The Rhodes Family

Brothers

2011-12-08T04:05:00.001-08:00

One of my favorites from Fall!

Soccer Mania

2011-10-18T16:32:00.000-07:00

Well, we have attempted soccer for the second time this year. We had a great experience with a group in West Jefferson. And then learned that Tucker was old enough to play closer to home. So, we are trying that this fall. Tucker is playing on a team for 4 and 5 year olds (many of whom are now 6). Tucker loved playing in the spring but it was very low key and we never really played a "game". This go around is much more official and harder for Tucker. But he is doing well. He struggled at first in terms of the first couple of weeks of practicing. We even left one practice because he wouldn't go out on the field- all he wanted to do was look for things and explore! So, we left! But since games have started, things have been much better. He stays with the group as they run after the ball and cheers for his team when on the bench (or plays in the bushes with other kids). Most days we have to talk him into going to soccer- he says he gets too tired- but once he is there, Tucker has a blast! Must say, we are looking forward to soccer coming to a close next week. We will enjoy being able to just come home and play here at home on Mondays and Thursdays.

This picture shows how Tucker is more interested in the dirt pile than the soccer ball! :)

A great picture of Tucker and one of his new friends he has made playing. Tucker is the goalie!

5 months

2011-10-11T17:45:00.000-07:00

Yes... I we missed our 4month update for Thomas! Let's just say that life has happened! But in a great way! We are loving every moment! Thomas has changed so much in the past month! He is full of personality and wants to see everything! Especially big brother!

We had a great 4 month check up. Thomas weighed almost 16 lbs and was close to 26 inches long (if my memory serves me correctly at this point). He was right on track! We were given the green light to start some "social" eating. This meant just introducing him to solids and cereal and helping him to know what to do with his mouth! Let's just say he has caught on very quickly! He is still nursing but then twice a day we add in food (typically cereal in the morning and food at night- unless introducing something new). He loves carrots and sweet potatoes. Not so big on peas. Loves apples and seems to enjoy bananas (we just started testing those out this week). Not a huge fan of cereal but once we start mixing it with other food, we think he'll be ok! So far so good in terms of no reactions! The peas were a bit harder to get used to but I think he was fine after a couple of days.

Thomas has become a rolly polly and is rolling all around. He started rolling belly to back around 2 months and then right at 4 he started rolling back to belly. And now he is just all over the place. He likes to scoot too! You put him in one place and you will find him in another! Definitely ready to move! When on his belly, he tries lifting his bottom and pulling his knees in! We'll see where this takes us! Definitely not ready to be chasing two little boys!!! But we know it won't be long before Thomas is crawling after brother!

Thomas' Baptism

2011-09-10T06:14:00.000-07:00

Our family was very blessed to be able to celebrate the baptism of Thomas last month! We had family and godparents join us at our church as Pop King was able to baptize our sweet boy! We have been very blessed to find a new home in our new church! They have welcomed us with open arms and even hosted a reception after church! Then we all headed back home for lunch with all our family! Thomas was surrounded with lots of love that day! Just a few pictures to share- it was a busy day and only got a few shots! Never even got a family picture!

Thomas wore the baptismal gown that is 98 years old- it was made for Katie's grandmother and has been worn by all in the family- so far 4 different generations!

Tired boy

His baptism with Godparents and dear friends, Marc and Jennifer.

With Pop King ( a photo to go in with the gown- the gown is kept in a special box and has photos of most of the baptisms! Neat keepsake and traditon!)

First Day of 4K

2011-09-09T07:44:00.000-07:00

Finally Found a Frog

2011-09-09T07:30:00.000-07:00

Tucker has had a Diego frog habitat for a while now but no tadpole or frog to go in! Well, that changed one night this summer when a sweet little frog came to the wrong house! Found him on our den window and gave him a new home for a few days!Thankfully we were able to convince Tucker to let Froggy go!

3 months

2011-08-07T09:23:00.001-07:00

Our little man turned 3 months this past week! He is growing too fast! Thomas' little personality is starting to come out. Squeals and a few giggles are starting to emerge. His eyes follow you everywhere-especially Tucker. He smiles when he sees love! Thomas is starting to bat at toys that dangle in front of him as well as hold on to a ring or rattle that is placed at his hand.

Thomas is sleeping well most nights. He occasionally wakes in need of his passy and on some nights an earlier dose of milk. But most nights he sleeps from 9 or 10 til 4 or 5. Mommy is thankful for that!

We went for a brief visit with the doctor this week to have Thomas' weeping eye checked out. He has had it since birth and just looks yucky. But we know it will work its way out. Just wanted to make sure we weren't getting infected-especially since we don't go for well baby for another month. Yet, we discovered just how much our baby boy is growing... 14lbs 7oz!! Has gained two more lbs this month! Thinking he is getting some good milk!

Smoothies and Hard Boiled Eggs

2011-08-03T15:49:00.000-07:00

What a day we have had in terms of food! Tucker loves the Handy Manny book, Oscar's House of Smoothies. Everytime we borrow this book, we seem to have to make smoothies non stop! Well, today that was very true! We made the usual with strawberries, blueberries and either a strawberry yogurt or a strawberry/banana yogurt. Yummy and very healthy! We enjoyed it for lunch, along with a hard boiled egg (a new favorite). Well, by dinner time, Tucker was ready to make another smoothie. In this story, Oscar is opening up a new smoothie shop but has to come up with one last flavor. He ultimately comes up with a Peanut Butter/Banana smoothie. And of course this would be the smoothie Tucker was wanting to try. After trying to convince him otherwise, I caved and sow we tried it out. Can't say it was horrible but not exactly a great smoothie combo! And of course, he had to have another hard boiled egg! Lots of protien and fruits today! Thinking we'll stick to just regular smoothies in the future!

Smoothie MustacheMaking the first smoothie

Drama is a part of Life!

2011-08-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Tucker attended his last session of Children's Theatre for the summer! He had a great time going with his cousins, Abby and Sarah. The interest started when Tucker went to see Hansel and Gretel with his preschool! Then, as a way of getting out and about once Thomas arrived, Tucker went with Abby, Sarah, Grandma and Aunt Chele to see The Little Red Hen! They loved it and decided it was necessary to go back! So, they each have been reading Jack and the Beanstalk as a way of getting ready to go and see the production. They had a great time! Tucker has really done a great job of comparing the plays to the books! Both The Little Red Hen and Jack and the Beanstalk were definitely different from the books! Reading comprehension practice here! :)

A few extras...

2011-08-03T05:52:00.001-07:00

July started off with a bang as a busy month- starting with the 4th of July! We all feel like we are finally unwinding and getting ready for school to start up (YES, this mommy is ready for that!). Here are a few extra pictures from July. We were able to visit with lots of family! We were excited to see the Weiss gang from St. Louis as well as Ryan and Peter McCormick from across the world! Only missing Aunt Bev and Katie Mae! It was great to catch up with Ryan and Peter. Tucker loved having Ryan here and wouldn't leave the poor thing alone! We loved having Peter to catch up with and visit! Once a year or two is not enough for us!

Ryan and Thomas (Ryan was great with him)
Birthday boy actually on his birthday morning!

Family pic from the 4th (it was a bit windy on top of the parking deck)

Baby brother! 2months old on the 4th of July

A Four Year Old

2011-07-12T03:56:00.000-07:00

Our four year old! We might have posted this picture before but this picture definitely describes Tucker these days. He is all about the outdoors- camping, hiking, going on animal rescues, finding dinosaur bones (tree limbs and sticks) in our yard, playing with Woody girl (our cat), and helping Daddy in the garden. Tucker also loves his cars and Toy Story toys. He is has a full imagination and is constantly up to something. These days he is becoming more and more independent... Mr. I Can Do It Myself! And if he can't he gets so frustrated and mad because he doesn't want to ask for help... yes, a bit stubborn! And at the same time he is so loving. He LOVES Thomas and can't be around Thomas without wanting to kiss him or touch him or rub his head (to the point if I was Thomas I'd say, "Leave me alone!!"). Tucker will randomly tell us he loves us or ask for a hug or kiss. He is very affectionate and likes to show his love for you! He is full of life, energy and curiousity. Just as all four year olds should be! He still loves playdough, loves to paint, has discovered wet erase markers and loves them, has an office that changes location (from his closet to the corner in his room) and is obsessed with scotch tape, and thinks he can do it all! We continue to work on writing our name (that is like pulling teeth). He knows all his letters and some of the sounds but writing them is another story. Tucker just doesn't care to write or color much. He'll color with markers more than anything but would prefer to just play and never write! We are hoping this changes soon! He still loves his books and loves to be read too. He is very interested in what the words say and how you spell something. Wants to read and is definitely on the right track for that.

And he thinks he is five! Or he is trying to convince us he is because his cousin is five and friends will be five soon! He seriously wanted five candles on his birthday cake- that was a battle in itself! A funny one at that!

He is a growing boy! Went to visit our favorite doctor for the second time in a week (Thomas first...wanted each boy to have his own appointment so I could focus on them) and we received a great report! He remains in the 95th percentile in weight and height (46lbs and 43 inches). He was so proud that he was able to potty in a cup like Mommies and Daddies do (yes, he learned of this with a couple of OB appointments). He had great blood pressure (wasn't too sure of this one but was ok once he realized it would just hug his arm) and had great conversations with Dr. Huie (told him all about his garden with Daddy and the pumpkins he was planting- then asked if Dr. Huie had a garden and told him he should). But when it came to any kind of prick or shot, Lord help us all! It started with the finger pricking. I have never heard Tucker holler and cry like he did. Poor kids in the area were all probably scared to have their finger pricked after that! We then had quite an adventure with shots. I jokingly asked the nurse if she was strong and from there, let's just say we had backup! Mommy held the arms and hands while another nurse held his legs. And the entire office and waiting room most likely heard my child! BUT, after all was said and done, no more shots til 6!!! And Mommy felt so bad she promised in the midst of all the crying two new Cars cars at the store afterwards! Needless to say, we are not fans of shots around here and Mommy is a sucker for crying! :)

So we enter his 5 year of life on this Earth with a bang and can't wait to see what the year has to bring for our wild but wonderful four year old!

Two Months and Growing

2011-07-07T15:56:00.000-07:00

Two months and growing very quickly! We visited with our favorite pediatrician today. We love seeing Dr. Huie. And even more, we love hearing good news about our baby boy. Thomas gained two pounds this past month and grew an inch and 1/4. So, he is now 12lbs 7oz and is 23 3/4 inches long. He is definitely growing in many ways! We have seen so many changes in him over the past month. His little personality is starting to come out. Thomas has started smiling. In fact, we are convinced he knows the word smile already! Such a smart boy! :) All you have to do is smile really big and in a squeaky, high-pitched southern voice say "Smile," and you will get a good smile! See... he knows the word (I also firmly believe he understands the word milk). He also smiles just on his own and at random things like the ceiling fan, his newest friend! Thomas has also discovered his hand. One night we awoke to him smacking down on his little fist. Must say it is pretty cute to hear him chewing away on his hands. Thomas likes to talk to us. He is talking more and more- lots of "oooos" and "aaahs". Getting in those vowel sounds. And finally, he can roll over from belly to back! We are working on tummy time as much as we can. Some days we get it in and other days we don't. Thomas has always had great head strength and can keep his head up when he is over our shoulder (his favorite postion). So, we didn't do much tummy time to begin with. Then, guilt took over this Mommy and I started worrying that I wasn't doing as much with Thomas as I had with Tucker, so we have started having daily tummy time!

I wouldn't say that we are totally on a schedule yet. With Tucker, we were able to easily get on a schedule. But now, I must say, Thomas tends to be more on Tucker's schedule than on his own. I think once school starts back up, Thomas will be able to get on more of his schedule. Right now, he tends to eat his last evening meal around 9 or 10pm. He then sleeps til 3 or 4 or 5 depending on the night. He can sleep through the night but we aren't pushing it yet. Then he awakes again around 6 depending on what time he last ate. He then might sleep or might not- depends on if brother is up bothering him or if he is wanting to stay awake for a bit. But he will typically nap in there again before lunch and after. Then come afternoon he tends to have a good stretch of staying awake. By dinner time though, he is worn out and naps again (with much help) and naps on and off during the evenings. Of course all of that is on a good day! We still deal with some fussy times in the evening but feel it is more of being over tired than anything else. Poor boy tries to sleep but his active brother can sometimes alter that sleeping. Plus, Thomas LOVES Tucker and likes to watch what he is doing!

Thomas also had an appointment with an ENT last week. We had his tongue checked out and have decided to have it clipped come 6 mos. Even though he is growing and doing well with his eating, we worry of what the future could bring in terms of Thomas' self image and speech. So, with the advice of a wonderful ENT, we are going to have his "tongue tied" tongue clipped in a few months. Will keep you posted on that as we get closer to time.

Below you'll find a few shots from the past few weeks! The boys on Father's Day

Bath time

Floor gym time

LOVES the musical star on his floor gym! He gets so excited!

Happy 4th Birthday, Tucker James!

2011-07-03T16:56:00.000-07:00

The birthday boy- 4 years old!
Making a wish!

Jumping with Abby and Sarah Catherine

Craziness with cousins!

Partial family photo

Exhausted little brother!

He had a busy day with lots of family to hold him!

6 weeks and Growing

2011-06-14T19:49:00.000-07:00

Finally more pictures have been uploaded! Took me a while to figure out how to upload from our new camera. Not that it is super difficult- just difficult finding time now. For instance, it has taken me all afternoon just to complete this blog. While trying to upload and comment on here, I took various phone calls, nursed Thomas twice, got him to sleep once and almost again until a big brother awoke, convinced a brother to use the potty, helped brother with a portrait of Thomas, started chopping stuff for dinner, convinced brother to not climb on the counter to get a sucker, rearranged an "office" in brother's room, and started a load of wash! Talk about muli-tasking! And that is what life has become but we wouldn't trade a bit! Just a time of transition! Thomas is growing well! At his 1 month check up (at 5 weeks), he weighed 10 lb 9.7 ounces and was 22 1/2 inches (he had grown 2 inches due to the pediatrician measuring him in at 20 1/2 inches two days after leaving the hospital). He is nursing great and starting to sleep longer at night. Two nights ago he went from 10:30 to 5am! Wonderful night of sleep for Mommy and Daddy! He is having trouble at times with his tummy. We thought colic but our doctor doesn't think so. He seems to think it is just Thomas' digestive track needing to mature some as well as a few other factors. So, some days are longer than others. But we are getting there! More to come soon!

Here are a few photos from the past month...

Smile?! Beginnings of one but most likely a gas smile! Yet, just this week, Thomas has started to smile at us- nice and wide! Takes over his whole face! LOVE it!

Chill bumps after bath!

Took awhile for his embilical cord stump to fall of. Finally at about 3 1/2 weeks it came off! Daddy is looking forward to baths in the tub like he did with Tucker.

Floor gym time. We have started giving Thomas some "activity" time. The first time he laid on his mat, he had great expressions. We are working on tummy time even though he has one strong head already.

Monkey Toes!!

Love his feet. We have an ultrasound picture of one of his feet. We knew they would be big! It is fun comparing the two pictures!

Love this picture (although I didn't focus well). It pretty much sums up our days. This picture was taken after church. Mommy was attempting to get some birth announcement pics and Tucker just had to be in it and popped right in front! We are definitely starting to see some jealousy and need for more attention -especially when we are tending to Thomas. But it is all out of love. Tucker loves, loves his baby brother!

Hold On to Your Hat

2011-06-14T07:56:00.000-07:00

All Momma has to say about this adventure is someone needs a bicycle helmet on for this! keep telling Daddy that! This is all Daddy and Tucker!

A few more... What am I saying?.. There will be lots more!

2011-05-15T07:56:00.000-07:00

Just a few pictures that were left on one camera from the hospital. Still have a few more to upload from our new camera. First bath at home- please ignore the clutter! After this picture, I had to do a major clean up of clutter! Although it just keeps reappearing!

One of my favorites from the hospital- Daddy and Thomas!

Our second night, Thursday, in the hospital proved to be the roughest. Little Thomas was a hungry boy who wasn't getting enough from Mommy. It took us most of the night to figure out that we needed to pump and give him as much extra as we could. Needless to say this is how we made it through the night. None of us slept (well, Thomas in our arms) until about 5 am. It was definitely one of those days/nights!

One Week Down, A Lifetime to Go!

2011-05-12T09:10:00.000-07:00

Well, we have already failed at keeping this blog up to date for those of you following! Hopefully this will change as we continue to get settled. We have had a wonderful first week with Thomas. We were excited to leave the hospital on Saturday around noon. We were more than ready to get home with Thomas and reunite with Tucker. A week away from our big boy was way too long. We often commented how something was constantly missing from our day- our Tucker. Of course the way home seemed like it was turning into "a three hour tour." We had to stop to get a surprise at Sam's (Harris finishing up my mother's day present of a new camera), stop at Target to get my prescription filled of pain meds just in case (and thank the Lord, they were not needed), something to eat for Harris and I, and the best part of all, Tucker. Then drive home an hour! But we finally made it home! By evening we were all exhausted and discovered that Tucker was running a temp. We discovered his fever after he had been all about visiting and loving on Thomas. Definitely made Mommy a bit freaked out! All I could imagine what Thomas starting with fever and having to go to Children's. Tucker seemed to feel fine (had been running around and acting normal) but just spiked temp. Same thing occurred on Sunday. He went all day with out a temp and then spiked again in the afternoon. So we called our doctor and ended up taking both Thomas and Tucker in to see Dr. Huie a day ahead of schedule. Tucker tested negative for strep but definitely had some kind of throat virus. Thankfully, he was fever free all of Monday and seems to be on the mend! Making Mama feel a bit better! Thomas had a great check up as well. He had gained 1.2 oz since Saturday. He handled his pricked foot very well and impressed Dr. Huie with his muscular strength (this was after Tucker almost broke the strep test in half as he tried knocking the nurse's arm away from him- yes, we raise strong boys). Thomas seems to be on the right path to gaining back his birth weight. He had only lost 9 oz in the hospital. So, to help him continue gaining, he is nursing every two hours during the day and every three at night. Can we say welcome to the dairy farm?? Tucker will ask me if I am milking Thomas- more like milking Mama! It can be exhausting. Especially getting used to waking up at night. But getting better each day. And totally worth it! I have read somewhere that these first few weeks are to be just about loving on your baby and feeding them to help them gain weight! Well, we are definitely doing that! It has been wonderful having Harris home this week. He was able to take off last week while in the hospital and this week. He has been the awesome Daddy/husband he always is! He has totally taken on handling Tucker, which has been great for the two of them! They are getting in some good bonding time! Plus he is taking great care of Mama! He makes us breakfast in the morning, dinner at night if we aren't eating a provided dinner, baths for both boys, and encourages me when needed! I can't praise him enough! But for those of you who know Harris, this is who he is! I knew how lucky I was the day I met him, the day I married him and still do! We are not looking forward to next week. It will be a week of survival here- Harris returns to work. It will be hard for him as we know he will be missing his boys (and Mama). It will be hard for the boys and me as we try to get into a routine of some kind. But it will work out and we will survive! We'll just be hunkering down for a bit- at least until Wednesday when I can drive again! Whoo-hoo!

Here are just two pictures. I need to upload a few more from our old camera and learn to upload from the new one! I'll try and tackle that tomorrow or this weekend!

Thank you for all your support and prayers the past nine months and week! We couldn't have done it with out all our family and friends!

Big brother being in charge. Tucker holding Thomas before we learned he had a fever. He was so excited to hold him and love on him. He had missed Thomas!

Tucker giving Thomas his first bottle. This was much sooner than we would have liked but I started pumping in the hospital to help Thomas until my milk came in. Tucker loved getting to do this!

Happy Birthday, Thomas Alexander!

2011-05-05T06:49:00.001-07:00

Finally an update! Daddy failed on his job of updating! He decided that this blog was way more complicated then our old website (completely not true)! As many of you know, our sweet baby boy was born yesterday morning at 7:20 am. Wow did it go fast! We arrived at the hospital at 5 am to be taken to a prep/recovery area for c-sections. We were the only planned one to we had the area to ourselves. By 6:15, I was being prepped for my epidural and it was being administered by 6:30. Very efficient and very quick! Before you knew it, the doctor had come in to check on me and everyone was getting "dressed" for the OR. I was taken in at 7 and as Harris was brought into the OR, Thomas was almost on his way out! Amazing! As he arrived, Thomas had a great set of lungs and even grabbed onto a blanket that was going to be used for him and wouldn't let go! Strong boy from the start! He is a big boy, like his big brother! He weighed in at 8lbs 5 oz and 21 1/2 inches long. After an hour in recovery (seemed like eternity though), we were taken to our room where Big Brother Tucker came to meet his new little brother! Tucker loves his brother. He does a great job of holding him, wants to love on him and talks about how cute Thomas is! When we call to check on Tucker, he is already asking where is Thomas! Hope this bond lasts for eternity! Thomas is doing really well! He is definitely still enjoying his sleep (as we all need to right now). His sleep is more important to him than his nursing. But this morning he had one of the best feedings yet! We have a feeling once he gets going with nursing, he will be a great eater! I am doing well too! After a day full of meds and being quite sleepy, I have started off the day great! Was up early ready to shower and get out of the bed! Harris is being great husband, caregiver and Daddy. Here are a few pictures from yesterday. You can count on more to come! Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers! Harris has been great about reading the emails to me or letting me know of texts and phone calls! It is wonderful to have such an amazing support network during these times! Thank you!!!! Thomas Alexander Rhodes
VERY proud Big Brother!

First photo with Thomas

Welcome to the world, Thomas Alexander!

Family of 3... til tomorrow

2011-05-03T16:22:00.000-07:00

Well, so we have come upon our last day as a family of three. This day (and days leading up) have been filled with many emotions. Excitement, relief, joy, suspense, and of course a bit of anxiety. We are so excited to meet our newest addition tomorrow morning, May 4th. We have been waiting for this little one for almost two years now. We started our journey of wanting a little brother or sister for Tucker back in the summer of 2009. Little did we know what the journey was ahead. But we do know that God was in control and there was a plan for our little one to arrive tomorrow. Tomorrow will bring relief to us in many ways. One for sure will be the physical relief of being 39 weeks pregnant! :) There is definitely some truth to as you get older your body handles pregnancy different. And poor Harris has dealt with way to many sleepless nights due to a body pillow being thrown over a big hump (me) as I would try to "flip" over. But I must say, overall this has been an easy pregnancy for us til now. And I would like to know who isn't physically miserable at 37-39 weeks pregnant! But in the end it is all worth it to meet our sweet Annie or Thomas tomorrow! We all have ideas of who is coming out (Tucker now believes he will have a baby brother but says he'll love a sister too). You'll have to stay tuned to the blog to see who arrives! Harris did a great job of keeping you all informed when Tucker arrived (yes, at one point he was blogging as I was contracting at 4 am). I am sure he'll have time to start filling you in as we arrive at 5 am tomorrow to get prepped for our repeat c-section. We will use this blog to also share the first pictures of our family of 4! Keep us in your prayers as we welcome Annie or Thomas and celebrate the miracle of life! Easter 2011

Easter 2011

2011-05-03T16:06:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter! We had a wonderful weekend with family. We celebrated at Gamma and Pop Rhodes' house on Saturday with dinner and an Easter egg hunt. The King family then came to Jasper for egg hunting and dinner on our screened in porch! It was a joyous weekend! Tucker had a blast! He was very excited that the Easter bunny had come to visit his house! Easter Bunny left a new Woody!
Egg hunting at Gamma and Poppy's house

Coloring eggs for the first time one day after school.

Then we deviled them on Easter morning!

First Field Trip

2011-05-03T15:54:00.000-07:00

Tucker and his class went on his first field trip to Children's Theatre last month. We were at the Wee Theatre to see Hansel and Gretel. Tucker had a great time. He loved getting to carpool with Ms. Jennifer and Sarah Catherine. It was a fun day of the theatre and lunch! Tucker already has plans to return this summer to the The Little Red Hen!

Love this one! Sarah Catherine and Tucker holding

hands (she was taking care of him).

Three and A Half Weeks and Counting...

2011-04-07T14:46:00.000-07:00

Can we say panic mode for this nesting Momma!? Not really panic, but there are moments of anxiety as the nesting has hit full blown. Which it should be considering we will deliver in 3 1/2 weeks! At the last doctor appointment, we scheduled our repeat c-section! If all goes as planned, our little one will be celebrating his/her birthday come May 4th! We are scheduled to deliver at 7 am. Yes, for those of you who have done this induction/scheduled c-section thing, you what what that means... we have to be at the hospital at 5 am! If we decide to stay here in Jasper that night, that means we would have to leave here by 4 am, making me get up at 3 am to get a shower and situated! Heck- why even go to bed at that point with all my tossing and turning?

We are preparing for little one to arrive though. Daddy has finally started painting the room and should have it done by weekend. Then it will go together fast! We have everything from Tucker. I loved my bedding that I had made for him and we literally only used it for 3 months (2 of which he slept in our room in the cradle). So, we are using it again as well as all the furniture. Easy to put together! The dresser is full of clean gowns, onesies, diapers, sheets, blankets, etc. And once we know if we have a little Thomas Alexander or a little Ann Collier (Annie) will be able to fill in with blue or pink! Funny how second time around, you know that the important stuff is and that is what you go with (at least that is the case for us here). The picture I have included is a picture of me at about 8 months! My sweet and dear playgroup friends from our old neighborhood gave us a Playgroup Diaper shower at the beginning of March. And they totally stocked us up on great diapers, wipes and a few necessities! I must say I do believe I have grown since this picture. Thankfully the scale hasn't grown too much since then (although it if had, I might have thrown it out the window) but my belly definitely feels like it can't stretch any further! Tucker is wondering where my belly button is and if it will return! Let's hope so!

Soccer Mania

2011-03-22T11:44:00.001-07:00

Well, we have finally started our first season of soccer. We have been trying to keep little man active all year and this is one of our first tries at soccer. We started with swim lessons last summer and kept them going all fall and winter (just finished our last session in Feb and will start back in May). Now our little man is working on running and kicking! We were hoping to get in the program here in Jasper but due to some conflicting communication on what age they start here, we decided to go with a small group about in a community 15 miles south. Tucker had a blast! He kept asking on the way home if he would get to go back the next day. He is mainly doing what his coach calls "Soccer Olympics". Basically doing some drills with lots of free kicking and play in between. Just what a 3 or 4 year old needs! Tucker had a blast! He is very excited about being a big kid, playing soccer, and getting to have blue Gatorade aftewards! We'll see how the rest of the season goes. If well, we plan to start back up again here in Jasper in the Fall. Quick photo while he came to retrieve his soccer ball.
Trying to kick the ball at the coaches feet.

Going for the goal

Before heading out, Mommy tried to get a photo.

Here we have Tucker throwing the ball in the air. He was very excited!

Saying he is 3 and 3 year olds play soccer!!!

Spring is in the air

2011-03-22T09:02:00.000-07:00

Just as we finished up a few days of cold, yucky weather, we headed to the beach with the DiPiazza Family! We had a great time enjoying beautiful weather in Destin. And great company! Tucker was a fish in the pool. We could really tell his swim lessons this past summer, fall and winter had paid off! Lots of fun and laughs as we enjoyed one last trip out of town before little one joins our family! Abby and Tucker playing Santa in the bath.
Aunt Chele taught Tucker how to make a drip castle! He loved this!

Tried boogie boarding (tried being like his older cousins).

Digging holes! Loved having a giant sandbox called the beach.

Pregnant Then and Now...

2011-02-19T08:13:00.000-08:00

Well, again, I am playing catch up on what has been going on with the Rhodes! Funny how the blogs start to get further and further apart. One reason, lots going on. Second reason, in our new house the computer is downstairs in the office. So we just don't get to blogging as often as we used to. And thirdly, well, these days this Mama is starting to feel her age at 7 months pregnant.

Must say, second time around has been a bit harder in some ways but then again not really. With Tucker, I was teaching 23 fourth graders and on the go each day from 6:30 to 5. Now, I am chasing around a strong-willed 3 1/2 year old. With Tucker, I didn't have time during the day to think about every feeling or every movement. Now, I definitely have more time to pay attention to what is going on with my body. With Tucker, I had gestational diabetes. Now, and praise the Lord, I passed my one hour glucose test at 24 weeks. But still trying to watch the carbs just to play it safe (but still enjoying ice cream and chocolate). And with Tucker, I was just turning 30 at 9 months pregnant. With this little one, I'll be about to turn 34 just after birth. With Tucker, I was so anxious about getting the nursery put together and all done. Now, well, all we really have to do is paint and put furniture together-no big deal- it will be done before birth! So, there are definitely some changes this go around. But, it has been just as much of a joy and amazing blessing as it was with Tucker. Although the excitment is different 2nd go around, the joy and love is truly the same if not even stronger because you know what is to come! And we are so thankful for this blessing!

Little one #2 is definitely growing and doing well. Moving a good bit- I guess. I keep just saying that maybe this little one will be a bit calmer! Don't get us wrong, we love the energy our sweet boy has. We wouldn't want it any other way. BUT it would be nice to have our 2nd be a baby who just goes with the flow and isn't so opinionated! :) Guess we'll see come May! We are officially 28 weeks going on 29. Like I said, we had our glucose screening at 24 weeks due to my history with Tucker. It was an easy test (to me just tastes like really sweet Sunkist) and after leaving I kept waiting to get the call that I had failed and needed to come back for the 3 hour. Well, by 3 I hadn't heard a thing (went in at 9:45) and was beginning to wonder if they had forgotten to call. So I called and learned that by not getting a call- I had passed the test! Talk about a shocker! But a nice surprise. Harris is now thinking we might have a little baby girl growing due to these results. It is all hormone related and guess there could be some different hormones working in there! :) Again well see, come May 3 or 4th. This past week, Tucker and I went to my 28 week visit. Tucker had not see Dr. Brown since he was two weeks so he was curious about who she was. And boy was he curious about it all! Lots of questions from the minute we hit the parking deck. He enjoyed getting to hear the heartbeat for the first time. Although I am not sure he really knew what to listen for. It was a good visit for him and a good introduction for him to the hospital. Come April, he and Daddy will be going back for a Big Brother class and tour. I think that will help him as well. While at this visit, we did talk about what day of the week we would be welcoming our little one to the world. We were just curious so we could plan out Harris' vacation days as well as Tucker's plans with family for those days we are in the hospital. Turns out, we learned two specific dates we'll go in for a repeat c-section: May 3 or 4. Will let all know as we get closer to time!! Counting down the days!

Hunkering Down

2011-01-11T11:59:00.000-08:00

Well, we started off 2011 with a nice long weekend of hunkering down in the snow! Not sure that Tucker knew what to expect this past weekend as we told him we might get snow. The past few weeks there have been other times of snow, yet he had not been able to play in any of those. So, We really don't think he believed us! Well, after the ice started on Sunday afternoon and the snow started right after Tucker went to bed, we knew we would have a pretty snow by morning! And boy did we! After measuring, we had a nice sandwich layer (ice-snow-ice) of about 5 inches. Would have been more if the ice wasn't on top. But made for great sledding! Daddy was stuck home due to the ice on the roads. Aunt Becca and Uncle Matt came over by 4 wheeler. And to top it off, the day of fun in the snow was ended with a wonderful Auburn victory! The snow is still here (as of Tuesday, 1/11/11). Still pretty but not fun to be in- just all iced over! We enjoyed our snow but are ready for it to go! Ready for dry ground to play on and no more staying home! Working on a snowman with Aunt Becca
Sledding Fun

Good old flat moving boxes worked the best!

Celebrating a great slide by Tucker! He had a blast!

Pushing off in the deeper areas...

... turned into a nice little slip and fall by Daddy! The container turned into a snow plow!

Off to find a nice sledding spot

Trying to make a snow angel- but his body couldn't push through the top layer!

Just getting out! Dancing around in the snow!

House

Christmas 2010

2011-01-11T11:24:00.000-08:00

So, we are a little behind in uploading photos! Our snowy weekend has given us a chance to upload and catch up! Here are a few of our Christmas pictures! Crashing that night in his new sleeping bag/tent on Mommy and Daddy's floor
Testing out Santa's new gift

Toy Story is our obsession and thank goodness Santa knew that!

Stocking stuffers-

What Santa left behind!

Cuddling with Mommy on Christmas Eve

Doggy treats for Santa Paws

Cookies and milk (and reindeer food in the yard)

Opening a few gifts before Christmas Eve dinner

With Daddy after Santa

Santa's ambassador at Bass Pro shop

Bringing our list to Santa

Enjoying treats and lunch at his school party

Working on his craft with Daddy at his school party

Boy or Girl??

2010-12-28T14:26:00.003-08:00

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??

2010-12-28T14:26:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T13:42:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-18T12:10:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-01T15:44:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-11-01T15:38:00.001-07:00

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!

2010-11-01T15:32:00.000-07:00

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

2010-11-01T15:20:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-08T05:01:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-07T04:58:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-06T16:03:00.001-07:00

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

2010-08-26T13:40:00.001-07:00

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

2010-08-17T05:15:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-16T12:07:00.001-07:00

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

2010-08-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-07-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-24T07:41:00.001-07:00

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

2010-07-21T15:10:00.001-07:00

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

2010-07-21T14:54:00.000-07:00

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.

Exhaustion

2010-07-21T14:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are finally in and I guess you could say settled. Or at least as settled as can be for now! We closed on June 25th and movers moved us in the next week -along with Harris (and all the rest of the family) moving odds and ends from various homes and our storage unit. I think I can actually say that pretty much all of the boxes have been unpacked (except a few) and hopefully pictures will be hung this weekend. Tucker has loved being in his new home. Our basement has a large den as well as two sets of Jack and Jill rooms on either said. Tucker has pretty much taken over his bedroom and the den. He has his train table set up in it plus all of his toys and tools! Many fun times to come! He sleeps well there too! We leave the stairwell light on all night so if he should need to find Mommy and Daddy he can. He has only had to do that once during the night and comes right up in the morning to make sure we are up and ready to go for the day! So far, we are trying to get back in a schedule of things. Tucker has spent many days riding his bike on the screen porch, exploring the yard and finding "fossil leaves", visiting our new neighbors, walking through "blueberry forest" (the blueberry bushes of our neighbors), eating breakfast or lunch on the back porch, and just having lots of space to play! I am sure we will have many more stories and pictures to come... what an exciting journey we have embarked on!

Taking a little rest after all the exciting play on one of our first days here!

Today is the day!!!

2010-06-25T05:12:00.000-07:00

Homeless No More!

Yes, as of today at 3pm we will no longer be homeless! We are set to close on our house in Jasper! Yea!! We have been waiting for this day for SOOOOOO long! Approximately 7 weeks of being homeless! We have been working hard the past week to start preparing to move. Harris has been VERY busy putting in hardwood floors upstairs and building a railing for the stairs. Below you will find a couple of pictures. We love this house and all the possibilities with it. It is an older home that has been loved incredibly and we can't wait to carry that on. The house sits on almost 6 acres and backs up to Blackwater Creek (for those of you who know the Jasper area). In fact, the back of our "yard" is the creek. Great for fishing and lots of exploring for a young boy. The best part is when it is just right, you can hear the water from the back screened in porch. To be honest, this house has a lot of what Harris and I have always said we wanted "one day"- tons of porch space, rooms to grow into, and land to love. Well, that day is today! We honestly weren't planning on this just yet but it is amazing how things work out the way they should. We know there is a bigger plan than what we know and we feel that this is just a step in the direction we are being led. Moving van loads on Wed!!! View of house from the little road that ends at our driveway. There are nesting houses all along it for lots of birds!
View from front.
Discovered last week that there is an apple tree that has apples great for pies and baked goods!

View of house down by the creek.

This is where we will be working hard to have great gardens.

My goal is to have a pumpkin patch next year!!

Closer view of backporches (my favorite places).

Great screened in porch, side deck for grilling and covered porch downstairs for bike riding and playing!

Storytime Fun...Nick Jr. Style!

2010-06-10T13:42:00.000-07:00

Last night, Tucker and Mommy had a great time at Nickelodeon's Storytime show. We went with Aunt Chelle and Abby and Aunt Laura and Sarah. What a great night of crazy fun- and yes, we also enjoyed seeing Dora, Wonder Pets, Backyardigans and Kai-lan! Tucker wasn't sure what to think of it all and had some interesting comments. But in the end, he had a great time watching the characters and staying up late! Trying to get a good picture of the three cousins before heading off to the show in the Loftus Mobile!
Crazy Aunt Chelle- All the inside pictures were a bit dark! We kept getting in trouble trying to take pictures! Supposedly you can't even take a picture before the show-even without flash!!! Wow!

The backdrop(?) that would come down in between shows.

Tucker and Mommy after the show!

Boy was he going strong for past his bed time!

Swimming Lessons ... Take One

2010-06-08T12:16:00.001-07:00

Today, Tucker started his first set of swim lessons. He will be meeting with his instructor twice a week for the next three weeks. Then, we'll start again. We started lessons for the summer to keep our little man busy while he is not in school. Plus, we feel it is important to start the process of learning to swim. Tucker had a great time and is looking forward to going back! In the meantime, we'll be practicing in the tub! What fun!

Cousins

2010-06-06T12:12:00.001-07:00

This past week, Tucker had a great visit with his cousin, Owen. He had fun playing with Owen and Owen's toys. Before getting to Gamma and Poppy's house, Tucker seemed to think that Owen was his age and would be running around with him. He hasn't stopped talking about his visit and how Owen is growing into a big boy! Owen is too cute!

Never ending sickness...

2010-06-06T11:53:00.000-07:00

So for the past two weeks, our little man has been under the weather! He has actually been pretty pitiful! He started with a fever virus the week before Memorial Day weekend. Thankfully, his fever disappeared and he was feeling better for most of that weekend. Then we returned home with a fever and ended up discovering his ears were infected. The day after visiting with the doctor and diagnosing the ears, Tucker started with a stomach virus and fever again! Needless to say, we are thankful to be feeling better! Below you'll find a picture of Grandma and Tucker resting on one afternoon he wasn't feeling well!

Memorial Day at the River

2010-06-06T11:48:00.000-07:00

A few photos from our Memorial Day weekend... One of our favorite pictures from the weekend! Tucker wanted to fish all weekend and Poppy was happy to teach him!
Yes- in the midst of all the craziness of living, we are attempting to potty train!

Enjoying Uncle Matt and Aunt Becca's boat

Home Sweet Homeless

2010-05-27T12:58:00.000-07:00

Where in the world are the Rhodes?

Well, we are here for a little bit and there for a little bit and if you don't watch out we just might come knocking at your guestroom door! :)

No, really, if you have to be homeless this is the way to go. We can't complain one bit! We sold our house in two months, moved out a month later and now are buyers looking for THE home. Correction- THE house- because a home is what you make of it!

We started out staying with the King family for a week starting on May 7th. As May 16th arrived, we packed up our bags (but left a few things at Grandma and Pop King's house) and headed off to visit with Gamma and Poppy Rhodes. After a week at the Rhodes house, we headed back to the King headquarters where we so nicely volunteered to house sit for Grandma and Pop while they were off to St. Louis to visit more family! We'll stay here for one more week and then return to Gamma and Poppy's house for another visit! Did you follow all of that? Well, we have hopped around a bit but we have enjoyed all of the family time. How nice it has been to have help with Tucker (especially since he is finding lots to get into in homes that aren't his), have had yummy homecooked meals prepared for us, coctail hours most nights (thank goodness for wine in the stress of all of this), and wonderful hosts!

We must say that Tucker has handled this pretty well. He has his moments of confusion and concern over his things and our house that we left. Occasionally he wants his house but other wise he has really enjoyed staying with grandparents. Talk about getting a bit spoiled!

Tucker has had some great changes though! Other than the fact he has left the only house he has ever known, he has ventured into the world of becoming a three year old! Yes that is right! Come July 4th, our sweet baby boy will be THREE!!! Wow! And we have started to see some of those changes. The most important one has been potty training. Yes, we started last summer but have finally taken the plunge into full time training. He has done relatively well- considering we started out bribing him with Disney Cars every time he tinkled. Let's just say we have just about every character from the movie plus some characters that we aren't really sure who they are! We have since moved on to receiving gummies after visiting the potty and are doing well with keeping our pull ups dry. We decided to try using pull ups since we are in other peoples homes and Mommy would die if he tinkled on someone's rug! But he loves the pull ups and we work hard to not lose the picture on the front (the one that disappears when it gets wet). We are taking it one day at a time and hoping we are completely trained by the time school starts at the end of the summer. We are also starting to see a bit of a personality change! Tucker's humor is changing. He is getting things in different ways now and even having a bit of a sassy mouth when he doesn't want to do something! Talk about MISTER INDEPENDENT! Must say it is quite cute at times. I am sure the cuteness will fade very quickly with the sass increasing! Oh what the summer will bring for us!

First snap shot of the summer....

One of my favorite pictures of Tucker with sweet Sarah Catherine.

Little do they know, they'll be married one day!

This picture was taken on the porch of a house we have under contract in Jasper! More details to come as things become more official and set in stone! We are very excited about the house and hope we won't be homeless for long! Hoping for a closing date by mid-June!

Let the Packing begin!

2010-05-03T06:47:00.001-07:00

Nothing like packing a house up with a two year old!!! Wow! What an experience!

So many of you know but some do not... We have sold our house! Thank you LORD!! We have been planning this move for basically since Tucker was born but just had to find the right time. Our big fella needs a big yard and nice driveway to ride in as well as a bit more room inside. We listed back at the beginning of February. Things were pretty slow at first. Basically no showings for the first month. As March arrived, so did buyers! We cleaned and cleaned and tried so hard for various showings and even an open house! Yet, the one day Tucker and Mommy have a bum day and the house is a mess, a realtor pulls up to our house unexpectedly. Tucker and Mommy waited in the back yard barefoot as the house was shown (a MESS)! By evening we had an offer and contract! Isn't that how it goes? Well, by any means, we are very thankful for our house selling in just two months! Unfortunately because it all happened so fast, we have not found the house of our dreams (or even a just right house) to move to. So for now since we have to be out by May 13, we are moving to storage and rotating stays with family while we desperately search for our next house! We know it will work out and know that the Lord will take care of us and when it is time, we will have our new home! If there is one thing we have learn in the past year, it is we are not in control! So, we'll keep you posted about our where abouts! Just call us the Traveling Rhodes!

Rhodes/Franklin Beach Trip

2010-05-03T05:34:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a nice relaxing trip to the Gulf with the Rhodes family and Franklin family. And what a great time to go- who knows what the water and beaches will be like now with the oil spill. Although we really didn't see any evidence of the spill, we definitely saw all kinds of other things. Turns out that while we were in Panama City, so were thousands of bikers for Thunder Beach- Bike Rally! Wow! What a week of lots of sights and sounds! Tucker loved seeing all the motorcycles. He had a great time in the giant sandbox. He loved digging, making "snow" angels in the sand and tearing down any sand castle Poppy tried to build! Tucker enjoyed splashing in the water and running on the beach! He looked for shells and crabs and even sharks, dolphins and jelly fish! Great time was had by all!

Spring Fun

2010-05-03T05:23:00.000-07:00

As the days grew warmer, we started spending more and more time outside! These are a few pictures from our outside time. We loved it when Daddy would get home from work and join us in the back yard! With Daddy's help- 3...2...1....

Lift off!

Happy after a successful rocket launch

Cutting the grass with his "work helmet" or the chalk bucket!

Love

2010-04-10T10:03:00.001-07:00

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind for us. For me (Katie), what ever is going on in life, music seems to be my outlet. Not saying I am musically inclined in any way. Just that it always brings me comfort and joy. Lately my favorite song has become "Love" by Chris Tomlin. His songs are always so powerful to me and this song has just reiterated what we all know- that love is the answer. Love from God, love from each other and love to ourself. If only our world truly did revolve with this in mind, how it would be different. We have experienced so much love in the past two weeks that we could never explain how thankful we are. Except by passing it on.

Here are the lyrics to "Love".

"Love"

[With Watoto Children's Choir]

When our hope is hard to find

And our faith is in decline

We need a cause to stand behind - love

We all want the way it feels

Time it comes and time it steals

What remains, what is real - love [Chorus:]

There is love

There is forgiveness

There is love in times of need

When life is cold there is a promise

You will never go without...

There is love

It heals the sick

Comforts the weak

Breaks the proud

Raises the meek

In this life no guarantees...

Love is the answer

Love will find a way

When we love one another

It's a brighter day

Eat This ...Not That!

2010-04-06T13:54:00.001-07:00

One last Easter idea and favorite! This carrot (opened before I could snap a photo) was the cutest goodie from Tucker's school party. He was sooooo excited because it had orange cheetos in it and Mommy too b/c it wasn't candy!! He keeps asking Mommy if she'll buy the orange ones like his friends have at school. Of course, I keep telling him that the white ones are better because they don't turn his mouth and fingers and everything else bright orange! My point is proven in the pictures below!

Truly enjoying those orange cheetos!!

Easter: The Hope of New Life... Eternal Life

2010-04-05T11:29:00.000-07:00

After a week full of challenges, our family was able to spend quality time with family members to celebrate Easter. Our families have been so supportive with us and have helped us in every way this past week- as have many friends. And what a time to bring friends and family together! This Easter has been filled with sorrow but most importantly filled with love- the greatest of all! Thank you!

Here are a few pics from our Easter festivities. One egg hunt isn't just enough!! We had 3!

Attempting to get a family pic at Grandma and Pop King's

Post Egg hunt with Abby and Sarah

Let the madness begin! Egg hunt at Grandma's and Pop King's

Hunting eggs at our house after church

Leaving church and trying to get one more photo

Daddy worked hard to get this one at church. Too much was going on.

Tucker's favorite place at church.

He wants to go to the court yard all the time after school.

Waking up to see what the Easter Bunny left him!

Egg hunting at Gamma and Pop Rhodes' house

Attempting to walk the bunny that Aunt Becca and Uncle Matt brought

Spring Break 2010

2010-03-22T06:21:00.000-07:00

Well it was a cool start to beach season, but we had a great time with the DiPiazzas and Grandma in Destin! We had a few "warmer",beautiful days and were very thankful for a heated pool! Tucker had a blast in the sand and playing with his cousins. Abby was a trooper by sharing all her toys that Tucker referred to as "mine." The guys had a fun fishing trip and brought home dinner one night. We even encountered a black out on the last evening. Don't even want to know how the spring breakers handled that one! It was a great getaway though! We only wished we could have stayed longer! Tucker is ready to go back!

Daddy just chillin

Tucker and Daddy in the pool

Our fishermen

Daddy's catch

Tucker, Grandma and Abby waiting to go to dinner

Lunch after a morning on the beach

Had to be like the big kids and have a pair of goggles! Thankful for extras!

Snoozing Daddy

Beach time! Thankful we made it out each morning before the springbreakers!

There was some craziness going on down there!

Catch Up!

2010-03-22T05:54:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been awhile since we have posted an entry. I finally up loaded a bunch of photos from the past month and realized how much I hadn't posted!
Our big boy is just that. He has grown quite a bit since fall. Keeps getting taller and stronger. Some days he is stronger than Momma! Not good during a tantrum! Which we have definitely entered into the "I can do it" phase. Sometimes he'll let you know he wants to do something himeself while other times he'll just get so upset and you'll have no idea why! Very dramatic! Thank goodness he is a talker and will eventually tell you what is going on. For instance this morning he had a major fit over Mommy having honey nut cheerios because he wanted some. Yet he never even asked. He finally could tell us he was mad and he was mad at Mommy. Then he finally could say you ate the cheerios (no I didn't eat them all)! Wow! How simple it would have been to start there! But that is the phase we are in. Tucker knows what he wants and wants to do what he can to get it! He continues to be very curious about things and aware of things. He'll talk about things he and "my friends" do at school and the things they say. He continues to love school or Mother's Day Out. We have enrolled him in 3k next year where he'll go three times a week and actually focus on school activies. He will be going to chapel, music and learning spanish. We are very excited about all he will learn next year. We continue to work here at home as well. Tucker continues to love reading! He could have to sit and read to him certain books all day. And he knows what books he wants to read. Every time we go to the library he has to check out the same too books (Bob the Builder's White Christmas and Diego Saves Christmas- yes celebrate holidays all year!). He has great comprehension and recollection of books. He is very interested in reading and wants to know what the words say. Since he already knows his letters, we are starting to try and work on sounds of letters and site words.We keep telling him he can read by just looking at the pictures and telling us the story. No worries though- he has plenty of time to learn. Plus, we need all the time we can to still spell things out to other adults!
One thing he isn't interested in is potty training. We keep working on it but he has very little interest. The only thing he wants to do is wear the underwear. The problem comes in with school. They only allow pull ups until the children are completely trained. And I am wanting to stay away from those except at night. So, we are waiting until late may to just jump fully into underwear and accidents. We think he'll get it then! Hoping and keeping fingers crossed! We know that when he is ready he'll get it and so we are waiting for that day to come as well!

Resting after a week of being sick! Fevers are no fun!!

Helping Daddy open his birthday presents!

He loved his Tucker decorated wrapping paper!

Tucker, February 2010-

Snapshots of the Week

2010-02-04T17:27:00.000-08:00

Few shots around the house this week! We've had a few really busy weeks here at our house. But we are finally enjoying a little down time. Here are a couple of pictures...

Some down time with Daddy- a little evening reading!

Found Tucker like this one afternoon- he had cleared the shelves...

so he could do a little reading!

Our little Handyman- fixing the grocery cart's tire

and then the dishwasher. He worked hard on this one!

Took a moment to flash a "cheese"

Then back to work! Can't tell you how many times

this dishwasher has been worked by our handyman!

The Greatest Show on Earth

2010-01-29T14:11:00.000-08:00

We had a great time today visiting the circus! This was Tucker's first trip. Gamma and Pop Rhodes were very kind to take us all (including Aunt Becca and Uncle Matt). Tucker loved it all and had such a great time that by the end he fell asleep on Aunt Becca's lap! We're On Our Way! Counting all the school buses.
View from our seats

We love the elephants! Tucker even wore his elephant shirt to show them.

What a Two year old can do in 5 minutes...

2010-01-29T14:06:00.000-08:00

Tucker's new love- dumping everything out in his room! He can do this very quickly if you don't keep your eye on him! :)

Yes- he even unmade his bed! He loves to get up on it and pull everything off!

Sleep Over with Abby

2010-01-29T13:57:00.000-08:00

While Abby's family traveled to Pasadena, she got to hang out with us for a couple of days! What fun Tucker had having a "big sister" around! We even tried to teach Abby the phrase "Hookem' Horns!" but that didn't turn out right for us! Oh well! We still had fun with Abby!

Trying to go for a "sleigh ride" for our "snowy day"

Tucker learned about Cinderella from Abby and now loves to watch it!

Camp Outs and Wild Gorillas

2010-01-05T17:00:00.000-08:00

Tucker's newest loves...

Recently, Tucker has started enjoying The Berenstain Bears (thanks to Chick-Fil-A). Luckily, Mommy has a whole stack for him to choose from- titles saved from when she was little and loved them. We started with Santa Bear and have moved through quickly- Forget Their Manners, Too Much TV, Momma's New Job, Moving Day, The Golden Rule, Nursery Rhymes, etc. Yet, Tucker's favorite seems to be Go to Camp. Last night, he spent pillow talk time discussing how he was going to go to camp to see Grizzly Bob. He walked through how he would wait in our driveway and watch for Bob's bus to take him to camp. He said he would talk to Grizzly Bob and go watch for the animal spirits (part of Grizzly Bob's story telling at the camp out-we have to read this page about 10 times). Needless to say, I believe Tucker has gained a great comprehension of this book! Watch out future camp counselors!

Finally, our newest movie to enjoy and obsess over is Tarzan! We watched on tv one day when we were home sick. Then, Mommy found it on sale at good old Wally World! Needless to say, we have had to watch it every day since. We now listen to Tarzan songs in the car and talk about how Tarzan didn't talk when he was a baby but talks when he becomes a boy. When buying one of Tucker's favorite cereals (Gorilla Munch), Tucker informed us that it was Tarzan cereal! Guess we should be thankful that we have a break from watching Halloween DVD's and Polar Express!

Visit with Santa

2009-12-29T07:52:00.001-08:00

Yes these are a bit late! Just got them from my sister- as this mommy forgot her camera that day! We decided to kick off the week of Christmas by heading to visit the Bass Pro Santa! We actually hadn't visited Santa this year because of Tucker's great fear last year. We figured he wouldn't be interested in Ho Ho yet- thinking we'd try next year! Well, we were wrong! We met up with cousins for a group Santa photo. Tucker walked right up to Santa and sat on his lap. He even told him how he wanted his orange dump truck and a Diego cup! Afterwards, he kept talking about how Ho Ho gave him a candy cane and was working on his toys in Ho Ho's workshop! Wow! What a change from last year!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-26T12:24:00.001-08:00

What an amazing Christmas our family had this year!We were blessed to have almost all of our immediate family around to celebrate (the best would have been having Mema and the McCormicks with us as well). We started our celebrations on Christmas Eve. After attending church with the Loftus family, we came home for a low key evening of clam chowder and getting ready for Santa. Gamm and Pop Rhodes came and joined us for dinner. Tucker was very excited about Santa coming to see us. He put gingerbread people out and HUGE carrots! Those reindeer had a big snack. When we woke up on Christmas morning, Tucker was surprised to find all that Santa left him. He wasn't really sure what to think of it all- eventually warming up to it and enjoying his presents. Santa brought him exactly what he asked for (orange dump truck and Diego cup) as well as extra (work bench with tools, McQueen slippers, cars, games, etc). After a small breakfast snack and some playtime at home, we headed to the DiPiazza's for the King Christmas brunch. Lots of fun was had by all! There is nothing like a morning of bloody marys, mimosas, brunch, dirty santa and King girl chatter! You never know what will come of the conversation!! After fun and games, we headed home for Tucker to enjoy a nap before heading to dinner at Gamma and Pop Rhodes' house. After a much needed nap for all of us, we headed to a nice relaxing evening with the Rhodes and Franklins. Tucker enjoyed opening his gifts, reading stories with Aunt Becca, and playing in Pop Rhodes' bronco. By the time we headed home for bed, our big guy was still in play mode and thought we would keep on going with toys and presents. Little did he know, it was bed time! After some work, we all finally hit the sack after a wonderful day!! Poor Tucker is not going to totally understand why all the lights will start to go away, decorations come down and presents end. But he is learning that we truly celebrate Christmas all year by celebrating the birth of baby Jesus and the life of Christ! Merry Christmas! Rhodes, Franklins and Rhodes

Opening his Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Reading a Mater book with Aunt Becca

Best gift of all- a big empty box!! Playing with Abby!

Excited to get to open his presents first at King Family Christmas

All eyes on Tucker to open his gifts

Trying out a few items Santa brought

Breakfast with camoflage

Checking out his stocking

As Tucker put it- "Santa made a mess and needs more cookies!"

Finally checking out Santa's gifts

Not sure what to think of Santa's gifts

We woke up to find our house had been visited by Santa

Leaving cookies, carrots and milk for Santa

Gingerbread Houses

2009-12-23T14:51:00.001-08:00

Aunt Michele arranged a fun morning of Gingerbread House making. Tucker had great time decorating and playing with his cousins. Great way to start off the next couple of days!

Group picture
Final products

Mommy and Tucker

A sweet moment with Sarah

The building

Tucker checking out the scene before attempting

Showing off Abby's Dora Backpack.

Tucker wore this teh entire time we were there!

Throw Me Some Candy Mister!

2009-12-23T14:35:00.001-08:00

Christmas Parade: Part Three! We headed to the Chelsea Christmas Parade to watch Catherine Twirl! This as become an annual event- since before Tucker was with us. We all load up, bring some Krispy Kreme yummies and cheer for Catherine. The kids have great fun hanging out and then catching all the goodies thrown their way! This year it was extremely cold which added to the excitement! Our Twirling Catherine (wearing the red headband)
Sarah and Abby

The view from above

We Three Kings

Ready to collect HIS candy (as he says)

Hanging out in the car before the parade- it was tooo cold!

Watch out for falling milk cups

2009-12-11T05:39:00.000-08:00

So, in the midst of being sick, our big guy got a boo boo! It was a big deal to Mama. Tucker dropped a full sippy cup on his big toe. You can see the consequences. It immediately caused bleeding under the nail and is now all black and blue! But as Daddy says, it won't be the last nail that he loses or turned black and blue (spoken like a true rugby player)! So, Mommies watch out for those big sippy cups full of milk- they can be DANGEROUS! ;)

Just love those size 10 monkey toes!!!

Tucker James and the No Good, Horrible, Sick Week!

2009-12-11T05:28:00.000-08:00

So, for the past week we have been locked down in the house. Our little man has been running a fever all week as well as has a pretty nasty cough/cold. So, needless to say, we have busy trying to come up with things to do other than watch tv (although there as been WAY too much of that!). Here are a few pics.. and yes, he is in the same pjs everyday! They were washed somewhere in there. You know~ you do what you have to do to make a sick boy happy!

Grandma loaned us her playdough animals!

They are our favorite and we have played with them daily!

Making a christmas hand wreath.

Figured he'd be doing these things at school,

so we made on here at home since we missed school all week!

Excited that St. Nicholas left him a treat in his shoe last weekend.

Now Scoop has a playmate... Muck!

Christmas Parades 1, 2, and eventually...3!

2009-12-05T14:03:00.000-08:00

Well, the parade season has officially started! We started off our "tour" of parades on Thursday when we went to the Gardendale Christmas Parade. We met up with Gamma and Pop Rhodes. Pop Rhodes had reserved us a great spot with his truck. We enjoyed a quick tailgate dinner and then cheered on the parade. Had a great time! I even saw a student (in the parade as Miss North Jefferson) from my first year of teaching! She was a little surprised to hear me from the crowd! Then we were on to the Homewood Christmas parade to cheer on Will as he marched with his cub scouts. It was a cold, snowy morning but we were there! And thank goodness- because we saw the best part of any parade so far- the Mayfair Dairy Brown Cow. He is our favorite thing right now. We see him when we go and visit Grandma and Pop King. Sometimes he is there and sometimes he is missing! We have to roll down the window and yell to the cow. Today, we saw him up close and personal! We were more excited about Brown Cow than Santa! In a couple of weeks, we'll be heading south for our final parade in Chelsea to cheer on Catherine as she twirls! We love the Chelsea parade and can't wait to cheer her on!

Watching the parade and holding on to candy! THE BROWN COW!! OH MY!

Will Will throwing us candy!

Cheese Mommy! Yes, I am cold and Yes, I wish I was playing in the snow!

Abby freezing in the cold as we waited for the parade to start! Tucker waving at the parade. He has that perfected!

This was one of my students from my first class I taught! She was surprised to see me! It was fun!

With Gamma and Pop Rhodes

With Mommy and Daddy at the Gardendale Parade

Thanksgiving

2009-12-05T04:22:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had a busy day but very thankful to be able to share our day with family! We started out up at Smith Lake with the King side at the "Wesson Compound." We were able to enjoy a morning of play and lunch with Cousin Jim and Monica and all our cousins. Tucker couldn't wait to play with his cousin Wyatt (who is only 5 months older). He had a great time. We were able to get our family Christmas picture taken as well as a few other great shots (thanks to our professional photographer- my sister Michele). Then we were off to a relaxing dinner in Jasper with the Rhodes and Franklin families. By the time we headed home, Tucker was worn out! He had played all morning and afternoon and only slept about 30 minutes on the way to Jasper. He had a great time once to Jasper: seeing cows, driving tractors, and jumping on a mini trampoline (which somehow ended up in our trunk- great for a rainy day though). Here are a few shots from our day, minus the family one of course- have to wait until we mail out our Christmas cards!

High Five with Daddy

Say Cheese!

Veteran's Day

2009-11-14T05:32:00.000-08:00

We attended our first Veteran's Day parade in Birmingham. We went to watch for Cousin Patrick (as well as the rest of the Loftus family) and Cousin Will (and the rest of the DiPiazza family) as their cub scout troops marched! Tucker had a great time waving, watching horses and watching for Patrick and Will Will. Little did we know we were watching the largest Veteran's Day parade in the nation and the oldest! Patrick and part of Catherine
Loftus family approaching our spot

I couldn't find Will in all the people. But this was his group!

Waving to all the parade participants

The beginning of the parade- the Boys Scouts

Rainy Day Fun

2009-11-14T05:25:00.001-08:00

Tucker's friend, Brandon, was kind enough to invite us over for some inside fun on a rainy day! They blew up their "jumping house" and Tucker had a blast with Brandon and Maya! Tucker had never jumped on something like this and let's just say he was determined to not leave the house to come home either!

Airplanes!!

2009-11-09T13:47:00.001-08:00

We enjoyed some great weather this past Sunday as we visited with our friends, Andrew and Tracy, at their airplane hanger. There were WWII (or I) bomber planes at the airport for the weekend and the Ellis' were kind enough to invite us down to visit. We were able to visit with friends as well as see some great airplanes. Tucker loved seeing them take off and land. He was full of energy and basically loved getting to run around. He loved getting to sit in Andrew's plane and pretend to drive it! Definitely a fun time! Thanks, Andrew and Tracy!

Brought rocket to have as a back up toy! Attention on the airplanes only last so long!

With Daddy watching a plane take off!

With William in his Daddy's plane

"Flying"

Pumpkins to Turkeys

2009-11-04T11:49:00.000-08:00

We had a little arts and crafts time at home today. Since Halloween is now over, it is time to focus on Thanksgiving and all we are thankful for! So, we decided to change our warty pumpkins into warty turkeys! Tucker loved the googly eyes. He didn't quite understand why Mommy was the only one to operate the gun (the hot glue gun). But he was amazed by it and watched in awe! Next week, we plan to make more turkeys out of some big pine cones! Adding the final touches

Picking out the colored "feathers" for Mommy to glue

Final product

Our Big Fella

2009-11-04T11:45:00.001-08:00

Here is a picture of Tucker before we headed to school this week! He looked like such a big kid in his sweater vest that we had to snap a picture. He has grown up way too fast!

Halloween Fun

2009-11-01T06:26:00.001-08:00

Tucker had a great time as Bob the Builder for Halloween! He woke up from his afternoon nap ready to party! We started the party off visiting Gamma and Mema. Tucker even had a trial trick or treat with some of the rehab residents where Mema is staying right now. Then it was off to the Loftus house for dinner and trick or treat! Tucker had so much fun. He would go up and say trick or treat and then he would just kind of linger there waiting for the people to ask him in. If they had a dog, he would ask if they had a doggy! We didn't quite grasp the concept of getting the candy and leaving. By the time we were done, Tucker was not! He wanted to go to one more house! He had lots of fun sampling candy!! Of course on the way home he wanted his candy and was very upset to not get to have more! What a night! Thank goodness it is just once a year!

With Gamma

Trick or Treating at Mema's rehab

Bob and Belle (Sarah)

Tucker had told Mommy she would be a kitty cat. So here she is!

Trick or Treating

With Belle

One of the first houses

Favorite picture! Big Bob and Little Bob!

Loading up the wagon

Bob the Builders

Sticky Hands

2009-10-28T06:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we celebrated our return to school (Tucker was out sick all last week) by carving our kitchen pumpkin! When I told Tucker what we were going to do, all he could say was his hands would get sticky! Oh dear- I believe Mommy has sheltered this child from dirty stuff too long! Need to dig in the mud some! Here are a few pics from our carving!

Finished pumpkin

Kissing the pumpkin's nose

Not wanting to put his hand in all the seeds

Dressed His Finest

2009-10-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

Tucker graced us the other night in his best hat- Daddy's hat! Couldn't resist taking a picture! He was all decked out with his bear "towel" bib on and his hat!! Too cute!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins and More Pumpkins!

2009-10-15T12:49:00.001-07:00

We love this time of year! The weather is finally cooling off. The leaves are starting to fall. It is getting darker earlier. And... there are pumpkins everywhere!! Including our house! We love pumpkins. We aren't far from the Farmer's Market and we have found that to be our favorite place to find all kinds of pumpkins. The other day we made our second trip there to buy pumpkins to paint since we are stuck inside with all the rain we are having! I am sure it won't be our last as we need to get pumpkins to carve to go outside with our bright orange lights! Here are a few pictures! Tucker wanted eyes on his pumpkins and he especially wanted eyebrows!! We are fascinated with eyebrows right now!

From Sweet Baby Boy to Daddy's Big Fella

2009-09-25T12:39:00.001-07:00

Ever since Tucker out grew his infant carrier we have had it sitting in Tucker's closet. It started out in there for safety during a tornado warning. His closet is our only "safe" room and we had heard that it would be good to have an infant placed in their car seat during a visit to a safe room for a possible tornado. Well, thankfully we have never had to use the seat in that manner and it has served as a place to stack outgrown clothing before storing the clothes. This past week I came out of our bedroom to discover that Tucker had pulled this car seat out of his room and was using it as his chair to watch a little TV while he finished his snack! Couldn't resist snapping a picture! He loved it. It looked so funny to see our big guy in what was once something that swallowed him up! Amazing how quickly they grow! Not a baby anymore!

Pretty in Pink

2009-09-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

No, we don't have a lot of pink in our house. Our sweet boy is definitely all boy. He loves to wear Daddy's boots, Daddy's hats, and Daddy's ties. So, when Momma was taught how to make tutus by some our sweet playgroup friends (Thank you Lindsey and Jamie!), Tucker decided he needed to help. He of course had "Muck" the dump truck help bring the material to Mommy and finally (after a little reluctance) modeled the tutus so Mommy could make sure they would fit a couple of sweet girls!

Hauling all that pink!
Trying a tutu on! Something fun and different!

Happy Anniversary!

2009-09-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

Grow old along with me

The best is yet to be

When our time has come

We will be as one

God bless our love

Grow old along with me

Two branches of one tree

Face the setting sun

When the day is done

God bless our love

Spending our lives together

Man and wife together

World without end

Grow old along with me

Whatever fate decrees

We will see it through

For our love is true

God bless our love

Exiting August Day

2009-09-20T18:57:00.000-07:00

Yes, these pictures are a tad late but thought we'd share Tucker's exciting moment on the tractor with George! Thanks to cousin Taylor, Tucker had his first ride on a big tractor! We spent Dad's (Pop King's) birthday celebration at the lake with the Wesson family! They kids all had a great time and even Pop King tried to do a little fly fishing with all the craziness going on! Taylor was great with Tucker and took him straight from the water to visit with neighbor George who working with the tractor! Next thing we new, Tucker and George were riding around! Big day! Lots of fun!! Here are couple pictures! And as Monica said, Safety first! Nothing like wearing a lifejacket on a tractor!

First Month of School

2009-09-20T18:35:00.000-07:00

We have been having fun getting used to school and boy have the days been flying by. Tucker has just finished his first month of school. Tucker loves his teachers Ms. Marie and Ms. Vickie. It is funny where he will bring them up in our day to day routine-such as "Mommy wear blue gloves like Ms Marie?" when changing his diaper! We have had a great transition to school. He loves it! We have finally started to see a little bit of separation anxiety. He has started mentioning that Mommy go to school with Tucker or he'll ask where Mommy went. He feels especially confident on Thursdays when Mommy stays at school for her bible study class- little does he know Mommy leaves afterwards for some quick errand running. But once he is in class is if ready to go! It has been interesting having time away from Tucker. At first, I wasn't too sure about how to spend my time away. Because it is a little bit of a drive for us, I like to stay "in town" and save on gas. Most days errands are run. Mommy has finally picked back up going to the gym without Tucker (tried last year and he just kept gettin sick). Otherwise, it is pretty nice running in and out of stores without a stroller or a 2 year old saying, "Mommy I want that. No, Mommy I NEED that!" Yes, we have had the conversations about getting things we need and not ones that we want.

Back to school- Tucker is loving school. He is so excited and full of energy when I pick him up that getting our nap these days is a bit harder than normal. He will jabber all the way home about what he did, what someone ate at school for lunch, who he played with. Our new focus right now in the car to and from school is nursery rhymes. They are focusing on nursery rhymes this month-specifically Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Mary Had a Little Lamb. Twinkle Twinkle isn't new to us but the others are. And what fun we are having saying them over and over and over. Plus, talk about great vocabulary lessons! Just ask Tucker what Jack's crown is?! Or how Humpty Dumpty was an egg (which is never stated in the rhyme so could he be something else as well?) It is quite fun to get to focus on certain topics with school-especially from parent's perspective. I am sure there will be more to come- especially with all the holidays coming up ahead!

Mother's Day Out Or Bust!!!

2009-08-20T16:29:00.000-07:00

Off for our first day! Trying to hold his bag like a big boy!

Before Open House- Tucker wouldn't look at the camera unless he was super close!

What an eventful week! Tucker started Mother's Day Out or school as we call it in our house! We have been preparing for this day for weeks! We have been talking about going to school, picking out school supplies (to use at home at lease- you can't pass up the .25 cent crayons!), and reading lots of books about going to school -Froggy Goes to School, If You Take a Mouse to School, Clifford's First Day of School, Diego Goes to School, and Little People Go To School. Tucker has started twice a week Mother's Day Out at church. He is even in his old nursery room- which makes it all very familar. Plus, last year as we would go to Mommy's weekly bible study, we would walk down the hall and talk about being in the school hallway. We loved looking at all the artwork hanging. Now, we'll get to admire Tucker's artwork in the hallway.

This week was a special schedule week. We had Open House on Tuesday and first day on Thursday. Open House went great. So great that Tucker didn't want to leave. So, after discussing we needed to head home for snack, we left. Yet on the way to the car, our tired little man did not want to cooperate with Mommy and therefore had to be carried to the car-pitching a fit. Took Mommy about 10 minutes of Tucker screaming at the top of his lungs, attempting to hit Mommy and resisting his car seat before we were finally settled into the car. Then the poor thing cried about halfway home before Mommy had to pull over again to fix him in his seat. After that he finally settled down. Of course, this frazzled Mommy a little and worried her about how would he react for his teachers. So, today, we got all ready and talked about going to school with our Larry Ears on (our listening ears according to Veggie Tales). Tucker walked right into his room and never looked back. He had a good day according to his teachers. He was excited to see Mommy and even wanted to be held for a few minutes! We headed to our car where a fire truck sandwich and Nemo gummies awaited us for our ride home (a little special lunch/treat since he won't eat lunch there for another week). Halfway through the sandwich, Tucker was out cold! He had some things to say about school- about his teacher changing his diaper and asking where one of the boys was. Otherwise, it has been interesting trying to get information out of him about his day. Hard to tell what is true from today and what is not (now I know what my Mom (Pat) dealt with all the days I would get in the car from preschool and make up many stories). Either way, sounds like he had a good day! We are thinking we'll go back next week!

Tucker the Builder

2009-08-11T05:35:00.000-07:00

Tucker the Builder (aka Bob the Builder)

We are obsessed with a variety of characters these days- Bob the Builder being top of the list. So, when visiting Pop Rhodes at the bank, Tucker discoverd Pop's building hard hat. Needless to say and thanks to great kindness from Pop Rhodes, we came home with a hard hat- something every builder needs! Tucker wore it most of the morning and then again in the afternoon. Yesterday afternoon, Tucker then asked where his tool belt was. Since we had not played with one, Mommy quickly responded, "well I don't know but let's quickly make one!" So,using Daddy's belt, we had somewhere to hang Tucker's hammer. Then we quickly found Tucker's screwdriver and were all set! Can't you tell what we will be for Halloween? YES WE CAN!!!

Full of Energy!

2009-08-10T05:52:00.001-07:00

Puppy Tucker (Harris found him like this!)

Tucker jumping on the trampoline!

Tucker had a great weekend. We had a fun weekend of visiting with friends and family. On Saturday after running an errand in Jasper, we were excited to join our friends, The Rollins, for dinner at their house. Tucker loves Sarah Catherine, Marc and Jennifer. Tucker and Sarah Catherine had fun playing while the adults had a fun time of visiting and chatting! We hadn't been over to visit since their new dog, Nikko(sp?) arrived.

Busy Days

2009-08-03T05:40:00.000-07:00

With Rhonda at her wedding
Watching our backyard bunny

Playing with Sarah Catherine

Dancing at Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Matt's rehearsal- he danced all night.

Catching some zzzs with Daddy

Well, we have had a busy, busy month. We celebrated Tucker's 2nd birthday, Rebecca and Matt's wedding, enjoyed family time with the McCormicks, celebrated more family and friends' birthdays, caught up with many friends we hadn't seen in a while, and ended the month in the most beautiful way- on top of Chandler Mountain for Rhonda and Derek's wedding!

Tucker has definitely changed in the midst of all the craziness. Seems like when he officially turned two, many things changed. Tucker has definitely hit the independent stage. He wants to do just about everything on his own and occasionally allows us to help him out. We definitely have seen major mood changes. One minute is loves something , the next he wants nothing to do with it. One mintue he wants help, the next he is pushing you away. One minute he wants to go potty on the toilet, one minute he will have nothing to do with it. One minute he is hungry, the next he is ready to be on the move. One minute he is exhausted and ready for bed, and one hour later we are still flipping around in the bed.

We had a great two year appointment with Dr. Huie. We love Dr. Huie. He has just be wonderful with Tucker (and mommy) over the past two years. He was very impressed with Tucker and his talking. He looked in Tucker's ears for elephants and hippos. Tucker loved it when he got his smiley face sticker on a stick and of course was ready for his sucker when the shots were over. Tucker is growing just right. He is on track for his growth. In fact- still in the top 90% with head,height and weight. He weighed in at 35 lbs and 36 1/2 inches. He is definitely our big boy.

Tucker is into so many things right now. He loves creating art with playdough and markers and paint. Loves using his new easel. He loves to sing- real songs and songs he makes up. He loves to pick things out for himself-especially his clothes. He loves trying to eat in a big boy chair as opposed to the safe travel chair. He loves to eat Life cereal every morning for breakfast with an occasional bowl of Krispies with it. He loves to drink "Pa Grape juice." He loves his elephant and horse shirts from St. Louis. He loves to ride the elephant at the mall. He loves his trucks still. But has recently he really LOVES being a Bob the Builder fan and is becoming a big fan of Diego as well. He will sing the Bob Builder song all day- including his own version where Bob uses a hammer! He loves to read still and has recently started enjoying visits to the library. We went for the first time this past spring with our friends Lindsay and Trey. We'll that got Tucker hooked-especially checking out Bob Builder stuff. So we met up with Tucker's first buddy, Thomas, and his mommy and his new sister, Madelyn, at the library last week. We were able to enjoy a puppet show (Thomas and Tucker watched for an hour!!!) and then checked out 3 Bob Builder books which Mommy and Daddy couldn't return quick enough due to over reading. We definitely plan to start having a weekly library date in the fall. Tucker will be starting Mother's Day out twice a week in Aug. It will be a change for mommy but Tucker is very excited about going to school at church. We know he will love it and it will be good for our big man.

These days, we have just started realizing that are baby boy is no longer a baby and we are definitely in the toddler stages with our Big Fella! You know it is true when your baby tells you...

"Harris, look at me!!"

"No, No, No!!"

"I sleep with Mommy"

"There is Daddy's building with the American flag"

"Let's go see Daddy"

"Tucker sit there, Mommy sit there and Daddy sit there!"

"I wear my elephant shirt. My horse shirt is dirty."

"No, can't"

"Mommy, share!"
"No, that's not yours. That's Tucker's!"

"Let's watch Bob Builder, Mommy."

and finally, when he is asking the nursery workers "where is the computer" so he can "listen to Bob Builder music."

We have definitely hit a new stage. Lots of questions of who is that or what is that or where is that. We are dreading the day that Why becomes a question. But excited about all the changes and watching our sweet baby Big boy grow!

Potty Update!

2009-07-08T12:44:00.000-07:00

Potty Break through!! Just an update to an earlier posting- Tucker has finally tinkled in the big boy potty. So now that he has actually done something and knows what it is, we will be continuing to work on using the potty. We definitely have a long road ahead until we are finally done but definitely one step closer! Yea!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Tucker!

2009-07-07T04:52:00.000-07:00

Our sweet boy is 2!!! Wow, it truly feels funny saying that! For so long, his age has been in months and now we are into years. Definitely not ready for our baby to be a big boy! Tucker will tell you he is Daddy's big fella and Mommy's sweet pea. He is definitely our little firecracker though! We shared Tucker's birthday (July 4th) with family and godparents. As crazy as it is and as full as our house gets, we love having everyone here to celebrate the birth of our baby boy! Tucker was so excited. He actually started to realize all that was going on for his party. All week he could tell you his cake would have "red, blue, and stars!" He was excited to get balloons for the mailbox and have all his family around him! Tucker actually enjoyed having everyone sing "Happy Birthday" as he normally will stop you from singing by saying "nooo, sorry, sorry!" Tucker played all day with his new slide and basketball goal. We decided these were things he could use in the back yard as well as in the garage in the winter. He ended his party with a viewing of Redmountain Fireworks! We were sure he would fall asleep on the way and miss them but thankfully he was able to stay up and watch with excitement. He still occasionally says "Tucker watched fireworks." Thank you to all for the many birthday wishes as well as all the love and support it takes to raise such a wonderful little boy!

Tucker using his new easel and wearing his new Mickey hat!
Watching fireworks with Sarah and Uncle Ted.

Harris and Aunt Beverly waiting for fireworks. We were so excited to have our New Zealand family (Peter, Bev, Ryan and Katie) here for the birthday and Rebecca's wedding! Tucker had so much fun with his cousins and Aunt and Uncle! We really enjoyed two weeks of visiting!!

Waiting for fireworks with Sarah

Aunt Laura and Harris-watching all the crazy kids play!

Andrew and Tracy swinging William!

Trying on his Mickey Mouse hat sent straight to him from Mickey (and the Loftus Family)

Actually opening presents this year!

Enjoying cake with Mommy

Blowing out the trick candles (with a little help)

Listening to everyone sing!

Pop King and Ryan testing out the rockets!

Birthday boy dancing to his own tune! Excitement!!

Like Christmas morning- walking out to find his presents! He loves to slide!!! And has been wanting a basketball goal!

Playgroup Birthday

2009-07-07T04:41:00.000-07:00

Tucker started off his birthday celebration by sharing with his playgroup. We painted footprint flags, played, and enjoyed lunch and cupcakes! Tucker was very excited that his cousins and Aunt Beverly from New Zealand were here to help celebrate as well!

Potty Training.. Here we go!

2009-07-07T04:34:00.000-07:00

No- we haven't technically started potty training. But we are in the beginning stages. Tucker is very interested in sitting on the potty (especially on his special Elmo seat on the toliet). He has many signs of being ready to potty train. Yet we are lacking a few important ones. No rush! We are just easing into doing more sitting! The more he sits the more he is aware! :) Just thought we would share one of our favorites!

Play Date

2009-06-14T05:35:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day weekend, Tucker met up with Aunt Laura, Catherine, Patrick and Sarah at the park. We met up with old childhood friends as well! It was a fun day afternoon. Tucker loves the park and trying to keep with the big kids. He loves sliding, running and climbing. Here are a few photos that have finally been uploaded (just about a month late).

Who's driving this car!?

Big kid slide with Patrick

Sarah... Such a big girl!

Patrick was a good big cousin. He help Tucker climb the "rock wall" (below) and go down the big kid slide (above).

Headed North- Our Family Vacation to St. Louis

2009-06-10T19:21:00.000-07:00

Our final day in St. Louis was spent in the country. We headed up with Aunt Debbie and Uncle Jim and all our other cousins for a day of playing outside, fishing, and visiting. Tucker had a blast and didn't want to leave. He splashed in the kiddie pool Aunt Debbie set up, tried to do the zip line like all the other kids, played on the slide and swings, played with rocks, sat on a tractor, and played, played, played! We had a great trip and wish we could have stayed longer to visit with family! Playing in the pool
Playing ball with Andrew

Checking out the potato gun

swinging with Matt

Climbing the ladder to get to the zip line! Tucker wanted to do what all the big kids were doing!

Yes, even Scoops made it to St. Louis

Checking out Uncle Jimmy's tractor

Daddy and Tucker thought Matt and Mark's windmill was pretty cool!

Headed North- Our Family Vacation to St.Louis

2009-06-10T19:14:00.000-07:00

Harris and the boys (Jeremy, Ben and Will) had a night out at the Cardinal game thanks to Aunt Debbie. She set them up with awesome homeplate seats! Too bad the Cardinal's didn't win.

Great view with the arch

Waiting for the game to start!