Mountain Home...

...take me home.... to the place, I belong! (sorry, John Denver was in my head!)

We went up to my grandparent's Mountain Home in Ellijay last weekend. We had SUCH a nice time. Although it was a quick trip, we had a wonderful time being there with my grandparents. Andrew had such a blast going up and down the stairs, and snooping around and finding all types of things to play with. The weather was great, the leaves were just barely starting to turn, and the air had a nice crispness to it. We also made sure to stop and get some fresh picked apples, and boy... are they good! We LOVE being up there. We can't wait to get back up there!

My grandparents had the stuffed RCA dogs. Andrew got a kick out of them. Andrew made sure to line up his toys and admire them on the stairs!

I love seeing these two photos. My grandparents have had this rocking horse for as long as I can remember. Andrew LOVES it. The pic on the left is July 2009... he was just learning how to stand holding onto things, right is Oct 2010... able to giddy up on the horse. He's growing up TOO fast!

Thanks grandma and grandpa! We had a great time, and can't wait to get back up there!

Happy Birthday, Andrew.

Andrew's second birthday was on Wednesday, the 13th. I can't believe that he's already two! We had a great time celebrating his birthday with my family. We went out to Alpharetta and had a great time. I made a Mickey Mouse birthday cake. We had Mickey ears, balloons, and plenty of Mickey toys. Andrew was in heaven! He LOVES Mickey Mouse!

Here are a few pictures of his soiree.

Learning...

Although Andrew isn't talking much, I'm enjoying all the other things he is learning. It's been so much fun watching him grow! I can't believe that he will be 2 next week.

Andrew just LOVES to make towers. He'll just make them, then simply admire them. It's so fun - once he's done - he'll get this big grin and claps ecstatically for himself. Love it!

Also - if you've been around Andrew at all - you know how he loves to line things up. He loves playing with my fake fruit that I use as a centerpiece. I was quite impressed when I realized that he had separated them by color, then proceeded to make two lines. Such a smart little guy.

Tradition.

Some things seem to never change. Morgan is not a Chinese food lover, I on the other hand, LOVE it. So, after Morgan and I got married, when I kissed my Chinese restaurant love goodbye, I started a tradition.

Every General Conference while Morgan is off going to Priesthood Session I go out and get Chinese Food. I've shared this special event (yeah, it's an event to me) with closest friends, a sister, and a sis-in-law. Even when I was only 10 days from delivering Andrew, and as swollen as you can believe - I risked consuming MSG to carry on this great tradition. So, to keep up with it - I ventured out tonight to have my Chinese. And oh, was it good.

I do have to admit - while I was enjoying my Hot and Sour Soup - I couldn't help but think of my sweet little sister who had one horrible incident while enjoying some yummy soup in China. (click here, then here)

So, do you have any "Priesthood Session Traditions?"

Case and point.

It's funny when I see Andrew do certain things, and am positive that I used to do the exact same thing. Case and point....

Andrew LOVES stuffed animals as of recently. He just loves to get in the hamper with all of his buddies. From what I hear from my parents - I was often found playing with my toys in my closet in the very same manner.

There are other things about Andrew that I can see he clearly gets from me. He is getting to be shy lately. You can ask my parents... I was super shy, and still struggle with it from time to time. Thank goodness I have a bit of my dad's extroverted-ness in me to balance it out.
Also, Andrew is becoming quite the tenderhearted little boy - which I LOVE. It's sad though- he definitely knows how to stick his little bottom lip out and whimper - it's super cute, but something we are trying to shake off little bits at a time.

I love seeing Andrew grow and develop traits that either I or Morgan had growing up.