January

It just occured to me today that I haven't taken one single picture of Ace this month. How could I, a scrapbooker, omit an entire month of my childs life in pictures? This kiddo is growing up so fast and I just said to my man yesterday, "I don't want him to grow anymore." I love this stage that he is in. He says the cutest things. I just want to bottle it up for later, like when he is 13 and hates me. Since we were blessed with 60 degree weather today we spent some time out of doors. Ever since we moved into our house 8 years ago I knew the drainage ditch off our driveway would be an excellent adventure for a kid. I remember spending lots of time in the woods behind our townhouse growing up. It was such a great place for a kids imagination to grow. When we moved in my man cleaned out the ditch little and found tons of toys including a can on a string for hoisting "tools" up and down. Plenty of evidence that someone else's imaginative kids had enjoyed the area. Like I said, I knew this would be the perfect fort for a little boy, but I was really hoping the little boy would be old enough to get in and out of it by himself. This ditch is more like a gully. It is about 8 feet deep with lots of trees, ivy and yard refuse in it. When it rains hard it quickly fills and drains water. I noticed last week that Ace discovered how fun it is to push toys down there. Not so fun for 22 week pregnant mom to haul booty down the slope to retrieve. So far he has pushed his cozy coupe, tricycle, his snack trap complete with snack and some sidewalk chalk down there for me to fetch. Today he thought it would be fun for me to retrieve him as well. I must say it was very funny to watch him scoot down the mound of pinestraw that has accumulated over the fall. Too fluffy to walk on. Then he headed toward the giant pipe. This pipe goes all the way under our street over the back of our neighbors lot. It is LONG and I want no part of fetching children out of it. We are going to have to work on boundaries for sure. Though part of me thinks it might be safer sending him over to the neighbors to play via this underground tunnel than across our busy street. Hmmm. I know he is going to have a blast playing with the neighbor boys and his little brother in this gully. I can't wait to see what he discovers. Then we headed over to quite possibly his favorite spot in town. The Choo Choo on the square. We have become frequenters of this little train. He is choo choo crazy and talks about it all the time. Choo-Tray, Choo-Tray, if I have heard it once I have heard it a thousand times today!! I am having a blast watching this little boy grow up. I hope you have had a wonderful, relaxing January. It sometimes seems like a desolate month, but I think it is kind of nice to slow down the pace of life, especially after the busy month of December.

Approaching the Gully

The scoot

Ahh, he found the pipe

The beloved Choo-Tray

And the Majority Loses

Let me tell you people, I had totally convinced myself that I was having a girl this time around. I couldn't be more wrong from the looks of the package on that youngin' in the ultrasound! Nevermind that I was so nauseous this time, or that the heart rate was way higher then with Ace or that the Chinese calendar said it would be a girl. It is kind of like the end of times. Christ tells us that it He will come like a thief in the night- no one will know. No one really knows what they are having, we all just really guess at it and sometimes we happen to be right. Neither my man nor I really had a preference either way as to what we wanted. A girl would mean buying a lot of girl stuff but not having to redecorate the guest room. A boy would mean buying almost nothing, but having to completely redo the guest room for Ace. Pro's either way. We are thrilled to have another sweet little boy, especially if he turns out to be anything like his big brother. This babe will likely be the final member in our family and that is alrighty with us. People have already started asking if we will go for #3 and try for a girl. I don't think we need a girl to complete the Ramsey's. Besides, though my very first pregnancy terminated before the sex could be determined I can always pretend that was my little girl. Come May there will be a new little guy in our lives and we will be so blessed to have him! Now.... what to name him???

Chop Chop

It's a rite of passage for every young lady or lad. The first haircut. It is a must capture if you are a scrapbooker. Now this isn't technically Ace's first haircut. I have attempted a couple of hack jobs at the house, but this was his first professional haircut. My motivation to paying $20 for a snip was to learn technique. I needed to see this job done by a professional. I have been cutting my mans hair for almost 8 years now and I must say aside from the one major goof I made during my last pregnancy, I am pretty spot on with a stellar cut every time. It's free, it can be done any time of the day or night and I actually enjoy cutting his hair. It seems to be a little more tricky with a toddler though. We hopped in the car and headed over to Pigtails and Crewcuts today. I thought it would be good for his first real haircut to go somewhere that dealt with only kids. I figured they would be completely ok with a meltdown and might even have the appropriate bribes on hand. There were about 10 little boys ahead of us in line (remember to make an appointment next time mom!) but thankfully they had train tables and all kinds of cool toys to keep my tot busy. I was a little nervous listening to the little boy ahead of us scream through his entire cut. He was about Ace's age so I was preparing myself for the same. His mom looked about 9 months pregnant and completely frazzled. Finally, it is our turn. With my camera ready Ace was loaded into his cool firetruck chair. That chair had him at hello. The kid loves to drive! We were greeted by "Ms. Swan." Ms. Swan was a wonderful lady with a full solid gold grill. I kid you not, take a look at the picture of her below. Despite my concern for a grilled lady cutting my child's hair for the first time she was super entertaining for Ace and made his first haircut a great experience. I was so proud of him, not a single whimper. I kept the gold fish coming to keep him motivated. As a treat for his excellent behavior we headed over to Chick-Fil-A for lunch where he ate ketchup and honey mustard. He uses the fries to get the dip to his mouth. I may attempt the next cut myself, but for now I will just enjoy starring at my cute little buddy with his high and tight cut.

 

Hmmm, what is this place- Ace looking a little shaggy.

 

Loving his ride on the firetruck!

 

This picture is just as Ace reached into Ms. Swans apron to give her a thrill!

 

Seriously excited about the new cut!


After he was done he gave himself a round of applause.

Christmas Craft Breakfast

 

This is such a fun new tradition for parents and kids alike. Our sweet friends Stacy and Drew have hosted a Christmas Craft party for the kids for the past 2 years I think. We weren't able to go last year so we were extra excited to go this year. Not only did we get to show up in our Christmas pajama's, but we were well fed with breakfast casseroles, muffins, biscuits, cinnamon rolls, hot chocolate, fruit and the like, but we also had plenty of entertainment for the kiddos. Stacy came up with a fun craft for the kids to make. Below is a sample of the snow globe she made a couple of years ago that was our inspiration. Ace's globe (not that he helped make it in the least) didn't turn out as glamorous, but we now have our very first homemade craft! As I worked away crafting Ace was content to run around the house or play with the cars and choo choo's by himself. Maybe next year he will be a willing participant. All the dad's showed up, but for some reason they disappeared during craft time. Above is our attempt to get all 15 kids in one picture. I say 14 out of 15 is a success!!
This was my view most of the morning, chasing Ace around the house.

 

 

 

It's Poll Time

Be sure to vote in the Poll to the right. Will it be a boy or a girl??? We find out on January 7th at 3:30 so you have plenty of time to cast your vote!

Theft Fest 2009

Theft Fest is also known as the Annual Ornament Exchange. This particular exchange started 7 years ago with a core group of about 10 gals and has ballooned to 20+. Each year we have a couple newbies who may or may not return the next year for more white knuckle, nail biting action. Now I highly doubt it is as intense for every participant, but something about a good old fashioned ornament exchange brings out my competitive beast. There is nothing more sad than getting a high number realizing most of the best of the best ornaments will be "frozen" and no longer available to steal. Let's shoot it straight, there are a few things you want to happen at an ornament exchange. 1. You want to end up with a good ornament. All PC aside, there are ornaments that you really DON'T want. I don't think anyone comes to an exchange thinking, hmmm, everyone will hate my ornament, but with 20 girls there are bound to be differences in opionion as to what is cute. 2. You want to either get a number between 12 and 16, or #1. Between the numbers 12 and 16 is when ornaments have been stolen just enough times for the last steal to be the kiss of death. In our group an ornament is allowed to be stolen 3 times before it is "frozen." Last night I was #18 so by the time my turn came around the ornament I had my sights set on was forever in the hands of a competitor. If you are #1 you get to have the first pick of the beautifully wrapped ornaments, but you also get the very last pick of the night! 3. You want the ornament you brought to get "frozen" There is nothing more flattering than knowing the ornament you so carefully and thoughtfully selected is a favorite amongst the group. 4. You must go to an ornament exchange with the attitude of fun. Lets face it, no one is happy about going home with a crappy ornament, but for a mere $10 investment you got a fun night out with your girlfriends and sampled some delicious appetizers and desserts. I am happy to say that of the 7 years I have attended I have come home with 6 awesome ornaments. Just being honest- I was not happy with my selection a few years ago so I gave it to someone who could appreciate it more. I love looking at our Christmas tree remembering exchanges past and how much fun I have each December with my girls. Cheers to another successful Theft Fest and I must say ornament wise, the best yet!

Ho Ho NOOOOOO

Ah, Santa. Santa was our friend last year. This year... not so much. Tonight we went over to some friends house who graciously hire a Santa and host the multitudes of Marietta each Christmas for that coveted picture with the jolly ole bearded man. Obviously last year was our first year with a baby hence our first year at this event. Well we learned from our mistakes and planned better this year. Last year we got there around 6:15 (party is from 6-8) and stood in line outside in the freezing cold for over an hour for our turn on Santa's lap. This year we showed up just after 7:30 after the crowds had left and waited about 10-15 minutes, again in the freezing cold, but 15 minutes of cold sure beats an hour. I had already mentally prepared myself that Ace would not be a fan of santa because I have seen many a 2nd year santa picture of screaming toddlers. I knew this year would produce pictures of a screaming little tot with tears. Thankfully I am not a total control freak so I was at peace with my little angels Santa picture being full of personality. Funny thing is he was chipper before he saw Santa and chipper on the way home. What is it about that red suited oversized elf that causes hysteria in little kids? Here are a few shots of the evening. I put one in from last year so you could see how much he has grown! Don't forget you can click on a picture to make it bigger.

Ace and Santa at 5 months old (2008)

Ace and Santa at 17 months old (2009) Santa looks scared as well :)

The whole gang

Couldn't leave out Raleigh dog