A diggin' good time...

This past Saturday, Robert Franklin turned the big T-H-R-E-E.

When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday he said, "a digger cake" and the 'theme' of his birthday party was born. I'm not a super crafty-person and don't throw over the top parties for my kids (fine for those who do, it's just not my thing), so we kept it low-key, as usual.

I found a cute construction-themed card at Vista Print. Super inexpensive, super simple, super quick and super cute - works for me!

 

The morning began with a excited little boy who devoured a few Krispy Kreme doughnuts to celebrate, "my birthday party day, mommy!"



 



With Meme and Nana and Babu in town, we spent the morning hanging out at home playing with our new three year old boy. He helped us on a few projects before having lunch and receiving his first presents of the day.

An original The Incredible Mr. Limpet movie poster --- he loves this movie and has probably watched it 100 times over the past year.

He was SO excited about the second poster his daddy got him - the AT-AT Walkers from Star Wars - RF calls them Sky Walkers. The side of the frame cracked so RF ran to get his drill so that he could "fix it nice and cosy for my room, mommy."

Hanging proudly in RF's room...

 

By this point it was time for lunch and naps so that mommy could prepare the living room for the party.

 

Birthday lunch for RF - he requested a 'big turkey sandwich'. Ellis and daddy had one, too.

Passed out from all of the morning fun, but SO MUCH afternoon fun was waiting...

ZONKED, too.





While the boys slept we got everything ready for his party so that when he woke up it would be GO-TIME.

RF's digger cake. Super simple and super cute. He LOVED it!

 

Again, super simple. Black and yellow streamers, a few traffic cones, a construction hat (which he wasn't in to very much) and a banner. Good. To. Go.

Photos of his construction trucks on the end of the banner + photos from the night he was born, 6 months, and 1 year on the left side and...

More photos of his trucks on the other side + photos from 18-months, 2 years, and 2.5 years on the right hand side.

He woke up READY TO PARTY! We served a queso-dip, meatballs, pigs in the blankets, and fruit - did I mention I like super simple?

Long enough to take this photo is about how long the hat stayed on his head.

Super excited to open a few presents...

Ready for us to sing and to blow out his candles...

 

He got a little embarrassed as we sang to him, but blew out the candles like a champ.

Present time - a new truck - a concrete truck.

Star Wars book...

A Rescue Bot...Blades...

And a Stormtrooper...

He also got a few other things - books, pants, the Penguin movie, underwear and lots of sweet kisses and hugs from his family...

SO EXCITED about the StormTrooper...

Ellis liked the boxes the best...

And playing peek-a-boo...

Peek-A-Boo!

After the party we hung outside for a while...Mr. Ellis loves to wander around the yard in his big-boy boots...

RF being a helper...picking up leaves with Nana...

And helping get the dirt ready for some flowers to be planted...

Ellis loves to get dirty...didn't care one bit about the dirt and mud he managed to coat his clothing in...

Helping Nana plant flowers...

 

Newborn and 6 months...

 

1 year and 1.5 years...

                       

 

2 years and 2.5 years...

                      

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY, Robert Franklin!



Happy 3rd Birthday, Robert Franklin!

My sweet, sweet boy --- you are THREE!

In, what seems to have been an instant, you have become such a big, big boy.

You are sweet-hearted, super-silly, fully-active, and curiously inquisitive about everything around you.


While you were two going on three you,

-- loved, loved, loved coloring, drawing - in order to send sweet notes and letters to your grandparents, painting - art projects are one of your favorites, using stickers, and doing your "paperwork" in your notepad.

-- continued to enjoy being outside - digging in the dirt, collecting rocks, going to the park - the slide is your favorite, playing in the sandbox, and swinging with Ellis.

-- enjoyed rough-housing with your brother, although we have to remind you sometimes to be gentle as you think you can rough-house with him the way you rough-house with daddy.

-- had so much fun exploring the world around you - a trip to the aquarium in Atlanta had you in awe, day trips to the library, museums, the zoo, a farm - the longhorn cattle and the chickens were your favorites.

-- a few firsts in this year included..
- your first outdoor camping experience - which you did not like once you found out that mommy and Ellis (he was only a few months old) would be sleeping inside
- your first taste of smores
- your first parade experience - you weren't very impressed until the end when the fire truck came by
- your first experience eating at Waffle House - you said that the menu was your treasure map and you thought it was fun to count all of the pictures of coffee cups
- your first experience meeting your GA cousins at Christmas
- your first experience seeing Athens, one of your mommy and daddy's favorite cities
- your first fairly major ouchie - a fractured toe

-- continued to love climbing, animals, tractors and trains, and holding mommy's hand while you fall asleep.

--developed a love of all things construction - tools, construction cones, diggers (back hoes), dump trucks, and bulldozers.

-- developed a love of certain TV shows - Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Octonauts, Rescue Bots, and Mighty Machines.

-- began to really like Star Wars, which has your daddy over the moon with excitement.

-- lost two of your puppies - Lucky and Charlie - and had to deal with their being gone in a very age-specific way.

-- POTTY-TRAINED! Mommy is uber-excited about this one. You are still working on a few aspects of it, but I think you will have it down pat here really soon.

And probably the biggest event of your two-year old year was...

--moving to GA, leaving everything you had known all your life (only 2.5 years, but still) and transition to a new town, a new house, and a new school. We've had a few rough patches, but I have full confidence that this year - your three-year old year - will be an amazing one for you, buddy.


Happiest of birthdays to you, Robert Franklin. Your daddy, Ellis and I love you dearly.

Love,
Mommy

A Weekend Away + Ellis's Month O' Sickness + Potty Training

Three random topics, but such is our life right now.

We'll start with potty training. Fingers crossed that we are on the way to having it down pat. Fingers crossed. RF has had numerous successful potty experiences the past few days, including zero accidents since Sunday, and we are hoping that he is well on his way to being potty trained. Nana brought a bag o' prizes, so every time he goes potty he gets to choose a prize out of the bag - he LOVES it. I came home from work today and he ran up to me yelling, "Mommy, I pee-peed in the potty. I pee-peed in the potty." He gets the biggest grin on his face and is so proud of himself - and we are so, so, so incredibly proud of him, too. We've figured out a few things through trial and error, but all in all, it's going well. Thankfully the boys' school is out this week on Fall Break, so he and Nana have a routine going and it is working really, really well.

Picking a prize out of Nana's bag o' prizes

Mid-September Mr. Ellis had strep and bronchitis. Two weeks later, another dr. appointment gave us the additional diagnosis of croup, hand, foot, and mouth disease, and another round of strep. Poor guy has been so out of sorts - hurting, not sleeping well, cranky, etc. We are on a heavy does of steroids and antibiotics to try and clear everything up. We need the sickness gone NOW.

No.

More.

Sickness.

A breathing treatment at the dr.'s office. He had such a rough night that he fell asleep during the treatment...poor fella.

Last Friday RA and I headed out to the NC mountains for a weekend away while the boys hung out with Nana and Babu. We had a great time decompressing from the craziness that has been this year. A plethora of photos below of our time in Bryson City, NC - a beautiful mountain town on the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Curvy mountain roads into North Georgia and North Carolina...

It rained the entire way to Bryson City...

But cleared up right as we got to the bed and breakfast --- The Folkestone Inn - wonderful property, wonderful food, and wonderful innkeepers...

We stayed in the Trains and Tressles Room...

Train bedspread...

Cute little bathroom...

View of the property from our private balcony...

View of the Great Smoky Mountains from the Inn's property...

Another view of the GSM from the Inn's property...

Downtown Bryson City, NC...

First evenings dinner at The Cork and Bean...

Downtown fall display...

Coffee on the front porch of the Inn on Saturday morning...

Morning coffee view...

RA enjoying coffee on the front porch...

Side view from the porch...

Mountain road to private cabins on the neighboring property...

Mountain stream across the Inn's property...

Smoky mountains...

Front of the Inn...

Winding mountain road on our way to explore...

Mountain roads follow the river...

More smoky mountains...

Rainy mountain road through the GSM National Park...

River through the park...

Mountain river...

Fall in the mountains...

Baptist church hidden away in the mountain woods...

Fall through the door of the church...

Fall through the church window...

Baptist church in the GSM National Park...

Mountain river through the GSM National Park...

More mountain river through the GSM National Park...

Road with the river flowing right next to it...

Wild turkeys roaming through the park...

Reintroduced to the park a few years ago - elk!

Elk with the GSM in the background...

More downtown Bryson City, NC

Happy Fall Y'all!

Bryson City, NC is the headquarters of the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad...

Barn near the Inn...

Horse saying "Hello!"

Such a great bed and breakfast...

Looking down on the town from higher up on the mountain...

Gateway to the Smokies...

Such a neat little town...

Saturday lunch at Nate and Nick's...Yummy!

Saturday evening dinner at Jimmy Mac's Restaurant...

A mile from the Inn's property is the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park @ Deep Creek...

Photo time...

First of the three waterfalls on the Deep Creek Trail...

Mountain trail...

Selfie at the first waterfall...

Next to the mountain stream...

So peaceful...

 

Thinking...and hunting river rocks to take back to RF...

Second of the three waterfalls on the Deep Creek Trail...

Photo-op at the top of the mountain before we began our trek back down the mountain...

So calm and peaceful - nothing but the sounds of birds chirping and the wind blowing...

 

Third waterfall on the Deep Creek Trail...

:-)

Photo of the mountains as we were leaving Bryson City...

A great weekend getaway for Mr. Hawk and I...