Mamaw Ward

Perhaps they are not stars in the sky, but rather openings where our loved ones shine down to let us know they are happy.

Here, There, Everywhere

So what’s been going on these days? I need to get back in my blogging groove because my posts lately seem to just be catching up instead of keeping up!  For starters, Dylan turned 9 months old:

Pop Pop and GG came to visit for a few days.  Sean was excited to use Pop Pop’s cane that we was using after getting a “new knee!”  We had  a good time, hung out and enjoyed the weather, made some good food and drank some good wine :)

They took Sean to the FIRE STATION!! He got to meet real firefighters and sit in the FIRE TRUCK!

They went to feed the ducks…

… and of course to the mall to ride the trucks

Dylan has been clapping a lot and will put his hands on his head when you ask him “How big is Dylan?”

And Sean has been having fun playing outside, riding his bike and watching the neighbors play with their racecars!

Can you believe spring is here? We’re getting excited for a busy spring and summer!!

Really? It’s March??

It’s been a while since I’ve posted.  Where does the time go these days? We’ve been busy here and have been enjoying some unseasonably nice weather over the past few weeks.  Here’s a recap:

Dylan figured out how to roll over, sleep on his back and pull up all of his blankets around his face.  This of course totally freaked me out so I went in (took a few pictures first) and pulled his blankets down a bit.  He must have been in a deep sleep though because he hands didn’t even move!

We celebrated my 29th birthday again! John made an amazing cake, Dylan wore his ‘Momma’s Boy’ t-shirt, the boys made me a Mommy ribbon and painted a picture frame, and Sean serenaded me with Happy Birthday a few times that day. Fabulous!

We celebrated baby Lucas’s 1st Birthday.  As you can see Sean was very fond of his Lucas’s new bike….

Grandma Leigh and Grandaddy came to visit!

WHAT? NO PICTURES? How in the world could that happen?? I guess when you have that much fun you forget to pull out the camera :)

Dylan figured out how to sleep on his side (mouth still open!)…

Finally, I had to put this little video clip together to show you a glimpse of Sean’s boundless energy.  These days he just runs and runs and runs… all time time.  Everywhere. And usually in circles. (should I be worried? haha)…

What Color Are Those Eyes?

I’m convinced that Dylan’s eyes are still changing colors. When he was born they were a dark bluish grey like most newborns.  I think we all thought they’d turn brown pretty quickly, and when you look at him from far away they look dark brown.  But when you look at him up close his eyes are anything but – they are still greyish blue around the outside but have neat pockets of brown in the middle.  I’ve been trying to get some good pictures to show all of the cool colors you see when you have him up close – this is as good as I could do.  So what do you think? Will they stay like this or go totally brown?

See how they look totally brown from a little further out?

And what about this kid? Can you guess the color of his eyes? ;)

8 Months and 2 and-a-half!

February is a fun month because Dylan is 8 months, Sean is 2.5 years, it’s Valentine’s Day and I’m 29 again! How exciting! Dylan is doing great, he has 4 teeth and the fifth one is almost in.  He’s sitting up unassisted, babbling, and showing *some* interest in rolling over.  Sean is proving to be a really good big brother, although when it comes to eating he doesn’t like to share that time with Dylan :) Sean is starting to sing a lot more, talks in complete sentences, shares the tub with Dylan, especially likes playing with his friends Grant and Julia, and loves going grocery shopping with me on the weekends (as long as we find the racecar cart. if we don’t it’s a loooong Harris Teeter trip).  They’re both lovely and we’re having more and more fun with them every day!

And here are the outtakes of my 2 and-a-half year old’s two-and-a-half year photo-shoot:

Super Bowl Sunday

Sean’s most favorite lady, Julia, and her brother Lucas came over for Super Bowl Sunday.  We had a fun time hanging out, eating and chasing after the kids! We figure by 2014 we’ll all be out of diapers and might even be able to let them play in another room so we can actually watch a little bit of the game!  A mother can dream… :)

Words I Don't Want to Forget

Kids have all kinds of funny ways to pronounce words as they're learning to talk. And Sean has certainly had his fair share of them. But when we were reading his bedtime story tonight his new one caught me off guard and I just had to write a few of the memorable ones down so I don't forget:
- "Pluh-SEE-GEE" [one if his first really funny ones, it meant 'please'. How in the world he came up with this one we we'll never know!]
- "Sean'd" [this is how he said his name for a few months]
- "Hobit-dopter" [how he currently says 'helicopter']
- "Up-pwane" [current word for 'airplane']
- "El-fa-nant" [elephant]
- "Am-in-als"[animals]
- "Pa-weeee" [Polly]
- "Swishy-swipers" [the one that made me laugh tonight. It meant 'windshield wipers']
Don't you just want to bottle up all that cuteness??? :)

First Official Brother Pictures

We took Dylan in for his “6 month” pictures (really he was 7 months and some change) and we got some really great ones of him and Sean.  Here is a link to a slideshow our photographer put together.  How adorable?!

60 Degress in January? Fine By Me!

We had a great weekend just hanging out at home enjoying the weather this weekend.  Dylan has really turned a corner and is sitting really well which means Sean can pull him all around in the wagon!

Banana Puffs

Bwah Bwah Bwack Sheep

Our Opera Singer

Every New Beginning Comes from Some Other Beginning's End

Wow – it’s 2012.  I think I’ve been avoiding this post for a bit, not because we didn’t have a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s (which we did!), but because I really feel like we’re closing one of the most crucial, pivotal, significant, thrilling, anxious and magnificent chapters (at least so far) we’ve written in our lives.  2011 brought a second splendid little baby into our lives who completed our family.  It was most likely the last year I’ll ever be pregnant.  We put 0-3 month baby clothes away for the last time. We setup a crib, saw our first smile, cut our first tooth and heard our first laugh for the last time. I guess we always thought (hoped and prayed) that we would have another child after Sean so, although I was teary at times, putting his “baby” things away and transitioning him into new stages was exciting for us and we couldn’t wait to see what he’d do next.  This time around though, it’s like you want to freeze time.  Sean is almost two-and-a-half.  He’s talking up a storm, already has (many of) his own thoughts, ideas and opinions.  He already tries to get away with calling me “Mom” (not to fear, I told him he was waaayyy too young not to call me Mommy).  He is growing up so fast and you realize how precious each day is and how quickly it passes.  Now I don’t want to get all dreary here, I mean the post title does talk about New Beginnings, right? So, although 2011 held a lot of magic, I think 2012 will hold equally as much, just in different ways.  We’ll get to see our first sitting alone (soon.very very soon….), our first crawl, a first airplane ride and maybe even a first step or a first word.  Sean will probably go to his first preschool class, ride on the boat alone with his daddy and catch his first crab.  So although I’m sad to see 2011 go, I’m excited for all of the new beginnings 2012 has in store for us.  “Here’s to the bright New Year, and a fond farewell to the old; here’s to the things that are yet to come, and the memories that we hold.”

Ok, so let’s see some pictures!!  Christmas kicked off in Charlotte with Emmi!

Then we made cookies (and yes, my chocolate chip cookies were made from store-bought cookie dough this year… but I promise the crinkles were homemade!) and set them out for Santa along with a letter asking for a few special things.

Afterwards we drove up to Richmond for the week with Grandaddy, Grandma, Aunt ‘Chelle, Uncle Marshall and Aunt Megan. We were fortunate to see a lot of John’s family, too, who made trips to Richmond to see all of us!

Finally, Pop Pop and GG were in Charlotte waiting for us with a stocked wine fridge and Polly picked up from daycare.  Score! We had a great time playing with new toys, celebrating  the new year and hanging out in our almost-finished backyard project!

Our love to family and friends we couldn’t be with over the holiday season. Let 2012 begin!