Obsessions of an almost 2 year old...

Before I had a toddler, I never understood the "obsessions" that children have or the indulgence that their parents provide in these obsessions.  My how the tables have turned...Much to my chagrin (because I had heard how addictive it is) Knox saw one episode of 'Thomas the Train' during our potty training boot-camp weekend and he was hooked.  It is "Thomas Choo-Choo" this and "Thomas Choo-Choo" that and "Percy" and "James" and on and on it goes. Needless to say, when Kyle saw that a life-size Thomas was coming near Austin we had to buy tickets.  So, we drove an hour on Sunday to the city of Burnet to watch Knox get seriously excited about seeing and riding Thomas the Train.  I have a feeling this will be the first of many such indulgences in our kiddos lives and I guess I am okay with that.

Knox with his 'Percy' tattoo 

Knox & Kyle

Playing with trains

Aboard Thomas 

This was the face Knox made when Kyle told him that it was Thomas' whistle he just heard!  

Knox & Me in front of Thomas

"Thomas Choo-Choo" 

Knox & his buddy Avery posing in front of Thomas

The 4 of us (less than a month to go!)

Knox with his buddies Charlie & Avery

-Stacie 

Knox's big boy room...

For the past few weeks, Kyle & I have been working on creating a new "big boy" room for Knox.  And by 'Kyle & I', I mostly mean I have been giving poor Kyle instructions and he has diligently been doing what I have asked him.  Mostly because I am seriously not handy and also because I am very pregnant.  Either way, Kyle did a great job with Knox's new room and we officially moved him into it this weekend to give him a few weeks to adjust before the baby arrives.  The transition was eerily smooth and he has shown no signs of even remotely caring that he is in a new room! Also, in case you don't read captions and you just scan the photos- Kyle actually made the bed for Knox.  I mean bought the plywood and nails and made it and painted it and distressed it.  Homegirl over here is even more in love with him now than she was before.  I'd like to give myself a big pat on the back for getting him to marry me- that is probably the best thing that I have accomplished in my life (excluding trusting Jesus for my salvation, but that is a given!).

The view as you walk into the room

'Mr. Handyman Kyle' made this bed for Knox from scratch! Proud as punch!! 

Knox's reading nook

Where Knox actually sleeps...

thanks to my mom for making his monogramed pillow :) 

We're (I mean Kyle) going to do some updates to the nursery as well to make it more girly.  I'll post those when they are done! 

-Stacie

baby joshua

In the spirit of posting about photo shoots, I will share some pictures that I have taken recently.  Ever since my class ended in May, I have been busy with Knox and being pregnant and haven't spent too much time taking pictures.  Luckily for me, my friend Mary Beth just gave birth to a sweet little boy and she let me take some pictures of their new family.  His full name is Joshua Aiden Archer (Aiden means 'fighter' and this little guy is definitely a fighter). He went through a lot to get here as the healthy little boy that he is and I was so excited to finally get to meet him after all the time I had spent praying for him while he was on the inside!  Here are the best images I got from my photo shoot:

the star of the show

joshua and his sweet brother william

this blanket was Joshua's daddy's when he was a baby...

the whole family

Mary Beth

brothers!

Newborn photos are definitely not my specialty, so lucky for me I'll have my own newborn soon to practice, practice, practice on!! 5 1/2 weeks and counting down...

-Stacie

Just the 3 of us...

It won't be just the 3 of us much longer.  Six weeks to be exact, well give or take you really can't be exact about these things.  We had maternity pictures taken when we were pregnant with Knox, by our very talented photographer friend Jamie.  We decided to have another round of maternity pics taken this time as well.  Just to spice things up we went with a friend of a friend 'Everest Road Photography' and we were very pleased with their amazing work!  We did a "mini-shoot" for the maternity and then we'll do another "mini-shoot" once the baby is born.  Here are some of the ones from our recent shoot:

Just for fun, here are some pics from our shoot with Jamie (check out her photography blog too!) when it was Knox on the inside:

Beasley turned two!

Knox's bestie Blythe turned two a few weeks ago.  It has taken me that long to get the pictures off of my camera and onto the computer.   Not because I have been to busy, but definitely because I have been too tired.  Being 8 months pregnant while chasing after a toddler makes for one tired mama.  But I finally have the pics ready to show!

Best Buddies

They are finally getting old enough to actually play together! 

Knox enjoyed Blythe's birthday cupcake

So did Blythe...

Cool like Daddy...

The B'day girl

Sharing Bea's cupcake

Thank goodness Knox is not quite two yet- I don't think I can wrap my head around it having already been two years since he was born!  But he's only got about 2 months and then he'll be two too! Crazy!

-Stacie

OMG he's cute!

Okay technically it's not really "school" but we thought it was still picture worthy.  Knox started his Mother's Day Out program today.  He'll be going one day a week and I am excited to have some time to myself before the baby comes and then once she's here some time just with her!  

-Stacie 

Our little big kid

Things have been changing at our house lately.  Our sweet little man is getting to be more of a big kid and it is making his parent's very sad :)  For starters, we decided to take on the challenge of potty training before the baby arrives.  I had read some things that said there is a "window" between 20-26 months so I decided to go for it.  Knox seemed very interested in trying so we figured "why not"?  Well, I am shocked to tell you that it worked. After about 5 miserable days, Knox finally 'got it' and we haven't had an accident since Sunday now!  Crazy!  I wouldn't say that we are at a place were it is actually making my life any easier, because I still have to take him potty A LOT since he is so little and it is definitely interrupting his nap routine.  But all in all, we are excited that he has taken the plunge and  is now "potty trained"!

As part of the preparations for the baby's arrival, we decided to have family photos taken of just the three of us.  This Saturday is our photo session and after looking at some pictures I took this weekend, I realized that Knox's hair was looking quite shaggy.

before with his buddy Blythe

He hadn't ever really had a full haircut, just a bang trim and me cutting off his mullet in the back a few times.  So, we took him to a place called 'Pigtails and Crewcuts' for his first real haircut.  Since he got to sit in a toy airplane and watch 'Toy Story' it went really well! He didn't mind a bit and he even got a sucker at the end. He's been talking about it ever since.  "Haircut, Airplane" is all I've heard the past few days!  Here are some pics of the big event:

Watching 'Toy Story'

Can you tell it was nap time? 

the finished product

To be completely honest, he looks a little bit like a mushroom head.  But hopefully that will be cuter in the pictures than super-shaggy! Either way his mother thinks he's the cutest kid ever! 

-Stacie