Georgia Aquarium

We went to the Georgia Aquarium last week, which I was totally stoked about because I've been waiting to go there ever since it opened. Because I like fish and animals and stuff.
So there.

So anyway, our mistake was in going around noon....they only let in 100 people an hour, but by noon, there are about 300+ people in there, and the place was PACKED. We had to wait to get up to the glass at every single exhibit.
Was it worth the money? Sure, but only if you go at the first time slot available so you don't have to fight through the rude, pushy, and non-deodorant wearing crowd just to get a glimpse.

Consequently, my pictures are less than stellar because I was trying to take photos, hold onto the stroller, keep an eye on the 3 kids among the throngs of potential kidnappers, and enjoy the animals as well. :)

Here's Steve and the boys coming out the tank/tunnel thing. The GA Aquarium boasts the largest saltwater tank in the United States, maybe even the world - I'm not sure, I'll have to check on that.


Here's a tip when taking photos at a zoo or aquarium:
Place your camera's lens directly on the glass. It eliminates the glare and will give you a great picture.
That said, I didn't do that with any of these pictures because there were too many people.
But anyway, now you know.


Here's a picture of Owen who was really transfixed by the sea lion exhibit. They were his favorite and I had a hard time getting him to leave.
This picture is also for DanO so that he can grunt and be disdainful over the length of Owen's hair.

Loved this pattern on this fish....

Not a seahorse, but a seaDRAGON. Cool, huh?

These aren't very good pictures (yes, I take crappy pictures sometimes) but I thought they were so cool I had to show them to you. They're called Garden Eels, and they live in sandy burrows, which they construct. When feeding, the Spotted Garden Eel rises out of its burrow, exposing up to two-thirds of its body. It feeds on zooplankton taken from the passing current.
I just wrote all of that from the vast knowledge in my head.

Actually, I had to look it up on the internet.


This was one of my favorite exhibits, they had this really peaceful instrumental music playing that gave the room an eerie, yet hauntingly beautiful aura.
Tyler liked 'em too.
He kept pointing his little finger in every exhibit and saying, "oh wow"


One of my favorite pics of the day....
I have other pics, but they're nothing impressive. GA Aquarium also has a whale shark, which was gorgeous, and beluga whales, and a lot of other cool stuff. Check it out if you're ever in ATL with time to kill...just make sure you get in at the first time slot of the day!

More posts tomorrow!

Back in 'Bany

I'm back and begrudgingly get back on the bandwagon. I had a day to take a deep breath, unpack our suitcases, and now I'm playing catchup with the business and running last minute errands to get Owen ready for KINDERGARTEN on WEDNESDAY, OMG - that's a whole 'nother post - AJ ready for preschool, and Steve ready to start at Deerfield on Monday. ugh. Not to mention that Casey is leaving for Valdosta in a week but I don't wanna talk about it.

Anyway, a few (tasteful) pictures of the birth of my niece Emma on the biz blog, in addition to some pics from a photosession in Michigan...more pics to come over there tomorrow of my niece when she's NOT covered in blood and placenta and stuff. LOL. Oh yes, I DID just say that. I'm too tired tonight to post any more blog pics.

Here's a picture of Tyler and his 21 month old cousin Kenny.
They were being naughty, so we stuck them in this dog crate.
It worked really well.
We taught them a lesson, oh yes we did.



Actually, they crawled in there of their own accord. Who needs cars and puzzles, and educational and developmentally appropriate toys when you can play in a dog crate??


And a cute one of Kenny, and his cheeky grin. I have a series of pictures of Kenny doing about 10 different facial expressions, but just this one for tonight.....

Another post coming in a second....

Checking in

Just a quick note...to let everyone know that I'm here. I'm alive.
I'm in Atlanta until Tuesday or Wednesday....lots of post and pictures to come.

~tammi :)

What A Shocker

Ha! Saw this over on 'Ness's blog so I gave it a try....you can do it too (even guys):

37 As a 1930s wife, I am Poor Take the test!

Meet my niece & nephews

I know you've seen them several times before....but here's some snapshots of my niece and nephews in Michigan....you know, in case you want to meet them. :) Because I know you do.

Here's Robby - at 8, he's the oldest of the brood and a very typical firstborn - competitive, perfectionist, scholarly, a leader. He's a fun kid and he can kick my butt on the Wii.

Here's Johnny....he and Owen are only 3 months apart in age. While he's closest to Owen in age, he's more like AJ's twin in personality. Gregarious, fun-loving, mischeivous, athletic, and a real funny man.

Here's Abby - age 3 and family diva. She actually has red curly hair (before I converted this photo to black and white that is) and she is a piece. of. work.

For real. She'll tell you what's up. And then she'll roll her eyes at you.

An Abby-ism:

I'm sitting on the floor in her room and she brings me this plush purple moose.

"this is a nice moose - where did you get him" I ask her.

She puts her finger over my mouth.

"Shhhhh. Don't talk. You're dead"

right-o.

Kendrick a.k.a. Kenny - he's almost 2 and has the funniest little smile. I'll have to try to get a picture of it. His eyes crinkle up and he gives you this toothy Miss America grin. He keeps busy by tattling on Tyler all the time.

And then of course there's Number Five.....who's yet to arrive. *hmph*

She better get here before I leave, that's all I have to say.

The day after I got here, on Sunday - my parents had a little birthday party for Tyler. My dad has enjoyed baking birthday cakes for the Michigan grandkids for the last year or so and just recently decided to take a cake decorating class for fun to build on his hobby.

He made this cake for Tyler.

It sure as heck beats the messy crumbly blob that we made him last week.

You win, dad.

Show off.


Here's me trying to get Tyler to blow on the candle instead of swipe at it with his hand.

And one last one of Tyler...he's enjoying being in a new house, with new toys, and new people to play with.

Me too. :)

Cake, Presents, and His First Airplane Ride

Some pics of Tyler's birthday celebration yesterday.....

Here's after he "blew out" his candle - and by "blew out" I mean that he swiped at the candle with his hand and extinguished it with his finger before I could get a picture of it. This lovely cake was made by big brothers Owen and AJ, with a little help from mama and daddy. Egg shell fragments courtesy of AJ.

He wasn't to sure about this large plate of high fructose corn syrup and refined sugars and sprinkles we set before him....

He felt it would be safest to test the consistency first with his fingers....

Hmmm....interesting.

Better smear it around the mouth and hands first to check it out....Yell a few times too, just to make sure it isn't still alive.

Smash it a few times to get it good and flattened....

THEN it can be eaten.
Yum!

On to the presents...with a LITTLE help from big brothers.

Lemme just tell you, that Tyler has no toys. I'm not kidding. He has a small hodge-podge basket about the size of a large shoe box of baby rattles, book, and random toys in his room. I diligently bought him a new toy now and again when he was about 4, 5, 6 months old - after he started sitting and was interested in toys, but I swear to you: the kid didn't like toys. He was much happier to smash his hands in the dog food and push a stack of post-it notes around the floor. An empty water bottle with some coins in it?? WAY more entertaining than that $15 toy you just bought him.
So we quit buying him toys.
And we were hesitant to get him anything for his birthday even....terrible right? But we pored over the toy aisle at the store and thought that maybe, just maybe...he might like this:

And he did. And he actually played with it for about 20 minutes.
Success!
Now if we could just get AJ and Owen to leave it alone and let him play with it.....

This cool musical clock and old-skool phone are from Lisa. She was pretty geeked to find this Fisher Price clock at the store that was identical to the one she had growing up. And she also found this phone which I think every American kid born in the 60's, 70's, or early 80's had. Come on?! The Fisher Price phone...with the googly eyes? Tell me you had one. It looks exactly the same...except the cord is shorter because it's a choking hazard. It's a wonder we didn't all strangle ourselves on those long cords, right?

Anyway...I broke out those toys this morning, since O and AJ had stolen away his ball popper from yesterday and were hoarding it in his room. He enjoyed them.
Vintage coloring for vintage toys....
:)

I think he looks like this because he hears the boys coming to take away his stuff.
Oh no they di-n't.

Here's one with his new luvy teddy bear that AJ picked out. It's super soft and squeezy and I'm hoping that this little bear quickly starts to take the place of my boobs as a source of comfort and security.
(*fingers crossed*)

And just some randoms from his room this a.m. as he attacked me and tried to swat the camera out of my hands.

Totally blew this one out, but I like it anyway...

In other news...Tyler and I are flying to Michigan tomorrow to visit my family and await the arrival of my new niece, who better not come anytime tomorrow because Rob will be in Detroit picking me up from the airport and indisposed for several hours.
I'm more than a little nervous about flying with Tyler on my lap. I've flown with the boys TONS of times before, and lots of times I've even flown with both of them by myself when they were 1 and 2 years old...but I've never flown with a baby at THIS AGE. This wiggly, squiggly, loud, and demanding age. He is BUSY.
I'm anticipating a LONG 2 hour flight.
And I'm crossing my fingers that there will be an empty seat on the plane that I can buckle his car seat into and strap him down for the duration of the trip.

Less frequent blogging to come, but I WILL try to update from Michigan when I can. Be back in about 2 weeks or so.

Have a great weekend!

Can't Take My Eyes Off You....

It seems hard to imagine that it's been 1 year and approximately nine months since that fateful day we discovered that --surprise!-- we were indeed pregnant with #3. And then there was the day, a few months later, when I shared it with the world, via this blog.

You stuck around and read as I bemoaned my ever-expanding waist-line and listened to me whine about my various cravings. You grimaced and smiled politely when I discussed the wonders of my bellybutton and we all watched that blasted Baby Ticker counting down the days, the months.
And you were here waiting to hear the story and see the first pics the day he was born and steve-o stepped in as guest blogger and filled you in.

And you've seen him grow over the last 12 months....from bald sleepy newborn to spunky walker.

He was so unexpected...news of his impending arrival caught us so off guard, had us moping about for weeks trying to digest the news. And now it's hard to imagine life before him. Before his happy grin at 6:30 a.m. or his gap-toothed smile and his long lean legs.

He is goofy smiles and dirty hands.
He is climber-of-the-dog and blueberry lips and chocolate brown eyes.
He is rhythm and dance and sharp little teeth.
He is mischief and twinkly eyes and the fastest crawler in all of Georgia.
He is temper tantrum and belly laughs, warm footie jammies and baby powder hair.

And today is his first birthday.
And we love him to pieces.