Time is Precious

I am going to be super sappy and cliche in this post, you've been warned.

Several recent events have reminded me of what a precious commodity TIME has become ... especially now that I am a 30(something) with my own little family. I just wish I had a pause button.  Next week Briggs turns TWO and throughout the first three weeks in September, I have travelled to NY twice for some major events.

The first trip was a super happy event to watch a childhood friend get married.  This is one of those we-go-way-back kind of friends, we literally shared a playpen and diapers.  The Amelio family is so special to me, all SIX of them.  I could plop down in their living room today and be right at home ... even though I haven't spent significant time with them since the early 90's.  Andi Amelio taught me everything I know about being mischievous and possibly gave me some skills in quick-whitted humor. Although I may only ever match 1/16th of her mastery.

While on that trip with my parents - we visited a part of the state where I have never been before. A place where my Dad's family has some deep roots.  This sort of trip would have been torture for me years ago.  However, I really and truly enjoyed it (again proof of my age).  We searched for family headstones and places where the Hulse family first took claim in the States.  My father never met most of his family and his own father died when he was young.  Watching him connect, and also myself connect, all the dots was priceless.  I will even admit that I also truly enjoyed our jaunt to FDR's homeplace and Presidential Museum.

Headstones for my great, great grandparents
(Top marker also includes my great grandfather Wellington)

Headstones for my great, great, great grands 

After being back in my own bed for only two nights, I received one of those dreaded phone calls.  My Aunt Sandy had passed, just 46 years young.  As a kid, Sandy always seemed OLD to me. Even though she was just 14 years older, she was just always miles away from where I was in life.  She was going to Senior prom when I was learning to ride a bike.  She was getting married when I was learning about boys.  She was having children just when I was losing interest in dolls.

 

Three years ago, Sandy moved to SC and we all had the chance to reacquaint after years of living thousands of miles apart. She moved into my parents rental property and right back into our immediate family. The 14 year age difference was so different now than before. We still weren't at the same place in life, but we shared so much more than before. She took a front seat in Briggs' life. She was literally the first person who knew we were trying to get pregnant and she was so supportive throughout my pregnancy. She arrived the day after his arrival to help us transition home and all the way through, she has been there to help me and to spoil him.

Her sudden departure returned all of us to NNY.  My parents, Krista and Rick, as well as David, Briggs and myself.  While it was under horrible circumstances, it gave me the chance to take my little family back to the town, the people, the places, and the tastes that are such a part of who I am.  The three of us spent 30hrs of quality time together in the car and my family spent a few days bonding in a small fish camp with one toilet.  Briggs had the opportunity to meet most of my dad's family.  My dad's aunts, uncles, and cousins are all like aunts, uncles and cousins to me.

My family has had some tremendous losses in the last year. Both my grandmother and my aunt slipped away too soon.  I know that this won't be the last time that I experience loss - I just hope that I am able to show all of the people in my life just how much they mean to me between now and then.

With all the hustle and bustle of our day-to-day here in Clemson.  I only get a handful of hours each day to spend with Briggs.  During this trip, I really realized just how far he has come recently.  He has SO many words, can properly use possessive pronouns and is stringing together sentences all on his own!  He is really starting to gain control of his emotions and while mostly he uses them to manipulate me - he is now also starting to have real fears and concerns.  Although he doesn't have an elaborate vocabulary - he has amazing recognition. He can pick out animals and objects and catches on SO quickly.  That toddler brain is just amazing!

We all know that you can't stop time, you can't turn back the clock, and you can't get back what is gone.  I tried my best to enjoy the time I had with family and friends these last few weeks and I am really going to try my damnedest to let the dishes pile a little higher and the laundry a little deeper so I can savor all of Briggs' childhood.  Just a few more days of having a one-year-old ... unbelievable.

Blog guilt

Most of my diary entries started out with "Sorry it's been so long"or "I promise to get better" and I always seem to feel like I should to start my blog posts the same way. Looks like things haven't changed much since I was 8-yrs-old ... well ... except I no longer have to trick my babysitter into letting me stay up late to watch scary movies.

Although it has only been two months since my last blog post, it feels like so much more time has gone by when I think of all that has happened since then. We have survived the "summer-of-relentless-rain" in South Carolina. The stat I saw tonight on the news said this summer we've had 82 flash flood warnings versus the 13 we had last year.  WOWZA!!!

With summer ALMOST over and football season literally just around the corner.  Here are some of my favorite pics and videos from our fun summer of 2013 ...

For the longest time Briggs wouldn't wear a hat. Now we love the hat ... clothes ... optional.

Maggie Valley Camping Trip - July 4th

I've never been so soggy ....

Hollywild Animal Park

A non-profit wildlife preserve. When I get rich, I'm buying them some concrete.

We made it to the safari bus literally seconds before the downpour hit.

When we got to the car, my feet were so muddy.  

David was nice enough to let me wash off in a roadside puddle.

Swimming in the front yard

At the Greenville Children's Museum with our buddy Charlotte

Refused a nap this day, the lawn mower ride did him in though!

Beach Day @ Lake Hartwell!

Washing the trucks turned into hose fun!

Dixie (the worldest sweetest and most patient dog) came to visit!

21 Months - Where did he go?

Briggs man, you are almost 21 months old and just a few months shy of your 2nd birthday and I have decided that from this point forward I will no longer be feeding you.  I have had such a great time watching you grow and learn, but now I'm ready for it all to stop.  Seriously, this is all happening too fast and regardless of how much I've been warned this would happen, I cannot stand it.

One of your most recent vocabulary achievements perfectly sums up how I feel about all of this.  You will drop your Woody doll in the car or cover daddy's face with a pillow and then say "Where'd he go?" Which is made all the more adorable by the cutest inquisitive face, a shoulder shrug, and two upright palms.  It is absolute perfection and makes me ask just where did my Briggs baby go?

You are 100% boy. You are rough, prefer nakedness, and love everything daddy loves.  Trucks, tractors, lawnmowers, baseball, football, swords, dogs and horses. You and daddy (although I think mostly daddy) have a slight obsession with monster trucks. Currently you have 12 trucks ... I believe it is one for each time daddy has taken you to Walmart ... and you can pick out each one by name. You are constantly asking to watch monster trucks on youtube and love pointing out all the big trucks on the road.

 

I still see glimpses of my sweet boy in there as you still love reading books and you have your moments where you enjoy cuddling. The other night you insisted on taking a little bunny and your beloved FredBird to bed with you and we enjoyed watching you on the monitor as you spent more than 20 minutes tucking them in, patting them on their butts, and telling them night-night. You've started giving real kisses, well, open mouthed kisses.  But you are at least getting the idea!  You are a pro at waving bye-bye and will now say hi too.

You are adding new words to your vocabulary daily and its so much fun figuring out just WHAT you're trying to say! In the car you LOVE to sing songs like "Wheels on the Bus", "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "ABC's", and "Old McDonald".  You do all the hand gestures for the first two and our favorite verse is when the mommy's go "shh, shh, shh" since that comes along with a sweet little finger to your lips. You are putting words together really well and are starting to speak sentences that are 3-4 words. 

Recently you have found that there is not much time for sitting down to eat and you would prefer to just snack all day than to bother with a meal. Although you ate like a champ this past weekend for Granny Brenda making me look like a liar. You are a dipper ... you love any food that gives you the opportunity to dip into a sauce, especially ketchup!  One food that you love that seems surprising to everyone is tomatoes, you gobble up just simple-chopped tomatoes.  Today you tried and loved raisins which surprised me.

Your most recent obsession is Toy Story, but more specifically Woody.  Aunt Krista gave you a big Woody doll for your first birthday and now that you have seen the movies you are extra fond of him.  He had to ride to school with us this morning and I'm worried we are going to wear out the movies pretty quickly. This hasn't totally replaced your obsession for birds and poultry though!  You love to check out the birds in the yard as well as those we see out driving.  We have been out to feed the ducks at the Botanical Gardens on campus and a recent visit to see Nana also gave you an opportunity. You now know the difference between a chicken, rooster, duck and goose! Aunt Linda recently brought you the St Louis Cardinals mascot, FredBird, and you're pretty much in love with him too.

We have had a very busy past few months with visits to the zoo and children's museum, visits and even some pool-time with friends, visits with family, lots of time with horses and ducks, as well as your first boat ride.  You have pee-peed on the potty once which was total luck on my part, but now you've lost interest in it again.

Now that you are saying SO much I am vowing to write a shorter blogs more often to keep up with your antics!

Silly boy

18 months old. Am I really still counting months??

Phew, I may be close to a month late in writing this post, but I blame it all on you Briggs man!  You are a WIDE open, NON-stop, 18 month old TODDLER!

You are absolutely hilarious and full of cuteness!  Your favorite words are still "no" and "dada" and you use those words way more than anything else.  Up until a little over a week ago, you really didn't have more than a dozen words.  Now you are saying something new every day.  You are trying hard to repeat words that we say - last night you said "purple" and this morning "burr".

At your most recent check-up, you measured in at 23lbs and 10oz and were 33 inches tall.  You are right at the 50th percentile for weight and around the 75th percentile for height.  That came as a surprise to me as most of your 18month clothes are tight around your pudgy belly and too long for what I thought were your short little legs!  

You have a great daily routine set.  If left to sleep - you get up around 7 or 7:30am.  Then you play, play, play until lunch time at 11.  Naptime can start as early as noon, but is typically 1-3pm.  Then you play, play, play until dinner at 6.  In between there are lots of snacks and "wawa".  Bath time is around 7pm and then bedtime is supposed to be 8pm, but you stretch it out to almost 9pm sometimes.  You have started fighting bedtime more telling me "no-no", but there have been times that you have walked yourself down the hallway to go to bed too.

Currently you are the biggest kid in the Creepers room and your best buddy is Paige Duncan.  The two of you are just adorable playing together!  Every morning when we head out the door, you always have to have two trucks in your hands to take with us.  When you get to school you are always so sweet to share with Paige.  I'm not so certain that she is into GraveDigger, but she smiles anyway!  Trucks are TOTALLY your thing (and daddys too).  You have at least two dozen trucks and they are always spread all over the living room floor and coffee table.

You have started to enjoy Thomas the Train as well as Curious George videos.  Sesame Street is still pretty cool - especially Grover.  Daddy and you also enjoy a good MonsterTruck Jam.  We recently went to our first Clemson baseball game and you loved all the excitement and kept saying "bayball".  Now every sport appears to be "bayball", we'll get that straightened out later.

You love to play outside with your trucks and in the sandbox. You adore going to visit the farm with daddy.  Like any boy - you love to ride on the golf cart, 4-wheeler, lawn mower, gator, and recently daddy took you for your first tractor ride.  Now that you have visited with the horses at the farm - almost every animal sound is "nay".  You really like ducks and chickens too.

You are a typical toddler.  Moody and Bossy!  You love to dance to music - if you are in the mood.  You are a pretty good eater - if you are in the mood.  And you will lean in to give me kisses - if you are in the mood.  Occasionally you will wave bye-bye and you have been known to blow a kiss once or twice.  Currently you love bath time, although that wasn't the case three weeks ago.  

Over the last three months you have gotten your first bloody nose and your first and second skinned up knees.  I had much better success with your third haircut - I used clippers and it was quick and easy!  We have continued to fight the germs from school and have had pink eye as well as lots of good snotty colds.  You also have had some skin sensitivities and I'm just hoping you haven't inherited my issues.

One of your favorite indoor games is to dump out all your stuffed animals onto your bedroom floor - then dive on top of them - bury yourself under animals - and then hide from mommy.  Too funny.  You also enjoy playing in your playroom, in your hallway tent, and with all your books.  You are definitely a book lover and enjoy books where you can point to all the things you know.  You are super smart and figure things out so well - so this is very enjoyable too!

This past weekend we went to Summerville to celebrate Easter with all the grandparents.  You were in heaven showing off all your skills to all the family!  On Sunday we had Easter dinner with both families at Granny Brenda's.  You played the entire day and only took a 20 minute nap.  I was so shocked what a great mood you were in regardless of the lack of sleep!  You were super sweet for Nana and PopPop and even said both of their names.  That moment was worth a million bucks!

You are getting better at playing by yourself and enjoy the independence.  I know it's time to come check on you when I haven't heard anything for a minute.  Just this past weekend when we had the windows open - I came into your room to find you up on your stool leaning into the screen on the window.  You don't always look for trouble - but it finds you pretty easy!