Nick is now 9...

This is one of my favorite pictures of Nick when he was little. I can't believe how quickly he has grown. He is now 9 years old.

Today Nick brought cupcakes to his school friends and Grandma Herod came and had lunch with Nick at school.

Birthday Weekend

This weekend we spent time going through our 1 year old family traditions. We started out with Ashe's first haircut. Then we headed over to have his one year old pictures done at Portrait Innovations. We ended the day with a family dinner, presents, and of course with a little boy covered in frosting from his first birthday cake.

First Hair Cut

Before

On Ashe's Birthday weekend we had a lot of fun. We started out with a big boy haircut. We went to a kids haircut place to try and make the experience more enjoyable. I was disappointed that he didn't get to sit in a fun car hairdresser chair, but he was still very good. Ashe's hair was getting a little long but we always wait until the boys turn 1 to have their hair cut. It was so sad to collect his baby hair in a little hair envelope. I didn't get much through because as you can tell it was more like a trim.

After

Ashe was wondering who that cute boy was in the mirror.

1 Year Old Portraits

They took so many pictures but I just added a few of my favorites.
I promise I will be sending them out soon.

Family Dinner

Tonight Ashe's grandma made a special dinner of steaks hot off the grill, baked potatoes, and acorn squash baked with brown sugar. I thought that Ashe wasn't going to be able to enjoy such a yummy meal, but grandma food processed everything that was served on the table and he loved it all.

Monkey Cake

A friend of our family who works for Publix made his cake extra special. Ashe has these cute monkey Pj's and he is a monkey so we thought a monkeys would be cute. It wouldn't be a crazy weekend without a cake disaster ... so when Ashe's grandma went to get the cake, it ended up collapsing. Publix's was go great and remade the cake quickly and beautifully. He even had a little cake for himself.

He has so much fun playing in the frosting.

Thank You

Thank you for all the birthday wishes and gifts. You have all helped to make Ashe's 1st birthday a special day. Here he is opening one of his card. He loved getting mail and ripping open the envelopes.

Birthday Boy

Birthday Boy ... First Birthday

Today Ashe celebrated his birthday with his school friends. Ashe is getting so big. He has been walking now since the start of his 11th month. He is now running everywhere. At school we brought mini cupcakes for his day. We are going to have his real cake on the weekend.

Loves to Read

Who is that silly boy?

Boy's Best Friend

Ashe and Abby are always looking for trouble.

Two little partners in crime!!!

Saturday Soccer

Saturday on the hot sidelines to see my son play soccer, is there anything better?

Nick is loving the new season the only complaint is waking up early on Saturday. Now that Nick is older his field and goals are huge compared to what he has played on before. This weekend he played well and his team won. Go Nick!!!!

Happy Anniversary

We celebrated another year of our love.

Happy Anniversary!

Little Brothers

So what do you do when you're 8 years old, you have a little brother, and you want some alone time?
You close your door and try to read in peace and quiet.

Ashe really doesn't enjoy not being the center of our attention. So he stands outside Nick's door and bangs on it until he lets him in. If Nick doesn't let him in right away then he sits on the floor and peeks under to make sure the light is still on and that there is someone in there. Little stinker!

11 Months Old

Only one month to go until our baby will be 1 year old. It feels like we just had him and we are getting ready to celebrate the first year of his life. He has changed so much in a year. He is like a little person. He has likes and dislikes. For example... "Hello Bee" is his favorite book, Cheerios is his favorite snack. He loves bath time and his teacher Ms. Cindy. He hates peaches and really hates when you walk by him without picking him up.

Ashe, can you believe you are 11 months old today?

It is pretty funny!!!

Hanging Out

Today we took Nick to the movies and Ashe spent some time with Grandma and Grandpa Herod. After the movies we went to Grandma and Grandpa Herod's house for dinner. Ashe played with some toys there and got into everything. Nick rode in the hot rod with Grandpa.

Sharing

One thing is true about being a mom. You are always sharing. Tonight I was having an apple before dinner as a little snack. Ashe just needed a taste. There goes my little snack.

Soccer Season

The new soccer season is here, and life is about to get very busy. Nicholas is now not playing on the recreational team that he has played on for many years. He has decided that he wants to play for the soccer academy. This new academy is more challenging with over qualified coaches. The reason these great coaches are involved is to help the kids improve their skills, so that by the time they make it to them at the high school and college level they have had some real training. Nick's friend Jake plays for the academy and it is nice that he's playing with some older kids serious about soccer.
This past week he has come home exhausted from soccer, but he loves to play.

Owl Pellets

I had to cut the others out of this picture. I couldn't get the little girl out from behind him. Since she is wearing a mask I thought it would be okay to post this picture.

Today in third grade Nicholas had the opportunity to dissect owl pellets. He told me he found a mouse skull in his pellet. He really loves the science part of school.

Mrs. Herod's Classroom

After many hours of hard work my classroom is complete. Yeah!!!

First Day of 3rd Grade

Nicholas is now in third grade. He loves his new teacher Mrs. Mogg. He has many of his old friends in his class. He is very glad to be back to school.

Second Grade Team

Second Grade Teachers Rock!!!

(This is what our back to school shirts read.)

I am super excited to be back to work with the best team on the planet. Thank you Mrs. Priske for having the super cute shirts made for us. Of course everyone made fun of us at work, but that's because they are just jealous. HAHA

Preseason

As you see it is preseason once again... and no that is not Brian Urlacher (Bears), Jason Witten (Cowboys), or Tom Brady (Patriots) sitting in my living room... it is one eager boy, a couple of stuffed friends, and an exciting season of football ready for this family.

Build-A -Bear

How is it that we go out school shopping only to find ourselves with yet another Build-a-Bear? Nick wanted so badly to get a new bear and had been looking at them online. So when we were out school shopping at the mall he talked dad into going to get this new toy while mom was trying on clothes. In all fairness, Nick did spend his own money for this toy. I am always glad when he spends his money on something he enjoys, rather than only ever saving it and begging us. He put his bear in some Harry Potter/Wizard outfit, and named this new friend Phoenix.

Who's that Sleeping in Abby's Bed?

Abby actually sleeps in many different places. She sleeps at the end of Nick's bed, next to our bed, under the coffee table. She rarely sleeps in her bed, but when we closed all the bedroom doors so Ashe can't get into trouble he still found a way. Abby's bed was the only thing in the hallway so Ashe put his stuffed puppy dog in Abby's bed and climbed right up in there.

Ashe finds trouble no matter where he goes.

School Days

Summer is now over and it is time to return to school. This is Ashe all tuckered out after a fun day at school. Ms. Danielle had Ashe's apple name tag all ready for Back to School. He got right back into his daily school schedule, as if he never left. I missed him so much, it was strange to be anywhere without him like I had forgotten him. He was happy to see Nick and I at the end of the day. As the night went on he started to get cranky because he had gotten up very early and had a busy day with his little friends. So he had an early dinner, a relaxing bath, and snuggled with his favorite blanket to dreamland.

Dixie Stampede

This was one of the performers with her horse.

Tonight my friend Tracey and I went to see the Dixie Stampede dinner show. I had never been to a dinner show, so it was a fun experience. I would definitely go to another show. Maybe next time we will see the mystery dinner show. One of the best parts of the show was the food.We had so much food that we couldn't finish it all.
In the show there was two sides; the North and the South. When we called for reservations they asked which side we wanted to cheer for, we chose the North. They did amazing stunts and tricks with their horses. What a fun night!!!!

What's in this Stuff?

This morning when I made Ashe his oatmeal I gave him the empty box to look at. He loves to look at the babies on the back of the box, they make him giggle so much. It was so funny watching him look so closely at the box because it reminded me when I was growing up how we all loved to read the back of the cereal box. I guess he's starting young.

Ashe turns 10 months old today, Yeah Big Boy!!!!

Another One Bites the Dust...

I am here to admit that apparently I am not a plant person... as you can see. The beautiful brown part of my plant was once a very pretty shade of red. When this plant was given to me a few months ago I was told that it was nearly impossible to kill this plant. As you can see I have defeated all odds and have managed to kill the unkillable plant. I am now convinced that I would even turn plastic plants brown. I know this may sound unthinkable, but I can do great things.

In all seriousness I have tried to care for this plant by reading about it, watering it, and giving it the proper amount of sunlight. Why can I not save the plants?

Lunchtime

Today Nick tried something new and very messy... he feed his brother. He started out with Ashe's peas. Nick tried not to breathe through his nose because the smell of baby peas are terrible. Then he move on to pears. By the end of lunch Ashe was int he tub and everything was sticky and covered in food. Ashe thought it was so funny making his brother say gross. So after Nick would say it Ashe would laugh and laugh... of course this only made more food come out of Ashe onto Nick.

Sometimes brother bonding can be a messy job.

Baby Mozart

Ashe's baby piano was tied to the inside of his bed but today while changing the sheets I took it off to make it easier for myself. He then started to play with it on the floor. Ashe loved playing with his piano on the floor, while sitting up like a big boy. Ok, Ok ...he didn't make beautiful music, but it kept him busy while he banged away on it.

Every once in a while when we forget to turn it off we wake to the piano playing in the middle of the night. No it isn't playing itself, Ashe has scooted himself up in the crib and is hitting it with his head. We're glad it's a soft piano. I guess that's bound to happen when you put a piano in your bed.

Thank you Nana for my piano I am still enjoying my musical creations.