Yes, I have returned

We got back home Monday night around 10. Had a great time. The babe is not so much of a water person, but he was an angel anyway. Here are a few pics.

The view from our condo. Paradise!

This was as close as the babe wanted to get to the water!

Here I am being attacked by a shark! Scary isn't it? This upset the babe, so I had to quickly make an escape from the jaws of death.

He learned to climb stairs while we were gone. He was following his sissy!

He was peeking through the stairs at me!

Okay are you tired of pictures yet? I will try to post some details of our trip later.

Off to the beach

We are leaving tonight for the beach and I will be back here on Wednesday, please check in and look at the pics that I hope to get posted and hear all about our FUN mini-vacation! Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

The smoke, it is choking me!

For the past few weeks now at least 2 mornings a week the air is smokey and heavy. It is the smoke from the fires in South Georgia and Florida. Some days it is so bad you can barely stand to be outside. You can see the smoke in the air! We are more than 200 miles away from the fires. I can only imagine what it must be like for the people closer to the flames. Please pray that we get some rain soon to help put out the fires. Everything here is so dry and dusty. Our grass is dead and I haven't been watering it because of the watering restrictions. I have been watering my new little trees and some flowers that I have planted, but not running the sprinkler on the lawn. The babe loves to help me water the flowers. He plays in the water and sticks his little hands in the stream of water and says "COLD" and laughs.

Busy, Busy

Oh my goodness, I feel like such a slacker! I am so sorry for the lack of posting lately! I have all these posts floating around in my head, but no time to actually post them! I feel like I have not slowed down in weeks. Working full time and taking care of my family and house is really taking its toll on me. We are going to the beach Memorial Day weekend and I cannot wait for the break, at least I am praying that I will get a break. I have already gotten our daughter packed and I have gotten the babe about half packed. I need to start packing for hubby and I tonight. I just have no time to do anything extra like pack and prepare for this trip. We will be leaving next Friday morning and getting back home on Monday night, but I took Tuesday off too, so maybe I will be able to post some pics Wednesday. I am nervous about going too. We have never taken the babe that far away before, I don't know how he will handle being in the car for 5-6 hours. We have even thought about leaving Thursday night around bedtime and driving a little more than half-way and just staying in a hotel and then driving on to the beach Friday at his naptime. Even if we do that, we won't be able to do that on the trip home, so that only solves half the problem. We are taking a portable DVD player so maybe he will be entertained enough by watching a movie. The other thing I am worried about is bedtime. The condo that we are staying in does not have a baby bed. We do have a Pack n Play, but he will not sleep in it. He will have to sleep with us, which is fine, but I don't want him to get used to sleeping with us because that is a habit I don't want to start. The other issue is that everything, including bedtime will be off schedule. I am not a stickler for a strict schedule, sometimes at home he goes to bed at 8:30 and sometimes he goes at 10:00, but we do the same routine and then I put him in his bed. I just hope it doesn't mess him up too bad to not be in his environment. He also has a hard time going to sleep when he isn't in his bed. You see I am excited about going to the beach, but I am stressed about it too. I am sure that most of what is stressing me is stupid stuff that will work itself out, but if I have to spend 4 days trapped in a condo with a cranky babe, I will go insane! Hubby's mom and sister are going too so I will have extra help and people to help keep him entertained, so maybe it will be okay. Another thing is that we do not have a car big enough to take all the things that we need, so I am trying to pack light, but really with children how do you do that? They have to have toys and extra changes of clothes and blankets and stuffed animals.

Anyway I also have to get my house cleaned before we leave because my mom and step-dad are coming to house and dog sit on Saturday and Sunday while we are gone. I am grateful that they are coming, but my mom is a clean freak and I don't want the uncleanliness of my house to drive her crazy. I don't want her to spend her time at my house cleaning because that will make my hubby crazy! I also have to make sure that I stock the fridge and pantry with some food so they will have something to eat while they are there. So when I am not sleeping or working, I am cleaning or packing. I was actually in the shower this morning with my Mr.Clean Magik Eraser* scrubbing down the shower. Multi-tasking, that is the only way that I can get it all done! The eraser worked wonders on the soap scum, the shower was shining when I was finished. That thing is amazing. I wonder why it has taken me so long to use it. Something else that I cannot live without is Lysol wipes. I use them everyday to wipe down the kitchen counters and sink. I also use them when I clean the bathroom and they work great, they clean and disinfect! I also could not live without my Swifer* sweeper. It does such a great job picking up all the dog hair on our kitchen floor. Anyway, now I am just rambling about cleaning supplies, I ramble when I am stressed.

*I know these words are misspelled!

What's for supper?

Why am I the only one that knows that answer to that question? Everyday my hubby calls me and asks me what we are having for supper. I guess because I am the wife and mother the responsibility of planning the meals, buying the groceries and then cooking the meal all falls back on me. We usually have the basics for a meal, but I hate having to come up with the meals EVERY SINGLE DAY! OH HOW I HATE IT! I want to be a good mommy and have balanced meals, but I don't have a lot of time to cook during the week, so we usually end up having the same few things all the time. What I really hate though is wen hubby asks me what we are having and I tell him and that isn't what he wants. WELL WHAT IN THE HELL WOULD YOU LIKE FOR SUPPER? I don't know but not whatever it is that I am cooking. So, last night after having a 15 minute discussion about what we could have for supper, but still not coming up with anything I told him to sit down and write out a menu for next week because I am really tired of having it all fall on me and then he isn't happy with what I cook. Well do you think he did it? Of course not, so I sat down today and wrote out the menu and that is what I will buy at the grocery store and that is what I will cook and if he doesn't like it I don't want to hear it. He had his opportunity. Does anyone else have this problem? What are some quick meals that you cook? I am running out of ideas.

Pictures, as promised

Hubby said that he is practicing for manhood. The hand with the car will be the one that he will hold the remote in, watching TV in his undies and undershirt!

Feeding himself with a spoon and his fingers!

He had on the heels. I convinced him that the flats were much better with his outfit!

I'm too sexy for my clothes. But I am wearing mommy's shoe. Now where did I lose the other one?

Sitting at the dinner table.

18 months already

My, my where has the time gone? My sweet little angel boy will be 18 months old on Monday. I honestly cannot even believe that I have a child, much less an 18 month old toddler. He is such an awesome child. He has such a good personality. He has been sleeping better at night (Thank you Lord). He has started feeding himself with a spoon! Everytime he manages to actually get some in his mouth, he nods his head and says MMMMMMM. It is the cutest thing.

He is obsessed with Cars, the movie and anything with wheels. Anything that has wheels is a car and he loves all cars. He usually has a matchbox car in each hand. We name colors of cars on our commute and I try to point out interesting things to him on our ride. He gets so excited every day when we see a train (and we see one in the morning and the afternoon) and a school bus. He just shrieks with joy when we see either of them. He talks incessently, from the time he gets up in the mornings until he goes to bed at night. He can say so many words now that we can understand, but a lot of his conversation is still not discernable. He can name all of the Wiggles and most of the Sesame Street characters. He loves Barney and Bob the Builder. If he thinks something is really funny he will tilt his head back and laugh very loud! It is hilarious to see. He is finally getting some more hair. He may actually need a haircut before his second birthday!

He knows his basic colors. We can line up his blocks or cars or anything colored and ask him which one is blue, or yellow or any color and he will pick up the right one. He is so smart. He said "I don't know" last night. I cracked up! He has the cutest little voice. He likes to play outside and to swing in his swing. He plays the piano at my MILs. He actually sits on the piano bench and touches the keys and makes music, not banging like most kids would do. Who knows maybe he will be the next great pianist.

He also loves all of our dogs, but especially our inside dog. She is so good with him, he can pretty much do anything to her and she just lets him. He will get in the floor and snuggle up with her and love on her too. He loves to chase her around the kitchen and she in turn will chase him around. He likes to pick up her food pieces out of her bowl and hand feed her and she likes it too. As long as he will feed her she will stand there and eat. It is like she knows he is little and so she is extra sweet to him. I really worried about her when I got pregnant because she was my baby before he came along. She has adjusted to her new role well and she has done great with him. I couldn't ask for a better dog.

My sweet boy just amazes me most days. We have so many nicknames for him. Most of the time we call him Bud or Buddy or little Buddy. He gets so excited when I go to pick him up in the afternoons. 9 hours is a long time to be away from each other! I miss him so much during the day. That is why on the weekends I spend as much time with him as I can. He is just growing up right before my very eyes. Maybe I can take some pics of him this weekend and post them on Monday.