Jewell party of 2 and 1/2

Why do they call it 1/2 anyways...is a highchair really make for 1/2 a person? Last night we were THAT table. We were the table that if you have worked in the food/beverage industry, that you would dread. I can remember working as a server/bartender and be so disappointed to look up and see a highchair at my new table. I think the nights of going out to dinner with a toddler are OVER. We decided to go out to dinner at Ruby Tuesdays last night and take advantage of the million and seven coupons that we get in the mail weekly and HOLY COW. Elias was a nightmare and it started when we arrived and there was a ten minute wait. There was another family waiting with two children and he was not happy that we were making him sit on our laps instead of allowing him to get down to meet new friends. I tried snacks, toys, and cell phones and they were all tossed to the side. When we finally sat down, it was only more chaos. The server decided it would be a good idea to set my water in front of a 13 month old toddler, and a fast one at that. Elias grabbed the glass before I could and the ending result was me getting to sit through the rest of the dinner with a soaked lap. Then as I headed off to the salad bar Elias had a Mama's Boy meltdown. The only way Dada could calm him was to get him out of his highchair and walk around with him. I ordered food off the menu that wasnt necessarily what I WANTED but what I thought E would eat some of too. WRONG. He wanted nothing to do with ANY of the food we gave/offered him, all was tossed into the floor. Finally I asked our server for a box and finished my meal at home. (B is a fast eater so he was done before I could even take two bites.) I think after last nights fiasco we will stick to restaurants with a play land and happy meals or Red Robin where he has all of his buddies to walk around with him while Momma finishes her food in peace.

laying on Dada is my favorite

Some things never change :)

i-jump. you jump. we all jump.

Yesterday Alison and I took the boys to i-jump. Sooo much fun for something to do in the winter, especially with this crazy cold weather in the Deep South. Here are a few pics from yesterdays playdate.

Happy to be with his BFF at i-jump

Hey boy hey!

Helllllo anyone in there?!?!

Elias looking for a snack.

I love them :)

cute boys

this seems to be a signature shot for the two of them :)

w and e

all hands are in the ayree if you a true playa...ha.

Baby W

Our friends Kyle and George welcomed their sweet baby girl yesterday (Jan 10) at 8:30 am. Mackenzie Grace weighed 4 lbs 15 ozs and is just beautiful. She was born almost 7 weeks early but both baby and Momma are doing fantastic. We are sooo excited for the new parents and cannot wait to meet Miss M.

Sweet baby girl.

Auntie Telly, Auntie Kyle, and Momma (Pebbles and Dre too!) at baby shower for Baby E last fall.

E and Uncle George meeting for the first time. I'm super sad that I dont have a pic of E and Auntie Kyle.

Congrats Kyle and George!!!
Welcome Mackenzie Grace!!!

Elias (and Dada) do The Charlie Brown

How cute is this?
And how contagious is his giggle?

Two new posts from way back when

I am a slacker these days when it comes to posting...its hard with a Toddler :) So I am having a bit of catching up to do :)
Here are TWO new posts from birthday fun :)

Birthday Snow Day Style

Birthday in WytheVegas

Also check out our new blogger header :) Im in love with it. And I added a playlist at the bottom of some fav songs :)

Date in 3D

Being so far away from family, B and I dont get to have very much sans baby time. While we love our little boy and couldn't imagine life without him, sometimes we just need a break. I have been very protective over who watches our little monkey, and until we moved to Alabama, he had ONLY stayed with my inlaws and our closest friends. Now that we are TEN hours away from them, it was time to let go a little :) It started with a very last minute trip to Duke to see Auntie Telly. I didnt want to bring E on such a long trip for such a short amount of time so THANKFULLY, two of B's team members (who both have children) stepped up to the plate and took care of him. Elias had sooo much fun and we are very thankful that they were able to take care of him on such last minute notice. The second time happened just this past week. B really wanted to see the movie Avatar while it was still in theaters so we could see it in 3D. This time Elias' good buddy from Red Robin came to play with him. He LOVES Caroline and they had such a good time playing and reading books. :)

Dada and Momma had an awesome time going to the movies. We enjoyed soda and popcorn and Twix. :) (we might have smuggled in the drinks and Twix. haha) THE PRICES ARE INSANE these days. SEVEN dollars for a medium popcorn! The movie was AMAZING. I really didnt think it would be a movie that I would like but I am really glad we saw it. It was nice to get out and be a couple holding hands and lovey :)

"My Momma and Dada went to see a movie and all I got was these lousy glasses." :)

He was sooo funny and cute wearing our 3D glasses but as soon as I got the camera out he REFUSED to look at me and then tossed the glasses aside and didnt want to wear them anymore.

Vacuum Olympics

Creating a new sport? Vacuum chasing!

ONE

I am still in awe that we are the parents to a ONE YEAR OLD. There is no longer a baby living in this house, he is a TODDLER. Welllll, he will always be my baby, even though he thinks he is such a big boy :)
Lets see...what is our one year old up to these days?

*He has SEVEN little toofies. He has four up top and three on the bottom. He did fantastic with the ones on the bottom, but the ones on the top have given him a run for his money and made him just miserable (as well as the momma and the dada). The top teefers were also accompanied by an icky runny nose. Boo, hiss, ick.



*He is now formula free, in which he made the decision, not us. He woke up one morning and decided he didn't want the bottle anymore and that was that. At his well baby visit, Dr. M said it we could stop the formula and make the switch to whole milk. At first I was a little worried since 1) he is a horrible eater, and 2) he wasn't drinking very much whole milk. Well, he is still a picky picky eater, but he is now doing really well with the whole milk. When we first started out on sippy cups, I had bought the soft spout ones before ultimately settling on the straw sippys. Well I had recently brought back the soft spout one because E was throwing the straw ones in the floor and the lid would pop off sending milk everywhere. He drinks a lot more milk using this sippy BUT he brings the sippy to Momma to hold up for him. Haha. It makes me laugh and I think he learned this from his BFF Will :) :)



* He is a little sponge these days. It AMAZES me at how quickly he learns. He will almost always copy anything you show him, being a new toy or an electronic device. He is also trying sooo hard to say everything that we say, which can be bad since his Daddy curses like a sailor. :) New phrases are going to have to be learned or we are going to have trouble. Hahahaha. His newest word is OUCH. Soooo cute to hear him say it. We have been trying to teach him nice (which is being gentle when touching our faces, etc etc) and one morning he did it a little rough and I said ouch, and he immediately repeated me and said ouch as well. When you say touchdown he will raise his arms over his head and then he claps because he is so proud of himself.

*He will also 'woof' when you ask him what a dog says and 'moo' when you ask him what a cow says. It is incrediably adorable. We have been working on other animals but cow and dog seems to be his favorite and he is being stubborn :) His favorite book at the moment is a Sandra Boynton classic called Moo, Baa, LaLaLa. If you have children and you have never heard of her, I HIGHLY recommend getting her books. Alison introduced us and Elias LOVES them and has gathered quite the collection.



*He communicates with us by pointing(and grunting) at what he wants. He will get your attention and sometimes guides you over to where he needs you to be and then points to what he wants. He also brings things to you that he needs help with. He will bring you his toys that he needs turned on, or a book that he wants read, or a sippy cup that he wants turned up. :)

*His eating habits are still VERY picky. I try to give him lots of things I know that he will eat, in order to fill him with nutrients. He is still a big fan of pancakes so he usually gets those once a day, and he loves the graduate cereal bars. He is still a gold fish connoisseur and could eat a whole bag in a sitting if you would let him. He was eating the Gerber fruits and veggie purees but now he refuses those as well as his yo baby yogurt. I think the deal with that is, he wants to feed himself, which I dont mind but he hasnt quite mastered the spoon unless its something that will stay on the spoon like mashed potatoes.




*He loves being outside and if you say the word outside he gets really excited. Unfortunately this cold in the Deep South has prevented any outside play which really stinks since he got a new wagon for his birthday from his Great Grandma Alice and Great Grandpa Guy. We are improvising by using it as a TV chair :)




*When he sees you with a diaper and the wipes HE RUNS. Haha. He HATES getting his diaper changed and it is a constant battle.

*He is climbing on EVERYTHING, trying to give his Momma a heart attack. With his fine new climbing skills he has master Mount Couch. Hahaha. He climbs up on the couch and then just smiles cause he thinks he is doing something he isnt suppose to.:) He has also invented a new sport...dishwasher surfing:)





We are having so much fun at this age and I am just in awe at how Elias' cute little personality is starting to shine through.