Holiday greetings to all! Old Man Winter has finally taken up residence here in Nashville, so we are breaking out the mittens, hats and scarves to keep warm. Well, all except for me since I tend to stay on the warm side. November was a busy month with the start of the holidays, but we somehow found some down time. A few highlights captured on film...

Helping me to uncover the driveway from fallen leaves

Directing Daddy down the driveway as he arrives home from work

The latest obsession: the "moom"

Touchdown Alabama!

Valet-in-training

Up to no good with cousin Casey

...and my childhood glasses were even worse, if you can imagine...

Peter and I took a road trip to Lafayette before Thanksgiving, where we were able to visit some cousins and spend some time at Nanny's house. It had been six months since our last visit! We then moved on to Texas to spend Thanksgiving with much of my mom's extended family. Hayes, Peter and I stayed with my cousin Brennan and his family. It was a great few days with lots of fun times for the great grands. Talk about a kid's paradise! All the toys and gadgets a boy could want, a playground, a fire pit (s'mores!), a boat and trailer, and lots of big cousins to watch and follow around. Unfortunately, Daddy didn't have the same luck at the card table.

Morning storytime with Callie

Looking for screws to tighten on the trailer

Piano man

You think he's comfy?

Picking out our Christmas tree

This weekend was supposed to be a big weekend for Hayes - he was scheduled to run his first half-marathon in Memphis. He fell ill on Wednesday night to a nasty virus that led paranoid me to the couch for a couple of nights. Thankfully, the Bryants came in as planned and gave me an extra hand with both boys. Hayes begrudgingly opted not to race on Saturday, so he is now back on his feet. He took his first sick days since I've ever known him. Well, except for your occasional Friday morning in college. ;) So, now we look forward to late April's half-marathon here in Nashville.

It's been a big baby week around here! Two of our dearest friends both gave birth this week to beautiful babies. Congratulations to Rachel and Bob on precious Katie, and to Anne and Lee on their baby boy Gus. My kids are blessed to have them as friends.

As far as our Weezie goes, we're still on for January 22. I mentioned that many relatives suspected that I was dropping over the holiday week, my doctor thinks we're crazy. I suppose she doesn't remember that I was practically carrying this baby up in my neck a month ago. Ha! More people have added to the girl vote, with the only boy votes coming from those people who admit to always being wrong. Sure makes things interesting, given that I don't have a bit of a clue this time.

We are eagerly anticipating our first Nashville Christmas, and Peter is gradually catching on to this Santa Claus thing. Tonight he asked for a Santa song instead of his usual lullabies. I was shocked to remember several tunes but hardly any lyrics -- that's the project for the week! Our Magic Elf arrived from the North Pole this weekend, so we hope that elf mischief will be kept to a minimum while still encouraging good behavior. So far he's just a hide-and-seek buddy, but I hear they can be a handful. We will keep you all posted, of course.

We have a birthday!

I had a check-up today and all is going well. I'm actually measuring a little ahead, so my doctor assures me that it's likely I'll get my wish for another big baby. Although, that's no shocker if you've seen the size of my belly. You can mark your calendars for January 22, 2010 - that's when Baby B will be making his or her debut!

As Peter and I say, "yippee skippy!"

Just for kicks:

2007

2008

2009

Happy Halloween!

We're big talkers, taking pride in this idea of relishing the last year before we have a little boy who begins planning his Halloween costume in July and counting down the days until he can go trick-or-treating for this as-yet-still-elusive thing called "candy." Yeah, all talk. No follow through whatsoever.

I had planned to dress Peter as Handy Manny, his favorite cartoon character who happens to be a handyman. Overalls, hard hat, tool belt - done. Only problem is that I could not find a tool belt anywhere in town. Oh, well. Not like we're trick-or-treating anyway - he'd just wear it to Hayes's office and we'd get our token picture for the year. Then I realized that if I just dressed him in overalls and he carried his tools, he would look no different than any other day. Come Thursday, I had a revelation... scarecrow. Overalls, plaid shirt, "hay" - done. Add in a tad of black on his nose and eyes, and he's precious. He LOVED it when we went up to the office on Friday. Although, when I brought out the straw hat, he had other ideas. He walked over to the coat hook, took down Hayes's Alabama baseball cap, and indicated in his own special way that he wanted to wear that one instead. Hmph.

So, Saturday rolls around and some friends invited us over hang out and maybe walk down to a nearby street that is well known for its trick-or-treating. We'd love to come over. We'll see about trick-or-treating depending on the scarecrow's attitude. He's an early-to-bed kind of boy. So... back in the costume - no hat this time - and off we went to play with the twins.

He was in heaven. Tonka diggers, dump trucks, motorized vehicles that go 2 miles an hour. Who needs candy? Who needs dinner for that matter - why not just keep getting up to play with the digger? Well, dark fell early and a big bright moon shone high in the sky. He was enamored, especially since he (finally) just started saying "moon" and he's not one to see the actual moon all that often. Seriously, he's in bed at 7 most nights...

We piled the scarecrow, Mickey Mouse, and Princess Minnie into the wagon and trekked over to find the Mardi Gras of trick-or treating. I've never seen anything like it... for Halloween, anyway. Nearly every house on the street was bedecked with everything festive from lights and fog machines to ghosts, witches, and tombstones. Not only were the children hitting the Halloween jackpot but several houses were handing out beer to the parents. It was hilarious! So you can imagine if the adults were amazed - what were the two and three year-olds thinking?! Peter wore the biggest smile on his face the entire time we were out there. Cold? Nah. Tired? Nah. Candy? Nah. He people-watched and every now and again pointed to the moon, just to remind us that it was still there. He spent lots of time on his daddy's shoulders, reminding me a whole lot of my own childhood Mardi Gras.

As we made our way back, he laughed and held hands with Mickey and Minnie. We were gathering all of our stuff to leave and he kept asking, "More? More?" One very quick bath and not even one verse of a song later, he was snoring... and we weren't far behind him! We could not have been more proud of - or more entertained by - his first real Halloween. So yeah, we're all talk. But this is one time I'm so glad we caved.

scaring the crows

As we nursed our candy comas today, we were driving through a park enjoying the foliage and we happened to see several deer. Peter began looking for "bow-wows" and Hayes suggested he say hello. So Peter responded, "Hi Daddy... hi Mommy... (long pause) hi baby."

I'm a lucky girl.

Well, we left our hearts in San Francisco. What a beautiful place! Mom, Peter and I spent a few days in California visiting my brother and I finally got to see what all the fuss is about. We did not plan for much, as this was a visiting trip more than a sightseeing trip. However, you can't leave the house (or hotel) without tripping over something beautiful and/or historic. Waking to a view of the Pacific isn't so bad, either. Grab some popcorn and a drink - this is a long one, folks...

Peter was a trooper on the trip out west. We split the trip into two flights so that we could have a layover and some time to stretch our legs (and sanity thresholds). We had talked up this trip so much and Peter was so excited to finally ride an airplane. The only flight he'd ever taken was when he was three months old, so this was a special day. When the day finally came, he woke excited and bursting with "happy" (his new favorite word). Getting through security and finding our gate was a breeze. Peter was clearly a little overwhelmed by the lines and the bustle - "stand here, take your shoes off, jackets go in the bin, wait our turn, follow Mommy, come on through, high five, sit down, shoes back on...." Who knows what he was thinking?! Of course, he was probably questioning what grown-ups are thinking doing all of that mess. Our gate was located next to the kid's play area, so that helped with the wait. Loading all of our gear onto the plane was another story. The plane was late, so the boarding was rushed and I had a tough time getting the seat belt latched. Long story short, thank goodness my mother was there to keep Peter from running down the aisle of the aircraft.

All that talk about airplanes and how they get really loud, then they go really fast, and then they go really high... it was all in vain. This child got into his car seat, we buckled in, and he started asking for lunch. I kid you not, he didn't see a single cloud go by on that first flight because all he would do is look at us from his window seat and ask for his sandwich. So, after a picnic in the sky and plenty of stories, he took a 25 minute nap. He slept through the landing, but not all the crowd noise once deplaning began. The layover was made short by repeatedly enjoying moving sidewalks with Nanny, and he did really well on the final leg into California. In fact, when I told him Nanny was going to get a car, he shook his head and pointed to the sky - not interested in cars anymore. Planes are the way to travel.

While the next hour of our trip was likely the most eventful and the most stressful, I'll spare details. Use your imagination and picture me with Peter in a stroller and a luggage cart in baggage claim while Mom took the shuttle and our carry-ons (snacks and diapers) to pick up the rental car. Peter has had maybe a handful of leaky diaper experiences in his whole life - two have been in airports. No snacks, no diapers except for the damp ones in our rainsoaked luggage, and no sign of Nanny for 45 minutes. Nice. Once she arrived, all was well and we set on our way from Oakland into San Francisco. At rush hour. And got lost. Did I mention we were in Oakland? Thank goodness Peter didn't seem concerned... he saw so many cranes and machines that all he would say was, "OhWow!" He's saying the "ow" part in the picture below.

Geoffrey was waiting for us at the hotel with a big smile and supper for Peter. While Peter played shy for about 30 seconds, once the words "French fries" were uttered, they were best friends. We enjoyed a nice dinner in and visited, not sure what Peter's late bedtime and time difference would have in store for us in the morning.

Up at 4am PDT. Yay.

After an early morning trip to the grocery store, we set out for a stroll around Fisherman's Wharf. We were also located close to crooked Lombard Street, so we hiked up the hills to see it as well. We later met up with Geoffrey and went to the aquarium and he showed us around town.

When asked where he was going, he replied, "Buh!"
(Translation: I'm going to find Uncle Geoffrey)

Giddy at the notion of helping the fireman

"Choo-choo!"

Throw me something, mister!
Oh wait - wrong city.

At Fisherman's Wharf

We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge that afternoon, but it was so foggy that we couldn't even see the bridge around us. Geoffrey showed us where to go to get a good view on a clear day, and we decided we'd try to do that while he was at work. We were all asleep by 8pm. Party animals!

My two favorite bookworms with their favorite book

A quaint little block off of Market Street

Have backpack, will travel...

We never would have found this viewpoint without Geoff's guidance - breathtaking!

Taking in the views of the GGB, the bay, and the ocean

Spotting an airplane

He spent about three minutes deciding whether or not
to cross this line into the playground sand.
After two days of concrete, cliffs and having to hold hands,
the playground won.

We were able to spend a great deal of time with Geoffrey, even more than we expected given his heavy work load. It was a successful trip on all counts - good visit, good travel, and a flexible little boy. Peter went with the flow and enjoyed every minute, especially once we found grass instead of concrete. He loved spending time with his uncle in Far, Far Away, and loved coming home to his daddy.

Our trip home was less dramatic, even though it was just myself and Peter. He kept me entertained on our nonstop flight with all the words and sounds he had learned that week. He slept a bit and ate a lot of snacks, but he was well-practiced in all the airline procedures. At security, he began taking off his shoes before I could even ask him to, and he sat patiently while I buckled his seat on the plane. We're experts now! I suppose he could smell my apprehension, and he likely knew that he wouldn't fly again soon if he didn't behave himself. I was incredibly proud to be his mama... well, even more so than usual.

Showing his lovey the sights out of his airplane window

What a whirlwind few weeks! As we gear up for a visit to Uncle Geoffrey in California, we are talking lots about airplanes and airports. All the while I am attempting to downplay the fact that he will finally get to ride in an airplane. As soon as he catches on, he'll want to ride every airplane we see or hear. Folks, that's a lot of airplanes.

School is going really well! As I pulled into the parking lot today, he clapped and cheered, "Yay!" A far cry from two months ago. His teachers have loved watching him bloom over the past several weeks, and I must admit that he is talking more and trying harder to repeat after us. We continue to try and censor ourselves - it's a hard habit to develop sometimes. His tantrums have... developed... over the weeks he has been at school and exposed to other kids, but we're hard-hearted. He's learning he doesn't get very far with that nonsense. :)

Hayes is doing really well, staying busy at work and at home. He is still running a bunch and somehow he's able to eat whatever he wants without consequence. I, on the other hand, am growing daily. I feel well and am managing to get adequate rest for this stage in the game, so I count myself lucky. Just keep me in your prayers next week as I brave the germ-infested airplanes. This flu threat and the hype over its effect on pregnant women has me a bit thrown. My cousin suggested I wear a mask on the plane, and I may just have to do it. Oh, you'll see a picture for sure!

We are trying to spend lots of time together as a family these days, since our time as a trio is limited. Peter and I are just about finished with his big boy room, so pics will come soon. In the meantime, enjoy these snapshots of recent days...

Giddy-up!

So proud of these pajamas!

Making elephant ears at the zoo

Baking Halloween cookies with Nanny

Worshipping at the altar of Handy Manny

Enticing squirrels to come and visit
by holding up one of our rather large burr oak acorns

As I cooked dinner one evening, he lugged his napmat, lunchbox,
and lovey up the stairs to come and settle down for a "snooze" on the kitchen floor.

Making gumbo

Rock-a-Callie

I "let him out" onto the porch while I worked on supper,
and walked out after a minute to find him curled up in a blanket
watching a blank tv screen.

We enjoyed a quiet weekend together - first one in a while! We decided to take full advantage of a gorgeous fall day yesterday and have a picnic at the park. Wide open space, a balloon launcher, and a yummy lunch all made for a worn-out little boy... and a long nap time.

Making sure Daddy's drink isn't poisonous

Racing back from a balloon launch

Fetching a balloon

After his nap, we packed up again for a trip out to a pumpkin farm. Last year's visit involved a much shorter attention span, so we were able to stroll around and see all the farm animals before chasing pumpkins (literally) and hopping on a hayride. Peter's favorite? Definitely the tractor pulling us around!

Watching a baby pig at the pumpkin farm

All sorts of wonderful and interesting sights,
yet he wants to play on the plastic slide. Hmph.

Ummmm... this one.

This elusive pumpkin rolled away from Peter every time he got within arm's reach.
When he finally caught it, he wanted nothing more to do with it.

Toddler bliss

Do I have to get off and give other kids a turn?!

It was a good day.