Randall's Birthday Bash

As you probably know, on Sept. 15, I (Randall) turned the big 4-0. I know a lot of people struggle with hitting this milestone, but I feel like I have so many things to celebrate, I was really looking forward to it. The evening did not disappoint. Danielle planned a wonderful birthday celebration at a local pizza joint, and 40 of our closest friends made it out for the event. It was a great night from beginning to end, with great friends, good food, and spirits galore. On top of the wonderful party, I was spoiled with many gifts from my friends, mostly of the brown liquor variety (my fave). Even though friends and family from back home were sorely missed, my wonderful wife and the local gang made it a birthday celebration I won't soon forget...or perhaps I will, I am 40, ya know!

This was the room upon arrival, before guests

The cake was awesome and my favorite part was my wife's clever slogan that adorned the cake: "Fore Tee and on to the back nine"

My wife, a fan of the dramatic, insisted on 40 candles, and as you see, it took two to complete the task.

 

 

 

 

 

These are just a few shots from the night ... good folks having a good time. And on a school night, no less.

 

Getting so many goodies made me feel like such a kid again. But no 13-year-old ever had a bar stocked like mine is now!

Again, I want to thank my lovely wife for making this such a memorable birthday. She knew a big party with close friends was right up my alley, but if I had to pick one person to celebrate with for the rest of my life, it would be her. (And no, she didn't make me write this.)

Better with time!

I know I feel like my life just keeps getting better and better, and I feel pretty safe in assuming Randall feels the same way. Today is the last day Randall can say he's thirty-something, and I can only imagine how much better (even still!) his life will be into his 40s.

Here's one of my favorite pictures of Randall and Sydney (was she really ever that little?!). The way he looks at her just melts my heart. He is exactly what I hoped my kids' daddy would be. She loves him to pieces, and I love the look on her face when she sees him every morning. I feel very lucky to be building a family with the greatest guy I know!

New England weekend (Lots of pics!)

This post has a lot of pictures, and it was even hard to pick these favorites from our wonderful long weekend in Rhode Island and Massachusetts for my cousin Justin's wedding to Ashley. We had lots of time with my dad's side of the family, and my grandparents were able to meet Sydney for the first time in-person as opposed to on Skype. We had perfect weather and got to enjoy a lot of activities around the area during non-wedding time. New England is just beautiful this time of year. The wedding was also beautiful and tons of fun! Here are some favorites from the vacation. It was hard leaving!

Sydney and Grandpa (who she called Papa all weekend) at the zoo.

 

 

Beautiful Newport

The prettiest wedding guest, for sure :)

 

 

Sylvia and Laura at the wedding, with a 20-week-pregnant Danielle :)

Special time with Oma and Opa

Cousin Alex, who served as her brother's "Best Man"

The two sweet heart-breakers of the event - Sydney and Isaiah

Colt State Park

 

It's a BOY!

We had a very eventful day yesterday --- finding out the sex of baby #2. We were shocked and excited to learn that Sydney will have a baby brother in January!!!! I have been looking at nursery ideas for both, and now it will be so fun to focus our efforts in the BLUE direction! I was, for some reason, convinced we were having another girl, so I almost didn't believe the ultrasound tech, but the pictures were as clear as can be. It is definitely a boy! Today, it has settled a bit and I am really looking forward to having the ideal "one of each" family. I have three brothers, and Randall is one of two boys, so getting adjusted to boy world is not an issue at all. :-)

We are heading out of town today - to Rhode Island for my cousin Justin's wedding. Sydney will get to meet two of her great-grandparents this weekend, so we are really looking forward to that! Just hoping for a peaceful flight with an active 20-month-old!

Weekend Round-up

This is a hodge-podge post from the last couple of days. Saturday morning, we went back to the drive-through safari we enjoyed so much on Mother's Day. Here is a video of one of the stops along the drive.

Sydney was worn out by the time we did the drive-through part, petting zoo and ate lunch. I thought this was so cute, watching her fall asleep just a few minutes into the drive home.

Sadly, this was also the first day Sydney sported clothing from my alma mater, JMU! The University of Arkansas is such a part of our lives now, I've neglected to get her in touch with my one true collegiate love back in Virginia :-) I'll make sure she knows JMU is a very good college option, too!

 

This Wednesday, we get to find out the gender of baby #2! I am trying not to go crazy, but I'm not exactly the most patient person in the world, and I am so ready to start prepping! Here's a shot of the belly at 18.5 weeks --- almost halfway there!

Last but not least, here are two videos: one of Sydney showing off her dance moves a few nights ago, and one of her doing a puzzle — two of her favorite activities. This one is her newest puzzle - the pictures underneath each piece do not match the piece itself, so she has to match the shapes of the numbers more than in other easier puzzles.

Parks and Utensils

What do parks and utensils have in common? Sydney loves both!

Saturday morning, I got some video of Sydney eating with her spoon. I know kids start using utensils (regularly) at very different ages, so for Sydney, it's been a part of her routine for about a month. She MUST have a spoon on her tray, and even if the items don't call for a spoon, she picks up each piece, puts it on the spoon, and then eats it. Utensil usage is not always a neat experience, but I like that she's into being independent! Here's a video from yesterday morning.

After breakfast, we decided to get in some time at the park while Randall was golfing. We stayed until we were both sweaty and ready for a nap!

 

I also did some great shopping yesterday....first at Kohl's with Sydney (who was so good, she even let me try a few things on her!) and then in the afternoon with my friend at a consignment sale....the one I've mentioned before that happens a couple of times a year. I got lots of great fall/winter items for the little lady, so maybe we'll actually get some fall weather in the not-so-distant future!! A girl can hope...

Fashion Forward?

I love picking out Sydney's outfits every night. From the bow down to the shoes, I just enjoy putting everything on the rocking chair in her room in preparation for the next morning. But when we are at home, all bets are off. I thought this evening was a perfect demonstration of this. Credit goes to Sydney for the holiday shoe choice, and Randall gets credit for the pigtails. I could not stop staring at her, even if she did look ridiculous.

After she's bathed and in her pajamas, she likes to wear multiple bows until she goes to bed. She picks whichever ones she wants for that night, and it is always.....interesting. Here is the outcome of tonight's choices (and you can see the Crocs about to go on to complete the look). She is too much!

Georgia Peach

Last week, we spent a wonderful week in Helen, Georgia with members of both of our families - my mom and step-dad and Randall's mom, brother, two nieces and nephew. We had two condos and stayed busy the whole time! We went tubing down the Chattahoochie three times (twice with Sydney, who loved it - sadly not a camera-friendly activity though!), spent time at a lake and beach area in a state park, hiked up to beautiful Anna Ruby Falls, went to the Cabbage Patch general hospital (sooo much fun!), went to an American Idol concert one night, walked around the adorable Alpine Village downtown, and had some great meals and quality time together. I will post more photos on Facebook, but here are a handful of my favorites from the week. It was very sad to leave, and we can't wait for our next trip - a long weekend in Rhode Island for my cousin's wedding in September!

Hiking with Grandma and Pop up to Anna Ruby Falls!

First time at a "beach" - LOVED IT

Mike, Ryan and Randall golfing

The ladies at the Cabbage Patch Babyland General Hospital

Sweet kisses for a baby waiting to be born. Sydney got her first two Cabbage Patch dolls here - Logan Keira and Hannah Penelope!

Just a cute picture after the babyland visit. I can't even tell you how many new outfits Sydney got from her Meme and Grandma as soon as we arrived in Georgia. I didn't even need to pack. :)

Artist, Swimmer, Librarian

So many new activities have made their way into our lives lately! Sydney now likes to sit and color in her booster seat. It usually keeps her interest 15-20 minutes. She calls every color "blue" so we need to work on that. :-)

 

The last two weeks, we've been taking her to swimming lessons - a parent/tot class. Randall and I both went with her each day, and she got very comfortable going under, blowing bubbles and jumping in. It was four days each week, and she loved it. We get in lots of pool time on the weekends, so she was comfortable already, but this helped her even more. Last night was the final lesson, and she was not too pleased when diving board time was over! Randall didn't get in the water the first night so he could get some pictures.

 

The final new activity was just this morning - our first trip to the public library! I was worried she was too little and wouldn't understand that we had to leave the books there, but it worked out great. There was story time going on in the kids' area, so we sat in for some of that, and then played and played with all the books. We selected five to take home with us, and she didn't care that I had to put most of them back on the shelves when we left. As long as she had one in each hand, she was happy.

 

 

The only library-related meltdown was when we were leaving. We had to walk down a lot of stairs, which is one of Sydney's favorite things. When we got to our floor in the garage, there were more stairs, and she didn't understand why we didn't need to keep going. Oh well --- at least the only screaming took place outside of the library, technically :-)

BABY News & Toddler Stats!

We're not exactly sure if the world is ready for another Strickland, but we are going to find out in January!! Here's the first peek at Sydney's little sister or brother. He/She had a very strong heartbeat of 169 beats per minute at yesterday's ultrasound. I've been feeling great - just like with my first pregnancy - so here's hoping all the good news continues. It's such a happy time for us, and we couldn't be more excited!

In toddler world, Sydney had her 18-month check-up yesterday. She weighed in at 24.5 pounds and was 29.5 inches long ---- 50th percentile on both. We, of course, don't think our little gal is average in many areas, but happy to see that she is in these areas. Haha!

Dropping Sydney off in her new classroom this week continues to suck - pardon my French. She is thriving according to her teachers, but the initial hand-off is just awful. I am sure this will get better, but today was day three of me wanting to cry right along with her (I did cry Tuesday, which I realize was counterproductive). This too shall pass!!!

Firecracker, Firecracker Boom Boom Boom

I hope you all had a very fun 4th of July weekend! We enjoyed lots of family time, including time at the pool, a trip to see fireworks Sunday evening, projects around the house, short walks around the neighborhood -- it was hot!!! -- all in all, a fantastic weekend. Here are a few pictures from the weekend and a cute video that shows Sydney just before the fireworks started. Thank you to my mom for the adorable outfit!Unfortunately, the flag shirt only lasted half of the day before a drink was spilled, so she had to switch to plain white for the evening activities. :)
I love looking at this side-by-side comparison from last 4th of July until now - WOW!

 

 

I was laughing watching this video clip because she had a mini-tantrum in the middle of her dance moves. :-)

And this last picture I had to include... It's of Sydney before school Friday morning. She wore this cute dress I found at a consignment sale this past spring. And this is her doing her "ta-da!!" presentation when I asked her to stand on her toy box for a picture (I know, bad mama). I think her expression is priceless ... if only I could be this excited for work each day. Haha!

One year and a half!!

I can't believe we have an 18-month-old. It's amazing to watch her grow, learn and change. Some days I wake her up and I think I still have a little baby, and other days I think I have such a big girl!

At 18 months, sweet Sydney Drew:

• would live outside. We hear "side, side, side" as she runs to the back door every single day...many times.
• thinks sitting on the potty is funny, but we haven't seen any action there yet.
• moves to a new classroom in a new building next week! This next level does so many fun things; I know she'll love it once the adjustment period is over.
• is shy with strangers or people she hasn't seen in awhile, but normally warms up after a little while.
• is sooooo silly. Her sense of humor gets more and more mature all the time. It's amazing how she finds things funny that I think are above her level.
• is still a wonderful eater and sleeper. We try to always remember how lucky we are for that.
• loves to mix up mama and daddy. We assume this is on purpose, but calling Randall "mama" too many more times may give him a complex.
• is a puzzle pro.
•  learns new words all the time, and the ones we hear most often are "bow," "snack," "bubble," "[out]side,"no," and "book."
• is obsessed with her hair bows. She wears one to school and then a different one at night after her bath. We do put it away before bed, which is an improvement :)
• is quite the expert with her animal noises. Current favorites are the horse, rooster and monkey.
• has favorites at school. If your name isn't Emery or Max, she isn't really interested in playing with you. And if you like puzzles, you get extra points.

We have Sydney's 18-month check-up next week, so we are excited to get her updated height/weight stats. We also start swimming lessons Tuesday evening. Happy 18 Months, sweet girl!!