wow

please don't read if you don't want to hear mushiness. but, this blog is for lawton to read one day and see how much his mother and father love him and document what he is doing as he grows up. well, tonight i was putting him down and i came downstairs and just started crying. i don't know what i did to deserve this child. i am so incredibly in love with him that i tear up everynight when i put him down and we say our prayers. i am so beyond thankful for lawton and what he has brought into my life. he changed me for the better in more ways to name. today for instance, when we are at the gym, he smiles and greets most everyone that walks by him {proud}. we come home and play and he has a new thing where he squints his eyes when he giggles and it just gets me. when we were running errands, he said "mama" and reached for me. first time saying that. {proud}. tonight, we played a few games, i held him when i read to him and he just smiles and giggles. {proud}. thank you God, my heart is full. lawton, when you read this one day, please know that your mother is head over heels in love with you. i go to sleep thinking about what fun tomorrow will bring with you in our lives. every grin that you give your father and i melts our hearts. you are growing up so fast and every stage brings something new and fun. i live for you and your father. you are my life and i feel so so so so so so grateful to be your mother. okay, now i am bawling. what has come over me??

Thanksgiving Weekend

our long weekend started off great! before we headed to Greensboro, my good friend natalie brought over her son sterling. sterling and lawton are 13 days apart (L is older) and nat and i talked every.single.day when we were pregnant and in the first few months after the boys were born. now, not as easy but we talk as much as we can! how cute are they?

(excuse the dirty floor. stanley steamer needs to come asap)

"so, sterling, did you hear the one where the chicken crossed the road? well, i have a joke for you man." the boys had a great time and it was nice to see natalie!

after the masons left, we packed the car and headed to Greensboro for a wonderful thanksgiving for a few days. here is my man on the move. always.

now, i know what you are thinking. why did she put him in a v-neck shirt? ummm, not the case. thanksgiving tee was washed once and shrunk. but, it had his name on it and he was GOING to wear it. it hardly snapped at the bottom. we have a big boy here, believe me, my arms feel it every day.

his cousins will and emily in their matching outfits mimi gave them. (ps- emily is the BEST babysitter. i would leave her (she is 6) with him overnight and trust her! swear.)
too bad she lives 3.5 hours away. FAIL.

going for the strangle. boys will be boys?? oh help me.

cute huh? NO. NO. NO. NOT CUTE. mommy learned a lesson this weekend. SUGAR IS NOT CUTE AT THE END OF THE NIGHT! jack was eating some pumpkin pie and i thought, oh, let's give lawton some! that'll be cute! NO. i paid for it. the kid was up until 10. screamed his HEAD OFF until i got him out of his crib and let him watch cartoons with his cousins. MAMA WAS NOT HAPPY. BUT, a lesson was learned. NO SUGAR AFTER DINNER!


after not sleeping, i headed to high point to see my bff meredith who is on bed rest with her second son (hey mer! i know you are reading!) and had a 2 hour WONDERFUL, FUN visit. i miss you every day mer and hope the appointment goes well tomorrow! no camera. FAIL.

after my visit, we headed home and celebrated Thanksgiving with my side of the family at our house. no pics there either except this precious one of my dad reading to lawton.

THEN, to top it off, my bff JENNA (jickie, jickster, cookie, j-dubs) came over to see us. She lives in Richmond and hasnt' seen Law-dogg since he was 2 weeks old. so fun!!

all in all a wonderful weekend, but i have to admit, i am SO ready for monday and our regulary scheduled program! woot woot!

bOrEd

i was flipping through my US Weekly while mista is asleep and came across the 25 THINGS YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME page. Well, since i LOVE these things, i thought i would do one about US. erin pretty much knows EVERYTHING about me and i kinda would like to see what she learns today. i am going to try my best not to make this about ME (because again, i love these things) and incorporate our family ;-) here goes.

1. when i got the "go ahead" from the mister to get pregnant, well, i did. in one try. heeeere's lawton! (jack was shocked. me too)
2. the mister and i talk at least 4 times a day and maybe more now that L is here and can recoginze daddy's voice. (i wonder what the peeps in his office think when they here him "talking" to a child who only grunts back)
3. when i was pregnant with Lawton, i craved everything ORANGE. cheetos. sunkist. goldfish. this is weird since the hubs is obsessed with UT and our son is named after Knoxville,TN
4. Lawton slept in our room until he was 7 weeks old in a swing. Sue me, i loved every minute of it.
5. i hate to clean. hate it, hate it. i am going to follow Lise's advice and get Lawton started early. he will be getting a mini mop and broom for christmas. well, someone has to do it right?
6. i would give ANYTHING to go two places. 1 - france to see my bff, lise and 2 - nyc to see my bff kindra. i feel like a piece of me is missing without them (okay, that one was about me)
7. Lawton grunts/growls (happily) at people ALL.THE.TIME. it is his own little language and makes me VERY proud to be his mama dinosaur
8. Lawton screams when i sing to him. it is not crying, he screams. now, do i take that as a "shut up, mom" or as "i am joining in!"? i'll go with the latter.
9. Jack dances with his thumbs out, i dance with my mouth open and lawton dances with his arms up raising the roof. we should do a you tube video of this.
10. the hubs and i say "isn't he awesome?" to one another too many times to count. we are in love. straight up.
11. jack isn't home most nights before lawton goes to bed. i know this kills him.
12. lawton's first word was "dada", i know this makes him not being home at dinner/bath/bed better
13. lawton knew what to do with a soccer ball before we even showed him. prediction: soccer player
14. jack is the worlds BEST arguer. i am hoping lawton is terrible at it
15. i was not worried ONE BIT about giving birth - i actually looked forward to it.
16. when i was getting ready to push, jack sent a text to all our family of "she's about to blow". seriously. i did not know this until after he was born nor did i find it THAT funny.
17. i gained 47 pounds with lawton and jack got thinner. WTH?
18. when i get sick, i still want my mom to come over and take care of me. i hope lawton feels the same and is never afraid to outgrow that.
19. our saturdays (if we are in town) consist of going to the Y and maybe the park in the afternoon. we are party animals.
20. everytime mama goes out, jack and lawton walk to the bar down the street and have a few beers and wings. (not lawton, just the mister)
21. lawton wakes up at 6:30-7 everyday. so do i. jack stays in bed until the last second.
22. i miss going on movie dates (sorry lawton). we went to a movie almost every friday before bambino. now? we watch on demand and i am interested for the first 10 minutes, then over it.
23. when lawton was real little, i read my people and us weekly to him instead of "books". i am sure you did too. admit it.
24. it was hard for me to call a 8 pound baby LAWTON. i tried to change his name to his middle name, KNOX 3 weeks after he was born. that didn't work out and i am glad Jack didn't go for it.
25. we have made so many wonderful NEW friends because of Lawton and that rocks.

well, that was fun! (for me at least!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

when i picked Lawton up from school today, i was so happy to see what awaited me. my first picture to hang on the fridge! isn't he a cute little pilgrim?

and a sweet note from his teachers and i couldn't agree more...i am thankful for those growls too!


HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

A whole lotta LAZY

this weekend was L.A.Z.Y. we didn't go far from the house until today. today was beautiful, so we decided to go to Lazy 5 Ranch (i was not ready to give up "lazy" yet) and check it out. we weren't sure if lawton would enjoy it since he is 9.5 months old, but knew we would at least. well, this kid LOVED it and so did the other 2 "big" kids in the car.

"Tina! Come get some dinner! Tina, eat. Food. Eat the Food!!"-Napoleon Dynamite

someone is getting a little fresh

#1. please look at Jack's face.
#2. i will be finding this food in between crevices in the car for years.

this is when i started to sweat. seeing buffalo thisclose to my car.

by now, i am sweating BIG TIME. these things got in front, beside and behind our car. cars were passing us. i was freaking out. there were a lot of cuss words and ohmygosh,ohmygosh, jack get us outta heres! i saw flashes of angry cows with big horns breaking our windows and shaking our car all over. BUT, as you see, we survived. barely.

no fear

"TINA! EAT THE HAM!

this was so cool. i would have gotten out, but the ostrich that was beside the car told me with his eyes that he wanted to play. brooke didn't want to play. neither did jack, hence why he stood ON the car. nice view for me (insert heart here)
+++such a fun way to spend a LAZY sunday+++

who thought these were a good idea??

answer: someone who loves a mess. teething biscuits. are they worth it? i am so glad this was a "dessert" and we could put this booty right in the bath.

what? do i have something on my face?

check out the flared nostrils. getting after it!

mista trying to get the pieces that i took away once he finally broke it (after watching him like a hawk for 30 minutes). mama is still afraid of you choking and i don't think that feeling will ever go away ;-( so for now, these will be a AFTER dinner treat!

Tis the Season!

looky what i found! these are 9 month pj's and lawton won't fit into them by christmas, so mama busted them out!


cute little fanny

getting into the spirit! now....how am i going to keep him away from the tree.....