Sunday, August 29, 2010

Going, Going, Gone!

Look what Tyler learned how to do today:

READY …..

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SET….

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GO!!!!!!

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Monday, August 16, 2010

Hey! It’s Max

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Hey everybody!  Max here!  I figured that it has been a very long time since I updated you and told you happenings from around the house so here I go ….

  I am now 20 months old and growing like a weed!  I am very tall and very skinny.  I weigh 24 pounds and the doctor was so proud of me!  I heard Mom say that when Tyler was 20 months, he weighed 34 pounds!  He must have been fat! 

I do not really like to eat … unless it is gummies.  Mom will not let me have free reign of the gummies and it really confuses me because she is always begging me to eat.  Women! 

We had a very fun summer.  We had some friends from Texas come visit us, we went to Savannah for Mom’s birthday, we got new neighbors to play with, we went to the zoo, we went to a water park, we swam in the backyard…  012 009 011  013 008 005

Mom even threw a back to school party for Tyler, Isabella and some of their friends!  I heard it was fun … but you  can’t ask me because Mom planned it during my nap so I missed the whole thing!  So not fair!  But Tyler and Isabella started school ~ Tyler is in first grade and Isabella is in Pre-K at Tyler’s school.  Mom was happy for them to go off to school but then she got all weepy.  Don’t know what for, but I heard her talk to Dad about how fast they are growing and that Tyler is 1/3 of the way done with his life at home.  Come on Mom, get over it … you still have me!

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Now who couldn’t love a face like mine??  Any who … school:004 009 012

Then those two got ICE CREAM when they got home from school!  That is not fair because for me to  get ice cream, I have to bang the freezer and yell until Mom gets the picture!  Again, Mom always wants me to eat more but she is not willing to give me what I want!  What is wrong with her??014

Well, that is life around here.  I am still pretty much calling the shots and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.  Oh wait, get this … I am a real dare devil (I hear Mom and Dad saying that I will keep the ER’s in business).  I LOVE to stand on the coffee table and swan dive onto the couch.  I also like to climb onto the end table and swan dive from there.  The other day, Mom walked into her closet and caught me standing on her stool and diving down onto a pile of laundry.  I was just fine, but she just about lost it!  I just laughed! 

Our neighbor came to dinner one night and Mom and Dad kind of wish they hadn’t.  Mr. Will taught me to hold onto his hands, walk up his body until I  am standing on his shoulders, then he flipped me back down to the floor.  It was soooo much fun, but Mom and Dad don’t like to play that game.  I hear them often say “Wait until Mr. Will has kids….”  Not sure what that means though.

Here is one last picture.  It is of Mr. Will holding Isabella and me upside down!  I sure love that guy!

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Bye!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

This is a practice

Hey, I am just practicing to see how this is set up….

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Tuesday, December 29, 2009

December around the house

December around the Bartholomew home was B-U-S-Y!! We began preparing for Christmas on Thanksgiving night, once all the food was eaten and all the thanks had been said. Mason and I shopped and shopped on Black Friday - in shifts of course! Mason hit Toys R Us at midnight and didn't finally get through their line and out the door until 4:30 am, just in time to hit Target at 5:00! Once he got home at 7:00 am, he tagged me and I was off to the mall! We got a lot done that day. A lot of people think shopping all night long on Black Friday is insane. I will agree, it is. But I guess I am insane because I LOVE IT (and although Mason will deny it, he does too!)!

As I have already posted, my baby girl turned 4 years old on December 8Th. Then, to make matters worse, my baby boy turned ONE YEAR OLD on December 18Th. The kids are just growing up way to fast. It is sad, because I realize this but yet I still find myself shushing them when they are too loud, or trying to coralle them upstairs to the toy room to play rather than them dragging the toy room to the living room to play. I often question that and am conflicted. I REALLY want a moment of quiet and cleanliness now but, at the same time, I know the day is right around the corner when I will be BEGGING them to come downstairs, spend some time with me, climb on my lap, and make some noise (I think I will still be able to do without the mess though). Then I also find that I am getting mad at myself because I am spending so much time dwelling on the fact that they are growing up, won't like me soon, and should enjoy it now .... I am spending too much time in the "what is to come" nostalgia portion rather than just enjoying the here and now. I need to work on this. OK, enough pathetic-ness (yes, I like to invent words)....

For Max's birthday, I took him to get his first hair cut. He did fairly well. He cried off and on but I guess that is expected.

Mason can no longer call him a "Hippie Baby"!!



Max got his first taste of cake. He ate a little but didn't really tear into it and make a big ol' mess like most babies do. He tried a little, squished a little, and was done!

Max and his presents!

Becky, don't have a heart attack that he is sitting on the table. We were right there and I sanitized it first!! ;)

Max opening presents. He looks thrilled doesn't he? A little more excitement would have been nice! :)

Well atleast the other two enjoyed Max's new toys!!

Happy Birthday Max!!!


Mason's Uncle and Aunt treated all of us to a Stone Mountain Christmas. We got to enjoy a Polar Express 4D movie, a train ride, a parade (well SOME people got to enjoy the parade, others of us had to take a little girl to the bathroom RIGHT as the parade was about to start and miss the whole thing because they are standing in line then can't make their way back through the crowd to the family. This is the same little girl who did NOT have to go when asked 15 min. BEFORE the parade started ...), food, and the beautifully light Stone Mountain Village. It was fun but crowded and SOOOO cold, but I guess it would not have felt right if it weren't so cold.


Poor Max was bundled up SO much he looked like the Marshmallow Man and couldn't move!


Oh wait. That IS the Marshmallow Man that I made for Tyler's cake! (hehehe, I will take any opportunity to re-post that darling little guy won't I??!!) Here's Marshmallow Max!

One night Mason was working late, so the kids and I had a McDonald's picnic in the living room. We have learned that Max LOVES McDonald's chicken nuggets and tried to keep stealing Isabella's away from her every time she turned her head! :)


As we entered into the week of Christmas, we all got hit with the stomach flu! YUCK! First it was Tyler and me, then two days later Isabella, then the day after Christmas it struck Mason. We thought it was very nice of the bug to allow Mason to celebrate Christmas and his birthday before striking. Although the bug had a BIG, STINGING bite, it only lasted 12 hours. Max never got it that we know of, THANK GOD. He slept a whole lot last week so we do not know if that was his version of it or what but I will continue to hold my breath until we clear this week!

On to the random pictures:

I got bored and decided to color my hair!

Max LOVES to climb out of everything. He is a master at figuring out how to get out of seat belts. Falling out of his high chair TWICE has not even deterred him!

Reindeer Isabella!

Isabella's favorite Christmas present: her ballerina outfit!



Tyler opening presents:


Happy 33rd Birthday Mason!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

A little bit of this, a little bit of that!

Tyler is learning how to vacuum!! Yea! It is about time!


Max is meeting Santa for the first time at Isabella's Breakfast with Santa at her school (she was very crabby this morning and wouldn't crack a smile which is why there are not any pictures of her!!)


Rough night Max?

The day after Thanksgiving we went to Chateau Elan to watch the fireworks and the lighting of the Chateau. I got this picture of Isabella and just love it!


The lighting was SOOOO cold!


My boys!


Just because we are in Georgia now doesn't mean that our children do not need to learn important hand symbols! 'Hook 'em Horns'

My 4 year old big girl!




So my daughter thinks she needs to continue to grow up and is now 4 years old! "4 years old?" you say??? I know!!! Can you believe it??!!


On Saturday, December the 5th, we celebrated Isabella's birthday with a Princess tea party! Isabella had 7 friends join us in the celebration and they all had a great time! The girls started by making tiara's, necklaces, and bracelets. Then they moved on to dressing up in their princess gear, getting makeup on and painting their nails. On to the tea party where they found their seat marked with a cookie adorned with their name on it. The princesses dined on heart shaped PB&J sandwiches, oreo truffles, chocolate covered strawberries, cupcakes, and pink lemonaide. The girls even got to use real china! It was very cute how carefully they handled their tea cups~ very dainty! The good-bye gift was a crown shaped cookie, nail polish ,and lip gloss ~ all fit for a princess!


On Tuesday, December 8th, we celebrated again as this is her actual birthday. She had school that day so I took a cookie cake to school to share with her class. That evening, we KIND OF let her choose where she wanted to go for dinner. She picked the mall .... yes, the mall food court! Unfortunately, it was rainy, windy and COLD and it is a very long walk from the car, through the outdoor village, to the entrance of the mall .... soooo..... I talked her out of it and we decided on Cracker Barrel!


Isabella had a great time celebrating her blessed 4 years of life. We are so thankful to have her. We just wish she would stay little just a little while longer!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Tyler is 6!!





Well folks .... my baby is now 6 years old! I can't believe it! The time has gone by so fast, but yet there were times that seemed to last forever (the not so fun parts!!)! I am so sad that he is already 6 but I am excited about the experiences we can share with him as he gets older. The last few days I found myself thinking back " 6 years ago today, we checked into the hospital; 6 years ago today, he was born; 6 years ago today, I finally got to see him....". I guess the nostalgia will never end though.

To celebrate his birthday, we went out to dinner (this was Friday). We let him pick... well kinda. He first chose Chuckee Cheese. WE did not want Chuckee Cheese. So we were awful parents and we reminded him of all the germs there and that he may get sick and have to go to the doctor and get a shot. (Horrible, absolutly horrible, we know!) But there really are just too many germs going around and too many minimum wage workers at Chuckee Cheese who really do not care if my family gets sick! So Tyler chose his next favorite place, the Airport Restaurant (actually named the Flying Machine). It is a small airport with private planes and the restaurant is right on the runway so you can get a good look at the small planes and watch them land and take off. It's pretty cool. The food is really good too. We have only been after church on Sundays so this was our first night time visit. It was a lot of fun! There was some guy on the stage singing (he actually took our drink order when we first got there. He must be a man of many talents). Later on he called Tyler up on stage and had everyone sing happy birthday to him. It was sweet and Tyler felt really special. The atmosphere was great and I got to dance with my children during some of the songs too (that was the highlight for me). It was a really nice time and a great birthday for Tyler (better than Chuckee Cheese anyday, in my opinion atleast!!).

On to the birthday party ....


On Saturday, we had Tyler's birthday party. He finally ditched the transformer party idea with a bit of persuading from Mom (ok, LOTS of persuading)!! He had a Ghostbuster party. It was a blast! I made the birthday cake, complete with the Marshmallow Man! Because Ghostbusters is a trademarked logo, the grocery stores wouldn't make one for me... So I was forced to make it myself. I practiced for the two weeks leading up to the party and when it was all said and done, I think the entire first floor of my house was covered in a layer of powdered sugar! I decorated the cake on Friday and, by Saturday morning, the middle of the square layers was starting to bulge out making the cake loose it's shape. But whatever! What are you going to do at that point? I just reminded myself that they are all 6 year olds and won't know the difference! I am most proud of the Marshmallow man!




Pretty much everything for the party was homemade. You can't really find Ghostbuster stuff at the stores anymore. So ....the invitations:



The goodie bags came with 2 ghost cookies, a thing of slime, and a thank you card. Yes, I said Thank you card! Yes, I write them ahead of time and they are very generic. They read "Thank you for coming and celebrating my birthday with me. I am glad you are my friend." I believe strongly that if Tyler and I both thank each person for their gift verbally, a thank you card is not needed... but I know other people feel otherwise. So for those other people, here is your card. It is generic, but still from the heart and it satisfies the need for a thank you card! So stop looking so shocked!!!)


The party was at the park (which I liked SO much better than doing it at the house) and we could not have asked for a more gorgeous day! The kids played a game of freeze tag (the kids were ghosts, the person who was "it" was the ghostbuster, and then the Marshmallow Man could come around and un-freeze you); and they also played a game of "Ghostbusters" where the kids had to run through the park and shoot the ghosts hanging from the trees with their silly string. They seemed to have fun and used up alot of energy!


Tyler was super anxious to open his presents. Once we finally got to that point, he was very pleased with his gifts.

I was happy the marshmallow man survived the day. I fully expected that once he was propped up against the cake, that he would be all hunched over by the end of the day!



The "big gift" from us was Tyler's bunk beds and a "Transformer" room. He has been asking us to put his bunk beds up for like 2 years now. I wanted to paint all his furniture black and make everything coordinate better so Mason spent the past 2 weeks painting everything while I did all the party work. The room ended up looking so much better than I expected and Tyler loved it. My big boy finally has a big boy room! The only thing left from his nursery is the big airplane shelf in the middle of the wall. I guess I will take that down in a few weeks when I attempt to paint a brick wall there (wish me luck)!!


Happy birthday Tyler! We love you so much and thank God everyday for you (even on the rough days!!)


...Now on to working on Isabella's birthday party in a month!