"Hot Dog Hot Diggity Dog" Halloween

Happy Halloween!!

This year our Halloween was fun and relaxing. We are enjoying it while it lasts since John Brady is only 18 months old and not begging for candy, haunted houses, etc. This year we had a hard time deciding between a lion and Mickey Mouse. John Brady runs around the house doing a lion growl all the time but Mickey is John Brady's absolute favorite tv show [especially the HOT DOG DANCE!] The deciding factor was the fact I didn't want to go out and buy a costume I wanted to make it or piece it together...Mickey shorts and shoes seemed a little easier than a lion mane...Mickey it was!

Costume:

Black turtleneck and black girls leggings[sorry John Brady :( ] for the body, black crocs which I painted tops yellow like Mickey's, Mickey ears which we found at a costume store and finally Mickey's shorts which my mom made and even sewed large white buttons on just like Mickey Mouse.

Once his costume was put together I laid it on the bed to show John Brady and he said "Mickey which sounds more like "ba ta" don't ask...he has always called him that. 

Halloween Day

We spent the day playing and doing things around the house. Drew and I planned his nap just perfect to allow him to be fresh and rested for downtown trick or treating. Once he woke up from his nap, I gave him a snack...painted his nose and got him dressed. I took him to look in the mirror he made his surprised face then smiled real big. He did GREAT with his ears, Drew and I were shocked he actually wore them the whole time and took them on and off by himself.

Our first stop was to visit Poppi at work where Nanny met us too! We were Poppi's only trick or treat at work...he had a few treats for John Brady. John Brady had never had any candy until tonight and I allowed a Reeses cup for the special occasion, John Brady said ummmmmm! I think he liked it. We continued down Broad Street [MADNESS!!!/MISTAKE!!!] BUT we walked the distance to see our friend Tiffany Horton! She was glad to have us visit and see John Brady. We all took John Brady to have a little gelato at Honeymoon Bakery, he was really getting used to this Halloween "treat" thing.

After trick or treating on broad we headed back to Poppi's office where his Aunt Latonia and cousin Chandler visited us and brought JB another treat. Thanks Latonia...NO SUGAR!! =) She kindly gave John Brady a dinosaur book, frankenstein sippy cup and a vampire rubber ducky! Thank you...so cute! We finished off the day with a little Chick-fil-a ... what else? Today was lots of fun and John Brady was just the cutest Mickey Mouse!!!!



.pudding.paint.fun.

Today John Brady and I got a little messy with pudding paint. I took boxed pudding mix from Walmart and made it according to the package. I put a small amount in each cup of a muffin tin and added food coloring to each cup. Final colors [Yellow-Orange-Purple-Red-Green-Blue] We finger painted and painted with a brush on poster paper....well mostly on paper...some on each other and even on the porch. Shockingly, John Brady didn't eat any of the pudding paint even after smelling and pointing saying "yummmm". Maybe we are getting out of the trying to eat a little of everything stage. Sadly, he still puts crayons in his mouth...why not the pudding paint...which is way better?

John Brady really enjoyed getting messy and being outside. Once we were done painting anything and everything he got to play in the water to clean up. He cried so much when it was time to go inside...I did the only thing there was to do....go BACK outside!! His poppi, Drew and I took him on a ride in Poppi's mule to go to see horses and ride through the field. He laughed the whole time and loved the wind blowing in his face. He finished off his day swinging on the back porch before dinner and bed.

Today's activity filled day = success!

Virginia

This past weekend Drew and I headed to Virginia from Thursday through Sunday to see Drew's family. We left Georgia on Thursday morning, not without making a pit stop @ Chick-fil-a. Once we got breakfast we were on our way...6 hours later we arrived. We spent Thursday playing in their backyard and basement mostly. Stacy cooked a fantastic meal which consistented of butterflied chicken in a mushroom sauce with salad. We were glad to spend time with them and they were of course THRILLED to see John Brady.

Friday we visited Mark at work and while we were there we saw the garden that Stacy and Dora created outside the cancer wing. Dora created the garden as a community service project with Stacy's help. Stacy  was able to use her hours working in the garden along with classes and tests to become a Master gardener...Goooo Stacy! After John Brady's nap we headed to Roanoke to visit a beautiful overlook and a zoo. John Brady enjoyed seeing all the animals and wanted to get a little too close to some. We then went downtown to get some yogurt and headed to Blacksburg. In Blacksburg we visited Virginia Tech's campus and saw their downtown and had appetizers at Bull & Bones.  We finished the night back at the house with mexican takeout from Compadres and watching home videos of Drew when he was little.

Saturday we started the day visiting Draper Mercantile in Draper, VA. This place was really neat and full of what people call "granolas"....I am not a granola but sometimes I would like to think we eat like them as much as possible and try to be natural when we can without being over the top. The mercantile had garden to table fruits and veg available, grassfed and hormone free meats, fresh organic bread, desserts, homemade jellys, local honey, etc....real cool. Our next stop was Claytor Lake, which was beautiful!! John Brady enjoyed playing on a playground there and letting out lots of energy. We had a GREAT lunch down the road @ MK's gourmet pizza house. I got the "barge" which was a bbq chicken pizza with onion and pineapple...yum! John Brady enjoyed some pretzels and pizza...Drew had some of the best wings ever! After, it was time for his nap and Drew and I to get ready to head to the VA Tech/Miami game with Mark. We were lucky to get to watch this game from a box complete with more good food and nice people. Saturday was needless to say a day for grubbing, good football and another Tide win over Vandy.

The weekend was a success and we weren't too sad to say bye because they will be visiting us in two weeks! Thanks for a great weekend...love the other Nichols! Oh and don't forget...KUMBAYA!

jb @ < .one.&.a.half. >

Today John Brady is officially one and a half. It is hard to believe his 1st birthday was already six months ago and soon six more months will fly by and he will be two! I want to write down a few things he is doing and some of his favorites so Drew and I won't forget.

John Brady, when you read this later always know that Dad and I love you and you are our world. We enjoy watching every new accomplishment, new word, your laughter and more. We have watched you grow from a baby to a toddler and you are starting to act like a little boy. It is so bittersweet...snuggling in my arms when you were first born you looked so small...now you look so big in your baby bed. Happy 1/2 birthday! We can't wait to see what all you will be doing at two and what a great young man you grow to be. Love you!

Height

 35 inches (ALMOST 3 ft. tall!!)

You are off the charts for your height - over 100 percentile

Weight

30 lbs.

Favorite foods

bananas. blueberries. okra. raisins. broccoli and rice casserole. strawberries.

peanut butter jelly sandwich. apple sauce.

Some words

mama. dada. papa. nana. bell. bite. apple "app". banana "nanana". outside "outs".

 deer "dee". blue. kitty. eggs. eyes. byebye. hey. Ashley "ash". sushi "shi shi" cracker "cack-er"

good girl "goo grr"

Sounds

lion. cow. pig. horse. tiger. papa's truck. dog. train "choo choo"

Physical

jumps. goes down slides. throws and kicks balls. hits t ball(serious hand eye). shoots into hoop.

goes up stairs alone. down stairs with a little help. gets in chairs alone. dances. blows kisses. gives kisses

Around the house

emptys drawers & puts back. colors. plays with toys. reads books. rides car.

gets food out of cabinet. hide and seek.

TV

mickey mouse clubhouse. the wiggles. good morning show on sprout. elmo's world

Sleep

wakes up between 7-8. naps between 12-3. goes to bed between 7-8

Books

hungry caterpillar. brown bear. elmo potty book. first animals

~lillian & jb~

Today John Brady had his first playdate with Lily. They met previously in the grocery store, where of course every mom runs into her other mom friends. My friend , Jacqueline, and I decided we couldn't keep talking about getting these two together any longer and scheduled a playdate for today!

 I was very excited because I have known Jacqueline since 5th grade. We have spent a lot of time of time together over the years and created many memories. We have taken trips together, roomed together in college, had countless laughs, fun times, car rides from Tuscaloosa to Rome and more. So naturally after not seeing each other for a while we were exctied to catch up, we facebook and text often but haven't gotten together since the little ones have arrived.

We decided to meet at AYF(all year fun) on Broad St. They have a huge kids area with blow up jumping and slides....very thrilled until we find out....THEY ARE CLOSED! So with two toddlers hanging on the door handles wanting to go in it was time to think fast.

We decided we couldn't go wrong with Honeymoon Bakery. The kids both had chocolate chip gelato...I got a little of John Brady's. Poor Jacqueline wasn't as lucky because Lillian can feed herself well and decided she liked it too much to share more than two bites with her mom! We then went next door to see another friend of mine at work. Tiffany works next to the bakery and we knew she would love to see the kids. Tiffany is about 15 weeks pregnant and if she is anything like I was, I loved to see kids when pregnant because I would dream of my unborn child and what I had to look forward to. After about 45 minutes and the little ones dumping out 100 pens on the floor and running all over her office we decided it was time to go. We couldn't leave without getting a few pictures first. We snapped some quick photos outside on Broad St. and starting planning our next get together at AYF...next time we will make sure they are open.

Even though plans changed, it was great catching up with Jacqueline and

 the kids really enjoyed playing/flirting with each other.

Our "Gator Hater" Roll Tide Party

John Brady & Nanny 10-2-11



This past weekend was a beautiful weekend! Perfect for some of my favorites football, family, good food and more. Drew and I decided the weekend was going to be full of just that! Saturday morning started off busy to get ready for the big afternoon. Mom and I (when I wasn't riding heard on JB) began preparing all the yummy food we were going to eat all day. We all know it is not a good football party with out good food. Mom and I proceeded to decorate the TV room and the screened in porch while decorating mom mentioned "last time we went to all this trouble was when UGA had the black out and well we all know how that ended poorly for UGA." Meanwhile, Drew and dad got the TV set up on the screen porch so we could enjoy games in the great outdoors all day. By noon we were all set up and dressed in our Bama gear and ready to watch the Tide Roll later that night.

 The day was a success and complete with a little fire that evening and lots of high fives!

Weather

 70 H / 40 L

Appetizers

 pork tenderloin on hawaiian sweet rolls with mustard glaze -

spinach & artichoke dip - potato skins - cocktail sausages - eggplant & pepper dip -

Final Score

Bama 38 Florida 10

.steph.drew.jb.