What We Learned: 20 Months

The best smiles always come with the most drool.

At twenty months, my son is hilarious.  My son is smart.  Bennett is headstrong, stubborn and knows what he wants. Ironically, in the past month he has also started mimicking.  I'd like to think the two things are not related.  The foot stomping is not a good reflection on me or his father. 

Bennett learned to count to two.

We learned that mimicking loses its appeal somewhere between two and three.

Bennett knows what sound most animals make, can correctly identify body parts, and say "cheese."

We learned to finally disregard milestone charts.

Bennett learned to speak in full sentences.

We learned about hiding bunnies.

Bennett learned that "woah" is an appropriate response in 90% of situations.

We learned that Atticus can in fact pop a rubber ball.

Bennett learned that telling a good story never gets old.

We learned that perhaps you can show too much enthusiasm.

Bennett learned to say his name.

We learned that claiming you  need to use the potty is a fabulous bedtime stall tactic. 

Bennett learned a fabulous fake laugh.

We learned that he takes after both his parents more than we like to think.

B is for BIG

A Bennett anecdote while you wait patiently for house pictures...

Bennett found a pair of tractor pajamas I bought for him to grow into.  They were a size or two too big, but he dragged them out to show me and I had to explain to him they were not his size, he'd have to grow big to wear them.  Last night he pulled them out again and pointed to the tractors and pretended to count them all.  I asked if we should try them on, knowing full well they would be ridiculous since they are a 3T.  He nodded his head yes.

I put them on, and Bennett exclaimed, "I'm Big."  Yes, Bennett, yes you are so big!

But your waist is still tiny!

I Go Back

To say I had a whirlwind weekend would be an understatement.  I had a wild and crazy 36 hours.  Where do I begin...
I had a 6:15 AM flight to Minnesota Friday morning.  Rocky rolled over at 5:35, looked at the clock and said, what time is your flight?  We live 20 minutes from the airport...

Ole Valet!

Thanks to the Valet, and no thanks to the American Airlines ticket counter, I made it to my gate where I was greeted with a "You must be Allison."  Thank you to the travel gods that this was the only hiccup of my exhausting trip.

If only this had armholes like a snuggie, I'd be in blogging business.

 I remembered I forgot my book as I was running out the door, so the Skymall catalog was my only in-flight entertainment on my BNA-ORD flight.  Good thing it's entertaining...

For the record, I did not order the Johnson.

I had a lovely breakfast for lunch with Gramma June.  She did a fantastic job finding the most Minnesota establishment in Nordeast.  We enjoyed a cup of joe with an order of eggs, chicken decor and a side of uff da.

The heaviest wedding gift in the history of wedding gifts.

I raced to the mall so Anne and I could procure a present for the bride.  It was practical, thoughtful, and required a small forklift to deliver.

1511

I made a small detour to visit my childhood home.  If the changes they made from the exterior are any indication, I don't think they kept the butter yellow walls and the ballerina posters from my room.  Obviously, they don't know a thing about home decor.

Sold Out Jill and Mike!

The real reason for my trip back, a very Jill wedding.  Creative, personal, and lots of pasta.  Not unlike the worlds heaviest wedding present.

Three Amigas

We may grow up, get married and have babies, but I'll always be an amazon compared to my Minnesota friends. 

Note the strangers up ahead.

On the fourth and final flight of my 24 hour adventure, I finally was able to close my eyes and catch up on my sleep.  I woke up approximately twenty minutes later to a plane full of applause.  Apparently, a couple a few rows ahead of me got engaged in seat 6B.  Thank goodness I do not know the happy couple because I cannot handle another four flights in 24 hours anytime soon.

Ground Control to Major Bennett

I made it home just in time to hear Bennett exclaim, "I pooped."  Thanks hun, I missed you too.  We got to play at home for the first time in our new home without having to take "blow our nose breaks."  Being a mom can be so glamorous. 

Yeah, the sun was bright, but it was HOT!

As if I hadn't packed in enough into a 36 hour period, Rocky and I made it to the Kenny Chesney-Tim McGraw concert in 90 something degree heat.  While the Minnesotans last night were complaining about the balmy 70 something temperatures, Tennesseans took it in stride.  Tim wore the tightest white jeans I've ever seen a man wear, even Faith couldn't help but say something nice. 

While an extra day home with Major Bennett, and an evening with Tim, Kenny, Faith, and the Brentwood Marching Band were pretty darn good excuses for an abbreviated trip, I can't help but feel a wee bit (or a lot bit) guilty for not stretching my trip back into a longer vacation.  That's why the Bennett-Allison show will be doing an extended tour this September.  So, my adoring Minnesota fan base, fear not, we'll be back in your neck of the woods just in time for the mosquitoes to start dissipating, green lakes to appear, and sadly, just after everything on a stick season.  Minnesota misses me, and I miss it.  Back where I come from!

Flashback Friday: 10!

Ten years years.  Ten years!  That is a whole lot of years folks.  Ten years is a respectable amount of time no matter how you look at it.  Ten years of friendship?  A lot of years.  Ten years since graduation?  A lot of years.  Ten years in the clink?  A lot of years.  More than ten years of the same hair cut?  A lot of years.

Ten years ago today Rocky and I went on our very first date.  Ten years ago, I told my roommate I was going on a pity date with that annoying kid from down the hall.  Ten years ago I didn't want our new group of snarky friends to give us a hard time.  It was a summer fling, why bother getting into details?  I was secretly thrilled.  He was funny, opened doors, and obviously was going to pick up the check.  How could I say no?

We ventured to Georgetown for Italian and then met up with said group of snarky friends for a bad movie. I enjoyed hearing about the farm where he grew up, stories about Senator Thompson, and his other summer gig, driving golf carts.  The conversation was easy and I even got to introduce him to something exotic, caesar salad.  Thanks to an audience, I didn't have to worry about awkward good night kisses.  I didn't have to worry if he would call me or not because we'd most likely bump into each other on the hallway back from brushing our teeth, shower caddies in hand.  Rocky was only in D.C. one more week and there was no pressure, we just had such a good time.

Here we are a decade later.  We just celebrated our five year wedding anniversary a few weeks ago.  We've had a baby, bought two houses, moved half-way across the country, graduated from law school, undergrad, started new careers, made new friends, traveled, ate, laughed and cried. 

Some people say that young relationships are doomed because you grow old and grow apart.  I believe we have simply grown up together.  We've helped shape each other as the adults we've become. He's more liberal and I'm more conservative.  His southern ways have become mine.  We have learned to love fine wine and fine chocolate together.  We have grown from those young naive teenagers that were afraid of what our friends thought.  I look forward to growing old together for another ten years, and many, many more.

Happy Dad's Day

I feel so happy that I'm sharing the job of parenting with Rocky.  He steps right in with even the tough stuff, the boring stuff, the mundane stuff.  He helps me laugh, helps me cry and helps with the cleanup on aisle seven.  Bennett is such a lucky little boy to have a dad to play golf with, hang around with, read good books, watch bad television, and take in the great outdoors.  We love you Rocky!

We also love our Bompa and Poppa Rock who taught us to be kind, patient, and hardworking.  Happy dad's day to all the fathers!

Painterly

One of our first home improvement projects will be painting the exterior.  I really love the navy. Or, rather, I thought I loved the navy until I knew I had a choice.  Now, my mind is spinning with choices.  To refresh your memory, the Kings' Castle.

The tan dormer will stay because it's some kind of fancy siding. We'll keep the columns and trim white.  But from there, I'm at a loss. 

Stick with Navy?

Blue-Gray?

Blue-Green?

The painter said we should probably limit it to the paint chips he provided.  Too bad he's being so limiting!  We have a few more days to decide and I'd appreciate any advice!

The Urban Chicken Movement

Back in January, the Nashville City Council passed an ordinance officially allowing homeowners to raise chickens in metro backyards. Six hens are allowed per owner. Roosters are prohibited. Owners are required to maintain predator-proof coops. They must abide by noise and nuisance rules and pay a fee.

Nashville hipsters rejoiced, local, sustainable agriculture in their own backyard! I couldn't help but think this was a major step backward in shedding our backwoods hillbilly reputation, but if we can get some fresh eggs out of the deal, maybe I won't complain. Then, we bought a house in hipster central.  Meet our new neighbors.

There are six of them.  Apparently, they do not always stay in their predator-proof coops.  Bennett of course loves them.  We've met a few times already but I'm not sure I'm a fan.  I do like me some fried chicken though.