A visit with Santa

This weekend Allison was kind enough to inform us that Santa himself would be at the Renaissance Hotel this weekend letting the kiddos sit on his lap. So we dressed the boys up and took 'em on down!

At first, it was going surprisingly well. Allison was snapping these pictures below as Pollard kind of half-smiled and tried to pull up his pants leg. I was really impressed he wasn't even crying!!!

This is about where it all got nasty. He figured out he was on some fat guys lap, and turned around to see who it might be. WHOA! STRANGER!!!!

Well buddy would it help if Riley was up there with you?

Um, let me think....NO. This is so scary!!

I love the way Riley is looking at him in the one above, as if to say "Dude, cool it or you won't get your presents".

So that lasted about 30 seconds and we all got a good laugh. I snatched Pollard up pretty quickly, and right when I did he saw Riley take off, started laughing, and it was like nothing bad had ever happened. Gotta love that.

Here they are wrestling around, being boys.

Pure Exhaustion

Yesterday goes down in history as one of the most tiring days of my life. And to top it all off, I have no idea what I even did.


I don't know what it is about Sunday nights but I just flat out do not sleep. (note: I really don't sleep much anyway, even on the rare occasion that Pollard is not sprawled out on top of me or Britton). I can't figure out if it's because of Brothers and Sisters (I cry every time I see Kitty, I still can't believe she has cancer), or if it's just that day. I just loooooove Sunday, and somehow I can't come down from my bliss and I'm up every daggum 2 hours.


I woke up Monday morning and I think ate breakfast, but I can't be certain. Then I somehow managed my way out of the house and to the gym, letting Pollard play in the play room with another baby. I'm sure he stole this kid's paci, but that's another saga.

Monday is a very busy day for me since I don't go into the office. I feel like I have to get every errand I have on my list done by the end of the day, all while getting 2 naps in for the baby. It's a lot for just one Mommy.


The rest of the day is a blur. All I remember is that my arms were trembling. Pollard feels like he weighs about 180 pounds and his new move is dive bombing out of my arms as fast as he can to try and get down. I don't know how to explain it except that when I go to put him on my hip, instead of resting quietly and taking in the scene, he throws his back arm forward and reaches for the ground. No son, you cannot crawl around in the Dollar Tree parking lot.


He continues to do this wherever we go. Doesn't matter if I'm filling out my new patient form at Adams Drugs (I swore they had buggies in there to set him in, but NO buggy to be found), walking from car to Dollar Tree, or while sitting in the grocery cart. I turn around for one second to pick out my marinara and my 180-lb kid is half way out of the cart smiling all the way down. That's always when an older lady passes you and silently critizes your mothering capabilities.
The ladies at Adams were just giggling and said "He is so cute!" That was the first time in my child's life when I said "Sometimes" instead of "I KNOW!"


At 4:30 we met Britton at the house to go on a walk. After that walk (a total blur), we went to his parents for a delish dinner. I crawled around behind him because he eats everything, and pulls up on objects that are not stable. After about an hour, and one cry later (the baby, although I probably could have used a good one), I lay on the floor with my arms on both of his ankles as he tried to swim across the hardwoods and yelled "BRITTON CAN WE PLEASE GO NOW". He gave me a strange face.


My arms were trembling and my legs had gone rubbery (could be from double workouts).


Then this is what looks up at you and you just have to die out laughing....

(note the toe point)

So what I would like to say is that my hat goes off to all full time stay at home Mom's. How you tote around 1-3 children and make yourself look somewhat presentable 5 days a week I will never know. But I commend you, oh makers of the home. You are my heroes.

Happy Halloween from my Teddy Bear!

Happy Halloween from Pollard, the friendly bear :)

Fall Photo Shoot

Yesterday afternoon Jennifer and I got into the fall mode and decided to dress the boys up for a photo shoot. It was SO nice outside and they just looked adorable. So we grabbed the Trott's pumpkin and off into the front yard we went. Here is what transpired...

Pollard and the pumpkin.

Pollard, Barnes and the pumpkin.

The boys having fun!

And the now famous BITE. Barnes never saw it coming. From what he could tell, this was reeeally fun. "Maybe he's letting me feel his teeth?", thought innocent Barnes.

Until...CHOMP.

My kid bit his 5 1/2 month old cousin like he was tearing into a piece of beef jerky.

Poor innocent Barnes man!

He recovered but it was a rough moment.

And THAT was where the photo shoot ended.

9 months old!

It's been so long since I've posted that I thought I'd appease you with a video. Here is Pollard and his new best friend Norman. For whatever reason, the thinks Norm is just absolutely hilarious. This video pretty much sums it up!

Here is what else has been going on in the life of Pollard:

-After an outbreak of hives all over his face, neck and arms we found out he is allergic to eggs. 2 shots in the thunder thighs and 2 oral doses of Benadryl later, we were on our way. I had a strange way of controlling myself (thank God my Mom was in town to help me with that), and then was able to laugh about it once I realized his throat wasn't closing up. He can eat things that have had egg baked in them, just no scrambled eggs for breakfast :( The sad part is, he LOVES them!

-He pulls up on EVERYTHING, crawls everywhere in his signature crab crawl (seen in video above), and loves the dogs or any animal.

-He loooooves to eat! He doesn't really like to be fed anymore, so I try and cook things he will like too. So far his faves are spaghetti, chicken pot pie, red grapes and pancakes on Saturdays.

-He is a big fan of the sippy cup, but the only problem there is that he will really only drink out of one kind (the Nuk) and I can't find them ANYWHERE right now to grab extras!

-He goes to bed between 7:15-8:00 and sleeps until whenever he wants to. Could be 5:30, could be 6:30 (on a very, very lucky morning when God knows I might blow a gasket if I hear him at 5:30 one more time...).

-He always, always, always wakes up happy.

-He is loving being with Ms. Dorothy every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and we're pretty sure she loves him right back :) We don't know what we would do without her!

And lastly, he still has really good hair.

Waaaay better than Gerber, and 2 videos

I want you all to know that as of late, I do realize I've been slacking. So, I thought I would surprise you all and post videos (I know...amazing). One is P playing on the floor with his fave new toy, Ziploc containers. The other is of his favorite new perch, right on the baby gate where the dogs hang out. This one has a happy ending in the diaper.

Also, tonight, I made the big man some big boy spaghetti. It sounded good to me, so I made it with rotini noodles, which I thought would be easier for him to pick up and eat. I just used a mild tomato sauce and some ground beef. It was like the kid had never eaten in his life. The sucking and grunting sound he made when a noodle hit his tougue was priceless. I really couldn't get him to look up and smile because he was too busy shoveling.

This was waaaaay better than Gerber.

No, he didn't eat that entire bowl of spaghetti, some of that was for his Mommy.

I highly recommend going with the rotini noodles for all you Momma's wanting to try spaghetti with the kiddos! It was so easy for him to pick up and put in his mouth as quickly as he possibly could :)

What has Pollard been up to?!?!

I know this will come as a shock but we've been at the beach! We went back for Labor day and had a blast. We also found this cute vintage-inspired baby boat hat in the front closet at the Henig's condo. How could I resist?

By the time he was done crawling from the beach chairs down to the water, he had said in every tiny crease of his body.

And he now crawls at the speed of light, so why not give it a go on the sand?

He got a little rashy (but everything makes him rashy), but it was no biggie. He ate so much sand, it was just out of control. Every time I would wash away the handful in his left hand, I'd turn to wipe it off and his right hand would be full of it and already in his mouth.

A little too much sand, buddy?

And why not just stick it in your ear while you're at it...

And with all this, his hair has gotten a little...unruly. Well YOU see, it look at it blowing in the wind in the beach pics above. It's uncontrollable. We even had to bobby pin it for him to eat. What a pretty little girl!

Which leads me into THIS.

His first at home haircut. Ehhh, it didn't quite turn out like we'd planned. Is it just us, or has he taken a liking to Lloyd Christmas?


But, when you sweep it to the side, he looks ADORABLE!!!