Birthday Picture

Yes I know his big day is not till Saturday, but I had a free Shutterfly book I had to order by last night, so the 1 year picture came early!  Here is my stinker 3 days early!

And the 1 year review:  :)

 

 

Picnic Food

I can understand if you are not crazy about this picture.  I'm not really too crazy about looking at pictures of other people's messy kids.  But this kid is my own, so here it is.  :)

Really I wanted to show you how much Noah enjoyed his picnic food:  ribs, potato salad, watermelon, corn, squash, baked beans and homemade ice cream.   YUM.

Our friends from church had us over...the food was amazing.  I gave N a bath before we went (knowing we would probably get home past his bed time, and he has a big day tomorrow).   That was totally pointless.  He was covered in BBG sauce (and after dinner a huge poop that came out the back of his diaper).  It is hard to tell, but that is a big rib bone in his hand. He LOVED it!!! 

Tomorrow is a big day for Noah because he is going to the BIG BOY class at day care!  This is a class for crawlers (and some early walkers).  Also tomorrow (I think!!!), he will get to eat real food off of the menu at daycare too.  I'm really excited for him to try some new things- things that I don't cook at home (like ham, all kinds of beans and vegetables).  

Also, I am super excited about tomorrow because we moved the car seat to the side-back seat instead of the middle.  Seems like a small thing to get excited about, but it should be a lot easier to load 22 pounds into the side seat.  

This weekend Noah's 7th tooth came in, and #8 is probably not far behind (ouch).  Mom and dad---come quick...we need you!  :) 

All grown up, my little squirt!

Garage Sale

Wow.  I'm so tired.  Our garage sale was yesterday.  People started showing up at 5:45 am.  And they kept coming and coming.  We put up around 30 signs, so people knew right where to go.  One guy told us that he hadn't stopped at a garage sale in 20 years, but saw so many signs, he just had to stop.

We made about $300 (give or take $20...we weren't so sure what we started out with).  We got rid of a lot of junk.  :)  That was really the whole point of our sale.  To clear out some junk.  And we were successful.  We sold flashlights, books, binders, a pressure washer, ladders, a table/chair set, and much much more.

We were done around 10.  And sweaty.  It was hard to have a garage sale with a little squirt crawling around.  So we were really tired.  And we all took a 2 1/2 hour nap.

And that is our garage sale story.

Different Kind

Looks like we have a different kind of tomatoes growing this year.  Last year I swore off growing tomatoes (we had 19 plants last year).  But, I don't want Noah to grow up a tomato-hater like his momma and daddy, so I told Jeremy I would plant one.  Well, one turned into 6 since that is how you buy them, and now we have 6.  They are growing really big, and I'm really excited about them.

Jeremy must have come home wit a different variety this year.  They are all bunched up together, kinda long and skinny.  Very different, but big and healthy none the less.

Our green beans are growing too!  We had our first batch last night.  Yum.  I LOVE green beans.  Looks like we will have lots for us, and lots to share too.

This picture is to show you our pool...which has totally reinvented itself this year.  Last year the mustard algae hit us (and our wallets) REALLY hard.  But thanks to our new pool vac, we are back in business.  It is TOTALLY clear to the bottom...our best year yet. (If you look in the garden you can see our two green bean tee-pees growing!!!)

 And a picture of my short little beagle, who had a hose bath tonight.  We drove down to the vet yesterday, but they don't feel like his ear is healed up enough to remove the port, so one more week it is.

 Lastly, we are prepping for our GARAGE SALE on Saturday!  We are so excited...it has been over 5 years since our last!  Hopefully we can get rid of some stuff and make a little $ too!  More on the sale to come. 

Stiff

I'm 29 and I'm stiff. 

I'm not saying I'm really a "runner" per say, but I run.

And I hate it.

And now that I'm older, I hate it even more. 

Another year, another quarter mile before I loosen up.

I'm not saying I'm old, but I am saying that I dread running when I'm 80.

Cause its bad enough at 29.

And I've got to do it. 

Cause I'm in the process of quitting nursing.

Unfortunately I will have to do something other than sit on the couch and eat.

Why does cellulite look so cute when you are this age?

When your belly sticks out further than your feet.

When rolls upon rolls make up your booty.

And when one little smile melts my heart.

 I wish cellulite looked that good on me.

Weekend Post

We had a fun, relaxing weekend!  One of those weekends that you really appreciate Jeremy being home and not deployed!  :)  

I got to get out and go to Tupelo to meet my friend Trinity for lunch, pedicures and ice cream. 

The boys stayed behind and had lots of pool time and shop time.  

Today we went to church (N got bit in the nursery!  :)  I wasn't too worried about it, because N will probably be the biter here shortly), ate lunch, took naps, and went swimming again for a long time.

Here are a few pics from the weekend...

Pool Time

Shop Time

Kinda Gross

But the other night I noticed a bulge on Beag's ear.  It was smooshy-like and we called the vet in a panic.  Turns out is was an aural hematoma, which required surgery the next day (yikes $300).  

He was fortunate to get in a Mississippi State Vet clinic (again) for the surgery.  They took such awesome care of Rio, and Beags too.  

He got a little ear shave, and currently he has a little plastic port hanging out of his ear to help things drain.  He gets that out on Tuesday.  

The hematoma was most likely caused by excessive ear shaking due to the yeast infection that he had in his ears.  He also has a UTI, and he is also on medications for that.

Poor little Schmeagle, but it was definitely worth blogging about that port!  It is not every day you have a little piece of plastic sewed into your ear.

Carpe Diem

My sister-in-law Amy sent me this article a few months ago, and I just loved it.  It was written by Glennon Melton and published in Huffington Post.  It talks about how people always say about being a mom "enjoy it", "don't blink", "it goes by so fast", and about how hard it is to appreciate it at the time.  

I thought I would post the link here tonight in honor of my recent struggles with N.  :)  If you have a few minutes to read it, you won't regret it. 

Thanks Amy for the encouragement!!!

Here are a few blurbs that I liked:

 "I think parenting young children (and old ones, I've heard) is a little like climbing Mount Everest. Brave, adventurous souls try it because they've heard there's magic in the climb....And so I think that if there were people stationed, say, every thirty feet along Mount Everest yelling to the climbers -- "ARE YOU ENJOYING YOURSELF!? IF NOT, YOU SHOULD BE! ONE DAY YOU'LL BE SORRY YOU DIDN'T!" TRUST US!! IT'LL BE OVER TOO SOON! CARPE DIEM!" -- those well-meaning, nostalgic cheerleaders might be physically thrown from the mountain."


"Craig is a software salesman...And I doubt anybody comes by his office to make sure he's ENJOYING HIMSELF. I doubt his boss peeks in his office and says: "This career stuff...it goes by so fast...ARE YOU ENJOYING EVERY MOMENT IN THERE, CRAIG???? CARPE DIEM, CRAIG!"


"My favorite part of each day is when the kids are put to sleep (to bed) and Craig and I sink into the couch to watch some quality TV, like Celebrity Wife Swap, and congratulate each other on a job well done. Or a job done, at least."

Random

Okay, really quick brag.  :)  

I made this "stroller" watermelon for a baby shower tonight.  Carrie is going to have her baby in a few weeks...we don't know if it is a boy or girl yet!  

To be honest, the watermelon was SO EASY!!!  I'm really excited about how it came out...I'm totally gonna do it again.  Anyone know a pregnant person? :)

Also, a few quick Mother's Day pictures.  I'm fortunate we got any smiles at all, N was such a grump.  This photo shoot contained LOTS of grumbling and crying (from BOTH of us), but now we will have first Mother's Day photos to look back at one day.  

Being a mom is wonderful, difficult, frustrating, but so rewarding all at once.  Makes me appreciate my mom SO much!  I have no clue how she did it (x5) and not only survived, but did an amazing job too!

More Positive

On to more positive things.

Here is my nativity advent calendar...really coming together.  My friend Trinity helped me sew all the pockets (since there are 25 pockets the bottom row had to have one more).  I thought it would be more simple than it was, but there was quite a bit of measuring and cutting and sewing involved.  I cheated and bought the numbers on Etsy for $5.  It saved me a ton of time and I'm really happy with the results.  I just need to get my little people squared away in the pockets and we will be all ready for December 1.

Today Jeremy and I got a lot done.  I got a birthday/mother's day sleep-in.  Till 10:30.  It was awesome.  Holy cow.  I needed that so bad.

I did some freezer cooking.  I made tons of turkey meatballs, 2 enchilada dishes, chicken nuggets, 3 sloppy joe dishes, 2 tacos, 2 chicken casseroles, 2 chicken philly dishes, 11 turkey burgers, and I feel like there was more, but I can't remember right now.  Needless to say, we can no longer say "we have no food".  We should have food for quite awhile.  I might be able to talk my mom into cooking some when she is here too.

We also got the shed cleaned out, power washed the patio, cleaned out a closet, changed the oil in the jeep and got a brick put back up on the fireplace.  We made a small dent in my to-do list...there is still lots more to be done, but no rush either.

It is nice to have a blog where I'm not complaining, huh?  Happy Birthday Eve to me.

Being Real

I'm beginning to wonder if my boy will ever breathe through his nose again.  Do you think you can be so stuffy for so long that you forget about you nose as a possible source of air?  I have sucked so much out of his nose (I'm thinking of making booger-sucking a second career....I'm really good at it!!!).  I'm talking about massive, massive quantities.  Like you wonder where all of that could have possibly come from kind of quantities.

Sometimes I feel like such an awful mom.  Am I the only one who looks at the clock and thinks "only 3 hours till bed time"?

I'm not trying to be a complainer, I'm just trying to be real.  Real on this blog, but mostly just real to myself.   That being a mom is hard.  That I'm really not ready for a second baby.  That I'm so thankful that my baby sleeps 12 hours.  That I'm SO glad Jeremy didn't deploy.  That I'm glad my floors match my dogs.  No one will know how long it has been since I swept.  That I've been so busy with a cranky, sick baby that I haven't cooked in a long time.  That even if I wanted to cook, I really have no food anyway.  When was my last trip to the grocery store?

It's all worth it.  I'm just saying that its not easy.  And its not all fun and games.  And I don't believe you if you try to say it is.

Still Sick

Thursday marks 3 weeks since our first visit to the walk in clinic.  Noah. Is. Still. Sick.  I'm soooo over it.  The poor baby doesn't feel well, so I know it is not all about me, but it is still so tiring!  He is SO snotty!  Jeremy took him BACK to the doctor on Monday.  He started a z pack (for little guys) but so far is not improving much.  Lots of crabbiness, and really too snotty to suck his paci.  Not a good situation.  Boo.

So on to something more pleasant.  

It is teacher appreciation week!  Our daycare had a list of hints of things to do each day.  Wednesday is flower day, but with N being sick, my thoughts of making it to Lowes just never happened.  So here are my "flowers" for tomorrow.  I'm really happy about the way they turned out.

Lastly Beagle just walked into the house with a dead frog in his mouth.  Gag.  Sometimes he can be so person-like, and then other times, he is just so nasty dog-like!  

Happy Tuesday.

Challenges These Days

1.  Free Will.  And Noah has a lot of it.  He gets so frustrated!  He is starting to learn boundaries, right from wrong, and the meaning of "no".  I guess it just surprises me how young it has started!

2.  Stopping nursing.  After 11 long and challenging months, I am ready to be done.  While I like the "diet" plan for myself (or lack there of), Noah and I are ready to be done (for a lot of different reasons!).  I'm really excited (finally getting the opportunity to sleep in, less cleaning of supplies, a huge accomplishment and milestone), and really sad (my baby is growing up!!!) all at once.  Moving to whole milk soon!

3.  Learning to use a sippy cup.  After several different cups, we have found success with the Nuby...a sippy cup that changes from a bottle-style to a soft spout cup style.  He is pretty good at the bottle style, so pretty soon I will change the spout.

4.  Learning to eat.  In less than 4 weeks, Noah will be allowed to eat from the daycare menu, and we are so excited about it.  He is learning to try new food (we had waffles for breakfast), though he is not a big eater.  I'm happy to be stop buying baby food soon!  I think the daycare menu will bring more variety than my typical spaghetti/taco dinner menu.

5.  Moving up...to the creeper class (in 2 weeks).  They haven't had room for him in that class until this point, but I am glad that he will be moving up.  Such a big boy!

6.  Boycotting morning nap at daycare.  I was really frustrated, but it has turned out to be a good thing.  He still takes 2 on the weekends, and a 3 hour afternoon nap on the weekdays!  Guess he is just having too much fun to sleep!

7.  A favorite blanket.  I will have to make a video of it, but he gets SO excited when he sees it!  We keep it in the bed only (and for very cranky/sick days).  So crazy how such a small thing can bring so much joy.  I never saw Noah as being one to have something like that, but I guess you can't control everything!

I love my little one so much.  I never expected that he could change my life (for the better) so much!!!  That little squirt...he is just plain awesome.  I guess every stage has it's challanges...we seem to have a lot of them right now...but I love him like crazy anyway!

Strawberries

Strawberries are in season!  And this year they are FREE!!!  We are so excited that our berries from last year have some back- and then some!  We are picking about 10 per day!  Some are better than others, and they rot out so fast without tons of preservatives, but here is a little sampling of what might have been heaped over my blue bell tonight!

Over Done

I'm feeling a little over done.

Sometimes I feel like I am pulled in so many different directions.  Between working 25 (ish) hours a week, taking care of Noah, taking care of everything at home, grocery shopping, and keeping up with other committments...there doesn't seem to be much left over.

This afternoon I was sitting at the Honda dealership (waiting for results on my car that is burning 1.2 quarts of oil per 1,400 miles) I read that "if you are feeling the blues, chances are that you are not getting enough sleep".

I've always needed a lot of sleep.  8 hours a night really just doesn't cut it.  Thankfully, I have been blessed with a baby that sleeps 12 hours (though I can take a lot of credit for the hard work and persistence that that took), so I have no excuse not to get in bed earlier.

When you are tired...a cranky baby, a car burning oil, a dying magnolia tree (the nursery says "it is stressed", getting locked out of the house, a nap-boycotting child....these things all seem bigger.

So I'm committing to go to bed earlier.  And I'm so super excited about it.  See you shortly Mr. Bed.