We know Atticus is 16 months old. We missed our check up in December due to the holidays. But, we had a GREAT check up today, we weigh 28lbs, 9 ounces and we are 33 inches tall. He got a great report from the doctor who couldn’t believe how big he had gotten. He checked his ears and they looked good. on the downside, we got 3 shots but they’re good for us and will keep us healthy. We’ll be back in 2 months for our 18 month check up.
We got groceries tonight and it was about dinner time. We were getting them into the house and trying to get them put away while Atticus was running around the kitchen “helping”. I had prepared dinner earlier that day and I pulled it out of the fridge just as Justin needed me to open the door for him. I took the lid off and put it on the counter ready to go in the microwave. I ran to open the door and when I got back my little helper had pulled it off the counter and had the bowl in one hand and his other hand shoving food in his mouth.
This is why I only cook things that he can eat. He is so tall now that he can reach the counter and pull things down. We have to be so careful leaving a cutting board with a knife on the counter now. This was so funny though we just had to share. Needless to say we couldn’t find the camera to capture it on film.
This weekend we were all supposed to go to Huntsville to a baby shower that we helped host. Atticus was going to visit with his Godparents while we did our hosting duties (without worrying about what he was eating, etc.). We were going to bring him to the party toward the end so he could visit a little. But, with him getting sick on Wednesday, it just wasn’t in the cards. He still wasn’t feeling great on Friday so we made the call that Justin would stay home with him while I went. But on the positive side, Mom-Mom and Bear were able to visit and stayed through Monday!
The shower went great, I had a great time and Mandy got lots of good loot. She is due on February 14 and some prodding from her friend RaDonna to hold out 4 more days (my birthday) wasn’t received very well… HA! I missed my boys but I did have a good time. We also missed our buddies Amy and Mike and I only got to spend a few minutes with Yvette. We are going to try to go to Huntsivlle in March to see our buddies. The door is always open here if anyone feels the urge to travel to East Alabama. Marty took lots of great photos at the party and Brian (the Dad to be) posted them on their website, click here to see the shower photos.
We had a great time with Mom-Mom and Bear though, a visit from them was just what the doctor ordered. We missed church b/c we were afraid he might still be contagious. The weather was in the 70s though and we went to the park and enjoyed the beautiful weather. And, to commemorate and celebrate the end of my breastfeeding journey, I ate and I ate and I ate. We went out to lots of my favorite restaurants (Cracker Barrel, California Pizza Kitchen, and Cafe Moriah). I think I gained 10 pounds while they were here. But, it was worth it and it was YUMMY.
We are very proud of ourselves, we took lots and lots of photos of our company this time. We are trying to be good and trying to remember the camera. Click HERE to see all the great photos.
The last few weeks Atticus hasn’t quite seemed himself but he has been cutting some big molars. He had an ear infection and bronchitis around the first of December. I’ve been worried about him for the last few days and that “Mommy feeling” just wouldn’t go away so I decided this morning to take him to his allergist (he needed his 2nd flu shot from them anyway). He has two really bad ear infections. The doctor is afraid that maybe the one ear infection didn’t go away completely and got worse and they both got infected. Other than a little fussiness, he didn’t have any signs until this morning. Of course you know we felt absolutely horrible. And, up until we got home from the doctor, he was our silly, smiley boy with some occasional fussiness and attachment. He had a runny nose and low grade temp this morning but otherwise seemed happy. But when I got him home from the doctor, it was like he realized how bad he felt. He was so pitiful, holding his ears, wanting Mommy. All he wanted to do was snuggle. I sat in the living room floor for an entire hour holding him and singing songs to him. He went to bed very early and will hopefully feel better soon.
Needless to say we forgot about our flu shot but we go back in a couple of weeks to get our ears checked out. Justin thought he was so precious that he took a few photos. CLICK HERE to see them.
Atticus has been wearing the Robeez or Robeez knock-offs since he was born. We’ve tried real shoes before but we had the hardest time keeping them on him. And now since he’s become very fond of playing outside and since the Robeez soles are so thin, we decided it was time for his very first pair of big boy shoes. Mom-Mom and Bear wanted to get him his first big pair. So, on December 27, we went to a local Mom and Pop store here that sells Stride Rite. We got him fitted and he wears a 7 Wide! A big boy with a big foot. His new shoes are adorable and he likes them and actually keeps them on. He even likes them enough that he tries to chew on them occasionally…
Thanks Mom-Mom and Bear! CLICK HERE to see his big boy shoes.
We got back to our house on Christmas Eve just in time to welcome Mom-Mom and Bear. Everyone was so excited and although he didn’t know exactly what was going on, you could tell Atticus was excited too. I’m sure we really confused him though when we put out the carrots and soy cookies and soy milk. I think he was a little upset he didn’t get any. Mommy put them back in the fridge, Santa could just help himself.
The next morning we got him up and came downstairs and we usually go on down and get some breakfast and a cup of soy milk (he’s usually very eager for some milk). But, he wiggled out of my arms and wanted DOWN to go investigate the new additions to his playroom. He played and he played and he played. He made a bee line to the ball pit first. After about 30 minutes in there he decided he was thirsty. We had some milk and he played some more. Then, about 90 minutes after he normally has breakfast he was hungry enough to take a break. But after breakfast we were right back up there playing. When he got tired we watched some of his new Baby Einstein that he got for Christmas. He would help us unwrap our gifts from each other then he’d start over again playing.
I think his favorite thing was the stocking. He loved reaching down in it and pulling out goodies. He LOVED that. He loved his ball pit too, I guess it would be a tie if I had to decide. We enjoyed sharing the special moments with Mom-Mom and Bear and we’re glad they were there to enjoy them as well. Atticus sure had a good time snuggling and playing with them. They were able to stay a week after Christmas and we actually followed them home to have Christmas with Justin’s extended family on New Year’s weekend.
We had a blast at Mom’s house (Justin’s Grandmother). We are ashamed to admit that we forgot batteries and everyone was already opening gifts when we realized it. We were able to get 2 photos and that is all. We’re sorry, we’ve recently purchased some rechargeables that are made for the camera so maybe our camera won’t eat so many batteries. It takes pretty good photos so we can’t complain. But, sufficed to say we all had a wonderful time, Atticus got more toys and goodies than he knew what to do with! Since there are no photos, i’ll give you the highlights - we got a set of aprons that Justin’s Aunt Diane made for us with our initials on the front, R on mine, J on Justin’s and A on Atticus’. Atticus’ is just his size too. They are all matching and just precious. We’re trying to get a photo opp set up so we get a good photo of the 3 of us in our new aprons. Atticus also got a Nike warm up suit, lots and lots of toys, developmental toys from his cousin Shelley and new Baby Einstein from Mom (Justin’s Grandmother). We got a lot of wonderful things, too many to list here. It was a lot of fun and we were sad to say goodbye. But, hopefully we’ll be seeing everyone around Easter, Shelley is pregnant and is due on April 9.
CLICK HERE to see the great photos.
We left for Manchester on Friday, December 22 with our car packed so full of presents and stuff that we couldn’t see out the back window and I spent the trip with presents in my lap. But, it was worth it to see the looks on everyone’s faces. And, the trip back was almost as full with all of the wonderful things we received. We visited Nana at the bank on Friday then Saturday morning we visited Granny and Ma and took them their presents. Saturday afternoon we went on a walk at Nana’s house and that evening my brother Randy and his family, Michele, Resi and Donnie came over to open presents.
Justin and I had the best night watching Sound of Music and opening gifts with Nana and Papa during commercial breaks. I think it was the first time Justin had actually seen the movie start to finish (or so he claimed…). Anyway, the next morning we went to Randy’s church and watched him, Michele and Resi perform in their Christmas Play. They were the leads and they did a GREAT job. Atticus sat and watched the entire thing on the front row. Every time Randy, Michele or Resi would come on stage he would start waving frantically. He probably would’ve yelled HEY! if we hadn’t kept a steady supply of grapes going to his mouth. We all enjoyed ourselves immensely. It was a great weekend and a wonderful Christmas celebration.
We were sad to leave after the play but excited because Mom-Mom and Bear were going to be at our house when we got back! We stopped on the way out of town to grab a quick bite to eat. While we were eating lunch, we struck up a conversation with a stranger sitting next to us. She was from Nashville and had watched us with our germ-x, our clorox wipes, etc. before we’d even put Atticus at the table. We explained the food allergies, etc. All of the sudden she told us - “you need to have a second.” Huh??? I’m sorry… you’ve known us for 5 minutes and you’re giving us family advice? “Honey, don’t stop with just one, you need to have at least two, you need yourself a little girl.” Okay. So supposing we decide at some point (NOT in the near future) to expand our family. Do we REALLY have a say so in what sex the child would be? Anyway, we laughed about that on our way out of town. She was a nice lady, but her advice would have to stay in Manchester. 
CLICK HERE to see all of the great pictures.
Last night we ventured out to Noccalula Park to see the Festival of Lights. It was very beautiful, they had transformed the entire park in a light-filled wonderland. You could walk the trails and businesses from the area had sponsored cabins along the way. The cabins are original and one is a church, one was an old sawmill, one was a school, one was a wash-house, etc. The businesses transformed them into Christmas themes and it was neat to look at them all.
It was so mild out too! The temp was around 55 and it was just perfect. Atticus sang to us throughout most of the journey through the park. The animal exhibits were closed, but it was nice to walk the trails and look at the lights. It kind of had that magical feel to it and I think all 3 of us were feeling it. We also rode the “choo choo” around the park and that was nice too. They do this every year and we’ll definitely have to repeat this trip next year. Maybe we’ll have some crazy warm weather next December.
We took a few photos, click HERE to see them all.
Yesterday was big day for us, we had a lot going on and we had a lot of fun. The Gadsden Service Guild sponsored “Breakfast with Santa” at the Gadsden Mall from 8 a.m. - 10 a.m. We got there right at 8 and there were already lots of kids and parents there. They had face painting (which we didn’t think we’d sit still for, he was SOOO excited), there were tons of balloons, free carousel rides, and breakfast from Chick-Fil-A.
We even got our picture made with the Chick-Fil-A cow but we were more excited about that than Atticus. He was a little leary of the giant cow with the sandwich board on his chest, standing on his hind legs… Contrary to our fears, he was not afraid of Santa - as long as Santa was sitting across from him and Mommy was holding him… That was close enough for Atticus…
After that we did a little more Christmas shopping and just had a great morning. I love mornings like yesterday. Everyone feels good, we’re all together, and having a blast. I just love our little family.
Click HERE to see the pictures from Breakfast with Santa. There are also a couple of photos of Daddy putting together Atticus’ Christmas present. We picked it up from Santa when we saw him yesterday…
This past weekend Justin had a goal keeping certification course in Tuscaloosa. He spent the weekend with our very good buddy, Kenny. I had some Christmas shopping to finish and my Mom offered to keep Atticus for me so I could finish off my list. So we headed to Tennessee Friday morning and we had a great weekend. We got to visit with lots of family and Mommy got to finish some shopping in Murfreesboro. Nana took some great photos while I was gone so the whole “what happens at Nana’s, stays at Nana’s” went out the window.
It was a great trip though and we can’t wait to go back in a couple of weeks for Christmas! I can’t believe time has flown by so fast. We really are looking forward to seeing everyone and celebrating this wonderful time of the year.
Click HERE to see all the great photos from this visit.
