Gratitude Day 11

Gratitude Day 11 (a day late)

Yesterday I was thankful for being able to go to to the Raven's game and seeing an AWESOME game. My father gave Kevin two tickets for his birthday and we were able to see a record score setting game. Raven's beat the Raiders 55 to 20! Not only did I get to see a great game but I got to spend the day with two of my favorite people. Kevin (of course) and my friend Alice. We had a great time tailgating, laughing and watching the game. Life is good for sure.

Gratitude Day 10

Gratitude Day 10

I'm grateful for new friends. I don't make new friends very often. I'm set in my ways and enjoy the long time friendships that I have. Taran and PJ changed that for sure. This past March I signed up Connor for a gymnastics class. Connor and PJ were the only boys and they instantly hit it off. The end of the classes came and Taran and I exchanged numbers. I didn't know if she would be a crazy mom, or a judgey mom, or have anything in common with me but she turned out to have lots in common with me and totally fun. We can't have a play date without something strange or bizarre happening but that's the best part!

Gratitude Day 9

Gratitude Day 9 (a day late)

Day 9... I'm grateful for the fact that I finally took a step towards something that I've been thinking about doing for about 6 months. I kept dismissing the idea but finally decided to move forward. This week I became a tastefully simple consultant. I've always loved going to taste testing parties and enjoyed their food. I decided that if I were to become a consultant of something it would something that would get frequent returning customers and something that I love. Enjoy the holiday specials ;)

Gratitude Day 8

Gratitude Day 8 (a day late)

I am so grateful for having some of the best girlfriends anyone could ask for. If need a giggle, help, hug or a good vent, I have some of the best reliable and dependable friends in the world. Love to them all!

Gratitude Day 7

Gratitude Day 7 (2 days late)

I cannot express much more gratitude for this little dude coming into my life. He has changed mine (as well as Kevin's) life for the better in so many ways. Just when I think, "Oh this is my favorite stage"... BAM we hit another milestone and that is my favorite. I'm thankful that he is healthy and happy. He blows us away constantly with how smart and witty he is and I just can't get enough of him.

Gratitude Day 6

Gratitude Day 6

Today I am EXTREMELY grateful for my right to vote. Its been a while since I reviewed the history of women's suffrage but I did the other day on wiki just for some inspiration and growth in my heart. It amazed me that Saudi Arabia STILL does not allow women to vote! My jaw dropped. Maybe I should have known that but I didn't.

I took Connor with me this morning. Left the house early so we could have plenty of time before work but we had to wait an hour! I also had to do a provisional ballot because I had forgot to change my address. All of that with a 2.5 year old. For the most part he did good and enjoyed his sticker afterward.

Go VOTE! Get your sticker! Be thankful we can do it!

Gratitude Day 5

Gratitude Day 5 (a day late)

I didn't get to post my Gratitude post last night because after Connor went to bed I laid down on the couch for "just a minute" around 8:30 and woke up 2 and half hours later. WOOT! I was also able to go right back to sleep in bed and slept through the night. So for day 5 I'm totally thankful for peaceful feeling that sleep gives me and how easily it came yesterday.

Gratitude Day 4

Gratitude Day 4

  

Today I am thankful for Daylight Savings Time. Not for the extra hour of sleep (my toddler didn't get the memo that you're supposed to sleep in)... but for the fact that there is now 2 hours between my mom and I rather than 3 hours. I don't know what it is about that extra hour but some how it makes me feel mileage closer to her even though its only time. I guess I don't have to wait that extra hour to call because she might be sleeping :)

Gratitude Day 3

Gratitude Day 3 (A day late)

On my facebook page last night I posted, "Didn't blog today but day 3 I'm grateful for my wonderful hubby that totally saved the day at about 3am this morning!"

Well Kevin and I got to experience toddler puke for the first time on Friday into Saturday morning around 3am. I do not handle dealing with puke at all. It causes me panic attacks. I thought it might be different with my child... but it wasn't. I took one look at Connor when I went into his room to see why he was crying and ran out to get Kevin. He totally took care of all the yucky laundry while I bathed Connor. He also got our self install for TV FIOS working this weekend. Moving TV's around, climbing up in the ceiling and making it all work. So Nov 3rd, I'm grateful for my hubby who knows just when to swoop in and save the day!

Gratitude Day 2

Gratitude Day 2

I am grateful for the extra time I got to spend with Connor this week. Work was closed Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday due to the storm and power outages. It was great time just the two of us watching the storm coming and going.

Gratitude Day 1

Gratitude Day 1:

We had minimum damage from the hurricane. As bad and as ugly as it could have got in my area in Maryland... we had a trash can move from the side of the house, squeeze past my car and end up in our front lawn, some siding came off, some shingles look a little off and we're missing a plank on our privacy fence. We were fortunate and for that I am grateful.

Horse Appreciation Day

The day after Movie Under the Stars we (Lindsey, Hunter, Connor and myself) ventured over to Dublin's farm for Horse Appreciation Day. It was perfect weather, felt like a gorgeous fall day and Connor was having a melt down over almost everything single thing. At least the pictures make him look super happy.

Before leaving the house Connor looked so cute and the weather was so nice we decided to do an impromptu photo shoot. He's such a ham these days.

We took a look at the horses when we got there and then headed over to the pony rides. Connor had a blast riding the ponies. From there we stopped by the ambulance that Lake Shore Fire Department had for the kids to get in and look at. Connor did not want to get out. He was fascinated.... future EMT on our hands? Maybe....

From there we saw and pet a few animals and then Connor saw it.... the holy grail.... the...... MOONBOUNCE...... once he got inside he did not want to come out. The attendant had to go in and "help" him get out when his turn was up! From that point there was a bunch of screaming and yelling and a lot of tantruming. I decided we needed lunch. While buying lunch they played the National Anthem.... my son screamed and cried through the WHOLE National Anthem. Lindsey swore she couldn't hear him from where she was but I felt like everyone was staring.

We got lunch, played on a tractor and headed BACK to the ambulance because they now had a fire truck there too. More tantrums, another pony ride, more tantrums and another few bounces in the moon bounce and mommy was DONE. I couldn't handle the meltdowns any longer... it was time to go. Sooooo I dragged my screaming toddler out of the event, into the parking lot and took him home. Nap time didn't come soon enough that day. Whew. So, like I said, at least the pics make it look like he had a great time!

Movie Under the Stars

In mid-September I took Connor to an event at the college where I work. Each year they host a Movie Under the Stars. They have an inflatable screen and you sit out in the atrium under the stars and watch the movie. I used to go in my early 20's when they did the drive-in movies out in the parking lot.

I was very excited to take Connor. While daycare has taken Connor to the movies many times, Kev and I have never taken him! We had friends coming to meet us and some of Connor's friends came too. We got there early to get a good seat and we were right up front. I had packed us chairs, blankets, dinner, snacks and they sold huge bags of yummy kettle corn. We were totally ready for Movie Under the Stars!

Even though it stated that the movie was going to start at 7 it didn't really start until 7:45. But that didn't matter, we had plenty of entertainment watching the kiddos running around and dancing to the music they had playing.

Connor did so well watching the movie. Even though he hopped from his chair to my chair and back a bunch of times he did awesome. We saw the movie Brave. I really didn't know what the movie was supposed to be about beside changing your fate but I figured Pixar was safe and Connor would be ok. I also had no clue about the huge angry bear that was in the movie either. The bear gave Connor a little bit of a scare and when you asked him what the movie was about he said, "Her mommy turn into bear. Angry bear."

I already can't wait for next year!

Ravens Game!

My dad and I went to the Game 1 of the Ravens football season. It was great! They played great, looked great and I had a great time (is that enough "greats" in one sentence?).

I'm pretty sure I hadn't been to a Ravens game since Connor was born. I know I went when I was pregnant with him because there's nothing like being big and round and walking the ramps of M&T bank stadium.

It was nice begin back in the stadium and seeing all the purple after 2.5 years. Because Art Modell had recently passed away the Ravens dedicated a chunk of their time to him and his legacy. The air was cool for it being in early September and at one point I thought I was going to need a hot chocolate. Looking back at the game now, I think it was one of the Ravens best games this season. I haven't seen a game since where they looked as good as they did then.

It was especially nice getting away with just my dad for the evening. We are usually spending time together with friends and family or Kev and I are dropping Connor off for a night out.

We took time to pose with our angry faces... apparently I really can't make an angry face without my nostrils flaring.... totally embarrassing. :)

Beautiful Fall

Beautiful fall is upon us. Football is back in season, Baltimore got to experience October baseball,  the cool weather is around every morning and most of the day, wonderful colors in the trees, my open toed shoes have been put away, I bought my first huge pack of apples and made apple sauce, and I'm already planning on cooking my first batch of chili for the season very very soon. The Renaissance Festival / camping trip has come and gone. We've hit up the pumpkin patch and now Halloween is right around the corner. Next thing you know Thanksgiving will be knocking at our door! Slow down Amanda, slow down.

Our busy fall season is surrounding us! We've been doing soooo much and having soooo much fun that well... again I fell off the blogging bandwagon. If I could just hang on when we get busy!!!

So what have we done since Labor Day? Hmm... I went to a Ravens game with my dad, I took Connor to a movie under the stars, we went to a horse appreciation day event in our area, completed our annual camping and Renaissance festival trip, Kevin and I went away and celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary and my mom and I took Connor to the pumpkin patch.

Since Labor day I also completed my four credit eight week Javascript class that seemed to suck the life out of my evenings between reading, homework and quizzes. Totally thankful that is over and I walked away with a 90/89%

Next couple of days I'll do a post for each big thing that has come our way this fall! Stay tuned!

Labor Day Love

Labor day is one of my favorite long weekends out of the year. Don't ask me why... I've just always looked forward to this particular weekend at the end of a long summer.

This summer didn't go by too slow. I thought it was going to when it got super hot early in July. I was worried it was going to be THAT HOT alllllllllllll summer long. Thankfully.... mother nature got my memo and it cooled off. Not a lot but enough to make it tolerable. If only she'd get my memo about my dislike for humidity, life would be just fabulous.

So what did we do???

Well... Friday evening I picked up pizza and after dinner I went and got a hair cut. A much needed haircut. It was lovely. I came home to find Kevin slowly being taken over by the cold/virus that hit our house earlier in the week. Boo.

Saturday Kev got his sick butt up and out of bed to go to a softball tournament. I wished him good luck and off he went. Connor and I had plans. BIG plans. Plans to party.

Every year my dad's side of the family and another side of the family get together. We grill and cook up really yummy food and BAM! the party gets started. This year we had Alligator and Crabs on the menu. SCHAWEET!

Sunday..... Ahhh... Sunday.... I was supposed to get together with a girlfriend to do a yard sale. Late Saturday night we decided to cancel because it was supposed to rain off and on all morning long. Well.... the rain was off all morning long. OH WELL! All three of us pretty much vegged around the house like a lazy bump on a log. It was wonderful.

Monday Connor met up with our friends Taran and PJ for a play date. Apparently the air port in our area has an inside viewing area that the kids could watch the planes. There is also plane pieces for them to play on (if I read the website correctly). We got to the air port with toddlers in toe. Dodging people and their bags, down escalators and looking for air planes. When we asked someone where this awesome place was.... we were informed it was closed for renovation! OH NO! Toddlers wanted to see air planes! It was rainy outside so we couldn't do the outside viewing area!  Luckily we found an area off to the side with windows and a beautiful glass crab statue. The kiddos could see some planes and were memorized by the crab. From there it was off to the mall for lunch and playtime.

Our Labor Day weekend wasn't over the top, we didn't travel somewhere exotic or party hard.... but we spent time together and with people we care about. Those....are the BEST kind of weekends for sure.

Gluten Free?

In the last several months I've been looking into gluten free options of eating. I had a few colitis flare-ups last year. I have medicine that will prevent them but I don't like being on medicine every day if I can prevent flare-ups with my diet.

Research that I have done is coconut oil and milk is VERY good for your digestion and overall health. Coconut oil does a bazillion great things for your body inside and out (maybe I'll post a blog about it soon) and coconut milk has lots of nutrients for your digestive tract and coats it if you're having issues.

Next is yogurt. I'm not a HUGE fan of yogurt but I've noticed that yes... it does help my digestive tract out big time when I eat it.

Lastly, is a gluten free diet. When I first looked into going gluten free this winter I felt very overwhelmed a thought that it would be impossible with our crazy lifestyle. BUT in the last two months I'm finding out more and more that gluten free is finally becoming "popular" at the grocery store and there are A LOT of options. We've switched to eating Quinoa and fresh vegetables rather than preprocessed noodle sides or frozen sauced vegetables. We've always been a fan of eating Spaghetti Squash instead of pasta BUT I've also now discovered gluten free pasta made by the Quinoa brand. It is surprisingly good!

For lunch this week I made Crustless Quiche. It was gluten free, easy to make and VERY YUMMY! I found brown rice flour in the grocery store last trip and I thought that is what I would need as flour. Apparently you need to mix other things with that flour for baking. I got disappointed at first but then found gluten free flour with everything mixed together for me. Sooooo this morning... I made gluten free blueberry pancakes. Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd they tasted exactly (if not better) than my other pancakes that I make from scratch! It even passed the Kevin and Connor taste test. Score!

I started with the basic pancake from scratch recipe that I found on line. I swapped the gluten free flour mix that I bought with the flour in the recipe. Then I added the blueberries, a big splash of vanilla extract, a regular splash of almond extract, a sprinkle of nutmeg and a big sprinkle of cinnamon. Like I said... they were gooooooooooooooooooood.

I'm started a board on my pinterest for gluten free cooking. I'm looking forward to it!

Call Me Maybe?

I'm finally starting to feel better and enjoying the Labor Day weekend. Working on a post of our Labor Day Weekend but here's a quicky post to make you smile.

Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen is a catchy little tune that gets stuck in my head if I hear it. Its a song that my 2.5 year old son knows some of the words too. Its also a song that has a bunch of parody spin-offs on it as well. My inner nerd secretly loves them.... well... maybe now its not such a secret. Here's my top two favorite parodies.

Buzzzzzzzz...

I took Connor out for a hair cut on the way home from work/daycare on Thursday. USUALLY we get a level 3 along the sides and blend it up to the top and then trim the top.... well... in my congested head I got it confused. I said.... Level 3 on the top and blend it down. So..... my little boy's new nickname is Buzz. Oops!

When Mommy Is Sick....

When mommy get sick from staying home with a sick toddler and daddy has his first night in his bowling league and can't be home....

Mommy still has to make dinner regardless if she has an appetite or not

Mommy still has to deal with temper tantrums and timeouts

Mommy has to keep her eyes open while sitting on the couch

Mommy still has to play Ker-Plunk.... over and over

Mommy still has to play Memory..... over and over

Mommy still has to smile and wrestle

Mommy lets toddler watch as much TV as possible but its the one night he's not interested

Mommy still has to do bedtime routine right down to reading every word in every book

Mommy is still mommy....

So why am I here blogging instead of sleeping now that I can go to bed? No clue. Good night!

Ker-Plunk

Connor adding the marbles.

Ever played the game Ker-Plunk? Take all that time putting the sticks in to place. Like A LOT of time because towards the end none of the sticks want to find another hole on the other side. Only to pull the sticks out one by one and wait for the marbles to fall in less than half the time it took you to put the sticks in! We had the game growing up as kids. I played the game many times with my sister.

As I grew up and moved out of the house I packed up most of my games from when I was a kid and took them with me. In our early 20's we did a lot of drinking and partying. We turned Ker-Plunk into a drinking game. However many marbles fell when you pulled the stick... that's how many drinks you too. SIMPLE!

Now I STILL have that same game in our game closet. It hasn't been played with for years... regular or drinking way. Being home with Connor this afternoon on his sick day I thought about the game. We could TOTALLY play that game. I've come full circle.

The toddler's patience isn't very great for waiting on putting the sticks into the game. Thankfully I was able to keep him preoccupied with the marbles (even though I watched him like a hawk to make sure he didn't stick any up his nose, ears or mouth). Once I got the sticks in Connor took joy in putting the marbles in the top and then the game was over within 30 seconds.

With this game we worked on patience, taking turns and counting. Pretty simple!

Did I Set Myself Up??

I'm sitting here totally thinking I set myself up for the sick day with Connor that we are going to have tomorrow....

Last week I finally got access set up at work so I can log in and work from home if needed. I should have done this sometime in the last year and a half since I started working at this job BUT I thought it was this big mysterious thing to accomplish... requiring many steps and contacting many people.... NOPE! A simple email to one person got me the form needed. I filled it out... had it signed off on and then sent it to technical support. The next day I had an email telling me it had been complete. Hmmm... it was THAT easy... so there I set myself up with the ability to work from home if needed.

THEN this weekend... I was cleaning out Connor's room. Pulling out and putting away clothing that no longer fits him, dusting and reorganizing. I found his humidifier under his end table. It hasn't been used since the Spring and has just sat under his end table collecting dust and waiting for the winter season to hit us with the dry heat circulating through the vents. I figured this weekend would be a great weekend to wash it out and soak it in vinegar and prepare for the upcoming winter. That way I'm ahead of the game.

Well... right after cleaning out the humidifier.... it happened... Connor's nose started sounding stuffy... then it started to run a little. He was still his happy toddler self so I was just hoping in the back of my mind that it was just a little allergy and all would clear up in a day.... or two.

Yeah... no. At lunch today I got a call to come pick up Connor from daycare... he had a fever. I pretty good one at that, 101 - 102. I usually just monitor anything lower than 101 but this kid was going to need some ibuprofen.

So far he's in good spirits with some tired spells. The ibuprofen makes the fever go away but it comes right back after its worn off. Connor has to be fever free for 24 hours before returning to daycare and I'll be doing part sick day and working from home because... last week I had the whole work from home thing set up.... and the humidifier is in the closet waiting to clear up a stuffy nose....

See... I've totally set myself up for this. UGH. Here's to a quick resolving fever!!!

Summer Fun

Catching up on what we did over the summer.....

We went camping out in Western MD at my dad's trailer at Little Orleans Campground. Everyone had a great time and getting away with family was perfect. I even discovered Chocolate Chip Cookies S'mores.... YUM!

This summer we've had many trips to the park with our new friends we met in gymnastics this Spring. Our second trip to Tick Neck Park with PJ and Blake found us fixing boo boos, playing t-ball, and looking for tigers in the woods.

We celebrated 4th of July with family swimming and cooking out. It was VERY hot and we were thankful for the pool and still having electricity after the Derecho storm that came through. Connor enjoyed eating a burger the way you normally eat a burger for the first time and had fun with sparklers.

In mid July, Connor and I met up with three of my mom friends at Sandy Point State Park. Two of whom, I have talked to on an online forum for the last two and half years but never met even though they live in Maryland. Three of us mom's have toddlers born in January 2010 and the other two infants were a month or so apart. The trip was a success and it was great to FINALLY meet each other.

Taran and I took Connor and PJ to the Chesapeake Beach Waterpark in Chesapeake Beach, MD. It was A LOT of fun and perfect for kids Connor and PJ's age. Connor was in rare form that day and was only happy when he was in the pool. So when it was time to eat lunch and wait to get back in the pool there was lots of melt downs and he ended up in time out. Time outs aside everyone had a great time and ending the day in the Lazy River was perfect. I also was able to enjoy a Sonic shake for the first time EVER. Since Connor didn't pass out with PJ in the backseat Connor also enjoyed a Sonic shake.

 
Our Staycation about 3 weeks ago was what it sounds like. Kev and I took off work and kept Connor home from daycare. We stayed home but went and did something almost every day. Monday we took Connor duck pin bowling, Tuesday we took Connor to play mini golf, Wednesday we took Connor to the Baltimore Aquarium and Thursday we took Connor to the Science Center. It was really nice being home together as a family and spending all our time together. We made the most of our time together and I felt like we it was a success as I headed back to the work the next week.

And of course there were random Pig Roasts, a Welcome Home party for my brother in law as he was able to have a short visit home from his station in Afghanistan, and other summer fun.

Soooooooo I think that wraps up what we've been up to.... Just a little bit of summer left, I can hear fall activities calling my name already.

Finding Peace in the Chaos

Its been quite a chaotic week. Not really busy doing things but I've felt mentally and physically exhausted. I was counting my blessings that today was Friday as I was pulling into my parking spot at work and looked up and found a friend on the Faculty/Staff Parking sign.

It reminded me to be thankful for the peace that I do have in this crazy wonderful life that we have. So take a moment and be blessed by whatever goodness you have going on in your life and let it block out the chaos... even if its just for day!

How We Said Goodbye To The Bink...

Why and Preparation:
So the time came where Connor would loose his Bink (pacifier) in the middle of the night and then whine until on of us (most of the time me) ran into his room to search through his blankets, under the bed or along the floor to find the missing Bink to stop the whining and put Connor back to sleep.

This started to get OLD. We had a toddler not an infant. I should not have to be getting up in the middle of the night to try and get this kid back to sleep with something a baby uses. So I decided it was time to say good bye to the Bink.

I decided it would be easiest to pull the Bink when we were home on our Staycation so he can get his addicted self off the Bink without having to involve daycare at nap time. I printed off a calendar from a template in Word and put a star on the date that the "Bink Fairy" was going to come to our house. Yes... we lied to our child and invented the Bink Fairy.

I then put the calendar in Connor's room and explained to him that he was fast approaching becoming a big boy and that the Bink Fairy was coming to the house. I explained to him that the Bink Fairy would ask him for all his Binks and in return he would receive a present. He liked this idea. 

He was so excited he wanted to see her right then and there for his present. Since I did not have his presents YET I explained to him that she wasn't here just yet and he had to wait. He demanded to see a picture of her.......... um.... he's way too smart for mommy! I opened my lap top and started to think about where I would find a pic of the Bink Fairy..... then it popped in my head.... FlyLady.com! Hehehe!! He believed me and all was well.

Each night we crossed off a day on the calendar and counted how many bedtimes we had left until the Bink Fair came. Through the week he would talk about how she was coming to our house and he would get a present if he gave up his Binks.

Day Of:

The Letter from the Bink Fairy

The morning of I left a letter from the Bink Fairy explaining to him that today was the day he stepped in the shoes of a big boy and gave up his Binks so she could give them to other babies that needed them and put an empty basket beside the letter.

He woke up and came out to the living room and I read him the letter. Immediately he ran to him room and gathered all the Binks in his room and put them in the basket. We placed it on the front porch like the letter asked.

While we were eating breakfast, I snuck out the backdoor through the backyard and pulled the presents out of my car. What presents did he get you ask??? Well... he got a Cars themed scooter that I found on Craigslist (the big boy toy), a Mobi Glomate Junior so he had something at bedtime to replace the Bink (we call him Buddy), Cars stickers and the Professor car from Cars (yes I spoiled him). I took the Binks and hid the in the glove box of my car. I snuck back through the back door. After breakfast we peeked out and saw the presents. He was very excited.

Checking out his scooter...
The basket is empty!

He played around with his scooter in the house for a little bit and then it was time to get dressed and go bowling for the late morning/lunch time. We figured if we went and did something that would wear him out MAYBE nap time would go smoothly....

We had fun bowling (I'll post pics of them later), but once we got home and nap time arrived... he was not a happy camper. It finally sank in what he did with his Binks. I felt bad because I feel like I tricked him into giving up his Binks for a dance and a song... and he did.... but at the same time it needed to be done. He screamed for a good 45 min, we went in every so often to console him and then all of a sudden it was quiet. He went to sleep!

An hour later he was up again screaming. UGH! Nap time cut short!

Then came bedtime. We adjusted bed time routine a little different. He got a bubble bath and I lathered him up with lavender lotion. Instead of reading books in his room with one of us, we read books as a family in the living room. After books he got into his bed but didn't ask for his Bink. He was whiney and sad looking so talked with about which friend he wanted to snuggle with and after he was settled down with his new Buddy and snuggle partner I was out the door. It took him an hour to fall asleep and he slept through the night.

Days Following:

Nap times can be a bit of a struggle sometimes. I think the Bink just helped him fall into a relaxed state and he hasn't figured out how to do that yet. He now prefers to sleep on the floor instead of his bed or tries to talk us into random things when he should be getting ready for taking a nap. We noticed his naps went from two hours to one. Slowly but surely they've been getting longer again.

Bedtimes a fairly easy but again... he's trying to talk us into sleeping on the floor of delaying bedtime as long as he can. Bedtime is a little more hard work than reading a book and getting into bed these days. You never know which Connor you're going to get. Happy helpful Connor.... or "I don't like my bed" Connor..... I guess it all goes with that thing called parenting that we signed up for. MOST nights he's sleeping through the night again.

He really hasn't asked for the Bink flat out. Every once in a while he mentions the Bink Fairy and how she took his Binks. I remind him that he gave them to her. The other morning he asked when she was bringing them back and I told him she wasn't. So far its been almost 3 weeks and we're moving along fine.... ***knock on wood***

Hello?? Anyone still out there?

Yeah.... I totally just fell off the face of the interwebz.... no excuse... just the blogger inside of me went on a vacation I suppose. I'm back though, I searched deep down inside and found the little blogger hiding out with his feet propped up.


So I guess we should get the formal stuff out of the way.... How have you been? Everything ok? We're doing fine. Everyone is healthy and happy.

 So what did we do while we were away? Hmmm....


Well.............

We've had lots of play dates with a new friend.

We've been to few summer parties.

We had an awesome Family Staycation two weeks ago.

The Bink Fairy came and Connor gave up his binks (pacifier).

Ummm... Connor learned the term, "God Damnit" and can use it in context.

I'm trying to get back into running.

I joined a new book club... been doing lots of good reading.

Life is good.

Now that we've got this awkward first blog back out of the way expect new and exciting blogs!!!

Times They Are A Changin

I was reading Connor "Cat in the Hat Come Back" tonight. I had to check the date of the book when were were done because of these two lines.

"Whose shoes did he use? I looked and I saw whose! And I said to the cat, 'This is very bad news. Now the spot is all over my Dad's $10 shoes!'"

$10 shoes!!! LOL!! Love it. I giggled a little bit and Connor said, "Wha mommy? Wha?"

Next line, "He ran into Dad's bedroom and then the cat said, 'It is good that your dad has the right kind of bed.'"

Its not every day you see in a book or in the media of parents having separate beds let alone bedrooms. The book has a Copyright of 1958.

Just a giggle for the evening!

Tent Sleeping

I know I mentioned in my last post that I was blogging about our camping trip from the beginning of this month but that is still in progress. The tent sleeping I'm getting ready to blog about is Connor's new found love for sleeping in his playtent on the floor.

It started with the commercial on the Disney channel where there are kids laying in a tent outside at night looking at an iPad and watching Disney Jr. Because yeah..... if I'm camping in the backyard I'm going to whip out my tablet and watch TV... not enjoy the stars or surrounding nature. ANYWAY.... Connor saw the commercial and wanted his playtent out and put together. Which... I was surprised that he even remembered that he had it. Its been a long time since we pulled it out.

Keep in mind that breakfast hadn't even been put on the table yet and he wanted this tent!!! Soooo I put it together and he played in it for 5 min and then moved on. Yay....

Naptime came around and Connor told me he wanted to nap in the tent. I told him he couldn't nap in it in the living room but we could move it into his bedroom. <--- That was mommy's BIG mistake!! I folded up a comforter so he had a cushion and he went to sleep. Bedtime came around and he again... wanted to sleep in the tent. I rolled with it.

Sunday came and he again slept in the tent. I began to worry. I didn't want him sleeping on the floor. I mean... can it physically harm him? I don't know? Do I want to encourage him to sleep on the floor? No. Either way it wasn't sitting well with me.

There wasn't going to be a, "Wait for him to fall asleep and move him." He literally moved all his blankets, pillows and stuffed animals (in his words, "friends") in the tent with him. Moving him would have been a nightmare.

Wednesday it hit me... I make awesome blanket forts! Off to work I went.... I transformed his toddler bed to a toddler bed tent. He LOVED it, crawled right in and let me take the tent out of his room. Tonight is the second night and he's fast asleep in his little tent made by mommy!

Sleeping on the floor in his tent

In his new toddler bed tent!

With his friends of course

 This is yet another way parenting makes you think outside the box. Have you had to think outside the box lately?

Middle of June... Say wha?!

How did June creep by so fast? I mean I know evenings were passing by without me blogging but I didn't realize HOW MANY!!!

So what happened this month?? Well we started off the month with a camping trip to my dad's trailer in Little Orleans, MD. I actually started a blog about our trip but never finished it. Soooo more on that to come.

Connor is still blowing my mind left and right with his imagination. I mean.... he's just a big ball of awesomeness. Pure awesomeness.

This past weekend he decided he wanted to sleep in the play tent that we have. I let him sleep in it for nap then he wanted to sleep in it for bedtime and then he was hooked. I felt bad for letting him sleep in the floor. I mean, we had a nice comforter folded up under him but it was the floor for crying out loud! Tonight I constructed a blanket fort around his toddler bed and he finally climbed back up in his bed. I was even able to move the tent out of his room. Whew. A blog post on this is coming soon as well.

Me? What's going on with me you ask? Nothing really new really. I haven't been running at all and I really need to start. Like yesterday needed to start.

I decided to stop reading the autobiographies, biographies and memoirs for now. They were boring me and I was beginning to dislike reading. It was feeling like homework. I started reading Dark Legacy by Anne DeStefano. It was a book I downloaded on a Free Download Friday through B&N. Not bad I suppose. I took a break to read the first book of 50 Shades of Grey by E. L. James. It was steamy but I couldn't get passed the writing style AND then once I found out it was based off of Twilight Fan Fiction it was all over for me. The characters also drove me nuts.

We also celebrated Father's day which I hope to blog about soon as well. Father's day totally snuck up on me as well. The Tuesday before I was sitting on the couch and BAM! it hit me.... UGH. June is usually one of my favorite months but I feel like it is flying past me in a whirl wind.

I'll end with this cute recording/video of Connor and his new found love of Knock Knock Jokes.... we were in the car and I was driving so I couldn't just record him... I turned on the recorder and dropped it in the cup holder.

HAPPY JUNE!!!

Let the Imagination Begin!

In the last week or so Connor's imagination as been through the roof and I just LOVE it. I just want that part of his brain to grow and grow and grow. I want to give that imagination of his a great big hug and never let anything squash it.

Last week Connor was playing with his cars. He always plays with cars. Usually its just pushing them around, lining them up or making the make noises. Well........... lately, he makes the cars talk to each other. This was one conversation he made them have:

Car 1: Ok, see you later I go to Ms. Heather's house now
Car 2: Ok, I miss you. Bye.
***Car 1 drives away***
***Car 1 drives back***
Car 1: I back from Ms. Heather's house
Car 2: Ok. I poopied in my hiney
***Car 2 drives away***

Another time last week Connor had his play phone he paced the kitchen babbling away. I asked him who he was talking too and he responded, "Pop". Then his conversation got real clear. "Hey buddy. What's up? I love you too buddy. See you later buddy." He just repeated it over and over again while pacing the kitchen back and forth. I totally wanted to video tape but didn't want to leave the room to get the camera.

Then there was last night.... last night will stay with me forever! I took Connor to the playground and it was just the two of us. We did the usual climbing, running and sliding but then he ran under the jungle gym and stood where the bars were blocking him in. He started saying, "Help mommy, help. I stuck!" It took me a minute to realize he was playing. Then he said, "I got my rescue pack" and started singing the song from Go, Diego Go! and blasted around the corner free from being trapped.

Next, he wanted me to be trapped. So I played it up calling for help and Connor ran away then came back saying, "I got Toodles. I get mouskatool to help." Then he'd unlock the bars and I would be free. We did this over and over and over again. It didn't get old and I played it up more and more. We were actually playing together!

Our little boy is really growing up and I love it. I don't think I'll ever get sad over him growing up until he denies me my snuggles and kisses. Until then.... I'm soaking them up!

Sand and Water

This weekend it was a little too hot to go out to the park or the beach to play. The sun was beating down mid day and the humidity was awful. To get some outside play time in I set Connor up with a sand and water play area on our front porch. HE LOVED IT.

Around Christmas time I picked up some water beads from the dollar store. They lived in my car in the bag until it was time to clean out my car when I traded it in for the Mazda...... yes...... bad....... I know. So now that I had them out I've been wanting to play with them. I used one of the packs for flowers for a coworker and had one pack left.

I put a bunch of sand that I picked up at the beach the last time we were there and put it in a shoe box. I pulled out some sea shells from mine and Kevin's travels over the years and tossed them in too. Then, in a plastic tupperware container I put in the water beads with some extra water and tossed sea shells in too. I grabbed an extra tupperware container for mixing. We took them out to the front porch in the shade and played with shovels and mixed it all together.

When all was done and it was time to come in for lunch and nap, I packed up the sand and seashells but the water beads looked gross. The were sandy and muddy and just plain yuck. Once Connor was taking his nap I pulled out the pasta strainer and poured the beads in. They rinsed off clean!!!! I just added them back into their original container and added water so they wouldn't dry out. They're ready for next time!!

Enjoy the pics!

Let the games begin!

A rock!!

He LOVED the water beads

He only touched the sand to mix it in the water.

Mixing back and forth

He said, "Feels silly mommy"

Muddy mess

Watching the birds fly by

Alllll clean! Ready for next time!

Carnival!

Still catching up from my time away from blogging. In the time that I was gone we went to the Riviera Beach Carnival. We went last year with Connor and he did ok. He didn't really understand what was going on but he enjoyed getting on rides with mommy and daddy and playing the ducky game.

The Riviera Beach Carnival

This year... was different. Since the carnival was in direct sight of us when leaving our neighborhood and coming home, Connor could see the top of the Ferris Wheel and kept asking me, "What's that?" He was very excited when he asked and we told him AND he got to ride it.

We ventured over to the Carnival with some the Dena's Finest of Pasadena's local neighbors. We dropped 20 bucks on tickets and brought our son much happiness that evening. The first ride was of course the Ferris Wheel. He watched as he waited for his turn to ride and started to tantrum off and on because of the excitement.

Once on the ride, his face lit up as we went AROUND and AROUND and AROUND. He absolutely LOVED it. I totally love it when we can make his face light up and see him experiencing things for the first time. Yes... we went on the Ferris Wheel last year... but he doesn't remember it so it's like the first time.

On the Ferris Wheel

From there Connor got on his first ride ALL.BY.HIMSELF. OMG. It was the Alligator ride. He walked right up to his Alligator, let me put him in, buckle him in and walk away. My inner mommy was sad that he was growing up to be such a big boy and then all at the same time my heart was melting with seeing the excitement on his face. Being a mom is totally tough on the emotions!

Riding an Alligator named "Fred"

After the Alligator ride, Connor and I went on this car ride that is bumpy and attached to a train track. Not my idea of fun and made me feel kinda sick but his little face was just as happy as can be!

Riding Jalopy Junction.

Me wanting to barf and Connor doing the jig.

We ventured over to the games and let Connor pick some duckies and win a prize. After a while we circled back and let him play again. We were able to trade in our small prize for a big prize. Connor picked out a stuffed animal cow and named him Steven.

Before leaving, Connor and I rode the Merry-Go-Round. Last year we rode this and he had a complete meltdown at the end because he didn't understand that his turn was over. This year... it went much smoother. He rode it, loved it and then got right off like a big boy.

More going around and around and around.

This was such a great trip for him that the rest of the week whenever we drove by it, Connor pointed out the "Carminal" and told me he rode the purple one. Hot damn he has a good memory because we DID ride in the purple cart on the Ferris Wheel!! After it was packed up and gone, he noticed right away and asked me where it went! I told him the Carnival had to pack it up and move to the next fun place. He replied, "Oh ok, Mommy. I like the Carminal." Ahhhhhhhhhhhh what a wonderful child. <3