Grandpa!

Grandpa Jim came to visit us this week. The Boy loved Grandpa - he was the best toy ever. And he came with books! Although Grandpa did MUCH more with the Boy than read, I didn't take my camera along for the fish hatchery at Powder Mills Park or the Butterfly Garden at the museum.
The other thing Grandpa did was help us finish our attic space. This is what it looked like when he and The Man started:

This is where we are now (yay, lights!)

Unfortunately, Grandpa had to go back home and The Man had to travel, too. But we would have never gotten even this far without Jim. We'll miss you, Grandpa. Thank you!

Should we take bets on whether or not I can finish this room by myself before The Man gets back?

Backseat Driver

The Boy now understands that a red light means stop, a green light means go, and a yellow light means slow down (or as he says, swooooooo doooooown). Unfortunately, he does not know that there are exceptions to the red light means stop rule.

Yesterday I was driving as he kept his running commentary of what color the light ahead was and what that means. When I went to make a right at a red light, he yelled from the back "stop....Stop...STOP! Red means stop!"

Oh joy. A backseat driver.

Happy Easter

The Boy enjoyed hunting for eggs much more this year.

It is deceivingly warm-looking outside. The temperature was actually forty degrees.

So we pushed through the hunting and hurried back inside for the candy eating. The Boy has a deal with lining things up lately. It almost brings tears of joy to my slightly obsessive, organizing, symmetry-needing eyes.

Here we decided to let the Boy try one of these:
Extreme Sour Warhead

Is is wrong to do things like this to your child purely for your own enjoyment?

Even The Man had a hard time with this one.

Happy Easter everyone!

Two Words: Coke Syrup

I had an interesting weekend. I spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday hanging out with the Pulley kids while Deborah and Darren were on vacation. They were a lot of fun and exceptionally forgiving of my "neat freakness". I spent the majority of that time cheering against Noah in March Madness (poor Annabel and Bea - I'm not the kind of babysitter girls want). By the way Noah, don't forget I'm beating you 3-1.

Sunday, the Boy was going to hang out with us since the Man had to work. Unfortunately he got hit with a little stomach bug that caused him to yammy about every 15 - 30 minutes for 5 hours. Poor baby. By that afternoon, the Man was off work and the Boy was feeling a little better, so they went home.

Come Sunday night, just before Deborah and Darren got back, I wasn't feeling so hot myself. I thought maybe it was because we had ice cream and popcorn for dinner (best babysitter ever). I got home and wasn't in bed long before the nausea hit me. I was up all night. It has been some of the worst 12 hours ever, pysically. I made the Man call in to work and pick me up this little miracle. If you haven't heard of or tried Coke Syrup for "simple nausea", do it next time! The Man served it to me over crushed ice and it tastes like a coke slushy. That along with a little ginger ale seems to have set my stomach straight. Let's hope it stays that way.

Hair Cut

The Boy has had many, many hair cuts starting from about the time he was a year old. However, this was the first one that was not done by mom and turned out how a hair cut is supposed to turn out.
He loved being in the chair and seeing himself in the mirror. Money well spent.

Belly Button Hugs

The Boy is obsessed with belly buttons and has been for some time. He is always pulling shirts up to see one. Lately he wants to lift up his shirt and mine, touch belly buttons, and hug.

I decided I did not really want to have my belly button showing here for everyone to see. So he gave belly button hugs to his bear instead.

Pay it Forward

Well...my friend Amy put this on her site. And seeing as how I was the very first to enter a comment on that particular post, I am now in contract to to "Pay It Forward". I thought this was a pretty cute idea.

THE RULES:

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me. (it will be a surprise but I promise to make it something fun)
2. Winners, you must post this challenge on your blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!
3. The gift that you send to your Three Friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!
4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love! (cheeky) If you are not one of the Top Three Commenter's on this post, you can still play along. Start your own Pay It Forward chain and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!

I am not particularly sure what I'll be making the winners. But I do have a small set of craft skills from which to draw. Good luck!

A Rare Moment

This scene lasted just long enough for me to get the camera and snap one slightly out-of-focus picture.


Roxy would like you to know that this picture means nothing. She still dislikes the Boy. This was just a moment of weakness.

Now THAT is Some Serious Bed-Head

Body Art

We put a temporary tattoo on the Boy this morning. After I peeled off the backing, he looked at it and said, and I quote...

"Oh. My. Gosh."

More White Board

Here's another use for our white board. If The Man finds that we've run out of something, I tell him to just right it on the board. On occassion (and by that I mean often) he writes things on there that I have already replenished. The last time this happened, the board ended up looking like this:

Big Boy

The Boy turned two this week.

We got him a little tricycle and took him out for ice cream...

...and he had a play date party with all of his friends.

Happy Birthday little man! We love you so much!

Naked Cowboy

Are you familiar with The Naked Cowboy? He stands in Times Square playing his guitar in just his tighty whities. This is him...

This is our "at-home" version. The Boy thoroughly enjoys running around naked. I was laughing so hard, I couldn't focus the picture in the right spot.

Happy Birthday!

It doesn't matter how organized and on top of birthdays I try to be, I always miss them. So to my two very beautiful and wonderful sisters-in-law, Tamara and Emily...a late...

So Sweet

I just love these pictures. A big thanks to our friend Ryan for taking our family photos this year.

New Year's Goals

I'm not generally one for New Year's resolutions, but this year is different. The way I stick to goals is by writing them down on a list. It makes me feel accountable to that little piece of paper. Sometimes I tell people my goals, then I somehow feel accountable to them. So...blogging my resolutions, two birds with one stone. Here goes:

1. I will run three times a week
2. I will work my way back to 15 miles per week by April
3. I will run a 5K every month from May to September (I'm counting on my friend to keep this one with me - she knows who she is).

Considering we bought a new treadmill last night, I think I better stick to this. I get one out - if I have kid number 2. That is NOT an announcement.

I suppose I should have deeper, more spiritual goals on here. But let's be honest, I have to work on those year round.

Christmas Dinner

The Pulley's are always kind enough to open their home to friends for Christmas dinner. We were joined by the Shelton's and her parents the Parry's, the Gregory's, as well as the Storheim's who moved away a few years ago. It was great seeing them again.

The food was so good, the company was great. Thank you, Pulley's! We are blessed to have you in our lives.

Merry Christmas!

The theme this year for the boy was trains!

We got the Boy a train table. So the Man and I spent the late evening on Christmas Eve putting it and a rocking horse (which he loves, Nanny) together. Check out that hair. This kid gets serious bed head. I'll explain his face further down.

He played with his new trains and tracks (thank you Mamie and Papa) most the day.


He realized later in the day that crawling inside the table made it much easier.

Aunt Jo and Guncle also got him a stacking toy in the shape of a train among a list of other things like, music, blocks, and puzzles.


Last year, Grandma and Grandpa Finkle got him this Nativity Set, which I think is adorable. This year they added to it with sheep and shepherds. So cute! He loved his little Mickey Mouse pull over from them also.

Incidentally, the Man got me an iPod shuffle. So now I don't have to hold the giant one when I run. Yay! AND...did you know that you can have your name put on those? He had them put my first and middle name on the back. Love that! He also took me out to the mall last weekend and let me go a little crazy on clothes shopping. He did good, yes?!


I got the Man a monstrous computer monitor. I am currently enjoying the fruits of that gift right now. This thing is big! Ok, now the face...

After all the presents, the Man took the Boy sledding. I was a slightly worried about that only because this is what happened when they went out sledding yesterday. Isn't that sad looking? Like a rabid cat got a hold of half his face? Actually, it was just some bushes. Apprently that did not deter him from wanting to go again and again, though.

We hope your Christmas morning was as nice as ours.

Chistmas Eve Caroling

Christmas Eve we joined the Jensen Family tradition and went caroling with them and a large group of friends.


It wasn't all that cold.


It wasn't snowing...


...and it didn't really start raining until the very last house we visited.


We had a really great time. It is the perfect way to spend Christmas Eve night.

Major Snow

Within a matter of hours on Friday, we went from being able to see the grass to this.


The boy loved playing in the snow with dad. Being the smart lady I am, I stayed indoors and just stepped out onto the porch to snap a few pictures. Roxy was out there with the males...takin' it like a real woman. Traitor.

The Boy giggled so hard when dad would literally toss him into the snow...

...and he would laugh and yell "faster!" when the Man pulled him on the sled (which incidentally was borrowed from a friend over a year ago and I still haven't returned it- thank you, Dorothy).

I'm glad someone enjoys this weather.