HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY TUCKER BUG!

Go Tucker, Go Tucker, It's ya birthday!

(Should I be concerned that my 1 year old dances with his eyes closed?!)

A Baby No More...

Tonight, I gave my baby a bath for the last time.
Tonight, I read to my baby for the last time.
Tonight, Wes and I prayed over our baby for the last time.
Tonight, I nursed my baby for the last time.
Tonight, I rocked and rocked and rocked (because I just couldn't put him in his crib) my baby for the last time. (And cried for the 3rd time today!)

Tomorrow when I do all this, it won't be with my baby anymore, but my toddler!

I'm not sure why I'm so emotional about Tucker turning one tomorrow. It's weird. Like the kind of emotional you get while watching laundry detergent commercials during pregnancy and break out in tears for no reason. That happened to me 3 times today ! And, no, I'm not pregnant. I'm just a Mommy who wonders where the past year has gone. A Mommy who doesn't want subsequent years to go by as fast. A Mommy who wants to hold onto her baby for a little bit longer yet. BUT, I am also a Mommy who is enjoying all the perks of my growing baby boy! I'm a Mommy who is looking forward to walking into my toddler's room in the morning and picking up my sweet, sweet, big boy, kissing him all over his sweet face, and inhaling every bit of his heart-melting smile!

Here's the last picture of my baby!

Exactly One Year Ago Today.....

Happy Birthday Luke!!!!

Happy Birthday to one of my 2 baby brothers!

Oh, and did I mention it's his *18th* birthday! I just can't believe it! My brother is 18 and in 2 days Tucker will be 1.............

Happy Birthday, Luke! And thanks for never being too cool to tell me you love me when we get off the phone!

I love you Luke!!!!!!!!!

*Note: Luke's birthday is the 13th, but because it is now after midnight, the date of this post shows Oct. 14th. Just so you know, Luke, I posted it on the right day :)

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE MY BOYS!

....more than I could ever put into words.

Christ Community Church

Wes and I have been part of a launch team to start a church plant here in Shelbyville! Christ Community Church. At CCC our mission is to Love God, Love People, and Love our Community. Our vision is to see our community and the world changed by Jesus one person at a time. How awesome is that?! CCC is all about building real, genuine relationships and showing the love of Jesus to others. Wes and I are so excited to be part of something so awesome! The Lord has done so many amazing things in our lives. Where would we be without Him? We would love for YOU to be part of it too! It doesn't matter who you are, where you are in your walk with the Lord, or what you've done. God loves you just the way you are and wants to meet you where you ARE, and so do we!

Our first open gathering is tomorrow, 10/10/10, at 10:00 am! Come check us out! Also check us out at www.loveshelbyville.com

God is doing awesome things in our community and all around us! Come see how you can get in on the action!

Love y'all!

Happy Birthday Bridgette!

Thursday (October 7th) was my sister, Bridgette's birthday!

Happy birthday to one of my BEST FRIENDS!

I love you!

You are FABULOUS!

First Day of School....

Well, sort of!

A friend of mine, Jody, keeps Tucker on days I work (every Monday & Tuesday and every other Thursday). Jody has a son, Jayden, who is 3 months younger than Tucker. Tucker and Jayden have so much fun and Tucker loves Jody and Jayden!

This week, Jody has been on vacation. Today, Tucker spent the day at "school". Actually, a friend of mine works at an awesome place, Associates in Pediatric Therapy, where they have a small daycare for their employees' children. The owner of APT allowed for me to bring Tucker to their daycare today.

I explained to Tucker that he was going to school today. He seemed to be contemplating the idea on the way there:

And when we pulled up to the building, I think he was still a little unsure:

"Mama, what is this school place?"

But as soon as we walked in the door and he saw the other kids and all the toys, he was sold! He wanted down right away and was not at all concerned when I left. When I returned at the end of the day, I pretty much found him the same way I left him, busy playing with all the toys. Once he noticed me, he crawled to me as quickly as he could, just like he does when I pick him up from Jody's, and immediately began pointing to things, showing me what he had done all day. He showed me the truck he had played with, the big plastic slide (he REALLY wants one of those!), and even went up to a couple of the kids, patting them as though he was trying to introduce me to his friends! It was so cute! Then, when it was time to leave, he DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE! He kept trying to get out of my arms, mostly to climb up the slide again. I guess he had a pretty good time at school! Hopefully he feels the same way in a few years when it's time to start school for real! :)

Wes and I have always talked about looking for a daycare/preschool setting the school year that Tucker turns 2 (which is next school year!). I am a huge advocate for children being in that type of setting. Not only does it allow for them to develop all kinds of social skills, but also become accustomed to a school-like routine, learn to appreciate rules and boundaries, and be exposed to and experience a plethora of things that I may not expose him to just staying home with him(and as we all know, the more experiences a child has, the more incidental learning takes place!). However, next school year just sounds so soon, I admit I already feel anxious about the idea. But, after today's positive experience, I'm feeling a little better!

Thanks SO much to Associates in Pediatric Therapy for allowing me to bring Tucker today AND for taking such GREAT care of him!

First Real Tantrum....

Yes, Tucker has shown some disapprovement when I take something away from him that he shouldn't be playing with, or when it's time to change his diaper, or put lotion on after a bath, but he is always pretty easily redirected. Nothing that I would necessarily classify as a full blown tantrum. Well, we had our official real, everyone-is-staring-at-you-Mama-so-you-might-as-well-just-give-me-what-I-want tantrum a few days ago. The kind where I definitely wanted to give in but I had to keep telling myself that I was the Mama and I had to win this battle. Or maybe it was the fact that I knew if I caved then, I was just postponing the inevitable and I might as well get it over with. Probably the latter, but that's neither here nor there...

Allow me to set the scene for you. We're in Hilton Head. The day starts off innocent enough. We decide to take a bike ride to the beach. Tucker's all rearing to go!

We arrive to the beach. There aren't many people around at all. Wes, Tucker and myself had parked our bikes about 30 feet from where we were playing in the sand. The temperature was perfect, about 80 degrees. The water was a little chilly so we were keeping Tucker's water encounters to a minimum. He has happy to dig in the sand..... but only momentarily before wanting in the water. We would pacify him by allowing him to put his toes in....
but of course, that lasted all of 20 seconds before this water bug was headed full speed into the water! He was not at all phased by the fact that it was a little cold. and we were off chasing him.

Two hours later and Tucker was pretty much soaking wet. Every time Wes or I would attempt to dry him off or move him further away from the water, he would fuss and do whatever he could to get closer to the water. Not wanting him to stay in the cold water any longer than he already had, we decided it was probably time to head back to the house. So, I picked up my wet, sand covered boy and *attempted* to put him in his bike seat. Now mind you, during the time we were playing in the water, about 10-12 people had parked their beach chairs less than 10 feet from our bikes, facing the direction or our bikes. So basically, we had a front row audience as my 11 1/2 month old screamed, cried, arched his back, kicked his legs, and do whatever he could to keep from being put in that seat. Not only did I have to get him in his seat but keep him from rubbing sand in his eyes during this ordeal and get his helmet on (safety first!). I'm not sure how long it took, it felt like FOREVER, but we managed to get Tucker strapped safely into his bike seat. On our way to the bike path, our audience who was laughing (yes, you read that correctly - LAUGHING!), waved and said "bye bye" to Tucker. All I could do was muster up a fake laugh followed by"too much fun in the water!"

Here's Tucker still fussing.....

though that didn't last long (thankfully) before he was distracted by the straps to his seat.

He was fine for the 7 minute bike ride to our house, but once we walked in and he saw my mom and grandma, he immediately looked at them, made a very sad face and started to pout and fake cry! That little stinker! He was looking for pity from Memaw and GG and telling on Mommy and Daddy for making him leave the beach!

Oh, the things to come from my Tucker Bug!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

We've been busy doing things like......

eating lettuce....
Riding bikes.....

(I know it looks like Tucker's crying above, but he was actually singing! He LOVED riding bikes!)

and putting our toes in the sand!

And somewhere in there we managed to fit in the most beautiful wedding ever! Pictures of my sister Holli's wedding coming soon!