“Those” People

Logan, my mom, and I were totally almost “those” people today. The ones that you think are crazy and insane. And on the news. Yep. Almost.

You see, I wanted to get out of the house with Logan, and preferably get some exercise in as well. So I figured we’d call Grandma F and go walk the trail at Burke Lake Park. It’s 4.5 miles. I looked it up online, and it’s a loop. I figured there was no way we’d do the whole thing, but we could walk for 20 minutes and turn around and walk back, then go to the playground.

Well, we started walking. And it was SO pretty.  About 20 minutes in, I said, “You know, we could just do the whole thing.” And my mom said, “I was just thinking the same thing!” (So see, it was clearly not all my fault).

Oh good grief. I think we did really well until probably mile 3 or so (we both walk that far pretty regularly). Then I started to worry that I didn’t know where we were or how much further we had to go. It wasn’t really that big of  a deal, because there were lots of people around. But it was never ending! About mile 4 I think I really started to worry that maybe we had somehow started doing the loop OVER again. Then there were a few less people and I just knew we were going to have to call for help. Now that would have been an interesting blog…But whew, we made it! And we’re just crazy enough that we’re going to go back and do it again next weekend!

This is the “ahhh, freedom from the stroller!” moment. Oh, and there may be a train coming that he got REALLY excited about!

“Grandma, look, civilization!”

We were also totally “those” people for real today. For the first time ever we got the kiddie cart at the store. You know, the one with the car attached?

Uh yeah, this one has seen better days. I scoured it with a bunch of sanitizing wipes, which Peter promptly told me was really odd to do in a home improvement store. But uh, ick. I have to try to keep some germs away from him!

He LOVED it.

And oh yeah, taking pictures in the home improvement store? Also, very, very odd. Apparently.

One more quick note, if you have ever been to our house…we PURCHASED a new stove and microwave today! BIG news. Install this week!!!

Happy Saturday!

Friday Night Leftovers

• I CANNOT stop itching. Allergies/anxiety/etc…it’s a mess. It’s bad, very bad. If I hold ice on it it stops for a few minutes. I cannot hold ice on my head all at once however.  Perhaps I should figure out a way to just sleep in the freezer. I think I’m going to have to call the doc on Monday, and do weird allergy patch tests on my back for a few days. But I think they only start those on Mondays. Which would mean I have to wait a week. Boo.
• I really, really can’t stand people that don’t stop for school buses. When I was picking Logan up today there was a bus dropping kids off and they clearly had their stop sign out…and someone just drove right by. REALLY?!?!
• Logan now says, “wet” when you change his diaper. It’s pretty cool. 
• I wasn’t really THAT excited about the whole royal wedding. Then I happened to turn on the tv this morning to check the weather, and found it on. Then I was just slightly in awe.
• My kids saw some fifth graders jumping rope outside with the principal today – it’s  a privilege for their good cafeteria behavior on Fridays. One said, “Why are those kids jumping rope with Mrs. R?” Another said, “Those are the kids who STILL don’t know how to jump rope.” Ha, I love first grade!
• I need to give Logan peanut stuff, the doc cleared us at the 18 month appointment. I’m terrified, just in case he has an allergy. Hives I can handle. Stopping breathing, I cannot. I’ll take advice on this one…
• Logan had to wear socks today because it was a bit cooler here, for the first time in a while. As soon as we got home, guess what? He took ONE off. Ah, just like old times!
• That’s all I’ve got, I have to go put my hands in oven mitts like Phoebe did on Friends when she had chicken pox, so I’ll stop itching!

For more leftovers visit Danifred! Link up your own too!

Thankful on Thursday

• Sweet Peas! Love em! More, please, thanks! :)
• Um, the Ergo was the Babysteal today…and my wonderful mother saw it and grabbed it for me! 50% off its normal price, I.Am.So.Excited. Peter and I are hotly debating whether it’s okay to “carry” an 18 month old…back carry is fine, right? Occasionally? ;)
• My husband making me laugh at night. He talks/walks/moves  insanely in his sleep (this is one reason we do not cosleep with a baby!). Last night at 3am, he turns on his light and says, “Where is George?” I busted out laughing. Because I have no idea who George is. So I gave my usual response, “I dunno honey, everything is fine, go back to sleep…” and, as usual, he has no memory of it…but it always makes for a great story!
• Logan sleeping last night. He had a REALLY off night on Tuesday, which is so unusual for him now. But all was well again last night. Fingers crossed!
• The painters are coming! The painters are coming!
• Staying safe in all the storms. Those were nasty!
• A fun (and useful) craft made by a friend, which I will blog about soon…it is so cute!

I’m also beyond thankful for my healthy 18 month old. We had his appointment today, and here’s the latest!

• Weight: 24 lbs (25th percentile)
• Height: 32 1/4 inches (50th percentile)
• Talking: 43 words. Let’s all giggle that I’ve counted all of those. Did you expect anything else? This is the kid who I worried about talking FOREVER, and who barely had one word at 15 months. That explosion the doctor predicted, it happened! And now, apparently, I can stop counting…
• Teeth: 12.5 (those pointy teeth – eye teeth?- do NOT want to finish coming in!
• Sleep: He very oddly got right back into going to sleep on his own after a few weeks out of it due to Peter being gone/us being at my parents/Florida…he generally does 7:30 – 5:30/6 , plus a 2.5  hour nap.
• My favorite things: The dancing, holding his hand when he walks EVERYWHERE, how much he loves seeing other kids, how he puts his head on my shoulder when he’s being shy, hearing “mommy, mommy, mommy” this morning, his continued LOVE of books, the “mischievous” face, “help” (he says it SO cute! It’s like, “hay-olp”).
• We also had to fill out the Autism questionnaire at our appointment. It’s standard for everybody at 18 months (What, it’s not like I’d panic that they gave it to us or anything…). It’s terrifying for me as a teacher, and the mom of a boy…but let’s be honest, I’ve read the same test in Baby 411 and check it every now and then just to make sure all is well. The pedi said all looked good!
• Um, his next well visit isn’t until he’s 2 YEARS OLD. They don’t even make appointments that far in advance! Oh good grief, this kid is growing up SO FAST!

Blessed and lucky. Thankful, thankful, thankful. Beyond my wildest dreams.

Wordless (not really) Wednesday

I’ve been saving this gem up for a week…I took this picture last week at the zoo. Remember how I told you the animals seemed happy? Ahem, you be the judge…

There were quite a few parents quickly steering their kids the other way. It was a great time to have a toddler who couldn’t ask questions! :)

And that’s for everyone who needed a major stress relieving laugh at the end of a Wednesday!

PMA

Nah, not a typo. PMA = Positive Mental Attitude. It’s kind of a joke between me and my dad. As in, you just have to be positive, just give it a try. I will, in all honesty, tell you that I was NOT a positive person from about 15 – 25, for a variety of reasons. I wasn’t necessarily a negative person from 25 – 29, I just wasn’t really aware of being positive or negative.

Then one day, this little tiny wonderful little boy was put in my arms…

And I’m not kidding, the positivity just kicked me in the a**.  No matter how hard the sleepless nights were, the feeding issues, the hormones/emotions, you name it…I had this wonderful little boy. How could I complain about anything? All the little things seemed so, well, little.

Don’t get me wrong people. Oh, I complain. But at the same time, I really have changed a lot. Because with this little blessing it’s impossible not to see all the other blessings. Of course I still worry, I’m still extremely anxious…but to me there’s a difference in being anxious and being negative. And perhaps you have to have been around certain people (ahem…if you get this, you know what I mean) to really understand the difference. I also think there’s a way to complain/vent/etc. and still stay positive.

I was watching one of my recorded Biggest Loser’s tonight while I was working out (I’m SO far behind, don’t tell me what’s happening!) and Bob said, “Life is a struggle – it’s never going to go away. It’s just how you manage it, how you deal with it” (I totally got off the elliptical and wrote it down. I’m a dork.).

I have had some amazing examples of making it through those struggles from friends lately. They are examples of what I’d like my daughter to become, if I had a daughter. I’m hoping that I’m slowly becoming more of that person too. I knew I wasn’t going to have a girl when I was pregnant with Logan. It was just an instinct thing, but it was also partly because I knew I wasn’t ready for a girl. I wasn’t yet the role model I’d want to be for a girl. I’m getting there. Now, goodness knows I still might not ever have a girl. But ya know, I can give Logan a good model of what a strong, positive female is as well!

So this is how I try to look at life these days:

PMA. I don’t always have it, nobody does. But sometimes reminding myself to look for it, and at least try it for a few minutes, changes the whole day around.

Paradise Found

So, I never fully came out and said it on here, but yes, we were in Florida for Spring Break. Back in January the bestie called and asked if we’d like to join her in for spring break, since her mother-in-law was house sitting for some people for 5 months in Vero Beach. Yes, please. It worked out that Peter and Mr.. Bestie got to come too – well, and Logan of course, but that was always a given! :)

Here’s what we found there…a private pool, right at the house, as in you step out of the dining room, into this…this is the view from above, from the balcony off of our room. There were screens all around it, which I guess is really common in Florida, but the sun certainly shined in! And there were two fabulous tables to eat at too. It was, basically, huge. NOT my normal vacation people, I’ve never had my own pool (the stuff in the middle isn’t dirt – just some marks from the last hurricane…)!

This is what you saw from the pool…a little river, with an otter in residence and everything!

Here’s the house across from us, to give you an idea…

This is basically what my child wanted to do the whole time we were there… “GO OUTSIDE! Why the heck are we in here mom? You are trying to wake up? Get up, get up, look out there!!!”

So we started the day by eating outside and pretty much stayed out all day. Who would not want to eat breakfast right by the pool?

And who would not want to then walk laps around the pool forever?

But hello, mommy, you are boring, the bestie is so much more fun to walk with! Do you not just love this picture? Logan absolutely adores the bestie, as he should, of course!

It all worked so well. We played in the mornings, went in the pool or for a little adventure, then while Logan took his afternoon nap I got to lay out with the bestie, just like old times!

Tuesday night I decided to take Logan’s temperature because my normally happy child was a bit crabby….and guess who was at 101.8? Ugh. I pretty much knew he had an ear infection. We tried to go to Urgent Care, but they don’t see anybody under 2, so we spent Tuesday night in the ER. Got him some medicine and he was much better!

We did go to the zoo while we were there too, the Brevard Zoo, and it is one of the best I have ever been to. SO much space for the animals, all well cared for and happy (well, you know, I think they were happy!).

Logan, eyeing the emu…

Happy, happy, happy before the train ride!

And he was a bit unsure of the train at first, but riding with daddy made him happy. The animals came really close, I think he was a bit in awe!

This picture is just for bestie…it’s Logan’s “I’m going to do something mischievous” face that we discovered this week!

We think M should go to this zoo…the giraffes came SO close!

 

Here’s me and bestie! If you don’t know already, I seriously have the most wonderful best friend in the world. We’ve been friends for 20 years, and she is well, just the best!

I was SO nervous about the drive. But we did okay! We drove from 3 – 9 on the first Friday night, then 8 – 6 on Saturday, when we got to Florida. On the way home we did 11 – 10 on Friday (BRUTAL traffic, should have been 3 hours earlier!) and then 9 – 5 on Saturday, but that included a nice visit with Grandma and Grandpa K for a couple of hours.

I sat in the back with Logan and kept him entertained, and there may have been a few Elmo DVD’s involved, which was a nice distraction for him since we don’t really do TV. There were a TON of  cracker crumbs in there at the end, and he never eats in his car seat either. But, it worked!

It really was just SO much fun. I’m glad we fought through the anxiousness and nerves about the whole trip.  We are a family of routine, for sure, and this was WAY out of our routines…late bedtimes, special treats, etc…but it was a nice reminder that routines are sometimes meant to be broken. And guess who was back into his routine great today? :)

Thanks bestie for inviting us to join you guys! We love you!

Happy Easter!

The Florida post is still in the works, but we wanted to say Happy Easter! Here was our little boy with his Easter basket this morning…

I really wanted a Pottery Barn basket, but got him this bucket from Target instead. The thing is, we’re still taking the cheap approach to these holidays while he isn’t sure what’s going on! That’s not too awful, right?

He was very excited about his Elmo eggs!

This was the “Hmmm, all the goldfish fell out of the eggs…”

And, yep, they all fell in the bucket…

The bunny was super wonderful to Logan, as were all of his grandparents! He is a lucky boy!

Today was one of those days that I just LOVED. He was happy, he was babbling away, and he just seemed so excited about everything. It was a good day. Hope you had a good one too!

Awwww, For Me?

So we’re back! I had all these great plans of how to resume the blog, but came home and decided to catch up with the blogs I read first, and found out I was given an award by Sarah.

I’m not really sure how much substance I have, but thanks, Sarah! :)  So now I’m supposed to tell you 7 things about myself, and send this award to 7 other bloggers.

Let’s see…some of these will not be a surprise, but I can’t think of much I haven’t put out here before…

1.  I have anxiety issues, which is nothing new. What is new is that in the past 3 years they have manifested themselves on my skin, which is totally new and bizarre. Before my wedding 3 years ago I had hives like you would not believe for months on end. They were awful (bestie may have once said, “You CANNOT walk down the aisle like that!”). My skin went all wack-a-do in the fall/early winter and we tried to blame allergies, but there was never really an answer. Now I have this awful itching again. What makes it worse is then I get anxious about being anxious and anxious about the skin! Ugh!
2. I love pizza. Seriously, I could have it every night for weeks at a time. The homemade kind, the delivered kind, the frozen kind.
3. If I had some mad money, I’d buy 3 things: A new diaper bag, a new stroller, and a smart phone.
4. I used to be pretty quiet. If you ask people who knew me in high school if they would think I’d be the loud mouth at the faculty meeting, you’d probably get a big fat no. I wasn’t completely shy, but I didn’t really speak up a lot either. I had an amazing student teaching supervising teacher who I worked with for 3 days when she first said, “You were born to do this.” And it was the first compliment that ever really stuck with me. I get a TON of confidence from my fellow teachers,  students, and parents which is one of the big reasons that I love my job.
5. I have a really deep fear of running out of gas in my car. Possibly because my father and husband would NOT be amused. I’d call my mom or the bestie for help with that one.
6. I have never mowed the lawn. I tried to once, in high school, and had an asthma attack. So I’m not allowed to do that.
7. I’m terrified of The Wizard of Oz movie.  I mean, come on, that witch is creepy! And those monkeys, oh good grief, those monkeys. Yet I read Wicked and I’m going to see it in July…odd.

Now here are the 7 ladies I'm sending this to, in random order...and I'm not sending it to anyone who already got it, but I do think you all have substance! ;)

1. Katy
2. Melissa
3. Ashley
4. Becky
5. Trish
6. Kim
7. Gretchen

And now I have to go unpack and do more laundry than I’ve ever seen…

Thankful on Thursday

• People, people, people, could I be any more thankful for this week? A week off from school is nice enough, but spending it this way has been just heaven!
• All of you wonderful people for still following the blog even though I haven’t been blogging like my normal self!
• This look…it looks like he is full of questi0n and wonder, and ready to explore the world!

• Good news for a friend.
• Boys to take care of lizards and bugs.
• We’ve had 2 days of past 6am wake ups this week. That is HUGE for us!
• Laughing really hard. At hot dogs in the sink. Silly and ridiculous, but sometimes it is just so great to laugh that hard.
• 39 days when we get back to it people. Easy peasy, as my kiddos would say. I’m looking forward to having a good last few weeks with this class, they really are pretty fabulous.

Have a fabulous Friday! :)

Wordless Wednesday

Eh, I had this big debate about putting this picture up, since I look like, well, windblown and sweaty, and have on a bathing suit. But guess what? It’s me and my favorite little guy. So up it goes! :)

I am going to have the best blogs next week…LOTS to tell! ;)

This is the Life…

I really suggest everyone try it. It is pretty fabulous. Today? Logan had a great time playing in the pool in the morning and then this afternoon he took a THREE hour nap. So I got lots of time to relax too!

Someone is starting to love the water more and more and more…he is going to be a fish!

So there’s the little update for the grandparents. Lovin’ it! :)

The Cool Kid

The blog may be a little strange for the next week…bare with me, I promise we’ll be back in full force next week, stick with us! But for now, you really need to see how cool this kid is…

16 Hours really wasn’t so bad, by the way! It went so smoothly, it kind of surprised me! And only 2 hours over the projected time, fabulous!

And um, bliss…this.is.bliss.

Thankful on Thursday

It’s gonna be short and sweet tonight…we are slightly busy around here! ;)

• Spring break in t-minus 19 hours. BRING IT ON.
• I am so thankful for the bestie and all the fun that is about to be had!
• My incredibly fabulous team at school. Seriously, I teach with 4 of the awesomest people. All different, but somehow we all form this great little group. It’s the reason I would never go to another school. We are like a little family. Love them.
• My mother. She came to help us for 2 hours tonight so my head did not fall off. It was wonderful!
• Logan, for being super awesome for Grandma at dinner…they went to a restaurant by themselves, ate, got dinner for Peter and I, and apparently he was just fabulous (and of course, grooved to the music the whole time!).
• Target dollar bins.
• My most fabulous AP, who is the best! ;) And way more than just an AP…
• My bus buddy yesterday, Jenelle! Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Friday!

Wordy Wednesday

I know, I know, I’ve missed two days of blogging this week! AHHH! My goal used to be 4 days a week, then I got on a roll and started doing it everyday…eh, sorry, we’ve had some interesting times around here!

Then there was today…first grade took a field trip to the zoo. It was a yucky morning, rainy, and every single person I passed at school asked if we were still going to the zoo. And I was like YES! It was just drizzling and was supposed to stop around the time we got there. I decided I was going to be super positive about the whole thing. And it was great! The kids had so much fun. Yes, the buses were late getting us back, two were 1 hour late and mine was, well, 2 hours late (it broke down, you know, it happens). But you know what? My greatest fear on these trips is my cell phone ringing and a parent saying, “I lost so and so” and that didn’t happen! Everyone came back safe and sound, so I call it a success. How’s that for riding the positivity train?

Grandpa F saved the day and had Logan, so of course he was happy, happy, happy! Here’s just how happy he was at bath time…

Do you see this kid? The little one, not the big one…

He is like a BOY…not a baby. Sometimes I see that and it really freaks me out (there may be a few tears).

SPLASH!

And a little video of a new word he’s saying…

Here’s to a fabulous Thursday! :)

Warning: Spring has Sprung

So we were all excited about spring here at the Z house. Then…

1. My allergies exploded. Every year I kind of forget how gross they really are. I have a sneezing problem. My mom has it too. It annoys our husbands. I mean, a problem as in I have been known to sneeze 54 times in a row. And I don’t know how to sneeze quietly. It’s bad. I may have slept with a tissue up my nose last night. Peter may have woken me up at 5:15 am saying, “Do you know there’s a tissue in your nose?”

2. Um, apparently spring in Thailand made my husband forget that he is over 10. Because this is what he was doing at the park…

And when he said, “Do you think I can walk across this?” I was a little too busy watching our TODDLER to worry about what might happen…until I turned around to see him rolling on the ground after he had totally fallen off in very dramatic fashion.  There were some scratches…and a very hurt ego!

3. Uh, the danger of cuteness overload is WAY higher in the spring. Case in point…the sandals.

The excitement…

The “why the heck won’t you people LOOK AT THE PLANE! ALREADY!!"

And oh my word, the dancing. There is a point where I am trying so hard not to laugh in this video, but he looks like he’s just breaking it down for a few seconds. Brace yourself, you’ve been warned about the cuteness level.

Hope you’re enjoying spring at your house!