Happy Halloweenie!

Happy Halloweenie, everyone! It's a cool 62 degrees here today, so I guess Fall has decided to grace us with her presence for Halloween. We carved our pumpkin last night with Kim and her munchkins, and are taking Bradley out trick or treating tonight for the first time.

This first picture was for you, Lu!

Here's me, carving our pumpkin- what would eventually turn out to be a ghost saying "Boo"
Our friendly neighborhood pumpkin carving event (only 2 of the 4 kids shown are actually Kim's!)

Behind Bars

The finished pumpkins

all lit up
Kim, Andrew, Catalina, me, and Bradley

Ok Grandma B, this is proof that I let Bradley have some of the candy you sent him!

Last but not least, this is a video I like to call, Trick or treat smell my feet. It will make you smile, I promise!

Calendar Calamities

Random bit of complaining for the day: It stinks having a birthday at the beginning of the month. Why, you ask? Because I have no chance to write my birthday on a calendar or in my planner, and get to look forward to seeing that date in ink for a month. Instead, I have to wait until November rolls around, wipe clean my magnetic dry erase calendar on the fridge, flip to the new page in my desk planner, and see my birthday taunting me in the past-tense for the other 28 days of the month. Not fair. And this year I can't even "cheat" and go ahead and mark my birthday on my current October calendar because the month goes all the way through Saturday, so there are no "open" days at the end of the month to fill in. Boo.

Can you hear me now?

We knew that it was only a matter of time before Bradley picked up the art of talking on a cell phone! Wonder where he would learn such a thing with two parents blessed with the gift of gab?

A few days ago I noticed Bradley picking up "his" cell phone (an old one of Brian's), flipping it open, and holding it to his ear. Now he's also adding some talking with the gesture- you can watch the video for yourself, but it sounds very much like he's saying "hi." It cracks me up every time he does it.

Home sweet home

As of Wednesday night at 5:29pm Brian is home from Afghanistan!!!

Here's Bradley waiting for daddy in the airport, waving his flag! His t-shirt says "Welcome home daddy"

Holding up our sign, waiting for Brian's plane to arrive






The Vilendrers reunited after 3 long months

We had everyone in the airport crying at our reunion! Bradley and Brian bonded instantly. There was no question that Bradley knew exactly who his daddy was. We are so thankful to have Brian back home, and he has wasted no time making a trip to Lowe's and starting several home improvement projects already. He even fixed the icemaker that I had left broken months ago.

After picking him up from the airport, for his welcome home dinner Brian chose Buffalo Wild Wings, so that's what we did, then called it an early night. Tonight we'll grill out and have a few people over to celebrate.

Thank you to everyone who helped us out through this first deployment; for anyone who mailed Brian packages, to Ann for helping me out every week babysitting Bradley so I could go to choir practice, to Kim and Jess for making sure I got out of the house daily, to mom and dad for taking such good care of us on visits and giving me a break, and the biggest thanks goes for everyone who prayed for us. Now we will continue to pray for our other friends who are still deployed that they make it home safe and sound. God is good, all the time.

So you will remember your first deployment

Dear Bradley,

You are too little to remember this first deployment, but since the end of July, when you were 13 months old, your dad has been in Afghanistan. He went there to do his job defending our nation's ideals that people should be free to live their own lives without fear. He went to help the good guys fight the bad men who are terrorizing and hurting their own people. It was a huge sacrifice on your part to let your dad go away for such a long time while he helped those other people, so thank you for understanding.

Your mom was very sad at first, but you made her happy, and helped her get through the days. From the moment you got up with your smiling face til you went down to bed at night you reminded her that she still had a job to do, even though it was just the two of you for a while.

In the 3 months your dad has been gone you have changed so much! No longer a baby, you are truly a little boy now, walking everywhere, and wearing shoes. You have learned how to point to your body parts, climb off the couch by yourself (much to mommy's chagrin), and do the "touchdown" sign. You have cycled through so many "new" favorite books, and stopped nursing altogether while adding many new favorite foods to your repertoire. You've abandoned most of your other toys in favor of any kind of ball you can get your hands on, and when you do, you throw it with all your might! Mommy has been teaching you how to kick the ball, and roll it on the ground, and you're starting to understand the concept of "catch." You went from taking two naps a day to one, and finally added your third official word to your vocabulary: hot. As in, No Bradley, that food is hot, you have to wait. And then you will knowingly say the word "hot" as you act like you have touched something warm and pull your hand away.

Mommy has kept you (and herself) busy trying lots of new things these past few months. You have experienced your first train ride (at the FL zoo with mom and Grandma Anna), your first black eye (falling off the couch when mommy wasn't watching you), your first time riding a carousel (at the Nashville zoo with mom), and your first time on a boat (the ferry in New Orleans), and been kicked out of a preschool library story time. You went to 2 Ravenwood high school football games, travelled to see Ari & Conley in New Orleans, Rhonda & Joe in Panama City, and Grandma & Grandpa B, and aunt Laura and uncle George in Tennessee twice. The first 2 months you went to the beach a lot, but now it is too cold. We took you to a special doctor back in August who gave us great news that you were perfectly okay, and you've had a couple of colds, but otherwise been totally healthy. It has been a quiet hurricane season, so we haven't had to worry about the weather while daddy was away.

Monday nights Grandma Anna has come to eat dinner with us, and play with you and put you to bed so mommy could go to choir practice in Pensacola. You love chasing Max around and touching his tongue that perpetually sticks out! On Wednesday nights you have been a trouper staying in the church nursery till 9 o'clock when mom gets out of church choir rehearsal. Three times a week you get a stroller ride in the park while mama and Miss Jessica and Miss Kim go running. Some nights you are cranky and we have to sing to you. Most nights you are content to ride along, and more than once you have thrown your sippy cup or pacifier down on the ground, leaving mommy to chase after it. Other regular activities are our weekly Kindermusik classes, and the moms' coffees where you get to play with lots of other kids your age.

The few times we have been able to video chat with daddy, your face lights up when you see him. You show off for him by giving high fives, blowing kisses, and giving mommy hugs; all new tricks you've mastered since he's been gone. I can't wait to watch your face when you spot your daddy coming towards us in that airport very soon. In the scheme of things 3 months is not that long of a time, but for a little one like you, you are growing and changing every day. I love you so much, and thank you for being such a good boy, and making this easy on mommy.

Love, mom

Retail rant

Recently my world has been turned upside down, and I am striving to find ways to cope with the difficulties this problem brings. I literally don't know which way to turn some days, and finding my path is near-impossible. A once-menial task is now an overwhelming chore, and my patience is wearing thin. What has taken the sparkle out of this DIVA? Yes, you guessed it. Our neighborhood Walmart is remodeling!!

(Seriously people, what did you think I was talking about??)

For weeks now, our Walmart has been renovating. After one week in Tennessee back in August I returned ye olde trusty walmart, and immediately noticed something was different. (Warning flags should be popping up for anyone who knows me well, because I am about the least observant person on the planet!) As I stared at the produce wall, I realized it had been repainted a bright obnoxious yellow. This just proves that I spend way too much time in this store.

Well the painting was just beginning. Now they're redoing the grocery aisles, and you'd be hard pressed to find a quicker form of torture for shoppers out there, I'd wager. Nothing is where it used to be, and some items have disappeared completely (Kim complained that Walmart supposedly isn't going to be carrying kids' tv dinners anymore. I told her maybe this was God's way of telling her she shouldn't be feeding her kids tv dinners). Even the items you know are there, have gone into hiding, and no one, not even the Walmart employees, knows where they have gone. Case in point, the special Halloween Count Chocula cereal that I know I saw on an end cap just a few days ago? Vanished. I spent more than enough time going up and down aisles with Bradley today on a hunt for the breakfast specialty item, but when B's snacks were running low in his cup, I gave up my quest and headed to the cash registers. At least those haven't moved.

But of course not. The evil conspirators of Walmart want you to know where to pay for your items, but not how to get in and out quickly. The way they've arranged the store now leads you through a wild goose chase of both parallel and perpendicular aisles, so that you are forced to weave through the maze of merchandise, and undoubtedly spend more time in the store, and find more things you forgot you needed until you saw them.

Oh Walmart, how I loathe thee!

First 5K

This morning was my first ever 5K, and I accomplished my goal- to run the entire race without stopping! My friends/neighbors Kim and Jessica and I ran it together, and we even had our own jody to sing as we ran:

Everywhere we go

people wanna know

who we are

so we tell them

we are the mamas

the hot hot mamas

That was Jess' idea, but you know me, I love anything cheesy and attention-getting! We don't have the official results, but I know we all three finished in under 35 minutes. Not bad for girls who were running 5 minute intervals just 2 months ago!! Kim could have run circles around us but she stayed with us til the end when she sprinted ahead, and Jess actually won first place for her age group after spinning for 3 hours last night for a benefit for a cancer patient!! These are 2 amazing women, and I'm so thankful to have them in my life. They are great motivators, running partners, and friends.

Livid with the Library

Apparently our libraries don't want small children to enjoy books. Apparently we want to delay them being read to as long as possible, like perhaps until they reach school age. That's the message the Santa Rosa County Library is sending me, anyways.

I have been waiting for the weekly story time to start back up so I could take Bradley. Our library system does story time in Navarre on Tuedays, and Gulf Breeze on Thursdays, and we live in between the 2 libraries, so I opted for the Thursday one today. I tried to take Bradley back in the summertime, but when I showed up I was informed that they were done for the summer and that it would resume in the fall. I went some time after Brian had left, so August, and it just now started back this week, October. There had been no information on the library's website that they were done for the summer, so I was a little disappointed when we made the special trip over there only to find out it wasn't happening, but no big deal right? Since then I have diligently been checking the website ever since to find out when it would be starting back up.

You can imagine my shock when, after the nice librarian asked the children to follow her away from the library's kid section, and down a hall into a meeting room where they were to sit on a brightly colored carpet, I was informed that parents were not allowed in the room. Parents are a distraction to the kids, she told me. So a little hesitantly, I sat Bradley down on the carpet and started to leave the room, reasoning that I could watch from the window outside the door, and make sure Bradley was okay. As I started to leave however, the sweet librarian asked me an obvious question. Is he 3? Well no, he's not. I'm sorry, she said every bit as sweetly, preschool story time is only for 3-5 year olds. I asked about sitting in the back of the room with Bradley and again was shot down. He loves books, I pleaded with her. We made a special trip out here for this, I said, but there was nothing to be done. I was steaming mad. I was being told that I could not bring my child into a public library and listen to someone read a story? Isn't that against some law or something for discrimination in a goverment funded building and program??

Upon speaking with the library's manager, I was told again that story time was just for 3-5 year olds. And there is no "toddler" story time. And in the state of Florida, 4 year olds go to pre-K, and 5 year olds are in kindergarten. Since the story time is not held during the summer, why do you have a program for kids, most of whom are in school at this time, I asked her. The manager informed me that they take the month of July off- which is a lie, because I went in August and have been checking the calendar ever since, but I couldn't think quick enough to make this argument. I still questioned why I was not allowed to bring my son into that room and sit with him, and got no answer I was satisfied with, other than that's how the programming was set up by the main children's librarian. Thanks for nothing, I said as I left in a huff. I know. Not the nicest way to handle it, but come on, this is America for goodness sakes! Every parenting magazine or child-rearing website you see will suggest taking your kids to story time at your local library! I wasn't showing up with my newborn and a pacifier in some lame attempt to get out of the house. I was genuinely trying to encourage my child to grow up learning to love books.

My next stop is to email the children's librarian and find out what can be done about this. There's also a library advisory board meeting that's coming up that is open to the public. I am not going down without a fight.

Surprise trip!

Never one to make spur of the moment plans, I surprised myself even, when Laura called me on Thursday and suggested I come up to Tennessee for the weekend and surprise my parents.  Planned spontaneity is more how I roll, but upon quickly realizing that this would be my best shot at visiting again before Brian gets back, I jumped at the opportunity to pull off the greatest shock ever for Grandma & Grandpa B.  Due to a slight snag with a late afternoon meeting that my sister had to persuade my parents to bump up so they'd be home, mom and dad weren't completely taken by our showing up on their doorstep, but that didn't stop them

 from meeting us in the driveway with smiles and tears on Friday afternoon.  It was a great feeling to make their day by showing up unannounced.

Friday night we dined at Blue Coast burrito and then headed to RHS for some Ravenwood football.  Here are three of the Raptors' biggest fans!

Bradley was sure interested in Grandpa B's cheeseburger, and had to sample the football fare himself.

Cheering for the Raptors

Bundled up baby:  Bradley didn't even make it to halftime!  Guess he was all tuckered out from the driving.  PS, in keeping with the theme of crappy football seasons, RHS lost Friday night to Franklin.  :(

Saturday the gorgeous fall weather (yes, you read correctly- I used those two words in the same sentence, Mary Anna) lent itself well to a trip to Gentry's Pumpkin Farm in Franklin.  It hearkened back to the days when me and the girls came out here, and posed behind corn stalks for one of my favorite friends-pictures ever.  I was disappointed that there were no sunflowers for picking this time, but I was shocked (in a good way) to see how much cheaper it was to purchase pumpkins here, from the source, rather than the grocery store!  Finally, it pays to buy locally and think globally!    

Bradley enjoyed Gentry's because anything bright and round is a ball to him right now, and therefore the object of his fascination.  We picked out a nice pumpkin to take home to Florida with us, and Laura found several things to decorate her new place.  

Pa-in-law with Son-in-law, relaxing Saturday night

Bradley helps uncle George on the computer.  (Today he deleted several of dad's emails... you have to watch him near keyboards these days!)

Sunday after church we went out to Laura & George's new place in Spring Hill.  We had chili and rotel while we watched the Titans lose (again) and then we helped Laura unpack and organize some of the residual boxes leftover from the move.  I love projects like that, and tackled her kitchen cabinets with glee, rearranging as I saw fit.

Bradley and Julius are seen here examining the doggie door together.

We've had a great weekend (minus all the football) and I am so glad I took Laura's advice and came up when I did.  The next time I'll be up, Brian will be with me, and we'll all be eating turkey.

Until then, au revoire fall!  It's back to 80 degree sunny fall days for me!

Oh (and) four crying out loud!

What the heck is going on?  My beloved Titans are 0-4.  Can this really be the same team who had the best record in the NFL last year?  And coming up, we've got Peyton Manning and the Colts, and then the Patriots after that.  I fear we might very well be this year's Detroit Lions.

To add insult to injury, My Kentucky Wildcats have yet to get an SEC win, and UT can't doesn't seem to be any better than they were last season, even with their new hotshot coach.  Add to that the fact that Brian is deployed so I've been watching a lot of games by myself, and you have one depressing football season thus far!  

Lord, I was born a ramblin' woman

It's finally here! The late, great DIVA convention of 2009. Tomorrow little B and I head to New Orleans to visit Ariana, and Conley is driving up from Houston. It will be the first time all three of us have been together since right after Bradley was born, and he fit into his "Little Werker" onesie. (Man, I wished that thing still fit!!)

Before a trip I always think I am well prepared, until it comes time to leave and then I'm scrambling trying to tie up loose ends and leave the house in a frantic sweat. For example, tonight I am certain my bag is packed, but I know tomorrow morning I will remember all kinds of things last minute and kick myself for not taking care of them tonight, instead of checking Facebook, watching The Office, Grey's Anatomy (I wish I knew how to quit you!) and I'm about to watch the Glee episode I missed last night while at church. I will lazily wander around the house until I feel like going to bed, and wake up tomorrow doing the mad dash to get out of the house again. Will I ever learn?? Mmm, probably not. But at least I know this about myself, and knowing is half the battle they say.

Today I hosted our informal mamas' coffee at my house. Our group is a hodge podge of women who have small kids, and not everyone knows everyone, so we've started doing weekly coffees at each other's houses, to get to meet other moms and frankly escape the house and have an adult conversation for an hour or two! If I may brag, and I will because this is my blog, the event today at our house was a huge success. In the four weeks we've been doing these coffees, we had the biggest turnout today- 8 moms and 6 kids (all under the age of 3- eegad!). The house was clean, the candles were lit, the fall decor was on display, and besides the coffee and fixins, I even whipped up a batch of homemade chocolate chip bran muffins this morning to nosh on as a healthy/tasty treat. Perhaps I am finally living up to my claim of being a domestic goddess extrordinaire??

In an email the other day Brian remarked on how busy I am these days. Every time he calls I am off doing something. It's a great feeling to be busy again, after moping around the house for so many months with no real motivation to get out and about. Brian's in his final stretch of the deployment, and we expect him back sometime soon after my birthday. Things are still up in the air for him as to what new job he'll have when he gets back, but we will just be excited to have him home no matter what job he transitions to on base.

Hope everyone is having a fantastic fall evening. Thanks for putting up with my rambling. I suppose next time I could blog and just say I'm blogging to say I have nothing to say, but then again, what would the point of that blog be? The rambling is just so much more fun, don't you think? So tonight I ramble on about life, and tomorrow I will ramble on over to N'awlins.

Last Day of Summer

Here it is the last day of summer already. Hard to believe Fall is upon us already. We celebrated the end of my favorite season with a trip to the beach, and by we, I mean me, Bradley, Ann, Kim, and Andrew. For all you workin hard out there today, here's my smug face for you :oP

Mine.

Me, Bradley, Andrew, & Kim

Grandma Anna & Bradley

Duck in a box

I can't help myself. I turn everything into songs. Whatever the circumstances of my day, I am liable to turn into a song lyric. Yesterday it was Bradley's shirt that read "A Mighty Surfer" which of course became "a mighty surfer is our boy" sung to the tune of the hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is our God."

Today I was playing with Bradley in his room when all of a sudden I noticed he was playing with one of his ducks and the box that the 5 ducks belong in. So of course, I immediately began to sing aloud, "it's my duck in a box." And then I paused to ponder just how wrong it is that I am using obscene songs to turn into tunes to sing to my child. The SNL writers would probably be glad to know their stuff has staying power.

The B words

Usually the B-word is not a very nice one. Recently, we have had 2 b-words come into our lives, and neither is what you might think. One is good, one is bad. The first is Bunko.

For a long time now I have been trying to make more friends here and carve out some me-time in Florida so that everything in my life is not revolving around Brian and Bradley (some other favorite B words of mine, coincidentally). Finally some local mammas have put together an informal moms group, where we take turns hosting coffees, and the kids can come and play together, and also having once a month bunko games. This past Saturday night was our first game night. I had notions of bunko being an old ladies' game, but it is far from that. Basically you roll 3 dice, and try to roll for certain numbers each round, and rack up points based on how well you roll. You're constantly switching tables and playing with different people, so you end up getting to talk with everyone, and don't have to have any skill or strategy to play. I only knew a few of the gals who were there Saturday night, so I have the potential to make several new friends, and have a standing monthly girls' night out. Woohoo!

The other B word is familiar to anyone with a little boy I'm sure. Now that Bradley is walking all of the time now, we've had our first Booboos this weekend. A scraped up leg from falling on the concrete out front, and a bloody nose yesterday after tripping on the tile floor. This was the first of what I'm sure will be many bloody injuries with my little boy. I'm usually pretty low key when Bradley falls or bumps his head, but the sight of blood sent me into a panic! What if it doesn't stop bleeding I thought? What if, oh my gosh, what if it stains his clothes??!!

Fortunately it did stop, and he was fine. But the reality is, these 2 new B words are going to be a staple in our lives, so I'd better get used to it.

Hearts apart

So apparently we have hit a big milestone in our deployment (the amount of time I have been gone). As many of you know (and the few that will read this) I don't blog much (I think I have like twice) but thought I would give this a shot. I can't post pictures and don't have any funny sayings and can't talk about what I do or even what the weather is like so really this stands to be a short and boring blog that at the end of it you will wish you had not wasted your time. I always tell Amanda that every day is like groundhog day. I wake up around X time and shower in a make-shift bathroom then walk back to my shack where I put on the same uniform before having a cup of coffee and eating my breakfast that for some is their dinner or lunch. Everyday I have about the same food. I do not want any hamburgers when I get back. I drive my sweet humvee with no doors into work where I do what I gotta do then contemplate the vastness of space and time. I have a Mountain Dew in the afternoon and then in the evening a Dr. Pepper and two chocolate chip cookies.
Which brings me to a nice note. Every day around the same time I go and get a sandwich and it is always the same kind (provided they have the lunch meat I want). There I grab two cookies...normally. Recently they have been running low or even out of them when I go. I asked the lunch lady (and not Chris Farley) if she had more. She goes in the cupboard and opens a box, looks around and gives me a six pack of them. This happened about two weeks ago and every day since she has set aside just for me a six pack of Otis Spunkmire chocolate chip cookies.
This brought me to a hard point that we often forget in life. Our mood, although often influenced by things around us, is ultimately up to us. We should make the best of each day we have and find joy in the little things.

Food, folks, football, and fun

A week-long trip is almost too overwhelming to blog about. Here's the short, one-sentence recap: I saw lots of great people, and ate lots of great food. And here's the long recap:

Wednesday Sept 2nd: we rolled into town that afternoon, and wasted no time eating some good food: round steak with gravy, mashed potatoes, corn, and fried okra. After dinner we hit up Coldstone for some delicious ice cream.

Thursday September 3rd: Bradley and I visited mom at Ravenwood, and then after she got off work, we took Bradley to Pinkerton park in Franklin. I did my 30 minute run for the day, while G&G played with Bradley on the playground and took him for a short walk. Dinner that night was enchiladas and tacos, rice and beans.

Grandma & Grandpa B with Bradley at the park

After my run, I was stretching, and I looked down and saw this brick at my feet, and I laughed out loud. Tricia Cathey is this girl Laura graduated with, and for some reason, Laura keeps running into her all over town in random places. Of all the engraved bricks at this park, I cracked up that hers was the one directly below my feet!
Thursday night we took Bradley to the Ravenwood-Hillsboro game, his first ever football game. He's all decked out in his new Titans outfit because they played (and beat) Green Bay that night. Bradley did great at the ball game, mostly because he was happy to eat Dippin Dots, and mom carried him around and showed him the band, the cheerleaders, and the Raptor mascot up close. We made it to halftime and then took him home.

That night George and I spontaneously decided to go to a 10:15 showing of Inglourious Basterds, and I loved it! Going to the movies was definitely the highlight of my week in TN because it's a luxury I'm rarely afforded anymore. IB was a pretty typical Quintin Tarentino film, meaning it was violent, quirky, and funny. I still can't figure out why both words in the title are misspelled other than it's Quintin Tarentino and he most likely did that on purpose to be obtuse. George, my BFF, and I exchanged inside jokes about the movie the rest of the week just to piss off Laura because she couldn't go with us as she had to work the next day.

Friday September 4th was my big food and folks day. I had breakfast at the Puffy Muffin with my old friends from high school (who I did not actually go to high school with), Ben and Ken. I hadn't seen either of them since my wedding, so it was great to catch up with them, plus the food was yummy. I took my breakfast leftovers to Laura at work, and then headed over to Baja Burrito for lunch with Emily and Mary Anna. It was a gorgeous day, so I was happy to see them, and enjoy lunch outside on the patio. For dinner, me, mom, dad and Bradley went to McDougal's for dinner for some pure fried goodness: chicken fingers, french fries, and Texas toast! Later that evening, my freshman roommate from UK Ellen drove down to visit.

Saturday September 5th was our big college football day. We went to Jonathan's (a sports bar) to watch the University of Kentucky shut out Miami of Ohio 43-0. This is very exciting when you're a Kentucky fan, the team that's perpetually ranked at the bottom of the unparalleled toughness of the SEC conference. As usual, we have high hopes for our Wildcats!

Here's me, Ellen, and Bradley, and in the background you can see the scoreboard for yourself in case you don't believe it! That afternoon, Ellen and I hit the mall for a little shopping because I wanted to check out the new Sephora store inside JC Penney's. It was small, and they didn't carry several brands, including my favorite, Stila, but that didn't stop me from making purchases anyways. Ellen and I played in the makeup, and I gave us both bright blue eyeshadow to match our Kentucky shirts, and I bought a new shade of Bare Minerals foundation, Mineral Vale that I was out of, and a new Sephora brand brown liquid eye shadow. I'm embarrassed to say that the brown eyeliner I was using was several years old, and beyond the point of needing to be chucked. Saturday for dinner was homemade Chicken and dumplings, green beans, and mashed potatoes, another delicious southern classic. Ellen got on the road just after dinner. I am so thankful she went out of her way to come and visit. I can't believe we've known each other for 10 years!

Sunday September 6th we took Bradley to church at BBC. I was bummed that neither Mike or the choir were there since it was a holiday weekend, but I was still glad to be there, and encouraged to hear all that Brentwood Baptist is accomplishing these days in sharing Jesus with the world. After church it was one big reunion with Rhonda and Joe, Emily, Amy, Lisa, and Brad Johnson. I wish I'd taken a big group picture, but I did manage to get this classic shot with the two Bradleys, both clad in brown shirts:After church we had a late breakfast/early lunch at Cracker Barrel. Bradley had really good hand/eye coordination to be able to play the peg game on the table.

The two southpaws, with Grandpa's old baseball glove

Later on that day, our friends Rhonda and Joe came over to take some pictures of Bradley. I posted the link in the previous blog if you missed them. Sunday night was (mmmm!) Laura's quesadillas, homemade pico de gayo, and rice and beans. We also made a pitcher of white wine margaritas, but we put too much lime juice in them, so they were too tart to drink. After eating all that, I was too full to go run, so I played the "vacation card" and skipped it. That night, Laura made me watch "American Psycho" as its her current obsession, and I'd never seen it. It's one messed up movie, and although Christian Bale gives a great performance, the film was too out-there for me.

Monday September 7th, Labor Day. And what a day of labor it was for Brian's sister Heather! After many false attempts, she went to the hospital today and was finally admitted. I'm sure the irony of being in labor on Labor day was amusing to everyone but her.

We also took Bradley to the Nashville Zoo today. He seemed to like the giraffes and meerkats the best. The farm animals and petting zoo sections were a real let down I thought, but Bradley did like the raspberry icee that Grandma gave him, something I would never allow at home!!

a live "action shot" of us walking at the zoo

Monday night we grilled hamburgers, and had homemade fries, baked beans, and pasta salad. It was the perfect end-of0summer meal. Plus I miss grilling hamburgers, since I haven't grilled at home since Brian's been gone.

Tuesday September 8th in the wee hours of the morning, my very first niece Jaelynn Ava Downard was born. Just one day shy of being an 09/09/09 baby, she and her cousin Kristin share the same birthday one year apart. I met Laura for lunch at Bruegger's and had the Herby Turkey sandwich- thank you Emily Borders for introducing me to this treat a long time ago, and later that afternoon we had to take the customary trip to Target.

Bradley's current obsession is balls, so I took a picture with him out in front of the store with these permanent fixtures.

Tuesday night we had dinner at Cozy Mel's after Laura got off work. I learned that I do not like their pork tamales, and Bradley does not like their guacamole! He cried when he ate that. For the record, I did not cry when I tried the tamale (unlike the infamous scallop incident where I did almost shed tears at the dinner table). After dinner I met Tadd and his girlfriend Candace at Starbucks. We sat outside and talked for 2 hours and had a great time catching up.

Wednesday September 9th we headed back to Florida, but not without first realizing 20 miles down the road that I had forgotten all the bedtime staples in his crib upstairs- the blankie, dog-dog, sea horse, and pacifiers. So I called dad and turned around and met him at an interstate exit to retrieve the important items. That added about 20 minutes to our trip but it was so worth it! I don't think Bradley is super attached to any kind of lovie, but I couldn't take that chance! 8 hours later, we pulled into our driveway, glad to be home, but sad to say goodbye to such a great week.

Bradley loved climbing up the stairs, and more so being chased up the stairs. He loved the dogs too, especially Julius since he is so little. Julius however didn't return Bradley's affections since B tends to play a little rough right now. I was grateful to have extra hands to take care of Bradley and give me a much needed week-long break. I got to see Laura and George's new condo, eat way too much, and spend lots of quality time with friends and family. A big thanks to my family for making the week so relaxing and wonderful. And to my BFF, I'll have THREE beers. Au'revoire, Shoshanna!!

15 month pictures

Today is Bradley's 15 month old birthday.  I quit doing the monthly milestone blogs once B hit a year, but I figured this was a good time to update Bradley's stats, especially since we have brand-spanking new, hot-off-the-press pictures!

Things Bradley is doing these days:

• walking everywhere
• climbing stairs (up, but not back down)
• obsessed with "Tugga Tugga Tugboat" and "Goodnight My Duckling" (The Ladybug and Dog books that were last month's obsession are history)
• throwing everything- balls, food, sippy cups, you name it
• chattering away in baby talk that only he can understand
• follows simple commands like, "throw your paci in your crib," or "go get your book"

Our friends Rhonda and Joe came over to the house yesterday and took some great pictures of Bradley.  I posted a few of my favorites here, but you can see all of them on their photography blog at http://www.joehendricks.com/Bradley/

a really good one of the weenie

future Heisman trophy winner

check out those baby blues

putting cookies in the cookie jar

a new favorite pasttime