Way to go Jake!!

I have to brag on my husband today. The squirters in the car (the things that squirt the water on the windshield) quite working a few weeks ago and we have been crazy busy and haven't had a minute to fix them. He did his research during the week and today while Gus and I napped he got to the bottom of it. When we woke up he was headed out the door to the auto supply store so we went along for the ride. He changed out the part at the store and it did not work. He was a little disappointed, but did not give up. Instead kept his wheels turning to see what else it could be. Once we were home he got busy with the parts in the garage. About 45 minutes later he came in beaming! He had fixed the squirters for $18!! Way to save us $170...we were quoted somewhere around $190 to make them squirt again. A little time, patience and elbow grease goes a long way!!

Way to go, babe!!

Happy 81st Birthday Maw from the Little Casanova!!

Today is my grandmother's 81st birthday! She is one of my best friends. Growing up she called me her little shadow because when she remarried I cried and carried on and insisted I should go on their honeymoon!! Sorry Maw, I have always had a super strong love for you!! She also calls me Laura Lee and every time I see her she has to twirl the curls on my neck. She has ALWAYS loved my curls. This has to be one of the sweetest memories I have and I will always cherish those twirls! It is very fitting that we are so close because anyone that knows her and sees me says that I look just like her. When she was 20ish and when I was 20ish we looked almost identical. In her hay day, I picture her being a very vivacious, out-going, spontaneous little ball of energy.

I can talk to her about anything and she just listens and adds her thoughts on an as needed basis. She has always supported me in every thing I have ever done and has always been there for every single member of our family. I grew up in her back yard and the first place I lived when I moved out was next door to her in a garage apartment when Jake and I got married. We had a small compound going on as my Uncle lived next door to us. Growing up it was a very safe 'compound'. Every night I would call Maw to let her know I was on my way over to kiss her goodnight and she would wait at the back door for me. Often with a finger full of finger cookies for me (I recently introduced these to Gus and he LOVES them just as much as I do!). After we said our good nights and gave our kisses I would call my parents to let them know I was on my way back and she would watch me run home out of her back door and my mom or dad would wait for me at our back door. It seems like those moments were just yesterday.

We lived too close to my elementary school for me to ride the bus so she would pick me up everyday from school and as soon as we got to her house I would have a bowl of Fruit Loops or Corn Flakes and watch The Flintstones and The Jetsons while waiting on mom or dad to get off of work. Those were the days!!

Leaving my comfort zone of 25 years was the most difficult decision I have ever had to make. I remember the day I talked to Maw about us moving. I cried and cried and cried, of course it did not help that I was pregnant with her first great-grandchild at the time, but she just held me as tight and as close as she could and let me cry my heart out. When I stopped to take a breath she told me, "Laura Lee, it will be hard, but do not stay here for me. You and Jake need to do what is best for y'all and your baby. You know what the best thing and the right thing to do is. Do it. I will be here. I am a phone call away and I will not stop loving you and Jake. I mean it, do not stay here because of me. I WILL BE OKAY." I know those words were so hard for her to say, but at the same time I knew she meant it and it was genuine. After plenty more tears, hugs and Kleenex I felt better about our decision to move. That is not to say that moving day was not one of the hardest days of my life. I could not look at her house with out crying, when I walked in to tell her goodbye it was horrible. I lost it and I just could not hug her tight enough. I wanted to reverse our decision, but I knew that is not what she would have wanted. (As I type this I have have a huge lump in my throat and my eyes are welling up.)

I made a promise to her that I would try to call everyday. I am disappointed that I have not done so. I do try to call at least once a week, but I have made a promise with myself that I will call her more. When she hears my voice on the other end she sounds so excited and I know it makes her day. I do send her pictures pretty often so she can see how much Gus is growing. As you can see, my grandmother is very special to me. She always has been and she always will be. I can only hope to be half the wife, mother, grandmother she has been to all of us. She is the rock in the family. She has been dealt alot and she has taken it all in stride and she doesn't judge.

I really wish we could have been there to celebrate her 81st Birthday, but we did call and sing to her so it was like we were there! The picture below is Maw on my birthday 2009. She got a kick out of my pink wig so we put it on her for giggles! She loved it. I think for a minute it took her back to her youth...a place she hadn't been in quite sometime!

At this point I am sure you are wondering why the post is from the Little Casanova. This evening Jake and I took Gus to a local park, but it was too cool to stay there more than 5 minutes so we went for a drive while the sun went down and Gus was able to watch the moon rise. We ended up in a little city 20 miles from home and decided to eat at Pizza Hut. They had a great special and it was super clean so we thought we would give it a try. When we got to our booth there was booth of 3 ladies behind us and they immediately melted over Gus. They had some of the Hershey's dessert sticks and Gus kept eyeing them. They had 2 left and offered them to him. He did not hesitate to take the basket from them and proceeded to gobble the sticks up. He kept flirting with them through the entire meal and they loved every minute of it. They all told him goodbye when they left and he got a little bashful but still managed to crack a smile at them. One lady came back to leave her tip and she stopped at our table and gave Gus a dollar bill! He was quick to take the dollar from her! Had we known it was that easy, we would have had him acting a long time ago! NOT! So his new nick name is Little Casanova. Maw got a kick out of this story and just loves his nickname!

Happy Birthday Maw May! We love you more than I could ever write on this blog. You are an inspiration to me and a very special friend to me. I love you and miss you so very much. I wish you could make the trip up here because I think you would just love it!

Can I get a push, please?

His wheels are just a turning.....if only the wheels on the horse would turn, things would be a-okay on this here Friday! No more pictures because mommy came to his aid and pushed him all around the yard.

Potential Doctor??

Between winter weather and having inherited my father's feet, my toes are pitiful. I will leave it at that. One of them has a crack that hurts pretty darn bad. Each night I nurse it back to life with lotions and potions (all after Gus is asleep). I mention this because he has never seen me fool with it or really heard me complain about it.

Tonight, we were sitting on the sofa watching a show and he looked down at my toe and looked up at me and said, "Ouu!" I said to him, "that is mommy's boo-boo toe, and it really hurts." He got down and went to some of his toys. Next thing I know he is getting back in my lap with his play stethoscope and pretend band-aids. He puts his stethoscope around his neck and starts pretending to touch my toe with it. Then he gently placed the already rounded pretend band-aid over my toe. Once he was done he looked up at me with the proudest smile. How sweet, 2 years old and making sure his mommy is well taken care of!! We may have a doctor in the house one day! Only time will tell. Thank you, Gusley for taking such good care of Mommy. Now I know that all the care I have been giving to you during the last 2 years has been absorbed and you are putting it to very good use! I love you!

Caught by surprise

Today Gus and I were busy playing when we stopped for a break and to our surprise it was SNOWING!! Not enough to stick, but it was still so pretty to watch it fall. We sat in the window in his room and looked out for quite sometime...we were both pleasantly surprised to say the least!! He now says "OWW" for snow! I guess we have had enough this year that it has stuck with him!! So it seems that there really is some truth to the groundhog.....he predicted 6 more weeks of winter and we have indeed experienced some crazy winter weather since his prediction!! I am hoping that this is the last of the surprise snowfalls and we are moving on to some Springtime weather. We have cabin fever soooooo bad it is ridiculous.

I'm Back!

I haven't forgotten about the blog just been a little busy...2 birthday parties, family in town, a sinus infection, and a beautiful weekend later....I'm back in the blogging world! Please don't be overwhelmed with all the back blogging posts that will be popping up (I have been writing every night)!! I just have to put my pictures with my posts!!

Nighty, night!

Ch ch ch changes...

So now that we have seen the first of Spring, Jake and I have decided to make some lifestyle changes and be better role models for Gus. We have made a pact to exercise together every night with and without Gus. It can get a little tricky with a little person in and out of your legs or hanging on your legs or better yet thinking you want to play horsey when you are on all fours doing some stretching! We are also going to try as best we can to stay away from processed foods and eat leaner meals rather than the big hearty ones that we are accustomed to.

We really feel good about the choices and we feel that having each other as motivation is a big plus. We want to pass this on to Gus so that he can start out on the right foot. I will keep you posted on our progress and if there is any weight loss. We did take before pictures, but I will not be sharing those with ANYONE!

Sunday Funday!!

It was absolutely gorgeous out today so we took advantage of the weather and headed out to a park that we had never been to. We were pleasantly surprised with this park and will definitely be back. Not many pictures since the battery on the camera died soon after we got there, but we made memories. After playing on the playground we had a nice picnic and Jake and I took turns running up and down the hill with Gus. I did a few kart wheels, which cracked him up and Jake gave them a whirl....for never having done one he was pretty good! We drove around on some of the back country roads while Gus napped then we headed over to our friends house for a little outside play. The parents played "volleyball" with the over sized bouncy ball and electric line in the backyard, while the babes played oh so well together. (Mommy's v. Daddy's - we think the Mommy's won!) This is something we will be doing again and again and again! What a great day. I know we will all sleep well tonight!

Daddy, take a good, good look at this. I think someone will have a request for one of these in a few years!!

Oh yeah, he likes it!!

What a big boy! Our sweet little toddler...very fitting that his nick name is sometimes "Sweet Pete" (Pete instead of Pea...it just sounds a little more masculine!)

Brought to you by the No. 2 and the Letter G!

Today was Gusley's actual birthday party and what a beautiful day it turned out to be! Despite only having a 40 minute nap in the car while we were out and about, I think he was in a great mood! We played outside for a bit, then came in to sing Happy Birthday and have cake and ice cream and to open presents. Our friends stayed over and we all had pizza together for supper. (Gus did not make it to supper...he had had enough at this point and off to bed he went!) He got some really nice, cool and fun presents!

The theme of his party was Sesame Street and I made faces of all the main characters out of paper for him. Gus really likes them and points to each one of them and smiles really big! I think I will get them laminated and use them to decorate the toy room.

The stage is set...waiting for the party guests to arrive!

Yummy, yummy cake!!

Ernie and Bert

Big Bird and Cookie Monster




The word on the Street

My personal favorites...Oscar the Grouch and Count Von Count

Grover and Elmo

Here is Gus walking his new backhoe around the yard!

This is my favorite birthday picture of him! By the way, I made the shirt so if you are interested in a number or letter shirt for your little one or someone you know, please let me know and I will be happy to make one!

Gus and his bestie, Endi hanging out in the playhouse!

Pure cuteness!

Giggle, Giggle, Giggle

Endi, where are you??

Why Gus, here I am!!!

Two times the fun when these two are together!

Weeeeeee.....with his chip in his hand!

Preparing to sing Happy Birthday. He still got a little uneasy when everyone was singing, but was very eager to blow out his candles!

Present time!! Endi was so eager for Gus to open her present that she started it for him!! Sometimes we need a little help from our friends!!

Checking out his new Yo Gabba Gabba boom box!

and a really cool truck!

Farmer Brown takes a break!

Pinki and Pops have been waiting almost 3 years to give this backhoe to Gusley! They got it at a great after Christmas sale when I was PG....it didn't matter to them whether we had a girl or a boy the baby was getting a John Deere Backhoe on its 2nd birthday! He was a little apprehensive of it at first, and would rather operate it by pushing the peddle with his hand and following it!

To go along with it, Mom got him the "Good Night, Tractor" book. He is really into books and I do think that the book was a bigger hit than the tractor.....see below!!



After all that chasing the backhoe around it was time to retreat back to his post for a little drawing on the doodle pad!!

S.W.A.K.

Sealed With A Kiss......lately Gusley has been giving me open mouth kisses complete with the smack sound!! I just love it! This was the perfect way to end a great day! Thanks sweet baby boy! Mommy loves you oh so very much!

Visit with family in pictures

The Monday that Jake's brother and his family were here visiting we took them sight seeing despite the snow! Gusley and Canon started their day with a little rehearsal...Gus on guitar, like his daddy and Canon on drums, like his daddy!









Then we headed out to Nashville. They opted to get out and go souvenir shopping, we stayed in the warm, dry car and drove around the city. I was so peaceful because it was President's Day so the government buildings were closed. Not much traffic and lots of beautiful scenery. Here is the capital covered in snow.

Then we headed to Opryland Hotel. We take all of our guests here because it is just so beautiful. So, if you come for a visit and you have never been....you will go!!!

Gus smelling the flowers.

Getting just a little closer.

Now, that is how you smell a flower folks!!

Lily and the pink flowers!

Gus going in for another sniff!

Matt, Sandy, Canon and Lily with the horses at Opryland!

Gus enjoying some of Jake's ice cream while watching the fountain!

Then we took them out to Lieper's Fork and this was our view on the way home.

And we were greeted by this! Our little house was so warm, cozy and inviting after a long day on the road.

And Gus went straight to the circus!!

We had a great day with the family showing them around our neck of the woods and we hope they enjoyed it too!!