Top Ten

I was having dinner with my sweet girlfriends, Mary Ann and Jennifer (Jones), not too long ago. Jennifer has new babies and we were asking about them and she was glowingly talking about them. She said she felt like she was bragging and mentioned that neither Mary Ann nor I seem to go on and on about our boys (bragging). Of course, Ford is a major topic in any conversation I have with anyone because spending time with and caring for him is predominantly what I do.

I'm around so many mommies with a child Ford's age, that I try not to talk about all of the things he can do either a) because her child can probably do the exact same things, OR b) because I wouldn't want to make her feel badly if Ford could do something and her child couldn't.

Those are a couple of reasons. Probably a bigger reason is because Ford and I got off to a rocky start. It's no secret that Ford cried ALL THE TIME when he was an infant...colic and reflux. He started taking medication for reflux eventually and outgrew colic and STILL he cried all the time. He was moody and fussy until between two and two and a half. So, what in the world did I have to brag about? I just didn't get the camera out when he was screaming and if I did, I didn't post those pictures on my blog.

Why am I writing all of this? Because I'm Ford's mommy and I should brag on my sweet son sometimes. So, here it goes. I'm bragging about Ford!

1. Ford is empathetic. I heard another mom say about a child who showed empathy, "oh, good, that means he's not a sociopath." I'm guessing empathy is, hopefully, part of child development. But, Ford is very sensitive to the feelings of others. If he sees a child crying, he'll stop in his tracks. He will even go up to someone who is sad and pat or hug him/her. He can't stand it for someone to be sad and it warms my heart that he's that way.
2. Ford is a perfect mix of careful and daring. He is not scared to try most things i.e. trying something new on the playground. But, he's also careful when doing so. He also is keenly aware of danger and whether or not something is safe. If he sees someone riding a bike without a helmet he will say, "He's not being safe. He needs to have a helmet on." As a mother, I prefer things this way. He's not going to be a daredevil and that suits me just fine as long as he tries new things.
3. Ford is healthy. We are blessed beyond measure with a healthy son and are so thankful. Other than reflux, a few colds and ear infections, he's been healthy thus far with very few trips to the pediatrician since the 18 month mark.
4. Ford has never been a consistent napper (I'm not bragging about this). Before 14 months old, putting Ford to bed was a two or three hour stressful ordeal. But, I read the book Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth when Ford was 14 months old and implemented his sleep training methods, and Ford has become a wonderful night sleeper. He usually goes to bed without major complaints and stays in his bed. He sleeps through the night until morning 99% of the time. It is a huge blessing.
5. Ford went almost three years of his life without having separation anxiety. I could take him anywhere...church, the YMCA...and he never cried when I left him. One month before he turned three, he started getting apprehensive when I would leave him somewhere. I know that at about age three kids develop a heightened sense of awareness, so this is normal for some children. I'm just thankful that for three years, I didn't have to worry about leaving him!
6. Eating has not ever really been an issue. I've heard horror stories about breast feeding and bottle feeding. I have a friend whose first daughter took an hour to eat for one feeding. I have another friend whose eldest child refused to take a bottle at all. Ford didn't have a preference, he just liked to eat. He had reflux with major spitting up. But thankfully, he got the nutrients from the food before spitting up and he grew. Failure to thrive is a big issue with lots of reflux children, so we were blessed that THAT wasn't an issue. Now, as a toddler, some days he eats well and some days he doesn't. But, he does eat. I just try not to make a big deal out of eating and offer him healthful choices.
7. Ford can drink out of a juice box and not spill it. I know this isn't a big deal, but I think it's pretty cool that he doesn't spill it everywhere. When he was was smaller, he spilled a juice box maybe one time and learned not to squeeze the box.
8. Ford is independent. Now, this has been a source of major conflict for us because Ford has been insistant on doing things by himself before he was big enough to do it (i.e. feeding himself, getting dressed, etc). However, now that he is older, it makes things easier. He'd prefer to do most things on his own and that keeps ME from having to do it for him.
9. He can speak well for his age. Until he was 18 months old, he had a five to ten word vocabulary. I believe that part of his frustration as a baby was because he couldn't communicate what was on his mind. Even though sometimes I wish he's stop talking, it is wonderful that he can express himself so well.
10. He potty trained himself. Granted, he was three years and one month when we started. I tried it when he was two-and-a-half, but he had no interest in it and didn't really understand how it all worked. It's amazing how far he came in just six months. We've gone over three months now with diapers only at night time and he's had less than ten accidents total. I guess that's one easy thing about a strong-willed child. He's willed himself not to wear diapers anymore!

Ten things to brag about is enough for now. Being Ford's mommy has challenged me in ways that I didn't even know I could be challenged. But, it gets easier everyday and I love him more than words could ever say.

Weekend Fun

We had a very busy and fun weekend this past weekend. Ford attends playschool and this weekend was the annual family fun festival at his school. It's a fund raiser for the school where they have food (Satco-yum!), pony rides, a rock climbing wall and lots of fun games in the gym. The theme was "whole world in your hands," hence the picture of us standing in front of all the hands.
Here is Ford checking out all of the fun stuff when we arrived:

Ford was flirting with an older girl in the pony line. I heard him say, "Look how fast I can run," and also, "Do you smell the ponies' poo poo?" He's really going to have to hone his skills with the ladies.

Riding a pony:

There were lots of fun activities in the gym:



On Saturday night, Scott and I had a date night. We went out to dinner and then to the Dave Matthews concert at Vanderbilt. The weather was perfect and the show was great.

Sunday, we went to church at my sister's church in Hendersonville with my entire family and then to Rainforest Cafe to celebrate my niece Audrey's 5th birthday. I forgot my camera, so I'll have to get some pictures from my sister to post. I can't believe Audrey is five! She's such a big girl.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

For Easter weekend, we went to my mom and dad's house in Kentucky. My sister came for the weekend, too. On Sunday, we went to church and then to my Mamaw's house afterward. My Aunt Jan and Uncle Bill were there along with my cousin Zane and his family. Zane and his wife, Haylee, have two cute kids, Lane and Mylee. We hid Easter eggs in the yard and let the kids hunt them. They had tons of fun hunting for eggs and romping around in the yard.

Coloring Easter eggs:

Waiting patiently:

Ford's attention span couldn't take it anymore:

The eggs:

The Easter bunny came and brought Ford some loot:

Ford racing with Lane in the parking lot across from Mamaw's house:

I really like this picture because you can see my Mamaw's antique shop in the background:

The cute cousins waiting to hunt eggs:

I think this is the only picture we got of our little man in his Easter outfit:

I like this picture, too, because this little outbuilding in my Mamaw's yard was built by her father, my great-grandfather. Oh, and my talented Uncle Clint painted the cute little barn quilt hanging on the building:

Me, Mamaw and Leigh Ann:

Aunt Jan, Mamaw and mom:

Last but not least, a family picture. I usually don't change the pictures from color to black and white. But, the color just wasn't quite right and this was the best family picture.

That's all for Easter weekend. I hope all of you had a Happy Easter!

What's Going On

I wanted to post some April pictures before Easter arrived. I'm trying not to get behind on my posts this month. I'm really tired right now, so please forgive me that this post isn't very well written. It's kind of all over the place, but you get the idea, right?

We moved Ford from his crib to a twin bed a couple of months ago. We finally got my twin bed from when I was younger. My sweet mom painted it navy blue and brought it to us. Thanks, Mom! My sister-in-law was asking where we put the bed in Ford's room, so here it is. Ford's new bed and a picture of Ford's room.


For a special treat, Scott makes pancakes on Saturday mornings. On this Saturday, Scott made chocolate chip pancakes and Ford helped make them AND helped eat them:


We gave Scott a Saturday off and went to Marche', a neat little breakfast and lunch place in East Nashville. Ford and I had a nice breakfast with Scott and his iPhone.


Pawpaw came by to visit us and brought Ford some foam animal hats.


I just thought this picture was funny. Ford is kicked back with his aligator hat on.

Ford's into being naked these days. I guess it's good that he's going through this stage now so maybe he'll skip it when goes to college.



Last Friday, I had dinner with my sweet, cute friends, Mary Ann and Jennifer. It was wonderful to get to spend time with these girls. If only our other sweet friends, Abby and Jennifer, could have joined us.

I went Easter shopping last week and I couldn't resist buying this outfit for the new baby. This may be the only new outfit this baby boy ever gets!

We are in Kentucky for Easter weekend at my parents' house. I'll be posting Easter pictures soon. Happy Easter Everyone!

St. Patrick's Day

I really am behind, so here is one last post for March. On St. Patrick's Day, my brother had outpatient surgery on his wrist to clean up an injury that was causing him trouble. My sister and mom went to Bowling Green to help with the kids while Tiffany and Allen were at the hospital. I didn't want Ford to miss out any of the fun, so we headed to Bowling Green, too. We weren't much help, but Ford sure did have a fun time playing with Granny and his cousins.
Cute baby Luke:

Sweet little Amelia:

Playing with bubbles outside with Granny (my mom is like the Pied Piper with the kids):

Audrey and Ford watching TV after playing outside:

Ford loving on Audrey:

This is what happened to Ford when the neighbor girls came over to play with Audrey:


Ford was sacked out on the ride home. He had a fun and exhausting day!

Visit from Grana and Papa Forest

Last month, we were very excited to have Grana and Papa Forest visit for a long weekend. The weather was cold and rainy, but we managed to have a good time indoors. Papa Forest came in wearing a hat and Ford, of course, had to put it on.


On Friday night, we went to this yummy pizza place called Mafiaoza. They have an area where you can watch them make pizzas and they even give the kids dough to make their own "pizza" and then bake it in the oven. Ford loved it!


Here are some more cute pictures from the pizza place:




On Saturday, Forest's daughter Jennifer and her husband, Michael, came from Jackson to spend the night with us. We loved that they were able to come and had a great time playing games after Ford went to bed. Ford wanted Aunt Jennifer to read him books before bedtime:

Lefty decided Jennifer's suitcase would make a good bed. Thank goodness Jennifer and Michael have cats. They didn't think twice about it, and we all thought it was funny!


We enjoyed having Grana, Papa Forest, Jennifer and Michael in Nashville. We only wish they could have stayed longer!