Working and Lunch With Daddy

Our friends, Andy and Lexi, are building a house and Grizzard Construction just so happens to be their contractor and builder.  Ground was broken yesterday and it works out perfectly that Kellan has become obsessed with trucks and 'dozers recently.  His favorite book at the moment is Machines at Work and it is all about construction sites, construction equipment, and construction workers.  Isn't it funny how some things are just in your genes?  Kellan is only 17 months old so he has never spent any time on any of Michael's job sites.  He started walking at the end of fall so it has been too cold (and he was too wobbly) for him to really enjoy playing and watching daddy work up until now.  So even though Kellan's Great-Grandpa Grizzard, Papa Mike, and Daddy are all contractors, he hasn't had any real experience on the job sites or equipment.  This hasn't stopped him from being in love with tractors, hammers, trucks, and 'dozers.  He has carried around a little stuffed hammer ever since he first got it even though he's hardly ever even seen Michael with a hammer.  "Hammah" was even one of his first words.  He has a wooden one now that he uses to beat on everything around the house.

Michael asked me to bring Kellan out to Andy and Lexi's house site because he would be using the big equipment to dig their foundation.  Kellan loved riding with daddy.

Helping daddy dig with the excavator.

Walking to the bulldozer.

Riding the 'dozer.

It didn't take Kellan long to find the horn button.  He blew the horn until it timed out...then started blowing it again.

We decided to watch daddy for a little while before he took a lunch break.  Of course Kellan found the closest dirt pile.

When we left he cried for the "'Dozer?! Wide? K?! 'Dozer, WIDE, K?!"

This store is actually called Weeks Market but around here its called the Purdy Store or the Purdy Mall.  I've heard lots of people talk about eating lunch or breakfast here but I had never been.  It sits right on the Jarratt/Emporia line but is located in a community called Purdy.  I think their menu changes from time to time but today they had hot dogs, chicken salad, barbeque, bologna and cheese, grilled cheese, and chicken sandwiches.  It is also kind of a mini-general store.

Kellan thoroughly enjoyed his grilled cheese.  So much that we had to order him another one!  He kept calling for CHEESE!  By the time we left we had ordered 3 grilled cheeses, 2 chicken salad sandwiches, a hot dog, two sweet teas, a bottled water and a Hersey's bar :)

Michael will be working on this house through the summer and fall so we will have to make some more trips to Purdy to meet him for lunch and play at the construction site.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day a day early at an oyster roast.  There are not many foods that I love more than a good oyster.  I love them raw the best but I can't have them while I'm pregnant so I settled for the steamed.  Michael and I both ate waaaaay too many and Kellan even had one or two.  He was more into the fried fish, cornbread, and hush puppies though.  Kellan had an awesome time throwing sticks into the woods with another little boy that he met named Benjamin.  

Less talking daddy...just point me to the food...

He hadn't found any food yet but he did find his Great Papa :)

Don't even THINK about taking my fish or cornbread

This was our fourth or fifth pile...I lost count somewhere during the eating...

This little boy LOVES to be outside and he had such a good time running around and exploring...thank goodness Gigi and Carol were there to chase him so that Michael and I could spend more time eating :)

Playing with Benjamin in the leaves...he loves finding older kids to play with and he is not shy at all.  If he spots another child, he just walks right over and joins in whatever they are doing.  I even saw him take a few swipes at poor Benjamin with a stick!  Where does he get this behavior from???!!

Of course I have to have a little St. Patrick's decor around the house!  Its not much but its the little things that make me happy :)

My Skittles rainbow creation...thank you Pinterest :)

What holiday is complete without seasonal dish towels?

And to finish up this post here is my little leprechaun from last St. Patrick's Day.  It breaks my heart to see how much he has grown up in just one short year :(

I hope everyone has a great St. Patrick's Day and at the very least I hope you wear a little green!

SNOW!

We were lucky enough to get a couple of inches of snow last week and it was Kellan's first opportunity to actually go outside and experience it.  

Mommy even made peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips for the occasion :)

"If this is what it takes to play in the snow I don't wanna go!"  Kellan was not happy about the snow boots, snow suit, and coat that he had to wear. 

Kellan was not impressed with the snow on our first attempt to play.  He couldn't walk in his boots and I think his coat was too bulky for him to move around easily.

Even daddy couldn't help change this attitude!

We came back inside because he just was not enjoying himself at all.  He already had a runny nose so I knew we shouldn't stay out in the cold long, but I was determined that he was going to love the snow so we tried again.  

We took his coat off to see if that would help him move around a little better...and out we went again.

This time was much better!  He still didn't do a lot of walking in it but he did enjoy sitting in the snow and looking around.

Mommy covering him up :)

Cold!  Look at that face :)

Hmmm...now where did this stuff come from?

He finally played in it a little bit before we had to come back inside to get warmed up.

After we took off our snow clothes Kellan enjoyed a "tootie" and got it all over himself, the furniture, and the floor!  It was a short-but otherwise enjoyable first snow day for Kellan :)

Missed Photos and Videos!

Here are a few photos and videos that I missed along the way during my "blogging break"...

One day Kellan's pack and play was still folded up from a trip out of town and I needed to take a shower.  So I just stuck him in our tub with a few toys (I was lazy, I know).  Of course he didn't even notice the faucets until I wanted to take his picture.  I kept peeking out of the shower to check on him and he just played and entertained himself in the bottom of the tub :)  Daddy came home in the middle of my shower and acted like I was endangering his life :/

Kellan and Daddy at the Farmer's Day Parade in Ellerbe, NC...Kellan loved most of the parade but he did not care for anything that made loud noises

Kellan had a blast at his girlfriend Austyn's first birthday party...as you can see above...oh the joy just tossing around a balloon will bring :)

There was a bouncy house set up but Kellan wasn't brave enough to try it out for himself...even with Daddy standing right there...

he just gave us a big grin and kept trying to climb out!  I'm sure this attitude toward bouncy houses will change very soon!

Kellan watching the birthday girl nibble on a card in between opening presents :)  He has managed to snitch some one's teddy bear AND car!

Dressing up in the photo booth at the party...Kellan was none too happy about any of the props but daddy sure enjoyed himself :)

Kellan has a new favorite snack and a very specific way of eating it.  He sits in the kitchen floor, shakes a few raisins out onto the floor, and eats them one by one til they are all gone...then he shakes a few more out and the process starts again.  This keeps him busy for awhile!  Very useful while mommy is making dinner :)

Kimberlee and Jenni gave Kellan this xylophone for his birthday and he LOVES it!  He will sit, press buttons, tap a little bit, and dance over and over again.  It is one of his favorite toys!

This was a conversation that I had with Kellan right after he woke up one morning.  I laugh every time I watch it :)

Kellan loves to drum, tap, or hammer on anything available.  Here he has turned a pair of chopsticks into drumsticks at P.F. Changs!

Kellan and Briggs

Kellan and Briggs have so much fun together when she comes over to play.  Especially now that they are a few months older, they are actually starting to play together instead of just sitting near each other and playing with separate toys.  Now they follow each other around, pass toys back and forth (or take them from each other), and they are great partners in crime, helping each other get into EVERYTHING.

 

I wish I had a video of this because Kellan was just babbling away, pointing to his book, and turning the pages.  I guess he was "reading" but Briggs just stood right there taking every "word" in.  It must have been a very entertaining story.

Their new favorite place to sit.  I'm not sure who decided to use this as a seat first but the other one was not far behind.  Now they sit there several times a day, always together.  They will only sit for a few seconds, then pick up and move on to the next adventure.

Kellan begging for food...as usual.  The only difference is that now Briggs will throw pieces down to him!  She must feel sorry for my little piggy :)

This picture was from a few months ago but it still cracks me up.  She went back in Kellan's room, took one wipe, came back in the living room and started wiping this chair down.  I have no idea what prompted her to do this but it was so funny.  She scrubbed it for a while.

Typical man already!  Briggs is working her fingers to the bone...cleaning house.  What is Kellan doing?  Stretched out on his sofa watching TV.

They still LOVE to sit on this sofa together.  They don't always scoot over to make room for the other one and sometimes somebody ends up tumbling out onto the floor, but they never get upset and always manage to both squeeze on there (even if somebody is perched on the arm).

I wish I had more pictures and videos of these two (I will have to make an attempt to capture their fun times more often) because they are so entertaining to watch.  Even more so now because Kellan can actually walk!  Before, Briggs would walk and Kellan would crawl behind her.  She would turn around, point to him, and sometimes she would call him "baby" and sometimes he was "doggy."  :)  Like I said before, they are both into everything and it makes it difficult to take pictures when I am constantly pulling them out of kitchen and bathroom drawers and cabinets, keeping them away from toilet paper rolls and toilets, and trying to return Kellan's changing table items back to where they have pulled them from!  They are a mess but they seem to really enjoy playing together and get along well.  I am so thankful for Kellan's friend and the time that they have together every week :)