the full experience and get a bag of popcorn...

All things considered, Crosby did pretty well. But let me say we would not have made it through the previews without "Bubba"!!! Previews are entirely too long these days. Seriously they were nearly 30 minutes long. He kept saying, "Here it (the movie) comes" and I would follow with, "Nooo. Just a minute..." The poor thing probably thinks I am the biggest liar! As for the movie itself, I didn't know what to expect because I haven't seen the original Cars. I was quite surprised to see the plot was a play on James Bond that had cars with machine guns attached to them!! For kiddos??? It was way more violent than I was prepared for. I doubt we would have been able to sit through it had he been a little older and actually realized what was going on. Sadly, it felt a little inappropriate for kiddos, if you ask me! At least it was a fun day for our little family!

On Friday, we went to Lipscomb to see the fireworks. And this time I remembered my camera!!! Took it out of the bag, turned it on and...nothing. Then battery was dead! So hear is the one measly picture I took, again, with my cell phone! Much like waiting through the previews for the movie to start, the firework show took a while to get started. These two were struggling to keep from breaking down from exhaustion. Blake's cellphone kept them entertained until the fireworks started! Sure am glad we have smart phones...

Jump on over here to see a few GOOD pictures of our night! Thank goodness Kara always has her camera!!! Oh, and I chopped my hair off... :-/

That gets us to Saturday!! I had been waiting for Saturday to come for MONTHS. Wonder why???? Here are a few hints...

Yep!!! That is because we were HERE!!! More on that later!!! SOOOOOO FUN!!!!

We made it to another round of fireworks on Monday night. We headed to our friend's house a walked over to the Bellemeade Country Club golf course to watch their grand production. Much like this time last year!

This year's pictures look pretty similar! The boys night be a weee bit bigger!

Riding in the wagon with an American flag in hand...

One of our family with EVERYONE looking and smiling!!!! What!?!?!

The boys...

Me and my boy...

The "I am not lugging a tripod around to take fireworks pictures" fireworks pictures...

John Christopher and Crosby...

In fireworks awe...

Yay! I'm caught up! U2 to come soon I hope... ;-)

Mondays with Crosby

2011-06-27T23:49:00.000-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 26 weeks old!!! This week is the halfway point of his year. In 2 more days he will officially be 2.5 years old. Wow. He sure acts it. The things he says amazes me. He comes up with something new everyday. I wish I could remember it all. He said something so funny as we were walking the garbage can to the street earlier today. Swore I would remember it. Forgot it. What do you do? Walk around with a recorder? That is about all I can think of because my memory seems to be failing.

We went to the zoo earlier in the week with Shalat Bobby... Let me pause to explain that one...Charlotte can't quite say Crosby. It comes out more like "Bobby". Crosby is very aware of the fact that she calls him Bobby. So now, he refers to Charlotte as "Bobby"or "Shalat Bobby" simply because she calls him that. He thinks it is funny. It kinda is... Okay, where was I? We went to the zoo with Shalat Bobby and a few friends...

Crosby, Shalat Bobby, Leighton and Jacob...

We had a much needed rainy week. It was great to be out in the sunshine for a bit. Crosby wore his giraffe shirt for the trip. Somebody must have told this fella because he came up super close...

Oddly enough, Crosby kept referring to the above animal and the one on his shirt as a "kangaroo". I am not sure where he learned about the kangaroo. We don't have them at our zoo. I can't recall having talked about them. Oh wait, Blake just informed me that there is a giant kangaroo on a Mickey episode. Figures! Anyway, I was excited that he was getting to see the giraffe up close and personal while wearing a giraffe shirt!!! He wasn't as impressed. He just kept saying, "Grimmie (aka give me) that camera" when I tried to take a picture of them together!!!

And he tried to snatch it away. Little stinker...

Me and my boy...

It was our first time to visit the zoo in a while so it was nice to see our animal friends again!

On Saturday, we returned to Cheekwood to see the train exhibit with the Woottens. Crosby was so excited to hang out with John Bater (aka Christopher) and his parents, Mrs. Joanna and Kristen (aka Christopher). Yes, that is the same name pronounced 2 very different ways by our silly boy.

He was so excited to see the trains again...

He and JCLW ran from train to train to train, taking them all in. Turing his ear closer to the source, "Ahhhh!!! Did you hear that train Mommy????"

It really is an impressive setup...

The boys loved watching them together and discussing what they were seeing.

And 2 seconds after that picture was taken, Crosby sat his white shirt covered bum right down on the dark brown mulch. I have to remind myself boys get dirty. And wet...

Oh wait. I am sure he should not have gotten wet. But when the dad is along, we are introduced to all kinds of trouble that will come back to haunt me when dad is not around!!! Something tells me Crosby will know exactly where the water garden is next time we go. And what do you wanna bet he steps right in. You know, because his daddy taught him how!! Not at a botanical garden, Blake... But boys will be boys. Big ones and little ones I suppose! Here is the proof...

Note to self, walk NO WHERE NEAR, the water garden...

The only one I got of these two little buddies looking at the camera! And Crosby wasn't feeling it...

Fun times!

Mondays with Crosby

2011-06-20T23:43:00.000-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 25 weeks old!!! Once again, I am amazed at how quickly time seems to be going these days. I am pretty sure it gets faster each and every day. He is almost 2 and a HALF year old?!?! Seriously. Did we not just have a 2 year old truck themed birthday party? There is only one way to describe it...

Sigh.

Like most weeks these days, this was a busy one. Lots of fun things to do with people we love. We spend Wednesday morning at Monkey Joes. Crosby is a big fan of friends and bouncy houses. Combine the two and he is in heaven! We met the Graves crew, the Mayfield gals and the "sassy redheads", as Momma Mayfield likes to call the Cyr girls!!! :)

Lucas and Crosby going up...

At the top of the slide...

Lucas coming down...

Crosby flying down, out of control as usual...

Absolutely out of control!!! Wild boy...

Crosby is quite fond of "Mrs. Cout Nay"! (pronounced in his best British accent) She was such a trooper to go down the slide with him over and over. Leighton wasn't too sure about sharing her momma!

The Sassy Redheads didn't hold back! Little Miss might have a few of the same wild genes running through her as her cousin does! Yikes...

I got to take Charlotte down too!

I mean look at that face! Sassy for sure!!!

Sweet friend hugs...

Then we try to throw the boy into the mix and it turns ugly!!!

When the kiddos weren't bouncing, they were sitting on these...

We actually put a quarter in and let them ride before we left! How fun that we have a picture of Crosby and Leighton on their first official car date!!

Random. New PJ's that look adorable on my boy. We call them his alphabet soup PJ's. He loves them. I love him in them. Winning combination don't you agree... ;-)

On Friday, the Weather Channel predicted a 100% chance of rain at 10:00 am. Wouldn't you know that was the exact time we planned a play date at the pool!!! We went back and forth on whether or not we should drive to Nollensville for a play date at the pool. We decided to take our chances and headed out to swim. It might have been a little on the chilly side, but not one single drop fell from the side. The 6 of us had 3 entire pools to ourselves! Fabulous for this crew...

These pictures aren't necessarily the greatest, composition wise. I have to post them because they totally crack me up! I was attempting to take a picture of Crosby with a visor on. But someone jumped in the way...

on...

multiple...

occasions!!! Just one example of how wild these boys were in the water!

Then there is Lei Lei. Sweet thang wasn't sure about the water at first. Actually, she kinda hated it! With a little coaxing, Courtney was able to convince her that the pool wasn't so bad...

Then there is this one. My goodness. Who knows why he was in time out. But he was. And I can assure you he deserved it! Courtney just had to take my camera and snap a picture of his misery. Once again, I prove that while I don't dwell on the negative here, we all have our moments! ;-)

Puddle Jumpin guppies ready to go...

Seriously. The puddle jumper is, hands down, the greatest floatation device ever invented. This boy can swim all over a pool with this get up on! He can get on his belly. He can stretch out on his back. His head is held above the water anyway he moves. Well, unless he jumps in off the side! Then he goes under but then pops right back up. He loves this contraption as much as I do. It has made life at the pool a million times easier than last year! Thank goodness...

Sunday was Father's Day!! Crosby made the cutest card for Blake while we were at Monkey Joes (of all places!) on Wednesday. He was so excited to give him the card. Should have taken a picture...probably will add that later for my sake... Anyway, our day was a little hectic but we got to see all of the special fathers in our lives!

Crosby with the best Daddy in the world!

Blake had to give a lecture on Animal Wellness at 2:00...on Father's Day. No comment. So Crosby and I headed to Columbia after church. We ate lunch with Gee Gee and Pop then headed back to their house. Crosby came upstairs with Pop's hat on...

Then he made me wear it...

Gee Gee loving on her best boy...

Me loving on my Daddy!

Blake finished up his lecture and headed to the Malones. The kiddos did a little swimming. Yes, the puddle jumper allowed us to stay out of the water!!! Seriously, they are a must have for while toddlers. Seriously. I remembered to pack his swim diaper but failed to bring the actual swim shorts! Oops. Good thing they weren't totally see through. Oh wait, they were...

Sweet Charlotte on the spider...

Almost all of the cousins...

There's Gid!

We celebrated Father's Day and Jeremy's birthday with homemade cupcakes by Lulu...

Delish!!

Happy Father's Day to Blake, GranBuddy, Pop, Jason and Jeremy!!! (Should have taken a group picture... ) You are so loved!

Mondays with Crosby

2011-06-13T19:48:00.000-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 24 weeks old!!! There were two main events we focused on last week: Crosby's swimming lessons and our ELEVEN year anniversary! But I will get to that in just a sec. I went of and left my camera lying on the table and didn't get a single picture from swim lessons on Tuesday. But I took a that afternoon that I love. They are of Crosby's doing of his FAVORITE things...

Riding his Jeep!!! "Uncle" Chad and "Aunt" LeAnne got Crosby this Jeep for Christmas/Birthday. He is finally sort of big enough to drive it now and he thinks it is pretty awesome. Funny thing is, he is REALLY good at driving it!

We drive down our hill and head toward a flat street near our house. There are lots of little kids out in the afternoon. They all stop what they are doing and watch him drive by. Kinda funny. They think he is so cool and he is oblivious! He just drives by saying, "I driving my Jeep!!!"

So funny to see that little head sticking out of the top of that big ole Jeep!

Swimming lessons continued each morning from 9-9:45. Crosby did great for the most part. He may have whined a time or two when I dropped him off at the pool and he saw me head toward the pool house. But, he was fine by the time he sat down with all of his buddies...

The next thing you know the little booger is sneaking off the step doing his own thing. I am pretty sure over the course of the week I had the words , "Crosby, have a seat please!" about a million times. The child cannot sit still. Wonder where he gets that? Here he is trying to sneak away. They were too sly for this little fox...

They did a few skills on the step before they were each taken out to the deep end. Where's Crosby???

Shew...there he is!

It was hilarious to see his eyes pop wide open when Mrs. Becca pulled him up out of the water. It didn't phase him much. Next thing you know, he was off practicing his kicks...

And swimming back to the step.

Once everyone was finished, he practiced floating on his back, aka being a "starfish"...

...and swimming on his teacher's back!

They ended with a game of "Ring Around the Rosie" and they all fell down and blew bubbles!!

Speaking of bubbles, I got a picture of him going in to "talk to the fish" and blow bubbles during Thursdays lesson...

Then Mrs. Becca took him out to the deep end again...

He threw a ball and then had to swim for it...

They practiced kicking his legs...

Then...he threw the ball again...

And Mrs. Becca revved him up to go and get it!!!

And then let him go...

for 3 seconds!!!

And....my camera was full and I missed the shot of him coming up out of the water!! Lovely. But fear not. She pulled him back up. And those big ole eyes popped right open and she cheered and smiled and gave a BIG thumbs up! He bought it!

Friday was the final day and the whole family was invited to see all they learned. Blake was at work so it was just me. At least he got to see him on his 2nd day of lessons! Believe me, it went MUCH better than the last day. Not because he forgot all of his "new moves". It had everything to do with the fact that his "mommy" was standing there and he did not want to participate with me standing there. The whole class was practically in tears! It was so pathetic you just had to laugh! No picture taking for me. Just a few videos that prove my points.

Take 1: Mr."Whiney Hiney"

Take 2: Mr. "I don't sit on steps"

Take 3: Mr. "I'll just be a star while not sitting on the steps"

Take 4: Mr. "I think I kinda like this enough to stop whining" (the sideways edition)

He got out of the pool, walked to me and then headed straight for the steps of the slide. He wanted to do it over and over...

So the last day was a bit of a nightmare!?!? Who cares! I was proud of my Guppy Graduate...

I just hope he hasn't been banned from classes next year! ;-) He had a great time at swim lessons and I am super excited about getting him in the pool this summer. Thank you Team D for working with my handful of a boy!!

Switching gears a bit...Friday was out 11 year anniversary! When you add the time we dated, we have almost been a couple for 19 years!! Is that nuts or what?!? Yea, I know! It's a good thing we would do it all over again in a heartbeat! What a wild 19 years it has been. Crosby spent Friday night with Lulu and GranBuddy while Blake and I went to dinner and a movie. Maggiano's was great but I might have fallen asleep during Midnight in Paris...

The next morning, my parents picked up Crosby and met us for lunch in Franklin. My uncle and aunt from Texas were in town and we wanted to visit. Totally went off and left my camera at home then too! So mad about that one... Anyway, Crosby went back to Columbia with Gee Gee and Pop so Blake and I could see Keb' Mo' at the Franklin Theatre Saturday night. We saw Keb' Mo' at a Tokens show at the Ryman last year. (Thank you Sarah Wilson!!!) I fell in love with his music then. When I saw he was going to be at the Franklin Theatre, I gave Blake a hard time for NOT getting us tickets. Wouldn't you know he came home on Friday with 2 front row seats!!! Love him! (Thank you Aubrey and Michele!!!) So I have to post a few pictures of the show...

And here we are after the show...

How fun that we got to celebrate our anniversary with Blake's uncle, David and Aunt Lisa!! (Ours is the 10th and theirs is the 11th! So was Lulu and GranBuddy's!) What a GREAT night...

Happy 11th Anniversary, Blake! Can't wait to see what the next 11 have in store!!

Mondays with Crosby

2011-06-06T11:24:00.000-05:00

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 2 years and 23 weeks old!!! Some weeks I forget I even have a camera. Others, I am snapping the thing left and right! This week was a snap happy week for sure! Not that they are great pictures, but there are lots of them documenting every move we made. Well, most of them anyway! Let me just get right to business...

Tuesday night was Safety Night at Chick-Fil-A. Not that I need an excuse to go to C-F-A, but how could I allow Crosby to miss an opportunity to touch emergency vehicles with his bare hands?!?! Yea. I didn't think that would be very nice either! So off to C-F-A we went. When we pulled into the shopping center, you could see one big, red fire truck and a D.A.R.E. SUV parked in the front of the restaurant. Crosby's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw them! A fire truck, up close and personal?!?!? What???

Crosby in his fireman's hat...

Boy was he proud of himself...

He was soooooo excited to sit inside the truck...

We finally talked him into heading inside to eat a bite. As if he had not had enough excitement to last him a week, we look outside and see that an HUGE ladder truck had joined the emergency vehicle party!!! And 2 C-F-A cows were out greeting the kiddos. Let's just say it didn't take much bribery to get Crosby to eat every single crumb on his plate! Back out we went...

Crosby loved giving "high fives" to the cows...

He was particularly taken with the female cow...

I wanted a picture of him sitting on the front of the truck. He insisted the cow go first and then asked to "see it"!!! Where have we heard that before???

When I finally got him to sit, he gave me the most annoyed look he could possibly muster! I mean seriously, child. You forced mommy and daddy to drive aaaaaaaaaaall the way to C-F-A and let you sit on a ladder truck. Is the best you can do???? Apparently it is...

I got a similar look when I took a picture of him sitting in the truck. Couldn't leave him there for too long. He knows what buttons are and he can push them faster than you can blink and eye. He would have been up Franklin Road had we given him another 10 seconds. And you think I am kidding...

Too bad I didn't snap a picture of him with his buddy, Lucas, who was also there!! What a fun night for our truck loving boys! At least I got a picture of the two of them at play group on Wednesday. They decided they would take a nap an Luke's bed...

Silly boys! Crosby got to spend a little more time with Lucas at Otter Creek on Thursday for Construction Zone! Crosby's mom didn't exactly read the details of the what would take place at Construction Zone. She just assumed the boys would get to climb on the construction equipment that is working on the new church building. I told Crosby all about it and got him super pumped. We get there and see all the kiddos standing in dirt with their construction trucks, digging. No large equipment in the plan. Oops! Fortunately, the other, more responsible mothers, read the description of the event and brought plenty of trucks and such to share with Crosby. If my head wasn't attached to my neck...

Loved the little dump truck just as much as he would have enjoyed the real deal!

Danielle and Jack joined in on the fun. Jack enjoyed hanging out with the big boys...

At least this gave the boy who doesn't like to get dirty the opportunity to get a little dirty!

Did I mention it was 90 ish degrees at 10 o'clock on Thursday morning? Holy moly it was scorching out there. Who would have thought it would be sooooo hot at the beginning of June. Kinda miserable for those of us who weren't eager to play with the trucks!!! ;-) The things we do for the kiddos we love...

Mr. Lucas taking a water break...

Red faced and hard at work!

Can you tell they were a little on the warm side?

Crosby with Jonas and Asher. They had such a great time despite the heat!

Of course I had to find one large piece of equipment that Crosby could climb on in an attempt to redeem myself! This did the trick...

Jack even got in on the fun...

Friday night we headed to downtown Franklin for the grand opening of the Franklin Theatre...

So did the Ghostbusters!!!

We walked around downtown while we waited for a seat to open up at Mellow Mushroom. Streets were blocked off. Movie screens were setup outside. Music was playing. People were dancing. So much fun!!

LeAnne and Crosby at dinner...

Such a mess...

The band started to play while we were eating...

Once we got back outside, Crosby entertained the crowd with his kickin' dancing moves. Too bad I didn't have a video camera. His signature move is HILARIOUS!!!

A "could have been good if it was in focus" picture...

Of course the one that wasn't good is!!!

The Marquee...

Crosby got to spend time with Miss Priss on Saturday...

What is it about these cousins? They have the best time playing in Crosby's bed, for crying out loud!!!

That is until Crosby starts giving out hugs...

Nearly choking Miss Priss. Good thing she loves it!

On another note... We have been attempting to redecorate our bedroom for months now. I had in my mind what I wanted the end result to be but had a hard time getting there. And I am not there. But oh my goodness, it is REALLY starting to come together and I am super duper excited about it!!! See...

Of course, the fabulous Lulu made the bed skirt and shams. Now to find lamps and a mirror and coral accents. I just couldn't wait until it was completed. I had to show everyone how pretty my unfinished bedding already looks. Love it!!! Who wouldn't want to sleep there? Well, I do admit it pains me to mess this pretty up!

Back to Crosby.

The excitement of this Monday was the very first day of swimming lessons. You may or may not remember Crosby was a handful at the pool last year. What...Crosby was a handful??? ;-) I thought it would be worth it to sign him up for lessons in an attempt to teach him a few skills that could make pool trips a little less stressful for the mom! Who knows what he will be doing by the end of the week. Let me say it is pretty adorable to see these little ones in action!! I snapped a few pictures from inside the pool house...

The little ones learning to kick their little leggies. Gotta wonder what Crosby and Addy were talking about!!! :)

Crosby headed out to the deep end with a little help!

I call him a little fish. He informed me that he is a "dolphin"!! Excuse me, Mr. Dolphin...

Addy, Crosby and Lucas were aaaaaall smiles at the end of class!

Busy week. Fun week! Gotta LOVE SUMMER!!! And the fact that cicadas are finally dying off! Oh, and Crosby actually holds cicadas thanks to his father's instruction. It is his mother who is not at one with the cicada! :) I know they are a vital part of the food chain, but man they are creepy little things. The end is near!

And one more "oh"!
Blake and Crosby were sitting on the couch playing some game on Blake's phone. I sat down beside them in an attempt to see what they were doing. Crosby looked over at me and clearly stated, "Mommy, go to the kitchen. All done Mommy." Wow. He told me to go to the kitchen because he was all done with me!?!? What in the world? Then he fell or something and wanted me again...

I like ham!!!

2011-05-31T17:14:00.000-05:00

Crosby, pointing to a kinda girlish looking white pair of sandals on the floor...

C: Those are sandals??
Me: Yea. But I don't really like those sandals on you.
C: They are old!!
Me: starts laughing... How do you know what that means?? You are such a ham!!!
C: I like ham!

Oh the things my sweet boy says...