Walking in Memphis

The Hammsters made a weekend getaway trip to Memphis to go to my BFF's 1st baby shower and to visit Mike's family.

Nate "helped" us pack for the trip. A must have, his new backpack. When we get out of the car from daycare his first word to me is, "Backpack?" He can't wait to go in the house and get it. Of all the toys around our house, and to be sure there are quite a few, the only things allowed in the backpack is... his two Ernie's. We have had many a "Journey to Ernie" trips around the house in which I must find Ernie as fast as possible or be subjected to the constant barrage of "Ernie, Ernie, Ernie, ERNIE, ERNIE, ERNIE!"

I had so much fun playing with my Nana and Grampa D!!

Here's me and Grampa D, tuckered out after lots of playing. "I seep" *snore snore snore*

Me and my new friend, Trey, playing at the baby shower. We found each other very funny. Well until he stole my ball, and my balloon, and anything else I deemed mine. (Even with all the toys around the BEST toy of all was this free bee from the Nasonex commercials. Remind me again why we bother to BUY toys?)


My best friend, Lauren, and her sweet niece, Princess Gabrielle. :) (Gabrielle just turned 1! Happy Birthday Gabrielle!)



Even though the visit was a short one, we had lots of fun. It was so great to see Nate bonding with his grandparents. We left dreading the long road home, but with our tummies full of yummy food, our hearts full of love, and the promise that they will be coming to visit us soon, for both the "boys" birthdays in September!

(I better start cleaning the house now! :) )

Hammsters in Hotlanta! Part 4

On the final day of our trip in Atlanta we went to the Aquarium with my mommy friends and their children. Nate was REALLY excited about all the fish but not nearly excited about the 50 gazillion people all crammed in each tunnel. Whenever the spaces opened up though, Nate would want to get down and go point to all the fish. He was also SUPER excited about a shark. I was extremely impressed each time a shark went by (maybe it was just the same sad shark circling around?) he'd yell out, "Shark, shark!"

A rare family photo. Sadly we're by the ugliest fish in the whole place (a bunch of Grady fish. - only like 3 people would get this reference, but I made it nonetheless).


Nate thought the otters we so funny playing around in the water. Until they got a bit too aggressive in their play and then his screaming alerted us it was time to move along to the next animal. There was quite a bit of fit-throwing, screaming, scared shaking, and crying throughout the Aquarium.


Here's a rare photo of all my mommy friends and their little ones together. Look closely and you will see all the September '06 babies are all wearing the same shirt. Two of the mommies made up shirts with pictures of all our kids on it. Adorable. If you looked closely you'll also notice I'm the one holding the crying child. Did I mention there was crying?


This was a GIANT fish tank and it was in a nice open area. This was Nate's favorite place and we spent like 30 minutes in here. Honestly it was nice and bright in this room and the fish were gorgeous.


Getting ready to leave, Nate hugging his new friend, Gage.


That's it. That's our trip to Atlanta. Well there was a whole 6 and a half hour drive home. But it was not exciting and no photos. We hope to make a return trip to Atlanta sometime in the future.

Toddler Revenge

Yesterday Nate and I were outside playing and he found this stick and started banging it on the ground. Normally we go around and collect sticks, leaves, weeds, flowers, etc together and talk about different things in nature. But this stick was HUGE and it made me nervous him flailing it around. So I asked him to give it to me. He replied "No MINE." I said no baby this stick is too big mommy is afraid you'll hurt yourself. Give it to me. He replies "NO MINEEEEEE". So I take the stick and put it under the chair I was sitting in. He came over to get it and I said, "This stick is no no no." He stopped trying to get it, but boy was he MAD at me! He started crying and giving me that you're the meanest mommy ever look. Then he walks over and takes my flip flop off my foot. I just said ohh you got mommy's shoe? Then he wanted the other one so I gave it to him. Then he walked away with my shoes towards his playhouse. He turned around, points his finger at me and said. "Mommy shoe no no no". Then put them in his house. Ohh gosh I laughed so hard.

Hammsters in Hotlanta! Part 3

Saturday in Atlanta led us to Zoo Atlanta. I was very excited because we were meeting up with a lot of my friends and all their kids that are the same age as Nate.

Here is the great stroller line-up! Strollers are just about the only way you can guarantee to get 6 toddlers all in the same picture at the same time!




Nate SUPER excited about the monkeys! (Mom NOT so excited about them. Apparently the Atlanta Zoo is like 75% monkey exhibits! *possible slight exaggeration*)



Whee! Nate's first twisty slide! When did he get old enough to do this on his own??!



Nate really loved seeing the Tigers... Maybe he's a Memphis fan already?



Nate-koala


"Okay, listen up guys, what I do to REALLY make my Mommy and Daddy mad is... " Sharing tantrum tips...

Beep beep! Hurry up guys, let's drive away while our parents are distracted... (Apparently driving a school bus is still considered a cool thing when you're 1). :)

After the Zoo we had a late lunch and back to the hotel for a nap. We ended up being VERY surprised at how well Nate did sleeping in the hotel. What we ended up doing was setting up his pack and play behind the large desk that was in the room and throwing a sheet over the desk. That way if Nate was laying down he couldn't see us. There wasn't much we could do if he stood up but we ended up not having to worry about it. Whether it be for nap or bedtime we'd do our normal routine, turn off the lights and then I'd sing (poor kid) and rock him for a few minutes and lay him down. Then I'd walk over to the little area between the foyer and the bathroom and Mike and I would sit on the floor and wait for Nate to drift off to sleep. He fell asleep pretty quickly each time and so it was pretty easy. I also had wireless internet and my laptop to pass the time. Poor Mike had to read our "complimentary copy" of US Today. One night after Nate had gone to sleep we even got the laptop out and watched an episode of Gilmore Girls that we'd brought with us. Mike's laptop has two jacks for headphones and so we just listened with those so we wouldn't wake up Nate. All in all the hotel venture went way better than either of us expected. We're ready for another vacation now that we know we can handle it! :)

Believe it or not there are even MORE pictures to come...

Hammsters in Hotlanta! Part 2

We met up with some of my friends that have children born September 2006, like Nate. It was definitely interesting to see how Nate interacted with children his own age. At this point most of the children were pretty caught up in just playing independently (and figuring out the best way to steal toys from others.. "MINE, MINE!"), but when they would have the occasional interaction there were about 6 cameras around to capture the moment. There was all sorts of yummy food at the dinner, but Nate apparently decided he'd only eat cornbread (2 big pieces to be exact and cried when I said no to a third). I can count that as a vegetable, right?

Pictures from Friday night dinner/playgroup:

All of the children agree, Amy's backyard is a hit!

Nate and Shaia playing "together" in the water table.


Lily helping Nate make some forward progress in the Cozy Coupe car. I mention the exact name of the car because Nate (and ALL the kids at the party) deemed this the MUST have gift of '08. Nate would love SOMEONE very much if they got him this for his birthday... ;)


Nate and Lily digging for treasure... ("we got half a map, I wish it were a whole"... arrggghh, stinkin Backyardigans songs invading my daily life!)


Yes, even MORE pictures to follow...

Hammsters in Hotlanta! Part 1

It's official. We're all grown up now. The Hammsters went on their very first- post baby staying in a hotel-vacation! It was a mini vacation, but that was all the time we had AND we were very concerned about staying in a hotel in one room with Nate. Certain things like "if Nate goes to bed at 8:15 normally, what will we do after that?" "Can we watch tv while Nate sleeps in the same room or will he wake up?" "Nate naps for 3 hours in the afternoon, do we just sit in the room and stare at each other?"

Some friends of mine and Mike's step-sister live in Atlanta and some other friends were going to be coming there at the end of July, so we decided to take the plunge and try it!

One of my friends got us a GREAT rate at a GREAT hotel in Atlanta and it was sooooo pretty! Indoor/outdoor pool and all that. Which we did end up "enjoying". I use that term loosely because even though Atlanta was true to it's nickname and was HOTlanta, the water was pumped in from Antartica. Maybe this was one of the fancy perks of a nice hotel? It was freezing! We still played in the water, but Brrr!

On Friday we took Nate to the Children's Museum and he had a BLAST! There was so much for him to do there. I really wish we had something this cool near us.

The water tables were so cute. They had all kind of magnetic fish and toys in the water for the kids to "fish" for. Nate also looked really cute in the raincoat they provided. Look how serious he looks about fishing...

The train tables were a big hit! The sharing trains with other kids, not so much.

Nate painting his masterpiece. How much do you think this might go for?

All the fun of playing in the sand without that pesky sand beneath your toes!

Awww, look at my little frantic shopper! Get out of my way folks, Huggies are on SALE!

I'll post more pictures from our adventures in Atlanta later this week...