Catching up.....

So its been awhile since Mommy added a new post.....AGAIN!  I tried to explain to her the importance of keeping the blog up to date, especially with all the milestones I am reaching and the exciting events going on in our lives.  Well where should I begin.........there was Christmas and it was wonderful.  We spent time with all of our family and enjoyed having over a week off from the "normal routine" of getting up, going to work/daycare, coming home to housework, bath and bedtime routines.  You would have thought that perhaps, Mommy would have updated the blog at that time but I suppose she took the term "vacation" to the extreme.  Nevertheless, we had an amazing holiday and the new year has started off great. 

Here's a brief summary of where we've been, what we've been doing and who we've been hanging out with since the last time we checked in.


In early December we headed to Charlotte, NC with PaPa, Nana and Aunt Linda and went to the ACC Championship....the trip was a lot of fun, despite our poor showing at the game. We got to go to the NASCAR Hall of Fame while we were in Charlotte and "drove" in a race simulation. I "drove" in the car with Nana and we came in fourth. I guess it was a good thing that I napped during the first part of our visit there so I was rested and alert when it came time to race!

Resting up before the big game

Then we headed to the Bank of America stadium for the ACC Championship.....Virginia Tech was playing Clemson, they proved to be a thorn in our side.  The Hokies did not have a good game by any means, but that didn't stop me from cheering my heart out (we were down by 4 touchdowns when Mommy took this picture of me).

Mighty Little Hokie cheering his heart out

A few weeks later we hit the road for another trip.....Nashville, TN.  Our cousin Sarah was graduating from Belmont University.  We'd never been to Nashville before, but we can't wait to go back - we wanted to do so many things that we could have stayed for a week and not checked everything off our list.  We squeezed in as much as we could though for the weekend we were there though including visiting Belmont University, Opryland, checking out downtown Nashville (complete with shopping for cowboy boots), going to the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium and having lunch at the Loveless Cafe. 

At Belmont University for Sarah's graduation

The music is amazing (not surprising of course but there is something to be said for hearing how amazing these artists are for yourself)  We had a blast and Mommy, Daddy, Uncle David and Sarah went out to celebrate for the evening and got to hear bands cover everything from Charlie Daniels to Heart to Maroon 5......not too mention one of the shout-outs Sarah got from a band included them playing a song she requested that they had never even rehearsed before and they nailed it! 

Our favorite grad - still sporting her cap and collecting shout-outs

In the balcony at the Ryman Auditorium enjoying the Opry

 Saturday, after we had lunch at the Loveless Cafe, I'll admit I slept through most of our visit, but we had a big night planned ahead.....we went downtown and did some shopping and sight-seeing. Then we went to the Ryman Auditorium for the Grand Ole Opry. There we heard the perform of a group called The Civil Wars and the words amazing and incredible really do not do them justice for the performance they gave. They got a standing ovation (which is not a common occurrence at the Opry).

We're already trying to plan another visit to Nashville soon, Sarah is working there following graduation, so we'll have a great excuse to visit again.

Once we got back from Nashville, we went into a high-paced planning mode for the holidays.  Daddy's family was coming to visit a few days before Christmas, Memaw, Aunt Linda and Uncle Brooks were coming to visit Christmas Eve through the day after Christmas and then we were headed to visit PaPa and Nana in North Carolina.  I was excited that Uncle Josh, Aunt Jennifer and cousin Emma would be there too! 

Holiday requirement - cookies!

 I was really excited to spend some time with my cousins - we had a great time together.  Well there is a lot more that I should fill you in on, but its way past my bedtime.....so I better run for now.  Stay tuned!!!!

The Petry Cousins - Cuteness and Trouble

Thanksgiving!

Okay- so I know that I am behind on getting this post done (as I have been with a majority of the posts)......but better late than never right! For the week of Thanksgiving we headed down to PaPa & Nana's house in North Carolina. But before we headed down to the warm beach weather, we attended the very cold Thursday night Virginia Tech game against North Carolina. It was fun....but did I mention it was cold? Our sister-in-law Jennifer was in Roanoke for work and got to join us.

The following day Josh and Emma came to town and Emma hitched a ride with us to the beach

While we were in North Carolina, PaPa and Nana treated the grown-up "kids" to a night out on the town. We had a blast! First we went to Calabash for dinner at the Boundary House and then we headed to South Myrtle to enjoy the night life - which was a bit lacking given the off-season. Well until we arrived of course.

CHEERS

Gordon and Emma enjoyed helping PaPa do work....also known as watching Mickey Mouse or playing Snood.

The weather was fantastic and quite warm most days. So much in fact that we even got out to the beach for a day. The kids had a blast playing in the sand.

We had a great time visiting with everyone and I was thrilled Gordon got to spend a significant amount of time with my grandparents (Ma & PaPa 2 -for him). We topped off the Thanksgiving festivities by having dinner at my aunt's house. Gordon was pretty happy with his meal.

Upon returning home, Memaw and Aunt Linda came to visit for a few days. We had a great time building towers, reading, shopping and watching football. Go Hokies!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Family, Friends & Fun Update

The last few months have been busy (perhaps you've noticed we haven't blogged in a while). To get you caught up to where we've been and what we've been up to (other than football) here's a little summary and update. We've hit the park several times - Gordon enjoys the swings and the slide the most

We took a road trip one Sunday and met up with Memaw for the day !

The little man and I also took a road trip down to visit PaPa and Nana at the beach one weekend. We had to get one more day of surf, sand and sun in!

The little man has had a few days off from school that we haven't had off of work. Gabe and I have alternated days off and the little man has stopped by our offices for a visit.

We celebrated our friend Quinn's 1st birthday!!!!

Happy Birthday Quinn!

That's my cupcake Daddy......

Our friend Jaime got married this past weekend and the little man attended his first wedding. He did a great job and we had a blast at the wedding.

Congrats Jaime & Nathan

Road Trip!

A few weeks ago Gordon and I set out on our first road trip - just the two of us! I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous for how this would turn out as we've traveled a lot as a family but Gabe had to work all weekend so he wasn't able to go with us to Mechanicsville. My cousin and his family were in from Germany to visit and we just don't get to see them, so we decided to hit the road early Saturday morning and arrived in Mechanicsville in time to eat breakfast with MeMaw!



We had a great time visiting with everyone and Gordon had great time playing with his cousins.

What recovery time?

So remember I had to have tubes put it....and everything went really well. So well in fact that I was up playing and getting into trouble in no time. It was a good thing MeMaw was here to help keep me under control...ha like that worked!




So here's a little look at what I was up to within 24 hours of my procedure...

This is one of my new favorite things to do....organize the tupperware. I'm actually really good at it. Once I finish comparing each piece, (this one is bigger than my head!).....


......I start to replace them in the cabinet.


Aren't I helpful?!?! I go back for a follow up appointment this Friday. We're anticipating a good report from the doctor!

Being Brave

Today the little man had tubes put in his ears. We have been battling chronic ear infections for several months now and after meeting with the ENT doctor last week we decided this was our best option. So this morning, bright and early we headed to the surgery center to check in.



We were extremely happy with the care Gordon received today. We got checked in quickly and the nurses spent a good amount of time with him while we were still in the room so that he became familiar with them.

They gave him a sedative to help keep him calm and reduce any separation anxiety he might have (they didn't offer one to us).



However they underestimated the little man's energy level because he stayed pretty alert.


I'm not tired at all Daddy!

He could tell something was up, perhaps it was the snazzy gown, the random people or all the beeping machines? But even when he wasn't quite sure what was up, he remained brave and didn't fuss a bit.



I'm not so sure about what is going on Mommy...

Here is a picture of him right before they took him to do the procedure.



The patchwork blanket that is in the pictures is one that the surgery center gave us for him courtesy of Project Linus. A non-profit organization that strives to provide a sense of security to children by providing handmade blankets. What an amazing organization, we so appreciated the gesture for Gordon. I still have my baby blanket and can completely understand how a blanket can provide security.
Here is a link to their site: www.projectlinus.org

We were probably separated from the little man for about 30 minutes or so. We got to go back as soon as he was awake and stay with him in recovery. He's done great all day; eating well, taking the occassional snooze and playing. MeMaw came to help us out today (additional moral support) and Gordon is having a great time showing off for her.

MeMaw Visits AGAIN!

MeMaw and Roy came to visit this past weekend. It was a shorter visit then the last time MeMaw was here but we still had a blast. We tried some new forms of transportation while MeMaw was here. Check out this cool trick...


I also decided to try my skills on the stairs all by myself

Okay Daddy, let me try this....

I did pretty well, my one mistake was when I would try to sit down while I was on the stairs

But MeMaw was there as my spotter so - no worries, I didn't tumble down.

This is HARD WORK!


But I made it to the top! Wait a minute....there is another flight of stairs?!?!?


It is a good thing I am a bundle of energy these days!


But even I have to rest - and I love to nap with MeMaw.

MeMaw's Visit

My MeMaw came to visit me for a WHOLE WEEK! We had a great time hanging out with each other; I even got play hookie from daycare a couple of days last week. Each morning MeMaw would get up while Mommy and Daddy got ready for work and feed me breakfast and in the evening MeMaw, Mommy and I did all sorts of fun things. We went for walks, out to dinner and did a little shopping. Daddy had to work in the evenings but we went to visit him at work one night. I really enjoyed getting out and about and had a great time. Here are some pictures from our week.

The Easter Bunny came to visit us.


I showed off my new skills and strength by pulling myself up a lot.


MeMaw and I explored a lot. What is in here?


ROAD BLOCK! We need a detour.


Have we looked in here?


We watched at the window when Mommy and Daddy got home from work.

HI MOMMMY and DADDY!

I kept on the lookout to let Shadow know when other doggies walked by.

Doggie Alert!

Come check it out Shadow!


I showed MeMaw some of my favorite toys.




And how they work


We started out our mornings with breakfast together


And in the evenings after all our adventures, MeMaw would give me my bath.


I had such a great time with MeMaw. I didn't want her to leave.

MeMaw...don't go!

But she promised she would visit again soon.

I CAN'T WAIT!!!