Happy New Year!

Christmas is a Circus!

Here's Tripp with one of his favorite gifts from Santa, a circus tent!  Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Meg

Merry, Merry 2012!

Merry Christmas!
Meg

18 Month Stats

We visited our favorite pediatrician last week and got some updated stats.  Looks as though genetics are beginning to catch up with ole' Tripp, given his two vertically challenged parents.  Still rockin' his big brain, though! 

Below is the break down:

• Height: 31.75 inches (25th percentile, down from 45th!)
• Weight:  23 lbs, 3.5 oz (40th percentile, down from 50th)
• Head Circumference: 19.25 inches (90th percentile)

According to the little generic 18th month visit handout that they provide to every parent of a child this age:

• At this age, you may notice your baby doing any of the following:
• Walks steadier and faster (check)
• Climbs stairs with help (check)
• Uses a spoon well (check)
• Knows body parts (check)
• Says "no," tests limits and may have tantrums. (Our son? ... never...)

And some advice from the aforementioned "helpful" handout:

• Avoid TV and Videos.   ... to which Elmo says, "No way!"
• Let your child watch others using the toilet, but do not force toilet training.  ... so, what do you suggest we do if we find him splashing around in the toilet water?
• Continue to set and maintain limits for your child. Be as consistent as possible.   Easy enough...
• This age can be hard, especially if your child is strong willed.  Remember that you are the boss.  It is normal to feel frustrated at times.  ... so you're saying that it is abnormal not to feel frustrated?  whew!

Please pass the vino. Ciao!
Meg

Rollin' the Dough

No, No...  not rolling IN the dough, as in multi-millions in lottery winnings... just rolling the dough, as in  Play Dough. Tripp's teachers have told me that this is one of his favorite activities, so I am glad it was finally captured on camera.  The class plays with Play Dough several times a day, or so say the teachers, and while they play, they sing "Roll Roll Roll the dough, gently down the stream..." to the tune of... you guessed it, "Row Row Row Your Boat."  Kinda weird, but keeps them entertained. 

Rollin' the green dough

If asked a question whose answer is not immediately obvious to him,
Tripp makes this gesture while saying
"I not know"

... 'Tis pretty cute.

Hope you had a happy hump day!
Meg

Ho Ho Holy Cow it's December...

I am having a really hard time with how fast time is flying this year.  It feels like yesterday we were celebrating Tripp's very first birthday, and now we're half way to his second.  December is here, and I guess we might as well embrace it.

So... we recently went for a visit to "the big guy" which was lots of fun.  We met up with Lily Brooks and Ryder Woolley, for a fun and festive evening of holiday flair.  Below are a few photos that I snapped.

Requisite Yuletide Tantrum

The Roughens
Matt, Tripp (18 mos) and Meg

The Woolleys
Charles, Lily Brooks (4 yrs), Ryder (2 yrs) and Tish

Tripp eats his hand, while the well-behaved Woolleys observe

These two will be the best of buds.

HoHoHo!
Meg

Garden Brook Neighbors Reunion

Since we moved into our new house, we have really missed our old neighbors from our condo in Peachtree Hills.  Around the time we moved, many of them were moving on as well, so Matt and I invited everyone over for some old neighborhood time.  We had a blast catching up and seeing everyone.  Below are some photos from the fun Sunday afternoon soiree.

All the kiddos
Molly & Sadie Hight
Tripp, leaning on Sadie's back as if posing for a GQ ad
and Allen & Elizabeth Morris

Molly, Tripp, Sadie

Our new den & The Dudes...
John, Bobby, Matt, Jordan, Chad

... and the ladies...
Tammy, Elizabeth, Meg, Kara, Bonnie, Neely
and Little Elizabeth

... and the Stud.
played by Allen Morris

Fun times!  We all vowed to stay in touch despite our lives taking us in different directions.  ... and who knows? ... We may all retire to Garden Brook one day when we are looking to downsize back into 1,000 square feet and a yard that "takes care of itself"...

Meg

Carrot Art

What will they think of next?  Happy Weekend!
Meg

Giving Thanks.

Believe it or not, Matt & I hosted Thanksgiving in our new home this year with the entire Roughen clan.  The weather cooperated nicely and we had a great time eating, relaxing, and keeping Tripp entertained.  Below are some photos from the week's events.

Grammy, Pops & Dad help Tripp eat his dinner.

Dad, Uncle Daniel & Aunt Whitney decorate Tripp with Goldfish

Using a cool Koozie from Dogwood Festival to keep my WaWa cool.

Reading our favorite book with Uncle Daniel

A requisite pre-feast photo of the table - Set & ready to go

"The Smoked Bird"
Compliments of the smoker at Fox Bros BBQ

Turkey Tripp, enjoying a late post-nap lunch

The whole Roughen clan
Bottom Row:  Pops, Tripp, Grammy & John
Back Row:  Matt & Meg, Daniel & Whitney

Turkey Tripp & Mom

Hoping that you and yours enjoyed lots of family fun, Turkey, and good weather wherever you are.  Lots to be thankful for in 2012!  Now onto Christmas!
XOXO
Meg

Gobble Gobble.

Happy Turkey Day to you and yours!
Meg

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Welcome Hamp & Walker Ferguson!

Just a quick blog post to welcome to the world our one-week old twin nephews!

Hampton Rollins Ferguson (Hamp) & Walker Hill Ferguson (Walker) were born on Wednesday, November 14th and I was coincidentally in Birmingham for work and got to meet their sweet selves on Thursday night, November 15th (also my own dad, Papa Ferguson's birthday). 

Below is a photo of the two munchkins, both of whom weighed in at over 6 lbs!   I'm not sure which is which, so I won't try to caption the photo in order from left to right... but, the verdict is in .... and two is, indeed, better than one.  Wait... what?

Happy Turkey-Eve!
Meg

Mismatched Misfit Monday

Have a great week!

Meg

GT Homecoming & the Wreck Parade 2012

This year, for Georgia Tech homecoming, we got together with some of our buds at the 2012 Wreck Parade at 8 am on game day Saturday.  Matt and his college buds have never been.  Surprisingly, none of them were EVER awake at 8 am on ANY day in college, unless they were "playing through."... but I digress.

Below are some photos from a very fun morning with the Clarks and Woolleys!  Go Jackets (they lost to BYU, for the record, but we had fun nonetheless).

The GT Wreck
(The band also marched by playing some song about drinking whiskey
but unfortunately, I did not snap a picture of them)

Hudson & Tripp, who are a mere 2 weeks apart
Fun times ahead for these boys!

... in their matching red Keds.

Lily Brooks & daddy, Charles

Casey & Hudson

Chaos at the Wreck Parade!

From left:
Ryder (2 yrs), Charles & Lily Brooks (4 yrs) Woolley
Harris (4 yrs), Casey, and Hudson (17 mos) Clark
Matt & Tripp (17 mos) Roughen

Hudson challenging Ryder & Tripp to the first
of many games of corn-hole on the KA lawn.

Tripp and the KA homecoming display

Ryder & Tripp, testing the corn-hole equipment

Fun Saturday!  Too bad the Jackets couldn't pull out a W, but there's always next year.

Meg

Democracy

 

We did our part in Atlanta...

 

... now go do yours!

 

Meg

Daycare Update - November 2012

Just wanted to quickly share some recent daycare photos that I found to be fun and funny, at the same time!  Hope everyone had a great weekend & is ready for "Decision 2012."

An Artist...



... who eats paint!

We are OBSESSED with bugs.  Tripp will find a tiny little picture of a bug in a book, on a sign, on a package for a toy or product ---- or anywhere, and point to it convincingly while saying "Bug Bug Bug" until you acknowledge that yes, in fact, it is a bug.
 

His little classroom friendst at lunch time.  How cute!

Dancing with a friend.

A budding scientist.

Who, me?

And one last photo of Tripp and his mom from the "harvest parade" where all the kids dressed up and were led through the lobby of our building.  Coincidentally, Tripp and I matched in stripes, an observation I did not make until I saw our reflection in the glass doors leading into the daycare facility that morning.  Tripp's dad, on the other hand, noticed before we left home, but neglected to say anything.  Gee... thanks. :o)

Onto another week...
Meg

Happy Halloween!

From our little referee.

 

 

A Roughen Abode: Pine Hills Neighborhood

Another great thing about our new house is the neighborhood.  It is called Pine Hills, and is nestled in the southeast corner of Buckhead, among many tall, thin pine trees and rolling hills (hence the name...).

Everyone that we have met is very friendly and welcoming.  Many of our neighbors have school aged children, but some are young couples like us, just starting a family or thinking about it.

A great bonus is this great playground in the neighborhood that will certainly be a great place for Tripp to blow off some steam as he grows older.  There are swings and fun slides, and a separate section for toddlers, which is nice when there are lots of bigger (i.e. rougher) kids around.  Below are some photos from a recent visit to the park, where we checked out all the fun things to do there.

Shady Valley Park

Playing in the cool blue tunnel

Watching the "big kids" play in the "big kid" section

Playing in the jungle gym
(side note:  why do they call it that?)

Fun times in Shady Valley Park!  Looking forward to many more to come.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!  It is Georgia Tech homecoming, so stay tuned for photos from the Ramblin' Reck parade and other fun festivities.

Meg