Happy Halloween Birthday!

Started out a cheeseburger - became a birthday party guest - left a cowboy! Happy Birthday, Miller. Can't wait to celebrate many more...

For more Halloween and birthday pics, click here!

Excited to GO...

... but didn't know what to do when they got there!

Asa and his best buddy Davis - at the Atlanta Botanical Garden!

Birthdays = Festivals, Gardens, Parties, and Checkups

Well, well, well.... Asa turned two this past Saturday - and what a wild weekend we had. We celebrated for days. First up, on Friday his school had the annual Fall Festival where Asa and his buddies dressed up in costume and played games.

Saturday, we did our normal morning park routine, enjoyed a visit with Ann, took a long nap (a great 'unbirthday' present to Mama and Dada), had breakfast for lunch, and then headed to the Botanical Gardens for some awesome garden fun! We managed to get in a trip to the Farmer's Market, head home for dinner and a bath, then round out our day with the typical book end! Ha!

Sunday was another jam packed day with preparation of the big party. Asa had his friends (and some of Mom and Dad's friends, too) over for some monkeying around, along the usual fam. A big jumpy house, lots of toys, plenty of dirt and dogs, kept the kids busy. Asa received so many gifts and is busy writing his thank you notes... you know, he is a very advanced child.

Today rounded out the weekend with the typical visit to the doctor. Birthdays always mean checkups - unfortunately for Asa. I don't really have stats to provide... we were told Asa is off the charts for weight, height, and head circumference (i.e. bigger than most or nearly all 2-year-olds). So, the doctor went to the body mass index measurement to be sure it, too, wasn't off the charts - then we'd have a problem. Luckily, we were alright there. Asa's BMI was just under the 85th percentile. The doc assured us that we are good parents, after all. Woohoo! Just take down the milk from 2% to skim and ease up on the cheese - both going to be much harder than they sound. Other than that, Asa will surely be more active in the next year or two and thin out on his own.

Oh Mama's boy - so much to love... can't believe he's already two. Although according to him, when asked how old are you, he says "No two, Mama!"

See the full birthday weekend picture album by clicking here!

Books & Ice Cream

Asa's personal heaven!

Leaving the House

Nearly everything for Asa is a routine... including leaving the house. He makes sure to say goodbye to the dogs every time we walk out. This morning, sounds like he and Dada used their funny voices for this ritual. Enjoy!

Riley's Costume Birthday Party

First, we got our pirate on...

Then, we got our drum on...

Happy Birthday, Riley!

It's Not All Fun and Games, Folks

Sometimes we gotta show the "other" side of parenting on our home videos...

School Photography: Can someone improve on this?

Yesterday, the school photographer had 4 beautifully skirted tables lined up with photos on perfect display to sell to eager parents. As I walked up, I was excited to see the shots of my little man. I looked around at other kids' photos and saw that each child had three poses to choose from and that got me even more excited: greater odds of a good pic! The photographer asked me my child's last name and then she pulled out a huge packet full of pre-printed photos. I thumbed through the pages and only saw Ace in one pose (and it was just 'okay' - not a smiling shot). I asked the photographer how come Asa was only in one pose in this packet and she said, "Oh, your last name is Zbeeb - he must have been the last to go in the group and he was probably not very cooperative." NICE SELLING LADY!!! I told her she could keep her packet of nearly 20 pre-printed pages of 8x10s, 5x7s, even calendars and "wallet sizes for the grandparents". If you are going to take pictures of children, esp. toddlers!, you should be more organized and prepared than to have the little ones sitting around waiting for everyone else to get their picture taken. Bad business. In the end, I did break down and purchase one 5x7 because the 'Mama voice' in my head said I wouldn't want to be scrolling through his baby book one day and not see a Toddler school pic. Ugh! They get you every time. Someone should really fix the school photo biz - they'd make a killing, not that they don't already!

Rounding out a JAM-PACKED weekend...

... this pic says it all - guess who's OVER IT! :-)

Erika and Jay tied the knot...

... but why take pictures of that when we can take pictures of the kids??? Erika and Jay are a handsome couple, but our babies are the cutest!

Post-wedding spend-the-night party at Nana's!