Wild Boy

My child was a little wild tonight.

Ok, a lot wild.

Like eating-his-shoe kind of wild.

So we went for a loooong walk to look at Christmas lights and blow-ups.

They are slowly disappearing and N is really feeling sad about it.

Fortunately the HUGE blow up santa down the road is still in full force, so we set out to see him.

I brought the stroller just in case.

But nooooo that crazy, wild boy walked the whole way.

1/2 mile at least.

Oh yeah, and we decided to bring Beagle along.

Which was quite the project.

I put N "in charge" of Beagle, which he thought was totally awesome.

And he embraced his role.

I had to help out a bit, especially initially, when beagle actually thought he was in charge.

But it was a good workout for all (especially me) and N went right to bed when we got home.

I told hom how proud I was of him, and how strong he was for walking that far.

"Yes I am strong.  I use my muscles"

Christmas in Virginia

Wow.

We are home, and I am slowly cleaning and recovering.

I picked up a bug somewhere along the way, cause I'm a little rough right now.

N keeps asking "you sick mommy?"

But we had so much fun in Virginia at the beach house.

I was a little nervous going into it...a long plane trip (starting pretty early in the morning), sharing a room with N...but it all worked out pretty smoothly.

We had such a great time of food, fun, laughing, games, puzzling, and just overall family bonding.

I have the greatest family, and it was so much to spend time with them.

We missed Stephanie, Jeyson and Elijah very much!

They kids got along pretty well!

We only have one coloring-on-the-wall incident, and only one bite on the hand.

I'm so glad N can grow up knowing his cousins and spending time with them.

We had so much good food!

Everyone split up the meals, so it was awesome to eat so many tasty meals (including homemade pizza, rigatoni pasta dish, fried ice cream and omelets made to order-literally).

We took walks to the beach, watched dolphins swim, played lots and lots of games, and opened gifts.

Here are some pictures...what a wonderful vacation celebrating Jesus's birth!

Christmas #1

Today I unpacked and repacked all at the same time.
Came home from the schuld Christmas, and am heading out tomorrow for the Ciotta Christmas.
It was a super fun weekend filled with food, toys, presents, visiting, errands...you name it.
Terry and ken were so gracious to host us, and I was able to get tons of "me" time, thanks to the mother load of toys that terry has at her house (as well as the kindness of papa and Grammy to sit on the floor and entertain my kid while I sat on the couch surfing the web).
It was awesome.
Noah got a "my first scooter" from terry, and he has been loving that!
Who knew he was left footed?!?!?
We got to do a Christmas brunch at Chris and Marybeth's house, which was so nice.
Bagels, eggs, coffee.  Perfect way to start a morning.
Then there was presents, rocket shooting, and toys.
Noah adores all of his cousins, and it is so fun to watch him interact with them.
You know it's fun when all the kids leave screaming.
And mine even slept for an hour in the car on the way home!

And the suitcases are packed, and we are headed out to Virginia for the next week!
Can't wait to meet up with two of my sisters and their families, as well as my mom and dad.
Hoping for a smooth flight tomorrow (it it ever smooth with a 2 year old????) and for endless amount of fun (and food!!!) at the beach house.
Same some Nutella for me Adam!

Pictures to come this next weekend!!

I Hate Selfies

Here is a little bit of a rant.

I HATE selfies.

Oh wait, you never heard of a selfie?

Me either, until I read this article.

Which I read on someone's facebook page when I was web stalking.

And now, unfortunately, I see them EVERYWHERE!

I just seriously don't get it.

I can't even wrap my mind around why someone would want to take a picture of themselves doing nothing and post it for the whole world to see.

Especially the Seatbelt Selfie.

Seriously, why????

I have also seen a lot of the DuckFace Selfie, which I just so don't get?

The funny thing about selfies is that the people look so casual.

Like they have no idea the picture is being taken, let alone who is taking the picture.

????!?!  Huh??!?!

YOU are the one taking it!  

So maybe I'm getting too old to relate.

Maybe it is just a fad that hit a few years after I grew after that stage.

Who knows, maybe I would have been part of the selfie crowd.

What do you think?

Weekend Fun

The last week has been busy with work, getting ready for Christmas and just keeping afloat overall

.

My mom came down Friday night and stayed till Saturday.

I finished up my Christmas errands and just had some nice alone time.

I even treated myself to a Ttti Fruiti ice cream.

The guy gave me a discount.

Guess I looked like I needed it.

Today I took N to the zoo.

It was THE BEST zoo trip.

There was maybe a total of 30 people there total.

Also they were pretty decorated for Christmas, so there was double the amount of things to look at.

We got to really take out time and look at the animals, and I was feeling more relaxed because how few people were there...we had a really nice time.

We even got to watch a geinea pig training session (?!!?!?!?) 

Who even knew a guinea pig was even trainable?

My least favorite animal:  anteater.

SO not a fan.

So heres a few quick pictures of the fun:

Check out the sea otter!  What a life!!!

Finishing my last three days of work before the real fun begins!!

Gym Signs

There are two gyms on base.

I go to both...depending on what I want to do.

The old one is totally normal gym, just older.

The new gym is awesome...clean, lots of equipment, and best of all the munchkin room (where you can exercise and your kids can play).

Ok, so here the strange thing.

The new gym has SO many weird signs!

When you see them, you just think "really???"

How could that possibly be necessary?

So here are a few.

Let me know what you think.

Really?!?!?!?!

Next time I go in I'm going to see a sign that says "Please do not take pictures of signs in the gym".

Dog Food

Okay, so first things first.

I'm SOOOO not comparing my child to dog food.

Let's get that out on the table first.

I love my kiddo, and while he is not always the easiest of children, he is still mine and I adore him.

So, on to the dog food situation.

One of the hardest thing for me to do when Jeremy is not here is the dog food.

I'm talking about the task every 3 or so weeks of dumping the bag of dog food into the smaller containers that we keep accessible.

Then, I have to put the large bag put VERY far out of reach for obvious reasons (beagle).

It is a really hard job because the bag is super heavy (37 pounds) and I have to try to control it, or beagle will have a huge dinner.

Lately its been harder and harder to carry Noah around.

You are probably saying "why are you carrying a 2.5 year old", and I can understand your thoughts.

Sometime times it just easier.

I have no other excuse. 

He is 31 pounds.

And he is just too big for me.

Sometimes he will say "I'm slipping, I'm slipping!"

:)  And its usually true.

And then last week I had a revelation.

Running errands, going grocery shopping, getting in and out of the car...these are all difficult tasks.

Because I'm doing it all carrying around what feels like my big bag of dog food!

No wonder its so hard to do these things!

So its settled.

So either N is going to start walking more, or I'm going to get really strong (or really tired).

Don't hold me to it though.

;)  

They are only "little" for so long.

2 1/2

I could fill this whole blog post with pictures of my 2.5 year old that are less-than-perfect.
But rather than get annoyed that I chose to give N a haircut, dress up and attempt to take a nice picture, all in the same day, and all alone, I'll just embrace it.
So here are some of the pictures that I got today.
Take your vote:

 (I'm leaning toward this one...)

 (but I also love that wrinkled-up-nose-face that he makes when he is getting into something)

And yes, I bribed him with a cookie.

Just for a decent smile.

And I got it.  And a whole lot more.

Crazy

A few pictures of the craziness going on over here:

My favorite superhero.

Loves checking himself out in the mirror.

It just gets that much more fun when you get to see how silly you look.

We had a tea party in pajamas.

He was so pumped about it.

I guess it was his first tea party.

All of his friends came to the tea party

Playing with the $3 pirate ship.

SOOOO worth $3

We have spent countless hours playing pirate ship, doing pirate shows, snake shows...you name it.

It's so crazy - watching this nutty little 30 pounder running around in his underwear, chasing dogs, knocking over towers, divebombing off the couch...you name it. 

Gotta get myself to bed so I can keep up with this wild little man!

Randomness

I am SO slack on taking pictures.  I have literally not taken out my camera in at least two weeks!  We have been pretty busy traveling, working.  There always seems to be something going on.  I'm vowing to take some this weekend!

There is literally NOTHING on my calendar this weekend- on Saturday OR Sunday, and I am so pumped about it.  I think N will be very happy to "stay home" and "play toys" (his two favorite things to do), and I think I will be pretty happy too.  I'm sure we will end up at the gym or maybe somewhere kid friendly too.

One BIG thing on the to do list this weekend is one (or two maybe) dog bath.  That crazy beagle is so stinky.  Every time he walks into the room I think someone farted.  Yeah, he stinks that bad.  Oh well.  Until Thursday (or maybe Saturday), I'm just going to have to embrace the stink.

I've been doing a little Christmas shopping online.  I know I've blogged this before, but it is SO not like me to shop early!  Or be prepared.  I was the sister/daughter who would shop Christmas Eve and give a gift in a plastic bag.  But so far I'm doing pretty well, and I have had so much fun doing it.

Well, sad but true.  There is something AMAZING about an artificial tree.  I've always been a real tree fan.  I have such great memories of going out to the tree farm, freezing my butt off, complaining the whole time, and then driving back home with the tree strapped to the top of our van.  :)  But the fake tree is great, because it requires NO attention, no watering, no vacuuming....I don't have to even glance its direction unless I want to enjoy it!  Love that!!  Now if only I could keep my kid from trying to electrocute himself with the plug.

My sister Danielle encouraged me to buy the app Sleep Cycle.  It tells you what kind of quality sleep you got based on your nightly movement.  It also wakes up when you are in a light sleep cycle (during a 30 minute scheduled slot).  It is very interesting to see how my phone thinks I slept.  And I will confess, I have enjoyed waking up when I'm already "awake" verses at a set time.

Speaking of sleeping, I am currently headed that way...pictures coming soon.  :)  Happy Tuesday

More Weekend Bullets

1.  Christmas is in the air!  We set up our tree tonight, and N had a really great time looking at the "sparkly" lights.  He was absolutely no help what-so-ever in the decorating process, and boy was it a workout!  Digging the boxes out, setting up the tree, hanging lights...rehanging lights, cleaning up.  :)  But we still had fun.  Didn't put even one light outside...WAY too much work when you can just look out the window at the neighbor's house.

2.  When I came home from Phoenix this afternoon, the stink hit me right away.  There was a poop explosion in the upstairs bedroom by one of the dogs over the past week.  So I got all that cleaned up, and went into the laundry room.  Then I smelled problem #2...a blanket that I left wet (really wet, since the washer never finished running) in the washer.  Yuck.  So I started two steps in the negative, but I got it all cleaned up and ready for the week ahead.

3.  My husband is officially a MAJOR!  Jeremy had his promotion yesterday, so we are so excited and I am so proud of him!

4.  I'm taking N to the doctor tomorrow for a regular check up.  He is 3 months older than the last check up, so I'm hoping there will be less screaming, and maybe, just maybe a little more cooperation.  Not holding my breath though.  :)

5.  N has become lot more interactive lately.  Today I asked him what he wanted for lunch, and he said "Applesauce.  Mommy do you have applesauce?"  :)  Yesterday, we got a fun toy from Jeremy's cousin.  I kind of hid it away in a bag until I found a good time give it to him.  He saw the bag on the counter and said "Mommy we have a problem here!"  :)  How did he even know what was in there!!!?!?!  That is only the beginning of some of the funny things that he has been saying to me...I'll have to keep track of the funnier things so I don't forget!

6.  I bought two more wall canvas today, and of course, I can't wait to get them!!!  I got a family pic, and a daddy/son picture.  Super cute, I will post a picture when they arrive!

7.  N had a fabulous time running around with his cousins this weekend.  I honestly don't think he had the slightest clue what was going on most of the time, but he tried hard to keep up.  Repeating anything, running at full speed and trying his hardest to keep up.   We were looking at pictures of cousins today, and he was able to identify most of his cousins by name!

8.  N is a little possessive of me.  "Thats MY mommy".  My dad walked by me last night and touched my shoulder and Noah said "Don't touch my mommy".  I told Noah that his Popi is mommy's daddy, and that g-ma is mommy's mommy.  And how they changed my diaper, rocked me, and fed me bottles. He didn't quite get it, but he was REALLY interested!  It is so fun to watch the learning occur.

Going to sleep now...I need to give my Sleep Cycle ap a high quality sleep tonight!  :)

Weekend bullets

1. We had a really great 4 day weekend. N was so well behaved, and we were able to spend a lot of quality time together and actually accomplish a lot too. I really needed that because I've been feeling very frustrated and weary...so it was awesome and I appreciated every bit of it.

2. It rained Friday and Saturday. It was cold too.  I thought, for a few weeks that I actually missed the rain now that I live in the desert.  Turns out I don't miss it one bit. I am so glad that rain is gone and I'm happy it is dry once again.

3.  I've been wanting to clean my carpet for a while now.  After the rain cleared up, I went for it.  It was quite tiring, lugging a 8x10 rug around the house and backyard.  Wonder what my neighbors were thinking.  It is draped out to dry over the fence.  I was kinda bummed...I expected dirtier water coming out of the carpet cleaner, so I'm not sure what went wrong.

4. They say don't go to the grocery store hungry. Well I did,ad came home with sushi, queso, brownie mix and bagels (?!?!?!!?). Who does that??  Well I am steadily working through all of those things, so I guess I better add a workout or two (not yoga!!!)  this week.

5. I have had such fun Christmas shopping this year.  I'm making good progress on my little list, and finding great deals along the way.  soooooo not like me, something is about to go wrong soon. ;)

6. I tried out a new church today.  After trying so many, I quit for a while, but tried another one today.  It was good!  Not as fabulous as our church in Mississippi, but better than all the other ones I've tried so far.  N liked it too, and he really liked that they have donuts

7.  N is getting really good at observing.  There was a little "fight" between two kids at the gym on Saturday in the kids play area.  When we got I. The car to go home, he told me all about the fight(which I saw too), including names and punishments. ;). Better watch myself, who knows what he is going to tell who!!

8. That's all for tonight. Cleaned, laundered, and ready for the week ahead!

Lessons from yoga

So I went to my first yoga class yesterday.
I was curious because I have heard so much about it, but really didn't get how it could be a workout.
So I went to check it out.
And as I blogged earlier, I sure need a little relaxation in my life. ;)

So here are some of my observations:

1.  I was a little freaked out at first. It was a little "granola" for me. No shoes in the building. Very quiet.

2. The class before the beginner yoga class (tai chi, maybe?) was finishing up. The crowd was much older than I expected (mostly retired people, I think???). They passed out cucumbers (?!?!?!?!?) and I felt quite out of place.

3. The class was $4 and $1 to use a mat.  I brought a water bottle and a towel (for sweat, I was thinking?!?!) .  I quickly noticed that no one else had those things, so I shoved them away and tried to act cool.

4. There were 4 students and the instructor.  Me, a mother/daughter combo, and a man in his 60's. I was relieved when I saw the crowd, because I fit in better than I thought I would.

5.  The class started with an interesting stretch.  Butt against the wall, feet up straight in the air.  If you know me at all, you know I'm not flexible. I was a little nervous of where it was going to go from there.  Actually, it wasn't too bad.  I was able to keep up pretty good, but some of the moves...wow!  The other people were like reaching all the way down past their legs, and I could barely sit up!

6.  There was only one chant. I was worried about that, but it was optional, and I'm so glad there was only one.  It wasn't really. "Chant", more of a "hmmmmmmmmmm" noise.  Again, totally optional.

7. If you attend 10 classes you get a free pizza (?!?!?!?). :).   The yoga owners also own a pizza place, so that is a nice perk. ;)

8. I would be hard pressed to call yoga a "workout".  I'm more of a sweat-and-get-it-over-with kind of girl.  Don't get me wrong, there are TONS of benefits to yoga.   I am a very tight and inflexible person, so I really do believe that few weeks or months could really benefit me.  But for me, I need more of a strength/cardio workout.

9. So in conclusion, there were a lot of benefits to yoga, and it might be a good thing to add, in addition, to the normal cardio/strength workouts.  Defiantly interesting, that's for sure!!!!  :)

Feeing Better

I had a really good today.  Here's why:

1. First, and best, n took a 3hour nap today.  I'm not trying to be dramatic, but I REALLY needed that.  I think he needed it too.  We both felt much better, happier and more peaceful afterwards.

2.  I got a package mailed off today.  I wasn't really sure about it, because I was trying to do flat rate shipping (pay at home), postal pick up, and customs form.  I had to go to the post office today to get it all straightened out, but now I'm all stocked up on customs envelopes, so I should be able to mail things without leaving next time.  Yeah!

3.  We went to the mall tonight.  I had an errand to run, so we got dinner (and a 50 cent ice cream cone), as well as some time in the play area.  Only one little outburst, but overall good behavior.

4. After the mall, n came home and took a bath, read books, and went to bed.  Happy hour has arrived!  ;). I'm glad he is getting some much ph needed rest, and hopefully I can too.

5. I've been working on a furniture warranty claim for a good 5 months now.  It's taken a lot if time and frustration, but the company finally agreed to replace my ottoman.  The piece came and the leather was a good color match, but a horrible texture match.  Back to square one with that, but the repair man did put some stain on the damaged part of the ottoman, and it looks AMAZING!  In only 15 minutes it looks so much better.  I hope the color stays around...I'm going to buy some conditioner tomorrow for the couches, but I'm soooo happy!

6. I'm going to try out a yoga class tomorrow.  I have never ever been to yoga, and I'm pretty hesitant about it.  I am a very very inflexible person, so I am anxious to see how it goes. I sure could use some stretching and body and mind relaxation in my life.

7. My house is relatively clean, my laundry is caught up, and I'm feeling significantly better tonight.  Some days are high, and some days are low...just gotta keep trucking!

Two

Don't be fooled.

He might look cute and innocent.

 Like he couldn't do anything wrong.

 And that you could just eat him up.

 One chubby little toe at a time.

But be forewarned.  

There is a little boy in there.

And he is TWO.

And he acts like it.

Like he has lost all his sense.

And that he doesn't love, respect and cherish his momma.

And that he has forgotten how many sleepless nights I spent feeding him, rocking him and loving on him.

And I'm not sure who took my baby and left me with this monster.

I heard about the "terrible twos".

But I chose to ignore them.

But holy moly moly moly.

I think they hit me square between the eyes this month.

So I'm doing my best to love him unconditionally.

And make it to bedtime every night.

:)

It is a good thing I love those chubby little cheeks so much!