First Snow

We finally had the first snow fall of the year this past week.  I loved it even though we don't reap the benefits of public school kids in Virginia.  In order to have school cancelled in Kansas a major snow disaster had to happen.  A few inches of snow? No big deal.  Freezing rain all night and high temperatures of 10 degrees?  We'll just put more sand in the parking lots and sidewalks.  It was incredible.  Of course the one day of my high school career school got cancelled for snow happened on the worst possible day and with one of the wimpiest, fastest melting snow falls I have ever seen.  In Virginia (and North Carolina) if there is even a 15% chance of snow or ice you will see trucks out pre-treating the roads and with a 20% chance of snow late starts will be announced and some schools will even be cancelled.  Its incredibly pathetic.

One of our friends here gave us this big fleece suit and we figured we'd send him out in that since we don't have any snow pants for the wee man yet.  Needless to say the suit is al little huge...he looked like an ewoke and moved like one too, but it provided nice padding.

it wasn't yellow snow...he thought it was funny feeling

my happy boy

face plant in the snow

He likes it!

10 Months of Love

I wrote this post weeks ago, just haven't had the time to load up the pictures to make all the reading worth it.  

Oh man.  In case you haven't figured it out yet, I love this kid.  Each day just gets better.

We couldn't get him settled down enough to get an accurate measure of his height, but I imagine he is a smidge taller than he was last month, like maybe a quarter of an inch...so lets say 29.75".  Weight: A sack of flour, a big one.  Right around 20lbs (the boy can eat when he wants to).

He is so fun!  He has been really comfortable walking around holding on to one of our fingers and he loves walking.  He will dive bomb out of our arms in efforts to get on his own two feet. As this post is a week and half late I want to note that on Sunday he started walking around our house, all over, all by himself.  He is moving!  He will walk up and down the hallway, on the grass and all over the dining hall.  Don't worry Grandpa, we aren't letting anyone open up doors into little buddy.  He is so comfortable on his feet,  and his balance is crazy good, it is amazing.  He loves to walk around carrying his golf club or kicking his ball.

He is never really mesmerized by anything on TV, but when people are singing on Glee it gets his attention, and he LOVES to dance.  I haven't been able to capture a video of it yet, but he gets his groove thing on (as much as a child of ours has the ability to groove).  He loves his shape toolbox (thanks Finley!) and his stacker toys.  Truthfully he loves anything he can bang together and make noise or that will put dents in our coffee table.  He is great at playing peak-a-boo (he will even cover himself), loves paddy-cake and his favorite book is Pat the Bunny (I have it memorized in case you want to hear it).  He is also Soooooo-big!

Praise the Lord the third tooth finally broke through, the fourth will hopefully come out later this week.  Man I hate teeth, but love them at the same time because they allow us to be more adventurous with eating.  He is kind of a picky eater, but inhales the food he likes.  Turkey, sweet potatoes, fruit of any kind, butternut squash and cheese are some favorites.  No eggs though for this kid.  He had them several weeks ago and had a minor reaction and has been tested and is allergic to egg whites.  I'm still learning what to keep away from him as far as products with eggs and made around eggs, but overall it hasn't been too bad.  I haven't yet baked with the egg substitute (not like egg beaters, but a straight up substitute for eggs) but am excited to, because mommy loves muffins and brownies and loves to share them! He is a smart kid and knows when we are eating and tends to be a true ankle biter anytime we are snacking or having dessert.  He thoroughly enjoyed some of my cannoli one day this last month (mamas boy!).

Here are some of my favorite pictures from month 10.  Our grounds guys put all the leaves into big long piles which is every kids dream!

Thanksgiving Break

Thanksgiving brought a much needed break for our family.  Both Cory and I left work items at home and we were able to escape to a warmer (and to an extent, happier) location for the week.  We started off in Orlando and went to one of my favorite places: Disney World.  Though this isn't a trip Edmund will remember it gives me hope that in the future we'll be able to bring him here to enjoy the wonder of the amazing place.

everyone was seeking cover in the rain so we took the opportunity to get a picture in front of Walt, Mickey and the Castle with no one in the background.  I think Edmund loved the rain!

We took Edmund on several rides.  His two favorites were the Buzz Lightyear arcade game (which because of his sweet smile a nice man gave us a fast pass so we didn't have to stand in the rain) and It's a Small World.  Yes, the song is horrible but it was a MILLION TIMES worth it for how much Edmund enjoyed the ride.  Holy cow.  We had never seen him so enamored with something before.  We would point and something and he would look at it.  He just sat there looking all around at all the other little people.  It was awesome. 

The rest of the trip story is to come--I don't want to overload you with awesomeness.

A Post On Old Things

I have all these pictures looming on my computer that I have been planning to post and just have not been able to yet.  While this still may not be the best use of my current time I am going to do it anyways.  Once I get these pictures and stories up then you get to hear about better and more recent stories.

First up: Halloween

Edmund was quite possibly the cutest puppy dog you have ever laid eyes on.  I may be biased, but a lot of people were quite smitten with him when we took him with Dorothy to go trick or treating.   We spent the first part of Halloween weekend hanging out with our friends Chris & Vanessa and there adorable, sweet pea of a daughter Madison.  They had a blast together and she did a great job of wearing Edmund out (he actually slept through the night that night...it was incredible)!

 Puppies can fly too...

The actual Halloween night was pretty awesome.  We live in an awesome place.  Each year all the kids at school get dressed up and go to each house and apartment on campus to go trick or treating.   Below you can see the array of costumes from the scary ghost (who made several kids cry; notice Edmund and the purple princess in the second group photo) to a skunk and  cowboy.  

"Not my gumdrop buttons!"  Yep, thats Fiona and the Gingerbread man....I guess they dress up every year for the kids.  

Next posts to look forward to....the 10 month update and Thanksgiving Break!

Vacation: Day 3

We are at the beach!  Edmund still loves the water. I don't think he has gotten a mouthful of seawater yet which may change his liking. He loved playing in the sand and water as I think most every kid does.

The main reason Cory and I wanted to come to Florida was to introduce Edmund to the last family members on the Woods side, his Great Grandparents. It was wonderful for them to get to play together and I am thankful they get s few more days of fun.

Vacation: Day 2

We are in sunny Florida! Day two of vacation was spent at the place where dreams come true, the Magic Kingdom. Edmund was a trooper all day and his smiling face even got us a free fast pass for the Buzz Lightyear ride. He LOVED It's A Small World. I mean LOVED. I have never seen him so still for so long. We would point at something and he would look at it and just take it all in. He actually rode it twice, the second time with the grandparents while Cory, his brother Scott and I took advantage of the skip the line pass someone gave Scott because of his broken leg and we rode Space Mountain..awesome.  More pictures to come when we get home!

Day 1 Continued

Another picture of exhaustion.

Vacation: Day 1

We are on vacation! The theme of day one, exhaustion. We got up earlier than Edmund and arrived by lunch.  Where are we? You will have to wait for another, much more exciting post for that.

All blog posts this week are coming from my neato Droid.

Walking Man

Yesterday was a banner day. Edmund took his first solo steps! It was so incredibly exciting. When he did it the first time I screamed with excitement and picked him up high in the air (think Lion King style). My joy and excitement was apparently a little overwhelming and made Edmund cry. He quickly recovered as ee took him inside to show his papa and catch it on video.

Favorite Tricks

Here are some of Eddie Bear's most awesome tricks!

First Dance

Edmund got to go to his first dance yesterday and he was by far one of the best dance dates I've ever had.

BRS hosted its first mixer if the year. Dances at boarding schools are funny.  They bus kids in from other all boys or girls schools, the girls take their places in the middle of the dance floor and the guys on the outside like circling vultures. Then on the far outside, us chaparones.  High school dances have changed since my day.  All the music is just remixes with obnoxious beats. By far the worst was the remixes to I've Had the Time of my Life from your and my favorite Dirty Dancing. It wad HORRIBLE. It even brought a small tear to my eyes.  Ad myself and another teacher were discussing the atrociousness we were being forced to listen to we came to discover an incredibly disappointing number of students who have NEVER seen Dirty Dancing!  My fellow teacher (a male) kindly informed the boys that they needed to watch Dirty Dancing (not alone) if they ever wanted to know what their girlfriend, wife or mom wanted and how to make them happy. As he said, "its a right of passage for every guy, like watching Pretty Woman".  I happily offered my copy of Dirty Dancing to those who needed to watch and learn.

I carried a watermelon.

Pumpkin Patch Fail

On the list of "my right as a mommy" I wanted to take Edmund to a Pumpkin Patch and get those oh so cute pictures of baby sitting amongst pumpkins and enjoy all the fun that comes with it.  We researched and found one close by, but as I am sure you can infer from the title there was no patch of pumpkins (even though it said pumpkin patch) just some random pumpkins.

Here are some of the captured memories.

I love these two

playing with the mini donkey

the picture with the pumpkins (minus the patch)

All in all it still made for a fun family outing, it was just mildly disappointing.  They had a corn maze that was more of a path, a giant slide that Edmund wasn't too crazy about, a bunch of hay bales to run around on and some fun animals--I couldn't capture a video of Edmunds reaction to some of them, but it was funny...he was not crazy about the pigs.

Now its time for peppermint hot chocolates and pumpkin flavored everything!

9 Months of Love

He has almost spent as much time on the outside now as he has on the inside...weird.  The little man is changing so much, some mornings I wake up and feel as though I barely even recognize him.  Its all such a sweet wonderful miracle that I can barely believe.

Height: 29.5''--Weight: 19 lbs 3oz

New Tricks

•  He is starting to stand on his own.  Its funny because he lets go of things and stands there just find and then he realizes he isn't holding on to something and then squats down as quickly as he can.  Its real cute.  
• A video will hopefully be posted soon of his funny noise he can do that makes every boy on campus giggle like he is a little kid too.
• He loves to clap and will clap along if he hears a random group of people doing it and can even clap on command!
• He feeds himself from time to time

• Favorite Food:  Without a doubt it is still sweet potatoes, but he also loves cheerios, pumpkin soup and pumpkin muffins, and mangos!
• Least Favorite Food: Most anything green--we can usually get him to eat a second bite of something if we put it on a metal spoon....
• If we are snacking on anything he often climbs up us trying to get to whatever we have--its real cute.  He is eating three regular meals a day and occasional snacks once in a while (which is awesome).
• He loves to play paddy-cake, to walk around with his friendly dinosaur, and play with most anything that isn't actually a toy for him.  His reach is actually quite incredible, but not too surprising when you look at his papa. 
• Praise the Lord he is sleeping better (knock on wood)

He's awesome and if you haven't yet you should come and play with him...he wants to play with you!

Have a super day!

A Post Just Because

Thoughts for the day.
Glee is awesome
Modern Family makes me want to pee my pants
My friend Rachel's post about the firemen fixing her stairs made me piddle a wee bit
I love the fall and pumpkin goodness that comes with it
On a high note I celebrated my birthday last week which puts me too close to that 30 mark than I like, BUT what was awesome is that last week alone I had three people say to me that I look to young to have a child of my own.  Hooray for the fountain of youth and never aging (though my knees feel the age).

Because I don't have much to say today enjoy some pictures

The moment we put him in jeans he looked like a completely different kid to us.  And:  you should vote for Edmund here

Finally you should check out this blog.  Its awesome and there is an awesome give-away.  But don't enter it because I want to win it.

Food Invention

Its been a while and I have a lot to blog about.  This one is about food.  One of my favorites.  My friends and I always use to say that we only think about 3 things: Jesus, boys and food (sometimes in less good order).  Well, today that is still primarily what I am thinking about.

I am not going to say I invented this, but I have yet to see it on a menu at a restaurant, so I will claim it as my own creation.  I call it the 'Yogurt-Applecake'.  What is it?  Simple.

• Silver dollar pancakes (because they are awesome
• Yogurt
• Apples (or a delicious fruit of your choice)
• and I didn't do this, but I think a pinch on cinnamon may be nice.  

And here it is.  And it truly was quite delicious (and I may add nutritious!)

As I am in the business of making baby food, I think this is a soon to be good treat for EddieBear, but opposed to apple slices maybe shred the apple into the pancake batter....

Now, to get you through to the next post, here is what you really came here for.

sometimes after breakfast it looks like he ate a cat or other small woodland creature.  

Eight Months of Love

Eight months have come and gone.  Sometimes I can barely remember what have a two week old baby was really like.  Crazy, just crazy.   He's gone from a sweet little breakable yet resilient sack of flour to an always on the gone, smiley, loud little man.  Every day with him is truly a blessing.  Even though we still struggle with sleep, I wouldn't change his happiest baby in the world temperament for anything.

I don't have stats at this time, but he is heavier and taller.  And he wears shoes that have little dinosaurs on them.  He is a speedy crawler  and loves obstacle courses.  He can pull up on anything and he has already shown that he has his dad's talent when it comes to climbing.  He cruises around the coffee table, to the couch to his friendly dinosaur with ease and he still loves to roll down the hallway in his walker....just now he pokes into boys rooms who have open doors!  He is a proficient waver and has just started clapping and we are now working on the high fives and fist bumps.  

Next to chillin' with mom he loves being outside more than anything (I will show this to him when he is 16 and wants nothing to do with me).  He will jump for as long as someone can help support him, and he is starting to think a big orange basketball is pretty stinking awesome.  He plays with all his toys quite well, but his new favorites are the cups in our pantry.  He thinks they are awesome and he is pretty good at fake drinking out of them.  I would encourage any visitors not to drink out of these cups.  Ever.  He can say the mama's and dada's we are just working on making them more consistent (and correct) and he is pretty good at babbling.  I think that some of our students from Bahrain may be able to understand him, but we haven't tried for the translations yet.    

His newest cutest trick is throwing his head back when he smiles.  Gosh I love this kid.  He's just too dang cute.

This smile and laugh is the highlight of my everyday, possibly of my life.  It doesn't matter what type of day I've had with Edmund around.  When I walk in and am greeted (always) with this smile and his speedy crawl to be in the arms of his mommy, my life at that moment could not be any better.

Fish Baby

We are fortunate to live at a place where we have a pool essentially at our disposal during the summer months.  It has allowed Edmund to be even more comfortable in the water, unfortunately our swimming days are coming to an end (but its also good because that means fall is here).  Some friends gave us a pass to a water park and we thought we'd use the abnormally nice end of September day to check it out.

 peeing at the pool

 playing in the fountains

like his mommy, he doesn't like getting sprayed in the face

 a ball and a truck, all a boy needs

dad loves trucks