Two is for Tru

Because I have been in bed for 3 days with the stomach flu (I will spare you the details, trust me I can barely handle them myself) and because Gage had pneumonia poor Truman got a little over-looked on his big b-day. Don't get me wrong. He had no clue.

In his eyes (which are all that matter)

his father took the day off (only because I was near death, something he didn't even do when I was on bedrest with T!),

they went to the Indoor Playground, where he played his heart out,

went to Super Target where Tangie made him an Elmo cake,

he picked out bulk candy from the bin (his own bag, not just some out of his brothers bags),

he had chicken nuggets and a soda,

he opened lots of Cars and Elmo gifts

and

he got to go to the Dr to watch his brother have a breathing treatment.

What more can a two year old ask for?? Not much I'd say! He had no clue that we had to cancel his party at the local wing joint or that I sat on the stairs for the gift opening then returned to my cave. He was in two year old heaven. Which is all I would want for him on his day.

At 2 Truman

weights about 24 pounds

loves nuggets, chocolate chip muffins, sprite, juice, milk & more chocolate chip muffins

adores Elmo, Lightening McQueen and his oldest brother Gage

loves for Gage to put his diaper on him - refuses to wear a diaper without Elmo

prefers to pick his own clothing

will only wear his saddle shoes

enjoys giving hugs

carries 2 or 3 cars around along with an Elmo

prefers to walk rather than ride at the grocery or target unless there is a race car buggy

has to do everything that Gage does

doesn't understand Davis (but do any of us really?)

LOVES LOVES ride on toys - to drive and to ride along

had his first haircut about 3 weeks ago, still can't see well but looks so darn cute

likes his naps and his bedtime

has learned to fake cry

has learned to fake sleep

can throw a mean temper-tantrum! But those are few and far between! Thankfully!

Happy Birthday T-Man, We love you!

Your year in pictures!

Jan

Feb

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Happy 2nd Birthday Truman

Thanks for all the calls and messages yesterday! Truman enjoyed his first day as a 2 year old.

my how you have grown

Venture to Mexico

It has been over a month since I have ventured over here. I could always blame it on the holidays. With so much going on it dropped to the bottom of my "to do" list. I'd make it my New Years resolution to update more, but why set myself up to fail the first 2 weeks in january??

On December 1st we packed up the entire family and headed out on a jet plane, passport in hand (5 passports in mama's hands actually) destination the Mayan Rivera in Mexico.

I have to say how proud I am of all 3 boys. They were well behaved and wonderful travelers. When we boarded the plane people were rolling their eyes, one lady even asked to move to the back of the plane when she saw the 3 boys were seated near her. I laughed, I use to be one of those travelers. But Truman was asleep before the seat belt sign was turned off while Gage and Davis played their DS games and watched movies. Within 3 hours we touched down in Cancun and those around us were commenting how well behaved the boys were. We were off the plane and grabbing our luggage before the lady that asked to move had even made her way off.

We had hired a van to drive us an hour south of Cancun to the Fairmont Mayakoba. To say that it was beautiful would not do it justice. It was an amazing hotel. We stepped off the van and the staff welcomed the boys with cool fragrant clothes to freshen their faces and a glass of yummy ice tea. At that point Gage thought he had stepped into heaven. Please excuse the sometimes blurry pictures. I only took our underwater camera.

one of the pool bars

the grounds - the hotel rooms were hidden across the resort

On the 2nd day of the vacation Gage told Ward that it was the BEST family vacation he had ever been on. I have to agree, we had a wonderful time. I would say that Disney to me might be the best. But Disney is different, you are always busy and it is a different kind of fun. In Mexico we did nothing but play at the pool, eat, play at the pool, eat, play at the pool, eat.... you get my drift.

Another reason we had such a wonderful time was because we met some wonderful people. Check out Sonya's blog for her pictures and recap. www.taketimetoplay.blogspot.com/2009/12/ole-ole-ole-amigos.html


Cooper and Quinn are from Minnesota. Their dad was at the same conference Ward attended. It was so refreshing to be able to sit and chat with Sonya. It is always nice when you have someone to talk with that understands what it is like to have a spouse with the "on call" way of life. Sonya's a southern girl that lives deep in snow right now. We are both bloggers and can you believe neither one of us got a picture together?? Anyway, I am thankful to have met them. Our children had a blast playing together while she and I lounged. We have already talked about meeting up again somewhere warm next year.







love this picture -

part two up next

Fishing From Daddy's Point of View

When the boys returned home from fishing they were so excited to show me the pictures. I was so excited when Ward said - "Hey, I'll blog about our trip". So here ya have it!

For those of you that know me, realize that I am not one to blog, Facebook, or twitter. So here it goes.

Gage is a fisherman. Last Friday November 6, Gage turned seven. For his birthday, he asked for an overnight fishing trip. With his newly purchased pair of waders and boots, he and I carefully studied the many opportunities to catch trout in western North Carolina and ultimately settled on the area around the famous Tuckaseegee river, just outside Dillsboro.

On Friday morning the two of us set out in search of the elusive mountain trout. Any fisherman knows that a real fishing trip always begins at the local fly fishing shop to find out about the local rivers and what the fish have been biting. So naturally our first stop was the Waynesville Fly Shop. Now everyone knows that flies for fly fishermen are much like shoes for women, you can never have too many. This rule held true on Friday, as we were able to add several new flies to our box as well as gain valuable information for the weekend ahead.

Unfortunately, due to the TVA generating on several local rivers we were not able to wade fish the Tuckaseegee. We spent Friday fishing the Pigeon River instead and Saturday fishing the Ravens Fork and Soco rivers in Cherokee. The weather was absolutely perfect, the scenery was spectacular, as always, in western North Carolina this time of year. We had a sack lunch on the river Friday, a tradition for all our fishing trips. Gage picks the rock. We saw squirrels, a few hawks, and heard gun fire from a nearby firing range.


After a long day of fishing on Friday we had dinner in Franklin at Cody's, a local favorite. Gage wanted steak. We took some great pictures of our meal. Danielle, our waitress, took our picture and brought Gage a large dessert. We took turns playing the Nintendo DS, talking about school, friends, and fishing.


The evening ended in the hotel with Cartoon network. Saturday was spent fishing most of day with a side trip into Cherokee to buy a bow and arrow with some of his birthday money and eat at Subway. We meet several fly fishermen on the river and shared stories of fish that got away or were seen but never had. The day ended with the drive home just in time to have a home cooked meal and tell stories about the trip.
Ultimately, no fish were brought to hand. In fact, only a few fish were seen.

Needless to say, Gage was disappointed and at one time said to me the trip was ruined because we did not catch any fish. During the ride home I began to think about my own fishing experience as a child and young adult. I have my grandfather George Adcock Sr, to thank for my love of fishing. Which I have managed to pass on to Gage and hopefully Davis and Truman one day. While I cannot give credit to my grandfather for ever having the traditional grandparent relationship with me, as a teenager and young adult he did the one thing he knew how to do best, take me fishing and hunting. In fact, most all of my memories of him are of our many trips to his farm to fish or hunt and the meals back at home afterwards. Many of those trips ended without any fish being caught. In fact there were many trips together that we hardly spoke at all. But I would not trade those memories for anything now. Out of those times together I learned that he was a self made man of few words, he borrowed money to start his own business repairing cars in the 1940's, Adcock's Garage. My great grandfather told him he would never make it, because no one would ever pay someone else to fix their car when they could do it themselves. For over 50 years he was an honest businessman, he gained the respect of many in his community and provided for his family, he was good at what he did and a hard worker, like most of his generation. The time I spent fishing with him made me realize all these things about him. Things that I may not have otherwise. He taught me to simply enjoy fishing. He certainly did. He taught me that at any age you can fish and that you can have fun doing it.

So I hope that one day Gage will look back on this trip and realize that there is more to a fishing trip than simply catching fish.

7 years old today & Citizen of the Month

Gage is 7 years old today. He woke up early this morning, crawled in bed with me and asked me to tell him about the day he was born. I am so proud of what a polite, caring, young man Gage has become. Gage was also named Citizen of the Month for his class this past week. He just continues to make his parents proud!

For his birthday he asked for fishing waders and boots. They make him look way too grown up. He and his dad head to the mountains this morning for a weekend of fly fishing.

Happy Birthday my adorable Gagemister!

Living with "Mo" happens to be MY 300th Post

Poor Truman - being the 3rd born he is slighted in so many ways. His older brothers tend to dictate the games that are played, the movies that are watched. He has been robbed of his toddler years. He went from a baby to a 4 year old overnight. But this year when school started for the older boys Truman was given the opportunity to get a taste of toddlerhood. ELMO!! We started watching Sesame Street and quickly the love affair began. It was "Mo" this and "Mo" that. Mo, Mo, Mo.... We were "Mo" for halloween and when Truman wasn't wearing the costume he wanted to carry it around, even willing to dump the matchbox car that is normally attached to his hand. Ward and I were kicking ourselves for getting rid of all those action elmos that Grandpa George had given Gage and Davis.

But right before Halloween Truman's dreams came true. A friend gave him his own Elmo. I can not even begin to tell you all the places "Mo" goes with us.
To Mom's Morning out 2 days a week
To lunch with friends (even needing a high chair)
To take the boys to school each morning
Mo eats dinner at the table with us at night - he is a chicken nugget kinda guy.
Mo sleeps in the crib - gotta watch the hard plastic killer eyes - they can be weapons.
Lucky for us he stayed in the car for trick or treating.



Did I mention "Mo" is bigger that Tru? I am just thrilled he has a little bit of Toddle Time left in him.

Fashions for your Post Candy Hang-Over Halloween Pleasure.

To begin with a little back story. Whenever something new clothing wise is purchased Ward always ask if there will be a "fashion show tonight?". He thinks it is incredibly fun to put on your new clothing a strut. (Maybe he likes to relive his JC Penny modeling days). So not long after the boys Halloween costumes were chosen Ward mentioned a fashion show to the boys.

We cranked up the music, I was the master of ceramonies and the boys did the stray cats strut around our den.

Some choose to dance their way into the room.

Some choose to look head on into the camera, in hopes of making the front cover of People.

Some are just really way too cool for the fashion show...

While others get groovin as soon as the music begins and do not stop, even once it ends.

It is almost Halloween. Are you ready for the Great Pumpkin?