Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Playtime

So, Katie and I decided that since the kids are becoming so mobile it would be wise to put in a playpen so that they could have a "Safe" area to play when we are out of the room. We bought the frame and set it up last weekend. It is filled with all kinds of toys and fun stuff for 9month old kids. What we have found out is that all long as someone is in the room or near by they will play in there area just fine. However, if you leave the room for more that a couple minutes all heck breaks lose. It usually just begins with one of the three. That kid, its different each time, is the first to notice, "Hey, where is the big person? I don't see the big person. Oh no, the big person left me all alone in this cage with these two crazy dwarfs. Whatever am I going to do? They might trample me or sit on my head or steal my passe. I better sound the alarm. Whhhaaaaaaaa!" Once the first one starts it only takes about 1 minute, you can set your watch by it, that the second one will start only to be followed shortly by the third. The funny part is that their playpen is about 10 feet by 6 feet and they could all be comfortably in their own space if they wanted to. but noooo, for some reason all three feel like it is essential that they all stack up on each other like bails of hay. I have no idea why but they will push each other down, Kade, poke the other ones eye, Kade, or even put hair. (Sorry Maggie, your the only one with enough to get pulled) just to get to the same toy or place in the pen. In fact, i got home today and let the nanny leave. She said they were all in the playpen so i went to change clothes (maybe 5 mins out of the room) and returned to find this:



See what I mean about wanting to be in the same place at the same time :)

Anyway, it is a lot of fun and brings a lot of joy to KT and I. I hope that it does for you as well

R&K

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

And Maggie makes 3 crawlers :)

So, we came home from work today to a nice surprise. Sweet Maggie has learned how to crawl. We knew it was only a matter of time but for her to go from no crawling to crawling as well as the boys in one day is amazing. Check her out chasing daddy and the camera

R&K

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Maggie's First Dance

So, Katie and I started to notice this week that when Maggie hears music sometimes she does a little head bob like she is dancing. It is the cutest thing you have ever seen so we decided to get it on video. Now keep in mind that she is only 8 months old so its very subtle. (But its there) 

Oh, and in one of the video's you don't really see it till the end b/c her ultra curious brother Kade, who on a side note learned to crawl up stairs today (OMG we are in for it now), is chasing mommy and the camera so mommy is having to dodge his attacks :).

R&K




Friday, April 13, 2012

Guess Who's Crawling?

You got it. Mr Larkin! Check it out

Oh, and please take notice of the object that is just so irresistible that he has to have it. For Kade it was a remote control. For Larkin its a book :) Wonder if this can be a sign of things to come???

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Easter

The kids first Easter was a lot of fun! Sat. Katie and I set up our two "photo ops" to take pics of the kids in their Easter outfits. The first set was an attempt to get all three together on a bench. Katie and I got them dressed and ready to go. She took an antique white bench from the foyer outside next to our garage and set it up against the brick. Katie knew the kids sitting on the bench with the brick background in a black and white photo would look really good. Of course, as always, she was right. We had some really great photos as well as some really funny ones. What we didn't take into consideration however was how hard it was going to be to keep the kids ON the bench. Its not like there were snap buckles similar to ones in the nap Nanny's or dinner table to lock them in place. In fact, At one point I literally caught Kade falling head first off the bench.  I'm not kidding. Without warning the kid took a nose dive like a sniper got him and thanks to my cat like reflexes(HA yeah right) I caught him about a foot off the ground. (I was actually right next to the bench for that very reason but the story doesn't sound as good if I told it that way now does it)You see, the kids can now sit up but their balance is still very, how should I say, um, unsteady. (imagine standing on stilts for the first time right after downing 3 shots of tequila and you might be in the ballpark :) In other words, Its not that great. Not to mention, it is extremely tough at this age to get all three of the kids to look in the same direction at the same time and smile. What is not shown in the picture, is that while Katie is snapping away in Sport Mode (because we really needed the super fast shudder action to take about a bazillion photos as fast as possible to get at least one that turned out good) I am just off to the side dancing around like a buffoon while making noises and faces that if it were not for the eternal good of our family i would never make in a million years. Luckily for me, 8 month old children's attention span is about 20 seconds so I was only embarrassing myself in front of my neighborhood for a total of about 1 min. So, after Katie and I deemed it to dangerous to leave the kids on the bench any longer in our ill guided attempt to capture Easter glory we decided to proceed to our second photo op location.

So, let me just tell you guys about "site 2" as I'll call it. I'll start at the beginning. Earlier in the week I decided to stop by WalMart during a break between meetings and pick up some Easter gifts for the kids. I realize that 8 month old children have absolutely no idea what anything is so I figured I could pick up a basket, card, some candy (that Katie and I would eat) and a few toys on the cheap. I was very excited about the opportunity to do this for our kids first Easter. As a young boy I can always remember the excitement I felt when i came downstairs to find my Easter Basket filled with Candy and goodies and want our kids to feel the same way. Well, as part of this whole wonderful family vision I decided I wanted to take pictures of the kids in their Easter best with their first Easter Baskets. Guys, I bet I spent an hour if I spent a minute trying to set up this picture to be perfect. I first laid out their bumbo chairs for them to sit in. (didn't want any snipers getting the kids in MY photo shoot) Next I carefully put their baskets together. Each one has some colorful grass, a card, some candy and a toy. After the baskets were done I walked the baskets outside and spent the next 15-20 mins deciding on just how I was going to position them in front of the chairs so that the light would be perfect and in 20 years the kids could look back and say, "Wow Brother and Sister look, Dad and Mom got us a bag of Reese's pieces shaped like a carrot for our first Easter". After careful consideration about the layout of the seats and baskets I then began to develop my idea for a background. You see, I decided to take the pictures on our back deck in order to capture the best unfiltered sunlight I could find. However, I did not really like the look of the deck rail spindles in the background. So, what did I do??? Well, as Katie was very lovingly feeding the kids, I was going through the house picking up every fake plant or standing decoration I could find and bringing it outside to see if it made the background any better. I bet I tried 50 different combinations of backgrounds. Plant, flower, Plant, candle holder, plant...  or plant, vase, plant, candle holder, plant... or Flower, plant, antique lantern, plant, flower ect ect...you get the point. Anyway, after I had my Picasso background painted I returned to Katie and helped her finish feeding the kids and getting them dressed. You see, after they eat their morning fruit and oatmeal we only have a 10-15 min window until someone is crying for their bottle. Therefore, we had to make this picture session quick. So, now that we have completed photo session one we are now moving to photo session 2. We quickly move the kids from the side of the garage to the deck and place them in their seats. As soon as they are down, I grab the camera from Katie and tell her to start dancing :) Daddy needs these kiddos entertained so he can capture some lifelong treasures. But...... Houston we have a problem.  All that crap that I had decided would probably be good filler for the background, The plants and candle holders ect..., well, they weren't. Kade thought the flower was a delicious treat just for him and went after it the moment he sat down. Maggie and Larkin looked around at all this stuff in amazement rolled their eyes and gave me a look of, "OMG, you are ridiculous. Can we please exchange you for a more normal model" :) Needless to say, putting an Easter basket full of color and interesting looking things within 6 inches from 8 month old kids was the flaw in my theory. Not to mention that Larkin's seat was about a foot away from Maggie and Kade's so it looked like he was the smelly kid in school that no one wanted to sit next to. As a result, my pics didn't quite turn out as I would have hoped. Regardless, it was a fun day trying and I hope you guys enjoy them as much as I know we will.

Happy Easter

R&K

Sniper Just Got Him. I am running to catch him at this point

I have no idea what Larkin is doing here

Better

Yeah, good catch Daddy!!!

So Fresh and So Clean

This is what all the effort was for! Great Pic Mommy

Our Supermodel

See what I mean, Distractions

Look guys! Its a bird, its a plane, its..its.. Mommy trying to entertain about 2 feet higher than she should be and now it appears that we are staring aimlessly at the sky :)

Mmmmhhh, White Flower

At least they are all looking in the same direction :)

Probably the First and only Easter we will be able to have all three sitting in our lap 

Happy Easter from the Fordham's

Bitzy, I'm tired!

I love my Daddy Ya'll

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Spring Time!!

So, the weather in Nashville has been unusually warm for this time of year so Katie and I decided to take the kids outside on the porch yesterday for their first play time outside. I recorded a video and as you can see they LOVED it! Of course, we did to. Enjoy.
Rhett

Alex doesnt seem very interested in dinner time

Aunt Abby and Grandma Bev helped us with Dinner Time tonight

First Play Time outside

I Love the outside Daddy

Hey Daddy! Look what I can do!

See. Its plank position like Mommies in Yoga,

Gotta get some Tan to go with this Buff!

See Mommy! I told you we can sit up

I am queen of the Plank!

This is so much fun

Hey Daddy! Let me see that camera

Baby Breast Stroke!

I LOVE EVERYTHING!!!

Look at all the pretty girls!