daddy's first friday.

daddy took his first friday off this past week. he had breakfast with us. and he and pratt read lots of books and played with lots of toys. and even watched a little veggie tales.

pretty much it was pratt's favorite day ever.

and mom's too. for sure.



thanks for choosing to spend the day with us, dad. even though the ice made it difficult to do anything else. i'll just assume you would have stayed inside with us the entire time even if it had been beautiful outside. ha. we love you.

jd salinger.

jd salinger passed away yesterday.

if you don't know who that is, you're not american.

holden caulfield will forever be my most favorite literary character. i had a hard time growing up. i didn't really know who i was until late in the game. like, maybe five years ago. maybe more like 2 years ago. i dunno.

i just know that holden made me feel normal. he made me laugh out loud. and cry. and feel all sorts of things i wouldn't have ever known were normal.

so rest in peace mr. salinger. and thank you for what you gave me. and so many other teenagers. a feeling of acceptance. and normalcy. it truly saved me.

how to feed a cat, by pratt.

step one: get your mom to help you open the cat food container. or if you're like me, you've already ripped off the top of the container so you can play in the cat food anytime you want. or the trash. cause i like to play in the trash too.



step two: dip the cat's food bowl into the food. scooping it with the bowl as not to get your hands "chewy chewy". (yucky, whatever. this is what we call it. he can say "chewy chewy".)

an aside. there are so many great things about that picture. one. he only has on one sock. two. you can see our recycling bin behind him. one of them. for paper. andy and clara, are you proud of me? three. that shelf directly behind pratt is his own shelf. it houses his foods. so he is able to get whatever he wants from there and eat it. and finally, look how excited he is about feeding yoda. precious.



step three: carry the bowl ever so carefully to where your kitty cat eats. if you need to, you can hold the bowl completely against your shirt so you don't spill any pieces.





step four: bend down and roll the bowl onto its desired position.



and voila! all done!

let me add one thing. this simple "help" taught me so much. i could flip out about how he carries the bowl. i could ask him to carry it like i would carry it. or any way but to hold it against his shirt for fear of something falling out the side. maybe onto the floor.

but is it really worth it? is it really worth correcting him?

the answer i've come up with is no. absolutely not. this is the way he does it. this is the way my little boy does it.

and truth be told, i think it's a wonderful way to do it.

may i never forget this. may i never forget the life/parent/slow down and smell the roses lesson i learned today.

happy thursday.

nutrition.

hi friends.

i want to share something with you all.

for the past few weeks, i've been reading a lot about nutrition. first of all...turning 30 has changed my metabolism. i used to be able to eat whatever i wanted...exercise a few times a week..and stay my typical size. i don't ever weigh myself...we actually don't even have scales that work. but i just knew how i was doing based on how my clothes felt.

well, recently....it ain't happening.

and more than ever before, my eyes have been open to what i'm eating. and what processed foods will do to me.

growing up, we hardly ever ate anything from a box. no hamburger helper, no kraft mac n cheese, no canned veggies. my mother made everything from scratch. we had fresh veggies and homeade mac n cheese. more fruit than you can imagine. and we rarely got to eat out. eating out was a treat. pizza was a big deal.

not even kidding. but, we also had the funds to do that. and these days, i'm convinced that it can be cheaper to eat out than cook.

but i'm not giving up. because i know what processed foods can do to us...and most importantly to my child.

my friend rachel has been sharing with me what gluten can do. she has an allergy to it...and pretty much, it's changed the way she can/will eat. after reading about celiac disease, i'm pretty convinced my husband has it. but that's a whole other story.

this morning i read a blog post from my cousin mandy. here is the address.

she has listed wonderful resources on nutrition. i just thought i would share. it's totally worth a few minutes of hopping over there and reading what she has written.

my goal...and my goal for pratt is to be able to eat and not constantly think, "okay. i have to stay away from this...and this and this. but i'll force myself to eat this and this and this."

wish us luck. this won't be easy.

have wonderful thursdays!

from his momma.

i have no fashion sense. if it were up to me, we could wear white linen pants year round. i'm not good with trends or clothes or shopping or putting things together unless i've seen the outfit on someone or on a model at gap/banana/etc.

however. one thing i can do.

rock a necklace.

i'm not a big necklace person in the cold months. but only because they don't go well with my scarf. i don't ever know where to put them. do they go under or over? i dunno. so i just don't do it.

but in the spring/summer...how i love thee. wooden ones. beaded ones. short ones. long ones. layered ones. i could go on and on.

and apparently, this love is genetic.



just call him mr. t.

oh, and yes. he's trying to pick up a bracelet. cause he likes those too.

don't judge, fool.

dear pratt.

dear pratt,

last night you stayed with your nana and papa randy. nana offered to keep you so daddy and i could have a "date night".

what is a date night? well, it looks like this. dad and mom go out to eat. we can eat at fancy restaurants. and eat with two hands. and eat slowly. and digest the food. and take sips of our drink just because. and take lots of sips...just for no good reason sips. not sips that are forcing a gigantic bolus of food down so that we can chase a small child around the restaurant, looking at fish, looking out the windows, etc. this may sound weird, but when you have a baby of your own, you will understand. sometimes on date nights we go to the movies. other times we go to barnes & noble. or maybe even downtown to hear bands play.

but wherever we go, we constantly talk about you. and wonder what you're doing. we know you're always having a good time, as you're an incredibly easy child. it doesn't take much to make you happy. you're simple like that. and i love you for it.

this morning we were in big church and the preacher talked to the kids about something i thought you might enjoy. it was about prayer. and the importance of prayer.

and he said that he often had a hard time remembering everyone he should pray for. and so he was told of a way to remember. and i want to share it with you.

think of your hands. either one. your right or your left.

your thumb. it's closest to you. so pray for the people closest to you. maybe your daddy. and me. and your grandparents. and your aunts and uncles. your great-grandparents. your best friends. etc. when i was little, i'd say my prayers, and every night it started something like this...

now i lay me down to sleep

i pray the lord my soul to keep

if i should die before i wake

i pray the lord, my soul to take

god bless mimi and poppy,
granny and marvin,

mom and dad and spencer

"mimi and poppy, granny and marvin, mom and dad and spencer" would definately have qualified as my "thumb people".

your pointer finger. these are the people who "point" you in the right direction. maybe your teachers at school. your sunday school teachers. our preacher. the people working in the church. all those who help you to teach you the right way. hopefully me and daddy would count as "pointer people" as well.

your tallman finger. these are the tallest people in our world. maybe the people in the highest positions. think of these people as our mayor. and the governor. maybe policemen you know. and the president of the united states. the people that work for/with him/her. pray for the senators and congressmen.

your ring finger. which happens to be your weakest finger. these are people who are weak in spirit or body. maybe those sick. or those dealing with personal crisis. maybe those who have lost their jobs. or those who are struggling with death of loved ones. or divorce. those suffering from mental illness. anyone who you consider weak and broken. they need prayer.

finally, your pinky. the person farthest out. this is yourself. brother bill reminded us that we should always put others before ourselves. i remember in bible school hearing, "god first, others second, me third." so finally, pray for pratt. and don't for a second think that God doesn't hear prayers about ourselves. He does.

also, when you finish praying, remember what you are able to do with your two hands. how you can help others with your two hands. because as my daddy told me long ago, happiness is found in helping others. true happiness. trust me on this. this is one thing i am sure of.

one more thing. prayer isn't something you only do at night when you're about to go to sleep. you can pray at anytime. while you're playing with friends. while you're eating. even while you're in the bathtub. just wherever, whenever.

i love you little man. and i'm so happy to have you home.

thank you to nana and papa randy for taking such good care of you. what a blessed little boy you are.

ps. here are some pictures i took of you last week. we had a playdate with tucker and allie. i'll post more pictures later.

i love you.

mommy.

dear pratt.

dear pratt,

there was an earthquake in haiti last week. by the time you can read this for yourself, i'll be happy to find haiti on dad's globe with you. we can google it. and we can talk about where it is, what the people are like, what they do. etc. one of my favorite things as a child was to get out the encyclopedia and look up countries. and read about the people. what they eat. where they work. everything about them. i hope you feel the same way.

anyway. back to haiti. as you get bigger, you will realize that there are so many things in this world that make little to no sense. things here in america...and things in countries on the other side of the world.

i can't explain why these things happen. i have no idea. all i know is that i trust God to have his Hands in those situations. this place is rough. it hard. and sad. and that is all the more reason to look forward to heaven. a place where we won't struggle with this depression. with this sadness.

a few things to document. last night while i was at bible study, your daddy took care of you. he fed you dinner and he said when yall were done, he put you down to play. you looked up at him and said, "bath?". and so he took you up to give you a bath. when you were done with that, yall came back down to play, and you said, "bottle?".

yes, you still have a night bottle. and i don't care that i was supposed to stop that last month. whatever.

you and i had a wonderful day today. we went to the zoo with stacy and carter. you took a long afternoon nap. and then we did a little grocery shopping and then picked up sushi and fried rice for dinner. you LOVE fried rice.

we love you little man.

mommy.

mr. rayper.

so. i cannot stop laughing as i post this.

clint had several pine trees he wanted cut down in our backyard. and by several, i mean 30.

enter "mr. rayper. mule tree logger". at least, that's what his truck says.





these are the trees that the man and his two mules loaded off our land. he cuts them and takes them home for free. apparently, he then takes them to fordyce or something and gets money for the trees. i don't know. all i know is that i have convinced myself that mr. rayper and his mules checked every single tree for little birdies. and if they found any baby or momma birds, he transplanted them to another tree. safely. he and the mules. (in my mind i've named the mules fancy and jack.)

well, while mr. rayper chops the trees down (think...he bends down, squats down by the tree, begins cutting...and then out of nowhere, the man throws one of his arms out in the direction as to where the tree will land. but keep in mind that he is the ONLY one out there. i guess it's habit.) anyway, all this time, fancy and jack are just tied to a tree. standing around. slapping their big tongues up against that big metal rod in their mouth. you know, the bar that goes across to keep the harness on.

i'm pretty sure i'm not using any technical country boy terms here...but come on. i'm from camden. i know about rims and rap music. cool stuff like that. i, unlike my husband, don't know about horses or cows or if mules are only girls or boys. you know, like apparently bulls are always boys. something like that. anyway (somewhere my husband just had a heart attack), i don't know about the smell of hay or how to milk a cow or run a trot line. sue me.

this morning before pratt and i left for moms n more, we had a little talk with mr. rayper. and let me tell ya, pratt LOVED the man. he let him hold him and everything. it was probably fancy and jack that pratt really loved. but mr. rayper has left here today thinking that pratt loved him. and that's just peachy with me.

he was a sweet old man. and if you need any trees cut at your house, give mr. rayper a call. he's a hard worker. seriously. i mean, according to him, there is only "one other boy outta heber springs" who uses mules to cut and drag timber.

he told me to get a picture of pratt and him and the mules so that when pratt gets older he can brag to his friends about what he saw. so cute.

life only gets better out here in the country. i'm serious. slow and better.

oh. on a totally different note. look at my baby's hair. so curly. just like his daddy's. i LOVE it. i know i should cut it, but i can't bring myself to.



okay. happy tuesday.

dear pratt.

dear pratt,

there are a few things on my mind that i've needed to get down on here, but i keep forgetting. they are things that probably aren't considered "milestones"...but i think you'll appreciate them none the less. what you will learn as you get older, is that it's the small things that matter. so i hope you find happiness in these few, random things.

last night, for the first time, you ran to the back door as soon as you heard your daddy come in. we were in the kitchen. i was attempting to cook dinner AND please you. it's not easy. i hope i make it look easy...but i doubt i do. as soon as you heard the door open, you shrieked and then took off for him. all i could hear was the pitter patter of your feet. a wonderful sound.

there are a few people who you really recognize. and you get really excited when you see them. two of those people are your two grandmothers. cookie took you to itty bitty city saturday. and as soon as she opened the door to the car, you smiled and reached for her. yesterday, nana kept you so i could help your daddy up at his office. as soon as you saw her, you shrieked and reached for her too. and then you immediately looked at me and said, "bye bye!".

you are content to play in your room for hours. you follow me around. if i go into your closet to hang clothes, you come in there and play. if i'm changing your bed sheet, you stand and watch me and try to help me with the animals.

you are a wonderful helper. you follow directions exceptionally well. last night you had rolled out all the aluminum foil in my baggy drawer. i asked for dad to come help me with you as i was cooking, and when he walked in, he said, "okay, pratt...put the foil down." and as slowly as you could you bent down to the ground and put it on the floor. and then you just smiled at him. i think it caught him totally off guard. because of your sweet reaction, he made you a foil hat. i guess you two plan on talking to the aliens sometime soon.

you love the dogs. ace and scout. and yoda too. but you'd rather pull her hair than pet her. when the dogs are in their crate, you walk over to it, bend down and in your softest, sweetest voice say, "hi dogs." it's one of the cutest things i've ever seen.

you love to walk up the stairs. you take one step for each stair. and you try to count with me. there are 15 stairs. we count them out loud every single time we go up. when we come down the stairs, you stand and wait on me. you wait right by the top. and i'll sit down and you'll lean into me, wrap your arms around my neck and then i pick you up. the entire time we are walking down the stairs, you giggle and hug me. sometimes i make up reasons to go upstairs. i do. i really do.

i love you more than i ever thought possible. so many things make sense to me now. things my parents always said would make sense....they were right.

i'm so glad you're mine.

mommy.

typical.

so while i try to mince garlic, grate orange peel, chop scallions and cook beef in a wok (for the best orange beef you will ever put in your mouth/that isn't from pf changs)...pratt thought it'd be cool to roll out all the aluminum foil he could find.

pratt rolls the foil across the kitchen. mom screams for help from dad. dad comes in to save the day.

upon saving the day, dad decides to let pratt play with "a small piece" of said foil.

and so while i continue to try to cook dinner for these animals...this is what they do.



and you know what?

i wouldn't change a single thing.

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outside.

it seems that i'm outnumbered. pretty much everyone else in this house likes to be outside. in fact, if you polled everyone here, as to "where is your favorite place?"....the most common answer would be "outside".

well, except for me. i'd take "outside" if outside meant beach.

but it seems that for the next ten years of my life, i'm going to have to get over it.

so today, our family had a little fun outside...sans the taboggan.

dear pratt.

dear pratt,

today was probably one of your top five best days. honestly. me, on the other hand, well...i had a lonely day. fridays can get lonely because your dad is away from us. hours away. he, of course, does this so you and i have a roof over our head...and warm food...and we so appreciate it. but still, i miss him. i sort of feel like a piece of myself is missing. more on that when you get older. it's a good thing, though. a really good thing.

this morning we drove to hot springs to get my hair cut. the girl that cuts it, has cut my hair since college. jessica. i found her after i had the rat-tail cut at walmart after my midlife crisis (yes, i was 20...but trust me. it was a crisis.)

jessica and jay have a sweet little girl named allie. jay watched you and allie while jess cut my hair. when we finished, we found you guys in allie's room. sitting on jays lap, reading a book. it was so precious. you were loving it.



we took a "retail therapy" trip to walmart. it worked. i felt a little better. we bought a cool preschool workbook for you. it was on sale. and i just had to have it. and we got you a bouncy ball...one that bounces like 30 feet up in the air. and playdoh. yay for playdoh!

you took an extra long nap. 3.5 hours. and then when you woke, we made popcorn. and then we ate ritz crackers topped with cheddar and a pickle. you love that. me too.

we took a trip to old navy for socks and pajamas. on our way out, you spotted petco. oh, petco. you immediately started pointing saying, "fish! fish!" and making your little hand gesture for fish. i explained to you that we were going to get in the car and drive over there, but you were not having it. you cried the entire one minute it took to get there. when you finally realized we were pulling up to see the fish, you started smiling again and saying, "fish! fish!".

you got to pet the kittens. and see the birds. you watched the turtles. and the snakes. and the lizards. and then...we saw the fish. i think we must have spent 30 minutes in there. but you really could have stayed for an hour. or more.

i tried so hard to make sure you didn't freak out when we left, but i failed. i had you say "bye bye" to everything. we walked around and said bye to the fish, the birds, the snakes, the turtles. the kittens. everything. even the check out lady. but the minute you spotted the sliding door, you started crying. big crocodile tears. i explained that we would go back tomorrow, but you just kept on pointing back at the building saying, "fish! fish!". so sad.

you cried until we got to our exit to go home. probably four miles. hard crying. this is totally your dad's fault. he's the one who started taking you to see the fish. we will have to get you a small fish bowl soon. maybe this weekend. i think you would love it.

dad got to stop in and say hi for a few minutes before he left again for poker night. your daddy doesn't really get to do anything...and so this is his one thing that he's done in a long, long time. months, i think.

you ate lots of peanuts tonight after your bath. the jar was on the floor, and you'd walk over to it, take the top off, dig one peanut out, eat it, then put the top back on the jar. you are so deliberate with your actions. so precise. it's precious...and so much like your daddy.

you were acting pretty tired around 8. which is your normal bedtime. but you never really were fussy. so i kept asking you if you were ready for bed. you kept saying no. finally, around 9, you said, "bed." and up you went. you layed down, grabbed your pillow and rolled over. and i haven't heard a peep since.

i never want this to end. this age. this stage. all of this. you are my favorite little boy in the whole entire world. daddy and i are so lucky to have you as ours.

love, mommy.

believing God.

i want to share something. i rarely do this, because i rarely feel that God is talking directly to me. but last night, i felt it. well, really...this week i have felt it.

tuesday at moms-n-more, the speaker cary collins was pretty much sent there for me. she said some things that i needed to hear. and she gave a handout. which pretty much sealed the deal. because from the time i was a little girl, i've prayed, "hello God. please talk to me. i have lots of questions i need answered. and i'd be great if you'd leave me a note. maybe a fill in the blank sheet. something of the sort."

He's never done it. but He did it on tuesday. and He did it last night at bible study.

we're doing a beth moore study. believing God. if you've never done a beth moore study, let me encourage you to do one. she is amazing. i've only done one other, but i just love her. and i love to watch her. and listen to her. she's hilarious. and strong. and honest.

where to start?

okay. i've mentioned here several times that i get overwhelmed with the world. with stuff that happens. sickness, death, etc. and i haven't been able to wrap my mind around it. and the best i can do, is just pray. and continue believing that God will take care of those affected. that it will eventually make sense to me. maybe tomorrow...maybe twenty years from now. who knows.

and while i told myself that, something still wasn't clicking. like the pieces still didn't fit. it seemed crammed. or maybe lacking. i dunno.

last night beth was talking about God. and about how big He is. she said (and i'm paraphrasing), "to explain Him, we make Him common and we minimize Him."

whoa, right. common.

there is nothing common about God. and i know that. and there is nothing small about him either. i know that.

or did i? maybe i am guilty of exactly that. trying so hard to understand Him, that i've made him like me. only a better version of me. our preacher once said that we take ourselves...or maybe even the best person we know...and we make them better...and that becomes our God.

and nothing could be further from the truth.

beth said, "as we study Him, He should get bigger and bigger...not smaller and smaller."

today in the lesson, she talks about how we have all had teachers of theology. preachers, parents, sunday school teachers, friends. etc. and how we may have become victim to some of these wonderful people trying to fit God into a box. (our uncommon, gigantic God.)

she says, "no matter how many phd's a professor has or how trustworthy our parents have been about every other subject or how beautifully, intelligently or lovingly the box is decorated, God doesn't fit."

and then...the real kicker.

anything attainable by human understanding is a mere shadow of the reality.

as my friend rachel says, BAM.

this helps me sleep at night. as crazy as that sounds. this God, this gigantic, uncommon, loving God that i can't even begin to understand or wrap my mind around...this is the God who is taking of everything. this is the God that i pray to. this is the God i'm asking to care for the sick. or the cold. or the hungry.

so, today....today, i'm more aware than ever before...that this God can do anything He puts His mind to.

i'll leave you with this....

from the message. romans 1, verse 23

they traded the Glory of God who holds the whole world in His hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.

may we stay away from the cheap versions of happiness. i think it's safe to say that anything bought at smitty's or any other roadside stand is pretty much junky. and probably not going to last a week.

i hope that God has spoken to you through this message. may you have a wonderful, long weekend.

visit with amy, laura and abigail.

so. we live in a small, small world.

when i was in graduate school (which seems like ten years ago), i met laura. we got to talking and i discovered that laura was from the same town i was from. AND she knew my sister!! they were the same age. crazy.

i instantly fell in love with her. she is adorable. funny. smart. witty. kind. all of the things that i strive to be. she has this quiet charm about her. a soft way of treating people. if you know her, you know what i mean. i've never met anyone in her family, but i think they are all that way. i'm pretty sure of it.

we were both pregnant around the same time. and i remember when she told me. she said something about how it must be something in the water!

abigail was born in december of 2008. well, abigail is a doll. and pratt needed to meet her. he had been going on and on about how he needed to see her when she came in for christmas. they live in boston. so we met at another friends house in conway to visit.

amy. oh amy. amy is one of the greatest people i've ever met. she is so pretty...yet, has no idea. she's funny. smart. honest. hilarious. again, all of the things i strive to be. and she opened her home to me, pratt, laura, her sweet husband kyle and abigail. we had a BALL!

here are some pictures.



he loved miss amy.



look how he's smiling at her. totally melts my heart. kyle probably doesn't like it one bit...but i do ;)

pratt and his awesome mr. potato head from amy. he plays with every.single.night in the tub. he loves to open the back of him and let all the water pour out. he giggles and giggles.

he fed her popcorn for a good while. she liked it. the popcorn, not necessarily him feeding her.

i have no idea. maybe he likes her diaper?

i think they were planning an escape route with laura's keys.

thanks for the visit you guys. nothing like hanging out with good friends. we love you.

16 months.

whoa. sixteen.

joe montana, people. joe montana. pre-kansas city chiefs. this is going to be a fantastic month.

let's see.

his torso is much longer than his legs. sorry kiddo, you get that from your momma. his hair is a honey blonde. sometimes it looks red. other times it's brown. but mostly, it's honey blonde. when he gets out of the bathtub, after having it washed, it's in curls. ringlets almost. he needs a "big boy" haircut, but i can't bring myself to do it. i keep cutting it myself.

his feet are super flat. you get that from your daddy. super flat and skinny. his hands are so tiny and he still holds my hand when i give him a bottle. well, my finger, really. not my entire hand. and yes, he still takes a bottle. even though we were supposed to stop that last month. kiss it. because i'm keeping this baby a baby however i need to. and if that means he will have bottle mouth...so be it. because we can fix that in a jiffy. for free.

he loves to give "bear hugs" and in the morning after his bottle i become as still and quiet as a mouse. at that moment, all i want is for him to sit with me. just sit with me. not to get down and start playing with toys. i just want him to lay against me. holding my finger. with his hair right below my chin. sometimes i have to remind myself to breathe. that's how still i get. sometimes it works, sometimes he gets down anyway. but i savor those times he wants to be a baby...and stay in my lap.

he has a shelf in the pantry dedicated to him. all his food items are there. raisins, cereal, peanut butter, graham crackers, mum mums, etc. he goes in there, and can get whatever he wants off the shelf. i think he likes it. feeling independent. who wouldn't?

he still loves rice. fried or white. he's into grapes right now. and apple slices. he's also totally into dipping. ranch, peanut butter, cheese, salsa, etc. i've started smearing graham crackers with pb. he licks all the peanut butter off and then hands me back the cracker. it's pretty funny. he likes brocolli and edamame. won't eat green beans to save his life. he will eat onion slices whole. yes, people. he will eat bananas, but only in kroger. he points to them and says, "nanana!!!" and so you walk over to them and get one. he will eat the entire thing. then another one. but if you buy an entire hand of them, he won't eat them. something about kroger. who knows.

he loves to people watch. especially in the grocery store. he says "bye bye" to pretty much everyone whenever we leave somewhere.

a few of his words/phrases: "hi yeah yeah" (hi yoda); kitty, dog, dad, nan (nana), cook (cookie), shoog (sugar), ski (skeet), more, done, again, bye bye. clint is trying to teach him "whaz up", and it sounds like "zzzz". it's pretty embarrassing. i'm just hoping he doesn't catch on.

he can point to his head, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, fingers, hands, toes, feet.

his book of choice lately has been "goodnight moon". when you finish reading it, he says, "again." he could read it all night long. but that's fine. at this point, anything is better than those picture books. they were getting o.l.d.

he loves his foam alphabet letters. for the bathtub. he and daddy have a big time with those at night. and he is starting to like brushing his teeth. clint is getting him an electronic toothbrush for babies, so maybe then it will be a tad bit easier to brush them. he has 12 teeth at this point. crazy.

he loves flashcards. he has two sets. one with animals and one with common things on them. he will bring the sets to you, sit in front of you and wait on you to show them to him. it's so funny. i'll have to post the video from the other night. we flip three or four cards over and ask him to point to certain items. he does really well. he knows several of the cards. um, ball, shoe, sock, house, kite, key, dog, cat, fish, wagon, cup.

this morning pretty much sums up my life. i only fight certain battles. others, i let slide. well, i've started dressing him while he stands up. it's just easier (on him...not me). he hates being layed down. so i took his nightgown off. and put his shirts on. then i took his diaper off. i wiped his little bottom off and turned around for a diaper. when i turned back around, he was standing there, hands on his hips. with his little gut all stuck out. peeing.

YES!! peeing!!! on his floor. on the rug in his room. i sort of gasped, which made him laugh. well, when he laughed the pee shot up a little. of course, you know...it moved. well, this was extra funny to him. he would stop peeing, and i would say, "are you done?" and he'd go, "no." and keep peeing. finally, it had been almost 30 seconds, and i said, "okay, now are you done?" and he shivered all over, and goes, "done. haha."

hilarious. some of you (without kids) may be wondering why i didn't stop him? well, because you can't. and i didn't want to attempt to carry him, while peeing everywhere, from his room into the bathroom. and i was already dressed. and i was not getting peed on. so, i let him cop a spot on his rug. big deal. hahahaha.

pratt, you are a joy to be around. pee and all. happy sixteen months little man.

i love you more than i love m&ms,

mommy.

movin' on up.

pratt moved from the "baby room" at kdo to the "toddler room".

a little piece of my heart broke when laura called to ask if that would be okay. she said she took him in and said, "pratt, would you like to play with these kiddos!?"

and he just took off into the room. where everyone walks and talks and plays.

even though i had to wipe away a few tears, i must remember that we are blessed beyond measure to have a little boy who continues to grow and thrive and change.

time can now officially stop. we're good here.

dear pratt.

dear pratt,

i wonder what you will be like when you grow up. when you're 15. or even 10. or maybe even 5. i am, in no way, wishing these first few years away. no, not at all. it's just the opposite, really.

you were walking around the other night, walking away from me and your dad. and as you walked away, dad said, "how crazy is it to think that one day he'll be 18. and wearing similar clothes."

you had on jeans. and a little polo. and a waffle shirt over the polo. your collar was popped...but not intentionally. all i could think of was you being 18. in college. with some silly girlfriend.

i can't help but wonder what you will sound like. what we will talk about. when you come home late from being out. and i'm waiting on you in the kitchen. probably cooking to keep my mind from wandering and worrying about you out late driving.

will we talk about politics? or religion? or npr? will we talk about girls? or your friends. or maybe school.

or maybe...just maybe...we'll talk about your band. about how you need a new bass player. because anderson is the drummer...and well, you play the acoustic guitar (and the harmonica on special ryan adams-like songs) and sing. and well, y'all are looking for someone else.

maybe you'll cook with me. or maybe you'll hunt. oh man...i'm not sure i can eat anything you kill, but i promise to help you cook it. maybe we will watch tv together. or talk about books. or national geographic. or maybe about God. about what He means to you.

oh, the possibilities.

i look forward to it. as i know your daddy does too.

until then, i'll take where we are now.

you're at such a fun age. you love to learn. you absorb everything we say. everything we do. you try to open and close the refrigerator door, car door, closet door, etc before i can even reach to do it. you pay attention to so much.

i don't know what i did before you came along. but i promise you this...it wasn't near as great as what i do now.

i love you little man.

mommy.

dear nana.

dear nana,

i love my alligator backpack. i sort of feel like diego (cue the music: deep inside the jungle where natures running wild, coming to the rescue is a very special child!) with it on. like maybe i could go hunt tigers and lions and zebras. zebras are my favorite. well, no monkeys are my favorite. no, no...dogs. yes, dogs are my favorite.

anyway, thank you again for the backpack. i think it's great.

love, pratt.

pictures.

two great pictures taken by a friend of mine. savannah. she just happened to be at amy's when we stopped by for a visit. and she captured these two shots. what a talented photographer.





thank you savannah! i LOVE them!