Happy Halloween!!!!

Happy Halloween everyone! Hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday! We have been celebrating for the last three days with Jax! While I had fun, and I know Jax did too, I am glad it's finally over! This year we found Jax a really cute $3 Cookie Monster costume at a consignment sale, so we decided he would go as that. We were going to have him be Oscar the Grouch or the Count, but that might work for next year! At first he hated the costume because he doesn't like to wear hats, and he would rather play with it, but then after he figured out he got candy with it on, he decided it was okay.

I am gonna brag a little bit here and tell everyone that Jax was the ONLY person I saw that had any manners this entire weekend. Where ever he was, if he went up to Trick or Treat, he said "Trick or Treat" as best as he could, then ended the phrase with "please" or "nom nom nom". Then after he was given a piece of candy he would say "thank you". He also gave back most of his candy, haha, and if someone gave him more than one, he would keep the one he wanted, and give back the rest. I must say I was very proud of this, but now must take advantage of the 50% off candy sales tomorrow. He sure was cute and the only Cookie Monster we saw. Here is how our weekend went…

Friday all the businesses downtown had a trick or treating festival for kids that we went to. It was okay, but not worth the two hours of being in the wind and cold for the 7 pieces of candy Jax ended up getting. Then on Saturday, we went to the Chillin' N Grillin festival that was set up downtown. It's a little festival that has a bunch of local vendors, arts and crafts, music, bbq and chili cook off's and a place for the kiddo's to burn off their energy. Jax had a lot of fun while we were there, and bounced for about an hour and a half in one of those bounce houses. I've never seen him have so much fun jumping!

Saturday night, Dean and I went to our friends Rachel and Greg's third annual Halloween Bash. Dean dressed up as a Chilean Miner and I decided to rock the "beer gut" and go as an Alabamian Redneck! We went with those ideas since we didn't really put any time or thought into our costumes until a few days before. Dean had all his equipment and uniform pieces from both Metromont and working on the windmills, so really all he needed was a Chilean Flag and some soot on his face. I decided to switch my original idea of being a "barefoot and pregnant" redneck, and Dean being my redneck boyfriend, to taking full advantage of the pregnant belly and turning it into a beer gut. Both of our outfits cost us next to nothing, and we both pulled it off well! Matter of fact, I won me a box of Little Debbie Nutty Bars and took home the Funniest Costume Award! I think if there had been an award for most disturbing I would have taken that home too! I might have gone a little over board with the whole thing, but I had a blast. I had jerky chew, smelled like motor oil and bbq sauce, and even had my lucky Busch Beer boxers out for show! I now know why rednecks talk the way they do. For example, instead of darn, they say "dern" and I think it's because they have to keep their chew in, so it forces them to mispronounce words! Der!

The whole night was really fun. It was a good, clean, party with really good friends and family. Everyone had on great costumes. There were a bunch of "classic" Halloween costumes, but most were pretty original. Brett Favre and Jenn Sterger were there, "Quailman" from the cartoon Doug, The Publisher's Clearing House Prize Patrol, Lady Gaga, Colonel Sanders, Richard Simmons and more... My vote went to Rachel, our friend Brandi and their friend Emilee. They dressed up as discontinued Barbie's. Jailbreak Barbie, Rockstar Barbie and Construction Worker Barbie. Their costumes were amazing! The best part of the night is when they finally got out of their boxes, and Dean who had taken some of his costume off, decided to portray the "real" jailbreak Barbie. Haha, he resembled more of a Joe Dirt in a Barbie box look... but definitely had it right. Sara dressed up as Lady Gaga, and her husband, Al was another redneck and my "cousin Al". Haha. We all had so much fun. I was glad to come home and clean up though, and Dean was finally glad to be able to kiss me w/out feeling weird.

Today we took it easy and didn't really have anything planned to do until we got a call from Nana and Pop's about Jax coming to their Fall Festival. The church they go to put on a kids festival for pre-schoolers and younger ONLY, which was really nice to not have the older kids knocking the babies down for candy. There were a ton of games for them to do, coloring, bowling, etc... Jax wound up bringing an entire pumpkin full of candy home for Mommy and Daddy to "check over". I knew there were hidden benefits to having children! =D

All in all, this weekend was a lot of fun and we all enjoyed Jax's excitement dressing up, passing out candy, trick or treating, etc... but I am so glad it's over! Next year Dean and I will get to have fun with two little boys!!! Whoo hoo, that's even more pumpkins to paint and carve, and more candy for us!!! Hope you all are doing well! We love you and miss you all!

Shylah

(More pictures are posted. Click on our Pumpkin Patch album, then My Photos once open to view "Halloween Costumes 2010...")

Pumpkin Patch 2010...

Happy Autumn everyone! I absolutely love this time of year. The leaves are all starting to change colors here... I can't believe that it's almost November, and they are just starting to turn colors. I must say, that our every day beautiful view of the mountains is even more gorgeous right now. The mountain range is starting to show shades of reds, oranges and yellows. It's so pretty with the sun on them... We definitely have it rough out here :D

Over the past two weekends, we've had lots of fun sorting through Halloween costumes, and finally making our way out to a pumpkin patch. We found one that is just a little ways from us called Myers Pumpkin Patch and more. It's tucked away down a side road, and absolutely beautiful. I am not sure how big the "farm" is, but the corn maze they also have on their property is 24 acres!!!! They had an aerial picture of it in their shop, and it looked like an entire city!


They had a ton of stuff to do for kids, from the "kiddy corral", to the hill slide, arts & crafts, pumpkin painting and more. The first time we went, we took Nana and Pops with us, and sadly for us, Jax did not cooperate at all. All he wanted to do was play with the toys. Mistake #1 on our behalf for letting him go in there first. We were eventually able to get him to pick out a pumpkin, but not without pitching a fit in front of everyone. We only stayed a little while and were sad we left with a crying baby, and a cranky mama!

So then we decided to make another go at it since Aunt Rachel wanted to take Jax. We went out again last weekend, and it was much more enjoyable for all of us. We left early enough to have time to do all the things we wanted to, and not cut into Jaxon's naptime!

We went on a tractor/hayride; Daddy and Aunt Rachel took Jax down this humongous hill slide, we dug through hay stacks and found hidden gourds. We picked out real pumpkins from an actual pumpkin patch, and rocked on the front porch drinking hot apple cider, while looking at the gorgeous mountain views! We really had a great time. It was much too hot for my liking, but all in all it was a lot of fun. I am so glad that we have started this fall tradition with Jax!

Now we just need to paint and carve our pumpkins, and figure out how to make pumpkin seeds, and maybe even at attempt at a pumpkin pie from scratch!

All the pictures from both days are on the right sidebar. Enjoy!

Xoxo
Shylah

It's a BOY!!!

First off, I am extremely excited about bringing another baby boy into this world! Liam David Ward! We chose the name Liam based on Dean's Irish heritage, and the middle name David for my brother! Yes Deej - I love you THAT much to want to name our baby after you! I only hope and pray he will be as wonderful of a brother to Jax as you were to me!

Gender disappointment? No! Well not really anyways... Of course I had always envisioned myself with one of each. After all, I was raised with a brother, so naturally I wanted and expected God to bless me with the "all American family"... Well, I guess the big guy has other plans!

It is pretty funny to think about actually, because when it comes to girly-girls, I was it! I was a Barbie playing, doll loving, makeup-wearing, cheerleading, hates the dirt, LOVES glitter kind of girl! Seriously, if there were a picture next to the word “prissy” in the dictionary, it would have been mine! I was that much of a girl! I didn’t like getting dirty, I yelled and ran away from any type of insect, I ducked at any ball thrown my way. I was “that girl” that so many other girls hate!

I was content to stay inside and braid my doll’s hair, play with my Barbie Dream House, or read a good Baby Sitter's book, rather than join the neighbor kids outside. Outside meant dirty, and dirty wasn’t something I enjoyed. Rarely did I join the other kids in a game outside, and when I did, I didn’t stay long. Bugs, and bug bites. Yuck. Do you get what I am saying here? I was a total girl... well most of the time anyway!

Once I discovered "boys"... I quickly learned to like things like sports, dirt, video games, trucks, writing in microscopic hand writing, building things, tearing things apart to create cooler things, etc... Things I learned to love since DJ had no desire to play Barbie's with me, or dress-up, or any of the girly-girl stuff I liked to do!

Liam - "The determined protector"

Well, there was a time where he let me give him "clear polish only" manicures haha! He even had a "frequent visitors" card I made! Remember that Deej?

Had it not been for my brother brain, I would be the dumb blonde on the side of the road calling AAA, instead of changing a flat tire myself! I would know nothing about baseball, Jeep Rubicons, tires, shocks, struts and lift kits! About cheat codes in 'Golden Gun', pinecone baseball, trash can rolling, car dodging, and building forts! I also wouldn't be co-creator of our "rubber band cutting machine"!!! All of these things, and then some, I can only give thanks to my brother for! Things that I pray Jaxon and Liam will be able to do! Memories they will be able to make and carry for a lifetime!

I know several people who have two boys, and would never change a thing about them! I look forward to all the hand me downs of Jaxon's that we can share! To not having different room themes (at least for now), to Red, Blue, Green and Yellow! To trucks and trains... and no Barbie lying out on the "tracks of death" as I had :(. To sporting events where they can hopefully play as a team, to MULTIPLE BUG KILLERS! (Yes!!!), to yard work being done by "the boys", and on... and on... and on!

Will I miss things because I didn't have a daughter? Maybe. But then again, there are nieces for that :) My Aunt and I are extremely close, and so I can always look forward to that! I can spoil a niece in ways a mother might not be able to! I have several nieces already and hopefully many more to come!!!

All in all... I am VERY happy! As with any new baby, I have fears of favoritism with Jax... I've been reassured that this is a normal feeling, and that a mothers love does not divide, it multiplies... I am ready for Jaxon to have a buddy, to have a friend, and most importantly to have a bond that only Brothers have...

As far as the baby update: Liam was full of kicks and plenty of attitude this morning. He literally showed his parts the second the sonographer touched the wand to my belly... then immediately went to standing on his head, holding his legs above his head... (Hmm... sounds like another little boy I carried!). Our LMD puts us at 17 weeks, 3 days... but of course we're going off the 1st ultrasound that dated us 2 weeks ahead... Well NOW... we're dating even farther. I have been saying 19 weeks... but we had one date go all the way to 21 weeks, 6 days which is a full month and a half farther... LOL. I told the Dr. that the baby will get here when he get's here... But it is nice to know that the baby is growing ahead of the growth schedule for once ;)

My next prenatal appointment is Nov. 4th, and our next u/s is Dec. 1.

Hope you all are as excited as we are about meeting Liam!

Love you all, Shylah

Thing 3 to Thing 4...

Remember Dean and I's "Thing 1, 2, 3" picture?!?!

The first time I ever went to Disney World with the Wards, I was pregnant with Jax. I was able to ride most of the rides because I wasn't that far along, and my doctor had given me the go-ahead. So after going on literally every ride my first time there, (even the kiddie rides) and after getting off the Seuss-Trolly, lol... I saw these "thing" shirts... I decided rather than buy the shirts, to just take a photo moment and capture our growing family...

Thing 1, 2, 3...

So once I found out we were going to Disney pregnant again, I decided that it was definitely worth the cost of admission to take our new Thing picture... (only I got in free, thanks to doing a Wyndham survey!)

So here is our newest and last Thing Picture. Once baby #2 is born, I may have to order these shirts and we'll have to go and get our pictures taken with the actual "Thing 4" here with us!

Thing 1, 2, 3, and baby makes 4!

And yes... we realize our numbers are off... Lol. I told Dean that I was Thing 1 last time... but he seems to think our roles have changed *wink wink*

Ward Family Vacation...

Howdy! We are back and rested after our wonderful "Ward Family Vacation" to Disney World. We spent 8 days in Orlando visiting the parks, relaxing, and spending some time together as a family! The main purpose of this trip was for the In-Laws to go the "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" which is a new ride that was opened at Universal Studios/Island of Adventure this past July. The in-laws (Dean included) have been counting down the days till this ride opened, but wanted to miss the grand opening crowd and all the hype associated with that, so we all chose to go during Disney's "off season".
It was a great trip for me as well, even though I didn't get to do any of the rides. I enjoyed being a mom and letting Jax do all the fun stuff and rides. I lied; I did get to ride some of the rides with Jax, but have to plan yet another trip to ride all the new 'NEW' rides that opened up since the last time we went in March 2010.
Here is Dean enjoying world famous "Butter Beer", a drink from the movie. I am not a fan of Harry Potter at all, but I am a fan of this! It's like drinking A&W Cream Soda and Rootbeer mixed together! Mmm...
This is a view of Hogwartz Castle (I think that's right...)

Sunday was a fun day! We went to the Disney Boardwalk and found the ESPN Sports Zone, where we decided to gamble and see if we could watch the Titans and Seahawks, who for the only time this season, were playing at the same time... We ended up finding a table with both the games side by side (must've been fate), and watched the entire game! Jax was amazing! He played contently with ice cubes, and his books... and then slept the rest of the time, which I am still amazed by. We were forced to sit with too many Steelers and Greenbay fans... but hey... their teams lost too! Every time either team did anything, I just knew Jax would wake up, but the most he did was open one eye, look around, and decided it wasn't worth it to wake up. He was so good in fact, that the Packer fan's beside us gave us a free chocolate milkshake... ;)

Monday through Wednesday, Dean, Jax and I didn't do too much. We just hung around, went to Downtown Disney, and hung out at the condo that had an amazing Lazy River and Toddler Splash Zone. There was also a big playground for Jax... lots of places to explore with ducks, and cranes to see, as well as the activities put on by Wyndham for us to do.

Wednesday - Sharon and I took Jax to Universal Studios so he could ride all the rides in Seuss’s Landing, and so we could take our "Thing" picture... (I will post separately, as I feel it deserves its own post!). I was also highly anticipating my fully loaded funnel cake that I missed getting last time we were there...

Thursday was Magic Kingdom day! Sharon had planned on taking Jax the whole time, but then it lucked out for me, that she had an extra day pass that I could use to go along! He had so much fun! I was a little disappointed, that right when we got there, a lot of the rides were closed for maintenance or construction... but once we got in, and rode a few rides, the others opened. Small World was the only ride that stayed closed while we were there, so that was a major bummer... but The Winnie the Pooh ride I believe made up for it. He loved all the colors and music and riding in the honey pots! The whole 8 days we were there, I would say that Jaxon's "had to do" list consisted of two things. Find the Alligator at Rain Forest Cafe, and ride the carrousel wherever we were! Lol. This child rode every single carrousel we saw. At first we stood beside him and made sure he wouldn't fall, but by the end of our trip, he had gone on at least 3 rides where he got to ride alone, and Dean and I got to ride our own animal haha. As far as the alligator at RFC... well Jax may be a Gator fan for now. He was so fascinated by this 8' alligator they had in the front of the restaurant. We ate there one night, and while waiting for our reservations we showed Jax all the animals that were displayed outside. There were butterflies, and elephants, a tiger and giraffe... but all Jax cared about was going "chomp chomp - chomp chomp". I am sure that all you SEC Fans will be thrilled to know he did this ALL week long!

Friday the whole family except Jax and I, went to Epcot and did the Food, Wine and Dessert festival. So Jax and I slept in, met some friends of mine who live in Orlando for lunch, came back and napped, and just had a Mommy and Me day. Once we were up from our nap, we took a stroll through the resort, played on the playground, in the sand, stopped to sing "Crazy" at the Karaoke night they were having, and then came back and colored and had a good mac-n-cheese dinner!

Friday night/Saturday morning was another story. I had a really hard time putting Jax to sleep that night... and I couldn't figure out why. He cried through bath time, which I have never seen. Then cried for "no reason" for an hour+ until finally he was out. For the next hour he slept, and then decided to wake up every other hour for 2 hours at a time for the rest of the night. On the second wake up, Dean and I noticed he was pulling at his ears... so at 3 am, Dean and I were googling ear infections, remedies, etc... it was absolute hell. Jax has never had an ear infection ever, so we had absolutely no idea how to even help. We read about water bottles, and heating pads, and blow dryers... all of which we didn't have just laying around, so we medicated with Tylenol. I have never felt so helpless.

So Saturday morning we went to a Walk in clinic to verify he had no fluid on his ears per his pediatrician before applying drops... We were seen quickly, but then waited for over 2 hours for antibiotics and drops... I was so flustered. We had planned on leaving that day, and driving half way and stopping at my Dads to sleep... but all I saw was the clock ticking and my patience for driving 7-12 hours with a sick baby diminishing...
On the way back to the condo, in the elevator was when all chaos broke out for me. Jax had mastered pressing our floor and the ground floor buttons, and always walked off perfectly. Not today. When we got to our floor, Dean and I had our hands full, so we said "lets go" to Jax. We both swore we saw Jax run past us, but as the doors were closing I saw he was still in the elevator... Normally this would be a mild heart-attack for some, but 3 weeks ago I had a dream/nightmare about this exact thing and Jax being kidnapped, so my fears were all becoming real. I threw down what I had, and went to the ground floor. Dean decided to run the stairs and try to intercept. Once I saw the elevator wasn't on the ground floor, my heart dropped. Here it is Saturday mid afternoon... Hundreds of people leaving and checking in, and I am standing here holding a balloon without my baby... Since I was in the lobby I could see what floors the elevator had stopped on. I called Dean and started rattling off floors... then it got stuck on 5, for about 3 mins. I told Dean "5, he's on 5!" and just as soon as I said that, the elevator moved to 4, then 3 and got stuck on 3... so I'm shouting out floors in between sobs and tears, when Dean said he had him. I was so relieved. Jax had gotten off on 5, and then walked ALL THE WAY DOWN the halls, and started knocking on doors. THANKFULLY, the woman who's door he knocked on, decided to stay with him recognizing he was "lost" (or that his parents left him on an elevator) and stayed with him long enough for Dean to see them. She said that he knocked and tried to walk right in to their room. Sooooooo, after all this, and one emotionally drained mama... we decided to bag our plans for leaving, and stay one more night. Jax and I took a much needed nap... and we all enjoyed and slept better than the night before, heading out early on Sunday...

11 1/2 hours later, we were Home Sweet Home!!!! So while we had a few scares, and a sick baby... we had an amazing time. It was so much fun to spend time with our family, to relax (around a big pool), and to end the summer at Disney!!! Until the next time...

Shylah, Dean and Jax