The Sellers Family

Thanksgiving in Louisiana

2011-01-03T13:48:00.000-08:00

We headed to Louisiana for Thanksgiving this year. I forgot my camera on Thanksgiving Day, but got plenty of pics of the fun stuff we did to entertain Jack. These are just a few of my favorites.

Storyland at City Park....

Audubon Zoo...

Happy Halloween

2011-01-03T13:41:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pics from Halloween. Jack was a T-Rex(he is really into dinosaurs right now). The Edmistons came over and we ate dinner and then walked around our neighborhood. It was low key but alot of fun.

Jack the Barber

2011-01-03T13:33:00.000-08:00

Brandon was out of town for work one night and I let Jack have a sleep over in my bed with me. I put him to bed and then went out to the living room to watch tv for a while before I went to bed. After he had been in there for about an hour and I thought he was sleeping he yelled that he needed to go to the bathroom. I walked in there to help him and didn't notice a thing. I got him on the potty and turned around to walk out and noticed this on my bathroom counter. I'm sure you can imagine my reaction. I turned around and he was just smiling with a huge chunk of hair missing. I laughed and I cried. I was laughing because he looked so funny and crying because we had family pictures in a week.

Luckily, he only cut it on one side, but the shortest part was all the way up to his scalp. We have a great barber that was able to fix it enough that we could still take our family pictures and they turned out pretty good.

Why Daddy Works...

2010-10-29T13:00:00.000-07:00

This morning Jack woke up, really early, and was so excited that Daddy was still home. He ran to the bathroom where Brandon was getting ready and this is the conversation that they had...

Jack: "Daddy, it's not a work day?"
Brandon: "Yeah, Buddy it is , but tomorrow isn't a work day."
Jack: "Daddy, you go to work to pay for this house?"

Brandon came and told me about the conversation. I didn't really believe him, I guess, so I asked Jack, "Why does Daddy go to work?", He said,"Mommy, he has to pay for this house. It costs alot of money."

We laughed so hard... I mean, where do they get this stuff.

The Pumpkin Express

2010-10-26T08:03:00.000-07:00

We decided this year to do the Pumpkin Express with Jack instead of driving out to the pumpkin patch that we have been going too. You ride a real train to a pumpkin patch and then get to play, pick out a pumpkin and ride the train back. We went with our good friends The Edmistons and their Sons, Jack a.k.a. Friend Jack and Baby Lyle.
This is the boys patiently waiting on the train to arrive...it was a little delayed.

The train conductor came and sat with the boys for a little while. When they would get restless we would joke with them saying that the train conductor would come and get onto them if they didn't calm down. Paul got the train conductor to come and sit with them and they weren't sure what to think. You can see Friend Jack was a little nervous and Jack wanted to test him(what's new).

Once we got to the pumpkin patch they had alot of fun stuff for the boys to do. They had a blast in the corn maze, the bouncie, and they hayride.

Family Pic

My Boys

The boys being silly

Jack and Brandon picking out a pumpkin. Jack wanted the smallest one they had and it took forever for him to decide which one was the smallest.

Jack boarding the train to head back to the station. We can't wait for The Polar Express in December.

Flat Stanley Visits Birmingham

2010-10-26T07:41:00.000-07:00

Our Cousin Gordie, who is in second grade sent Flat Stanley to visit us and learn about Birmingham a few weeks ago. For those of you not familiar with Flat Stanley, it is a book about a little boy that is flattened by a bulletin board. He travels the country in an envelope to learn about different parts of the world. He had the pleasure of visiting us and we had a blast with it. Brandon actually did most of it....He took Jack and Flat Stanley to Birmingham Landmarks and then we wrote a letter to Gordie telling him about Flat Stanley's adventures.
This is Flat Stanley at Sunday School...

The Zoo....

Botanical Gardens...

The Vulcan...These are just a few of the places that he visited. He even got to see Jack's school and the pumpkin patch.

Soccer Star

2010-10-26T07:18:00.000-07:00

Last month Jack started Fall soccer and has loved it. I was a little hesitant as to how well he would do with others, since we don't like to share anything these days, but I was so happy when he got out there and did what he was supposed to do.
They are too young to have week night practices so we have a 30 minute practice before the game and then they play another team for 30 minutes. It is great. The first week Jack was the only one that played the entire time. Most of the other players had trouble sharing the ball and got upset and sat out. Not bragging on my child, I was just very surprised that Jack didn't do that, so I am very proud.

Little action shot

We miss out nap every Sunday because of the game so this is what happens before we even get out of the parking lot from the game.

Brandon is so proud of how well he is doing. He thought the same as me:)

He is pretty proud too...to say the least. Sometimes I wish he were a little shy. Next weekend is the last weekend until spring. It has been alot of fun.

First Day of Preschool..Young 3's

2010-09-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

Jack started his first day of 3 year old preschool last Wednesday and he is liking it..loving it would be a stretch. I think he is having a hard time adjusting to not being able to play all of the time. He is really excited about science and getting to play on the big playground this year though.

He gets to ride to school with his BFF Mitchell every morning and loves it. They were both so excited about their first day!

I can't believe they are growing up so fast. It seems like yesterday he was born and we are one year closer to kindergarten.

Another Trip to Mandeville

2010-09-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Jack and I went to Mandeville for a long overdue visit. We had a great time. We got to do lots of fun stuff...celebrate Mom and Dad's Birthdays, visit Family in BR, visit friends and friends kids, watch 2 Saints Preseason games, visit with my Grandma, etc. It was a busy week and a half but well worth it. The first night we were there we went to dinner for Mom's Birthday with Mom, Ms. Sandoz, and Ms. Boyd. It was a great time....I wish I would have had my camera to take pics.

On Dad's Birthday we headed over to New Orleans for the day. We had a fabulous sushi lunch and then headed to the IMAX and the Aquarium with Jack. He had never been to the IMAX and was so excited...(I confess that I was just as excited because it has been years since I've been to the IMAX).

He was so excited to have his own ticket and then to watch the movie....that is until it started. He was scared to death, so the glasses came off realy quick and Dad and I had to take turns convincing him that it was okay, since we were stuck in the middle of the aisle. It will be a few more years before we try that again.

After the IMAX we headed into the aquarium for a much better time. He had so much fun. He is definitely at that age where he really gets into the fish and understands what is going on. I wish we had something like this in Birmingham.

The next week we went and spent a few days in Baton Rouge with Maw Maw and Paw Paw and family. Jack loves to visit and see everyone.

Since he is the only Grandchild and Great Grandchild he gets alot of attention which leads to alot of this....being silly. He loves to put on a show and to play with his cousin Gordie. We got to check Gordie out of school one day to come and play and he thought that was so cool.

My sweet Paw Paw is retiring at the end of this month and wanted Jack to come and meet everyone that he works with so we spent the morning at his office. Jack had a great time and Paw Paw was so proud to show his great grandchild off(and I would like to think his oldest grandchild).

It was a great trip and we can't wait to go back in a few weeks. We really cherish all of the time we get to spend with our wonderful family and friends.

Saturday Morning Fun

2010-09-14T10:06:00.000-07:00

Nothing like a Saturday with Daddy....The weekends with Daddy are the highlight of Jack's weeks lately and I think it is adorable. They get out and wash the cars, do work at the hunting property, look for deer behind our house, ride the John Deere, go to Home Depot, etc. He wants to be everywhere his Daddy is.

Happy Birthday Brandon (Daddy)!

2010-07-29T10:23:00.001-07:00

Tuesday was Brandon's 32nd Birthday! While he was at work Jack and I prepared for his birthday dinner. We had Pork Tenderloin, roasted potatoes, crunch slaw, and the yumminess below....chocolate brownie triffle. Jack and I had a blast making it. It was the perfect dessert for him to help make because the brownies and candy bar had to be crumbled, so there was no messing anything up. Mimi and Andi and Joey were able to celebrate with us. It was a great night.

Happy Birthday Brandon. We love you!!

Our Beach Trip

2010-07-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

We spent the last week on our wonderful family beach trip to Destin that has become a yearly thing since Jack was born. It is the trip we look forward to each year. This was the first year that Jack really enjoyed it. He played on the beach for hours,which was great since I love to be on the beach. The beaches were more gorgeous than I have ever seen them and there were no signs of oil. I hope it stays that way.

This picture is my favorite of the whole trip. They are having a little Father/Son chat.

Brandon and Jack had a blast playing on the beach.

Friday was Jack's "official" Birthday, so we went to Big Daddy's Arcade witht The Martins, The McPhillips, and Gigi and Cookie to celebrate. It was a great place that just opened by the owners of Fudpuckers and The Track and has arcade games, pizza, and ice cream. The kids had a blast.

Jack and Cookie had a great time shooting deer. Brandon was really proud of this picture.

Jack loved riding this motorcycle. He barely fit, but he made it work. The arcade was right next door to Fudpuckers so we walked over after to look at the alligators and Jack, Brandon, and I actually took a picture with a small alligator. Jack thought it was so cool. They took the picture so we weren't able to take one of our own.

My little handsome 3 year old. I can't believe how time has flown.

We had a great trip, but were ready to get back home. Jack was ready to get back to his "jeep" of course.

His First John Deere

2010-07-19T15:00:00.000-07:00

Brandon has wanted to get this for Jack since he was a newborn, so we decided that this year would be the year. He calls it his "jeep" and absolutely loves it. I think he would sleep in it if he would fit.

Jack Turns 3

2010-07-19T13:40:00.000-07:00

We had Jack's 3rd Birthday party Saturday at Treetop Family Adventure. It is a new family fun place that has just opened and it was great. If you live in Birmingham you have got to go.

There are tons of arcade games for the kids and adults. Jack had a blast bowling for the first time. There is also laser tag, a big treehouse for the kids to climb in, putt putt golf, water wars, golf carts, etc.

Since most of the kids were 1-4 we did the package that included the treehouse, putt putt, and arcade games. The kids loved playing putt putt. Jack was so proud that it was his birthday. As each person came in he gave them a hug and said "it's my birthday". I think this was the first year that he really got it.

His Parrain and Kayley were able to stop by to join in on the fun for a little while. Notice where they went. John and Brandon are dying for Jack to be the right age to hunt. Anytime they can get a gun or bow (toy, of course) in his hand they do. His Parrain gave him a toy bow and arrow set and Jack loves it.

After all the putt putt and treehouse fun, we headed to the party room for pizza, cake, and ice cream. It was a bit chaotic to say the least trying to round up a bunch of little ones, but it was worth it. They had a blast.

The Go Carts were not included in our package because the kids were too little to do it on their own, but the kid in Brandon, Nikki, and Nanny made us stay after to ride the go carts a couple of times. Jack wasn't real sure when he first got on and didn't understand why he couldn't drive. Once he got going Brandon said he loved it. He was smiling the whole time. Brandon said after a couple of laps he was yelling, "crash into Nanny and Nikki", "go faster".

When we got home Mimi, Nikki, and Nanny stayed over to watch Jack open his gifts and have a small photo shoot with the Birthday Boy.

He had a great birtday party and I can't believe that my little boy is 3. Thank you to everyone that came to his party and made it a very special day.

4th of July

2010-07-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

I have decided that instead of playing catch up I am just going to start with July 4 and keep it up from here. We didn't do much July 4 weekend because we knew were going to be busy the next few weeks. Our friends, The Busby's invited us to an event at the Morgan Creek Winery, about 30 minutes outside of town. We had such a good time that we want to make it an annual thing.

It is gorgeous out there. There were over 1000 people there. You bring your own food, chairs, wine, beer, etc. and just hang out from about 6-10. We were there right at 6 so we were able to sit close to the front where the band was so that the kids could dance and stay entertained.

About 1 hour into the fun. I got bitten by aunts when I was picking up french fries that the kids had dropped on the ground. It hurt really bad but I didn't think anything of it because I had never had issues before. Well about 15 minutes after it happened my knee started swelling and the palms of my hands, bottoms of my feet, and my eyelids, started itching and burning really bad. I thought it was just because it was hot and the mosquitos were out and probably biting me and making me itch all over. Barkley looked over at me and saw that my arms were covered in hives, so she suggested we all head over to the little store to get Benadryl. As we walked over it got worse and worse. I took some Benadryl and went to the restroom. As I was washing my hands I looked in the mirror to see that my entire face was swollen and broken out in hives.(This answered why everyone was staring at me when we were walking). Brandon said that I looked like Will Smith in Hitched.
Brandon decided it would be best to bring me around the corner to the Harpersville Fire Station to let the paramedic look me over so Barkley and Buzz were nice enough to watch Jack and take the kids to pick blueberries. I'm so glad she took pics because he had a blast and I missed all of it. As it turned out I was having an allergic reaction to the ants and after a few Benadryl the hives were gone, I was fine, and we were able to enjoy the rest of the festivities.

It was a late night but the kids and the adults had a blast. They ended the night with a great fireworks show that the kids loved. I can't wait to go back next year. I hope everyone had a great 4th of July.

Ashley

Mother's Day

2010-06-15T16:42:00.000-07:00

I am playing some serious catch up here. We have been so busy already this summer and this is the first chance that I have had to sit down and update. This may take me a few days to post about everything we have been doing.
I'm going to start with Mother's Day. I had a wonderful Mother's Day this year. My Mom came into town for the weekend and we were able to go to brunch on Sunday morning at Another Broken Egg. That afternoon Brandon's Mom and Sister came over and he grilled for all of us. It was a nice relaxing, unforgettable Mother's Day. I couldn't have asked for a better day.

Mother and Son Weekend

2010-04-18T07:25:00.000-07:00

This weekend Brandon headed to a friends camp for a "work" weekend. Jack and I had a busy but relaxing weekend planned. Friday we went to dinner with my Sister and then he got to stay up late to watch The Princess and the Frog...great movie by the way, especially if you are from New Orleans...he is watching it for the 4th time. Saturday, his Aunt Nikki came and got him to go feed the ducks, play, and eat lunch at McDonald's while I got out with Sena and Robbie for a nice relaxing lunch. That afternoon we headed to our friend Lalah Peaglers 2nd birthday. Jack had a blast. On the way home from the party, Jack informs me that he would like a "brilled cheese"(grilled cheese) for dinner from the "brilled cheese" place, so that is where we headed. He directed me to Zoes and we had a great dinner outside. When I say directed, he literally told me how to get there from the backseat. "Mommy, go that way, no not that way, don't slow down(I didn't have a choice since there were 10 cars stopped in front of me, but explain that to an almost 3 year old), the light is red, go Mommy". As we pulled into the parking lot he said, "Mommy, you are going to park, we get out and then we go eat". He quite a boss these days, thinking that he is an adult.

Sorry I have no pics but I do have a few Jackisms that I would like to share:

*While at dinner he was observing what everyone around us was doing(he is so nosey). This couple and there son(probably aroudn 8 or 9) sat down across from us. The little boy had a fruit juice in a bottle that looked like beer. Jack starts yelling(understatement), "Mommy, wook, that boy has a beer". I wanted to crawl under the table in hide. In Louisiana that would be hilarious to everyone, but in Alabama you never know how that will be received. Luckily, they thought it was hilarious. We ate quickly and then left. I thought I had a couple more years before I had to worry about him saying inappropriate things in public, but I guess not.

*After dinner we went to Walmart to grab a few things. He always ask me if he has to get in the buggy(he hates it, as I'm sure most kids his age do). We were just grabbing 2 things so I told him "no, if he would stay right next to me and mind"(wishful thinking). Well, as we pulled into the parking lot he said "Mommy, Mommy, listen to me". I said, "I'm listening, Jack". He said, "You going to be a good girl in the store?" He listens to everything that I say to him.

*One more, before I forget. The other day I was cleaning up upstairs and stepped on a piece of plastic from one of his toys and cut my foot. At first I thought I may need stitches but wasn't sure because it was hard to see on the bottom of my toe. I hobbled downstairs to clean it off and get a band aid and Jack followed. I wanted to call Brandona and ask him what I should do, but I had left my cell phone upstairs, so I asked Jack if he would please go into my bedroom and bring me the phone(I love that he can do this now). He looked at me and said, "otay, you going to call the ambulance?" I said, "no buddy, I'm going to call Daddy". He said, "no you call the ambulance". I just agreed, so that he would go get me the phone. He brought me the phone and I called Brandon. Jack had walked into the living room and I thought was watching tv, but he was evesdropping on my conversation. He realized that I was on the phone with Daddy and not the ambulance and was not happy. He came running back into the kitchen and pointed at me and said, " no, no, I told you to call the ambulance". He was really upset, not that Mommy was hurt, but that the ambulance was not coming.

Sorry for the rambling, but I need to document these so that I can remember later and I thought ya'll would get a kick out of it. I hope everyone has had a great weekend like us!

Jack's First Swim Lesson

2010-04-13T20:48:00.001-07:00

Jack had his first swim lesson this morning. He was so excited and couldn't wait to get there.
It took a little bit of talking to get him to get in with John, the teacher. He was a little confused that I wasn't getting in with him. Once he got in he did great!

We are doing the lessons with his friend Ian that is his age and a friend of Ian's, David, that is also their age.

Here are a few more cute pics fromt the morning. When Jack got out of the pool he said, "Mommy, next time I am going to dive to the bottom, okay". I just giggled. A little too ambitious, but it made me feel good about the lessons.

Here comes the Easter Bunny...

2010-04-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday our friends, The Edmistons, had their second annual Easter egg hunt. It is alot of fun and really gets the kids excited. This year the Easter Bunny showed up after the egg hunt and the kids(well, most of them) were so excited. Jack has never been scared of the Easter Bunny or Santa, but I was really surprised at how good he was when he saw him. Jack was right by the gate where he came in so he was the first one to spot him and was thrilled. We are already looking forward to next year!

It's Easter

2010-04-04T19:59:00.001-07:00

We had a great Easter. Jack woke up and couldn't wait to get downstairs to see what the Easter Bunny had brought him. He was thrilled when he got downstairs to see his basket.

He had to test everything out before we could eat breakfast. After we played with the stuff in his basket we ate breakfast and then got ready for church.

I just love our churches Easter Mass. The flowers are always so beautiful and the music is wonderful. I also love watching all of the kiddos in their precious Easter outfits. Jack's favorite thing about our Easter Mass is the Easter egg hunt that they have for the little ones right after mass. There are so many kids that they only get an egg or two, but they have treat bags(like we needed more candy) for each child.

He is very patiently waiting on the lady to tell them to GO...

When we got back home we tried to get some family pictures. They aren't the best but are better than nothing.

(I am so sad this will be the last year I will be able to get away with

outfits like this)

Being silly in the tree..

Gigi and Jack

Family Pic(the best we could get)

After pictures we got into comfortable clothes and took advantage of the beautiful day. Jack was thrilled to play outside. Mimi and Nikki came over in the afternoon for a late lunch/dinner.

Jack and Aunt Nikki...The Easter Bunny made a stop at Aunt Nikki's

house and left a basket full of stuff. We had a great day and hope that everyone else did as well!
Happy Easter!

Happy Easter

2010-04-01T19:46:00.000-07:00

Jack had an Easter egg hunt at school on Wednesday. I was so excited to be able to go. He had a blast.

Ready, set, go....
I wish that I had a picture of the girls to compare to this picture. They slowly headed over to the eggs and the boys bolted.

Look, I got an egg. He was so proud.
His friend Campbell was checking out the number of eggs Jack had.

We attempted to take a class picture and this is what I got. What do you expect with 2 1/2 year olds.

After we went back to the classroom for Easter snacks and story time. It was a great time!

Happy Easter to everyone!!

Spring Break

2010-03-22T07:16:00.001-07:00

Well, I think this may be the longest I have gone without posting. I feel like we have been so busy, but can't seem to remember what we have been doing. Jack and I did go home for his spring break and had a blast.

We headed to Baton Rouge for the weekend to celebrate St. Patty's Day. I grew up going to and even riding some in this parade, so I was thrilled to be able to take Jack. My Dad met us there for the weekend and we got to visit with lots of family.

Jack loved the parade. He stayed on Cookie's shoulders most of the time. A fireman had just given him the hat he has on and he was so proud.

Gordie, our cousin, and Jack's best friend joined us for the parade. As you can see him and Jack had a blast. He is 7, so still a little old for Jack, but Jack looks up to him and wants to do everything Gordie does. They are really cute together.

We went to the parade with my Aunt Nancy and her friend Jon. He has a house right off of the parade route so it was easy with Jack. It was great spending time with them.

On Sunday, we packed up and headed to Mandeville for the week. Mom and I took Jack to The Global Wildlife Center on Sunday. It is an amazing place, especially for little ones. It is like being on a Safari(not that I would know, since I've never been on one). You ride in big wagons pulled by a tractor and feed the animals.

There are deer, antelope, Llama, giraffes, camels, zebras, ostriches, bulls, etc. They will come right up to you and eat from your cup and then let you pet them. My favorite were the giraffes. they came right up to us, ate and let us pet them. They are such neat animals.

This is where Jack stayed most of the time. He liked the animals but wasn't so sure about them when they stuck their heads in the wagon. He would jump up and say "you feed them, I watch". He had a blast though.

He held this same cup of food until the end and when no animals were around he dumped it out of the wagon.

It was about and hour and a half ride, so he was worn out by the end. He got some dirt or something in his eye and it was really irritated, so I told him to lay his head down and close his eyes, thinking it would make it better and he would be good to go. Well, no such luck. Poor thing. He was so tired from the parade and then the wagon ride that he fell asleep.

The rest of the week we stayed busy going to New Orleans with Dad for the day, hanging with friends and family, eating great food, etc! It really made me miss home.

On a side note, I have to document one thing that Jack said while we were on our trip. He is full of personality these days and you never know what he is going to say. I was getting dressed at my Mom's one morning and he was playing upstairs near her computer. I told him not to get near the computer because it would break and make Gigi upset. Well, this did no good. He was on a mission. He said "No Momma, I need to text someone". I said, "what did you day?" and he repeated himself "I need to text someone". I couldn't do anything but laugh. He climbed up on the chair, typed on the keyboard and then said, "I texted someone Momma". A almost 3 year old knows about texting. That is sad!

Anyway, I hope everyone else had a great spring break. I know we did, but we are happy to be home and settled.

My Newest Venture

2010-03-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to tell everyone of my newest venture. My friend Sena Harris and I have just launched our new jewelry line Bijou. It is a unique, trendy, affordable custom jewelry company. Please take a minute to check it out by clicking on the logo on the right hand side of my blog. Check back periodically because we are updating daily. Have fun browsing!

Happy Birthday Mimi

2010-02-15T20:19:00.000-08:00

Mimi's Birthday was last Wednesday, but because of everyone's busy schedules we had to wait until tonight to celebrate. She had the added bonus of Mom and Doug here and a King Cake for her birthday cake. Look at how excited Jack is to give Mimi her cake.
We love you Mimi and hope that you had a wonderful Birthday!

Bless Our Boys...

2010-02-14T20:24:00.000-08:00

I think it is finally starting to sink in that The Saints are Superbowl Champs. I am so thrilled and excited for them. I hate being so far away from all of the excitement. This is my favorite picture from it all! So Sweet. Who Dat?!

Snow Day...

2010-02-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

I can't believe we finally got snow. They have predicted it a few times recently and we have gotten nothing, so I just knew it wasn't going to snow on Friday. Brandon, on the other hand, believed it so before Jack went to bed he got him all excited about the snow when he woke up in the morning. When I went in to get him that morning, he said "mommy, you ready to see the snow". I hated to tell him that there was no snow.

We got dressed and headed off to school. He forgot about the snow for the ride because he was getting excited about his Valentime's(as Jack would say) Party. I dropped him off and headed out to do errands. My Mom had called from Louisiana and said it was snowing there and we still had nothing. Well that didn't last long. About 45 minutes after I dropped Jack off the snow really started coming down.

They canceled school, so I headed back across town to get Jack. He was so excited when I got there to get him. The teachers said that he had not left the window and kept asking to build a snowman. We got home and he lasted 5 minutes before we had to bundle up and get out in the snow.

We played in it for a while and then headed in for a nap. Brandon came home from work early and was here when Jack got up. They headed out to play around in it and build a snowman. (I'll post pics soon). All in all it was a great day and we were so excited for the snow. I'm not a cold weather person, so I believe that if it is going to be so cold there needs to be snow!

Looks like we may get some more snow tonight, so we will probably be home from school tomorrow.

Is this a dream...

2010-02-08T11:32:00.000-08:00

This has been such an exciting year for The Saints and us Louisiana folks. I have grown up watching and cheering for the Saints even though they were not that good or exciting. Well, this year has been much different. A phenominal season, #1 in the NFC, NFC Champs, and now The Superbowl!! We are so excited for The Saints!!!!!
Mom, Sena, and I were in New Orleans for the jewelry show for the last playoff game so we decided to stay over and watch the game in the middle of all the madness(and this is and understatement). It is a memory I will never forget!(The pics are not very good because they are from my phone)

Mr. Personality

2010-01-21T07:54:00.000-08:00

I hate to post without pictures, but this warranted a post with no pictures. Yesterday Jack was full of precious comments and I just had to share them with family and friends. I love his little personality so much and love how much he is talking but at times I get sad because he is growing up so fast. I'm going to blink and he is going to be married with kids of his own.

Jack is a routine child, as most of you know. Everyday when I pick him up from school, he has to get his backpack(on his own) to get his lunch box out(on his own) and then get his milk out of his lunchbox(on his own) before we can leave the parking lot. Once he does that I always ask how was school today and he tells me all about it on the 10 minute ride home. Well yesterday he was not happy with the way the getting the milk process was going and was very frustrated. Once we got the milk I just drove quietly out of the parking lot to cool off and didn't ask my routine question "How was school today?". He said, "Momma, ask me how school was today"? I asked and he started rambling off everything that he had done as if he had rehearsed it. I couldn't help but laugh!

When he woke up from his nap early, I told him that I had some work to do, but would turn on the tv in the playroom and he could play and watch cartoons. He didn't want to watch tv in the playroom, he wanted to watch it in his room, where there is no tv. He looks at me and says, "you go to the store, buy me a tv, bring it home, and then I watch it in my room". I laughed so hard and then called my Mom and she did the same thing...and then told me that I was in trouble. I would have to agree. A 2 1/2 year old should not know that I can go to the store and buy a tv for his room.

This morning when he was waiting (very impatiently) for me to cook our breakfast, he was not being the most well behaved. I kept telling him No to things that he wanted to do, like sit on the counter and climb on the stool. He looked at me and said, "Mommy, when I get bigger like you and you get little like me, I tell you NO like you tell me". Really....I guess I say No alot around here these days.

I hope these brighten your day as they have mine.

Have a great day!

Ashley

Merry Christmas...

2009-12-27T19:20:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas week filled with great friends and family. This was our favorite Christmas yet with Jack. He really got into it and understood what was going on. On Christmas Eve every year Santa comes through our neigborhood on a fire truck. Last year Jack was petrified, but this year was a different story. Since we are the first house in the neighborhood, Santa stopped and waved at Jack and they turned the sirens on for him. He was so excited.

As most of you with 2 1/2 year olds know it is basically impossible to get a decent picture of them, so these are the best I could do in front of the tree when we got back from church. Mom and I tryed really hard for about 30 minutes and then finally gave up.

This is Jack seeing what Santa brought for the first time. He was thrilled. Santa as well as the family must have thought that he was REALLY GOOD this past year, because he got way too many toys.

Mimi gave him this preciuos rain gear set. Too bad we didn't have it a day earlier with all of the rain. He loved it and wanted to play in the rain.

Mimi also refinished an old kitchen set that Brandon and Nikki had when they were young and it is precious. It is all wood and matches our appliances so it will go great in our kitchen. Brandon isn't too sold on it because he doesn't think that boys should have a kitchen, but Jack loves to cook. That is all that he plays with at school and at friends houses.
She also gave him a set of drums because he loves music and to play the drums. She searched high and low for these and he loved him. He loved them so much that she gets to keep them at her house because he plays them nonstop.

I don't have any pics but he also got a tent and tunnel from Gigi and Papa that he wont stay out of.

We are anxiously awaiting Cookie and Kim's visit to do Round 2 of Christmas with them this week!!

I hope Santa was as good to everyone as he was at The Sellers house! Happy New Year!!!

It's Party Time

2009-12-18T16:06:00.000-08:00

Jack had his Christmas Party at school yesterday and he had a blast. It was a Polar Express themed party, so they got to wear their Christmas PJ's. They had pizza and got to make cookies as well. All of the kids were precious.
Here is Jack with his good friend Mitchell. They were being very silly while patiently(NOT) waiting to swap Christmas ornaments.

Jack got the perfect ornament....a choo choo train. He had to hang it on the tree as soon as he got home.

This is what Jack gave Brandon and I for Christmas. He was so proud! The sleigh is his footprint and the reindeer and Santa's face are his finger prints. I love it. It will be so much fun to pull it out each year.

I am sure everyone is staying busy ths Holiday season like us. I feel like this is the busiest we have had yet. I hope everyone is having a Happy Holiday Season and we wish you a Merry Christmas!!!

Love,

The Sellers

Christmas Program

2009-12-07T19:46:00.000-08:00

Jack had is Christmas program at school today. It was precious. His Mimi, Aunt Nikki and Nanny were able to join us and he was so excited to show off his school. I think he was the proudest child at school today and was so thrilled to introduce everyone to his teachers. They sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and did great! After the program we were all able to eat brunch with Jack and the rest of his friends and parents from his class. In the picture below he was having a bit of a meltdown in the middle of the program. This morning when I dropped him off he had his first Mommy meltdown, since the first day of school. I was so upset because I just knew it would ruin his mood for his program...yes, he is just like his Mom for those of you thinking it...He came down the aisle saying " I want Mommy", sang for a minute and then went to sit on his teachers lap for a few minutes, got back up to sing and then back to his teachers lap. It was like he started having fun and then realized he was supposed to be wanting his Mommy.

Here he decided to sing again!

....and even participate!!!

We are looking forward to his class Christmas party in a few weeks. I hope everyone is having a Happy Holiday Season!!!

Deck The Halls

2009-12-07T19:33:00.001-08:00

This year we decided to buy Jack his own little tree. He begged me for days to decorate his tree, but it took me a little while to get ornaments and lights. On Tuesday when he woke up from his nap we sat on the kitchen floor and decorated his tree. It was supposed to be for his room, but it has become a decoration in our kitchen. This way he can leave the lights on it all day. It is the first thing he asks for every morning. He calls it his "baby tree" and he shows everyone that comes into the house. He even brought the A/C man into the kitchen the other day to show him Luckily he has kids so he played along with him real well.
Later that night we decorated the "BIIGGG" tree as Jack would say. We let him stay up a little later than usual so that he could help put some ornaments on the tree. He was so proud!

I think he was more interested in climbing the ladder than really putting the ornament on the tree.

After he put a few of his ornaments on the tree we put him to bed and I finished decorating the tree. The next morning before I got him out of bed, I plugged in the tree and the garland on the mantle, so that he could see the finished product when he came downstairs. He was so excited. He said "wook Mommy, it's a kissmiss party"(Look Mommy it's a Christmas Party). I put him down so that I could make breakfast and he made his way into the living room and was in pure shock at the tree and the lights. After a few minutes he saw the garland and stockings on the mantle. He came running into the kitchen and said, "wook Mommy, wook at the boots"(what he is calling stockings).

We are having so much fun with him this Christmas season because he is so into it. I can't wait for Christmas morning!!

Life with Jack....

2009-12-06T19:01:00.000-08:00

Jack's mind is all over the place these days. We never know what is going to come out of his mouth. His imagination is also running wild. Today, while I was cleaning my bedroom he picked up the portable phone(that had noone on it) and said "hello, hold on, Momma they have wrong number". I looked at him in total awe and said "what did you say", he put the phone back to his ear and said "wrong number, bye bye".
He is also much smarter than me these days and very bossy. The other day we were decorating his little Christmas tree for his bedroom. I had put the lights on it and we were sitting on the floor organizing the ornaments. I had the drums in one pile and the trains in another. He started counting the drums and lining them up as he counted, but he missed one, so I told him "let's do it again and you count when my finger touches the drum". I touched the first drum and said 1, and the second and said 2. He looked at me and said "no Momma, say unos, dos". Again, I looked at him in awe, because I thought surely he didn't just count in spanish and said "what did you just say". He looked at me and said it's unos, dos, Momma. I don't know spanish(because I took french) and we don't teach him Spanish and neither does school, as far as we know, so the only thing that Brandon and I can think is that he gets it from Diego and Dora(his favorite these days).
It is never a dull moment around the Sellers house. I hope everyone had a great weekend! Geaux Saints.....12-0!!

Santa's Little Helper

2009-12-01T10:23:00.000-08:00

Our Elf, which we are currently calling Mr. Elf appeared on Sunday night. We found it in Jack's room when we got home from Thanksgiving. He was real hesitant about it, but very excited that a present had magically appeared. I think he is a little young this year to get the entire concept but he is having fun with it. Each morning he wakes up and wants to find Mr. Elf and he understands that he can't touch it because it will take away his magic. I'm hoping he starts to catch on that he must behave because Mr. Elf reports back to Santa. We'll see!

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-30T20:03:00.000-08:00

We had a very busy Thanksgiving Holiday. Jack and I headed to Mandeville the Thursday before Thanksgiving to have some time to visit with friends, family, and go on a few adventures. Friday Mom had a field trip with her students to The Audubon Zoo, so Jack and I drove across the lake and met them. He had an absolute blast.
We don't have elephants at our zoo, so that was one of his highlights of the trip to the zoo. He had a blast with Gigi and his best buddy, Ms. Sandoz.

Saturday we spent the day with Dad. We went to lunch, grocery store, cooked jambalaya, visited with one of my best friends Lindsay, and watched the worst game of LSU's season. It was a great day.

We shopped a little with Gigi on Sunday and Monday and then had a playdate my friends and their kids. It is so much fun to get together with the girls and all of the kiddos. I love to watch how much they have changed since the last time I have seen them. I just love that we have all been friends for so long and feel so fortunte to have those types of friendships in my life.

Lately, we have been adding some new babies to the group. Jack loves the babies. He had to take a break from playing to hold sweet Cecilia. He loved it.

Wednesday we headed to Baton Rouge to get started with the Thanksgiving festivities. My cousin has a Thanksgiving Eve party at his house each year. They cook oyster poboys and other delicious food and then prepare the stuffing for the turkey. It is a blast. I just love seeing and catching up with family that I don't see that often. This is a pic of 4 generations of Simons. This is not all of them, but the group that was there. From left: My Dad, cousin Chip, cousin Jay, cousin Anthony, cousin Brandon, Me, Paw Paw(Uncle Bob), cousin Angelle and cousin Antoine.On Friday, we headed to Montegut to spend time with My Mom and Doug, My Grandma, Uncle Alan, new Brother and Sister in Law and nieces. We ate great food and watched an LSU game that came out with a W in the end!! Jack loved his cousin Shelby. Although she wasn't thrilled to have him hold her, he was so proud. I think that is a sign that he is ready for a sibling.

We got back late last night, took down Thanksgiving stuff and are ready to start decorating for Christmas. All in all we had a great trip home. I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!!

All Aboard

2009-11-01T09:46:00.000-08:00

We had a blast this Halloween. Jack was very excited that his good friend Ann Rogers came over to trick or treat with us, as well as his Cookie and Kim, Mimi, Aunt Sena and Uncle Robbie and Aunt Andi and Uncle Joey. Here are a few pics from last night. They aren't the best pics because I am having issues with my camera. Enjoy!

Jack's School Program

2009-10-30T12:56:00.001-07:00

Jack had his first school program on Tuesday night and I'll have to say Brandon and I were very proud parents. He loves school so much and couldn't wait to show his Daddy Mrs. Valerie and Mrs. Dawn. His teachers told us that he is the sweetest and most polite child in the class and has such a big heart. I was thinking, "my child?", the same one that calls everything "mine", and tells me "no" all of the time, etc. I guess all the hard work that we put into to teaching him to be this way has paid off. Now, if we can only get it to work at home.

Jack was proud to show us where he sits in circle time and some of the artwork that he has done.

He had a great time playing with his friend Mitchell and Mitchell's sister.

Jack loves his teachers so much. Here he is playing with Mrs. Valerie.

After the open house, there was a spaghetti dinner and silent auction. All of he kids performed a song and then sang the blessing. It was adorable. They all came out in these precious chef hats. Jack was so proud and did a great job.

We are already looking forward to the next event!

LSU/Auburn

2009-10-30T12:46:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we headed down to Baton Rouge for the LSU/Auburn game. Sena and and Robbie made the trip with us this year(Robbie's first time), so of course we had to show them a good time!!!! Friday we took them to Chimes and then out to see Red Line Annie. Saturday we woke up and headed to Fred's for their famous Game Day steaks, which were delicious as usual, and then we headed out to the tailgate. I think Sena and Robbie had a great time and are already lookning forward to 2011. As you know this game is difficult for Brandon and I, but I have to say we handled it the best we ever have this year..we still didn't sit together though. Here are a few pics from the weekend. Enjoy!!

Our Busy weekend...

2009-10-18T19:54:00.001-07:00

We had a very busy and fun filled weekend. Brandon went hunting for the weekend, so Jack and I had lots of activities planned to keep us busy. Friday night we laid low and just hung around the house. Saturday Leeann and I took the Kids to Boo at the Zoo. They had a blast. I think Jack got a good idea of what Halloween was. He was so excited to be a "train abducter". As usual the first thing that we had to do was ride the train. He loved it. They decorate the main train route with ghosts, spiders, etc. to make it a "haunted halloween train". Jack loved all of the "itsy bitsy spiders" as he would call them. I was worried that he may get a little scared but he loved it.

After the train ride, the kids got to trick or treat. They have wooden houses lined up and the kids get to trick or treat. Jack was really cute. He told everyone thank you when they put candy in his pumpkin and even asked a few people for "another one please".

This was the best group picture I could get. I'm hoping that Leeann got a better one. There was so much going on that we couldn't get them to all look at once. Jack was being silly on the "haunted carousel". After the festivities at the zoo we took the kids to Davenports for some pizza. It was a great night!

Sunday, we went to church and then later in the afternoon we took Jack to see Seasame Street Live, When Elmo Grows Up. When I got the tickets I was really excited that we had gotten 6th row tickets, or so I thought. When we got there the lady directed us to our seats, on the SECOND ROW!! It was great. We weren't real sure how Jack would do, since he can't seem to sit still for 1 minute these days but he was mesmorized from the second Elmo stepped on stage.

Look at his reaction when Elmo first came onto stage....

He was up dancing and singing most of the time. It was well worth the money just to see him enjoy it.

I hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend as well!

2009-10-15T19:52:00.000-07:00

Here is Jack modeling one of his fall outfits that I made and his new boots. I just love it! He wasn't able to wear it to school for the pumpkin patch because I didn't think they were going and wanted to save it for the visit. He won't be able to wear it to the big pumpkin patch that we usually go to because it won't stop raining enough for us to go, so I put it on him to shop around town today.

My find of the week

2009-10-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

I am so excited about this find. My Grandma, Jack, and I made a trip to TJ Maxx today and this was what I saw right when I walked in the door. It says Jack's Lantern Patch. I had to have it for Jack and if fit just perfectly on my shelf that I use for holiday decorations this time of year. The pictures don't do it justice.

The Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

Jack has been looking forward to the Pumpkin Patch all week. His school has a small pumpkin patch and today was his classes day to visit. We talked it up all week and he was ready to pick out his "pumpkin patch" as he calls a pumpkin. I felt so bad this morning when we woke up and it was storming. I went in to get him and the first words out of his mouth were "go to pumpkin patch, Mommy". It broke my heart to tell him that I didn't think that was going to happen today because of the rain. We left his precious pumpkin patch outfit in the closet so that he could wear it on the day they did go to the pumpkin patch and put his "monster" outfit on instead.
Well, when I picked him up from school, he couldn't get to the car quick enough. He was jumping up and down and pulling the teacher toward the car and I heard him yelling "Mommy, pumpkin patch" the whole way to the car. Well, as it turns out the weather stopped for long enough for them to go to the pumpkin patch. He even got to pick out and bring home a small pumpkin that he was so proud of. We took the above picture as soon as we got home. I intended on him holding it but he insisted that we put it on top of the blocks.

I finally got him upstairs for a nap, but not without the pumpkin. I was able to sneak in and get a picture of him snuggling with his pumpkin.

When he woke up this is what I found when I walked into his room. He was obsessed with this pumpkin all afternoon. It amazes me the simple things that make a 2 year old, or a child for that matter, happy. It just makes me smile!!!

A little couch time with Daddy

2009-10-14T20:29:00.000-07:00

Bedtime has been interesting around The Sellers house the past 2 weeks. Jack come up with every excuse in the book to stall the process. His new thing is to say "just 2 more minutes" over and over again. After about 30 minutes of trying the other night Brandon got him to bed. We had just sat down to watch some tv and enjoy our quiet time when we hear Jack whining for Daddy. He did this for about 30 minutes when I decided that he wasn't going to sleep anytime soon. I guess it was just the Mother in me that knew that whine meant he was up for a while. I brought him down and he wanted to lay on the couch with Daddy. They were so cute, I had to snap a few pics. It's not very often these days that we get him this close to us, this still, this long. Brandon loved every second of it!!

Fall is Here

2009-10-03T21:26:00.000-07:00

Fall is here and I am so excited....cool weather, football, chili, boots, visits to the park, visits to the zoo, Holidays with family, etc...some of my favorite things about this time of year. With fall, also comes hunting season for Brandon and lots of visit from family to keep us company while Brandon is hunting. This is Brandon's first weekend away, so Mom came up to visit Jack and I for the weekend. She was able to come on Thursday night because she had a holiday on Friday. We were able to have some Girl time Friday while Jack was in school and Jack time later that afternoon. We went to dinner and out for yogurt Friday night and then hit the sack to prepare for a long Saturday, starting with a trip to the zoo and ending with a win for LSU and yes, for Brandon a win for Auburn. It was a great day! We are sure getting our money's worth of the zoo membership from Gigi and Poppa these days with this great weather. Jack is obsessed. We are going to be sad to see Mom go tomorrow. We are already counting down the days until our trip home the end of the month for the LSU/Auburn game.

Here are a few pics from the trip to the zoo....

Gigi and Jack on the Carousel

We ran into The Stricklands when we first got to the zoo and Jack was so excited to see Mary Molloy, so we walked around with them for a while until we quickly were reminded how different boys and girls are. Jack was dying to see the alligator and ride the train and Mary Molloy wanted to ride the Merry Go Round and eat ice cream.

Jack sat with this goat for about 10 minuntes and had a full on conversation with it. Mom and I heard him say "Hey Goat, what you doing in there, Hey...." Then he sat on the ground and proceeded to tell him about his trip to the zoo. It was priceless. I have it on video and as soon as I can figure out how to upload it, I will.

I hope everyone is enjoying the early fall as much as we are!!

Thank You

2009-09-23T13:21:00.000-07:00

I just want to take a minute to let all of our friends and family know how much we appreciate what they do for us and how grateful we feel to have them in our lives. I feel like we get caught up in lifes everyday battles and lose site of the most important thing...family and friends. If it weren't for each and every one of you we would not be who we are as individuals and as a family. I think God every day for the life that he has chosen for me and for the family and friends he has chosen for me. I love each and every one of you more than you know.

THANK YOU!!!

Love,
Ashley

The Worries of a Mother of a 2 Year Old....

2009-09-23T12:54:00.000-07:00

We are in week 3 of school and Jack is loving it! I was a little worried and hesitant at first because of the way he has been about school in the past. He wakes up every morning talking about school, even when he doesn't have it that day. Every day that I pick him up, I ask what he did at school and I usually get "artwork", "playground", "play with friends"....you know the normal responses from a child's day at school. Well, Monday his response was different and it has bothered me for the past 2 days. When I picked him up, I asked him how his day was. His response..."Jack bite Campbell". My response..."WHAT?!!!. Jack's response..."Campbell Cry, Jack bite Campbell." I did what every Mother would do and told him that it is not nice or right to bite anyone, etc. As soon as I got home I pulled his folder out of his backpack to check his report for the day and there was nothing. I was also thinking that if he had bitten someone that the teacher would have brought him to the car at carpool to tell me about it, so I dismissed it. He has been making up alot of stories lately, so Brandon and I just assumed that is what he was doing. We have also not had any issues with biting lately.
Well, last night I had a clothing show at my house and at the end of the show Brandon and Jack came home from dinner. There were still some girls here and they asked him how he was liking school. He said, "Jack bite Campbell, Campbell cry". I can understand him making a story up once, but not twice....especially a 2 year old, so I again lectured him and then we put him to bed. After we put him to bed, I was really bothered by this and had a million thoughts running through my head...
*I don't want the biter
*He isn't going to have any friends
*These parents of the kids he is biting are going to hate us
*He won't be invited to anything because he bites
*He is going to get kicked out of school
...I think, the normal thoughts any parent would have if in this situation.
I pondered and pondered on calling his teacher and asking. Part of me didn't want to call him out, because maybe it wasn't bad enough and the teachers didn't even know. Maybe Jack and Campbell worked it out on their own. I had decided I would just leave it be until the teacher said something.
This morning while I was dressing him I asked if he was excited about school and he answers, "yep mam Mommy. Campbell Cry, Jack bite Campbell". At this point I knew that he had to have bitten this poor little Girl....What do I do?
Well, I didn't have to wait long. Today when I picked him up from carpool his teacher brought him to the car and answered any questions that I had. He in fact had bitten Campbell on the finger on Monday and then bitten Emery today. The teacher said the he wasn't doing it to be mean, it was just out of the blue and it wasn't even leaving teeth marks. She assured me that they were working on it and that I didn't need to be alarmed at this point.
When we drove off, I asked what he did at school and surprise, surprise..."Jack bite", I say, "Who did Jack bite", he says"Emery", I then ask why, how, etc? and my 2 YEAR old goes into this 5 minute long explanation, none of which I understood. My point being that he knows what he is doing and why!!!!!
When we got home he went to time out for biting and for being sassy to Me and Aunt Sena(that is another blog entry in itself) and I have taken away his favorite thing these days, orange juice...just for the day. He will still have water and milk but that is all that I can think to do at this point because I am not there when this is happening.
I think that my fun is only beginning and am praying that we get this nipped so that he doesn't get kicked out of school, especially since he is loving it so much!
Sorry for the long post, but I did it for one to vent and for two to welcome any advice any of you Mothers may have.
I hope everyone is having a great week!

Love,
Ashley

Our First Trip to the Emergency Room

2009-09-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

I'm sad to say that we had to make our first trip to the ER on Sunday night with Jack. I am honestly surprised that it has taken this long and don't think it will be the last time.

What a way to welcome Brandon and I home from Key West....Kim cooked a fabulous dinner for us and we had just finished eating. Kim and I were cleaning dishes, Dad was outside with Jack, and Brandon was relaxing in the living room. Jack came running in wanting his milk that was on the island. Kim stopped what she was doing to give it to him but wasn't quick enough. In the time that she put the towel down and turned around he had attempted to climb the barstool and failed. His leg slipped through the HEAVY wooden barstool and the barstool came down on top of him. The heaviest part of the stool, the seat, fell right on his mouth. When I realized what was going on I ran over and there was blood everywhere. I ran him to our bedroom and attempted to wash out his mouth to examine what was going on. It looked awful and at one point it looked like he had bitten part of his tongue. I called 911 because there was so much blook and his lip had turned blue and was sticking out as far as his nose.
I don't know how it works everywhere else but in Bham the firetruck and their paramedics come first and then the ambulance. When the firetruck showed up Jack had calmed down and was such a great patient. The paramedic took one look, assured us that his tongue was okay, but that he would probably need stitches in his lip and gums. We loaded him up and headed to the hospital. When we got in the car Jack said "Momma, helicopter bring Jack to hospital", "No Momma bring Jack" He was obviously upset that a helicopter didn't come to our house and I have no idea where that came from.
By the time we got to the hospital, the swelling had gone down a good bit and we were starting to think that he may not have to get stitches, but needed a doctor to obviously confirm that and to also look at his teeth and gums that we couldn't get to because of the swelling.
I know that the sick people in the ER thought that we were crazy because from the time we walked in Jack was bossing everyone around and running up and down the hallway as if nothing had just happened. He kept asking for milk, but we told him we would have to ask the doctor. As soon as we got to our room, the first thing he did was look at the lady that was checking us in and say "Doctor, Jack have milk". Again, I am sure she thought we were very overprotective parents bringing our child to the ER for a busted lip. The doctor came in and Jack laid back and let him look around. He said he had done a number on his lip and gums but there is nothing that you can do in the mouth. It just has to heal itself. I was so relieved!!!!! We packed up and headed home. Jack was such a trooper. I know what it feels like to have a small cut or ulcer and his is 10 times worse than that. He is eating and drinking as if it never happened.
In fact, he has tried to climb the same barstool that fell on top of him 3 times since and when I ask if he wants to get another bo bo and end up at the hospital, he says (very excited)"yeah Momma, firetruck come, go in the tunnel, see the doctor". This is why I feel another ER visit in our future. I hope to be proven wrong, but we will see.

Back to School

2009-09-15T07:52:00.000-07:00

Jack started "cool" this past week and is loving it. I was able to get him into the same school that he went to over the summer and we are so happy with it. We loved the school at our church, but I didn't want to spend the whole day on the road since it is about 20 minutes away and I didn't want to start him in something new since he did so well in CASA for the summer.

They give the kids backpacks, that are bigger than they are and he was so proud. These are pics from his day of orientation and he didn't want to take it off.

He will go 3 days a week and I think that we are both looking forward to this school year. He will have time away from me and be able to make some new friends and I will have time to do some things around the house and some sewing.

Touchdown Tigers...

2009-09-04T15:42:00.000-07:00

Touchdown

TIGERS!!

I don't know about your family, but the Sellers Family is eagerly awaiting the first Saturday of football. In anticipation for LSU's first game tomorrow night, Jack wore his LSU jersey that Cookie and Kim bought him last year. It is #8 for my favorite player, Trindon Holliday. I was so upset that it was too big last year, but thrilled when we tried it on this morning and it fit perfectly. Jack was so proud and excited that he asked me to "take picture Mommy, please". We had a little photo shoot before we got out to do our errands and meet Brandon for lunch. Brandon was not very thrilled with the jersey when we met him for lunch. He opened the car door and Jack said "touchdown Tigers Daddy"! I hope everyone has a great football weekend. Geaux Tigers!!!

Visit with Grandma and Grandpa

2009-09-03T19:26:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa have been here the past few days while on their way to The Outer Banks for Labor Day. We had a great time catching up, sewing, and going to the zoo.
It is so hard to keep a 2 year old entertained all day. I have tried to do a little something with him every day and for the most part it has been great. My Mom and Doug gave us a zoo membership for his birthday and we have really enjoyed it. I say we, Brandon and Jack have. They have gone most Saturday mornings that we have been in town. It was such a pretty day here on Wednesday, so Grandma and I took Jack to the zoo. We had a great time with Grandma and Jack loved the zoo. If you ask him what he saw he would tell you the "choo choo" and that the man said "all aboard". Out of all of the activities and animals to see and do at the zoo he goes for the choo choo alone. He is in heaven and could ride it for hours. We were able to sit in the front row by the conducter this time and he was mesmorized. I think Grandma had more fun that she thought that she would.

We can't wait for their next visit!

Visit to Baton Rouge

2009-09-03T19:18:00.001-07:00

While we were in Mandeville having Jack's 2 year pictures done, we were able to spend the day in Baton Rouge with my Maw Maw and Paw Paw and Family. When we are there Jack loves to play outside with Paw Paw. They have a great time. He also like to play the electric organ for Maw Maw. He doesn't see them that often and it amazes me the things he remembers. Everytime we walk into their house he gives kisses and hugs and heads straight to the bedroom where the electric organ(that has been around since my Aunts and Uncles were little) is, turns it on and starts playing. After about 5 minutes of that he heads outside to Paw Paws shed to climbl on the tractor(which is just a riding lawn mower). The past few times the shed has been locked because Paw Paw has some stuff in there that is not safe for the little ones. Jack will check the door, see that it is locked and run inside to where the keys to their cars are and head back out to try and unlock the door. We just laugh.

I get choked up everytime I watch him play with his Great Grandparents. He won't realize until he is older how great that is and how fortunat he is to know them and have them be able to run around and play with him.
Jack also got out into the yard with Drew to help move the wheel barrow for Paw Paw.

We had a blast and are already looking forward to our next visit in October!!

Beach Trip

2009-09-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

This post is very long overdue. The ones that do keep up with our blog have finally given up on me at this point. Our summer has been so crazy with trips and events. I have started a new side job sewing clothes for a friend of mines small business and loving every minute of it. It is just taking up alot of my free time right now until I get a good system down. I have tons to make for Jack for the fall too! I can't wait to get it done and put it up for everyone to see. I have also just gotten an embroidery machine from my Grandmother and very anxious to learn how to use it.

Enough about me....These are pics from our wonderful beach trip a few weeks ago. When Jack was born Brandon and I decided that we would take a weeks vacation somewhere every summer with our children. For now it is the beach, and I am very okay with that. I'm sure as he gets older it will be Disney World and many other fun adventures.

Our good friends, The Stricklands were able to go with us for the whole week and we had a blast. Mary Molloy and Jack got along very well(as you can see in the pic below), the boys got to play golf and fish, and Mindy and I got some quite time on the beach(imagine that) and some shopping time. It was a much needed long vacation.We were nervous about how Jack would react to the sand since this was only the second time he had ever been to the beach. The last time was last summer when he had just turned one and started walking. Well, he loved it. The first time he put his feet in the sand he was unsure, but it took about 5 minutes and he was into it. He loved the ocean! The water was goregeous so we were able to spend alot of time in the water with the kids. This picture is on our second day at the beach. Poor thing was so tired but refused to go in for a nap. We sat him on the raft out in the ocean and within 5 minutes he was out. He slept on the raft in the ocean with us for a good 30 minutes and then Brandon carried him in and laid him on the sand for the rest of the nap.

We also got to spend the day at the point with our good friends The Martins that live in Destin. The kids had a blast playing together and the Guys had a great time seeing the sites that came in on the Cigarette boat(it was the end of boat week and the day of the poker run)..so you can only imagine the sites they saw.

All in all it was a great trip. I can't wait to go back next year! For now we need a break and I never thought I would say I am ready for the fall, but I am and it is just around the corner.

Happy Birthday Brandon(Daddy)

2009-07-27T18:51:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to the most wonderful Husband and Father in the world.

We celebrated Brandon's Birthday tonight. Jack did not understand that it wasn't still his Birthday. Poor Brandon will have to deal with this the rest of his life. I talked to him all day about how it was Daddy's Birthday, but he kept looking at me and saying "no, Jack's Birthday". He tried to undwrap Brandon's gifts abou 4 times and even got into one of the cards. As soon as Brandon pulled into the driveway Jack started screaming and was ready to run out the front door. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen. He met Brandon at the car yelling "Happy Birthday Daddy", but when Brandon said "thank you buddy", Jack pointed at him and said "no, Jack's Birthday". He didn't even eat dinner because he was so excited about the birthday cake. As you can see from the picture above he had to blow out the candles for Daddy and we had to do it twice.

Happy Birthday Brandon! We love you!!

Our Little Fisherman

2009-07-27T17:52:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we took a trip to Montegut, La. to Doug's camp for a fun-filled weekend. We celebrated Brandon's Birthday, relaxed, and did alot of fishing.
Jack and I didn't make the morning fishing trips. We did take Jack out one afternoon for a couple of hour to see if he would enjoy the fishing. That was all that he had talked about the week leading up to the trip, so we thought we would take him out and give it a try. He was not sure about the boat ride out, but as soon as we stopped and started fishing he was great. He wanted to help everyone do everything. Doug or Brandon would catch fish and let him help them reel it in. He loved it. As you can see in the pictures below, he was a little unsure but really excited.

It took him a few fish but he finally got brave enough to give his fish a kiss, (yes we washed his mouth after). He's still a little young but next year he should be able to go on most of the trips and stay out for longer than an hour or so.

2 Year Check Up

2009-07-21T14:23:00.000-07:00

Jack had his 2 year check up yesterday and did great! The doctor was very impressed with how much he is talking. I told him I wasn't sure if I was that impressed!!!

Here are his stats:
Height: 35"
Weight: 26 lbs. 5 oz.

He is starting to get taller but thin out. He only had to get 2 shots and did great. He started to wimper when she stuck him but then noticed the band aids and that was is only concern. He started saying "Jack have sticker".

Jack Turns 2

2009-07-21T13:55:00.000-07:00

It is so hard to believe that Jack is 2. It seems like just yesterday we were getting settled after bringing him home from the hospital. It has been the best 2 years of our lives!

Since we had a big celebration last year we did a small get together at our house this year. It was really nice and very low key. My Dad, Kim, Maw Maw, Paw Paw, and cousin Gordie were able to come in for the party to celebrate with Jack.

This year was alot of fun because he knew what was going on and was really into everything. He played in the bouncie for a while and as soon as he finished eating he came in and said "momma eat cake, Jack cake". Poor thing, we had to hold him off for a little while because everyone was still eating but the time finally came. As soon as he had some cake he said "momma Jack presents, open presents". That was fun. I'm sure it was like Christmas to him.

Thursday was his real birthday along with Sena's so we had a birthday celebration that night. My Mom and Doug were able to come in for that and we had a great time. Poor Sena didn't get much attention because Jack was not excited about sharing his birthday with her. We made up for that at the lake this past weekend though.
He got some great gifts, like this picnic table, membership to the zoo, guitar, t-ball, pajamas, work bench, train table, lawn mower, blower, etc.

After almost a full week of celebrating he still doesn't understand why there isn't a present waiting for him every day when he wakes and up and before he goes to bed.

Quick Visit

2009-07-09T14:24:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night Antoine and Erica stayed with us for the night on their way to Tennesse for the Fourth of July. It was great seeing them. Brandon's Mom (Mimi) was sweet enough to keep Jack for the night so that we could have an adults night out. I wish that we lived much closer so that we could hang out with them all of the time.

Girls Weekend

2009-06-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago 2 of my oldest friends came to Birmingham for a nice girls weekend. It was so great to catch up and to introduce them to 2 of my best friends in Birmingham. We had a great time at dinner Friday night and then shopping and grilling out on Saturday night. I feel so fortunate to have such wonderful friends and I can't believe that Monique, Raynah, and I have know each other for over 10 years. I love you girls and look forward to a big girls weekend with everyone!

Jack's School Report......

2009-06-25T13:57:00.000-07:00

For those of you that check on Jack's progress at school everyday, I am happy to blog some great news. He did not cry today at all, kept a dry pull up, and even danced and sang during music. I was so excited I wanted to cry when his teacher brought him to the car this afternoon. After the good news, she tells me that he will get new teachers on Tuesday. I am pretty sure my jaw dropped or something because she quickly explained that he had met his new teachers and seemed okay with them. Everyone say a prayer for Jack next week that he does good with his new teachers. I am praying myself that we don't revert to not liking school since it will be new people. I hope everyone has had a great week and has a great weekend!!

Oh, I hope you like my music addition to the blog. It has only taken me 2 years to figure this out:)

Love,
Ashley

Jack's First Award

2009-06-24T13:11:00.000-07:00

This week I decided to put him in Pull ups to make it easier for both of us when he goes to the potty. I was unsure about my decision until he came home with "The Potty Award" from school today. If this is the one thing other than artwork that he likes about school, I am not complaining. For 2 days he has come home with the original pull up that I sent him in and it is dry. I asked the teacher how they do it because he is not that cooperative at home and she said the do the "potty dance". I need to find out what that is and we need to start doing it in the The Sellers household. He is so close, but just not there. When we got home he was so proud of his award that we did a photo shoot with it. He will love this pic when he gets older:)

I hope everyone is having a great week!

The Terrible Twos

2009-06-17T19:39:00.000-07:00

This week has been very interesting in our house. Jack's normal mood, tantrums, and sleeping habits have been way worse than normal. Let's just say AWFUL! He has always been a great sleeper at night and had gotten much better during the day. Lately we have had to fight him to go down at night, so he has had some pretty late nights. During the day he has only been taking about 20 minute naps, so he has stayed pretty cranky. I have just assumed that his attitude is because he has been tired or maybe getting teeth.

On Monday we had friends over to play. He did fairly well, except for the occasional "mine" break down because another child picked up a toy that Jack didn't even know he had and started to play with it. Yes, we are also going through a phase where everything is "mine". After lunch we decided to sit inside and watch cartoons because it was so hot outside. The kids were glued to the tv so the girls sat and chatted for a while. I looked over at one point and this is how I found Jack. Too cute, right? For about 2 seconds. I picked him up to move him upstairs and he had a complete meltdown, which resulted in him crying through his entire naptime.
He fought us to go down last night, so needless to say he wanted to sleep in today when he needed to be at school by 9:30. I let him sleep until about 9:10 and then got him up and dressed and we headed off to school. I was nervous about him getting out of the car but he did great. I went on to the dentist and was on my way to do errands around 11:30 when I got a phone call from school. When I answered I could hear him screaming "Mama, night night". The teacher said he had been screaming since he got there this morning. He stopped long enough to do art (because that is his favorite subject) and then started up again once art was over. She also said that he had been pulling on his ear, so she was worried he had an ear infection or something.

Well, I did what most Moms would do and rushed to school to pick him up. When I got there he said "Hey Mama" and then turned to his teacher and said "Bye Bye School". He then looked at me and pointed at his backpack on the wall and said "mon Mama"(come on Mama) and started to walk out of the door. I knew at that second that he had pulled one on me and was completely fine.

I went on to lunch where he had 3 meltdowns, one resulting in him throwing a fork at people in the booth in front of us and another where he screamed "pizza" the entire way out of the restaurant(and we weren't in the front). I decided at this point that I was going to go ahead and take him to the doctor just to rule out an ear infection, teething, or the hand, foot, mouth virus since he was acting so unruly and out of character.

We headed home to hang out for a while until the doctors appointment. After about another 20 minute meltdown at home, I convinced him to sit on the couch and watch tv while I went to fold some clothes. I wasn't out of the room 10 minutes and I walked back through to find this.

Now, at first I freaked out and thought he had passed out or something, but after I ran over and saw that he was breathing I couldn't help but grab the camera and just laugh. I'm assuming he just fell asleep as he was getting off of the sofa.

Well, we went to the doctor and I explained what had been going on. The doctor checked him out and his diagnosis was "welcome to the terrible twos". I felt like an idiot but he reassured me that he sees this all of the time, especially from first time parents.

He did pull one on me today, but he will definitely be in school tomorrow. I think that my fun is just beginning!!!!!

Jack's Second First Day of School

2009-06-17T19:34:00.000-07:00

Jack started a summer mother's day out program 2 weeks ago. They went for one week and then had last week off because the church was having VBS, so yesterday was almost like a first day again. He did great and could not wait to get out of the car to go to "cool" and see his teachers and friends and do his most favorite activity.....ART!!!

This is a picture from my phone of him saying cheese while we were waiting in the carpool line.

It's About Time......

2009-06-17T19:29:00.000-07:00

Ya'll have been asking for these for a few weeks now I know. This is the best that I can come up with as of now. My camera has been broken and we were trying to figure out if it was worth paying the arm and a leg they want to fix it or if we should just get a new one. Hopefully I will have one in the next few weeks.

These are pictures from Jack's Parrain's wedding on May 30. He was the ring bearer and did a great job. The bride has some great pictures from her photographer, so hopefully I can get my hands on those soon.

This is Jack with 2 of the flower girls, Rose and Ava. He had such a great time with them the whole weekend and they all did really well, considering the full weekend they had with not many naps.

I'll post more as soon as I get them!

Fun in the Sun

2009-06-03T20:02:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post these adorable pictures of the kiddos. Monday Mindy, Mary Molloy, Shea, Ann Rogers, and Sena came over for a fun day in the pool and with Jack's new sprinkler ball. It was a blast. We have not seen the girls in forever it feels like. We are so glad that Shea is out for the summer so that we can spend lots of time with her and Ann Rogers. I am looking forward to our summer playdates!

Jack's First Day of School

2009-06-03T19:50:00.001-07:00

Jack had his second first day of school this Tuesday. Look how precious he is all ready to walk out the door and go to school. He was so excited! I was a little nervouse because the school he is in for summer does a carpool line, which means he is taken out of the car by a teacher and put back into the car by a teacher and I never have to get out. Great for me, but I was worried that Jack would freak out if a stranger took him out of the car, especially on his first day. Well, I was wrong. He couldn't wait to get out of the car and go to "cool". When the teacher took him out of the car he looked back at me and said "bye, love you". I was a little upset that he didn't care anymore than that, but very happy at the same time because I didn't want a replay of school last fall. He had a great report card at the end of the day and was very worn out. All he could talk about last night was "cool".

Day two, I was not so lucky. I kept thinking yesterday that there was no way this would be this easy, but I kept convincing myself that maybe it was. Well today proved me right. I took him this morning and he seemed excited, but not as excited and vocal about it as yesterday. When she came to get him out of the car he went nuts. He grabbed onto the buckle so that the teacher couldn't get it undone and started saying "hold you mommy, hold you". I felt so bad. The teacher reassured me that this was normal and that he had such a great day yesterday he would be fine today. He then grabbed onto the sides of the carseat and screamed as loud as he could. I let her take him because I thought it was for his own good and once she walked away from the car he was fine and had a great day.

On another exciting note, he is starting to use the potty. This is probably too good to be true also, because I don't think it can be this easy, but right now I am just going along with it. We haven't reached the point of him telling me when he needs to go but he is very persisitent in telling me when he has gone. He doesn't have school next week so I have bought him some choo choo underwear that we have had to put on for a little while each day and we are going to experiment with potty training next week. Wish me luck! This will be interesting.

Memorial Day

2009-06-03T19:26:00.000-07:00

Jack and I had a fun filled Memorial Day week in Louisiana and Brandon was able to join us for the weekend. We stayed very busy as usual when we visit and had so much fun catching up with friends and family. We went to Baton Rouge for 2 days and were able to go swimming at my cousin's house one day and had dinner with my Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins one night.

Jack loved the pool, especially with his Cousin Gordie. It was his first time in the pool for the summer and with floaties so I was worried about the way he would handle it, but he did great. He stayed on the steps the whole time and had so much fun. He is a little fish!!

We picked Brandon up from the airport on Thursday night and I got to go to dinner with all of my girl friends. I feel so fortunate to have such wonderful friends. We have all known each other for so long and I think it is so great that we still keep in touch.

We headed down to Papa Doug's camp on Friday and Saturday for some sun and fishing. It was a great time. We had shrimp, crabs, and crawfish for dinner Friday night. I was in heaven. Saturday Mom, Jack, and I got sun on the deck while the boys fished. Jack loved digging through the ice chest and playing with the fish and the 1 crab that they caught.
The camp is a boys wonderland. There is so much to do or should I say "play with". Jack was obsessed with Papa's tractor and had to take at least 2 rides each day.

Sunday we went out on the Tchefuncte River with Cookie, Kim, and Raynah(a longtime friend of mine). This has kind of become our tradition over the past 3 years and we have so much fun. Jack loved it this year because he could walk around and not be uncomfortable in the life jacket.

He was so worn out from watching all of the action on the River that he took a LONG nap on the boat, in this life jacket. Look how sweet. I don't know how one bit of this was comfortable.

All in all it was a great week and weekend and we look forward to next year!

Our Future Rock Star

2009-05-16T18:53:00.001-07:00

Jack is obsessed with drums and guitars these days and I have to say he is pretty good. AJ had a set of drums and that is where Jack stayed the entire time we were there. We slept in that room last night and this morning I woke up to "drums Mama" instead of just "Mama".

This morning while I was in the bathroom getting dressed I let him play the drums. I could here him in there singing "eiei-ooooo", "quack, quack, here", "quack, quack there" between beating on the drums and cymbals. I wish that I had brought the video camera or had my good camera fixed so that I could post it. Looks like The Sellers household will be investing in a set of drums soon.

Congrats to the Grad!!!

2009-05-16T18:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Gigi(My Mom), Jack, and I headed to Alexandria for my Cousin Scott's High School Graduation(the first of many "mini trips" while in Mandeville). Jack was such a good sport. He spent 5 hours in the car on Thursday and 3 yesterday and was as good as you can expect an almost 2 year old to be.

We had the best time. We don't get to see my Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins very often and we got an added bonus of getting to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa too.
(Look at my little boy, he looks like such a BIG boy)
We debated all day on whether or not to bring Jack to the graduation. It started at 8(his bedtime), so I was a little concerned that he would ruin the whole graduation. For those of you that know Jack he has a mind of his own these days and does not understand the concept of "quiet" or "sit down". After much debating we decided to take a chance. Well, I'm glad we did because he was an angel. I think my saving grace was that it was in the football stadium, so he was outside and there was lots of entertainment. It lasted almost 2 hours and we barely heard a peep out of him.

When we were leaving a lady asked me "how old is your little boy?" I told her that he was almost 2. She said, "well he was very well behaved, you have trained him right." Mom and I just chuckled and I said, "ya'll got lucky tonight and caught him on a good day."

When the ceremony was over we got to go onto the field and take pictures with Scott and the rest of the family. I look awful in all of these pics because it was sooooo hot and HUMID. I don't know how I survived 23 years in Louisiana. It is brutal. Poor Jack stayed red and sweaty all night.
He did have a blast with his cousins Scott and AJ.

We had a wonderful time and are so glad that we got the opportunity to go. Congrats Scott! We are very proud of you!!

Mother's Day Weekend

2009-05-12T12:16:00.000-07:00

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day this past weekend. I know that I did. It was a perfect weekend. We picked my Mom up from the airport on Friday and headed out to dinner at a delicious italian restaurant in town. After that we took Jack next door to the ice cream shop. He loved it. This is a picture of him with what was Gigi's ice cream cone. He had just slung the ice cream out of the cone, all over the floor and himself.
Saturday Mom, Jack, and I went shopping and out to lunch with Shea and Ann Rogers. I wish I would have had my camera there because they were hilarious. We don't get to see them often enough so it was great to spend some time with them.

Sunday we went to church and then had lunch at our house with all of our Mother's and James' family as well. It was a nice relaxing weekend. I was not ready for Monday to come.

Jack and I will be heading to Louisiana on Thursday for the next week, so I will have plenty to post after 2 fun filled weekends. I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Easter, Part 2

2009-04-22T09:59:00.001-07:00

Here are a few more pictures that I have gotten from Easter. Enjoy!

Jack and Nelli

2009-04-22T09:44:00.001-07:00

I had to post these precious pics of Jack and Nelli from Saturday night. Jack desperately wanted to drink water like Nelli. He attempted a few times and finally got it. I'm not sure what Nelli thought. They had a blast wrestling on the floor.

Easter 2009

2009-04-22T09:10:00.000-07:00

Again, I am a little overdue on the blogging. I have been getting ready for a party at our house this weekend and have put blogging at the bottom of the priority list. I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. I know we did.

Dad and Kim came in on Friday with lots of crawfish to boil. We had a crawfish boil Friday night with some old family friends The Willis' that just happened to be in town and other friends and family. It was great to see The Willis boys, Chet and Ben. I have not seen them in like 28 years or something close to that.

As you can see in this picture Jack had a great time with the crawfish. He had to stir them about every 5 minutes.

Our friend Andi's sister was in town and she brought her son Trip that is only a few weeks older than Jack. We have been wanting to meet him for a while and are glad that they got to come. The boys had a blast. It looks like Mr. Chet was telling them a good story.

Saturday we relaxed around the house and then dyed eggs that night. Jack loved it. He had to do it all on his own, so we had a pretty big mess after, but it was well worth it.
The Easter Bunny was very good to Jack this year. It was Jack's first year to really understand what was going on so I think he wanted him to have plenty to enjoy.The first thing he grabbed was his Harold the Helicopter. He is really into Thomas and Friends and other than the choo choo's the helicopter is his favorite.
Later Sunday morning we headed to a wonderful Easter Mass at our church. It was great having my Dad, Kim, Lindsay, James, and Mimi at church with us. There was no nursery so Jack got to come into church. Let's just say we will never attend church again if there is no nursery. He wanted everyone in church to know that he had choo choo's and that Jesus was there. Afterwards they had a little easter egg hunt for the kids. Jack loved it and thought all of the eggs were his.

Later that afternoon we relaxed and then grilled out steaks for dinner. It was a wonderful day. We are so thankful for all of the many blessings we have in our life.

1st Annual Edmiston Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-06T13:25:00.001-07:00

Our friends, The Edmistons had an easter egg hunt/cookout yesterday afternoon. We took Jack not knowing how he was going to do. He is quite independent these days and one minute wants to do something and the next minute he is telling us "no". Well he loved it. They opened the gate and he took off picking up eggs and throwing them in his basket.

We are definitely ready for Easter. I think we are going to skip seeing The Easter Bunny this year because he freaked out last weekend when we tried to take a picture with Sir Topham Hat, but we are going to die some eggs and have a little hunt on Sunday. I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend!

A Day at the Farm...

2009-04-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

We have been trying for a while now to find a weekend to go to our friend Joey's farm and we finally had the opportunity to go this past Saturday. The boys went down early Saturday morning and then the girls met them after lunch. When I got there Jack was sleeping in the hammock with Joey's Mom and had been there for over an hour. He slept for about another hour from when I got there. Brandon said he had been nonstop sincet they got there.

We got to fish and ride around on the Kubota. Later that night Mrs. Joan and Mr. Don made us a wonderful dinner and we sat in there outside dining room for dinner. After that we put Jack down and the adults played catch phrase and just hung out on the pier talking. We had a blast and can't wait to go again.

Poor Jack came back with his right leg full of cuts and bruises, but had a blast getting them.

Jack liked to fish with the net. See how close he was to the water. I was a nervous wreck. Later I made Brandon put his life vest on in case he did fall in.

The boys fished in this boat most of the day and caught a good many fish.

Sena was determined that she was catching a fish before the sun went down. She caught this little bitty one first and was so proud, but not satisfied. She kept trying and got the one below. It was a little bigger.

Jack was mesmorized by this fish, but did not want to touch it at all.
Robbi and his first fish of the day.

Thanks Joey and Andi for such a fun day at the farm!!

A Day With Thomas

2009-03-30T10:07:00.000-07:00

Jack's new obsession is "choo choo's", so Sunday we took him to a railroad museum close to Birmingham for A Day with Thomas. He absolutely loved it. They have an actual Thomas Engine and this is what the boys are posing on for a picture.
We actually got to take a 20 minute train ride on a real passenger train. It was a first for me and for Jack. We loved it. Jack was mesmorized. They had each car decorated with all of the trains and played music from The Thomas movies.
Daddy and Jack waiting to get on the train

Me and Jack giving our tickets to the conducter

Jack sitting on the train, taking it all in

Telling someone about the choo choo

The fam on the train

Jack and Brandon enjoying the scenic ride

Spring is Here

2009-03-27T12:08:00.001-07:00

These are a few of my latest sewing projects. I am loving my sewing and this is pretty much what I do in any free time I have. I am currently making most of Jack's summer wardrobe, so I am staying busy. These are just a few that I have finished. I will post more as I get them done.

If you or anyone that you know is interested in having me make some things for their little one let me know. I am starting to do a little on the side and would love to customize an outfit for you or someone that you know. Also, if you need anything monogramed or appliqued check out my friends blog http://itcbitcs.blogspot.com/. She is very reasonable and does great work.

I hope everyone has had a great week, despite the nasty weather! Have a great weekend.

Static Electricity

2009-03-25T08:41:00.001-07:00

Poor Jack. There is one drawback to having his beautiful long, curly hair...STATIC. This is what he looked like while playing in the bouncy. It didn't stop him one bit and gave us a good laugh.

Our Fun Filled Weekend

2009-03-25T08:28:00.001-07:00

We had a great weekend. Kylie, Anna Claire, and Sophia came to visit us for a few days. We have been trying to plan this trip for sometime now and I am so glad that the timing finally worked out. They came in on Thursday afternoon and we just hung around the house and played. I got to play the Disney Princess Memory game with Anna Claire and Kylie for the first time and it was a blast. That night we ordered pizza for dinner and then went to bed.

Friday we spent the day at the zoo. The weather was beautiful so it was the perfect day to be outside. I was really excited to bring Jack because he is really starting to identify animals and the sounds they make. He LOVED it and I think that is an understatement. A few of my friends from Birmingham also met us for some fun. We spent most of the day in the Children's Zoo, which is wonderful for the kids.

We were sad to see The Vitranos leave. It was such a great weekend. We will have to do it again once Baby Girl #3 gets here!

Here are a few pictures from the zoo:

Caroline, Cydney, and Jack on the train

Mindy and Mary Molloy on the carousel

Sophia, Kylie, and Anna Claire

Jack on the tractor

Anna Claire and Sophia on the Tractor

Just Having Fun...

2009-03-18T21:19:00.000-07:00

I have got to get on top of posting pictures. With the spring right around the corner, I have been in sewing mode trying to get Jack's Spring and Summer wardrobe made and have not stopped long enough to upload pictures. These are all pictures frome the past couple of weeks of Jack just having fun.

He is 20 months old now and I can't believe it. He looks like such a little boy. This age has been the best and the worst at the same time. He has the cutest personality that makes anyone around him laugh, but he also has a nice temper and wants to be very independent. He repeats pretty much anything you say now and he is starting to put 2 and 3 word phrases together. He is also climbing on everything and there is nothing he isn't scared to attempt to get on top of.

Brandon was outside cleaning out his truck Sunday after his turkey hunt and Jack just had to be out there with him. I didn't mind because the sun decided to come out for a little while after raining all weekend. We were just hanging out and keeping a really good eye on Jack, or at least we thought we were. Brandon and I were talking and turned around to see that Jack had climbed in the truck, put on Daddy's sunglasses and was driving. How precious is this?

We had some friend over that we don't see often enough last weekend. One of the couples has a little boy named Jack that is 8 months old. Jack loved him and did pretty well with him until I tried to pick him up. It was all down hill from there. This is Jack and Jack when they first got there and let little Jack down to explore. Jack decided that he needed to be on his level so he crawled on the floor with him. It was hilarious.

We have has lots of park outings lately with this beautiful spring weather. This is the best shot I can get. He doesn't sit still long enough to get a picture of him looing at the camera.

We are really looking forward to our visit from Kylie, Anna Claire, and Sophia this weekend. They will be here tomorrow and Im sure we will have lots of pictures to post on monday

The Big 3-0

2009-03-09T21:51:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that I am 30!!!! I had a wonderful birthday weekend thanks to all of my wonderful family and friends. Seriously, I have the best family and friends anyone could ask for.
Friday night we had a crawfish boil and Saturday we had dinner and then a little party at Grey Bar. I had so much fun.
Monique came in from Nashville to celebrate with me. It meant so much that she was able to come. We had such a good time. Thanks Mo!

My Aunt Tracy, Mom, and Doug also came in to celebrate with me. I love ya'll!

Jack's First Snow

2009-03-01T14:18:00.001-08:00

What a great way to end a perfect Birthday weekend....SNOW!! We woke up this morning to what I called a blizzard. The snowflakes were so big and there was 0 visibility. We quickly got dressed and headed out to play.
It didn't take Jack long to get used to it and start running back and forth through the snow.

Mom and Papa were still here and waiting on it to slack off before they headed back to Mandeville, so Jack and Gigi had a snoball fight. He thought it was the funniest thing he had ever seen.

Us southerners aren't really prepared for snow, so poor Jack had no gloves.. We did find a hat and windbreaker. It didn't match real well, but it worked. He was running around so much that he was pretty warm.

We did go to the back of the neighborhood and sled down the hill on the top of a big rubbermaid container. What rednecks:) It was fun though!

Jack's First Mardi Gras

2009-02-25T09:41:00.001-08:00

Jack had another first this past weekend. We took him home to Mandeville for Mardi Gras. Friday night we took him to Orpheus, the local Mandeville Parade and a parade that I grew up going to. We were very fortunate to get to watch the parade with The Vitranos. James' office is on the route so we were able to park there, which was great because we didn't have to lug everything and we had nice clean restrooms. Thanks Kylie and James for having us!!

We had to get there about 2 hours before the parade came to be able to park before they closed the streets off. Jack was great. The kids can have free run because the streets are blocked off, so that was perfect for Jack. For those of you that didn't grow up with Mardi Gras let me explain where this had came from. There are people that walk up and down the street while you are waiting for the parades with grocery carts full of junk. I remember being little and begging to get something off of those carts and we were always told "no". I understand now because it is just more junk to find something to do with on top of all of the loot that you catch. Well, we weren't there 10 minutes and Cookie was buying this hat for Jack. It is precious and he loved it. About an hour later they were back at the cart buying more junk, but Jack loved it.

Another Mardi Gras tradition is to eat Popeyes Chicken. You are there so long waiting on the parade that you are basically tailgaiting. A staple is Popeyes Chicken and biscuits. Kylie had lots of food and we brought Popeyes for everyone to munch on. Here is Jack taking a dinner break. He loved the chicken.

Here is Jack and Brandon waiting on the parade. You can see that the hat is gone. It didn't last very long. We now have a runny nose and cough because of it.

We attempted to take a family picture but there was so much going on that Jack couldn't be bothered.

Cookie and Kim bought and painted a ladder seat for Jack to sit in while the parade came by. We were nervous that he wouldn't want to sit in it, but he loved it. He caught so much stuff and had a blast.

The rest of the weekend he hung some with Gigi and Papa and with Cookie and Kim while Brandon and I enjoyed some Mardi Gras in New Orleans. All in all we had a great time and I think that Jack really enjoyed his first Mardi Gras.

We live in an Elmo world

2009-02-05T13:36:00.000-08:00

Jack is obsessed with Elmo. We have to watch Seasame Street every morning and then an Elmo video every afternoon. My Sister was in Atlanta a couple of weekends ago and bought Jack his first Elmo t-shirt. It is precious if you can look past the fact that it says "Elmo is for Auburn University", but Jack is in love with it.

I went to dress him this morning and this was in the pile of clothes that needed to be put away. He grabbed it and would not let go, so I put it on him and he has been reminding me all day that Elmo is on his shirt. It is sooo cute. This picture is not that great but I thought it was cute because he was saying cheese for the camera.

Thanks Nanny and James for Jack's shirt. I have to say I think it is his favorite!!!

Who needs toys when you have......

2009-02-05T13:14:00.001-08:00

Yogurt...I walked out of the kitchen for less than five minutes this morning and this is what I cam back to. I was in the living room talking to Brandon when I heard Jack saying "mmmm". I told Brandon that I needed to go because it sounded like Jack had found something on the floor that he was eating. When I walked around the corner he looked at me and said "mmmmm" as he took a bite of his yogurt. This is the same yogurt that 3o minutes ago he wanted nothing to do with. I don't know how he did it but he somehow got this off of the kitchen counter.
Milk....in a sippy cup....that is not supposed to spill. I was in the kitchen with him the other night. He was playing while I cooked. He got really quite so I looked around the island to see what he was doing. This is what I found. Our precious Jack had dumped his entire cup(I had just filled it up) of milk onto the floor and was having a blast playing in it. So were the dogs!

Lip Gloss.....We went to Leeann's house last Thursday for a play date and lunch. All of the other kids were playing with toys, but Jack wanted to play with other things. I have gotten smart about zipping my purse if it has to be in his reach. I had forgotten that there was some play lipgloss that Chloe(Kim's Granddaughter) left in my purse this summer. We were sitting in the kitchen talking and Mindy just happened to walk by Jack and catch him. She said "come look at Jack and bring your camera quick" This is what everyone saw. He had unscrewed the lip gloss and attempted to put it on his lips. No big deal right. Then I looked down at his outfit and it was all over him. If you have ever tried to get lip gloss out of an outfit you know my thoughts. It took a week and about 5 different things to finally get it out enough that it isn't noticeable.

For those of you wondering, there is never a dull moment around our house these days. Jack is soooo much fun, but 100% boy and is so curious about everything.

We have just started time out because our wonderful Pediatrician said that he needs it. He is very strong willed and is way too smart for Brandon and I. He has also started biting again and his victim always seems to be me. My poor arm is black and blue.

Most of you that have kids this age or older are probably laughing at me right now thinking about the days that you went through this stage. If you have any suggestions I would love to know.

He is such a sweet little boy though that is talking up a storm and has turned into a Momma's boy. I love it most of the time, but I feel bad for Brandon when he wants time with him and he only wants me. He is repeating the last word to everything that we say, so we really have to be careful as to what we do say. I had just asked him the other night if he had poo poo and then h got on the phone with my Mom and told her that he had "poo poo" and then he told her "ewwww". Where do kids get this from???!!!

I hope everyone is doing well and sorry that I have not been the best at keeping up the blog.

Love,

Ashley

Our Week in Mandeville

2009-01-26T14:10:00.000-08:00

Brandon had 2 hunting trips planned and a business trip to Dallas so Jack and I packed up and headed south to spend time with family and friends. We had such a great time! Time really goes by too fast.

We attempted to get everyone together with the kids on Tuesday, but that is almost impossible. Poor Jane was sick and Anna Claire and Sophia had school. We really missed the girls, but Jack had a blast with Cooper who is only 10 days younger than him and sweet baby Cameron who is 7 months. Jack and Cooper played great together. They had a few arguments over the choo choos, but that was it. Cameron was so cute. She had such a great time watching the boys play. I know she wanted desperately to be able to play with them. I can't wait for the summer when she can run around with them.

Cameron was obsessed with Coopers ear and Jack was about to fall asleep. We went home for a nap shortly after this.

Tuesday night all of the girls got together for dinner. It was great catching up as usual. Emily and Kylie are both pregnant again, so it was great hearing how things were going for them. Raynah, and old friend from high school has just recently moved back to Mandeville so it was great catching up with her too. Nights like that make me really miss home. I love my girls!

Thursday and Friday we went to Baton Rouge to spend time with Maw Maw and Paw Paw and family. Jack just loves going to their house. They have a huge back yard and he runs around all day long. He is so fortunate to get to know his Great Grandparents and actually have them play with him. They get around with him better than I do at times. Maw Maw cooked a delicious gumbo Thursday night and my Dad, Aunt Nancy, Tate, Parrain, Stacy and crew came for dinner and to do Xmas with Jack. It was so good seeing everyone.

Jack is really into books right now and loves to have someone sit and read to him. His couisin Ali was more than happy to sit with him and read a few books. We laughed later because the books were as old as I am.

Friday afternoon we met Simone and Ryan at the lakefront. It was such a gorgeous day! Ryan had not seen Jack since he was 8 weeks old, so I was glad that he was able to see Jack. He is usually working when we are in town. Jack loved him and they ran around with the dogs while Simone and I chatted.

It is Mardi Gras Season, so Papa shipped Jack his first King Cake. It was delicious from Randazzo's Bakery. It came with this mask, some beads, and doubloons. Jack loved it. Thanks Papa for thinking of us. You are the best.

It is also the beginning of crawfish season, so Dad got crawfish for us on Saturday night. They were delicious and I have been craving them ever since. I miss the food so much. It just isn't the same in Birmingham.

We had a great time and can't wait to go back in a few weeks for Mardi Gras. We are going to take Jack to his first parade. It should be interesting.

Jack's 1st Trip to the New Orleans Aquarium

2009-01-26T13:57:00.000-08:00

Mom was off of school on Monday, so we took advantage of the day and brought Jack to the Aquarium. He is obsessed with fish these days so I thought he would really enjoy it. Enjoy is an understatement. He LOVED it! I don't think he knew what to do with all of the fish in the tanks. It wasn't really crowded so we were able to take him out of the stroller and let him run around. We also took him to lunch at Mother's. He is too little to know that he ate somewhere famous, but Mom and I really enjoyed it. Nothing like a real New Orleans shrimp poboy.

This is the best posed picture we could get. There was way too much to distract him.

He loved the frog exhibit.

Jack and I checking out the sharks. He was mesmorized.
I hope that he likes the zoo this much this summer. It was just as much fun for Mom and I watching him get so excited and enjoy it so much.

I've Been Tagged...

2009-01-12T11:36:00.000-08:00

I don't usually do these, but I thought this one was neat. My friend Tracie tagged me. I am supposed to go to the fourth folder on my computer and choose the fourth picture in the folder. I am then supposed to post the picture and give a brief explanation then tag 4 more people.

This is Jack 1 year, 5 months, 3 weeks, and 1 day ago. He is just minutes old as you can tell from the picture. Time sure does fly. It seems like yesterday I Brandon was taking this picture and now I have an 18 month old running around the house and talking to me. It has been the best 18 months of my life.

I now tag:

Nicole Parnell

Monique Carucci

Cydney McDowell

Jen Brown

Happy New Year

2009-01-02T19:55:00.001-08:00

We had he best NYE this year. We were able to spend it with some of our best friends and our kids and I would not have had it any other way. Us, The Stricklands, and The Bentleys decided to get together with the kids and have a sleepover at The Stricklands. Most of our other friends were out of town, had other plans, or had babysitters. Mindy cooked a delicious pot of spaghetti for dinner, we put the kids to bed, and just hung out playing board games and Wii(I will go into detail later). Look how precious Mary Molloy, Jack, and Addison were eating dinner at the kids table. This was Jack's second meal of the night in which he had 2 helpings. I am thinking he is having a growth spurt.

This is Jack after his 2 helpings of spaghetti. He loved Aunt Mindy's cooking. You can't really notice but the girls had been done and were up playing. Jack kept eating.

After the kids went to bed the adults played a board game and then broke out the Wii. Doug(Papa) bought a Wii for Mom and kids for Christmas to have at the camp to play. He had it shipped to our house since that is where they were for Christmas, but it didn't make it in time. Yea! It was at our front door Wednesday when we got back from the lake and Papa was very nice and told us to try it out. I don't know if this was a good mood or not. Papa is either going to be buyin another one or Brandon is going to have to buy us one because we are addicted!!

The boys bowled most of the night and were nice enough to give Mindy and I a try at tennis. This is Casey being very serious about the game...

... Brandon is very serious. Look at this pose...

...and Chris is really serious. Thanks Papa for making our New Years Eve even more exciting!

I want to wish everyone the best in 2009!

Love,

Ashley

Lake Trip with The Stricklands

2009-01-02T19:48:00.000-08:00

The Stricklands were very nice to invite us to the lake Monday and Tuesday. We were very excited to go for some RNR after the holidays. We had a great time playing with the kids and just catching up. Mary Molloy and Jack are 1 year apart but get along so well, so it makes it easy on us. She is so sweet to him and he just adores her.

The weather was gorgeous, so the kids could play outside and the boys even got a chance to go fishing. I just love the picture below. This will be a great picture to show Jack's Wife or Mary Molloy's Husband!!Thanks Mindy, Chris, and Mary Molloy for having us. We had a great time!

Sellers Family Christmas

2008-12-28T14:40:00.000-08:00

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year. Jack really enjoyed it this year and had a blast. Since my family does not live near us we had a few Christmases this year. Jack really enjoyed that. It gave him just enough of a break before he started opening more gifts.

Our first Christmas was with our friends Sena and Robby and Mary Helen and Aidan on Monday night. I cooked a big pot of chili and everyone came over to hang out before they had to start traveling. Jack loved his gifts from Aunt Sena and Uncle Robby. He got crayons for the tub and a boat for the tub with some fun soaps. I also love my gift from Sena and Andi. Thank ya'll so much for our gifts. We are so lucky to have wonderful friends like you!My Mom got here on Sunday afternoon and was able to stay the whole week. Doug(Papa) was supposed to get here on Monday afternoon but because of the snow in Seattle he was not able to fly out of Alaska. They originally told him that he would not be able to get here until the Friday after Xmas, so we were really upset that he wouldn't get to be here with us. Well, God was watching over us because he was able to get on the 1:00 a.m. flight Tuesday morning and was here Tuesday afternoon! We are so glad you made it Papa!!!!

My Grandparents spent Christmas in Atlanta with My Aunt Carolyn and cousins. On there way there, Tuesday, they stopped and spent the night with us so that we could do Christmas with them. My Aunt Tracy also got in on Tuesday afternoon to spend Christmas with us! It was wonderful having everyone here. This time of year makes me really appreciative of the family and friends that we have. Jack is fortunate to have this picture below with one of his Great-Grandmothers!!! He was showing her how to use his new colors and coloring book from his Great Aunt Tracy.

Grandma made this robe for Jack and he loves it. Look how precious he looks. This was Brandon's favorite gift that Jack got. Ha!

My cousin and Jack's second cousin Ben also got to spend a night with us. He was riding with my Grandparents to spend Christmas with his Mom and brother and sister. He is so good with Jack and Jack adores him. They had a blast!

Jack also got to exchange gifts with his Parrain on Tuesday night. He loved his train named "Jack". Thanks John and Kaley!! He is starting to get into trains, so he got a bunch of those for Christmas. His Nanny has also been buying him one each time she goes to the store. He calls them "choo choos".

Chrismas Eve was alot of fun too. We started the festivities off by going to mass at 4:00 and then headed home just in time to see Santa come around the neighborhood on the firetruck. That is a tradition that is done all over Birmingham every Christmas Eve. Brandon remembers being little and running outside to see Santa on the firetruck. Jack was too little last year, but this year he knew what it was. He was a little scared when he drove by but on his way out of the neighborhood he was waving and saying "bye" and "ho ho ho". After that my sister's boyfriend James' family came over to eat some gumbo and just meet the family. We really enjoyed visiting with them and getting to know them. It was a very late night, but we enjoyed every minute of it!

Here are Jack's gifts from Santa. I think that Santa went a little overboard this year! Jack's favorite toy was the shopping cart of all things.

Jack was precious Christmas morning. It took him about 1 second to figure out what was going on. He had only been downstairs about 1 minute in this picture.

He is starting to get a litte worn out in this picture. He got soooo many toys. I don't know where they are going to go. Mom and Doug gave him a ride on train and a little 4 wheeler and he just loves them. Mimi gave him a slide and a car that he moves with his feet. Can you say spoiled?! Thanks Mom and Doug for everything and thanks Mimi for everything as well. Ya'll made this a wonderful Christmas for Brandon, Jack, and I. We love you!!

Friday, my Dad and Kim came in to do Christmas with us! We had a great weekend. I didn't get my camera out that much because I honestly forgot about it. Sorry Dad and Kim. This is a picture that we took Saturday night of Jack and Cookie on the back porch. Jack was a little sick so he was being very calm and all of us were taking advantage of the lap time that we were getting. Cookie and Kim gave Jack some of the most precious clothes for Christmas and this was one of the shirts. Jack looked a little like his Cookie here! Thanks for everything Dad and Kim, we had a great time and we love you!

We missed being able to spend Christmas with the rest of our families. We love you too! I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and will have a Happy New Year!

Love,

The Sellers

Deck The Halls...

2008-12-03T13:01:00.000-08:00

On Sunday we got our entire outside decorated and most of the inside except for the ornaments on the tree. Monday night MiMi came over to have white chicken chilli and help decorate the tree. We were nervous about Jack but he actually did a pretty good job. He wanted to help so bad so I let him put a wooden ornament on the tree. He got it on and was so proud. He said "yea" and clapped for himself. I was pretty imressed. Well, that taught him that he could play with the ornaments I guess because he hasn't stopped trying to pull them off since then.

You can see the stocking hanging from the mantel behind me. Brandon and I disagreed about this but I had to have them up. Brandon is very worried that Jack is going to get curious, as he does quite often these days, and pull on them bringing the stocking and the iron hanger down on top of him. I am watching him very carefully and so far he has not fooled with them.

These ornaments look cute but Jack thinks they are balls and should be thrown. They have been there 2 days and are now on top of my armoire. Ornaments are slowy moving higher and higher up the tree. By the time Christmas gets here all of the ornaments are going to be on top of the tree.

We are having such a great time with Jack teaching him about Christmas and Santa. He still thinks that Santa says "roof roof" like a dog, but we are working everyday to teach him that he says "Ho Ho Ho".

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Holiday Season!!

Thanksgiving in Louisiana

2008-12-01T12:57:00.000-08:00

I hope that everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! We definitely did. Jack and I were able to go down to Louisiana for a while before Thanksgiving and then Brandon came in the day before. We got to hang out with lots of friends and family. It definitely reminded me of all of the things that we have to be thankful for.

Jack got to meet alot of cousins that he had never met and Brandon and I got to catch up with alot of my cousins that we don't get to see that often.

This is Jack and his 3rd cousin Jay. They have a Thanksgiving Eve party at their house every year and we got to go this year. It was great catching up with everyone.

These are Jack's 5th cousins Peyton(18 months) and Carter(2). He had a great time, as you can see, playing with them. He was very happy to have some boys to play with too!
This is Paw Paw and Maw Maw. We had a great Thanksgiving Day at my Parrain and Aunt Stacy's house. There was tons of family there and at the end of the day we had a bonfire. It was alot of fun sitting around the fire catching up. It has been 5 years since we have been able to be there for Thanksgiving.

Jack and his 2nd cousin Gordie had a blast on Gordie's F-150. It was also Gordie's 6th birthday. Gordie was so sweet and took Jack around the yard until the battery ran out, literally. Jack didn't want to get out so we had to carry it to the porch to get the battery out to recharge. I think we will be needing one of these in the near future.

Brandon, Jack, and Cookie took a ride on the Mule from the bonfire. Jack also had a blast on this. We had to pull him off kicking and screaming to leave that night.

My New Hobby.......

2008-11-16T13:33:00.000-08:00

I am going to brag on myself for a minute... Most of you know that I have started a new hobby, sewing and that I love it. It is all that I do these days. I just want to show everyone my first 3 outfits that I have made.
I made this for dressy events and church.

This is some fabric that I just had to have so I made an outfit for the end of the winter when it starts warming up.

This was my very first outfit that I made in my beginners sewing class. It is reversible.

Side 2 of the reversible outfit.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and can't wait to see alot of you over Thanksgiving!

It C Bit C's Children's Clothing

2008-11-12T14:07:00.001-08:00

I wanted to let everyone know of a precious monogramming and clothing business that my friend Denise, here in Birmingham owns. She has been doing Jack's stuff since he was born and I could not be happier with the outcome. I get so many complements on his stuff. She is great to work with, quick, and inexpensive. Please check out her blog. She is still working on getting everything up, so check back often. Let me know what you think or if you have any questions!

http://www.itcbitcs.blogspot.com/

Baton Rouge

2008-11-11T22:15:00.000-08:00

This is a long overdue post. We have been crazy around here trying to get back on schedule form our weekend in Baton Rouge. Brandon, Jack, and I headed to Mandeville on Thursday for the weekend. Friday Brandon and I headed to New Orleans to pick up our Alabama Fan friends, Joey and Andi and then were on our way to Baton Rouge. Jack stayed with Gigi on Friday and then with Maw Maw and Paw Paw on Saturday.

Despite the loss, we had a great weekend. Here are a couple of pictures from the tailgate on Saturday.

Jack learned alot while staying with Gigi. When we picked him up on Sunday he could show us with his finger how old he was and he could tell us that the kitty cat says "meow". He now knows what the dog and cat says. He has also started counting with a little assistance. I have always counted to 2 or 3 when I do things with him like rolling his sleeves or tying his shoes, so I guess he just caught on. If I say 1, he will say 2, and sometimes 3(not very often). He is soooo precious these days and is learning something new everyday.

Happy Halloween

2008-11-02T21:10:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Halloween. My Dad came in town for a long weekend to hang out with us and be with Jack on his 2nd Halloween. He was precious.

My Mom was in a while ago and we were out shopping for nothing in particular. I had not even thought about Jack's Halloween costume yet. We walked into HomeGoods and there it was the most precious costume I have ever seen, a shaggy dog. We tried it on him and didn't think twice. GiGi had to buy it for him to wear this Halloween.

He acted like he had been doing it for years. He didn't understand the Trick or Treat concept but he did understand "knock knock". He would run up to each door and knock. If they didn't come right then he would try and open their door. Once they did open the door he would take a handful of candy, put it in his bag and go for another. He even tried to make himself at home in a few houses. One in particulatr he noticed the neighbors little boys toys in the living room and walked in and sat down to start playing with the toys. I was so embarrased!!

This is a picture of him on Halloween. Dad and I trid to prepare him all day, but he had no clue what was going on.
Here is our precious litle puppy. He got to Trick or Treat on his new tricycle that Cookie(my Dad) bought him this weekend as an early Christmas present. Can you say spoiled?

This isn't the best picture but I thought it was cute of the 3 boys having a blast.

Jack is impatiently waiting for them to open the door.

This is the best picture(not saying much) that I could get of him all night. He is at the age where he will not stay still and I can't seem to get any cute pictures.

I had to show the cutest part of the costume, the tail. When he runs(because he doesn't walk) it wags from side to side. He even kept the hood on all night! He was such a trooper.

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Jack's 15 Month Checkup

2008-10-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

Our little man is growing up so fast. I can't believe that he is 15 months(really 15 1/2 months) already. We are loving every minute of it and we never have a dull moment around here. He is talking up a storm and really starting to understand what we are telling him. This morning at the doctors office we heard a baby crying and I asked Jack "do you hear the baby?", then I told him, "you used to be a baby like that and cry like that baby". He looked up at me and said "Baby". When the doctor got in the room he heard another baby crying (we heard alot because they were all getting shots...poor things!), he looked at me and Dr. Dudgeon and said "Baby". It was really cute and I was very proud that he reconized on his own that it was a baby crying. Enough bragging on my son, here are his stats:

32 1/4 inches tall (80%)

24 lbs. 4 ozs. (50%)

He has all of his molars and is getting all of his eye teeth right now. Grandma, this explains why he was up so late screaming the other night. Dr. Dudgeon said that these are very painful for them because they are pointy. He was also very impressed with Jack's vocabulary for a 15 month old. He said that he was advanced and is really talking on a 2 year old level. I'm such a proud Mom!!!

I hope everyone is doing well. Have a great Halloween! Post lots of pictures of the little ones.

Boo at the Zoo

2008-10-28T14:32:00.000-07:00

Sunday night a big group of us took the kids to the zoo for Boo at the Zoo. We had a picnic dinner before and then headed into the zoo for some fun filled festivities. It was really crowded because it was the last night. Genius me did not realize that when I planned this night but overall it was alot of fun. It was just really hard to all stick together as a group, so most of us split up and did our own things. The important thing is that the kids had a blast.

This is my precious puppy, Jack. He only kept the hood on for about 30 minutes. This is only partial costume. I will have the full costume for Friday night.

Here was our best attemp at getting some of the kids together. We are missing Charlie and Caroline, but did the best we could. From left: Addison, Claire, Ann Rogers, and Jack.

Jack and Daddy took a minute to pose in front of the huge pumpkin. This was the best that we could get being that it was 8:00 and Jack's bedtime.

Jack and his nanny had a great time.

Lindsay and James had a great time riding the haunted carousel.

They had 2 little villages set up around the zoo with fake houses and people handing out candy. Jack really enjoyed it and was very polite and said "Thank you" to everyone!

The Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-23T14:12:00.001-07:00

This past Sunday we took Jack to the pumpkin patch. We had a great time. The weather was beautiful and felt like a nice fall day. Jack absolutely loved it. His favorite thing was the hayride though. He didn't want to get off.

After everyone else had gotten off, Brandon and Jack stayed on to discuss their strategy on finding the perfect carving pumpkin. Look how intently Jack is listening to his Daddy.

There were 2 different patches, one to the left and one to the right. Jack immediately took off running to the patch on the right and towards the pumpkin in the picture. The whole time he was yelling "ball". He was a little confused but I was pretty impressed that he recognized the pumpkin as the same shape as a ball.

He found the perfect pumpkin and then was done with the patch. I think that Aunt Sena and I had more fun in the patch picking out the best pumpkin for decoration.

Jack and Daddy have loaded up and are ready to head back to activities.

Aunt Sena, Jack and I were cuddled up. It was pretty chilly on the hayride.

On the way back Jack tried to taste the stem of the pumpkin. I wish I could have gotten a picture of the awful face he made right after he took a bite. He did not like the taste.They had a huge 18 wheeler cage full of cotton that the kids could play in. When we got there big kids were playing in it so I was upset Jack wouldn't get to. When we were leaving I was so excited to see that it was empty. We took Jack's shoes off and put him in. He loved it. The first thing he did was fall face first and loved it. It was like he knew how soft it would be. I got to go in and get him out and it was pretty cool.

I hope that everyone is having a great October and enjoying it as much as we are. We can't wait for Halloween next weekend. Jack will be a shaggy dog. I can't wait to post those pictures and to see all of the other posts of the little ones in their costumes.

Jack's 1 year Pictures

2008-10-14T11:56:00.000-07:00

Jack's 1 year pictures are finally finished and up on the photographers website. Please take a second to sneak a peek. They will only be up for 2 weeks from tomorrow. I went a little formal on these because I really wanted to get a portrait out of this session. Click on the Abernathy Photographics link under My Favorite Links on this blog, click on Clients, and enter the password sellers. Enjoy!!!