Breakthrough!!!!

Since Thomas turned two (six-and-a-half months ago) we have been working with him to hold up two fingers. If he tells someone that he's two he usually holds up five fingers and says, "I did it!" Well, yesterday he held up two fingers all by himself. I had to take a picture! And the other two pictures show you how much he has to concentrate to do it, and how excited he is about being able to do it! We've worked on it more today!

Curtains

On Tuesday, Brax's mom came to help me (a.k.a. do all the work) make Mae's curtains. My main job was going to the store for more fabric and ironing. We worked and worked and got them almost finished. You can see them when I post pictures of Mae's finished bedroom. I'm so thankful for a mother-in-law and a mom who can do sewing stuff like this!!!

Happies

I've been tagged by Julie to list six things that make me happy. I've had a hard time narrowing it down, but here I go! These are not in any particular order!

1. Traveling, particularly to London.

2. Hearing Thomas talk, sing and laugh to himself. And hearing him say "thank you mommy" without being prompted. And when he says, "what time is it babe?" obviously copying Brax and me. So, really hearing Thomas talk.

3. When Brax laughs really hard! And just spending time with him in general! He really is my favorite!

4. The time of year from September 21-January 1. I LOVE the weather, the holidays and just the time in general.

5. Harmony (only if it's good!).

6. Fulfilled prophecy. There is just something about reading something in the Old Testament and knowing that it was fulfilled in the New Testament, usually by Jesus. AMAZING!!!

This is not an exhaustive list. I now tag Sally, Mary Faith, Jenn and Stefanie.

BUSY WEEKEND!

Friday, the ladies that Brax works with had a little shower for us at his office. It was so sweet of them. They wanted Thomas to come, so he did and got to help open Mae's presents. She got some neat stuff and we brought home a lot of cake! Then Papa and Mimi came over so that we could go to the Harvest Hey Day at church. We got Thomas all set in his costume and drove to church only to discover that it had been rained out...

On Saturday we got up and headed straight for the Tennessee line to the Lyons Family Farms. It was our first time to a pumpkin patch and it was a blast! We beat the crowd, and the weather was PERFECT! Thomas got to go down huge slides, go on a hay ride through the pumpkin patch, play in a covered wagon full of corn kernels (his favorite), ride in the cow train, pet baby animals and big animals and run around in general. We felt like the admission was completely worth it, and plan to make this pumpkin patch a fall tradition!

Today we went to the rain date for Harvest Hey Day at church. The weather was beautiful! Thomas had fun sitting in the fire truck, getting to play in the inflatables, doing a few games and of course "trunk-or-treating!" He was very excited for candy to be put in his bucket. He got to have one treat after he ate supper tonight and amazingly ate a great supper because of it!

Please Drop Balls, Glacie!

After the Zoo, Thomas and I stopped by the Kings to pick up something that Tracy had for us. We beat Tracy to her house and Gracie the dog met us in the yard with two tennis balls in her mouth. Thomas walked around after her for about ten minutes saying, "Please drop balls, Glacie!" She of course did not. I wasn't able to get him saying "Glacie" on video, but here's a little taste of what he sounded like. It was really cute! (If there's clicking in the background I'm not sure what that is)

The Zoo

On Monday I made my last trip out of the Huntsville area until after Mae is born. Thomas and I were able to meet our dear friends Mary Faith, Drew and Lydia at the Zoo in Birmingham. We haven't been able to see them since Lydia was born and it was a GREAT time to be able to catch up with them. Thomas and Drew had a great time trying our our double stroller and seeing the animals. They sat so well together in the stroller (only grabbing each others' faces a few times), and then at the McDonalds Playland also. Mary Faith and I got to chat (although slightly interrupted) and just enjoy being together! It was wonderful and refreshing and I'm so glad that Birmingham is a halfwayish point for us to meet.

Just for the record: Getting two toddlers to even LOOK at the camera at the same time is apparently impossible.

I stole this collage from Mary Faith's blog.

Game Day in Tuscaloosa

On Saturday Brax and I got to go to Tuscaloosa for the game. We didn't think we were going to get to go to any games this season. Such is life with a toddler and baby on the way. But, Papa and Mimi were once again gracious to keep Thomas and we got to go. It was SUCH a fun date day! In addition to the six hours together ALONE in the car we got to walk around and eat lunch on The Quad, watch the band warming up in front of Denny Chimes and go in lots of stores looking for goodies for Thomas, Mae and a new sweet little Bama fan in Arkansas. Oh, and of course cheer The Tide on to victory once more, in a slight nail biter. Bama is 7-0!

Happy Birthday

Today is Thomas' half birthday, which we know because it's our adopted Grandma Joan's real birthday. Happy Birthday GG Joan, and please say "Hi!" to Pop Pop Louie! :) We love ya'll!

Neighbors

Our dryer is currently not working. It's a bummer, but there is someone coming out to look at it on Tuesday. In the meantime we had to figure out some way to dry our clothes. I could hang a lot of them, but it's really humid here and clothes dry VERY slowly. Our sweet neighbors Jared and Bobi Ann are out of town all this week and they told us that we could use their laundry room while ours was inoperable. I did some running back and forth between houses, but yesterday for awhile Thomas and I went and camped at their house. I did laundry and he got to play with Kati Ann's toys. (Always SO fun to play with someone else's toys!!!) I'm so thankful for neighbors that among other things let us use their washer and dryer. (That includes Michael and Rebecca who let us use theirs when our old washer and dryer stopped working Georgia. I really don't do bad things to appliances!)

Iron Chef Alabama

A few weeks ago we drove past a garage sale late in the afternoon and I noticed this kitchen sitting out there. I got out and found out that it was $3. Can't beat that!! We brought it home to put on the back deck and Thomas has had a great time playing with it. We went to Wal-Mart to get him some pots and pans, but they were all pink, so instead we just bought him a couple of cups and plates in the kids section. He loves making things in the microwave, and his particular specialty (in the microwave) is lemonade...