Monday, December 2, 2013

Baker, Baker Holiday Cookie Maker

Just as the sun was setting on this year's Turkey Day, we moved into the Christmas season and did some holiday baking.  It was fun to watch Tripp mixing the batter, watching the cookies rise in the oven, and decorating them with such creativity (and help from mom and dad).  Below are a few pictures of the fun afternoon.





... And the final product!


Hoping that your holiday season is off to a festive start!
Meg

Friday, November 29, 2013

Belated Gobble!

Hoping that you and yours had a great Thanksgiving.  Lots to be thankful for this year and always!

Especially this...

Happy belated Turkey Day!
Meg

Monday, November 18, 2013

Welcoming Baby Hill!

On November 8th at 8:04 am we welcomed the newest member of our family.  Named after my great grandfather, Hill Ferguson Roughen came into the world weighing in at 9 lbs, 7 oz and measuring 20 inches long.  We are overjoyed about his arrival and big brother Tripp has enjoyed teaching him the ropes already.  Below are some photos from Hill's first week with us.

In the recovery room with Mom, just an hour or so after birth.

Roughen, party of 4, in the hospital room.

Meeting the Grandparents
We want to thank our parents, Tripp & Hill's grandparents, for helping us during Hill's birth, hospital stay, and the first week at home.  We are lucky to have such loving, caring, and willing-to-help family.  These boys will feel the love of these special folks for their entire lives.  Thanks, grandparents & Aunt SuSu, too!

Meeting Pops Roughen

Meeting Grammy Roughen
Meeting Papa and Shug Ferguson, and big brother Tripp (2.5 years)

If you look close enough, you can see Shug's cast on her left arm.
She broke her wrist 2 weeks before Hill's birth and is still healing.  

Sweet Baby Hill

Such a good baby so far!

A little peanut

Helpful & Excited Big Brother Tripp

Big Brother Tripp, with the crane truck that Baby Hill picked out just for him...
and a big brother upgrade captain's hat from godfather Chris Epps.

We are delighted that Hill is here and cannot wait to introduce him to all of you!

Meg, Matt, and Big Brother Tripp

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Happy Halloween!

... from our little Waffle House Cook!

Hope you get more Treats than Tricks!
Meg

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

"Accuse me while I kiss this guy" and other mis-heard lyrics, words & phrases

Just like many misinterpret the famous Jimi Hendrix lyrics "Excuse me while I Kiss the Sky," we have our own little lyric-mis-interpreter.  He loves to sing, so many of them are actual mis-heard lyrics to your classic children's songs, while others are just mispronunciations of everyday words.  I'm capturing them here because I surely do not want to forget them in months or years after this phase has passed us by.

Below are some of the classics that Tripp has repeated incorrectly, much to the delight & entertainment of his parents.  Hope you enjoy, I know I will!


  • "Mama, may I be accused?":  Often said when he'd like to be excused from the table after a meal, a valiant attempt at being polite has me giggling every time.
  • "Dot Dogs & Hangburgers":  What daddy cooks on the gree-ul (2 syllable of the word 'grill') on the weekends.
  • "... Oh what fun it is to ride on a one horse super sleigh":  The lyrics to the classic Jingle Bells tune that is sung year-round in the Roughen household.
  • "A,B,C,D... W,X,Y and Z.  Now I mom, ABCs.  Won't you come and sing with me":  Mis-heard classic alphabet ender.
  • "Baa Baa Black Sheep, have you any... I'm sorry, goonk":  This sometimes comes out in the middle of any song.  Not sure what 'goonk' is, nor why he's apologizing for singing a cute song, but it's funny nonetheless.
  • "Lellow Taxi":  Just like the color of all taxis.
  • "Chick A Lay":  you know, the yummy fast food restaurant

That's all I have for now... more to come, I'm sure.  Happy Hump Day!

Meg

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Resolution #9: The Roughen-Moon vacay, Panama City Style...

As a book-end to our summer this year, and for Tripp's Resolution #9 for 2013, we embarked upon the 2nd annual Roughen-Moon summer beach trip to the Sample house, just outside of Panama City Beach, Florida.  You may remember this house from last year's post.  We had a ball watching Tripp and Caroline play together and ringing in football season.  It is amazing to see how much they have grown since the last time we were there... hard to believe Tripp had just learned to walk and now he's such a big boy.  Time flies!

Below are some snapshots from our fun time.

 
Lunching with Caroline (2.5 yrs)


Beaching with Caroline

 A boy and his beach

There's not much better than a gulf coast sunset... ahhhhh...

As an added bonus, my New Orleans native college friend, Betsy, and
her family were staying just a few minutes away from us, so we got to
catch up and I got to see her 3 cute boys for the first time!

Here, Tripp and I are pictured with Betsy and her youngest, Liam, who is 15 mos.

Fun week!
Meg

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Ann Fulton Turns 3!

We recently celebrated Ann Fulton's 3rd Birthday!  I cannot believe how fast these kiddos are growing up.  We gathered at the Dexter Ave Ferguson abode to celebrate the little princess and watch her open all her princess-themed gifts... lots of fun!
 

Waiting Patiently for Cake & Ice Cream
Ann Fulton (3 yrs) and Tripp (2 yrs)

Thanks for my Thomas the Train hat, Aunt MC!
 

The Birthday Girl & her candles!



Finally... the goods!



Tripp exploring the cake & ice cream a little further...


The whole Ferguson crew
Front Row:  Shug, AF, Tripp
2nd row:  MC, Hamp (8 mos), Meg, Papa
Back Row:  Gil, Walker (8 mos)

Missing in action:  Matt, who had to stay back in Atlanta.  We missed him!

 

 
We were so happy to be a part of the celebration.  Happy Birthday to AF!  ... and many more...

Meg

Monday, October 7, 2013

Coming Soon: Tripp's Baby Brother

Tripp's Baby Brother is due to arrive in early November!
Here I am at about 30 weeks... Can't believe he'll be here so soon!



Holy
Cow.

Meg

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Touch A Truck Day

October is here... and we've been busy!  We recently visited the Town Center Mall in Kennessaw, Georgia to touch all the trucks.  They have a "Touch a Truck" day in the fall that is a very affordable way to keep your toddler entertained for hours on end.  This is an event that we won't likely miss again.  Ambulances, Fire Trucks, Crane Trucks, Bulldozers, Garbage Trucks... I could go on and on.

... and what a fun day it was!  Tripp got to see all of his favorite trucks, including some non-trucks like jet skis, motorcycles, and even a helicopter!   Pretty neat. 


 Checking out the lay of the land
 
Helicopter!

Tripp even got to DRIVE the Helicopter!
Finally our turn, after patiently waiting in the long line
 
On the Police jet ski

Inside the oversized roller skate
(the weirdest "truck" there)

Tripp LOVED the "bool" bus.
"Mama, it's so big in here"

Checking out the bomb squad robots
(and wearing our new Cobb County junior fireman hat!)


And finally, a lunch treat at
"Chick-A-Lay"


Hope your fall is off to a great start!
Meg

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Resolution #12: Big Boy Bed!

Over the rainy 4th of July holiday weekend was a perfect time to move Tripp out of his crib and into a big boy bed in his new big boy room!  This was a new year's resolution of his, and we figured that a long, lazy weekend would be as good of time as any to (potentially) interrupt our sleep for the sake of his growing independence... ha.

So, we bought some rails and installed them onto one of the two twin beds in his big boy room.  These beautiful old beds were slept in by my grandmother, who is now in her 80s, and her sister... which still blows my mind when I really think about it.

The only downside to these antiques is that they are very high off of the ground, so the extra tall side rails gave us peace of mind that Tripp would be safe and not injure himself after a fall to the hardwood floors in the middle of the night.

Here's a photo of his very first night, which went very well!  Tripp stayed put all night long, no injuries or scares... so we consider it a success.



In the photo, you'll notice that Tripp has plenty of friends joining him to keep him safe from harm and to ensure that he has only sweet dreams.  Cookie Monster and Buzz are such good caretakers.

Ahhhh.... can't believe how fast he's growing up!

Happy hump day!
Meg