Boy or Girl??

Yes, we are a bit behind on this posting! Guess you can blame the crazy month of December for it!
Now if you are wondering whether Baby Rhodes is going to be a boy or girl, you shall have to wait about about 19 more weeks! On Dec 14th, we did have our 19 week check up and had our big ultrasound. Everything looked great and measured great! It was such a relief to see our precious one moving all around. Got some great pictures- including a foot print one! All, we have to say is this child will be following in Big Brother's foot steps (literally) and enjoying larger feet! :)
Tucker was excited to see pictures of the baby. He talks to the baby, kisses it good night by kissing Mommy's quickly growing tummy, and gives it big hugs! He is ready to share with his baby brother or sister. We believe he is thinking this baby will just pop out running!
We go back on Jan 18th for our 24 week checkup. We'll start rotation of doctors and actually have the glucose screening 4 weeks early due to Katie having gestational diabetes with Tucker. Now worries about it this time. We know either way we'll be fine and so will little one!
Will keep you updated!

Boy or Girl??

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

As we are every year, we are very thankful for all our blessings. We are so thankful for all our family and friends. We are especially thankful for our sweet boy, Tucker! Seeing the joy in his eyes as we go through the holidays makes each holiday even more special! Hug your babies extra tight tonight in thanksgiving of them! They truly are blessings from God!

15 and Counting

Well, we are officially going public! Tucker is going to be a big brother come early May! We are officially 15 weeks plus a couple of days. We are very excited and feel very blessed to sharing this news. We have come a long way since the beginning of this year. As some of you know and many of you don't, we lost a baby this past Easter. We were 12 weeks along. Through our loss, we definitely grew stronger in our faith and stronger as a family. The hardest part besides the loss itself, was having to tell Tucker our sad news. That being said, we have been pretty guarded in telling him this time.

But boy do children amaze you! Our little man has been praying for a little sister since July. He had asked if he could have one and I told him that God had to give that sister to us. It wasn't something we could just go out and get. So, at night he started praying for his sister. By Labor Day weekend, he was still praying and we learned his prayers were answered (well, whether or not it is a girl, we'll find out on May 10th). About a month ago, we were riding in the car and Tucker asked, "How long do I have to wait?" Mommy then said, "For what?" Tucker- "My baby sister?" Mommy- tring not to lie, "Well, we have to wait for God to show us a sister" (not a lie, since we don't know if it is a girl or not) Tucker- "He already has, it is in your belly" Mommy- "Who told you that" (thinking he'd say me or Harris b/c he had heard us talking) Tucker- "Well, God!" Mommy- "Well, Tucker, God knows everything!" Can't argue with that one! So, needless to say, when we finally decided to tell him this past week after our 15 week appointment, he acted like we were telling him old news! But boy is he ready for his sister (or brother) to arrive. He is full of questions and working hard at learning to be a big brother! And we know he will! Keep us in your prayers as we continue our pregnancy and growth as a family!

Beautiful

The altar at a dear friend's wedding... beautiful! Couldn't pass up sharing. Perfect reminder of the true heart of marriage. Wishing a lifetime of happines to the Dunn's!

Got Icee?

Tucker recently learned about icees when we picked his cousins Ben, Will and Abby up from school one day. He wasn't too keen on the icee that day-not sure why not. But Saturday on the way to Aunt Laura's house to trick or treat, this boy was slurping it up! He loved "sharing" Mommy's icee! Only complaint was that Mommy should have gotten the "ice tea" flavor (I believe he meant coke) instead of strawberry!

Happy Halloween!

Buzz Lightyear invaded our house this year- starting back in September! Tucker was beyond excited when he was able to dress up and actually go somewhere dressed as Buzz. Well, actually lots of places... Fall Festival at church, school, Aunt Laura's trick or treat party, and to trick or treat to Aunt Becca's and Uncle Matt's. Let's just say, that costume is finally getting the cleaning it should! Tucker had a blast this Halloween. Mr. Independent wanted to go all by himself up to doors and learned what it meant when a bowl of candy was just sitting there. He had a great Halloween! Must say we are glad the festivities are all over- we are all exhausted! Family at Aunt Laura's

Look what I got!!!

Heading off to the first house

Ready to go- light sticks and all!

Gateway to the West

We just returned (well a week or so ago) from our annual trip to St. Louis! We go each year to visit family and many favorite places. Our trip various from fall to spring or summer (skip the winter with all the snow). This year, we chose October so we could witness the marriage of Katie's cousin, Ryan and his wife, Meryl. We were able to visit with family, head up to the country for the day and do lots of visiting- especially to the zoo!! Tucker was living for St. Louis and his trip to see the elephants!

Just watching the elephants!

Cousins! The littlest ones- Abby, Chloe, Tucker and Ellen

(We stayed with Chloe and Ellen and Tucker was in heaven!)

Saving Sasha

Please check out our dear friends, Lindsay and Gary Hagler, blog. They are raising money to adopt sweet Sasha from Eastern Europe. Please read their blog and consider donating or helping in some way! http://helpsavesasha.blogspot.com/

Sasha needs your help!!

The Fair

Well, we thought since we are now residents of Walker County, we should experience the Walker County Fair. We went on a week night and Tucker had a blast. He had his first funnel cake, won his first two prizes (well, kind of, now you pay for what ever you want to "win"), had a bite or two of cotton candy, and most importantly, he rode on his first rides!! He LOVED the motorcycles, which were just perfect for his size. He wanted to go on them over and over again! Fun was had by all!

This train ride was a big jerky and made us a bit nervous- only rode it once!

Favorite ride- the motorcycles!

Excited boy going into the fair!

Welcome to the Barnyard

A couple of weeks ago, we joined some friends at the zoo for the first time since June. It was so nice to get out and enjoy the Fall weather. We not only enjoyed the zoo and good company but tried out one of the zoo classes for toddlers. Tucker had fun learning about the barn animals and making a treat for the chickens! Definitely worth a try if you are looking for something to do with your little one.

Can't seem to get my 3 yr old to look at the camera- everywhere else!

Chef Tucker

Tucker and Mommy had a day of baking planned for today. We had several things to make that we wanted to take to the river. On our list: Morning Glory muffins, chocolate chip cookies, and roasted veggie orzo salad. Just a few yummy things for us to enjoy! But Tucker added one other item: Pizza! Mushroom Pizza!

A little background knowledge... Tucker has become a fan of Calliou. Calliou is a cartoon on PBS or Sprout (which ever your choice) who is growing up. You get to see all of his adventures in growing up too. One adventure in particular has become Tucker's favorite: Calliou makes pizza. While we were staying with Grandma and Pop King, Tucker had recorded this particular Calliou on the DVR. He watched it over and over again. Unfortunately it ended up getting deleted. But we were lucky recently and were able to DVR it here at our house. Got to love those reruns! Anyhow, this morning while getting ready for school, Tucker was watching this exact show. I then found him in the kitchen making his own yogurt pizza. You'll see that he is even measuring the yogurt into the measuring cup so it can go into the mixing bowl. Well, let's just say that Mommy had some major persuading to do to get us out the door and off to school. One of those being a promise of picking up a mix that he could make into pizza dough (even though we have super yummy Publix pizza dough in our freezer). Let's just say thank goodness Mommy followed through. As soon as Tucker was in the car from school, he was talking about making his mushroom pizza. Here are a few pictures to let you see how serious this cooking was! Must say, at least our fella will know how to cook for his future wife one day! Hope she likes mushroom pizza! :)

Here you see the "first yogurt pizza" being measured out

This was my little chef before school

Then we continued after school. While our dough was prebaking, he mixed is mushrooms and mini turkey pepperoni (as all chefs MIX their pizza toppings).

Spreading the wonderful family secret pizza sauce (other wise known as Hunt's tomato sauce with basil and oregano- makes good pizza).

Must have the mozzerella (said with our best accent)!

Adding the yummy toppings!

Finished product going into the oven!

Waiting, waiting, waiting! (Not really, once it was made, he took off!)

Testing it out! He couldn't wait for dinner. Kept saying it was for lunch but I kept reminding him he had lunch at school!

Adventures in Books

For the past two years, Tucker has constantly chosen the book, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, as a nighttime read. Our routine at naptime (less and less these days) and at bedtime is for Tucker to pick two books out. Over the past two years, I have added more and more of my classroom picture books (now they are all in our "library"). Now, some would say this book is too advance for a 2 or 3 year old, but I would disagree. From the beginning, we have fully read books to Tucker. Not just little books that have shapes and small pictures (we have read those too). But we have read books that have meat too them. He loves them and whether or not he fully gets them is besides the point. The point is to expose Tucker to as much language as possible. He loves the pictures and learns so much from the new words. These days we take forever getting through a book because of all the questions. Questions he learns from!

So, that being said, this book is one of our favorites- especially the beginning where the pancake is a flying object that lands on Henry's head. We love pancakes and I think Tucker can relate to this part of the book since he and Daddy make waffles and pancakes together. Well, we knew that a movie had come out last year and Harris and I had wondered if it would be any good or even appropriate for Tucker to watch (which it isn't). And now that we have entered the land of DVR, we decided to tape it one evening so Tucker could see it. On Saturday, Tucker and I sat down to watch and see what it was like. From the beginning, Tucker kept asking about the pancake part (and yes, we did at least finally get a pancake on the school scene). And then he kept asking about who this boy was and why was he not in the book or was he Henry (no he isn't ). He even remarked that the movie was not the book- Wow! From a old teacher's point of view, this is a great start with reading comprehension!

Last night, Tucker decided we needed to read Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, along with Curious George and the Perfect Carrot (b/c carrots and meatballs go together- did you know that?). He still was comparing and looking for things from the movie. It was a great nighttime read and reading discussion. We both decided we didn't want to see the movie again and would just keep reading the book (over and over and over again)!

Am I claiming that Tucker can truly read? Heck no! Am I excited that he is getting enough from the books we read to make comparisons that help him understand the book even more? Yes! Maybe this blog is the teacher in me missing teaching (yes, this happens about this time every year). Maybe just a proud Mama. I think a little of both! :)

All I know to say is read with your little ones. Read all kinds of books- not just the little board books that they can chew on too! Reading starts so early and in ways you might not normally think of!

First Day of 3K

Amazing how fast our little man has grown from a little baby to our big boy! Too fast if you ask me. It was difficult going through a car line today for the first time- difficult for Mommy. Tucker was very excited to go today and had lots to tell when he was picked up. Great start!

Fun Shots of Summer

All about dressing up these days... here I believe he was a boy scout.

Couldn't resist this photo opportunity!

Another dress up time... train engineer who needs "gloves"

Staying cool in the heat!

Where the Wild Things Are... or should I say Exotic?

Upon moving into our home in Jasper, I was ready for all kinds of wild animals to visit our home and property. Have had a fight with a camel cricket or two. Waiting to see all that will come...deer, turkeys, various birds. Yes, I said birds but not peacocks!! Peacocks originate in South Asia, not Walker County. But, yes, we have two peacocks that visit us. One was even walking around our deck at odd hours and left us a present or two (including feathers but not pretty ones). These two peacocks come to visit us from neighbors up the road. They actually come to visit our immediate neighbor's chicken and rooster. Imagine looking out your window and seeing a peacock walk by... talk about taking a double look!

Pickles

Spent a day this past week with my dear friend, Jennifer. She and her husband, Marc, had a huge harvest of cucumbers. So, we decided to have an adventure in canning! We canned bread and butter, sweet and dill pickles! What fun we had testing things out and trying something new! Thank you, Jennifer for a wonderful day!

Three Times the Charm

Tucker's favorite park in Gardendale is the "Carrot" park- or as he calls it due to a small picture of a carrot. So, when asked what park he wanted to celebrate his birthday at he very quickly said, "The Carrot Park!!!" We celebrated Tucker's 3rd birthday this year the day after the 4th and this was his first birthday to combine family and friends. Tucker was very excited to share his Diego party with all his friends and family. He ran around like a wild man and even had a few three year old tantrums. But all in all, h had a great time. So great, Diego might even say, Mission Complete!!

Ready to eat his Diego cake. Tucker had been waiting for this cake since October.
Every time we would visit the store, he would go down the dairy isle yelling, "I'm coming Diego!!" I think this picture sums up the relationship between Tucker and his cousin Sarah.

A tired party boy!! At least he has shoes on in this picture! He ran around the park without shoes on for most of the party- one less meltdown to deal with for the day!

Our FAVORITE cookies! Moonlight Cakes makes Tucker cookies each year! She does an awesome job for an amazing price! Check her out! She'll even put personal names on each cookie if you want!

Party, Party!

Born on the Fourth of July

Yes, a little behind in blogging about our sweet baby boy's birthday, but that is just how it goes these days! :)

Tucker had a big celebration this year- a three day celebration! We didn't know if we would be in our house by the 4th or not, so in advance we had reserved a park pavillion for his official party. Since we did end up being in the house, we ended up having multiple celebrations- 3 to be exact which was fitting for it being his third birthday!

We started the celebrations off with dinner with Grandma and Pop King on Saturday evening. We enjoyed a yummy dinner out, homemade cupcakes and then presents afterwards. Then on Sunday, the official day, we had a potluck dinner with the Rhodes family, the Franklins and our dear friends, The Rollins. Tucker had a great time swimming and playing with Sarah Catherine.