First Christmas Program

Tucker had his first little Christmas program last Thursday.  We were super nervous about how he would act onstage- would he cry for us? would he just stand there with his arms crossed and a mad face?- we didn't know.  But I have to say, we really didn't think he would get up there and knock it out of the park...which is EXACTLY what he did!!  This was my first time to be a proud Momma, and I so was!  I totally teared up when he came out, he was scanning the audience for us because he was so proud and wanted to see how proud we were.  Once he found us he would wave every couple of minutes.  He sang every song and stood right in his place the whole time.  His favorite songs they sang were "We Three Kings" and "O Come Let Us Adore Him."  LeLe, Paw, and Granny were so sweet to come watch him.  And so were Uncle Brett, Trayton, and Brexton.  They are such sweet cousins and told Tucker how proud they were.  My pictures kind of stink, but better than nothing!

This is when they first came out. They are standing around Baby Jesus with their little candles.

The proud little boy with his hands in his pockets.

Singin' his little heart out!

A Visit with Santa

Last year's visit with Santa was pretty much a disaster...Momma had to sit with Tucker to take the picture. So there was some bribery today before we went to see Santa and I was really hoping it would turn out better than last year!

Waving "Hi" to Santa...

Excited!  So far so good...

I wish I had a picture of me dragging him up to Santa.  Once LeLe sat down and introduced the two of them, however, Tucker loosened up and eventually took a cute picture on Santa's lap!  He told Santa that he wants a Marshmallow bow and arrow (I think he means a gun that shoots marshmallows) and a Batman.  He also told Santa that the scratch on his face was from a "fight with a wolf."  (He actually got it while playing with a puppy, but he and his Daddy thought wolf or bobcat was much cooler). I will scan in the Santa picture and add it to this post when I have a chance.  Only 9 days until Christmas!!

First Deer Hunting Trip

He refused to let me take a picture.  He's holding his little hunting bag with his gloves and tabogon in it.  He was so proud!

Tucker and Daddy went on their first deer hunting trip a couple days after Thanksgiving.  It was kind of a warm day, so Cameron thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take him.  Cameron said he did really well, he was quiet the whole time (playing on Daddy's iPhone helped as well as Skittles).  But unfortunately they didn't see any deer! 

O Christmas Tree

We went to get our Christmas Tree the Sunday after Thanksgiving, which is much earlier than usual for us.  I like to wait until after Tucker's birthday usually, but this year I am trying to get everything done a little earlier than usual since I will be 9 months pregnant when Christmas gets here!  Anyway, I thought Tucker would be really excited to help us pick out a tree, but he was much more excited to ride the cart around the store.  Why are kids never excited when you want them to be?!  So Cameron and I picked out the tree and it turned out to be a beautiful one.

He did enjoy looking at all of the ornaments and helping hang them.  Even though he found one branch and hung all of his favorites on that branch.  This is definitely my favorite Christmas with him so far.  He gets SO excited about Christmas lights and decorations.  And wants to talk about what we will do for Christmas all the time.  Having a child brings a whole new fun-ness to Christmas!

I will post pictures of the finished tree later.  Christmas trees are so difficult to photograph.  They never look as beautiful in pictures as you think they are!  Our decorations around here are minimal this year because Momma doesn't want to have to put it all up before the baby comes!  But I think we have enough for Tucker to still think it's wonderful.  

Daddy's home!!

Cameron got home late Sunday night, so Tucker woke up bright and early to see him Monday morning. Cameron was so excited to show Tucker his deer (well the antlers at least).  Tucker was more concerned with what kind of "prize" Daddy brought him back from Canada (see the hideously ugly bear with fish in his mouth below).  We are seriously SO glad he is home.  It was a really long 9 days!

Tucker calls this his "trophy."  Apparently Cameron couldn't find any toys in Canada and this was the next best thing. : /

Rhinestone Cowboy

While Cameron was in Canada for NINE days, Tucker was such a big helper with the dogs.  They are seriously more trouble than Tucker is.  Anyway, one night I asked him to go put the dogs up.  So he finally came out of his room wearing this:

But this outfit was not complete... he had to get his red cowboy hat, first.

Every time the child goes outside he has to have his gun holster on.  What is up with that?!

Happy Fall Y'all!

It's finally cooling down enough to wear jeans and a long sleeve shirt... Hallelujah!  It is supposed to really cool down this week and that is music to a pregnant girls ears.  I absolutely LOVE this time of year and my calendar for the next 2 months is already filling up.  And the best part is that only a couple weeks after New Years we will be having a new baby boy!  

 I took a few pictures of this cutie a couple days ago.  He is finally learning how to pose and "cheese" for the camera.

We are happily welcoming Fall and all the wonderful things that come with it!

The Barnyard

We went to Riley's birthday party Saturday morning at the Barnyard.  This was our first time to visit the Barnyard and just as I thought, Tucker LOVED it.  There is one thing about him that is NOTHING like me... he loves animals.  

Loving on the chicken... I would never even hold a chicken.

Loved the pig, "Bubba" and Bubba loved him.

It was a beautiful day and we had a great time!  

No longer my baby

These pictures were taken the other night when Tucker decided to set the timer on the camera and take pictures of himself.  Not sure where he gets this?! (I can't tell you how many pictures I have that I took of myself growing up... embarrassing to say, but it's true)  But two things to point out about this picture: 

1) He looks SO grown up and it freaks me out.  He will be four in a little over a month and that is a little boy, not a toddler.  I don't like it!  So glad I'm having another baby soon since my first one is growing up! 

2) Notice the wet spots on his shirt.  He has started chewing on his shirts.  Where did this come from?!  It is driving me CRAZY!

I put gel in his hair, isn't it cute?!

Missing them :(

I am in Lafayette, LA in orientation for my new job and I am missing my boys!  This will be the longest I have ever been away from them, but so far it's going okay.  I was really sad to leave them Sunday, but I have gotten to talk to Tucker a couple times which makes it easier.  Cameron called me last night when he was putting him to bed and I asked Tucker if he wanted me to say his prayers with him.  "No, Momma, I want you to sing 'Honkey Tonk.'"  :)  But instead I sang Jesus Loves Me, which is our bedtime routine.  I will get home Thursday night and then Cameron leaves Saturday morning for a hunting trip, so we will get to see each other for about 24 hours until the next Sunday!  No fun!  But Cameron is SO excited about his trip, so I am excited for him.  And when he gets home it is time to get the nursery ready for new baby!!

Tough Day for Momma, Great Day for Tucker

Monday was my first day back at work and Tucker's first full day at his new school.  He was a little uneasy about going, but he didn't cry... I did enough crying for both of us, I think.  I'm so thankful that I had 3 months with him this summer.  The only problem is that now I know what I'm missing!  It makes me so sad to think that our fun days are over.  When I'm off in a few months for maternity leave it won't just be the two of us any more!  But, I know that this is something I have to do and it will be good for him to go to school and make friends and learn.  It's a never-ending battle for mommas, I guess: to work, or not to work?

He has done so well, though.  When I picked him up they said, "He is just so sweet."  Hearing that makes it a lot easier!  The fire truck came to school, so he was really excited about that.  And today he learned that when his "pants are on fire," he rolls on the floor.  Hilarious!  The week is going really well so far, hope it stays that way.  

The Fair

We ventured out to the Fair last Wednesday night.  Tucker remembered the Fair last year, and has pretty much asked to go back at least once a week since last October.  So when I heard the fair was in town I figured we better go back.  Honestly, his favorite part is always the farm animals.  

We loved this "puffy white" chicken

But the goats were Tucker's absolute favorite animal.  They were pretty cute.

After the animals we walked over to the rides.  Tucker is rather, shall we say, apprehensive, about heights, fast things, basically anything that he doesn't have control of.  So needless to say, when I had to take him off the kiddy whale ride because he was kicking and screaming after I had just spent $35...I was a little ticked.  Thank the good Lord above, we found our boy cousins.  So that took away some of the fear, because most anything they will do, he will at least try.  You know, to be "cool."

They look so sweet, don't they?!

So, he rode the "Santa ride" with Brett and Britton, which he loved and is still talking about.  It was actually the Himalaya, which was kind of a mini roller coaster that went pretty quick.  And then all the boys rode the kiddy boats and the spinning around things.  Which he got REALLY dizzy on and mad because the big boys wouldn't stop spinning.  I just knew someone was going to puke.  At which point the fun would be OVER.

After the spinning ride, Cameron went down the big slide with him and then they rode one more fast ride that Tucker was not a fan of.  Neither was I by the way... I couldn't wait for it to be over because I just knew a screw was gonna come loose and they were just gonna go flying through the air.  Stressed. Me. Out.

So, hate to say it, but kind of glad we have another year before the Fair comes back to town!  I love seeing my child have so much fun, but the germs and the weirdos are just a little overwhelming for me.  I'm so getting old.

It's a Love Story...

These two are in love with each other.  We used to think that Tucker just drove Pepper crazy, but after watching them the other day I can confirm that Pepper loves Tucker as much as Tucker loves Pepper.  Tucker goes outside by himself a lot and hangs out on the porch with the dogs.  Mally does not lay down...ever, but Pepper is pretty lazy.  The other day I heard Tucker just dying out laughing and looked outside to find him sitting on the swing and Pepper "pushing him" with his nose.  So cute.

Boys and Bicycles

I had a doctor's appointment today and passed my sugar test!  Woo hoo!  I seriously don't think I could have done the 3 hour test... it is NOT a fun thing because you can't eat at all before it and then it makes you nauseous after you drink the concoction they give you.  Gross.  Anyway, I had to take Tucker with me to the appointment because Daddy had a big job this morning.  Very interesting, we'll put it that way.  Baby T's heart rate was 154 and I did not even look to see how much I weigh because my day wasn't going very well anyway, so I thought it best to not make it any worse.

The picture below is one I've been meaning to post for a while.  One morning Tucker and I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood.  He wanted to ride his bicycle- and what boy can ride a bike without wearing a super hero cape?!  As you can probably imagine this turned in to quite the disaster.  About 2 blocks away Tucker decided that his "brakes don't work."  In other words, his legs were hurting because we were going up a slight hill.  So he had to get off the bike and push it the whole way home.  The whole way home while whining and complaining about it.  Pregnant momma can NOT push your bike and carry you home!  Sorry!  And I thought that having a boy meant I wouldn't get paid back for what I put my mom through!  Wrong!  So wrong!

Love him, though.  You just can't help but love him!

Less than 4 Months to Go!

Well, just like most moms to second babies, I have been slacking a little on documenting this new precious baby we are waiting on:

I go in for my sugar test tomorrow...yuck.  And then hopefully my next appointment we will get to do the 4D ultrasound.  He is kicking a good bit now, which is one of the only things about pregnancy that I like.  

This is a rear view... yes, he is definitely a boy!

Sweet feet :)

My due date is January 21st, but it will be a scheduled C-section, so she will take him at least a week early.  Which is pretty exciting!  For those of you who are hoping to see pictures of my belly: don't hold your breath.  I am not in to pictures of myself at all right now!

My Super Hero...and crickets

It's been quite a while since I've posted anything so I will have to play a little bit of catch up.  First of all, Fall is in the air and I am in LOVE with it!!  SO thankful for cooler weather!  

So Tucker wants to be a super hero, as I am sure most little boys do.  We often have to rig up dress up for him to be whatever super hero he loves that day.  Not real sure who he wanted to be this day, but he was insistent on the belt, which is what makes this so funny to me.  And hands on the hips is always his super hero pose.

And then last night, we received the Halloween costume in the mail.  I'm not sure that I have ever seen him more excited.  You know... the reaction I'm looking for on Christmas morning when there is a four wheeler sitting in front of the Christmas tree, but he ignores that and goes for the $5 pirate ship sitting beside it.  Anyway, it was precious, so of course we immediately opened it up to try it on.

(Mirror in the back is disgusting)

He could not keep his eyes off of himself!

Of course he wanted to sleep in the costume and he has worn it off and on all day today.  He's pretty sure with those muscles he can beat anybody up!

Tucker has also had his first "cricket" in his neck. :)  Since he is rather dramatic (no idea where that comes from), it has been a pretty serious injury.

And on a kind of sad note, I am going back to work Monday.  A job just kind of landed in my lap so I am going to try it.  Tucker will start at a new daycare Friday.  We went together to check it out this morning and he liked it.  I'm hoping it is a smooth transition.  Pretty sure it will be much more difficult for me than it is for him.  Even though part of me is kind of excited about being a grown-up and accomplishing something.  I'm going to try to keep up the blog posts, but we shall see how that works out!

"Camping Out"

A couple Sunday nights ago I let Tucker bring his tent in to the living room.  He gets really bored when we stay around the house all day on Sundays.  He always wants to build a tent, so he thought this was the coolest thing ever!  Cameron went in from the waist up...I tried to get in but I'm so claustrophobic I couldn't stand it.  

I wish this picture wasn't blurry.  It's so cute!

Friends and Football in Fairhope

Some really awesome friends of ours invited us to their house on the bay in Fairhope for Labor Day weekend.  We had such a wonderful time, seriously.  Some other friends came along as well with their three boys...thank goodness!  Because they entertained Tucker all weekend.  He actually cried on the way home because he missed Drew and Dalton!  We are just so blessed with friends that love our child- through all of his never-ending talking and asking for snacks and juice, etc!  It was just an easy weekend, stress-free, lots of good food...and of course, the first Alabama football game!!

Seriously...does it get any better than this?!

Cameron on the slide...I wanted to ride SO bad!

He's Growing Up!

So, we have a couple new developments in the Tidmore house:

First of all, Tucker can now open doors on his own.  This is kind of a catch-22.  It's nice to not have to get up and open the door every time Tucker needs to go to the bathroom or play upstairs.  But it's not nice that Tucker can open the door to go outside or go in to a room that I don't want him to go in!!  I was afraid to take a shower this morning because I didn't know where he might run off to while I was in there.  Anyway, good or not, it is a new skill for my almost 4 year old!

The second development is a great one.  Tucker performed his first big chore for me this morning...he helped unload the dishwasher by putting away the silverware:

And I have to say that he did a great job!  He's been helping clean up toys and put his clothes in the laundry room for a while now, but this is an even bigger help!  Can't wait until he can unload ALL the dishes!!

I know neither of these things are really exciting, but one day it will be fun for me to look back and remember these times!  And I'm really so thankful that Tucker and I are having this time together before the new baby comes.

First time at CHOM!

Tucker and I made our first visit to CHOM last week and we had so much fun!  We went with Anna Riley and Miss Crystal and Audrey, Emma, Caroline and Miss Mandy (Tucker is such a ladies' man!).  I'm not sure which part was Tucker's favorite, but the first thing he told his Daddy about was the big boat. 

Of course he loved the farm area, but he wouldn't let us take a picture of him on the tractor.  Here he is playing the musical instruments:

And we couldn't really get Tucker to play dress-up, but Miss Anna Riley did!! So cute!!

Below is Tucker filling the car up with gas so he can take the girls on a date ;).

We had so much fun...we are loving our play dates with good friends!

Candy Theif

So my child has never been mischievous.  He's no saint...don't get me wrong!  But he's never been sneaky, he's like his momma, he can't tell a lie.  I never really had to "child proof" anything.  He's never gotten in my cabinets or really messed with anything that he knows he shouldn't mess with.  Well all that seems to have changed this week.  THREE times I have caught him sneaking candy!  The first time he got taffy out of our bedside table (my husband is a candy fanatic, so we almost always have candy somewhere in the house and a lot of times it is hidden so Cameron doesn't have to share).  I found him hiding beside our bed unwrapping taffy and shoving it in his mouth as quickly as he could.  It gets worse.  A couple of days ago we went shopping for Cameron's birthday and I bought him a few of his favorite snacks.  Well while I was in the shower Tucker found the Mentos on the kitchen counter and at all but about 5 of them before I got out of the shower!  Cameron thinks it's funny, but I don't!  It almost hurt my feelings that he would do that!  But I know this is just part of growing up...it's just all happening a little too fast for me!  We have started learning the "Golden Rule" (Treat others the way you want to be treated).  When I asked Tucker if he would want his daddy to eat his birthday candy he bursted in to tears.  Hahaha!  Hopefully he will learn this important lesson before new baby gets here!  I doubt it!

LeLe's Birthday

We got to take another ride on the Bama Belle for my mom's birthday.  The weather was more bearable this time so we spent a lot of time on the top deck outside.  We had a great time...Tucker's favorite thing about cruising down "Pappaw's Ribber" is throwing ice off the boat (boys!).  We had so much fun!  Thank you to Paw for taking us!

Totally despise pictures of myself right now, but my boys look so cute in this one I had to post it!