The Zoo Run Run!!

Tucker, Maddie, Aunt Kara, Hallie, a friend of Kara's and her niece and nephew, and I participated in the Zoo Run Run @ the Nashville Zoo today. Yes, it was COLD, but we all had a great time. I pushed Maddie in the stroller and walked, while everyone else ran the 3.1 mile trail. Maddie kept asking "where are the animals?", unfortunately most of the animals were hiding. We only saw the elephants, tigers, and lynx today. Towards the end of the race, Maddie decided she wanted to run the rest of the way. She took off and Tucker ran to the finish line with her. I was right behind her and very proud, she didn't slow down until she reached the end. Afterwards, the Zoo had prepared a spaghetti dinner and we were hungry and ready to eat. It was a fun time had by all and good quality alone time with my Maddie girl! Who knows, Maddie may run it next year and Nathan might go for a ride, we will have to see!

The Hobbs Crew - One

Hallie and her "Uncle Tuckie"

Picture Update

Alright, Tucker told me that I was talking too much about potty time, so I decided to post some recent pictures.

Maddie and I went roller skating a couple of weekends ago. I had forgotten how hard roller skating can be on your ankles. Maddie did pretty well, however she did have several falls and cried. She has got to toughen up some if Tucker is going to make her the next big basketball player to come out of Hickman County.


The next two pictures were actually taken by Maddie and Nathan. I think they may have some pretty good photography skills.

Nathan fell asleep one night while watching T.V. with Tucker. Doesn't he just look so precious? Makes me want to kiss those chubby little cheeks. :)



Nathan and Maddie working on the recliner. Maddie told me that it is all fixed now and that they worked really hard on it. Kids have the biggest imaginations.

Updates...

Nathan - I can't help sharing with all of you Nathan's progress with potty-training. He is doing well, however I am aware that we still have a long road ahead of us. Yesterday when I picked him up from daycare, they told me he went pee-pee in the potty 4 times and pooped in the potty 2 times. The teachers are very excited and so supportive. They told me that he does not like for them to stare at him while he is "doing his business", so they stand outside the door with it propped open and he lets them know when he is all done. After we picked the kids up, we decided to go to Cracker Barrel for dinner. I just didn't feel like cooking and had no idea what I wanted to eat. So, off we go to dinner. I had forgotten that I had taken Nathan's diaper bag out of the car the other day to re-stock it, so no diaper bag with us. About half way through dinner, he looks at him with this horrible face and starts saying "ohhhhh, ohhhh." So, I asked him if he had to go potty and he said yes. So, off we go.....and he went pee-pee in the potty!! This was his first official request to go to the bathroom. I was so excited and so was he that we did a little a dance in the bathroom. Isn't it funny how your child going to the bathroom can make you celebrate and act plum goofy?

Maddie - Things are going great since Friday night. She has been listening to me so well and knows that yellow and Dora will be taken away if she doesn't mind or listen after her warning and time out attempts. Fortunately, we have not had to try out our new system yet. I am very thankful for that and pray that this behavior continues. Oh, the trials and tribulations of a parent! :)

More Potty Time

I wanted to update you fellow bloggers on Nathan's progress with potty training. On Monday, Nathan was moved to the 2 year old classroom at his daycare. We were so excited because now he will be with Ruby all day and I feel like his language skills will excel. Well, Tuesday I was off of work, so Tucker took the kids to daycare for me to have a "free day" (by the way, I enjoyed myself.....didn't do anything but got my haircut). Anyway, when Tucker came home with the kids, all three of them were smiling ear to ear and Maddie was just about to bust. Get this....Nathan pee-peed in the potty 6 times and pooped in the potty 2 times. I was so EXCITED!!! We all danced around the kitchen and acted really silly. Then, on Wednesday, we went to Wal-Mart and I bought him some pull-ups. However, he would not even go into the bathroom on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, I tried the daycare's plan of action. I set a timer for 1 hour and asked/took him into the bathroom. At first he was excited and willing to go the potty, as I started to pull down his pants he would say "no potty, no." So I did not push him at all. Then, today he was back at the daycare and his report sheet showed that he went pee-pee in the potty 4 times today! One of his teacher's told me the kids go to the bathroom with a buddy (Nathan's buddy is usually....Ruby, you guessed it). So, I guess I am going to have to have Maddie, Nathan, and myself all go to the bathroom at the same time.......who knows what goes through a 2 years old's little mind. But, we will keep trying! :)

Maddie Virginia

Maddie is really testing me these past few weeks. We are working on her ability to accept the word no and understand the reasoning behind it. Also, she is a huge procrastinator when it comes to bedtime. These two things are a pretty constant struggle for me. Maddie's two favorite things in her world are her yellow blanket and her Dora doll pillow. She sleeps with these every night and carries them in the car with her. After multiple attempts with time-out, I have started giving her 3 warnings. Once she gets her 3rd warning, Dora and yellow are mine for the night and the next day. Well, tonight she succeeded in having them taken away from her. She cried herself to sleep and it tuged at my heart strings. I hated to do it, but I really want her to listen to me. I understand that kids are not going to mind their parents ALL of the time, but I expect her to listen and obey my rules. She is normally a super duper kid when things are going her way and the answer to her questions and desires are yes. Then, after she was in bed, I watched Super Nanny. Absolutely love the show. Well, I am going to try some of her lessons on Maddie and the above mentioned behavior. She will now get one warning and then she goes to time out. I have to admit, sometimes I may give multiple warnings without following through. This is going to change and I hope that it will work out for all of us. Boy, this parenting thing is really hard. Why didn't God send a lovely instruction manual along with these little pieces of heaven?

Happy Birthday, Nathan!

Well, today is Nathan's 2nd Birthday. I just can't believe that 2 years have already gone by since Nathan entered into my life. He has been such a blessing to our family and we couldn't imagine our lives without him. As promised, I have put together a little picture montage of his past year.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I had to work today, this being the first time in 4 years that I have worked on one my kids' birthdays. I enjoy being at home with them on the big day and really missed that special time with Nathan today. So after work, Tucker, Maddie, Nathan, and I went to Burger King and had dinner and some playtime. Then, when we got home....we gave Nathan a new Cars movie because he has scratched his up. He was very excited and acted like he never had one. The kids are in the playroom right now watching it. Happy Birthday, Nathan!!

Nathan's Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Nathan's birthday with our family and our "extended family." Nathan and Maddie have such a large family network that we had about 35 people attend his party. We are very thankful to have so many people to call family. It was really nice to have my sister and her family attend their first Hobbs' birthday celebration. I am enjoying having them live closer to us!

Nathan is really into the Disney/Pixar Cars movie, so he had a Lightning McQueen party. It is really difficult to have a party with presents so close to Christmas...but the kid racked up!! Nathan ripped into his gifts like a pro. He got a remote control Hummer, several books, a UT football, a big truck with lots of cars, and $30 to mention a few.

His cake was so cute, I hated to cut into it. But, the kids were begging me to hurry up and give them a piece. I just love Publix cakes and dream of one coming to Dickson someday.

Next year, Kara and I have decided that we are going to combine "the twins" birthday parties. It is too hard to have parties in back to back weekends. For those of you that not know, Nathan was born on January 5th and Ruby was born on January 7th. They are like 36 hours apart in age. We call them the twins because 1. they are so close in age and 2. it takes twice the eyes, energy, and patience to keep up with them. It should be lots of fun next year when the two of them turn 3!!

Please check in on Monday, Nathan's birthday. I have put together a picture montage and will post it on his birthday. I hope I am able to download it onto this blog. I can't believe that my baby is 2 years old. My how time flies. Happy Birthday, Baby Na Na!!

Happy New Year!!

I hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve. We went to Tucker's sister's house for our annual game night. The kids had a blast playing together and staying up late. The only one that made it past midnight was Audrey. We decided to crash at their house this year instead of leaving before or right after midnight. Thanks Kara and David for being great hosts.
I want to wish everyone a very Happy and Healthy 2009 and hope this one is your best year yet! We are beginning to prepare for Nathan's 2nd birthday party on Saturday....stay tune for pictures of the big event. Happy 2009!