Over the TOP!

The circus came to town and we saw one of its last shows on Sunday.

I had told Ace all week that he was going to the circus. Every time we left the house he'd cry that he wanted to go to the circus, not wherever we were going. Sunday, I told him if he'd let me take his picture before leaving we could FINALLY go to the circus.
With the elephants and Daddy.

Not sure about the circus lady at the pre-show. I just love his little hands in this photo.

Having the BEST time in his own seat.

This is pretty much how he watched, with rapt attention, the entire time.

How neat!

We missed the last 30 minutes of the show because Ace just couldn't last. 5 minutes after getting in the car, he wouldn't wake up no matter how much we messed with him.

More singing! The clowns were singing his favorite song. More "Twinkle, Twinkle."

This morning, I took Ace to Nana's and said, "Ace, tell Gaga that you went to the circus." He ran over to him and said, "I saw tigers, elephants, clowns, acrobats, horsies, elephants and elephants."

It was soooo much fun. And worth every penny...even the $12 cotton candy!

Sneaky Video

One of the best things about Ace is that he's always making us laugh with crazy things. I have a hard time getting them on tape because he doesn't like it when a camera is pointed at him. (Most smiling photos are done with bribes. I told him I'd put the camera away for the smile below.)
So while we ate lunch yesterday, I camouflaged the camera with some bags of chips. It worked and got him singing "Twinkle, Twinkle." Notice, he gets distracted at the end, worried that Hula's going to get his food!

I gave birth to a lion. He loves to roar.

Oh my "Acey" we love you so.

Houston Area Live Steamers

Aunt Hilary found a place close by our house where the kids can ride miniature trains. Ace loves locomotives so we HAD to go. Indulge me all of the photos...we waited in line for an entire hour (with 5 kids 3 and under) so I had plenty of opportunity to document our experience.

Waiting for the trains.

Ring around the rosies with Aubrey and Allie Mae.
One of the adorable men tending the line of train-goers.

This actually applies to an angry two-year-old.

If you wonder how I get this smile, I say, "Ace, show me your teeth."

Hot, sweaty and ready to ride. Toot, toot.

No more pictures Mommy!

Ahhhhh! Water. First encounter with a water fountain.

We had a great time. After this photo, we proceeded to look at some cows nearby and managed to stomp all through an ant pile. Luckily, there was only one casualty.

Finally! Video!

I have been so frustrated lately because I've had so much trouble uploading videos to blogger (and they are always my favorite). Ace loves to watch himself and all the other kiddos whenever their mommies upload videos. I think my clips have been too long. So this one is short.

He is singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider."

What is so funny about his singing is that he breaks into song at ANY time. Yesterday at Bed Bath and Beyond I let him bring his play microphone into the store and he sang into that thing as if it were the American Idol finale. He couldn't carry a tune in a bucket (takes after his mom) but he had an audience and loved it. The lady behind me just listened with rapt attention. He just kept right on serenading her after he discovered he had her attention.

It's really hard most of the time to tell what he is singing. He never knows all of the words and makes most of them up. He's an entertainer. I wish the video were longer.

Our Fourth

We had a quiet Fourth of July. Jonathan grilled some phenomenal nilgai burgers and Aunt "Hairy," Uncle "Nafan," Aubrey and Brynley came over.

We stripped these two for the watermelon and we GLAD we did.

Ace got more juice on him than watermelon in his mouth.

Precious Brynley.

Waiting for fireworks, Jonathan let Ace not-so-sneak some of Aunt Hilary's chocolate chip cookies.

We ended up staying home in anticipation of being able to watch the fireworks from our house (nearby neighborhoods were having them) and it turned out that two of our neighbors practically had a fireworks competition that played out right over our backyard! Ace loved all of the fireworks and now doesn't understand why we don't have them every night.

Ace 101

The thing I love MOST about my Ace is his happy personality. Jonathan and I aren't the only ones who are so surprised at how HAPPY he is, all of the time. The second thing I love most is his ever-growing vocabulary. I was dropping him off at Nana's house the other day and one of the mom's was coming up the stairs and said, "Oh. You're Ace's mom? We are hoping he will teach Peyton to talk." Peyton is older than Ace!


Sometimes you must know Ace's code language though. This will help...

"The Mober"

(Couldn't get it to rotate!)

Ace will say, "Daddy's mobin' Mommy."

"I want Pluto."

Ace is really picky about his clothes, shoes and even his diapers right now. He insists on having Pluto on his diapers. Wish Huggies would sell only Pluto.

"I want Hide."

This means that Ace wants to get under the covers and destroy our bed. If he says "Mommy too" that means I am allowed to hide too. If he says "Mommy, get out" he gets a scolding!

Right to left: "Mick-a-Donald", "Pidermaaaan," "Other Mick-a-Donald."
Thank goodness for McDonald's happy meal toys.


"Mantis" or "Santis"
This is Brookelyn's McDonald's toy! Ace stole it because he loves Kung Fu Panda. Sorry Brookelyn but Ace even sleeps with it.
(Side note: "Ba-look-a-lyn" is how Ace pronounces her name)
"The Tiger"
I think this came from Kung Fu Panda but I have no idea how it attached to this monster truck.

"The Leopard"

Same explanation as "The Tiger" above

"The Win-now...Not on table."

Ace used to crash his toys on our glass-topped kitchen table. For safety reasons, I started making him play on the windowsill. Now, he'll take his toys and repeat this phrase.

"Up-dairs."

This is usually followed by "I want da playground Mommy." (Translated it means he wants to play in the play/ game room.)

Other helpful terms:

The Lazies - the Kids' Korner ladies at the gym

Hup - Help

Oh no - precedes everything

Air-slane - Airplane

Tweet Tweet - Bird

Meow - Cat

I want diet coke. - This means he wants to go to McDonalds.

No poop. - This means he's pooped.

Ace, you entertain us constantly!

Happy 1st Birthday Brynley!

1 year ago today Jonathan, Ace and I got to welcome Brynley Caroline Bedford into the world! God gave Brynley to Jonathan's sister Hilary, Nathan and big sister Aubrey. What lucky ducks.

We love you Brynley. Happy 1st Birthday.