A lot has happened since we last posted, so this is going to be a quick post with a lot of pictures.
The whole Sparks clan came up to Starkville for Christmas. Dad took all the pictures, but I haven't gotten them yet.
While the women were cooking and playing with Reed, Pawpaw and I (and sometimes Dad) worked on a bench for the office. I love it.
Friday after Christmas, Jay, Claire, Carrie, Bekah, and I all loaded up and headed to Nashville for the Music City Bowl. Reed stayed with my folks in Jackson. We won. Barely. The second picture is of Vick Ballard squeezing in the corner of the endzone and scoring a touchdown.
Saturday night we went out for New Year's Eve. It was cold and the music note (New York has the ball drop, Nashville has the music note drop) only made it halfway down.
That's about it. Here are some pictures of Reed. Still no teeth, but he's got 4 big welps on his gums. We can't be too far away.
It's almost Christmas, and we never put up anything about Thanksgiving and the Egg Bowl, so here's a recap.
It was a great Thanksgiving around the Sparks household. We went down to Brandon Wednesday afternoon, and as Bekah mentioned in the previous post, Reed got his first haircut! Special thanks goes out to the two people who commented on what "a nice-looking girl" we had, and the other three who weren't as bold and asked whether Reed was a boy or girl. I think each of their comments carried more weight than my day-to-day nagging.
We left Brandon early the Friday after Thanksgiving to get back and set up our tailgate tent for the next day.
I have been fixing up broken tents (left on campus after the games) and hoped to sell some Friday afternoon as people's tents broke. But despite finding 3 different people with broken tents, I had no luck Friday afternoon.
Saturday morning, Jay and I got out to campus around 9am and watched as a dozen people returned to their tents that were destroyed by the nightly wind and rain. I finally sold one tent around 11am, but that's all I could do.
Bekah brought Reed up to campus around 2pm, after his second nap. He did great before the game, and the weather was really nice until 4pm when it started to rain.
We went in the game around 5:30pm (kickoff at 6pm) and stayed under the stands for a little while. Shortly after we got in, it cleared up and We went to our seats just long enough to see the seniors get recognized at their last home game. Bekah took him down just before kickoff when it began to rain, and I stayed through the first drive - a touchdown by MSU.
After seeing us go up 7-0, I went down to check on Bekah & Reed. We found a spot to camp under the stands where we could see a TV, and hung out through the first quarter. It cleared up again at the beginning of the 2nd quarter, so Reed and I went back in and stayed for about 5 minutes of game time. When it started raining again, we headed back down.
Two minutes before halftime, I noticed it was clearing up, so Reed and I went back in quickly. Generally, the final 2 minutes of a half last FOREVER, but not this time. There were 7 seconds left when Reed and I sat down. Though the weather was clear, Reed and I did not support the decision to let ole miss's band play on our field, so we voluntarily went back under the stands.
MSU was leading 21-0 at halftime.
Early in the third quarter, Bekah handed Reed off to me and I felt a sudden warm gush on my right side. Yep, my 14-month streak of not getting peed on had just ended, and in the most public place, too - around 55,000 other people. So Bekah took Reed and our extra ticket (for re-entry) back to the tailgate to change his pants. Meanwhile, I went back to our seats, hoping the rain would clean my shirt a little bit.
Bekah & Reed got back at the end of the 3rd quarter and I went down to meet them in the concourse. By the 4th quarter, the game had been decided - MSU was up 28-3 - and the rain just kept coming. I wanted Reed in at the very end of the game when the clock hit zero, and I was preparing to tell Bekah that we were going to have to take him in while it was raining. But with 5 minutes left in the 4th, the rain stopped. So we all went in and the rain held out until the final buzzer.
Here is a video of the final play, as we denied a potential touchdown. ole miss was stopped inside the 5 yardline.
As MISSISSIPPI STATE was toting around the Golden Egg [for the third year in a row] and celebrating for the third straight year, it started to drizzle again. But Bekah let me keep him out there for a few minutes to see the fireworks and such. We got quick family pictures at his first Egg Bowl, and then Bekah and Reed took off for the house.
If you're looking for a game analysis, it's the same as the previous two years. ole miss just can't stop Chris Relf. It's not that he's doing anything special. He just runs all over them. And a team like ole miss didn't have anything to play for - their coach was on the way out and they weren't going bowling. So when we scored 14pts in the first quarter, I knew it was over - they basically laid down from that point forward.
After Bekah left, I went back to the tailgate to celebrate, and later Jay and I went on the field. We ran into Anthony Dixon (former MSU RB) and Chris Relf (senior MSU QB) as we were walking out, and we snagged a pic with Dixon.
Other than the weather, Reed's first Egg Bowl was great - a team effort by the Sparks. Reed was fantastic, and didn't mind being held through the entire game. Bekah didn't mind me taking him in and out of the game as the weather permitted, and she didn't mind taking him out to change his pants. I willingly stayed under the bleachers and watched the game on TV, and I was only mildly annoyed after getting peed on. And we were all happy it cleared up so he could be in at the end of the game.
Of course, we'll be in attendance in Nashville for the Music City Bowl (Friday, Dec 30 at 5:40pm). Reed's official status for the game is doubtful. I doubt the weather will cooperate, but it did last year at the Gator Bowl, so you never know...
------ Two weekends ago (Dec 9), Kathie & Gary came up from Florida to see Bekah walk for her Master's Degree. That Saturday, we had all kinds of family and friends over for a surprise party. We neglected to take any pictures - I was too focused on the party itself - but it was a blast, and I think everyone (who didn't end up sick) had a good time. I got sick that night, as did my mom, and Bekah's sister's entire family.
To help accomodate the 20 or so guests at the party, I pulled my Wrigley seats into the living room, and - surprise! - we think they look great in there. We've been searching for something skinny to fit this wall (due to the hallway door), but we'd come up empty so far. Not only does it give us extra emergency seating, but they fold up and don't block the doorway.
Now I just need to find something to replace them in the office / MSU room... We've also got a new addition to the breakfast area. Kathie and Gary brought up some old antique metal furniture, and this past wekeend (Dec 17) I got down and dirty and sanded, cleaned, and painted the whole thing. We really think it turned out nicely. We also re-cushioned the seats.
I guess that's it. We're preparing for Christmas this week, so we'll try to post some pictures between Christmas and the bowl game.
Recently, I have been asked twice if Reed was a boy or a girl. This did not sit well with Ryan. After at least a month (probably longer) of hearing snide comments and snappy remarks from Ryan, I finally gave in and let Reed get a little hair cut. It was very traumatic. For me. I was not a happy camper and every time Ryan mentioned having Reed's hair cut, I snapped at him. I had already agreed to get it cut, but he kept saying how bad he needed a cut and blah blah blah. Reed had the cutest curls! They were really wild and when his hair was wet and brushed out, it was crazy long, but it didn't take much time for the long hairs to curl into the cutest little mess you have ever seen.
So, with only a few days to go before d-day, I grabbed the camera and snapped as many pictures of his curls as I could.
We took him to Mr. David (who has cut Ryan's hair since he was little, and also cuts Mr. Richard's hair) the day before Thanksgiving.
This is when I almost started crying
I guess it was a *little* long Snip, snip (tear, tear) All done
My sweet baby is no longer a baby
Well, it was fast and semi-painless. Reed did such a good job and pretty much let Mr. David do what he needed to do. At first Reed kept grabbing the comb Mr. David was using, but I think that is because I always give him Ryan's brush to play with while I am getting ready (Ryan -I told you that is where that long, blonde piece of hair came from. Reed brushes his hair with your brush, not me. I have my own brush thankyouverymuch). Between the comb Mr. David gave Reed and Toy Story playing - Reed did very well.
Catching up: Reed was a skeleton for Halloween aka he wore skeleton jammies for Halloween. He is still too young to really know what it is and to enjoy it, so we did not go out of the way to do anything for Halloween. We were going to carve pumpkins, but I waited too late to get them so we didn't even do that (Ryan was really disappointed). We will definitely carve pumpkins next year though.
We were going to go over to John and Liza's house and take Reed to a few houses with Nathan and Dillon, but Reed had some kind of reaction to tomatoes and was given benadryl at daycare. He had never had benadryl before and we didn't know how he would be when we picked him up, so we decided to stay home.
Since we stayed home, I had to run to the store to get candy. Have you ever tried to get candy at 5:30 pm on Halloween? I don't suggest it. There was NOTHING. I had to spend a fortune just to get two measly bags. We ran out pretty quick and in turn, had to spend the rest of the night in the dark. I felt really bad because a girl walked up right after a group of little boys that took the rest of our candy and I had to tell her we didn't have any more and she was not happy with us. I really thought our house would have been egged.
A few days later, we took Reed to meet Santa at the Greater Starkville Development Partnership for Cookies with Santa. As you can tell, he had a blast.
He gave Santa a high five as soon as I picked him up.
Reed gave me the shaft for about an entire week after this happened. Oh, and his picture made it into the new Town & Gown magazine. I have picked up several copies and plan to show this to his girlfriend one day :)
And lately, Reed has been climbing into any and every space he can get himself into: This child really cracks me up. He does the funniest tricks ever! We are working on getting them on video, and when he does, Ryan will post them. A few of the tricks he can do:
*When you ask "Where is your nose?" he points to it. *When you ask "Where is your belly?" he lifts his shirt up and points to it. He REALLY loves lifting up other people's shirts and grabbing their belly (not so good for my self-esteem). *When you ask "Where are your shoes?" he grabs them if they are on his feet. *There is a song that is played at all the football games and basketball games with a line it in that says "Everybody's hands go UP" - and when you say it, he raises his arms up as high as they can go - it is so funny!
There are several others, but you will just have to wait for the video. Me telling you about them does not do these tricks justice.
Other updates for our little monster man:
* Talking up a storm! Words Reed can say include: Mama :) Dada, dog, juice, up, bath, night night, uh-oh... I think there are more, but I can't think of them right now
*When he is hungry, he will go to his high chair and pat it.
*He gives the best kisses and hugs.
*He is walking and running EVERY where - this child is always on the move.
*He loves to play in the cabinets. We find random objects in random cabinets. I found some socks and some cardboard on top of the dvd player in our media console. I have found Gatorade bottles, juice cups, blocks, and a book in one of our kitchen cabinets. We lock most of the cabinets (the ones that he can break dishes in or get into cleaning supplies), but I saw him taking the lock off on one of them the other day, so we may have a problem on our hands....
*He LOVES to read! He will get a book and bring it to you, then climb in your lap and let you read it. But if you aren't quick, he will turn the page before you are finished.
* I think we are going to have two teeth really soon (finally). His top two will most likely come in before the bottom ones because he already has whelps on the top and they are so puffy! He has started drooling like mad again and puts EVERYTHING in his mouth to gnaw on.
I guess that is about it. I will let Ryan do the updating when it comes to the bowl game. I will leave you with a glimpse of that post to come:
If you've been reading the blog - or even just looking at the pretty pictures - you probably know that we've put a lot of effort into redecorating our house this year. Or maybe that should be "decorating," since "re-" would imply that it was decorated to begin with, instead of some smorgasbord of mismatched free hand-me-downs.
Anyway, at the beginning we had this big list of stuff we wanted to do, so we prioritized it and tackled each item based on importance. Seems logical, right? I mean, if I have to choose between a china cabinet or a new couch - all due respect to the old green couch we had (may she rest in peace) - I'm buying a new couch all day long. Well, what it left us with is a bunch of half-finished rooms. For example...
- In the dining room, we added some pictures on the wall, a shelf, and a table setting, but we've still got 3 empty half-walls and a big vacant spot in the corner.
- In the living room, we bought a couch, two new chairs, and paintings, but we still haven't found a replacement for the DVD tower or put new pictures around the TV.
- And in my office, we added a new computer desk, some wall art, and a chair, but we haven't bought a bigger bookshelf or a bigscreen TV. :)
Every room is like this. We hadn't crossed off one room as "complete" in seven months. But now we have. The foyer is finished.
During our trip down to Jackson 2 weekends ago, we found the final piece. Bekah spotted this long painting that reminded us of our time in the Netherlands. And it fits great over our table.
Here's a rundown of everything we did in the foyer:
WHERE IT STARTED: Empty. There was nothing there. Nothing on the walls. No table. No shades on the front doors. Absolutely bare.
WHAT WE ADDED: - 6' somewhat-shaky table highlighted by old bleacher wood from the football stadium - lamps - windmills painting - front door shades - pictures on the wall with our MSU friends, including Dan Mullen, Jack Cristil, Charles Rhodes, and Fred Smoot
RYAN'S FAVORITE THING: The table. Shoddy craftsmanship by an inexperienced carpenter causes the table to wobble a bit, but I love everything else about it. Special thanks to Charles & Nell for the bleacher wood.
BEKAH'S FAVORITE THING: The windmills painting. It fit the spot perfectly and brings back memories of our time in Europe.
RYAN'S LEAST FAVORITE THING: The shades. They're okay. They may look better once we paint the walls.
BEKAH'S LEAST FAVORITE THING: The silver "bucket" under the foyer table. It doesn't fit nicely under the table. I'd rather have a basket.
That's the foyer. Done. Though sometime I do hope to disassemble and repair the table to improve its sturdiness. But I've got other projects going on right now.
The garage has been unparkable recently as I painted Jay's beanbag tosses. I think they turned out nice. I see a pair of these for the Sparks's in the future...
As soon as those were done, I refinished some patio furniture we picked up from Aunt Ruth and Uncle Jerry. I still have a few small touch-ups left, but here's the finished part of the set. In total, there are 4 chairs and the coffee table. Sorry, these were the best in-the-dark photos I could get.
Last week, Bekah nagged me enough to finally hang some pictures in the guest room...
Here's something else we picked up in Jackson - a chalkboard made from an old shutter.
That's about it. Here are a few pictures of Reed over the past month. The first picture is with former MSU football star Fred Smoot, fresh off a successful 10 year NFL career.
And here's a video of the most-recent thing Reed's learned. Make sure your volume is turned up. :)
One last thing. Tonight was the Nick Bell memorial 3.6 mile fun run around campus. I ran, while Bekah and Reed walked with Auntie Carrie. We left from The Junction, headed down Fraternity and Sorority Row, zigzagged aroud and ran up Engineering Row, over towards the BSU, down to Zacharias Village, around the big lake behind the Sanderson Center, up by the Dudy-Noble and The Hump, and finished running by the football stadium. 36 minutes, 45 seconds. Not too bad for me, since I hadn't run in at least 6 weeks, and we decided to do it about 3hrs prior to the start (I ate a big lunch, and paid for it during the run).
