It's amazing what a 2 year old takes in. Tonight, I was craving pancakes and I didn't want to cook them, so we went to IHOP. On the way there, 2 things stuck out to me. For starters, we took Brett's car. We rarely take Brett's car anywhere, just because it's small. He has a jetta. But Ryan likes to ride in "Daddy's race car" and I learned tonight that he loves to have Brett rev up the engine. He kept saying, "Daddy, make noise! Make noise!" I see a car fanatic in our future!

The second thing on our trip that made me stop and think was the fact that he so seriously told us that the sunshine was pretty. He was referring to the sunset that was occurring behind the storm that just came through. I was amazed and very pleased that he had noticed such a thing.

Here are a few pictures from the last few days...


Tonight he decided to use his bath paint and paint a beautiful mural on his bathtub. Could you be looking at the next Picasso?

Two binks too many!

Saturday night we went to Durham and celebrated my Uncle Rod's birthday. Ryan LOVES (that's probably an understatement) to sing happy birthday and blow out candles. We actually did this twice.

Ryan enjoying the pool on Saturday afternoon at Jackson & Kailyn's birthday party in Wilson. Nevermind that the car floaty he insists on getting in is entirely too small, but who cares right?

And finally, Mr. Liam and me. I'm 30 weeks today and really beginning to feel the effects of the heat and the extra weight my back in carrying around. Other than that, I'm doing well! Thankfully I passed my 3-hour glucose test last Thursday, so I'm good to go!

Resisting Growing Up

Let me set the scene for you: This morning Ryan got up and staggered in to the den rubbing his eyes with bink (pacifier) in hand. I made his waffle for him, poured his orange juice and sat him down at his little table in the den so he could watch Little Bill while he ate and I got ready. Prior to turning on the tv he has to have his clothes on, otherwise he'll never put them on. This is the conversation he and I had while putting on his clothes.

Me: "Ryan, when can we get rid of your bink?"
Ryan: "No"
Me: "Binks are for baby boys. Don't you think we should give your bink to the babies?"
Ryan: "No! I. AM. NOT. A. BIG. BOY!"


Hmmm.... a little resistance ya think?

My best friend, Jody, had her "plug", as her mother called it, until she went to kindergarten. (Sorry Jod! Had to call you out on this one!) Other than the obvious, she has no ill side effects. (hahaha, just kidding!) Maybe I'll just let him keep his bink until he just grows out of it himself. I certainly wouldn't want him to feel as if I made him grow up too soon.

Awesome Daddies

Father's Day was yesterday. It was a good day, but different from others we've had in the past. Several things were different. One was that Brett had to work, so we didn't see him for the majority of the day. Ryan and I made him a breakfast of pancakes, eggs & bacon, Ryan fixed his coffee for him (with a little assistance from me), and I ironed his clothes for him. I don't usually iron his clothes, that's his thing. I hate to iron. But, I sucked it up so he wouldn't have to go through the monotony of fighting wrinkles to get his shirt "country club perfect." Ryan gave him the third, and last, of his gifts... a shirt he made at school with the word "Dad" ironed on it with his colorful little hand prints pressed all over the front of it. Such a treasure. His other 2 gifts were given to him on Saturday. Saturday morning Ryan gave him a 20-page picture book with pictures in it of Brett & Ryan from the day Ryan was born up until just 2 weeks ago. The book came complete with a poem about little boys wanting to grow up and be like their Daddies. The poem itself will make your eyes water, but add the pictures to it of 2 of my special men and I can't hold back the tears. Then, Saturday afternoon Ryan presented him with a wall clock in the shape of a NY Giants football helmet. We purchased it at the Blueberry Festival earlier that day. Ryan had a choice between a Wolfpack clock and a Giants clock. He knows how much his Daddy loves the Giants... he picked the Giants clock. I told Brett that it would look great upstairs with his Giants helmet lamp that he's had since he was little. I gave me the same look he gave when I told him he couldn't put that lamp in the living room. So, while he was at work yesterday, I hung the clock in the kitchen. :) It won't stay there, but I wanted to see if he would notice. He did! I made a huge effort yesterday to not ask him to do anything. I cooked twice, cleaned up from breakfast & dinner, bathed Ryan, folded laundry, vacuumed... even took the trash out. All in an effort to give him the same relaxing time he gave me on mother's day. I failed at about 9:00 last night. I was stranded in the bathroom with no toilet paper and had to ask him to pause the US Open, get up off our comfy bed and grab me a roll. I know, maybe tmi, but hey... it is necessary.

The other thing that was different was the absence of my Papa Earl. Instead of the usual church then lunch at my grandparents' house with my family, we met in Raleigh and went out to lunch. All of us weren't there, but the biggest hole in the group was Papa. It's an unusual hole though. At times, you can feel that he's still there. I guess that reflects the close bond we all had with him. I can't imagine how my Deddy, aunt and uncle are feeling this Father's day. My mom too, who said goodbye to my Papa Ellyson almost 2 years ago. It has been almost 1 year since we all said goodbye to Papa Earl. I will never forget the feeling of love and the strong emotions that were felt in that hospital room as he took his last breaths. Our entire family, all together to pay tribute to this man we called Honey, Dad, Daddy, and Papa. We held his hand, talked to him and around him, rubbed his head, kissed him and prayed for him. What more could a father have asked for? That to me, is a testimonial to what kind of dad he was to his children. Strong, faithful, loving, protecting, stern... all those fatherly words. He was all of them. That is the example my Deddy had and I see my Papa Earl in him all the time. My Deddy is such a great father. And I know I'm blessed to have him in my life. He has always and forever put his children first in whatever decisions he has made. He provides for, loves and protects us. He's happy with us when good things happen and he's sad with us with not-so-good things happen. He supports us in every way a father should support his children and I truly believe I have my Papa Earl to thank for a large part of that.

Back to Brett, my children are blessed to have him as their daddy. I could not have designed a more perfect man to father my children. I try to tell him that all the time and I hope he knows that I mean what I say. The examples that he sets for Ryan are amazing. He's always been a hands-on dad. He's never been one to say "I'm not changing that poopy diaper," or "I'm not cleaning up that puke." And he's always been one to show Ryan how to do things, help him when he needs it and love him with all he's got in him. I love him!

Here are a few pictures from our weekend.

I surrender...

I am not super-woman. Saving a reasonable amount of money at the grocery store with toddler in tow is now longer a reasonable expectation for myself. Not even if I have help from my husband. Flipping through my coupon book, keeping track of my list and comparing prices is virtually impossible with Ryan wanting to help put items in the buggy, asking random questions, begging for things we don't need, and of course wanting to get out and walk (by which he means run around like a maniac). I can only imagine how it will be when I have 2. As much as I hate late night grocery store trips, I think I will learn to enjoy them. Once again, I now know how my mother felt. Oh, and she opted for late night grocery trips too...

On another note, I had my 28 week doc appointment on Tuesday. All-in-all it was a good appointment. I gained 2 pounds to make me an even 150. However, I conducted a 3-hour walking tour yesterday for work. It was H.O.T. and I could have quite possibly sweated away those 2 pounds. My blood pressure was good. Urine looked good. Fundal height was 28.5cm...exactly where it should be at 28 weeks. Liam's heartbeat was beautiful. The only problem was that I ate pasta for lunch, therefore failed my 1 hour glucose test. BOOOOOOOO! I have to go back next Thursday for the 3-hour test. It is at 8am so I will not be eating prior to the test. Please join me in praying that I pass. I knew I should not have eaten carbs... carbs turn straight in to sugar. The sugar levels in my blood needed to be 135 or less. They measured in at 140. I wasn't a happy camper. I "rewarded" myself with a salad for dinner. Not that it was all that bad. I've been craving salads this entire pregnancy.

Tomorrow my department at work is going skeet shooting for a team building exercise. I can't wait. Pregnant + shotgun = ??? Stay tuned...

Hi, My name is Ashleigh and I have a two-year-old

Yesterday Ryan and I went to Haymount UMC here in Fayetteville. We've been going there occasionally since we moved back. I think I have mentioned before how much Ryan loves church. He truly enjoys it. He stands and holds a hymnal by himself and holds the bulletin up as if he's reading it along with the congregation. He loves all parts of the service; the music, the acolytes, the preacher... all of it. Yesterday, when it was time to go up to the front with the rest of the kids for children's time, Ryan had to walk by the piano. (I'm sure you can see where this is going.) As he was walking by, he decided to play a little tune. A two-note tune nonetheless, but it didn't go with the "Jesus Loves Me" piece the organist was playing at the time. Everyone laughed, the preacher thanked him for his "gift" and I just smiled. I am the mother of a 2-year-old.

The changing table I had for Ryan is a beautiful white bulky piece of furniture. Very functional, but big. It won't fit in the baby's room. So I sold it yesterday on craigslist and I purchased a smaller, simpler changing table that will fit in the space I have allotted for it. The people who purchased the table were a young family, about like Brett and me I would guess, and they had an 11 month old son. They brought him with them to pick it up. As Brett and the dad were loading the changing table into their SUV, the Mom and I stood on the porch with our sons and talked about mommy stuff. Ryan's appearance reflected his activities yesterday. His face was filthy from dinner, he had on only a shirt and underwear, no shoes and skinned up knees from where he fell in the back yard. He looked like... well, he looked rough. In my defense, they came right at bath time. Anyway, as this mother and I were talking about mommy stuff, Ryan looks down and proceeds to pee right then and there. Not just a little bit, but A LOT, soaking his underwear, running down his legs and creating a pool of pee on the porch. I looked at the other mom and smiled. I am the mother of a [potty training] 2-year-old.

Later on, after we said goodbye to the bulky changing table, it was bath time. Ryan wasn't interested and the timer idea wasn't working. He was tired, lacked a nap and very irritated with Brett and me for asking him to take his clothes off so he could get in the tub. After 30 minutes, a trip to time out for slapping Brett in the face and a power struggle on the bathroom floor, I put him in the bath tub WITH HIS CLOTHES ON. (Now is when I REALLY wish we had this on video or in pictures.) Still, as he was standing in the tub with the water running, he refused to allow us to take off his clothes. So I said, "Ok, tilt your head back so I can wash your hair." He did without argument. (His fuss wasn't about taking a bath, it was about taking off his clothes.) I poured the cup of water over his head and it ran down his neck, soaking the back of his shirt and the rear of his shorts. Apparently the feeling wasn't pleasurable since he asked us to take off his clothes then. Last night I didn't smile, I was tired. But today, I smile. I am the mother of a 2-year-old.

Between all the outbursts, "embarrassing" events in public, and the sometimes out of control times, I get hugs, kisses, requests to "kiss it and make it better" and "help me Mama!", cuddles in the morning & at night, smiles, laughs, belly rubs for his little brother, lots of play time and unconditional love. I smile because I'm the mother of a 2-year-old.

Tight Squeeze

Last night we went to Pizza Hut. Not my first choice, but the nice Italian place that we tried first was full of older folks quietly enjoying their meal and there were no booths available. So we thought it best to take our not-so-quiet, booth loving 2-year-old to somewhere a little less formal. (Not that it was formal, but it was nicer than Pizza Hut) We were headed to Zaxby's and he screamed out that he wanted pizza, so... pizza it was. When we got there, the host sat us at a booth that was about 2 inches shy of being able to fit my belly. Oy vey! Turns out it was the section of about 3 booths that had been pushed closer together. Nonetheless, it sucked. We moved to a more larger, more comfortable seating arrangement. I've never experienced that before and don't want to ever again!

Bring on the heat and the third trimester!

My jeep registered 104 degrees sitting in the sun today. Ugh! It's going to be a long summer! I'm 27 weeks and some docs would say today marks the first day of my third trimester. Others would officially say next week. Nonetheless, I can't comfortably bend over at this point, I feel like I have internal bruising from this little guy and my bladder control is equal to that of an 80 year old. So, I'd safely say I'm in my third trimester.

Up until recently, we were going to put the boys in the same room. We've changed our mind. Well, I changed my mind. Brett agreed. Each boy will have his own room and Ryan will forfeit the playroom. It's not the end of the world. Ryan has the master bedroom of the house. He has plenty of room for his toys. I've picked out an adorable monkey themed bedding set for the baby's room. I started a wish list/registry at Babies R Us when we found out I was preggo. I wasn't going to make it public, however, some people asked. So yes, we are registered at Babies R Us under both of our names. Not that we need a lot, but there are some things.




While getting things out of the attic, cleaning and sorting, Ryan has decided he likes to sit in his Bumbo seat again. He used his Bumbo a lot when he was a baby, but at some point didn't want much to do with it anymore. Now that it is going to be used by his brother, he's all about it again. Hopefully he'll be willing to share. He was asked today by another preschool parent if he was going to be a big brother. He smiled and gave her a big nod. It was the first time I had seen him be so proud. It makes me smile.

Monster now has a real name! It's only taken Brett and I 9 weeks to come up with a name. It wasn't really that we couldn't agree on anything. We couldn't come up with anything we liked! As I said before, I want my children to have names with meaning. I can't name a person just because I like the name. I need to have a connection to the name. So, with all that said, Monster's name will be William "Liam" Earl Dippolito. William is Brett's maternal grandfather's name. Earl is my paternal grandfather's name. Liam is a name that we both like. It's young, trendy, not overly common and sounds good with Ryan. So, Liam it is. Whew... that's a load off my shoulders! It's hard to name someone.


I'll leave you with some recent Ryanisms that have given me the giggles...

Over the weekend, we went back down to the beach. In the car on the way there, Ryan says "Mommy, I wanna put my feet in the beach."

This afternoon Ryan walked through the dining room while I was sitting at the table on the computer. He had a screwdriver in his hand. I say to him, "Ryan, what are you doing son?" Ryan answers, "I gotta screw, Mom!"

Ryan returns from the potty after peeing all over the toilet and tells Brett (in the most serious tone), "I need to work on my aim, Dad."

I love him.