Girlfriends

A few pictures of my bestest ever girlfriends.

Love them all.

We had such a good time.

They are all just really good gals.

Sure, we have our differences...but we have been together for 10 years now!

I am so glad to have gotten to spend the long weekend with them.

Miss them already!!!

Thank Yous

Well it has been a SUPER long day (starting with a 6am flight out of Memphis and ending with a two hour drive home, plus grocery store run, dinner, bath and bed).
So I'm hopping into bed just as fast as I can brush my teeth.

I'll update tomorrow, with maybe the one picture that I actually took.
But I wanted to say a HUGE thank you to my parents and to Jeremy's parents for taking care of N so that I could go galavant for 6 days!
It was so wonderful, and I'm feeling so refreshed and ready to tackle the next month (probably less!).


Thank you!!!

I'm so grateful!!!

In His Head and My Head

I'm leaving tomorrow, straight from work on my girlfriend trip.  :) I'm super excited about it.  I'm packing my bag, and the biggest question is...what does a woman traveling alone with no children and no agenda pack in her carry on!?!  I don't have any books or magazines...just an audio book and some headphones.  It is so weird to have an empty carry on...no diapers, no toys, no child entertainment.  Totally weird.

Tonight I had my hair up in a pony tail and N said "mommy where did all your scraggly hair go?"  :)  I gave him a good haircut this weekend so maybe he heard that at school today??  :)  Who knows.

Also, while we were playing outside tonight, he told me he had to go potty.  I told him he could go in the grass since we were already out there.  Well, it turned out it wasn't pee, and as I scooped it up with the dog pooper scooper, I though to myself when did this become normal???

At times, Noah likes to take toys to bed.  I've tried to cut that back, because it seems to cause a lot of conflict (and bring about less sleep).  He always asks though...can I bring my blanket to the grocery store?  Can I bring my men to school?  Can I bring my milk cup to the bathtub?  And so on.  But I got the most bizzare request tonight.  Can I bring my recorder (as in plays music) to bed?  uhhhhh....no.

I sold his little play kitchen this week.  We bought it almost a year ago on craigslist for $5, along with a grill.  N never never never plays with the kitchen, and we were starting to accumulate toys like crazy.  So I put his kitchen on the yardsale page.  I warned him that we were going to sell it so that we could make room for his new toy (a castle I got for $5).  But when the lady came to get the kitchen he was sooooooo sad.  It was really quite heartbreaking at the time, but he got over it pretty quick and doesn't care one bit anymore.  I didn't sell the grill...he does play with that from time to time, but I have my eye on it.

So those are some of the crazy things going through my boys house this week.  Sometimes I just don't know the nutty things that circle through that bald, non-scraggly head.  :)

Some Sunday bullets

1.  I have again been so lazy with taking pictures.  I don't really have much to take pictures of, and when I do I am either too lazy or too late to take the camera out.

2. I went on another 6.5 miler this morning. The first three were pretty rough, but the last three....well they were all pretty rough come to think of it. Maybe too much soda and junk food yesterday. :). I've been paying a babysitter to stay with Noah while I run, and he loves her so much. In fact he gets mad when I come home....he likes that one on one attention he gets!

3. I hit the mega momma jack pot at kohls today. I totally stocked up on fall and winter clothes for n next year.  When I came home, I was excited to look at all the bang I got for my buck, and it turned into one massive organizing party.  All of the outgrown clothes are out of the drawers, and the summer stuff is out.  It was long overdue, so I am glad to have that done.

4.  My organizing party also expanded to toys.  It is safe to say that n has outgrown a lot of his toys.  We have gotten some new (used) things for him, but we never moved out any of the old stuff. I have a massive yard sale (Facebook) pile to try to sell tomorrow.  Guess you just can't keep it all!  Hopefully n will be okay parting with some of it.

5.  Along those same lines, it is kind if frustrating that n has an entire toy room of toys, and he just doesn't seem to have any independent play skills.  I never really focused on that since he plays without me at daycare, but now I'm realizing that playing without me at daycare and playing alone are two very different things.  Anyway, I don't have any great inspiration on that matter, I'm just saying it's frustrating.

6.  Another frustrating thing that I did tonight was download an audio book from my library for my upcoming trip.  I don't know why, but it took me forever to figure out.  I finally got it on my phone, which I'm sure is just sucking up massive amounts if data (and battery) but on the plus side it deletes in a few weeks (I think).  Seems like it should be a little more user friendly.

7.   On this positive side, I've been doing some mini trip prepping.  My house is clean and my laundry is done.  My dog sitter is lined up and ready to go.  Tomorrow I'm going to do some packing for n and myself .  I woke up this morning realizing I was only going to pack a carry on for myself, and that was so weird.  No wipes, toys, lollipops, changes of clothes.  What a change!  Who would have thought how different that would seem to me (and exciting!!!!)

8. I have off tomorrow because it's presidents day and my daycare is closed.   I have zero plans to leave the house tomorrow, except for maybe a walk to the park, and I'm excited about it.  I didn't plan for the extra day off, but I like it!!  I need groceries so bad, but I am going to try to scrounge for the next 3 days and empty out the freezer a bit.   Surely I can make one cucumber and a few frozen chicken nuggets last three days, right?!?


Well I better take myself to bed, the morning comes fast around here!
I'll finish my bullets tomorrow!

What I'm Thinking

1.  I got invited to lunch with a girl from work, a speech therapist!  I'm super excited about it.  I haven't really made many friends here, so I'm excited to get to know someone new and maybe meet her family too!  Cross your fingers that Noah behaves (he is coming too)!!!

2.  I'm taking my a big trip next week!  Noah is staying with my parents and Jeremy's parents, and I'm flying to Memphis on Thursday morning!  I'll be meeting 3 of my close college friends for a few days of fun (and I'm sure food).  I'm a little nervous about all of it, but I am looking forward to it nonetheless.  I am also hoping to hook up with my good friend Anna from my old job.  :)  I miss old friends!

3.  We had a really nice Valentines day.  Jeremy sent me some nice flowers to work...so that was a big hit.  Noah and I put together his Valentines cards for his friends, and we made a Valentine card for Jeremy too.  We made and decorated sugar cookies.  He got into the events this year, and it was fun to share that with him.  I got him a little Valentines present, but I haven't given it to him (because I want to capitalize on play time with it!)

4.  I'm running a 10K through the Boneyard in 2 weeks.  If you know me, you know I love destruction, so a bunch of non working planes is right up my alley.  :)  They only open up the boneyard for tours twice a year (or so I've heard), so I'm excited to take advantage of the entry.  And the tee shirt.  :)

5. I've been thinking about sugar and how it may or may not affect Noah.  I read an article that said that toddlers should only consume about 3 teaspoons of sugar a day.  And that the average toddler eats around 12.  So heres what it said:  "No mom in her right mind would pack her child's lunch box with nothing but four Twinkies. You probably stick with the classics: maybe peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat bread, a cup of applesauce, and fruit punch. Protein-rich peanut butter, fruit, fiber-filled bread -- it's perfect, right?  Maybe not. Sure, your child would get plenty of nutrients, but she'd also get a whopping 76 grams of sugar. That's 16 teaspoons of sugar -- even more than what's in those four Twinkies. Shocking, right?
So that really surprised me, and while I haven't made any changes yet, but its got me thinking.

So thats what's going through my head tonight.
Nothing too exciting.
No pictures.

But a quick update and an early bedtime.  ;)
Happy Valentines Day!!

Do the Drums

We haven't really gotten a chance to talk to Noah about guns.

Don't judge.

It's on the list of things to do.

Heck, I just told him where milk comes from.

So we are starting simple.

So when he saw this guy, with this mega momma jamma gun, he said "mommy, this man will do the drums".  

And I said "Yes baby, he will do the drums."

:)  

And I'll deal with it another day. 

Weekend Events

We had a pretty eventful weekend.  

We had a fun evening of running errands, which included Petsmart (which was a HUGE hit), the car wash (N keeps calling it the "Funky Car Wash"- from a book of his), the library and to Kmart for new shoes (for N). 

Its funny, taking him shoe shopping, mostly cause I don't have a choice, but it was also fun to give him choices and try different shoes on him.  In the end we went with the same brand we bought in size 5, 6, and 7.  Guess we like consistency.

We went to the zoo this morning, had naps this afternoon, and ended going out to Jason's Deli for dinner and the mall play area after.  Surprisingly, I was able to bribe Noah into trying tuna salad, strawberries and potato salad.  Only the potato salad got gagged out.  And I'm always a little nervous at the mall play area...so many kids...so much chaos.

Since I've cut out exercise all together on my work days, I try to do harder workouts on the other 4.  I got 4 great workouts in this weekend...a 6.5 mile run, an amazing class called LIFT, and 2 jillian michaels workouts.  Feels good to accomplish that, although I still maintain that I hate working out.

It was busy and fun, and tiring  (for me anyway).  

Can someone PLEASE tell me why my child is still awake singing in his bed!?!?!

We don't normally jam that much in, but it just kinda happened, and I'm so glad it did!

My Little Man

Just a few pictures of my little man.

On his new scooter.

On a rare moment that he is not diving headfirst over a curb, driveway, rock...you name it.

 I'm a little biased. 

But I think he is just plain adorable.

And he sure is a handful. 

But I love him, with his chubby little feet and stinky toes.

And one day, I swear it will happen, he will appreciate his exhausted mom.

I might be 80, but it will happen.

Right?

Nappy Pillow Update

You might remember my "Nappy Pillow Contest" blog, in which Jeremy and I had a big disagreement over whose pillow was just plain nastier.
Exhibit A (Jeremy's pillow) was the clear winner on being the nastiest.
True, I might have smashed his down a little and showed the nastiest side, but overall it was a pretty fair contest.
Disgusting is disgusting.

So it took a few months after that blog (after I was accused of making a biased blog) Jeremy conceded and got a new pillow.
But me, with pillow exhibit B, held on tight.
I wasn't giving up that pillow.
Especially when I knew there wee nastier ones out there (exhibit A).

Fast forward THREE AND A HALF YEARS.....
uhhhh....I'm kinda embarrassed to admit ...

I still have the same pillow (exhibit B).

And yes, its still pretty nasty.
But I like it, and a good Terry-made pillowcase goes a LONG way.

But last night, I slipped into my newly washed sheets, my head accidently hit the pillow I use for decoration (can't think of what thats called right now!).
And Oh.My.Gosh.
It was heavenly.
So I decided to sleep on it.

And that was the most amazing night of sleep I have had.
I'm not lying.

So now here is the dilemma.
This pillow is pretty large.
And clearly has a decorative cover on it vs a regular pillow case.

So I will have to buy an extra large pillow case (do they sell those??)
And find a new large pillow to replace the first one.
Seems like a lot of work for a pillow.
But wow.
Is that what a pillow is supposed to feel like?
I can't wait to put my head on it again tonight!!!

Weekend Bullets

1.  I put my iphone in the washing machine.  I put it on the top of a pile of clothes to carry down the stairs and simply dumped it all right into the washer.  No, I don't sort or check pockets.  Thats just how I roll.  Anyway, a few minutes later I was looking around for my phone, and I frantically started pulling clothes out of the washer.  Fortunately I caught it in time, and there was just a bit of water under the screen.  Enough to annoy me every time I tried to do anything on it.  A night in rice, a few hours under a lamp...nothing!  I was debating paying the $100 deductible or waiting till I am eligable for an upgrade in May.  Then this afternoon, I took my phone out to show someone how pathetic it was, and miraculously it was healed.  100%!  So who knows, but I'm SOOOO happy.

2.  Update on "Potty Mouth" the pills I have been giving Riley to get him to stop eating his own poop:  Well it turns out it is 1 pill per 10 pound of dog....so for Riley, that means 10 pills a day.  But he takes them like a champ...no peanut butter or anything.  Its hard to give an exact report, but I would say he is eating poop less.  BUT, it has been kinda wet out (and he doesn't eat wet poop- he's picky like that), and I really haven't had a whole lot of time to watch him.  I did catch him yesterday smelling several piles of poop and walking away, but then eventually picking up one cigar and sitting down for a munch.  Even so, I do believe that there has been an improvement.

3.  Noah and I pretty much spent the weekend at my friends house.  Thankfully they were so welcoming and gracious to us, and we really enjoyed the time.   N had a great time playing with their 2 year old twins, and I thoroughly enjoyed some adult conversation.  Twice, I was able to sneak out for a run (even one 6 miler!) and we enjoyed a smoked chicken, mashed potatoes, cookies...it was wonderful.

4.  Noah is into responding "no" every time I give him directions.  It has gotten pretty rough lately, so I am dedicated to addressing this.  It gets pretty old honestly, but I'm trying to see the big picture.

5.  I'm a HUGE "Shark Tank" fan.  Its kinda funny, cause I'm not any sort of entrepreneur, but for some reason I'm really drawn to the show!  Seriously, I highly recommend it!

6.  The laundry is done (including one cell phone), the child is bathed, the sheets are changed,  the dishwasher is empty and I am ready for the week ahead.  :)   And I even have smoked chicken and mashed potatoes packed in my lunch box and ready to go!  Yeah for fun and productive weekend.  :)