Fun Times in Nashville

Nana took me to the zoo, and it was a perfect day for it - overcast, cool, and not rainy. I saw some big boys looking at a map and of course had to read my map the rest of our way through the zoo.

Thursday afternoon was very exciting! Nana and I went to the Franklin library to see one of my all-time favorite musicians - Roger Day! It was a great concert; I watched in awe. I've been listening to Roger Day since I was a little boy and knew several of the songs he played. I always enjoy live music, and it was fascinating to hear all of his songs come to life!

Gigi met us at the mall on Friday. We rode the carousel and ate Mexican food (one of my favorite meals) for lunch. Then, Gigi and I headed home to Sparta to prepare for my baby brother's arrival on Monday.

8 DAYS AND COUNTING!

My baby brother will be here in 8 days!!!! Wednesday, July 29th is the big day, and we are so excited! No, he still doesn't have a name. Mommy and Daddy are considering offering a grand prize for the winning suggestion. :) Feel free to comment with your vote. We have had a great time with all the preparations and are probably as ready as we'll ever be. I talk about "my baby brother" a lot but am still not real sure what to expect. I frequently offer to share things with him and excitedly put random things in his crib at totally random times. I discovered a couple blankeys that mommy had set aside for him and decided I needed them for myself. One was actually my old reject from over a year ago that I would have nothing to do with replacing a missing one. I offered to trade "my old green blankey because it has holes in it now." Well, that trade lasted most of the afternoon - at least until bedtime. :) One of the parts I'm still most excited about is having someone to ride in the backseat of the car with me. It will be an exciting next few weeks! That's for sure!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a wonderful time on Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Charles' boat! We had lots of snacks, swam, ate dinner at the Marina, and watched fireworks. I was mesmerized this year by the fireworks - partly because I understood more this year and partly because I was exhausted. I conked out on the boat ride home in Nana's lap. It was a great day!

Swimming, Carnival, & Conductor Jack

I had a fun weekend. Nana took me swimming twice to practice what I've been learning in swimming lessons. Also, I went to a carnival at Grandma Taylor's and had a blast. I "fished" for a goody bag which I was thrilled to find out had candy AND toys. I had my face painted for the first time. Initially, I was very uncertain about it. After Nana had her face painted, I decided it was going to be alright. After watching very seriously in the mirror, I was pleased with my blue bird. There was a moon walk and a dunking booth - neither of which I participated in but enjoyed watching. One of my favorite parts of the carnival was listening to the live jazz band while we ate lunch. Avery and I were both so excited to see Conductor Jack at the museum. We had not seen him in several weeks. As soon as Mommy told me we were going, I excitedly ran to my room to get my "Conductor Jack hat," which Avery gave me as a party favor. Conductor Jack was happy to see me in a hat that matched his. This is his magic coloring book. He let us use our imaginations to fill in the pictures and then color them.

Swimming Lessons

I'm taking lessons every day this week from a teacher in Sparta. She does a great job. However, I'm not having a lot of fun. I'm very good at kicking and making "shovels," but I hate going underwater and cry every time I know it's coming. My friend Avery is in the class with me, and that has made it much more enjoyable. As you can tell from the looks on my face, I take this all very seriously and cautiously.

Pictures by Carla

My good friend, Carla Swinney, took great pictures of me last week. You can see some of them on her blog which is listed under my favorite websites. She is an excellent photographer, and I highly recommend her! I have been very blessed to have her document my young life. Thanks "Kahwah!"

Happy Father's Day

I was lucky enough to celebrate father's day this year with both of my grandfathers and my daddy! Joe came to visit for a few days, and we had a great time. I played around the house with Daddy on Sunday morning, and we had a family dinner with Pop on Sunday night.

Baby Picking

It was early Sunday morning. I had just woken up and was laying on the couch with mommy. I was watching my cartoons and drinking my milk while Mommy was looking at a Pottery Barn Kids catalog. After a few minutes, I became interested in the catalog and started looking at the pictures with her. There were 3 babies on a page wrapped in bath towels.

• D: "Look at those cute babies."

• M: "Yeah. You know your baby brother is going to be small like them."

• D: "I think I want one of these babies for my little brother."

• (Daddy enters the room.)

• D: "Hey Daddy. Come look. Mommy and I are picking out my baby brother. Which one do you think we will want?"

Working Weekend

I have thoroughly enjoyed spending the weekend at home for the first time in 6 weeks! April and May were extremely fun but very busy months. I was in Birmingham for Brady's baptism. Then Mommy and Daddy spent the weekend with friends at the lake, and I played with Gigi. We spent the next two weekends in Nashville, and I had lots of quality time with Nana and Pop. Mommy and Daddy enjoyed Steeplechase, the Elton John/Billy Joel concert, and other fun times with friends around Nashville. Then, we had our family vacation at the beach! It was awesome, and I'll be posting pictures from that soon. We stopped on the way home in Birmingham for a baby shower party with old friends and then in Nashville to pick up Lizzy from "Camp Ward." (She also thoroughly enjoyed her vacation! Thanks guys!) The traveling is slowly coming to a hault (after fun times in Decatur next weekend) in order to prepare for my baby brother's arrival in 8 weeks or less!!! Needless to say, there is a lot to be done around the house. We got off to a good start this weekend by pulling out baby items from the attic. As you can see in the above picture, I was a great helper this weekend and quite a sight to behold in my working attire! I was wearing my swimsuit while playing in the sprinkler, my "Go Diego Go" workshirt, and my yellow rain boots while playing in the hose and watering new plants. My big boy room is slowly being completed. Daddy plans to paint it next weekend, and our friend Angel is making my curtains. Mommy has ordered a few special items from ebay, and we are looking forward to them arriving soon. *So, that is a brief synopsis of what's been going on and I will continue to update as often as possible. *"So" is my new favorite word. I frequently use it to begin my sentences and questions, and it makes me sound "so" grown-up. I also like the raised eyebrow reactions it gets from adults.