Celebrating Savannah's 2nd birthday

Kevin and Stacy's daughter, Savannah, turned two on October 27th, and we celebrated with them November 1st. Several of my former Shakespeare co-workers have children around Will's age, so it was fun to see them all play so well together!

Enjoying a light supper before the cupcakes came out!

(L to R - Gene III, Madison, Savannah, Will, neighbor kid?)

Savannah and Will

Alicia and Gene III

Larry and Pennie's daughter, Madison

Stacy, Savannah and Kevin

Singing Happy Birthday to Savannah!

Will, Gene III, and Savannah had a blast jumping off the hearth

Will and Gene III

Sorry, it's been awhile!

I haven't blogged in awhile...sorry Kristin! Life has been pretty busy, but there really are no excuses for going this long without a post.

Big events since my last post:

• Thanksgiving
• Kristin made a holiday visit
• Alexa gave birth to my sweet little niece, Ella Kennedy
• Dad moved to Columbia
• I celebrated my 31st birthday
• Christmas (Will was so much fun and really "got" Santa for the first time)
• 2010 arrived
• Will turned 3 and celebrated with a big bounce house birthday party

Speaking of Will turning 3, he is growing up so fast! In just the last week it has become increasingly obvious that my baby has turned into a little boy. Last Sunday Will sat in church with me until the children's sermon, and then he joined the rest of the kids for children's church. In the past I've put Will in the nursery during church and Sunday School, but now that he's 3, I figure it is time for him to learn to sit still in church. I was a little nervous about it, but he did great and at one point while we were praying, I peeked over at him and saw him sitting there with his eyes closed and his hands folded, just like everyone else! It was one of those priceless moments.

This week we have finally gotten serious about potty training. I was off on Monday for MLK Day, so Will got to practice for a day at home before wearing his "big boy underwear" to school on Tuesday. He did really well and only had one accident all day. Yesterday was not quite as successful, but I think with a little more time and patience, he should have the hang of it. In the meantime, it sure does make every trip out in public a gamble!

Will took his first trip to the dentist this morning. I had a regular 6 month cleaning so I arranged to take Will along so that he could have a check up and see what happens at the dentist. He was a little wary of Dr. Kevin at first, but warmed up very quickly to the hygienist. After he saw that I survived my cleaning, he even let her count all of his teeth and polish the front ones. He liked going for a ride in the chair, and his favorite part was filling the rinse cup up with water and swishing before spitting it down the drain. He was also highly entertained by the "chicken balloons" Dr. Kevin made out of the latex gloves.

Guess that's all for now - pictures to come soon!

Happy Halloween!

Will and Braedan teamed up again this year to take Alexa and Jeff's neighborhood by storm on Halloween night. Alexa and Mom stayed home to prepare Robin's birthday dinner while Larry, Jeff, Andrea, Robin and I took Will and Braedan Trick-or-Treating. It was a lot of fun, and both boys came home with bags full of candy and huge appetites from all their hard work!

Pre Trick-or-Treating pictures

Pre Trick-or-Treating warm ups

Aunt Rah-Rah brought goody bags for the boys

Yay - a recorder... (Thanks Robin!!)

A fancy new Halloween plate

A big hit...bugs that crawl down the wall!

Aunt Ee-Ah lending a hand

Playing with bugs!

Daddy giving Will a Trick-or-Treat pep talk

Off we go!

Trick-or-Treating under a full moon

Will was on a mission to find some candy

He may be short, but he was determined to ring that bell!

Waiting patiently

Will quickly got the hang of ringing door bells!

All worn out and catching a ride home

The Finished Product

It's been a few years since I've carved a pumpkin, so I stuck to the basics. I thought our pumpkin turned out pretty well, though, so I took a few pictures of it all lit up last night. Getting ready for Halloween this year has been so much fun since Will is at that age where everything is so exciting to him. I can't remember the last time I had this much fun around Halloween!

Pumpkin Carving!

Last night Will helped me carve the beautiful pumpkin he picked out at the Pumpkin Patch. As I was carving around the top of the pumpkin, Will said "Don't hurt my pumpkin! I LOVE Pumpkins!" I took plenty of pictures of Will helping to get the seeds out - he was not afraid to reach in and get slimy at all. I think he had a practice round at school because he just knew there were going to be seeds inside! I also got a video clip - enjoy!

Halloween Dress rehearsal

Will is dressing up as Spiderman for Halloween. Originally, he was going to be Scooby Doo, but when we tried the Scooby Doo costume on, "Dooby Doo not fit" (in Will's own words). So back to the store it went, replaced with the ever popular Spiderman.

Larry first introduced Will to Spiderman with bandaids. Whenever Will goes to Daddy's, he inevetibly comes home with a Spiderman bandaid covering up a non-existent boo boo. Because of that, Will associates the word Spiderman with bandaid right behind it, so if you ask him what he's going to be for Halloween, he'll tell you he's going as "Spiderman bandaid."

We've been breaking the costume in at night after Will's bath...if I let him, I'm pretty sure he would sleep in it. We also have to wear our Spiderman hat and glasses to school now. These are the moments I know I'm going to miss as Will gets older! Sorry about the fuzzy pictures - I took them on my phone.

Boo at the Zoo

Sunday night Stephanie, Hailey, Will and I met Jeff, Alexa and Braedan at the zoo for a fun night at Boo at the Zoo! There were lots of cool lights, creepy exhibits, a haunted carousel ride, and of course plenty of trick or treating at various stations along the path. All three kids had a great time, and did NOT want to leave when it was time to go home.

We started the night by posing with the lion at the entrance

Next we observed a Grizzly Bear

One trick or treat station gave out cute animal masks!

This place was set up to touch creepy crawlies and animal skins

We skipped the creepy crawlies, but the boys liked touching animal skins

Heading up to a Trick or Treat Station

Next we entered a bat cave!

Stephanie remembered to get a picture of me and Will together!

We got to check out the Zebras at dusk

This Ostrich was entertaining!

Will really enjoyed the carousel ride - "Look Ma! No hands!!"

Who knew posing on the animal statues would be so fun?

Will and Hailey

Cool Pumpkin light show

At the end of the trick or treat trail, Will decided he needed to boogey. It was a riot...