Duluth Fall Festival

Today, Mom, Elizabeth, Little Brian and I went to the Duluth Fall Festival. We went last year when Little Brian was 4 months old. He was great last year but this year he was excited about everything. He was taking his afternoon nap when we first arrived, but soon woke up to explore. Mom and Elizabeth were particularly taken with some hand-made straw handbags. Elizabeth bought one and they were a steal for $8.


At last year's festival, Elizabeth found a vendor that sold mini tea sets. I thought it was silly for someone her age to have such a decoration that was fit for an elderly person's living room so she didn't get one. We looked for one this year and couldn't find it. Elizabeth was very disappointed.



I was excited because we ran into my girlfriend Tonya and her son Gage. Tonya and I went to college together ages ago and she was a bridesmaid in my wedding. Gage is 7 months and he is her first child. She was so cute when she was pregnant that I was a wee bit jealous. :) I was really happy to see her as the last time was at Little Brian's first birthday party. That's tragic since she moved from Bethlehem, GA to only a few short minutes away from my house. We hope to get our families to together for dinner soon.

Mom found a handmade basket for herself and Elizabeth found a necklace from Annabellagio. Its made of crystals and it looks like a crown. It is beautiful. Mom found a sterling silver omega necklace with a silhouette charm of a little boy from one of the jewelers for me.

We had a great time and as we were leaving we

took some pictures with Little Brian.

A kind lady stopped and asked if we would like a group picture, if so, she would take it. So here are all of us before we left.

Let's Play In The Dirt

This afternoon, we decided to take advantage of the great, COOL fall weather and spend some time outside.

I received no complaints from Little Brian as he loves being outdoors.

Here he is trying to find a dirt hole to dig in.

We found many sticks, pecans and leaves to try and stick in his mouth. Everything goes in his mouth!

We also ventured up to Mama Kate's house (my dad's mother and Little Brian's great-grandmother) to visit. She loves for Little Brian to come and see her. Aunt Mary was there too.

He loves to play in her flower gardens. Many a pretty flower was deprived of its petals today. :)

The Bradford House and Gardens

Yesterday afternoon, we went to the Bradford House and Gardens to look over the space as a potential site for Elizabeth's wedding reception. It's an antebellum type house with beautiful gardens and a pavilion for dancing.

It's just down the street from my parents' house and is all inclusive with the rental of the space as well as the catering. While Elizabeth, Robert and Mom discussed the details with the director, Little Brian and I "investigated."

Both Elizabeth and Robert liked this site and so did my mom so they reserved the space for October 4th, 2008!

Easy Rider!

On Wednesdays, since Little Brian has started Puggles at my Mom's church we eat supper at her house as we need to be at church by 6:30. For his birthday, my parents bought him a Fisher-Price Rock-Roll-n-Ride trike! He has it at Nanny and Papa's to play with and he loves it.

Nanny riding with me!

Fall is coming and we are looking forward to the Corn Maze and picking out his Jack o' Lantern at the pumpkin patch. Also, Mule Camp and Gold Rush are coming up! I can't wait to see him enjoy them this year. (We went last year but he'll get more out of it the second time around.)

Indian Summer Afternoons

We have been taking advantage of the great afternoon weather over the past few days. Little Brian loves being outdoors. He especially enjoys his "coupe" he received for his birthday.

Auntie came over this afternoon and took Little Brian around in his wheels.

My Little Monkey

We found a costume that wasn't a last minute rush. Thanks Amanda and Elizabeth for the tip.

Mommy's Birthday Party

My family celebrated my birthday this evening since Monday will be too hectic. My parents' gift to me was a God send. I was able to get my hair highlighted and cut into something more manageable for a mom of a 16 month old. It looks more healthy now that an inch and a half was cut off!

Mommy's "big boy"

My sister gave me a gift certificate to my favorite nail salon. :) My Nanny gave me some moola, which is much appreciated. My son gave me some clothes through his Nanny/my mom. His card my mom picked out almost brought me to tears.

Me, Little Brian and Auntie

I can't believe I'm 28. The bright side is that I'm younger than my hubby. He's 31!

AWANA

Little Brian "officially" started the AWANA program at my mother's church today. He went last week for a trial run and did beautifully. He is in the Puggles class.

(A Puggle is a nickname for a platypus.)

Nanny and Little Brian before Puggles.

I am so excited for this opportunity for Little Brian. He's so happy in the class, learning about God's love for him and making new friends. I was afraid he might experience separation anxiety but he took to the class like a "platypus" to water. :) It also helps me, as a first time, overprotective mom, that my mother teaches the 4 year old class and is close by. This is the first time he's stayed with anyone outside of the immediate family. So naturally, I was worried for him and my leaving him. But he is in the most capable of hands with this teachers. Miss Stacy, who's son is three weeks younger than Brian, is so sweet and Miss Martha is like a surrogate grandmother. God is so good to answer my prayers!

In Remembrance of 9/11.....

Do you remember where you were on this fateful day? I do. I was at my home, in bed recovering from a horrific car accident. My mom called to tell me about the planes crashing into the World Trade Center. I couldn't believe it. I still can't.

As this day draws to a close, my family and I want to take a moment to remember all of those who lost their lives in the tragedy of September 11th and those who were left to carry on without their loved ones. We also want to express our thanks for the public servants and soldiers, who selflessly give of themselves to ensure the freedoms we take for granted.

Little Boys, Bugs and Halloween

Little Brian's unfortunate bug bites are healing finally!

He went from this

to this

in just two days with the antibiotic's help. :)

Thank God for the Urgent Care doctor. I think we'll even be able to keep his picture sitting for Sunday. It's time for his 15 month pictures and we had to reschedule from last weekend.

We're also shopping around for Halloween costumes. I know its early, but I want to prevent a frantic, last minute search like last year. Who knew that a quality costume needed to be purchased by the middle of September? Even now, most of the Gap Kids' costumes are sold out in his size. We're thinking either a pirate or Curious George. He loves monkeys so we're leaning toward Curious George. Here's a picture of the Curious George ensemble.

I might be mistaken, but doesn't Curious George wear a yellow T-shirt? Am I right?

~ Summer 2007 in Review (continued) ~

After we got home from the beach, we went to Carter's first birthday party. It was at the Oakwood Community Center as well. Catherine and Chad did a great job of putting it together. The theme was Boys Little 1.

This theme was so cute. (It was the only other one I would have had for Little Brian if I hadn't gone with the First Birthday Safari.)

My hubby and I got Little Brian a Little Tikes Climb and Slide Castle as one of our gifts to him for his first birthday.

He loved it so much and since it was versatile as an outdoor/indoor toy, we decided to give one to Carter. We love being close to family and that our boys will grow up together.

Happy Birthday Carter! Here are some pictures of his party.

Here's Mom, Dad and Carter opening gifts.
Carter's cake fun!

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Finally, we rounded out the summer with my girlfriend Amanda's son Davis' 2nd birthday party during Labor Day weekend. Amanda and Tim did a great job on Davis' theme. His theme was monkeying around. The cake she had for him was beautiful.

She planned all of this while being 4 months pregnant. She's an overachiever is all I can say. Way to go! Here's a picture of Davis and his parents at the party.

They recently were able to learn the sex of their child. They are having a girl!

Congratulations!

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Little Brian's summer was a whirlwind and with the holidays coming up, there's no slowing down. I can't wait for the fall festivals to begin. I love fall. It's my favorite time of year and I hope that I can capture all of Little Brian's special moments for y'all to see.

~ Summer 2007 in Review (continued) ~

The last time my hubby and I went to the beach, it was our 1st wedding anniversary and to celebrate we had beach portraits made. Well, I decided that we would start a family tradition and have a family portrait made this year as well. The photographer was amazing. Little Brian did so well and she worked really well with him. Here are a couple of pictures from the sitting.

I am so proud of my family and very blessed to be Little Brian's mom.

I was also excited that my sister could come with us. After her graduation, she was offered her first job by Summit Consulting (a subsidiary of Liberty Mutual.) We are so proud of her. When she was offered the job, she told them about the trip and they were gracious enough to let her go. They told her she could start the week after our return. :)

Here is she with her favorite nephew.

I'm really happy that she's my sister. I love her to death!

While we were at the beach, Carter, Little Brian's cousin, had his first birthday and to celebrate we all ate at Margaritaville. We wanted him to have something for his actual birthday, in addition to his party, so we gave him a Fisher Price Brilliant Basics Flip Phone.

Carter loved it from the moment he got it so we got Little Brian one too. Now they can talk on their cell phones like grown ups. :)

We also took advantage of the shopping and went to Broadway at the Beach, Barefoot Landing and of course Wings (those cheesy souvenir stores.) The fellas had to go home early because they race late models at Lanier National Speedway and another race was the following weekend. On our last night together, we ate at one of those calabash seafood buffets. It was pricey but it was great. Different areas of the restaurant had unique themes and we ate in the "Titanic" themed room.

Before dinner

Everyone at Captain Benjamin's

All in all, it was a great time. The boys had their first beach experience and we got to hang out as a family. It was a great beach trip. We hope to go back next year!

~ Summer 2007 in Review ~

Here's a recap of Little Brian's summer. It was very busy!

First, my sister graduated from North Georgia College and State University on May 5th with her B.A. in Marketing. We all went to see her at the ceremony, even Little Brian. He did well by sitting quietly and eating puffs. :) After Elizabeth received her diploma, I took Little Brian outside. He had been good long enough and wanted everyone to know it.

I did it!

I'm proud of you Auntie!

Elizabeth and her boyfriend, Robert

The family at Auntie's graduation.

We all went to eat at Papadeux's in Alpharetta after the ceremony. I had never eaten there and it was great! Little Brian loved his fish and cajun rice. (I'm very thankful that he is not a picky eater.)
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Next, Little Brian's birthday was Saturday, May 19th. We decided to go with a "First Birthday Safari" since the first birthday themes for little boys were not as up to par as the girl's themes. When I started looking for first birthday themes, the Jungle Party pattern was available in the U.S.

Little Brian's First Birthday Theme

But when it came time to purchase it, it was only available in the U.K.! So needless to say, I paid a pretty penny for shipping! Well, we decided to have the party at the Oakwood Community Center. It was large enough for our extended families and for the little ones to run around. Here's a couple of shots from the party....

The Cake!

His gifts.
(Little Brian is very blessed to have such wonderful friends and family.)

Opening his gifts.

And finally,

His cake. He had a blast eating ALL of this.
Not much was left on the floor or himself.

We all had a great time at his party and can't believe that its been a year! It seems like we just brought him home.

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Next, we went on our first family trip to Myrtle Beach, SC. I love Myrtle Beach and I think it's more family oriented than other beaches in FL. The trip down there was uneventful as the boys slept most of the way.

Are we there yet?

We stayed at Laguna Keys in North Myrtle Beach. It was very nice and large. We went with Williamsons, who are our family and who have a son that is three weeks younger than Little Brian. They are great friends as they stay together at Nannie and Pops instead of traditional daycare!

Brian loved the beach. He crawled around and played with his sand toys that Aunt Gail gave him. He would get so upset when we decided to go back to the room. Here he is playing.

He loved the pool too. We got him a float to ride in and he liked walking around in the kiddie pool. He could go as he wanted with the float. Independence is important to him sometimes.

Mommy and Me

Kiddie Pool

Daddy and Me

This is getting long. It will continue in the next post. :)

Since its been awhile..........

It's been awhile since my last post. :) Yesterday, we went to the Jon'Ric Children Salon for Little Brian's second haircut. He did very well! He was able to get it cut while watching a rousing episode of Barney and Friends in the Hummer chair. He looks more and more like a little man than my bitsy baby.

Checking out the Hummer

Showing Mommy what Barney was doing

What is she doing to me?

So handsome!

Today, we went to the Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain with Nanny. I got a new fall wreath for our front door and a Christmas ornament for Little Brian. We had a great time and so did the bugs. Little Brian got two bug bites on his face by the time we came home.

(Glad I decided to wait for 15 Month pictures until next week.)

The largest one is on his forehead and the other is under his left eye. He doesn't like Benedryl or Cortisone cream but they are necessary evils. :)