I think it's time to get back into this again...

I know, it has been far too long since I posted here. Well, I'm going to try again! I'm going to start off small.





Maybe I'm starting him a little young?!?! I only spent $10 on this little vacuum, but it's great that little man actually uses it! Now if only I could get him to do the dishes!

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

On Saturday we took a road trip. We went to see a house being built by Extreme Makeover Home Edition. We had heard they were going to be in the town because my hubby's cousin lives on the same street they were building it. We figured we would take a ride because when would we ever have the chance to see this again.

I had been following the story on the Internet. They actually tore the house down on Wednesday and by the time we got there on Saturday, they were finishing the siding, gutters, landscaping, etc. I'm not sure how far they were on the interior, but they had put out a call for anyone who knew how to drywall and install hardwood floors. Darn it, I don't know how to do either.

There were a lot of people there...between volunteers and spectators there were hundreds. There were some kids selling water and hot dogs. There were tables of t-shirts that were being bought up. What an amazing thing to watch though. I wish we had gone on Sunday. That's when you would really get the opportunity to see everyone from the show. We did get to see Ed Sanders (he's in the pinkish-red colored shirt in a couple pictures). I'm not sure when the episode aired, but he is the one that cut his hand when he was working on a project for the show. He was in the front yard and turned to get the crowd to cheer on all those working. It was truly amazing to see how much all these people got done in a few short days!











Little man did pretty well all day. Right before we left, he started to have a meltdown. He had only napped in the car for less than an hour. We were really hoping he would take a little nap in his stroller, but he wanted no part of it. Five minutes after we got in the car, he was out...of course! Since we drive right past her house, we were going to stop and see my sister on the way home. Unfortunately we got detoured due to a parade and were past her house by the time we got back on our original route.

All in all it was a good trip. We're actually hoping to take another trip next weekend. We'll see though!

New things to play in

It's been a while. Summer has flown by and Fall is almost here. Fall is actually my favorite season, so I'm ok with that!

A couple weeks ago little man found something new to play with...er in. I have actually commented to some people about how good little man is about closing door, drawers, cupboards, etc. Well...I spoke too soon.







These pictures...notice the wet hair? I would love to say he got in the sink, tub, etc. No...my son stuck his hands in the toilet and "washed" his hair. Two minutes with my back turned was all it took! He immediately had a bath run and he was "disinfected" from that nasty water.

I think now we are going to have to keep the bathroom door shut for fear of what can come next!

Shhhhh........

Shhhhh....quiet....do you hear that? No? Just listen for a couple more seconds! Still nothing? That's because it's quiet. I actually have the day off without little man or hubby! It's very strange though because I'm constantly listening for little man to start crying to say he is awake from his nap. Is that strange? My mind has become so tuned in to him, even when he's not home I'm listening for him!

I've been keeping busy today. I'm cleaning a little. I haven't been doing it continuously, and I'm taking breaks because I want to. I actually made myself breakfast and lunch and didn't have anyone else standing there asking for some even though they already ate there own. I'm picking up rooms and they are staying clean for longer than ten minutes. Was this what it was like before little man came along?

Before little man was born, I probably would have taken a day off and just layed on the couch watching tv and doing nothing. Today I'm just savoring the quiet.

In all honesty though, I can't wait for him to get home. My hubby works tonight, so I'm hoping to take a walk to the park with little man. Before he left to go to day care, he was sitting on the couch being all cuddly...I love these cuddling sessions because they are not coming as often any more! Is there any way I can stop him from growing up?

Well...3 hours left in my day off...what else can I do today?

(On a side note....Operation no binky is going o.k. I relented the other night after a half hour of screaming...I know...I'm bad. Yesterday he didn't have the pacifier all day, and he even slept without is last night. I hate to do this to him, but after we visited the dentist a few months ago, I knew I would have to face this sooner than later! We'll see what tonight brings!)

Crying due to Operation No Binky

I'm sitting at my computer listening to little man scream and cry. I feel horrible because I can't go in and give him what he wants...the binky!!! This is about the millionth time I have attempted this. It always seems to get sabotaged.

I started again on Friday. Saturday morning my hubby got little man up and brought him out with a binky in his mouth. I was devastated. I thought my one day of hard work was gone. Then I had to go to work. My hubby was home with little man all day...even nap time. He relented and gave little man the pacifier for nap time.

Then I put little man to bed without the pacifier, and he slept through the night. Yay!!! He didn't have it for his afternoon nap! Yay again!!!

Now it's bed time and he's probably been crying for about 10 minutes now!!! I figure if we can get through a couple more nights, we should be good. Now if everyone gets on the same page as me, it'll be perfect!!!

Trying to Post

I've started a couple posts in the past couple weeks, and I just didn't feel like finishing them. Why? I don't know. I'm tired. Little man is getting to be a pro at the tantrum throwing. My hubby has been working two jobs, so that leaves me home alone alot. That should give me plenty of time to do this...but when I have this time, I often don't feel like doing anything. How sad.

Last week we finally got our washer and dryer hooked up. Actually, it just started with the water lines and drain being put in my mother's kitchen. Then we had electric run and the vent put on the enclosed back porch for the dryer. When we moved, we put them both down in the basement because that was where the hookups were. Unfortunately, it wasn't ready for us to put everything in, so we waited...a little too long in my opinion...but it's done now so I can't complain. So we had hubby's two brothers come over on Sunday and help get them up from the basement...what fun!

No more trips to the laundromat!!! Yay!!! I've been doing laundry every night since it got hooked up. How great is that? I know, it's really sad that I'm getting excited about doing laundry?!?!

Not too much is going on. Little man is still sleeping through the night off and on. Last night being one of the off nights, I wound up sleeping with him on this floor so he would go to sleep. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he sleeps through the whole night tonight! I guess we've been pretty lucky though with his sleep patterns!

I went for a walk tonight. I really need to start exercising because I need to get rid of this baby weight...19 months later!!!!!! I hate how I look, how I feel. I think I'm going to start with a 5 pound goal and work from there. I actually would love to get down 30...but that seems so unattainable right now! So, I guess I'll start with little baby steps!!! Maybe if I start blogging about that, it will help keep me accountable!!!

Well, I'm off to get another load out of the dryer...don't be jealous!

Early Morning Quiet and a Busy Day

I'm up bright and early. I usually am on the weekends. There is something about sitting in the quiet house before anyone else is up. I know the rest of the day is going to be spent taking care of little man. So I enjoy this hour or so of time to myself. My hubby is still sleeping too. We have a busy day ahead of us. I want to head to the local farmer's market, my mother wants to go to a dollar store, and we have a party to go to later this afternoon. Fun! I guess that's what summer is all about though!
Speaking of summer, just this past week I finally got little man's pool out so he could play in it! He's been using the one at the babysitter's house but not at home. He really enjoyed it. Toward the end though, he liked throwing the water onto the lawn more than anything else...at least the lawn got watered a bit! Enjoy the pictures!







The other day I brought out a movie for the first time to see if little man would watch it. I put in Elmo in Grouchland, and he actually would watch it off and on. Well last night he was really cute. He loves to go over to our dvd's and pulls them off the shelf. He always manages to have a huge pile on the floor before I can get to him. Yesterday he kept walking over to the shelves, and I kept steering him away. Finally last night he got over there before I could get him. He pulled some dvds off the shelf and then started walking over to me. Wouldn't you know he had the Elmo in Grouchland dvd. So cute. I didn't think he would know what one it was...but he loves Elmo. So I put it in and we snuggled together and watched it. How I savor days like that because I know the time is going to come that he won't want that!

Visiting Baby Girl

Last Saturday after little man got his haircut, we took a little day trip to visit my sister, her husband, and baby girl. We had just seen them a few weeks before when they moved, but we didn't get to visit amongst all the chaos. It's amazing how big baby girl is getting.


I still get nervous when little man gets around baby girl. The picture looks all sweet...but about two seconds after I took this picture, he tried to hit her! UGH! We're trying really hard to teach him about "nice touches!" Hopefully he'll get it soon!








Baby girl wasn't sure what to think in her exersaucer. I just kept taking pictures though hoping that I would get a good one...she is so cute!

In a few weeks we're going to go visit again...hopefully I'll get more pictures then!

Operation No Binky

I started "Operation No Binky" almost a month ago. The first two weeks went really well with the only time little man got his pacifier was when he found one that I hadn't. Then we got hit with a really bad week. It was the week my brother and his family came to visit and I was off from work. Little man's schedule was totally off with him getting to bed some nights around 11 pm - his typical bedtime is somewhere between 8-9 pm. That made for some very cranky nights...and days!!! So to survive them, I pulled out the reinforcements...the hidden binkys!!! I didn't think I would have to since we had been without it so long, but I did. So today...I'm starting all over again!!! My fingers (toes, arms, legs, etc.) are crossed that we are more successful this time around. We have already made it through nap time without the binky...the next challenge will be bed time!!! We'll see what happens!

Yet another first

Yesterday we went through another first with little man...His first haircut. His hair wasn't incredible long (as you'll see in the first three pictures), but it was just getting to an unmanageable stage. He has some curls in his hair, so once he slept on it, forget about it. I had been putting it off for a few weeks now, but finally decided it was time to take the plunge!

Just a few pictures to show what his hair looked like before -






He got to sit in an airplane while she cut his hair...he loved it!




The first few cuts...I didn't know how he would react, but he did really well. I think it helped that she had Elmo playing on the counter in front of him.






And the end result. I was so afraid he was going to look like such a big boy. He does...a little bit!! I really like his new haircut, and I'm glad we did it. I hope next time goes as well as this one!

No Sleep

I don't know where my good sleeper has gone. Every other night for probably the past two to three weeks, little man has been up and down all night. I don't know what to do, especially since I have to go back to work this week. Thank goodness tonight is the night he should sleep...hopefully. Now that I've written about it, i have a feeling it's going to go the opposite.
We're also dealing with a lot of whining. As I type this, he is sitting on the floor beside me reaching up for me to pick him up. Don't get me wrong, I love that he wants/needs me, but can't a girl spend some time doing something else? I know...what else did I expect when I had little man? :0) Thing is 99% of the time when I pick him up, he just wants to get back down! What's up with that?
Well, I better go tend to his needs!

Operation No Binky, day 2

Well, last night went well. Little man made it through the whole night!! Yay!!! When he got up this morning, he came in the living room and found a binky on the floor. He only kept it for a couple minutes and went on playing. He's now down for his first nap without the binky. Keeping my fingers crossed that this transition turns out to be easier than I thought it would be. Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself by writing about it here! I'm off to search the house for the remaining binkies!

Bye Bye Binky!

Tonight I'm trying something new. I have a feeling I might regret it but right now everything seems fine. When I put little man to bed tonight, I didn't have a pacifier with me. I said to myself "do I, or don't I?" One part of me thinks this is crazy, why do I want to take away little man's "security blanket"? The other part of me says why not? We had to take little man to the dentist a couple months ago because he fell and chipped his front tooth. On the way over there I forewarned hubby that the dentist was not going to be happy to see little man with a pacifier at 15 months...and I was right. The dentist went on to tell us that kids should be done with them by the time they are 18 months, preferably sooner. I wonder if he ever had to live through a child screaming for a binky when you tried to put them down to sleep? At this moment little man is quiet, but I know that could change at any moment. I just know that the sooner we try to wean him off the binky, the easier it will be for him (and us!!!). Besides...who wants to see a five year old walk into kindergarten with his binky still in his mouth. :0)

My blooms and a sunset

Just a few pictures that I took last week. The flowers are growing in the front flower bed at my house. Being our first spring/summer here, it's been interesting to see what comes up! We still have a few months of this too. Then we have the beautiful sunset we had the other day. Hubby and I took a walk just so I could take these pictures. Then, of course, I added a picture of little man. Unfortunately, that's how most of his pictures turn out these days. Little man + the camera flash = squinty eyed pictures. Anyone know how I can stop this??

A trip to the zoo

This past Saturday we decided to take little man for his first trip to the zoo. We have a zoo locally, but I hadn't been in probably ten years. So like the good, researching mother I am, I went online and looked to see what they had there. It didn't seem too bad, and they it looked like they had a lot of animals to look at. Little man gets in for free until he's three, and we had a coupon for buy one, get one free admission for mommy and daddy. We only had to spend $6 for all three of us to go to the zoo...not bad. Well.....our zoo is not very exciting....and left me a little disappointed. What did we get to see? Well, 2 buffalo, 2 goat (who were quarantined), 2 reindeer, two animals I can't remember what they were, a handful of some monkey-type of animal and 2 sloths, 2 tigers, 1 leopard, an otter, 2 or 3 penguins, a wolf habitat...but didn't see one wolf, a variety of different birds, and the last animal was inside its "house" so we didn't get to see it. Now I know we're not from a huge city, but....I think we could do a little better. It only took us about an hour to get through the zoo...with the first half of that being spent walking up the hill to look at all the displays and the second half just basically walking back down the hill to the exit - no displays. It was a beautiful day though, and little man enjoyed being in his little buggy and watching everything and everybody. His favorite animal was the monkey things - they made him laugh when they jumped toward the window. I told my hubby we should plan on going to a bigger zoo next time, so maybe little man can see some of the bigger animals!


Just starting out...


Little man's favorite....kind of blurry through the glass


What's over there?


The beautiful, bald eagle


The leopard...trying to stay cool


Little man and hubby...on the way back down!!

Even though we were a little disappointed with the zoo, it was great to spend some time as a family!!! Who could ask for more than that?

Momma Meme

My friend Melanie had this on her blog, so I thought it would be fun to play along.....

Momma Meme #1
Baby’s Name? Little man...hee hee hee
Male/Female? Male
Birthday? January 6th
Where was he/she born? Crouse Hospital
What time was he/she born? 8:14 am
Weight/length at birth? 7 lb. 11 oz., 19 in.
Age as you’re typing this survey: 33
Are you a paranoid mom…? Sometimes
Do you sterilize everything (like boil nipples or wash every toy)? I sterilized bottles, nipples, and pacifiers the first time I used them, but not after that.
Do you buy “sensitive skin” wipes because they’re “better” for baby’s skin? Actually, I buy them because I don't like really strong smells, and these are basically unscented
Do you worry that your baby will stop breathing in his/her sleep? I used to check him all the time when he was a newborn, not as much anymore
Do you freak out if they happen to doze off during tummy time? (SIDS!!) Little man was too busy screaming during tummy time to fall asleep.
Do you wash your baby’s clothing in Dreft or other baby detergent? I did for probably the first 6 months, then changed to a free & clear detergent and use it on all of our clothes
Do you refuse to dress baby in anything with buttons (choking hazard)? I've never thought about that...but not a lot of baby/kid clothes come with buttons
Do you watch (and critique) when someone else changes baby’s diaper? No, but when I change him after someone else has I kind of chuckle at how it is put on
Did you buy all of their furniture (crib, changing table, stroller) NEW? Yes, but we hadn't planned on it. Lost our crib in a flood. We ended up getting as gifts our crib, changing table, and stroller
Do you have to wash a pacifier that fell on the floor before giving to baby?In the beginning I did, now I can just wipe it off and it's fine
Do you worry about anyone else holding your baby? Sometimes certain people
When you leave baby with a sitter, is all you do worry about baby? I trust anyone who has watched him 100%...no need to worry
Do you jump out of bed the second baby starts fussing during the night? No, I wait a couple minutes to see if he can settle himself. If not, then I go see what's the matter.
Do you worry about making baby bleed when clipping his/her fingernails?Yes, the first time I tried to do it, I made his finger bleed....so now that's Dad's job!!!
Do you call your pediatrician at least once a week? No, since little man spent the first 3 weeks of his life in the hospital dealing with doctors, nurses, etc., I only call(ed) when I absolutely had to!
Do you cancel playdates because your baby has a runny nose and coughed once? How sad, we've never had a play date...but I have sent him to the babysitter with a runny nose.
Do you refuse to go shopping without a shopping cart cover?I have put him in the cart a couple times without the cover....but the majority of time I insist we use it!!!
If you have a cat, do you worry about toxoplasmosis? I don't worry....I have three cats.
Is your baby allowed anywhere near your pets?Yes, little man loves the cats....and will pretty much do anything to lay on top of them!!
Do you only feed your baby organic baby foods out of fear of preservatives?Um...yeah....sure.
Do you think you are or ever have been a paranoid new mom? Upon occasion
If you want to play along, feel free- just let me know so I can check out your answers.

Time for an update

It has been too long since I last updated...almost 2 weeks? We took a trip to meet baby girl last weekend. The car ride wasn't too bad. It's only 3 hours from our house to my sisters, but this is the first time we have travelled with little man since we went to visit her last May. Little man was only 4 months old then, so he slept most of the time. I wasn't sure how it was going to be this time around, so I packed many snacks, drinks, toys, and books to make sure little man was entertained. Little man did not sleep, one bit!!! He made it through the first 2 hours and 15 minutes...the next 45 minutes were not very pretty. He just wanted out of his car seat so bad. We didn't stop to let him get out, since we feared he would not get back in. We made it to my sister's in one piece and finally got to meet baby girl.

We even got our first picture of the two cousins together.

She is a tiny, little thing. Looking at baby girl, it's hard to believe little man was once that little. There may have been a slight twinge of wanting another one, but....not yet!!! I have to do a little more convincing with hubby!!!

We took a walk to the playground while we were there, and little man got to ride on the swings and go down the slide for the first time this year.

On Sunday, we left early since we didn't know what to expect from little man on our return trip. Within a few minutes he went from this...

to this.....

The ride home wasn't as hard. Little man slept for a little over an hour, and only started to have his meltdown about 15 minutes from home. He was so glad when we pulled in front of our house and got out of that car seat. I know how hard it is for me, as an adult, to sit for that long. I can't imagine what it must be like for little man. So we had a good trip, but I don't know when we are going to be travelling with him again....maybe when he's 10!!!!