Tommy & Callie

Merry Christmas!

2012-01-01T19:38:00.001-08:00

Here are a few pics of the kiddos from Christmas morning in their matching PJs! My parents came up from Atlanta to spend the holiday with us, and it was a great one. We are so blessed!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-30T12:01:00.001-08:00

We spent Christmas Eve over at Grandnan and Pops house, as we do every year. But this year, Aunt Gina organized the first annual Christmas performance. Tommy was Joseph and Callie was baby Jesus. The kids all sang Away In a Manger, Silent Night and Jingle Bells. I will see about posting some video, because that truly captures the precious hilarity of the performance and all the different personalities coming through. But for now, here are some stills to enjoy!

Tommy's birthday party

2011-12-13T07:06:00.001-08:00

Last Saturday we celebrated Tommy's 4th birthday. We had an Ensworth theme birthday party in the gym at my school and we had a blast. The guests of honor were Antonio and Andrew. If you follow the blog, you know Antonio is the student of mine who is now playing at UT (the enormous one in the pictures). Andrew is the quarterback at Ensworth. Tommy adores both of them and was beside himself that he got to play football with them at his party. It was an amazing day!

Pulling up already?

2011-12-12T18:51:00.000-08:00

Here is Callie's new trick. She started pulling up last week at school. Looks like we may have a little daredevil on our hands. She isn't even crawling on her knees yet (she has mastered the army crawl but that's it) and we already have to watch out for her.

Breakfast with Santa

2011-12-12T18:41:00.001-08:00

This year, Tommy FINALLY made it on to Santa's lap! We convinced him that he needed to show his little sister that there was nothing to be afraid of and he did great. We had our annual Breakfast with Santa on Saturday the 3rd with all the cousins and it was a great day. When asked what Tommy wanted for Christmas, he said "presents". I guess he'll be easy to please.

"Nashville" anthem

2011-11-05T09:39:00.000-07:00

Tommy can now sing the entire Star Spangled banner, with a few word mistakes, but that makes it even cuter I think! He calls it the "Nashville" anthem instead of the national anthem, and makes me sing it outside every time we play baseball. It is always a highlight for him at a sporting event.

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T07:09:00.000-07:00

Halloween may also be known as the best night of Tommy's life. He was on fire last night, running from house to house shouting Happy Halloween at anyone he passed. He can finally keep up with his older cousins, and had an absolute blast being right in the mix with them. There are certain moments as a parent that truly warm your heart and last night was one of mine. Watching the pure unabated joy of his Halloween experience is something I will not soon forget. As you can see, Callie was unimpressed by Halloween, and slept through all the trick or treating. But that actually ended up working out well, so we could truly appreciate Tommy's enthusiasm and hilarity!

Callie & Caroline

2011-11-01T06:11:00.000-07:00

Our good friends have a little girl 2 days apart from Callie, and we got together this weekend. We captured some adorable pics of the girls together. I wish we could have some audio of their conversations...I swear they were really communicating with each other through their grunts and raspberry noises! It will be so fun to watch them grow up together.

Tommy's first Titans game

2011-11-01T06:08:00.000-07:00

Tommy still LOVES football, whether it is "2 hand touch" or tackle with daddy in the yard. So it was a big day 2 weeks ago when he got to go to a real Titans game! Here are a few pics to document the day. He still walks around the house shouting "first down" and "boo Matt Schaub".

Tommy & Callie

2011-11-01T06:04:00.000-07:00

Callie loves to smile and laugh, but no one can bring it out like her big brother Tommy. We tried to capture a few pics of how she reacts to him, and I think this pretty much shows it. They love each other so much, and it is so fun to watch their relationship grow!

First cereal

2011-11-01T05:55:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of Callie eating cereal for the first time, along with some other random pictures I have taken of her lately. She is getting so big, I can hardly believe it, and has already started crawling! She has her brother's sweet disposition, and unfortunately, is about as good of a sleeper as he is, too. She is still waking up at least once at night, but hopefully that won't last too much longer. But she is such a happy baby, so it is worth it!

Pics of Callie

2011-08-20T09:50:00.000-07:00

So I was just going to add a couple of these to my post below, but then I got the CD from my friend Julie and decided to make these a separate post because there were so many I loved! Julie, my friend from Jax, met me in Atlanta this summer and she took some pics of Callie. As you can see, she did an amazing job (although I like to give some of the credit to Callie for being so cute!). So enjoy viewing some pics of our gal! We took her in for her 4 month check up last week and she is about 14 1/2 pounds, putting her between the 50th-75th percentile. What??!! Tommy has never been below the 90th percentile for weight, so she is just our little peanut. Hard to believe, but its true. She definitely has some rolls and a double chin but she is falling short of where big brother was at this point. We are so grateful for her health and happiness. Enjoy the pics!

Callie's future beau?

2011-08-09T09:16:00.000-07:00

Our friends Tom and Anngenette from Atlanta joined us at the lake house this summer with their precious 2 year old son Camden and their baby Kalan, who was born on the same day as Callie. With the similar names and same birthday, they seem destined to lead parallel lives! They were baptized on the same day and almost weigh the same. Although we didn't get pics of much of the weekend, we did get a few shots of the babies that I wanted to make sure to include on the blog. It will be so fun to watch them grow up and compare! Just wish they lived closer :(

Summer pics of the kids

2011-08-07T17:42:00.000-07:00

Well time must go by really fast in "new baby world" because I have not updated the blog since June 4th! Clearly, life is busier with two kids, and the second child seems to get the shorter end of the stick than the first-born! Tommy had new updates posted constantly, had a birth announcement, and a calendar of his first year where I wrote everything from his first 4 hour stretch of sleep to first steps! And Callie has none of the above. But she is growing so fast and is absolutely precious. She is very laid back and has the sunny disposition of her brother. She is a chubby one but not quite as much of a "lump" as Tommy (yes, someone in Deer Valley actually called him that when he was 3 months old). She can roll from her tummy to her back, LOVES to laugh and smile, especially at Tommy, and as you can see below, she has discovered her fingers and has them in her mouth constantly. That one might be a hard habit to break in the future!

We are all doing well. I go back to work this week, very sad to leave little Callie behind, but I know she'll be in great hands at the same daycare where Tommy goes. If I can just make it through this first week, I will be OK! I have posted some pics of Callie that Aunt Lara took from her baptism that are beautiful, along with some other pics throughout the summer. We also spent a week in Atlanta in July with my friend Julie and her kids, so there are some pictures from Stone Mountain and the Atlanta Aquarium. Julie takes great pictures and I had her do a photo shoot of Callie so as soon as I get more of those pictures, I will post them. A few of hers are also below.

Will update again, in less than 2 months, I promise! XOXO

Callie's Baptism

2011-06-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Callie was baptized at our church by our wonderful Father Mark. It was a great day with the whole family. Aunt Lara and Uncle Rob came in from Austin; Uncle Rob and Aunt Gina are her godparents. Callie wasn't so thrilled during the ceremony but hung in there about as well as an 8 week old can. We actually got some good pictures of all 7 kids.....we were all astonished by how easy it was to get one of all of them; it has always been such an ordeal to get them all together and smiling at the same time. Must have been some divine intervention on sweet Callie's big day!!! Our added bonus was that Aunt Carissa was in town the week before to visit her godson and meet Callie, and she stayed for the baptism as well.

Summertime at the lake

2011-05-31T08:20:00.000-07:00

The last 2 weekends, we have headed to the lakehouse for some summertime fun. It is certainly a different experience with an infant, but Tommy loves it there so we are trying to go as much as possible. Callie did pretty well considering she was only 6 weeks old! The highlight of the first weekend we went was that Uncle Bob "the burglar" and Aunt Brigitte were here, so Callie got to meet them. I can't believe how fast she is growing! She is smiling now and doing very well....a couple weeks ago, she was over 10 pounds. Seems she will follow in her brothers chubby footsteps! We realized around 3 weeks that she had some reflux issues just like Tommy did, so we got her on some medicine and she has been better. She is still adored by her big brother, and by all her cousins, too!

Uncle Ryan comes to visit

2011-05-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

On Mother's Day, I was woken up from a nap to be surprised by my brother coming for a visit! He had flown from LA to Illinois to attend a rugby reunion weekend and drove down to Nashville Sunday morning to meet his new niece. Although we only had Sunday afternoon with him, it was great to see him (it has been almost 2 years!) and I was so happy that he got to meet Callie. You can see Tommy was very impressed by Uncle Ryan's tattoo, so we had to put one on for him as well.

Easter

2011-04-28T06:17:00.000-07:00

Easter was our first big day out with Callie. Tommy was an egg hunting maniac and we had a blast with Catherine, Carter and Jennison. Unfortunately Drew and Corinna were sick so the day was a bit incomplete but we had fun. Here are a few pics from the day.

Tommy is a big brother!

2011-04-27T12:42:00.000-07:00

After 9 long months of waiting, Callie Grace was born on Tuesday, April 12th at 10:34 am weighing in at a stocky 6 pounds 15 ounces :) Tommy couldn't be happier to be a big brother, at least for now. Here are a few pics from the hospital and our first few days at home. We are so blessed!!

Snow days in Tennessee

2011-04-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

This is VERY late but we had some great snow this year in Tennessee and lots of snow days for me!! I wanted to be sure and post a few pics since we never know when we'll get good snow like this again. We had a blast over at Aunt Gina's house sledding with the kids whenever it would snow. Tommy really loved it this year and is all ready to learn how to ski in Deer Valley next year when he is 4!

Down to Jax

2011-02-14T11:57:00.000-08:00

Over MLK weekend we flew down to Jax for a long weekend to see everyone one last time before I can't travel anymore. We stayed with our dear friends Jim and Julie and their 3 kids who you have seen a lot of if you follow our blog. Tommy and Rea are only 5 days apart and it is so fun to watch how well they play together as they get older. My friend Julie is a talented photographer so she got some great shots of the kiddos in the park, and Ryan and Jim hammed it up for the camera....big surprise. I also posted a video of Rea and Tommy dancing which is hilarious. We bought Rea a box of princess dresses for her birthday in December and Tommy had a blast dressing up. He thew an all out fit when I took away the high heels. I'm not sure Ryan loved the dress-up party but I laughed so hard I was crying. I can't believe I didn't get the camera out but I could barely compose myself during my hysterics.

We also got to see our friends Neil, Allison and Aidan. Neil is a police officer with Jax Sheriff's Office, so he is always a hit in his uniform and car with the loud siren. Our friends Rick and Julia and their son Trace joined us for lunch on Saturday. You can see some pics of Tommy, Aidan and Trace below. Finally we got to spend some time with our friends the Durkins but didn't end up getting any pics (my fault!!) It was ugly and rainy that day so there weren't many photo ops. They have twin daughters Tommy's age so they hooked us up big time with nursery decor and clothes for Callie!!!

Been a long time....

2011-02-14T10:38:00.000-08:00

Well I am just about coming up on 3 months since I last blogged! We have had lots of fun and apparently, have been very busy. First things first, we found out around Thanksgiving that we are having a girl, just like Tommy wanted. We are now in the countdown to Baby Callie's birth...about 9 weeks out if we make it to the due date!

Some other exciting news, since you saw Antonio's picture on our last post. Signing day was about 2 weeks ago and he committed to UT!!! Tommy is so excited that he will be a Vol, as are we! Stay tuned for a pic of Tommy and Antonio with their Big Orange gear on!

I posted some pics below of Tommy's 3rd birthday party at MyGym (his favorite place on Earth) as well as some pics from the holidays. Tommy has yet to sit on Santa's lap, but you can see he did love Mrs. Claus, and made it close enough to give Santa some knuckles. He promises next year he will sit on Santa's lap to show Callie that there is nothing to be afraid of. The video is just a funny glimpse into what it often takes to try and get all the cousins in for a picture. Good for a laugh!

I will do my best to blog at least once more before baby comes and then of course, with lots of news as Tommy officially becomes a big brother. We can't wait!

Go Tigers!

2010-11-13T08:23:00.000-08:00

The school where I teach has had a great football season and they are moving on to the semifinals after a big win over our major rival, MBA, last night. We have taken Tommy to 3 football games this season and he loves to go see all the big football players. His favorite is a student of mine, Antonio, who is the #1 recruit out of the state of Tennessee. He is easily the biggest person Tommy has ever met, at 6'6", 310 pounds. Literally, if we want Tommy finish his food or milk, or do anything for that matter, all we have to say is that Antonio does it, and he does it! Sadly, Antonio transferred to a different high school to finish out his senior year a few weeks ago, but it meant that we got to see him at the game last night and get a picture with him. We all have our fingers crossed that he will accept the offer to Tennessee, but he isn't saying anything yet!

The video is Tommy performing the "Tiger Rumble" which is one of the main cheers that the kids do at games. Go Tigers!!!

Happy Veteran's Day

2010-11-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

We learned the other day that thanks to school, Tommy knows most of the Pledge of Allegiance. Wish we could take some credit for this patriotism, but we really can't. But it is adorable to listen to and we caught it on tape on Veteran's Day.

Halloween

2010-11-13T07:13:00.000-08:00

This year, Tommy was really pumped up for Halloween and was like a wild man running through the streets of Brentwood shouting trick or treat. I don't think he even cared that much about having the candy, but just truly loved the process of the entire evening. We all got together at Dan and Jessie's and had a blast. All the boys were superheroes....Tommy was spiderman, Drew was Robin and Carter was batman. I guess now that we have been a superhero, there is no going back to cute pumpkin costumes anymore!

Fun in the fall

2010-11-13T06:51:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures from our morning outing to Gentry's farm in Franklin, where Tommy go to go on hayrides and play on all sorts of cool things in anticipation of Halloween.

Another post at last!

2010-11-06T15:14:00.000-07:00

Wow, 3 months since my last post. I am really falling down on the job. Well I have a pretty good excuse! Check out the video and pictures below:

Yes, Tommy is going to be a big brother and is very excited! Well, he is excited about having a baby sister, not so much a baby brother so this should be interesting if it turns out to be a boy. I am 17 weeks now and due April 17th with baby B! We found out right around the time of my last post, and the first trimester combined with first quarter of school made for a difficult time there for a while. But we are all doing great and excited about the new addition!

And we're off again....

2010-08-09T07:59:00.000-07:00

After our long weekend at the lake, Julie came up with the kids again because Jim is deployed now. It was such a gift for me to get to see them in May and then again in July! We did much better on pictures during the May visit, so we didn't take many this time around. Two days after Julie left, Tommy and I flew out to Tucson to see Carissa and Darcy and to meet William, Carissa's son who was born last September. The kiddos pretty much peacefully co-existed but didn't always love being around each other. In the last 3 pictures, you can see the series that Carissa took that are hilarious. The looks on their faces are priceless. That pretty much captures the ups and downs they had together all week. But Carissa and I loved all our time together so that is what really matters!!! I must add, by the way, that Tommy was terrified of feeding the giraffes but had no problem touching a snake...

Happy 4th of July!

2010-08-09T07:47:00.000-07:00

We stayed down in Atlanta until the weekend of the 4th, and then drove up to Tim's Ford to the lakehouse for a great holiday weekend with the whole fam (except Uncle Rob and Aunt Lara :( ). The kids had a blast together and got lots of great time on the lake. I believe this weekend was the start of Tommy's popsicle obsession: you can see he had a great time chowing down on his red, white, and blue popsicle. Thank goodness once again for Spray N Wash.

Tommy went down to Georgia

2010-08-09T07:37:00.000-07:00

After our friends left, we went to Atlanta to spend a few days with Gram and Bampa. Tommy was in heaven, of course, and spoiled rotten! One of the highlights was getting together with one of my college roommates and her son, Jack. Tommy and Jack had a blast at the sprayground and playing in the park. Tommy's favorite part about being at Gram and Bampa's was probably helping Gram water the plants in the backyard each night. He loved being a big helper and also getting soaked by the time they were done. Seems he has inherited his daddy's green thumb, since his mommy really couldn't care less about yardwork, plus I have quite a track record for killing all plants.

More friends come to visit

2010-08-09T07:29:00.000-07:00

In late June, more friends from Jax came to visit! Neil, Allison and Aidan came through for 2 days on a big roadtrip they took. Tommy and Aidan are just under a year apart so when we left Jax, they didn't interact much, but this time they were hilarious. There were plenty of disputes over toys but overall they did great. I didn't take as many pics as I should have, but wanted to include a couple since seeing our friends was such a highlight of our summer!

Corn on the cob

2010-07-11T14:01:00.000-07:00

We have discovered this summer that Tommy's new food is corn on the cob! It is hilarious to watch him devour it so I felt like it was blog-worthy. The video is pretty great, too!

Summertime fun!

2010-07-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

Our summer is in full swing (probably why I haven't blogged in 2 months!) I have the whole summer off and we were able to keep Tommy home with us this summer without having to pay for day care (woo hoo!). So our summer has been spent mainly at the pool and the lakehouse, and we are now in our travel season. In June I enrolled us in a class at MyGym which is now one of Tommy's new favorite places ever. I included some pics of him there, along with some pictures from his friend Claire's birthday party which was also at MyGym.

Tommy is a little fish this summer and loves to swim. It is hilarious to watch him jump off the diving board and dock. He makes the greatest face that I think we were able to capture in the pics, then bends his knees as much as possible before launching himself. I posted a video as well as some pictures of that, too! Enjoy!

The McDonalds come and visit!

2010-07-11T11:37:00.000-07:00

In May our wonderful friends from Jax (the Navy family that we talk about a lot if you follow the blog) came up to Nashville to visit. It is the first time that Jax friends made it up this way so it was great to just spend all the time together, instead of us rushing around trying to see tons of different people. Tommy and their daughter, Reagan (also our goddaughter) are only 5 days apart. We had an awesome weekend and cherished all our time together. You can see Tommy and Rea are serious buddies with some possible future potential! :)

Easter 2010

2010-04-21T16:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics from Easter this year. Tommy really has the hang of the Easter Egg Hunt by now, so he thoroughly enjoyed the one he did at school, with friends, and with family. On Saturday we got together with Tommy's friends Abby, Claire and Michael and then spent Sunday with all the cousins. The random football picture was taken after Grandnan found Rob's old football uniform in the basement and decided to play dress up, and the chocolate on the face picture is what Tommy accomplished when I wasn't looking for about 3 minutes. Classic.

Camden and Tommy

2010-04-21T16:43:00.001-07:00

In late March, some of our friends came from Atlanta to visit: Tom, Anngenette and their sweet baby Camden. It was the first time Tommy has been around a baby for an extended period of time, and he was so sweet, most of the time! We didn't get nearly enough pics but did snap a few. You can see one where Tommy is taunting Cam a little holding the drill out of his reach. This was one of his not so nice moments, but luckily there weren't many!

Easter program

2010-04-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

Tommy's school had their Easter program last week and it did not disappoint. After laughing ourselves into tears after the Christmas show, we knew this would be a must-see. All the different classes dressed up as different animals and Tommy's group was chickens. They did a poem about ducks and then the chicken dance. The pics are pretty cute but the video is the one that will have you in stitches. If you can't tell which one he is, he is he one who starts out with the yellow duck. I tried to keep him in the center while filming but sometimes I am laughing so hard that it shifts around. We are so blessed to have Tommy in such a great place every day!

Fun videos & Tommy meets another cousin

2010-03-31T14:35:00.000-07:00

We have had lots of fun things going on lately! A few weeks ago, we had breakfast with my cousin Kristin and her son Ben. They live in North Carolina and in a very weird "small world" occurrence, she has a good friend who lives about 5 minutes from us. So they were in town and called us to see if we could get together. I probably haven't seen Kristin since we were little kids so it was great to catch up. Ben took Tommy right away and had all sorts of things planned for them to play. They got along great and it was fun to meet some new family! A few days later, Ryan and I went on a ski trip with his family for the week and left Tommy with Gram. She got the great shot of him in the cardboard box.

The videos below are pretty cute if I do say so myself. The first is Tommy counting which he loves to do and he can even go above 10, although not always in order. I love how he smiles at himself part way through.

The second is him doing the alphabet and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. He didn't have much of a chance to have a good voice with us as his parents, but he loves to sing anyway.

Warm weather at last

2010-02-21T19:21:00.000-08:00

This past weekend my parents were in town to see the new kitchen and to get their Tommy fix. Tommy finally got to use his new t-ball set from Uncle Dan outside and did a great job. He also got to break out all the warm weather toys he's been dying to use again: the Fred Flintstone car, the "big wheel" and the remote controlled car. Thanks to lots of great exercise in the sunshine, Tommy took 3 hour + naps both days this weekend. That is a FIRST!!!!

We have also been watching the Olympics which Tommy loves and we taught him some patriotic cheers today which you can see below. USA!!!

Fun in the snow

2010-02-21T19:15:00.000-08:00

Nashville has seen its snowiest winter in a long time. My school which is known for NEVER getting snow days got 3 this year!!! We had lots of fun sledding and playing in the snow with Gina et al each time we got a good snowfall. I still need to get some of the good pics from her but you can see Tommy all bundled up here. He had more interest in sliding down the slide than sledding, but he loved playing in the snow!

A Blazin Christmas

2010-02-21T19:06:00.000-08:00

Christmas is my FAVORITE time of year, but for the last 3 Christmases, we have had some major life change going on the prevents me from fully reveling in the joy of the season and relaxing in our own home. 2007: Tommy is born early December, so we have a screaming, non sleeping baby by Christmas. 2008: have just moved from Jax to Nashville and are living with Jim and Nanci. 2009: move out of our house BACK in with Jim and Nanci on Christmas Day to demolish and re-do our kitchen! Needless to say, Christmas at our house was neither relaxing nor reveled in. We woke up early, thanks as always to Tommy, opened about 3 presents (all for Tommy since we didn't get eachother gifts), we then took DOWN our Christmas decorations, I packed Tommy and me and we spent the day at Gina's/Jim and Nanci's while Ryan did demo.

It wasn't the Christmas I envisioned but fun in its own way! We were relaxing at Jim and Nanci's with a fire in the fire place when all of a sudden the room filled with smoke and fiery debris started falling down from the chimney. Within seconds, a neighbor had called the Fire Department because flames were shooting from the chimney outside and they rushed over to the house to put out the fire. It couldn't have been any more fun for Tommy seeing REAL firemen in all their gear tromping through Nana and Pops house. And really, Nana and I didn't mind either since the firemen were all good looking, except we did feel a little guilty that they had to come out on Christmas Day. The lesson was, get your chimney swept yearly, and we spent the rest of the day with lots of love and fun memories but no cozy fire!

Christmas Eve 2009

2010-02-21T18:47:00.000-08:00

Ok, so you'll notice it is late February and here are our pics from Christmas! I have no case to plead except that we moved out of our house on Christmas Day and in with Jim and Nanci for 7 weeks while we renovated the kitchen. We went to mass on Christmas Eve with Jim and Nanci, Dan & Drew, Gina, Stephen and kids which was an adventure...we took up just about an entire pew. I couldn't put Tommy in child care on Christmas Eve which meant that about at the consecration he had had enough of the quiet and one of us was banished to the lobby for the remainder of the mass. This was after Tommy cheered "Yeah Father Mark!!!!" loudly once all the music of the intro hymn had stopped. True Bauchiero style.

Then we Dan, Jess and kids and we all headed back to Jim and Nanci's for dinner. You can see the kids had a blast and even got a visit from Santa who came up the back porch and left shiny silver bells for Tommy, Corinna and Drew! By the way, the picture of Tommy on the hearth is him with his "guitar" otherwise known as the package that some Snoopy golf clubs came in, trying to put on a singing show just like his cousin Carter does. Finally we have a video of the Dance Party that ensued that night at the end of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Dance party

2010-02-01T13:18:00.000-08:00

Ryan got a flip video for Christmas and I've spent all sorts of time trying to get the videos to go up online and I think I finally got it! This is the video I experimented with and it is one of Tommy's favorite friends, Josie, and him dancing at his birthday party.

We haven't had many posts b/c we are living with Ryan's parents while our renovation is in progress. We are only about a week out from being finished!!! So hopefully I'll be on top of our posting a little more after that. We have had 2 decent snows in Nashville and I will have to post some pics of Tommy all bundled up and waddling around trying to keep up with the cousins.

Weekend of chaos

2009-12-20T11:54:00.000-08:00

The weekend of the 11-13 my parents came in town to celebrate Christmas and Tommy's birthday. We started off the weekend with Tommy's Christmas program at his school that I actually hesitated to go to, not knowing how it would actually be. They had been practicing their "song" for weeks but I thought, really it will probably just be a train wreck and will he even perform on stage when people are watching? Well let me just say that we would have MISSED OUT if we hadn't gone. My mom and I were laughing so hard that tears were streaming down our faces. The kids were hilarious and so adorable and Tommy was a star playing his maracas! I included a couple pics of the performance including one with his best bud/girlfriend Annaross from daycare. I have tried a million times to upload some video but to no avail. I have to work on the technical difficulty. Then Saturday morning we woke up and had Christmas. Tommy got all sorts of great things...you can see he got lots of book as always, along with play doh, a remote controlled car, DVDs and more blocks. And finally, Sunday morning we had his party and had a REAL fire truck come to the house for the kids to play in. We also decorated fire truck cookies and had lunch. I'd say it was a success! We thought Tommy was so beat after the party that he would sleep for HOURS and we got precisely a ONE HOUR nap out of him. Lucky for him he's so cute....

2nd Birthday

2009-12-20T11:46:00.001-08:00

With Tommy and Catherine's birthdays only 2 days apart, this year we decided to do a family get together to celebrate for both of them, and then do a separate party for each of them. We all went to the club for Breakfast with Santa. Tommy was pumped to see his cousins, but absolutely terrified of poor old Santa. You can see how that went in the pic below...we even had Ryan sit on Santa's lap WITH Tommy to no avail. Hopefully next year will be better! But he got an awesome t-ball set from his godfather, Uncle Dan and a train table from Nana and Pops. This started a full week of complete spoiled rottenness, as the following weekend we did Christmas with Gram and Bampa AND his little friend birthday (will post next). Let's just say that Tommy now thinks everything that is wrapped is his, and that our playroom is completely out of control!

2009-12-20T11:39:00.000-08:00

The day before he turned 2, we finally decided that Tommy's mullet/rat tail esque hair was a little out of control, so Ryan took him to "Divas and Dudes" for his first real hair cut. He came home looking like such a big boy!!! But he did great, although he wasn't a big fan of how the scissors felt on his skin. I think big money is in a hair cut place for kids....they "distract" your kids with toys and then of course when you go to leave, they don't want to give the toys back so you walk out paying $18 for a hair cut and $4 for a roaring dinosaur. Oh well...I think it is to Head's Up with Daddy next time for a $10 cut (and no dinosaur)

Photo shoot

2009-12-15T13:46:00.000-08:00

During Tommy's first year, we got pictures taken of him at 4, 8 and 12 months. For those of you loyal followers, you have seen the studio "posed" pictures that we took. But I decided to have a photographer take some candids of Tommy in the park a few weeks ago and they turned out beautifully. Here are a few of my favorites (well, probably more than a few...just too many too narrow them down). You can see he is officially a BIG BOY! I just can't believe how big he has gotten. He amazes us every day with his growth and development, and we have officially entered the "watch your mouth at every moment" stage because he will literally repeat everything you say and is able to readily produce words again in the future! Enjoy....

A visit to Jacksonville

2009-12-13T05:20:00.000-08:00

With Tommy's second birthday fast approaching, we realized that we'd better get in our traveling while we don't have to pay for Tommy to fly! So we made one more trip down to Jax the first weekend of November. It was the first time we were able to meet "Aunt Juju and Uncle Ricky Ricky's" little guy Trace who was born in August. We connected with lots of old friends and had a great visit. We got to stay with our friends Jim and Julie who have been stationed in Japan and Rhode Island for the last 3 years. They used to be our next door neighbors in Orange Park and really became family for us immediately. Their daughter Reagan (our goddaughter) and Tommy are only 5 days apart and you can see they really love each other when they aren't fighting over toys, which happened a lot. Tommy loved playing with all of his buddies and we had some great time with amazing friends.

Halloween festivities

2009-12-13T05:03:00.000-08:00

OK, I am way behind! It is December 13 and I am finally getting up pictures of Halloween! Anyway, the Sunday before Halloween we got to take all the kiddos to the Governor's Club for pumpkin decorating, hayrides and games and we had a blast. Tommy was having a pretty good time, and then he discovered the golf cart and it was all over. All he wanted for the rest of the day was to ride around the course and the parking lots. For Halloween, we went over to Dan and Jessie's and played and then went out trick-or-treating. Tommy went back and forth between chasing after the older cousins going up to doorways and just wanting to hang out in the push car that we used for him. He really got the hang of getting candy and putting it into his Mickey Mouse pumpkin. All in all I'd say it was a successful Halloween! The Bud Light picture is a classic, of course that was for daddy as we were trick or treating but Tommy wanted to hold it before it was open so we had to get a shot of it!

Off to Chi-town!

2009-10-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

What a weekend Tommy had! Last weekend for my fall break, we flew up to Chicago on Saturday morning and met up with our friends PJ, Kristen and their son Gilbert (you may remember pics of them from their Nashville visit in April). Gilbert and Tommy are only 6 weeks apart and have always been fine with each other but this time they were real buddies! Tommy got to ride in his first train, bus and taxi cab! And as you can see below, he also thoroughly enjoyed his first smoothie. We went to the Children's Museum and the Shedd and even entertained ourselves by watching the boys run up and down the hallway in the condo building when it was raining. We had a blast and LOVED seeing the boys together. On Sunday we headed to Ryan's cousins' house where Tommy was the hit of the household with Riley, Morgan, Jan and Terry. He loved all the attention and didn't want to leave. They gave him a book called "Good night Chicago" which is currently the ONLY book in rotation: literally, we read it through 3 times a night before bed. We can't wait to get back! Sorry for the amount of pictures but I just couldn't cut it down...too many cute ones.

Yeah Uncle Jerry!

2009-10-25T11:35:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago Uncle Rob and Aunt Lara were in town so we all traveled out to Lebanon to have lunch with them at Lara's parents house, now lovingly known as Margot and "Uncle Jerry". Jerry has a hangar (where the wedding and reception were held) with 3 of his own airplanes. With Tommy's fascination of airplanes, the trip was a hit and of course "Uncle Jerry" is now the coolest guy Tommy has ever met. Tommy didn't get to actually fly in one but Drew, Carter and Catherine did along with most of the adults. Tommy was pretty content to sit in them and spent the majority of the day either saying "yeah Uncle Jerry!!" when he would fly a plane, or rotating from plane to plane. And I worried that we hadn't brought toys out there for the kids to play with???? I included a couple pics of Tommy in the planes and then had to have Jerry pictured in at least one so you can see him. 2 weeks later and Tommy STILL talks about how Uncle Jerry flies the yellow airplane!

Little Ring Bearer

2009-09-26T09:59:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Tommy's uncle Rob and Aunt Lara tied the knot here in Lebanon, TN, and Tommy and all the cousins were in the wedding. They all successfully made it down the aisle although Tommy was pretty much done after that and just wanted to eat all the fruit and cheese. As you can see, Rob and Lara are about the most beautiful couple in the world! We were so happy to share in their day and let's face it, the boys look pretty pimp in their suits and bow ties. I, however, forgot Tommy's bow tie for the family pics, but luckily we had a friend pick it up and deliver it in time for Tommy to wear it down the aisle. A big thanks to Gram and Grandpa (or Bampa as Tommy says) for all their help with the little guy so Ryan and I could party it up with the fam. Also included are some pics from hanging out with everyone on Sunday.

#1 Vol fan

2009-09-20T17:43:00.000-07:00

So Tennessee hasn't had the best start to the season, but we are not fair weather fans, so regardless of how things are going, Tommy is being brainwashed, I mean trained, to love the Big Orange. Here are some shots of him sporting some of his game gear on game days. The cute girl in one of the pics is one of Tommy's favorite friends, Rachel. She and her husband Chad are early risers so they usually join us for an early breakfast one day each weekend. I also included a short video with some of his new favorite words. He is now officially at the point where he will say just about anything we do, so it is time to be extra careful, particularly in times where an expletive is always the first thing out of the mouth!

Tickle game

2009-08-13T18:40:00.000-07:00

So here is a short clip of Tommy and Ryan's newest game. Ryan says "do you want daddy to tickle you?" and Tommy says "yep!" while he giggles his head off. I could watch this for hours! It should put a smile on your face for sure!

Tommy's travels

2009-08-13T18:21:00.000-07:00

July was a busy month for us! We spent the weekend of the 4th with all the cousins at the lake house, but for some ridiculous reason, I took no pictures! Then the following week, Tommy and I flew out to Tucson to see Carissa and Darcy. They have always played fairly well together but this trip was by far the best. Tommy was smitten with Darcy to say the least. We had so much fun taking all sorts of outings: the zoo (where we fed giraffes, Tommy's current favorite animal), the children's museum, the pool (of course, it is 110 degrees there for crying out loud!) and even the mall a couple days just to let them run around. There were also many diaper dance parties where the kids showed off their awesome moves. I tried to capture that one in a movie but of course they stopped when the camera started rolling! Below are lots of pics of our visit. Ryan joined us for the last few days of the trip, too, which was an extra bonus. There is picture below of Ryan and Tommy "relaxing" which is Tommy's new trick that Ryan taught him how to do.

After Tucson, we flew to LA for a wedding and got to meet up with my brother for breakfast, so the last pic is one of Tommy with his uncle "Yanni" as he says it!

First time at the beach

2009-07-08T11:22:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, we headed down to Jax to visit and to send off our some of our good friends who are moving to San Francisco. I was determined to get Tommy to the beach since he hasn't been since he was 2 months old and wasn't quite able to enjoy it then. On Sunday, we made it out to Jax beach and Tommy LOVED it. But what made it the best is that some of our closest friends, Jim and Julie and their kids were arriving in Jax that same weekend after their year in Rhode Island. (For those of you who have followed for a while, we took a trip out to No Cal last summer to see them after their 2 year assignment in Japan. They have a daughter who is 5 days older than Tommy who is also our goddaughter). It was a great reunion and the kids all had a blast. You can see a picture below of Camden holding a hammerhead shark....yes, that was caught in the exact water where we were swimming, although we didn't go in very far. Some of my favorite pics are the ones of Tommy with Ryan. I tried to get the perfect pic of Tommy and Rea together on the beach which never happened but I did get a couple of them later in the day. Next is one pic of Tommy with the Durkin twins who are only a few months younger than him. Last but not least in the line are 2 pics of Tommy with our friends at the going away party we went to Saturday night.

This Friday, Tommy and I are off to Tucson to see my friend and Tommy's godmother, Carissa and her daughter Darcy for a week. Then we'll head to LA for a wedding, then Ryan and I are off to Alaska with my family for a week long cruise! (Tommy will be in the very capable hands of his Nana Kay and Pops back in Nashville). I'm sure I'll have lots of great pics to post in a few weeks!

Let the brainwashing begin

2009-07-08T08:15:00.000-07:00

As football season nears, we have taken it upon ourselves to educate our child in all things UT. Now that he can talk, we are on a roll. One of his new favorite things is to talk about Smokey, the UT mascot, and to read his "Hello Smokey" book. Not only are we teaching him about UT, but about other important aspects of SEC football. The video explains itself. Enjoy!!!

A week at Gram and Grandpa's house

2009-06-16T11:16:00.000-07:00

Last week we had Tommy's 18 month appointment. He is in wonderful health and is still growing like a champ. He is weighing in at 29 pounds, 4 ounces which is the 87th percentile. He had a growth spurt and is now 33.5 inches which puts him in the 82nd percentile. All in all, he is a BIG BOY! At least now he is tall and chubby instead of short and chubby. He is totally turbo all day long which has been an adjustment for me with being home with him every day. He is so much fun and is truly a little monkey....he loves to imitate us in speech and in action, he loves to get dirty and run around (usually chasing after his cousins) and has no fear. He is 100% rough and tumble boy, but has a very sweet side, too. His vocabulary amazes me....he has about 6 words in Spanish which I of course am very proud of, and at least 25 in English. His little personality keeps us laughing and smiling all day long (although maybe not really smiling so much at 5:45 when he normally wakes up!)

The first week of June, Ryan and I scooted of to Paris for a week to visit some of our best friends who are living there for a year (free place to stay...woo hoo!). We flew out of Atlanta, so it was perfect to drop Tommy off at my parents' house for the week. Gram was well prepared with tons of toys, activities and even a play date planned! Tommy had a blast, well I don't really know who had more fun, my parents or him! But it was a great chance for them to get lots of time together. They spent lots of time playing the park, and you can see by the high chair picture that they wore him out (which is usually the objective). Enjoy the pics and then read on under them for an update on our Tommy boy!

Mesmerized by the lawn mowing guys

Snackin' with Grandpa

Fun in May

2009-05-18T06:53:00.001-07:00

As long as I was posting, I wanted to include these! We had an unbelievable garden of irises in our new backyard this spring so I tried to do a photo shoot with Tommy in front of them. Of course getting him to pose or stay still for that matter is a challenge, but here are a couple cute ones! Below those, you can see a couple pictures with Gram and Uncle Ryan. We had my parents in town the first weekend in May and my brother made a surprise appearance (well, a surprise to my parents anyway) on Sunday for a short visit after a reunion at Southern Illinois with his college friends. Tommy has always loved Uncle Ryan and his facial hair but he was a little more tentative this time. Of course now that Ryan has left, Tommy looks at his picture and says Ryan and smiles but when he was here, we could hardly get him to give him a hug! It was a great bonus since we rarely get to see him.

A visit from Gilbert

2009-05-18T06:48:00.000-07:00

In late April, our friends from Chicago came down to visit. They have a son, Gilbert, who is only 6 weeks older than Tommy. We were with them on Halloween, too, but the boys have changed so much since then and it was fun to see how much they've changed. Tommy is of course, heftier than Gil, and their personalities are so different. But they had lots of fun playing together. Again, Tommy wasn't so keen on the whole sharing idea but we worked through it. I am disappointed at my lack of pictures here...we had an eventful weekend at the park and the zoo but really the only time I broke out the camera was playing in the playroom.

Tommy & Darcy

2009-05-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

The week after Easter, Tommy's godmother Carissa and her daughter (and my goddaughter) Darcy came to visit. If you've been following our blog for a while, you'll remember her pics from a visit when Tommy was only 2 months old, and then again this summer in Northern Cal. Anyway, Carissa and Darcy came for a short visit and it was so fun to see the 2 kids together. They are exactly 7 months apart, but they are the same height and surprise.....Tommy is bigger and weighs more! They really interacted this time and had fun together, except of course when Darcy was playing with one of Tommy's toys. The age difference between them seems to lessen each time we see eachother which is so fun! We will be visiting them this summer at their new home in Tucson AZ for a week!

Of course no visit would be complete without bathtub pictures. The kids were pretty pumped about their soapy soiree until a fight broke out over a rubber duck and both kids had a complete meltdown which brought the fun to a screeching hault. We got a good laugh out of it, but the kids did not. We didn't have our wits about us to get a picture of the meltdowns and really, that would have been cruel, right? So you'll just have to enjoy the pre pics!

More Easter Egg Hunting!

2009-05-13T13:41:00.001-07:00

As a practice round the day before Easter, we went over to our friends house and the kids had an Easter egg hunt. Tommy's friends Claire, Abby & Michael were there. You can see from the pictures that Tommy wasn't the biggest threat in the backyard. He started off strong, running ahead of the other kids and then ended up either putting eggs in Michael's basket or getting distracted by the balls in the yard! Then Tommy proceeded to make a mess "blowing bubbles" which really consists of him dipping the stick, getting the soap all over himself and then trying to put the soapy stick in his mouth. It was great to get together with our close friends, though, and so fun to see them all together. It was the first time our old "dinner group" has been together since we've been back in town and the kids are playing so well together. Our nights of dinner, drinks and relaxation have turned into chaotic days full of fun and smiles. Life sure has changed!!!

Easter fun!

2009-04-21T14:37:00.001-07:00

Thank goodness that we had 6 healthy kids and were all able to get together for a big family Easter!!! This is Jennison's premiere on Tommy's blog by the way....very exciting. Anyway, we all got together and had a wonderful day. This was Tommy's third Easter egg hunt of the weekend, and we kept trying to teach him to box out and throw some elbows to get other kids out of the way but he never did quite get it. He either got distracted by other things to play with or put his eggs in other peoples' baskets. I guess him sharing is more important than winning...But it was a fabulous day. Tommy is really into giving hugs and kisses now but his hug is more like a "lean in and head bump" kind of thing as you can see with Corinna. He sure loves his cousins!! After the big Easter egg hunt, Aunt Lara gave Tommy a ride on Uncle Rob's "longboard" and had a blast. Oh, and don't worry, we didn't let Tommy eat any chocolate that day. We do realize that he doesn't need any extra calories. Happy Easter!

Tommy & Charlie

2009-03-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

OK, 2 new exciting pieces of news in Tommy's life! First, uncle Rob and aunt Lara asked Tommy to be in their wedding last week. So he, along with all his cousins, will be part of the ceremony in September. He is very excited and can't wait to wear his first bow tie!! Also, Tommy's new cousin Jennison was born last week. Stephen and Gina's daughter was born on Thursday and is absolutely beautiful. Now there are 6 grandkids!! Tommy will certainly have lots of playmates as he grows up.

Speaking of playmates, Tommy met his new friend Charlie Grimes this weekend. Charlie is the son of our friends who live here in Nashville. They are about a year apart, so they aren't quite doing all the same things yet but we know that a great friendship is a sure thing in the future! Tommy and Charlie had lots of fun together, although the sharing thing was a bit of a struggle at times...Tommy doesn't quite get that concept yet. But we had a great day and our friend Melissa got some cute pics of the boys. Tommy is very proud of his physique as you can see. He doesn't have quite as many rolls as he used to but is still a little chunker...especially that belly that we love so much!

Bilingual baby!

2009-03-15T07:36:00.000-07:00

Well, not exactly, but Tommy is learning all of his parts of the body in Spanish. Although he can't say them, he is realizing what they are. He gets them all in this video....barriga is belly and he points more to his chest, but it's close enough for me!!

Back to Jax!

2009-03-14T12:53:00.001-07:00

Last weekend, we went back to Jacksonville to spend some time with our friends. It was an eventful weekend to say the least. We had a rough couple nights on Thursday and Friday and ended up at our old pediatrician's office Saturday morning because Tommy had a perforated eardrum and another ear infection. Luckily we got it taken care of and it was nothing contagious but poor little Tommy had a rough couple days. I'm sure the plane ride had something to do with adding to the pressure and causing the perforation. It was our first plane ride since he's been mobile so he was a little squirmy but did as well as a 15 month old can do I suppose! He had some great peek-a-boo matches with new friends on the plane and charmed all the ladies, as always. (Daddy has taught him well)

All of the friends you'll see pictured all had babies within a year of Tommy, and Tommy's aunt "Juju" with the blonde hair is pregnant and due in August. So needless to say it was a busy weekend. Here you can see Finn who is a year and a half older than Tommy and the twins, Piper and Clare who are only 4 months younger than Tommy. We all got a good laugh out of the fact that Tommy looks closer in age to Finn than to the girls since he is so big! He is now 27 lbs, 10 ounces.....not really slowing down on the weight gain like we thought he might with walking!

On Saturday we got together with all the Bolles friends. Brecken is 5 months younger than Tommy and Aidan is 10 months younger than Tommy. He pretty much looks like a giant next to them! We had so much fun getting together and seeing how much they had all changed. Tommy's Uncle Neil is a police officer in Jax and has a little puppet that he uses for presentations. He broke it out for the kids and put on quite a show. I think he had more fun than the kids. It definitely provided some great entertainment.

More pics

2009-03-01T11:37:00.000-08:00

Here are some more pics of Tommy over the last couple days. I can't resist bath tub pictures, so there are a few for you! He is really starting to get some hair so you can see my attempt at a mohawk. He is up to 10 teeth now, 6 on top and 4 on bottom so I tried to get a pic where he is showing them off! He still has his beautiful blue eyes, although they look like they are getting some green in them sometimes. I SWEAR he is starting to slim down a little, but I caught this great picture of his double chin and had to post. When he looks at you normally you can't see it but it is definitely still hiding there.

Yesterday we went and visited Tommy's Gigi and had a great time! I haven't gotten pics of the 2 of them since about last March so they are well overdue. He thoroughly entertained her with his antics! He always brings a smile to everyone's face at Gigi's place.

Say cheese!

2009-03-01T06:43:00.000-08:00

So we haven't taken pictures of Tommy since around Christmas and we decided to break out the camera the other night. As soon as he saw he camera he smiled and said "cheeeeeese", totally unprompted. It was hilarious....we have no idea where he got that but needless to say, we've had the camera out pretty much every day since then. Here are 2 short videos of Tommy....one with him rockin' on his Christmas toy from Grandnan and Pops where he says "cheese" and then another where he is giving daddy a zerbert (sp??). Ryan taught him this talent a couple months ago but we finally caught it on film. Besides cheese, Tommy's vocabulary now includes ball, Jesus, touchdown, light, mommy, daddy, Jackie (from daycare), bye bye. He is also quite adept at animal sounds! He is an endless source of entertainment, usually starting at approximately 5:45am each day. What can I say? He is a Bauchiero and does not want to miss out on anything, even though he doesn't quite realize nothing goes on at that hour of the day! Enjoy the clips.

One year pics

2009-02-08T07:27:00.000-08:00

On New Year's Day we took Tommy to have his one year pictures taken, and here are some of our favorites! You can see he is still quite the Florida baby since he'd much rather be barefoot than have shoes on, even in the middle of winter.

Breakfast with Santa

2009-02-02T14:40:00.000-08:00

The day after Tommy's first birthday, the whole fam went to the club to have brunch together to celebrate Catherine's birthday (which is 2 days after Tommy's). We successfully got all the kids to the place, ate a relatively calm brunch and then got to take pictures with Santa. Tommy wasn't too thrilled about that strange guy, even though he does have facial hair which is usually a hit. But his cousins were there so he was OK with it. Then we got some great family pics. By the way, if you didn't know, the cute blonde in the middle (who is also in a pic from Tommy's birthday) is Tommy's future aunt Lara! She and Rob got engaged on Christmas day. Tommy loves her already which is not hard to do...we can't wait to have her in the family!

First days in Nashville

2009-01-15T19:16:00.000-08:00

Sorry that every title is "first" something, but we've had lots going on the last few months so we've had lots of firsts! I can't even believe I am posting these pictures here but the first morning we woke up in Nashville it was snowing! Besides Deer Valley when Tommy was 3 months old, he has never seen snow before so it was fun. I had to get a couple pics. I also wanted to include his snuggle time with Pops picture. If you're up early with Tommy, you can sometimes be the lucky recipient of this kind of lovin'. Tommy and Pops had many of these while we lived with them for a few weeks. Please excuse my un-showeredness and refer to the better picture of me with the family at my parents house in the other post!!!

First Birthday!

2009-01-15T19:02:00.001-08:00

Hard to believe, but our little buddy turned one on December 6. We had a football themed SEC Championship game birthday party. Clearly that was mommy and daddy's idea and not Tommy's but I think if he could have chosen, that is the way he would have wanted it! It was a great party even though Florida won the game (we are working on teaching Tommy how to say Boo Gators). The cake thing didn't end up being quite the production we thought it would be. He had his very own "smash cake" from Publix but he mainly just stared at it. I know I know, save the fat jokes...the kid really didn't care about it! And he wasn't really appreciating everyone staring at him either. Maybe if he had had some privacy he would have dug right in. Anyway, it was a great night! As you can see, Tommy LOVES his cousin Corinna. They are quite the pair and always seem to be sharing all kinds of secrets when they see eachother. The pics of Tommy in the pjs were from opening presents the next morning. The band instruments came from Gram and Grandpa (Largay) which were actually a suggestion from me and not them getting a good laugh out of giving Tommy something that makes lots of noise. The puppy chair, lovingly known as Porter, has become Tommy's number one snuggle pal. (besides daddy)

November photo shoot

2009-01-15T18:58:00.003-08:00

I wanted to get some good seasonal pics of Tommy so we took these the day after Halloween. Not much detail to share with this one, just cute pictures!!

Uncle Bob and Aunt Anita

2009-01-13T17:06:00.000-08:00

So I try to be so good about keeping pics updated as Tommy meets new people, particularly members of his family! This summer Tommy met his great aunt Anita and Uncle Bob (lovingly known to all the kids as Bob the Builder). The pics we took were not on my camera and now I have them and want to share since Tommy's family is so important. Bob and Anita came in August for Gigi's 90th birthday and Corinna's baptism. We got to see them again when we got to Nashville after Thanksgiving. My apologies for these being so ridiculously late!

First trip to Gram and Grandpa's house: My first steps!!

2009-01-13T16:30:00.000-08:00

So I know this is totally awful but Tommy's first trip to Gram and Grandpa's (the Largays) did not occur until the child was almost a year old! I finished work at Bolles on November 14 and then my mom came and helped us pack (AGAIN) that next week. Then she rode with me and Tommy up to Atlanta and thank goodness I had her in the car! It only got ugly one time with a good meltdown in the backseat but for the majority of the 6 hour ride, it was quite pleasant. We spent the entire week of Thanksgiving at my parents' house and it was wonderful. You can see in the pics that Tommy has quite a few teeth now...to date I think he is up to 7. My brother and Katie came in town and it is the first time we have EVER all been together on a holiday! For whatever reason, Tommy felt the need to work on some lung development that week with some interesting sounds coming from him and his aunt and uncle nicknamed him Bonkers the Pterodactyl. Probably the most exciting news of all was that the day before Thanksgiving Tommy took his first steps!!!!!! We had a great time and it was such a gift to all be together!!! As you can see, Tommy is still fascinated by Uncle Ryan's facial hair. At that point, Tommy was in the pushing boxes and rearranging furniture stage.

My first Halloween!

2009-01-13T15:09:00.000-08:00

So I am really writing this blog in January, but I haven't put up a post for so long that I am going to pretend that I am doing it at the actual times!!! For Halloween, we went up to Nashville so Tommy the monkey could have Halloween with his cousins, and because I had my job interview at Brentwood Academy that day. Our friends Patrick and Kristen and their son Gilbert who is only about 2 months older than Tommy (and about 8 pounds lighter!) were in town as well. This was Tommy and Gilbert's first meeting and we had been anticipating it for months...probably ever since we figured out we were both pregnant at the same time. Anyway, we started Halloween off at Gigi's where all the kids went to visit and then we trick or treated around Dan and Jessie's neighborhood. It was a bit uneventful for a 10 month old but we all had a blast. Here is a key for you: Gilbert=zebra, Corinna=bumblebee, Carter=Prince Charming, Catherine=Sleeping Beauty and Drew=the other monkey. Enjoy the pics!!!

This one is for Bob...

2008-10-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in my posts....I know you've all been eagerly awaiting the next Tommy update!! If you haven't heard, things here are a changing! Ryan's company is transferring us to Nashville, so we are moving yet again (just when we got all the boxes unpacked!) But now that means that Tommy will be able to grow up near his cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and will be closer to Gram and Grandpa in Atlanta. Ryan is already splitting time between Nashville and Jax, and Tommy and I will officially be moving up to Nashville around Thanksgiving. I sent our address in the email before this update. We'll be living at the Bauchiero B & B for a few months until we get settled and until I find another job and then we'll hopefully find a house near my new school.

As for Tommy, he is doing great. He has 4 teeth now and is a busy little guy. He is certainly showing some daddy characteristics...if he wants something, he figures out a way to get it. He is very happy and vocal, quite like his parents. It is amazing to watch him discover the world and how things work. He is a constant source of amusement and we'll pretty much do anything we have to do to get him to laugh. He enjoys our ridiculous antics on a regular basis.

Last week we made it through our first ear infection which is actually pretty good considering he has been in daycare since he was 4 months old and he is ten and a half now. He was a trooper as always and we are pretty much back on track now. He started a new daycare a few weeks ago and he loves it there. He is really into playing with other kids and now he is around a lot more babies his age so it is a wonderful environment for him.

The one big disappointment in Tommy's life right now is his Tennessee Volunteers. For his first football season, he is quite disillusioned by our pathetic performance this year. Luckily he is young enough that he will soon forget how his Big Orange was a Big Disaster this year. But it builds character and we are teaching him not to be a fair weather fan.

Here are some recent pics along with a couple videos for you to enjoy. One is an example of how he loves to imitate sounds we make and another is a tribute to all the Bobs in his life, and I think there is even a Rob in there for his uncle. Enjoy, and we'll be in touch with our updates!

Talkin' & Walkin'

2008-09-11T13:58:00.000-07:00

Tommy is 9 months now and is doing so much fun stuff. He talks all the time (who does he get that from?). His favorites are da da & ba ba, and he is getting pa pa, too. He is weighing in at 23 pounds 3 ounces as of last week. Still only 2 bottom teeth but I think the top ones are not too far away. He is pulling up on anything possible. All in all, he is a busy little guy! He is still so happy and nothing puts a smile on our faces faster than him. Here is a little clip of bathtime, which seems to be his favorite time to talk. Of course I didn't get the full effect by the time I grabbed the camera, but you get the idea!

Ryan bought him a toy the other day, thinking he would eventually understand how to push it to help him walk, and within a minute, he was pushing it across the room! Pictures of course would not do it justice so we captured it on film to share.

Tommy goes to No Cal

2008-08-21T08:36:00.000-07:00

On July 24, we flew from Jax to Northern Cal to visit with our friends who have been in Japan for the last 2 years, Jim & Julie. We were surprised at the airport by Aunt Mary, or as the kids lovingly call her, May May! She drove all the way to the airport just to get a few minutes to meet Tommy. You can see that Tommy was happy to meet her!

Jim & Julie have a daughter who is only 5 days older than Tommy and we have the honor of being her godparents. So the trip was doubly special because we got to see their family and be there when Reagan was baptized. As you can see, she gives Tommy some good competition in the weight category! We had a great time with them: we got to spend a day in Sonoma while Julie's mom watched all 4 kids, we took a ride in Julie's dad's boat across the bay to have lunch at his yacht club and the baptism was very intimate and special. Tommy was a great traveler and adjusted to the 3 hour time change much easier than I though. I must admit I was dreading it but he was a trooper. The time spent with them could not have been better! We did get some really cute bathtub pictures but unfortunately we didn't get any where both of them were not exposed!

After our long weekend with them, we visited Tommy's godmother, Carissa, in Walnut Creek. Tommy & Darcy had lots of fun together, but it was tough to get a good picture of them at the same time. How is Tommy ever going to choose between all these girls!?

8 month photos

2008-08-21T07:20:00.000-07:00

We took Tommy to get his 8 month pics taken almost 2 weeks ago. He is becoming much more tentative and aware of new surroundings, so it was a bit of a struggle to get him to smile just right, and to stay still for that matter since he is crawling all over now. But we did manage to capture a few adorable pictures so here they are! By the way, Tommy is mastering the army crawl although he is still not up on the hands and knees. Perhaps his proudest accomplishment is pulling up to standing, especially in his crib. He is quite pleased by this and thoroughly enjoys doing it instead of taking naps! My next post will be pics of our trip to Northern California....I'll put them up soon!

Tommy is on the move!

2008-07-22T06:57:00.000-07:00

Here is my first experiment with loading video onto the blog. Tommy is starting to get the hang of crawling, although it is more the army crawl than actual crawling on his hands and knees. Anyway, enjoy!!

Another trip to Nashville!

2008-07-20T13:23:00.001-07:00

We just got back last weekend from an awesome trip to Nashville. The 4th of July is always a big holiday for the Bauchieros so we went up there to spend it at the lakehouse. There were 10 adults and 5 kids all in the same house so it was busy but lots of fun! Unfortunately I never got Tommy into his "All American Baby" overalls for a picture. But I did manage to get a few pics of him with his cousins, and you can see this is baby Corinna's premiere on the blog! We also took Tommy on his first boat ride. You can see he wasn't a huge fan of the life jacket at first but he got used to it.

The highlight of the trip was that Tommy finally got to meet his uncle Ryan!!! My Ryan surprised me for my 30th birthday with arranging for him, my brother Ryan and parents to come in town and he also put together an amazing surprise 30th birthday party for me the last Saturday we were there. He knew that the thing I wanted the most was for Tommy to meet his uncle and Tommy was a huge fan of him and especially his beard. The visit could not have been better!

As soon as we returned home, we moved! It was a chaotic few days but thanks to all the hard work of our incredible friends here, we got everything moved and settled.

I am now a short 5 minute drive to work which means about 10 minutes in the car during the day for Tommy instead of an hour and a half. We are closer to almost all of our friends, and much closer to all the great places to go, including the beach. We couldn't be happier about our location and the house we found is fabulous!

Now we turn around on Thursday and head out to Northern California to see our friends that have been in Japan for 2 years. They have a daughter 5 days older than Tommy so we can't wait for the kids to meet! Then we are staying to see Tommy's godmother Carissa for a few days.

On a different note, Tommy has cut his front 2 bottom teeth at the same time. He is currently weighing in at 21 and a half pounds! He is also crawling now so that may help him slim down a little but who knows?! Time to babyproof the house I suppose.

Sorry for the delay on the update but as you can see we are staying pretty busy. I'm sure I'll have plenty more pictures to post once we get back from Cali!

Summertime fun!

2008-06-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

We are having a blast so far this summer....I can't believe that a month is already gone. As soon as school ended, Tommy and I headed up to Nashville for 10 days to visit and for his baptism. He had so much fun with all of his cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, godparents, etc! The baptism went really well and our close family friend Father Mark Beckman performed the ceremony. Tommy continues to be a great traveler so everything was smooth sailing on our trip. Everyone was impressed with how easygoing and happy Tommy is. Makes me wonder what we are in for in the future....

Once we got back, Tommy got sick for the first time but just with a cold. It brought a few rough nights but he still smiled all day, even with virtually no sleep. Mommy did not have the same happy smile on her face. But he is on the mend and luckily it happened between trips.

As far as milestones, Tommy is sitting up easily on his own now. He can also move from sitting to his tummy although it isn't the most graceful move ever. He can roll over both ways and is starting to move a little but I wouldn't call it anywhere near crawling. He has started eating solids and has made it through all the veggies. Now we are moving on to the fruits and those are going over much better than the green stuff did! Still no teeth, but as you can see below, he puts everything in his mouth, including beer bottles. Don't worry, we only let him have them when they are empty, but he LOVES them. Yes, no paternity test needed on this baby.

Our big news here is that we are moving. Our house has been on the market for over a year and finally sold a few months after we listed it with a realtor. We'll be moving to the other side of the river in Jax which will cut my commute time down from 45 minutes to about 5. We will be a lot closer to all our friends and to the city, better shopping, church, etc. So with our travel and a move on July 14, we will have a busy summer!

That's about it from us, so here are some pics from our Nashville visit. I'll keep 'em coming as often as I can!

School's out for summer!

2008-05-24T18:10:00.001-07:00

Yippeeee! I just had my last day of school yesterday and Tommy had his last day of daycare. Now it's time for lots of summer fun & travel for mommy & Tommy. Our daycare situation turned out to be better than we could have dreamed! The woman who takes care of him is outstanding...she loves Tommy & Tommy loves her. Plus I think it has been really good for him to be around other babies. He was the only boy in daycare, with 2 other girls (both named Ava) so he was lovin' it. He never even got sick in the 10 weeks he was there which just goes to show how clean she keeps her place. I thought for sure I would end up with a sick baby as soon as he went to daycare! We plan to take him back to the same home in the fall so Carmen can watch him again. He is only 3 minutes away from my school so that made returning to work much easier.

I can't believe it is summer already! We have 3 trips planned to Nashville, as well as trips to Atlanta and Northern California. We are entertaining the idea of a short cruise to celebrate my 30th birthday but we aren't sure if that will pan out. Our main focus is to make sure Tommy gets lots of time with his cousins and little friends in Nashville, as well as with his grandparents, aunts & uncles who don't get to see him much. Hopefully he will continue to be a great traveler like he has been so far.

Tommy is changing SO much these days. He is almost 6 months now which is so hard to believe. Just in the past couple weeks, he has discovered his feet and can put them in his mouth, he can sit up on his own, he can roll over both ways, hold his own bottle and yes, of course, he has discovered his "special part". As you can see from the pictures, he also had his first trip to the zoo! He is all smiles and charm and has become quite the flirt...the kid draws crowds when we are out in public now. He has finally gotten the hang of the bouncy swing which is providing him with some much needed calorie burning activity! Still no solid foods yet...we plan on starting that right at 6 months. He wasn't really in need of anything extra as far as calories go! But he has slowed down with the growth as you can probably tell from the pics. He is still rocking the double chin but at least he kind of has a neck now. Still no teeth, and still no hair, besides his little layer of peach fuzz. His eyes are still deep blue like both of his grandpa and pops. I am hoping they stay that way but they still could change.

Next weekend will be a big one for me because we are leaving Tommy to go to a family wedding in southern California. My mom is going to come to Jax to stay with the little guy so I know he'll be in good hands but I can't imagine leaving him for 4 days. I hope I can relax enough to enjoy myself!!

I'm sure we'll have pics galore with all our trips this summer so I'll keep them coming! Hope everyone is doing well...we love you!!!

Tommy's first trip to Nashville

2008-04-18T18:06:00.000-07:00

Over my spring break at the end of March, Tommy and I went up to Nashville for his first visit. He got to meet his great grandma "Gigi", Uncle Stephen and Uncle Rob and all of his cousins. Catherine was definitely the most excited of anyone to see Tommy. She just could not believe that she had not met him yet! There were a couple times that Tommy was a bit overwhelmed by the chaos but hey, he's a Bauchiero, so he has to get used to it! We had a great time and got to spend lots of time with family. Of course there is never enough time to see everyone but we already have 2 trips back to Nashville planned for this summer. The highlight of the trip for me was seeing him with the other kids, especially watching Catherine give Tommy a bottle (which by the way was all she talked about to me for the 2 months prior to our visit!). She is so incredibly sweet!!

We were blessed to be in Nashville when our newest niece, Corinna Blake was born. She is such a little angel!! Although Tommy didn't get to see her in the hospital, he is excited to have another cousin to play with!

Tommy is still doing great. Daycare is going very well and we are have decided to send him to the same place in the fall. His caretaker, Carmen, is wonderful and Tommy loves her. Plus she speaks in Spanish to him which reinforces the Spanish I have started to speak! Ryan is dreading the day that Tommy mouths off to him and Ryan doesn't understand! I am counting down the days till summer: 25 school days and then exams.

Enjoy the newest pics and we'll keep you posted with any news.

Tommy's first photo shoot

2008-04-11T05:44:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, we took Tommy in for his 4 month pictures. He was such a trooper! We got some great ones and I got them emailed to me so I could download and post them, so here they are! I still need to put up our pics from Nashville so hopefully I'll get to that this weekend.

He had his 4 month check up last week at the doc. 4 more shots...yuck! But he only cried for a few seconds. It made for a rough night or two but he recovered quickly and is back to sleeping through the night for the most part. He weighed in at 16 pounds 9 ounces and he has dropped from the 90th percentile in weight down to the
80th, so he is definitely slowing down but still "not hurting" as the doctor says!

I am counting down the days till summer...30 school days left. Daycare is still going well, Tommy really likes it there so that does wonders for my peace of mind. It is hard only seeing him a couple hours a day but we are all doing well with it.

I'll get the Nashville pictures up soon. He loved meeting his cousins and seeing his aunts and uncles. We are looking forward to more trips up there this summer!! In the meantime, enjoy these pics!