Thankful on Thursday

We have been way too blessed this week…

• I forgot my lunch today. I made it, but found it later in the car. I was going to just have a salad and baked potato from the cafeteria (thank goodness they offer this for adults!) but we had a catered lunch from a vendor! What great luck!
• I caved and took Logan to the doctor today. The cough had just gotten a little yucky and there was some ear pulling going on. Luckily, all was well. But when you’ve had a kiddo with RSV/Bronchiolitis the reassurance that there is no wheezing is well worth the co-pay!
• Um, PS, the doctor’s visit took all of 15 minutes. Fab.
• I never commented on how great the girls night was. Seriously, I have not laughed so hard in a long, long time. Gotta love that bestie and M! I am always SO thankful for you ladies, as is my whole family!
• My parents. Could you be any more wonderful? Especially when I know that dinner last night wasn’t very good but you really pretended well! :) And, I can still wake my mom up WAY past her bedtime. She acts like it is no big deal at all. That’s what being a mom is all about.
• Grandma and Grandpa K for putting up with my really bad attempts at signing on the video phone! But hey, it works, right? And we get to talk to them! :)
• Post-it note conversations. I mean, they really make me feel like I’m an important friend, ya know? ;) Important enough to want to write and show that post-it to!
• Oh, my first graders. They always make me smile… “My mom doesn’t clean the house because she just lets the dog clean the floor.” Ha, ha, ha. Gotta love it! And I know that mom…and I am sure she cleans the house!
• 6:30 am phone calls. They make our day!
• Bloggers being honest. I love it. It keeps us all feeling sane and knowing we are not alone when we have rough days. 
• 2 healthy babies born to healthy mommy friends of mine in the past week. That alone can be my thankfulness for the week. More of that please world, mmmkay? 
• My fabulous little boy who still, every night after he gets his teeth brushed and books read, hears his mommy say, "Do you want to snuggle with mommy?" And every night he turns his little body to put his head on my shoulder. And I feel all the little flutters and my heart just about explodes. Three minutes of that (I have to watch the clock or I would stay there forever and he would fall asleep there) and then into his crib a happy boy. And a very, very content mommy.

Friday, Friday, Friday…bring it on!

Wonderful Wednesday!

Logan and I got a special surprise today…a monkey for the monkey and a flower and chocolates for mommy…

We are the luckiest mommy and little boy in the whole world!

There were A LOT of monkey noises tonight! It was the best surprise I’ve gotten in a long time. We love you!!!

And, some pics for Wednesday…A few leftovers from Saturday!

Does this kind of look like he is forward facing? He is NOT! Can I tell you how much I love that the recommendations came out last week loud and clear? We are still nice and far from the top of that car seat and WAY under 35 pounds!

For the first time ever, there were NO crayons in the mouth!

There were snowflakes today. Just a few, not sticking or anything, but oh, we would REALLY like spring to get here!

Who Knew?

So this is the blog that was supposed to post last night…but I lost it and it was WAY too involved to try to do it again!

Last night when Logan and I pulled into the driveway, there was a HUGE truck a couple houses down. That’s pretty bizarre, as we live on a court. So I was trying to figure out what it was. We walked down to get the mail and Logan was SO excited about the truck. Jabbering away, waving, doing his bendy leg “I’m so excited!” dance. We got closer and I thought it might be some sort of street sweeper thing…I wasn’t sure.

Fast forward to about an hour later, and the truck was at the corner. I was TRYING to get Logan to eat dinner, but the truck was right out the window and he was fascinated. And I continued to try to figure out what was going on…

Exhibit A…Truck. There was another picture but I decided not to use it because the ahem, maid, forgot to clean the window. Seriously, as soon as they create that 25th hour in the day, that’s the first thing on my list! Or, you know, a maid (hint, hint…oh, I give up!).

So then they start around the corner and I realize there is a man attached to the truck with a hose.

The man approaches the big landscapey (oh come on, I don’t know what it’s called!) area with the hose…

And mulch starts shooting out of the hose! I was a little flabbergasted. I really thought that they spread the mulch out of bags then raked it into the area to make it all even. Or at least a little bag with a sprayer. Well apparently that way is just WAY too complicated. And certainly less entertaining.

The funniest part was that the whole time they’re doing this there are people jogging/walking/riding bikes on that bike path right there. Now, that’s the path Logan and I always walk on. When my mom and I were on a walk with him the other day I said, “This is a test…what would you do if a scary dog came charging at you when you were alone walking with Logan?” And she gave the right answer – cover Logan with my body (way to go Grandma!). I also do the “What if someone drove up and tried to pull us into a van?” question in my head a lot (Bestie, you totally get this, I know you do!). Now apparently I have to do the “What if a giant mulch hose went crazy and was shooting mulch everywhere?”

All right, truck pictures aren’t what the grandparents are looking for! :) Here was the cutie trying to eat while all this was going on…PEAS! Yum!

And this is what happens when I say, “Do you want to talk to _____?” You can insert your name there, because he’d definitely love to talk to you! Anyway, he puts his hand up to his ear like a phone. Too cute. Those eyes, oh, those eyes…

I had my last class tonight for the math class I’ve been taking in March! And I even made it home a few minutes early to tuck in Logan. But ugh, lots of coughing so far while he’s been asleep tonight…I’m hoping that stops soon!

ABC’s of Me

I just had a whole blog post and it somehow got deleted. Boo. So I’m gonna borrow from the great KJ! :)

1. Age:30
2. Bed size: Queen…we always go back and forth about changing to King…we’ll see!
3. Chore you hate: Vaccuming the stairs
4. Dogs: One when I was little…not another for a L-O-N-G time.
5. Essential start to your day: Diet Coke!
6. Favorite color: Pink, pink, pink!
7. Gold or silver: Silver
8. Height: 5’9"
9. Instruments that you can play:Um, the piano a long time ago…
10. Job title: Mom and wife, Teacher
11. Kids: Logan – 17 months
12. Live: No. VA
13. Mom’s name:Pat
14. Nicknames: Shan, Sha-non
15. Overnight hospital stays: Um, some longer ones for some things years ago…then my gall blader and Logan!
16. I think I accidentally deleted P…
17. Quote: OMG, Really? Freal? Those describe things lately! :)
18. Righty or lefty:righty…
19. Siblings: None
20. Time you wake up: I usually get woken up around 5:30…but 6:00 otherwise!
21. Underwear: Victoria’s Secret
22. Vegetables you dislike: None, I love veggies!
23. What makes you run late: Dirty diapers!
24. X-rays: way, way, way too many to count of my feet!
25. Yummy food you make: Chicken Enchiladas – I learned from the best! :)
26. Zoo favorite animal: I love the polar bears at the NC Zoo!

I Didn’t Knock Hard Enough

I said once on here that I think my new mantra since becoming a mom has become “Knock on wood.” I say it all the time. I use it when talking about sleep, sickness, random safety things, etc…

Well, yep, apparently I mistakenly knocked on plastic or something recently. Because guess who was up for 2.5 hours last night coughing (1:15 – 4am…)? And who woke up from his nap coughing? And has a runny nose?

Don’t get me wrong…I knew the end of the streak was coming. The last time we went to the doctor for a sick visit was Dec. 29 or so. We had our 15 month checkup January 27, but I don’t count that one. We have NEVER gone even a month without going to the doc before December. So this has been a great run. But even better because it wasn’t just that we weren’t at the doctor – it’s that he honestly wasn’t sick at.all. Unheard of for my kiddo!

So, we’ll get through this one. It appears to just be a little cold and hopefully it’ll pass quickly. The cough is just what does me in. I worry about it too much. And I really don’t want to have to break out the nebulizer!

He needs to get better fast so he can play on his new slide! He got a quick run on it yesterday, but we also need the weather to warm up too – to help with the cold and so he can play for longer than 5 minutes!

Have a great week!

50 cents = Pure Bliss!

 

We took Logan to the Spring Festival this morning. Thankfully, there was no punching! ;) We got there right at the beginning so it was not the mass chaos it could have been, and was later, I’m sure!

Logan got a basketball painted on his face (you know, with really hypo-allergenic face paint!). He was surprisingly REALLY patient while they were doing it. He was very excited to see the moon bounces, but there was no way I was letting him in them with all the big kids!

Then we went into the room with the balloons. Oh goodness, he was in heaven! I got him a green one for a whole 50 cents, and he was so happy. He hung on to that balloon for dear life for the rest of the morning and I’m sure it’s going to be a hit again when he wakes up from his nap!

Girls Night Out tonight! Watch out for the wild women on the town! Ha, just wild women out at dinner, but you know, we could still end up causing some trouble…

Hope you’re having a great weekend!

Friday Night Leftovers

• What the heck is up with the weather? It’s going to snow tomorrow night?!?!?!  I am so ready for spring. I HATE the whole car seat/jacket debacle. It was so much easier when I could just zip up the cover over the infant seat!
• One of my friends was due today, one is being induced today…happy thoughts, healthy babies and mommies!
• I asked Peter if we could get 18 month pics of Logan, expecting him to say, HUH? He said yes! Admittedly, I asked him at 7:45 tonight, so he probably would have said yes to anything…but I’m excited!
• I think I left $10 at the grocery store when I got cash back tonight. UGH. So annoying.
• What would you do if you had $400 “mad money?”  Not that I do, but my parents were telling me that when they get tax refunds/bonuses/etc., they always do a small bit of mad money. You know, save a bunch, but give yourself a little. I wouldn’t want to just buy clothes, or books, something big I think. I honestly think the first thing I’d buy is a new diaper bag.  Loved the one I had, but a strap broke, so now I’m using one that I don’t love so much…
• Earthquakes near Thailand = not good. Let’s hope for no more of those, mmmkay???
• Spring Festival is tomorrow at school…my mom and I are taking Logan. It’s a carnival type thing, with profits going to school. So my kids are REALLY excited about seeing Logan. Here’s the conversation we had today: Me: “Boys and girls, Logan is really excited to meet you, but remember, he’s little, and he’ll be in his stroller, so you can’t just all crowd around him and get in his face.”       First grader:  “Why, will he punch us?”  Uh, I hope not? Punch?
• My kid turns 17 months old in about 9 hours. WHAT???

For more leftovers visit Danifred!

Thankful on Thursday

Shall we? Let’s, it’s always so helpful and such a great reminder to stop and appreciate it all…

• Something happened tonight when I was putting Logan to bed. We did our whole normal routine and then right as we were finishing the last book, he FREAKED out. I’m not kidding. My normally calm child lost it. Not in a tantrum way, but in a “something is wrong/I don’t like something/something scared me” way. I held him, rocked him, kept  saying, “You’re fine, we’re going to just sit together until you go to sleep, it’s okay…” and finally it turned to just sniffles and little gasps and I watched his little eyes close. Is it strange that I’m thankful for that? We don’t have those moments often – but I’m glad that when we did I was there to comfort him.
• Girls Night Out! I’m having one with two of my favorite ladies on Saturday night and I’m so excited!  Thanks for even considering it during your favorite time of year bestie and M!
• My 2 fab coworkers/friends (I like to think the latter more!) Ashley and Melissa,  who both, in the span of two minutes, commented on how much they liked the "makeupless” pics that I posted earlier this week. Always nice to get a confidence boost!
• My mother-in-law…she is pretty great to both of her daughter-in-laws!
• My parents for asking for a grocery list. They are always thinking of us!
• Angie, for being willing to sit at the toddler table with me.
• Christine, for becoming a faithful new blog reader! I love when someone else loves reading this!
• Tasha and Sarah for leaving such sweet comments!
• People in the world like my fabulous friend EG’s sister, who do an amazing job as foster parents. She had her first placement and the little one moved on this week…what an amazing gift she gave!
• A little boy was doing some investigating on my phone tonight and I found this picture that I had forgotten a while ago…

• Peter…for just being a great husband and daddy. We love you, remember that!

Friday! Jeans! :) Enjoy!

Boys and Their Toys

Blocks have become the new big hit at our house. After our walk tonight (um, a little chilly out there, what happened?) Logan got in a little playtime…when he could get the blocks from daddy!

Daddy’s masterpiece…

The cutie signing “please” so daddy would share it with him!

Daddy hands over his robot boy…to someone’s extreme delight!

And then he watched it slowly be dismantled…

Until it was down to this:

“Yeah daddy, you build great robot boys…again, again!”

I love watching these two play. And I’m not sure who has more fun, daddy or Logan! :)

Pausing.

Yet another person in my life got devastating baby news today.  Again, their story to tell, not mine. So the blog is going to be quiet tonight, in honor of their little one.

I hate that THIS has become the new norm too much recently. Here’s to healthy pregnancies, mommies, and babies to come. For all of you. Love you.

Just Us

A long time ago I said that I was going to stop worrying about what I looked like in pictures on the blog – makeup less, workout clothes, whatever. Tasha shared an article today, The Other Mothers. It summed up a lot of what I struggle with as a mom. Comparing myself to others is what I do best. And it sucks. Because there is absolutely no way to win.

So instead, I choose to show you life in my house…

That’s me and my favorite little boy. With my double chin, hair all a mess, tummy bigger than I’d like, workout clothes looking so glamorous. But LOOK at that smile on my face – and more importantly, on his. He could care less about any of those things, he just loves ME. And clearly, as the camera caught so well, those things don’t really matter to me either. So I’m not going to leave some pictures out of the blog because I think I look “less than.” 

You should definitely read the article – it’s pretty fabulous.  But, onto the other pretty fabulous things in my life:

And you know you need to hear the little guy talking, right?

So tonight, I’m going to try to remember to let go of all of my comparing and worrying. Do you hear that little boy? He’s just beyond incredible. Like the article said, he was sent to ME, not another mommy, for a reason. I know I’ve talked about it on the blog before, but every little bit is a step, right? And hey, I actually said, “juice” in the grocery store the other day, when handing Logan his cup! :)

John Deere Green

Who remembers that song? It has been stuck in my head all day! It was a big one during my country phase (it is very hard to grow up in NC and not have a country phase). If you know it, it’s now bound to be stuck in your head for at least a day, thanks to this picture:

I forgot this picture yesterday! It was on my phone, and I never take pictures with my phone. This is ahem, Logan of course, but that’s my grandma, Logan’s great grandma. She looks pretty good to be a great grandma, huh? And one of her great grandkids is in high school!

I told you she lived in the country, she has a John Deere! Well, three to be exact. She’s been trying to sell this one, but the only prospective buyer has been a guy who wanted it for his five year old grandson to play on. And when he told her that she said NO! I love that she wouldn’t take his money! Five year olds and riding lawn mowers, never a good mix.

And yes, that is a cookie in my son’s hand. I think it might honestly be his first chocolate chip cookie ever. He’s really never had sweets except for his birthday cake, but when great grandma gives him a cookie, you let her! :)  In true toddler fashion he took one bite and it then got tossed to the floor!

Have a great week! :)

He’s on the loose!

We went to see Great Grandma M today and she lives way out in the country. Not on a farm, but it might as well have been in Logan’s eyes! He could run FOREVER without fear of any cars, or even asphalt! He was so fabulous all day and just had the best time!

Um, these pants weren’t really supposed to be what he was wearing…but we had some diaper explosions – and even had to use the washing machine! He was clearly not deterred…

Aunt S and Uncle A! Look! I like this weekend too!!!

We had to check out the water pump/hose thingie…it was quiet entertaining for a few minutes!

This is the pond near her house, we took the little umbrella stroller all the way down!

And someone was WAY sleepy and didn’t even mind all the bumps. He slept in there for 30 minutes!

Look, see how far in the country we were? Turkey tracks!

About 2 weeks before my grandpa passed away he was in a wheelchair and my uncles built a ramp for it. As hard of a reminder as it is, Logan loved running up and down it!

 

Logan kept grandpa on his toes!

 

I am really having a great time being this little guys mommy! It is so much fun to watch him growing up and discovering everything.

Hope you’re having a great weekend!

Friday Night Leftovers

• We have a clothing issue. Logan has none. Well, none that really fits him. He had one 18 month outfit that was springy and wore it today. I do have a couple more things but they haven’t been washed, so that’s what I’m doing tonight. But man, we gotta get this kid some clothes!
• On that note, his teacher said that we could just dress him in his 12 month pants, which definitely fit him in all areas but length, and call them capris. I don’t think he’d be too happy about that, and his daddy said no.
• We got tickets to Wicked at the Kennedy Center in July. I am really, really excited. I would also like to go see Glee at the Verizon Center – not quite as sophisticated, huh?
• Only one more full week in March! Well, full school week that is. For a month that seemed endless we’re getting there!
• I hate ironing. I do it, then I sit in the car for 40 minutes and I get to school and I’m all wrinkly. Pointless. Bring on my spring dresses so I can stop ironing pants!
• We took Logan to the park today and there were ALL these big kids. And they were not caring that my little TODDLER (you know, at the TOT lot) was trying to play. Grrrr. So we just went for a walk instead, Logan was happy!
• I need a pedicure SOOOOO badly. Seriously.
• On that note, I haven’t gotten my hair cut/highlighted in 8 months. This is getting sad people.
• On the plus side, Logan said, “beep beep” to just about every car we passed on our walk and nearly climbed out of his wagon when he saw a parked school bus. The kid likes wheels!

Visit the host of leftovers here!

Thankful on Thursday

Some weeks I really NEED to write this post. I had a hard day today with one of my students, Logan accidentally slammed his head into me and my lip started bleeding (totally an accident, really and truly!), the world yet again left me wondering “why? explain?" about something in a friend’s life, and I have a killer headache. But we are still so, so thankful…

• For perspective and pasts – and days like today that are hard but remind me how far I’ve come with me.
• Logan’s hugs. No explanation needed!
• Teaching – Honestly, teaching was the first thing where I ever felt like “Wow, I can do this!”. It has a LOT to do with my mentors and first principal, but it is also where I found my voice and a little bit of confidence.
• My students, who at the end of almost every day say, “Mrs. Z, can you tell us a Logan story?” I love that. And they are just WAY too cute when they get so excited about something he did – seeing as how they are only about 5 years older than him!
• Chopsticks. We went to Bonefish for dinner tonight, after my rough day, and we always get Bang Bang Shrimp. Logan loved playing with the chopsticks and they kept him entertained for quite a while!
• Warm weather! I am so tired of dealing with jackets!
• The time change. I can’t talk about why because I refuse to jinx anything. But really, really, loving the time change.
• Grandma K’s graham cracker snacks! Okay, okay, they are really from Kroger. But we don’t have Kroger here. When we were at their house a while ago she had the snack and I gave one to Logan, he loved them. Um, then I ate one. They are SO yummy! Just little graham crackers with a bit of cinnamon, enough of a treat without being awful for you. She thought she was bringing them for Logan Sunday…I promise I’m sharing Grandma K! :)
• This. This is my favorite part of the  whole day. Excuse my mess of a self, but oh, how I love the bedtime routine and reading and snuggles!

Friday, here we come!

Wednesday

See, I decided to just not put the “Wordless” part today, since I would have to write the same disclaimer I always do…not really wordless. Here is the most RANDOM collection of pictures ever, from the past few days…

This? This is what I discovered on Logan’s ear AFTER we thought he was clean after dinner. Yum, spaghetti sauce!

I thought I’d take these really cute pictures with his bear and compare them to his one month ones. Ha. He looks like, “Um, who are you and why are you in my chair?”

Logan is an expert at recycling. Seriously, somehow he always puts the right things in there, even though our trashcan is almost identical to this.  Earth Day here we come!

Logan got a new word today. “Fishies.” Oh, we have the first grade math project to thank for that, as I had to buy two giant things of goldfish and he got REALLY excited when I put them in the cart! PS, I totally know fishies is not a real word. It is in Z land.

It is no longer cool to just play in the tent. You have to turn it sideways and upside down and then play in it. Clearly.

I think we can officially call this shirt too small, wouldn’t you agree?

Sadly, this may be the last time you see Logan in footie pjs…Hubs thinks he’s getting too big for them and they don’t fit right. He’s right, it just makes me sad. I pointed out that they make them in bigger sizes and Peter said, “Well, they make them for adults too, but I don’t wear them.” I totally would, if I had some. Maybe.

But the point being, it just means he is getting big. *sigh*

And yes, I would still like to drink out of sippy cups too. I am the clumsiest person, I’m sure they would come in handy!

A Random Funny

Class tonight, so not a lot of time to post. But I was looking back through some old posts from March of last year and found this picture of my then 5 month old little guy:

Ahem. The child has ONE sock on.

And then this one, from this past Saturday:

The more things change, the more they stay the same, huh? :) One cold foot, one hot foot I guess. I actually took this picture because we had forgotten to close the blind (the last night before the time change!) and Logan was LOVING talking to his reflection the window. Where did he come from? He looks vaguely familiar!

And now I am totally freaking myself out thinking that there was some random little boy on my deck. Just great. Bestie, you get this fear right? And now you’re worried about it to, you know it…

Clearly my brain is fried from being over worked today! Time to rest!

Showing Off

I’m thinking that perhaps there is a reason that Logan is a little slower to talk…to make me really appreciate every little thing he does. Of course, that does mean you also have to see every little thing too.  So now, allow Logan to show off…

Here he is doing the motions for Itsy Bitsy Spider. Please, please, please, plug your ears to save yourself from hearing me sing! I had no idea he knew this song. He found this little CD player that Grandma and Grandpa K gave him that he hadn’t played with in a while. And he started pushing buttons, and found Itsy Bitsy Spider. And before I knew it, I realized he was doing the “spider” motion with his fingers.  Um, I didn’t teach it to him. He learned it at school! :) It’s not perfect, but it is perfect for a 16 month old!

For his next act, Logan will be counting. Okay, okay, not really counting. But he does say “three” after I say, “One, two…” It’s pretty cute!

His teacher told me that he spent all day today telling everybody “bye bye” every time they went somewhere. Of course, his bye bye sounds more like “dada”, but that is definitely what he’s saying, wave and all.

He’s growing up on me…