I almost forgot this one...

I love pictures.

If you have ever been to our house, then you already know... John Dickson is EVERYWHERE. His pictures seem to take up every inch of counter/desk/shelf/wall space. My name is Amanda, and I am addicted to pictures. But that probably has something to do with the subject! I just cant resist that huge grin...

And then of course there was Picture People today...

6 days and counting until Lauren and Jared tie the knot, and John Dickson is the cutest honorary ring bearer ever. And hey, this frame, mat and pictures... they were free. I. Am. Awesome. PS If you are looking to get pictures done anytime soon of your kid/self/pet, let me know. I have some cards for a free sheet. And those cards have the picture of John Dickson at the baby grand. What could be better?

RIP Ralph

You will be missed.





















Hmmm what? No, not us.
















Seriously, it wasn't this one.

Update

Where to begin...

Ah yes. Last night's bath. John Dickson was getting his extra thorough bath last night after his dinner of barbeque sauce fingers. He was so gross after we left dinner with his godmother Katy at Copper River, he stripped down in the parking lot and rode home wearing nothing but a diaper and my clemson hat. His head swims in it, but its pretty stinking cute. (As an aside, he now has a flashy Clemson shirt to sport with his oversized hat... thanks Aunt Katy :-) ) So, I strip him down, only to find that he has a big bite mark in the middle of his back. Defenseless... he was completely defenseless... toddlers are vicious little people!! Aaanyway... John Dickson is getting his scrub down when he discovers the shower curtain liner. It's sort of see through, but not really... so he mushes his face in it and I meet him on the other side. He thinks this is HILARIOUS. And tries to grab my hand through the curtain and push the curtain aside to hear me say "peek a boo". He laughs so hard that he falls on his belly in the water, but doesn't care. Then he stands up, smiles at me, and Ive got my hand on his belly, which is kind of where it stays in his hyper baths. His little stomach muscles tighten, and before I can snatch him out... "plop". Yep, he pooed in the bath. I snatch him out just in time to hear a second "plop"... this time on the floor. I cleaned it up, and thought longingly of my teenage years when I would leave some nasty surprises I found at Frankie's Fun Park for Adam when his shift started in 30 minutes. I've grown up, haven't I? Love you Ad.

Here's John Dickson on his daddy/JD adventure to the children's museum. tbn ftgvtfvgbv b b b.n. That was a short typing interlude by John Dickson himself... I don't think John Dickson was too crazy about it, as it was incredibly crowded (so I hear). But he would love to go back sometime soon and check out Grandma Betty's Farm, I'm sure!

There was much more to this post, but someone deleted it... Until next time...

Note the pajama/shoes combo. Every night.

Aha!

I was dropping off John Dickson at school yesterday when I discovered just why he had his suspicious "back to school bash." You may recall that John Dickson is not changing classes and was never not in school. So I walk up to the door and there it is... the sign...

"Fall registration fee of $60 has been charged to your account and is due September 16." And then in invisible ink... "There was a party, remember?"

So that got me thinking... I'm going to start charging people for nothing. Apparently there are suckers out there who will pay it... and apparently I am one of them. Bye bye $60... You would have made some really pretty red shoes.

Dudes Only

Adam and John Dickson had a "dudes only" weekend when I went to Lauren's bachelorette weekend, and also had a "dudes only" week when I had to go to Atlanta for work. Check out John Dickson digging into his Chick Fil A on his Daddy date. Sidebar: We went to a shower last night for Lauren, and dropped John Dickson off at Katy's. We stopped by Chick Fil A to get that little man a kids meal, and I think I'm being a good mommy by going inside to special order a fruit cup that only has the fruits John Dickson can eat. (He cant chew apples). I come out, get back in car, and we are back on the road when Adam wants to know if I got John Dickson some sauce. I was so concerned about the fruit, I forgot the sauce. I had done the unthinkable and Adam was distraught. I got a big lecture on how to do Chick Fil A "right" and it included the fact that I also forgot to special order a "3 and under" toy and John Dickson wound up with something we couldn't even get him. Last night, I failed miserably as a mommy. Check out his shorts in the last picture.

The Fancies

John Dickson is a fancy little man. He loves to have his hair brushed, loves to wear dressy clothes, and most of all, he loves shoes. After my week away in Atlanta, I picked John Dickson up from daycare, knowing that would get me a really big heartwarming melt your heart make you cry welcome home. So I open the door with a big goofy grin on my face and then John Dickson sees me. He starts running. Running away. Well it was definitely a make you cry welcome home! He was mad mad mad (said Days of our Lives Susan style) and was not overly thrilled to see me. But, he forgave me immediately and loved all over me when I gave him what we lovingly call his "fancies."



These are his tuxedo shoes and John Dickson is ALL ABOUT THEM. They were more than I tend to spend on shoes for myself, and so I justified the purchase by the promise to myself that they would go up on Ebay Sept 6. John Dickson made me put them on, then wanted to go outside, so I took them back off and tried to put on his sandals. He started to scream, got his tux shoes, and brought them back to me. So I figure, whats the harm in letting him walk around outside if I keep him out of the dirt? We get outside, he trips over his own feet, scuffs up the top of his right shoe and skins his right knee. So much for ebay! John Dickson cried no more than 15 or 20 seconds over his knee and was over it. He's so tough! Needless to say, we have had to hide his fancies until the wedding.

"He's Our Little Stripper"

These were the words spoken by John Dickson's teacher yesterday, when Adam went to pick up a pantsless John Dickson. Apparently after the 10th time he stripped down, they finally just let him go with no pants. We have a repeat offender on our hands.

It's Wednesday...

It is officially hump day and the hardest day of the week for me when I am gone :-( I'm going crazy missing my boys, but am not yet close enough to Friday to feel like it wont be much longer. Monday night I had dinner with Betsy and Shilpa, and last night Betsy joined me at Janie and Jack (this is how you know someone is a good friend... visits to Janie and jack with me can be long and grueling... and I didn't even buy anything) and then we picked up Moes and went back to the Moore's to eat, talk, and watch tv. It was as close to being at home as I could have possibly felt without actually being at home. I mean, Moe's, my old next door neighbor, and a dog who IS Bear in a poodle's body? I know Betsy is going to think I'm crazy, but I have to talk about Samson for a minute...

Next to my own, this dog has got to be the coolest dog EVER. He does this thing where he jumps on the couch and sits down at like Edward Cullen speed (yep, I'm a Twilight nerd... yes, I read...). Then he sits up with this perfect posture and just looks at you with the sweetest eyes. And then he nibbles tortilla chips... just like my Bear. I don't think I have missed Bear this much since John Dickson came along... Bear and Samson are 2 of a kind. Except Samson can talk, apparently.

As I had predicted, John Dickson and Adam have already made their trip to Chick Fil A, and I think tomorrow night they are venturing off to the children's museum, as they are doing $2 admission tomorrow night. Im so jealous! Adam said he has been taking lots of pictures, so hopefully those will be up soon.

What Adam did NOT take a picture of, however, was his discovery yesterday morning... he went in to get John Dickson and there he was... in all his glory... stark naked. That little man no longer sleeps in the diaper buff! Apparently he cannot be trusted without pajamas on :-)

Happy Tuesday

A baby miniature horse... Our recent google image discovery :-)



Now help me in my campaign to get some new JD pictures up here to drool over while I'm in Atlanta!!

As I write this post, John Dickson is (hopefully) napping to gear up for his big back to school bash. Where has he been you ask? Well, at school. Did real school start back you ask? Well, no.. Why then is John Dickson having a back to school party? I guess the answer is... why not? What I wouldn't give for Foothills to take pictures and post them online, password protected of course ;-) John Dickson signed up to bring cheese cubes, which I went out at 9:00 last night to buy, and then Adam left at home and rebought again this morning. That's dedication.

Adam's interview at the zoo was Monday and went really well! We're keeping our fingers crossed!

Next week will be my 2nd full week away from John Dickson, as I go to training in Atlanta. Thankfully this time I wont be the only one from work going and I'll get to see my Betsy and Shilpa! And hunt down some fisherman's sandals for John Dickson that sold out in his size online. And I'm sure John Dickson will be frequenting Chick Fil A while I'm gone... its like Adam and John Dickson's "thing". John Dickson gets his own Polynesian sauce and dips his chicken like a big boy! We give him BBQ sauce at home to entice him to eat meat (the kid is like 99% vegetarian!), but he usually just winds up having BBQ fingers (If you are a Friends addict like myself, this is the equivalent of Joey's "peanut butter fingers" where you just dunk your fingers in the jar). Then the meat goes on the floor. Awesome. The kid will down naked carrots, brussels sprouts, okra, peas, cauliflower, corn, zucchini and green beans, but you try to sneak in some pork, fish, chicken, ground beef... floor. The appetite is Adam's, but the food choices are not so much.

Stay tuned for pictures of John Dickson decked out in his bullfrog attire! I'm just on the wrong computer right now...

Our child is fluent in Mandarin.

The latest

I am completely void (devoid? - I majored in accounting for a reason) of wit or creativity tonight, so I'll just give it to you straight - here's the latest -

Adam and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary yesterday! (Actually, we saw each other for about 15 minutes total, since I worked until about 10pm). So I guess I should say that Adam and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary (which was yesterday) two days ago! We went to Outback and had a good time reminiscing on the time we got into a fight over the bloomin onion sauce and I wound up crying in the bathroom. Everyone has that fight, right? Ah good times. But in all seriousness, best 3 years of my life! My mom use to tell me all of the things she thought I should expect from a guy (such as opening doors, carrying things, etc - all of those gentlemanly things) and I couldn't believe I had a mom who was soooo old fashioned. Turns out those are the things I've really grown to appreciate... I've got a pretty good catch. He's a great husband, and then when I see him with John Dickson, it just melts my heart. Until he gives him junk food when Im not looking...

Speaking of Adam... he has an interview at the Greenville Zoo on Monday!! We are both super excited about it. Say a little prayer for us :-) A new job - ANY new job - will literally change our lives. And as soon as he gets to put in his 2 weeks notice, the Kelley's are off to Universal Studios!!! We've had some 7 day passes burning holes in our pockets, since Adam currently gets no vacation, holidays or weekends. Or weekdays for that matter.

But back to John Dickson...Adam pointed to Ellie last night and said "That's Ellie". John Dickson also pointed at Ellie and said "Eddie."

When I picked up John Dickson from school today, when his teacher handed me his daily report, John Dickson told her thank you ("tan tu" - which I think is how his dad use to say it) and started waving bye bye all on his own. Then in the car on the way home, I handed him his blankie, and he said "tan tu" and then he dropped his book, which I handed to him, and he said "tan tu". Not only is our little dude talking, but he's got manners!

John Dickson's vocabulary has really grown... the words he is really using appropriately are: Thank you, uh oh, shoes, all done, and treats (which he gives to the dogs everyday). The words he has imitated us saying, but doesn't say consistently are: cheese, hello, and Ellie. And the words he has imitated, but I think only we would understand are... and these are big ones... dinosaur, and necklace.

Here's my theory on this next part... I think John Dickson accidently peed while he was naked about a week ago, and decided he really liked it. Because after about a year of none of those kinds of accidents, we have had 4 this week. Tonight his little naked tushy came in the living room, sat on the hardwood floor, and let it all go. Then he just continued to sit there in his puddle... fortunately the bath was already waiting on him.

John Dickson has taken a very sudden love for his books! But he's going through that independent stage where he only wants to read to himself (and feed himself for that matter... and with a fork or spoon). Seemingly overnight, he has changed from looking at his books and kind of talking about them to himself, to imitating us reading him books. He does this at night for about 15 minutes before we have to pry Goodnight Moon from his hands and then our little boy who use to go down easily and let you tuck him in and kiss him goodnight, turns into a rage baby for about a half an hour. Soooo, his dad, who always sticks to his guns (AHEM), let John Dickson take his book to bed with him. That little dude read his book for an hour, no kidding. When Adam went back in there to take it from him, John Dickson was just sitting in his crib with the book open in his lap.

And I was shocked to realize how quickly Halloween is sneaking up on us, and I don't even have an idea of what John Dickson will be! I know all you normal people out there are doing the math and realizing Halloween is still 3 months away. Unless you do Adam Kelley math and think Halloween is 5 months away... but I'm usually on top of these things! Heck, I've already got John Dickson's 3rd birthday present planned! And I've already bought my niece a Christmas present. (Im excited, can you tell?) Holidays are kind of my thing. So if you've got any ideas... I'd love to hear them... it's hard to follow such a cute giraffe!!!

Who am I kidding?

I'm not big on "waiting"... is this not the cutest?

Weekend festivities Pt II

After dinner we headed to Reedy River Park to feed some hungry ducks...




















And then John Dickson tried on his tuxedo in preparation for Lauren and Jared's wedding. He absolutely loved it! He started running in circles, flapping his arms and laughing. And then he would pause long enough to pose for the camera before taking off again. I would post those pictures, but I think I might just have to leave them as a surprise until the big day.

Instead, I give you a cute story. After John Dickson got out of the bath tonight, I was about to put a diaper on him when, surprise surprise, he left to go get a pair of shoes. Then he saw me opening up the diaper on the floor, and he came back, straddled the diaper and then sat down in the middle of it, and said "thank you." I don't think he was thanking me for changing his diaper, but I think he just expected me to say it and he beat me to the punch. He also thanked his teacher when he left school today. So sweet :-) And starting this week, John Dickson will be transitioning to the Young Todds room. There are 5 different levels of classrooms from age 1-2: Beginners, Young Todds, Older Todds, Twos, and Twos-Threes. The difference? No clue, but John Dickson will be starting flashcards. Get ready!

Adam's parents came to visit last weekend and absolutely wore John Dickson out! He slept until 9:45 Sunday morning! We sure do hope he keeps up the sleeping in... Friday night John Dickson got some new Crocs, which he ran around in laughing and stomping. The next morning he tried to get them off of the changing table and politely demanded to have them on. And then he pulled out every pair of shoes he owned and played the "change your shoes" game. After the game, some lunch and a quick nap, John Dickson geared up for Monkey Joes.















Only this time, he dared the big slides! Now, I was surprised to see Granna so calm on the slide...














Ahh yes, that's more like it...
















But I was more surprised to see Adam with this face:

















After a hard afternoon of play, John Dickson enjoyed a nice cup of milk on his Papa's head. Ever seen the Eddy's commercial with the little girl having an ice cream cone that is dripping on her dad's head? Oh yeah, that's exactly what this was.