Elmo + Jace = BFF's

There comes a time in every man's life when his Mommy is no longer his one and only. She is no longer the 'go to' person for his every need. Unfortunately for Jace's Mommy his time has come way too soon. You see, there is this certain red monster Jace finds ever so appealing. He would rather have this furry little guy called Elmo with him over ANYBODY else........including his Mommy! Jace would rather have Elmo comfort him in sad times. Jace would rather have Elmo by his side during his play and his rest. Jace would even rather share his favorite cookie with Elmo.....GASP! Below are some visuals to help you better wrap your mind around the severity of Jace's 'Elmo Obsession'.

Jace must always have Elmo within eyesight when playing outside. You can imagine the state of Elmo's fur at this point.

Of course Elmo gets to tool around on Jace's power wheels.

When Jace relaxes...Elmo relaxes.

Jace has been trying to get Elmo on solids for some time now. Previously, he would put a bite up to Elmo's mouth and when Elmo (silently) denied, Jace would eat it himself.

But.....this has changed. Jace now LEAVES the food 'in' Elmo's mouth. Apparently Elmo was not hungry on this particular day.

And after a rough day of eating and playing, there's nothing like sleeping next to your Best Friend Forever!

Jace and Daddy Day

Jace started his new daycare this week and so far he seems to love it. He gets very excited when we pull in each morning. There are maybe 8 or 9 kids in his class and he seems to get along with them all really well. They get to do fun things like music time, art time, and are even learning their colors and shapes. Once he turns 2 he will even get to go on field trips! What a big boy! He is still going to go part time as Daddy will have him 1 or 2 days a week. This week Jace and Daddy Day was Wednesday. Jace had a blast as he got to go meet two baby deer. A guy that works with Daddy has a sister who lives in the country and has 5-week-old deer. Knowing what an animal buff Jace is, they asked Daddy if he would like to bring Jace to play with the deer. Of course Daddy said yes! Jace even got to feed them a bottle! After meeting the deer, he got to jump on their giant trampoline!!

Loving life......there is nothing Jace loves more than getting to see animals up close and personal

Jumping on the trampoline

Nothing like ending a great day with a great book!

And Mommy felt like this picture HAD to be included because it has been the center of our attention for a few days now.
Jace got his first big owie. He was pushing his stroller and fell down. Instead of letting go, the silly goose let it drag him a couple of feet. It really didn't hurt him that much but it looked pretty ugly. Jace had no problem with it until the bandaid fell off and then he cried whenever he noticed it. Now that it has healed a little he just goes 'ohhhh' and points to it whenever he remembers. His teacher at daycare said he showed her and his friends right away too. Yep, there is no doubt which gender he is!

Role Model

Everybody needs somebody to look up to:

Happy Birthday Daddy-O!

Today was Daddy's birthday and he celebrated by hosting a fantasy football draft for his buddies. Because he was busy doing guy things all day, Mommy and Jace took him to dinner last night. They also made him a yummy cake that Jace enjoyed taste testing. Not to take away from the glory of Daddy's day but Mommy must mention that she ran in a Flood Relief 5k this morning. Can anyone say PR???!!! That means a personal record of 24:32!! Yay! For those keeping tabs that would be 7:54 minute miles! Only the top 3 female finishers were awarded and the 3rd place finisher was 1 minute ahead of Mommy. Of course she was a college cross country runner so basically Mommy got 3rd right? Ok back to Daddy's birthday. So as was mentioned before, Daddy had his buddies over for his b-day so Jace went to one of his buddies 1st birthday parties. He had a great time and even has a few pics to prove it.

A birthday smooch for Daddy

Awww.........how sweet. Daddy and Jace are cute too!

Hmmm. This looks good..........

Ah yes, very tasty.

Daddy and Jace headed to Daddy's birthday dinner.


'Helping' Gaige with his presents. Of course he is never interested in his own but when they are someone else's he is all about it!

Little Bikers

And finally......Mommy just after her record setting race!


Happy Birthday Daddy!

Mommy Eats Her Words.......Fabulous Aunt Kay is truly Fabulous

As indicated above, Mommy has eaten her words.
The pressure was put on. People were waiting....counting on one person. Whispers were heard....'it won't happen'. 'She'll never figure it out'. 'She'll crash and burn under the pressure'.
Well, folks.....Here it is. The zoo group picture emailed correctly and directly from Fabulous Aunt Kay. (cheer, cheer) She deserves a 10 people!


And yes, Mommy has been watching too much Olympics. If you think she is too much in to imitating the commentary you should see her after watching gymnastics!

A Bunch of Monkeys

Yesterday Jace went with Mommy, his cousins, Fabulous Aunts, Grandma, AND Nana to the zoo and to Chuck E. Cheese. He had a great time---it isn't too often that he gets to see both Grandma and Nana at the same time! As they say... a picture says a thousand words..... so we'll get right down to them:

Checking out the band with Nana

Jace stopped by Nana and Papa's house after eating and scored some cool trucks!

Having a little conversation with Abby. Jace's end went something like this "bubuhoo joiiilkslk slkdie?"

What a stud! Walking with one of the big boys--Jarrett. It is hard to tell in this picture and there isn't one of all 3 boys-Jace, Jarrett, and Tate- but apparently the same cow licked each one of them. They all have the same hair going on--it really does add character!

Playing with BOTH Grandma F. and Nana C. at Chuck E. Cheese

Giving Chuck some lovin'

Playing with Grandma--Jace's favorite thing at Chuck E. Cheese was the slide that didn't even cost any tokens! Who knew you could have fun without spending any money!

This was referred to as the 'Jace Buffet'. Most of the kids were starving halfway through the zoo so food was piled on Jace's tray and it was a free for all. The adults, of course, were even more famished than the kids!

Mommy and Jace riding the train. Jace really is thrilled--this is his 'in awe' face!


There is a group shot that Fabulous Aunt Kay has on her camera. She will be showing us all just how Fabulous she really is as she learns how to email it to everyone. Now the pressure it on.....all of our loyal readers are WAITING to see this wonderful picture! :)

KC-Round 2

Jace's second trip to Kansas City for the summer proved to be much more successful than his initial one. This time he and Mommy drove halfway and met up with Grandma F. and Fabulous Aunt Kay. Jace was able to reside with Aunt Erin during his stay and did a great job of sleeping at night. Napping, of course, was a little different story but he still managed to be pleasant to be around throughout the trip. Jace gets even more props, as this trip was mostly geared towards 'girly' things (i.e., shopping, eating, drinking wine, etc.). He did get to hang with his friend Preston, swim at Aunt Erin's, play with Kona, and eat at some super cool places (one of which being Joe's Crab Shack where Grandma F. acquired a 20-year old admirer--yes our waiter was crushing on her!). After Jace retired to bed at night the girls and Tom Thomas were able to make and consume dozens of cookies, drink some wine, and play some friendly games of Yahtzee (Mommy rules--well she would have if Grandma wasn't allowed to count five ONES as a Yahtzee!) and Scrabble. Mommy wasn't quite up to par with the pictures this weekend so she is adding a couple randoms for your viewing pleasure.

The crew at the Plaza (minus photographer Mommy of course) Jace appears to be in escape mode but to the best of Mommy's recollection this an optical illusion.

Splashing Mommy and himself in the pool

Preston giving Jace a bite of his (Jace's) apple. Preston was very concerned with making sure Jace got his daily allowance of fruit. Every once in a while he would grab Jace's apple from his stroller and take it over so Jace could get a bite in.

Taking a break from shopping

Checking out Aunt Erin's digs

Playing Playstation downstairs---just like Daddy does

Jace is a little bit of a neat freak (hmmm he doesn't get this from Mommy). He doesn't mind getting dirty but he definitely wants cleaned afterwards. He also likes things in their place and doesn't mind picking up. So today he wanted to have some cereal in a bowl on the coffee table-- which is pretty normal--except on this day he brought Mommy his bib so he wouldn't get messy while he was standing and eating. A little odd.

Jace now has 2 identical Elmos. His first one is becoming so disgusting Mommy broke down and got him another. Today he even insisted on bringing Elmo # 1 outside to play where he subsequently pushed him around on his power wheels, drug him around the garage floor, wiped his mouth with sidewalk chalk, and took him for a walk in the stroller. Next, he went inside and shared his snack with him (he was actually shoving animal crackers against poor helpless Elmo's mouth). Although this is quite cute, Jace is starting a new daycare soon and Mommy decided a clean Elmo may make a better first impression!


Summer is winding down so Jace and Mommy are picking up the pace--it is probably fairly obvious that we don't like to stay still for long! The D'Port Zoo is up on Wednesday.........pics to follow!

Happy Birthday BuBu!

Ozzy turned 4 years old today and although he was feeling a little under the weather, he still managed to celebrate. He started his day with a nice long walk with Mommy and Jace. Next, he received several presents including some super yummy doggy treats Mommy and Jace picked up for him at the Farmer's Market last weekend. Ozzy then took a relaxing nap while Mommy and Jace went to the pool. Later in the afternoon, Daddy returned from work only to find Ozzy had been coughing for several hours. This resulted in a trip to the vet and several bottles of pills. To end Ozzy's day, Mommy made him a recipe from Rachael Ray's Doggie Dishes--Orzo with carrots, peas, and cheese....yumm. According to the recipe it is great for dogs and kids alike. Jace of course, turned his nose up at the sight of it. Oh well, more for Oz! Ozzy's final treat--a trip to the Dairy Queen--was put on hold until his cough gets a little better.

Our handsome 4-year-old! :)

What a good boy--letting Jace drive cars on his back!

Jace giving Ozzy one of his treats

Another example of what a good dog Oz is--sharing his pool with Jace!

Getting some Jace lovin' on his birthday

Jace even saved some lovin' for his mama


Ok the next 2 pictures are of Jace---sorry Oz for stealing your thunder for a moment.......

This is our studly little man playing with his manly cars on the front porch.................in Mommy's headband. Before we get any comments---HE CHOOSES to wear them!

Finally Mommy has gotten Jacer to drink juice. She tried EVERYTHING with no success.....until we found the 'baby' juice. They have the Gerber Baby on the bottle so for some reason Jace thinks these are acceptable. He requests them with a simple 'baby'. It also doesn't hurt that they look like 'big boy' bottles with no lid.

And back to the star of the day............Happy Birthday Oz!


Jace and Mommy will make attempt number 2 at having fun in KC on Thursday. Wish us luck and look for results in a few days!