Wordless Wednesday

I would like to say, do you know how exhausting it is trying to raise something this adorable? :)

Pet Peeve

I have a major pet peeve and unfortunately it is something I come across every single stinking day.

People talking on their cell phones while driving.*

It is SO NOT COOL. And there is a reason it is against the law. Usually I can spot someone on their cell phone by their driving before I notice they are on their phone. It has to do with their speed, their lack of paying attention to lights/stop signs, swerving into other lanes. You get the picture. Today I watched a woman talking on her phone blow thru a red light. She was in the lane right next to me. Thankfully there was no accident. However, I am pretty sure she didn't even realize what she did. Its just the nature of the game.

When I am in the car with an offender, I usually make a sarcastic comment about it. When I sarcastically say something, I am actually thinking in my head something like:

I'm glad you value me as a friend/family member/person enough to break the law and knowingly put me in harms way while you chat needlessly on your phone and put my life at risk. Thanks for that. Loser. 

And if you are texting while I am in the car, the thoughts are even worse!

Get with the program people. You wouldn't drive while drunk (I think). And in my book, it is just as bad to use your phone, so STOP IT before someone gets hurt. 



*I'm guessing you all get I mean people that don't use hands free and are actually holding their phones up to their ears.

Park Time

The past week has been nothing but gray skies and rain...which I have been loving. However, randomly we had one beautiful day thrown in. I can handle one nice day. So, I loaded Connor in the car. Our first stop was to pick up a churro at Costco (they are only a dollar!). Then we headed to the park. Connor thought I was torturing him, not allowing him to touch the churro until we got to the park.

When we got to the park, we enjoyed the churro. Connor got about 2 inches of it, and I got the rest. Being the mom does have its perks! Check out that furrowed brow. Connor does not take churro eating lightly. 

After finishing our churro, it was time to play. Connor was in a weird mood though. Normally he loves climbing all over the play equipment. But this time, he was more interested in playing with another kid's car.

Thankfully said child's grandma didn't mind. When Connor wasn't riding in the car, he decided to push it all over the playground. After he got tired of that, he started randomly running in the grass. It was a very strange day at the park. I am thinking all the sugar from the churro went straight to his head and whacked him out a bit.

Oh well, at least Connor got out and was able to enjoy our one day of sunshine this week. Although the rain doesn't bother him. He is an equal opportunity outside player...rain or shine, he doesn't care!

The Last(ish) Time

Grainy, yet adorable photo taken courtesy of my iphone

Last night, hours after he went to bed, Connor woke up. I went upstairs and grabbed him from his crib. We headed back downstairs and nestled ourselves in front of the tv while Ian was busy working in the other room. Given how tired he was, Connor fell asleep in my arms almost immediately. I love that feeling. You know the one. The warm, sleeping baby in your arms feeling. And every time it happens, I try to enjoy it as much as possible as I think this could be one of the last times. My baby is growing up. And as he does, the days of him falling asleep in my arms become few and far between. And it makes me appreciate them all the more.

On the flip side, now that we are on to the toddler phase, there have become some other things that every time they happen, I kind of hope it will be the last. Things like, putting the tv remote in the dishwasher, throwing food all over the floor/walls/dog, breaking everything in site. You know what I am talking about.

But I am sitting here right now, still thinking about that warm little sleeping baby in my arms last night. That little baby is all mine. And he has stole my heart like I never thought possible.

The Bathroom Situation

(source)

I hate it when I walk into a public restroom and am instantly hit with a nasty smell. Then there is the waiting game. Standing there wondering if I will be stuck with the stall that the nasty deed is currently being done in. And more often than not, I am. Thankfully today I was not. You see, I have the worst reaction to bad smells. And it is a reaction I can't seem to control. Sure I can control the gagging. But what I can't control is the crying. Yes, you read that correctly. When a smell really nasty comes along, I actually start crying. Okay, maybe not crying. But my eyes water uncontrollably. But this is embarrassing. I always think strangers around me must think I am being dramatic, but I can't control it and I personally think it is kind of rude. Oh well. At least today I wasn't stuck with the nasty stall and I was able to keep my emotions watery eyes at bay and avoid embarrassment.

The Week

We don't seem to have many sick days (or weeks) in our household, but this week we have been hit. I picked up Ian's coughing attacks (not quite a cold, just crazy amounts of uncontrollable coughing). But on the bright side, today is the last day of Connor's exile! That means we will finally get to start hanging out with people next week. Such a welcome relief! Of course, everyone will probably still be afraid of us due to my crazy coughing fits. Oh well.

For Christmas I bought Ian an at home brewing kit. After one batch, we hit up a local brew supply store to get more ingredients. While there, Ian was easily convinced to upgrade from our 1 gallon kit to a 5 gallon kit. Thankfully pretty much everything switched over, so we spent very little to upgrade. Making your own beer is a lot more time consuming than I thought. It takes about 4 hours to cook it. Then it has to sit for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, you bottle it. Then it has to sit 2 more weeks to carbonate. A couple days ago we bottled the last batch Ian made. We bottled about 50 bottles...go us!

And for the icing on the cake...



I woke up this morning to gray skies!!! It is supposed to rain all weekend! I am SO EXCITED about this. We just haven't had enough rain and I have been missing it. Yeah for gray skies and rain boots!

Lucky Charms

Lucky Charms are a favorite of mine. Oh, they are magically delicious. Okay, I know that was a little corny. Anyway, yesterday I let Connor try some Lucky Charms for the first time. Now before you go getting all judgmental for me giving my kid this crap, know that they are packed with whole grains! (insert laughter here) It says it on the box, so they are obviously healthy.

What got me about this experience was that from the beginning, Connor knew to go for the marshmallows and only the marshmallows. Once he finished the marshmallows, he started asking for more. I told him not until he finished all of it. So, he decided to sweep the rest on to the floor and then ask for more. Smart man. But that smart man has a smart mama who saw what he did, so he didn't get any more.

Checking out the marshmallow. 

Offering one to mom...what a generous little guy!

Going in for the kill

Sunny (& Sick) Days

I was just complaining to someone the other day about how there is just too much winter sun in Modesto. Now, its not like I don't want to see the sun at all in the winter, but I would like to have to bundle up every once in a while. Seriously. I haven't had to use my winter coats once since getting here, except for our visit to the snow. The sun gets kind of old. The grass is always greener, right? I just want some more rain. And more fires in the fireplace. Then I would be happy. Of course, I am already pretty dang happy from all the serotonin I am getting.

Connor, on the other hand, is enjoying all the sun. He gets to play outside on a daily hourly basis. This is something he didn't have the pleasure of doing in Scotland. He gets to play with rocks, run around in the grass, play in the mud. It is all great fun for him.

Waving at me from the yard

Showing me a rock

And all this outdoor play is a good thing for us/Connor right now. You see, someone knowingly* infected Connor with a highly contagious virus which means he can't be around other kids for 10 days. 10 days. That is a long time to not be around other kids. I have to admit, I still take him in public, just not around other kids.



*And about this knowing infection...

Some mother brought her kid to the nursery at church with this virus and knew her kid had it. So, Connor got it. Of course, I found this out after the fact. It kind of pisses me off. Now, we are stuck at home (well, not able to socialize with others), Connor has a fever and gets really grumpy and tired. All this because some mom didn't think through what she was doing. Uh, thanks lady.

Eating Time

I am working on teaching Connor to feed himself. This is a process that I have discovered has its ups and its downs. It also has its cleaner days and its messier days.

One day, Connor is all about wanting to use a spoon to eat. The next, it's his hands all the way.

Just like, one day he wants to eat and the next day he wants to throw food everywhere! I taught him how to sign the word "more". Last night, after throwing his food all over the floor, Connor looked at me and kept asking for more. Yeah right little buddy.

We ended up with such a mess last night that the dog had to get put in the back yard. She wasn't happy about this, but she has been getting sick from eating too much food from Connor.

And Connor, well he was having a grand ole time making a mess! And me, I am just happy Connor has tile to eat over. It makes the mess so much easier to manage.

The aftermath

Wakey, Wakey

Its no secret that I am not a morning person. Seriously. It takes hours for me to wake up every day. When I worked in an office, my coworkers knew to give me a good hour before talking to me. Now, I am not mean. I am just extremely un-talkative and not myself. The same thing happens with naps. Most of the time, I wake up worse off from a nap. I just don't get it.

Now Connor on the other hand, wakes up in the morning happy as can be. Same with nap time. When I go to get him, I walk in to a smiling child. The other day, Connor napped for 3 hours. Yes, you read that correctly. 3 hours. Well, I decided 3 hours was enough and went in to wake him up (with my camera in hand, as all people do). Waking him up from a nap went about as well as waking me up from a nap.

 

Now I realize it may be cruel to take these pictures rather than comfort my child. But look at that face, it is adorable even when he doesn't want to be awake! 

People Make the World Go Round

One of the great and scary things about moving back to a place so familiar is reconnecting with old friends. Now, I've been gone for 10 years. And I am thinking that I have certainly changed in the past 10 years. Let me think...

* I no longer have bleached hair (which was such a mistake)
* I no longer drive like I am being chased by the cops (i.e. I've slowed down)
* I can no longer out eat everyone around me
* I don't care about shopping like I used to
* Staying out all hours of the night is no longer cool to me

But there are some things about me that are still the same...

* I still love Jesus
* I still love Ian
* I still have curly hair
* I still constantly wear t-shirts and jeans

So reconnecting with others who have also changed can be, um, interesting. Some of us just don't mesh anymore. While others, we go together so well (still) it blows my mind. And getting back together with these people is so freaking refreshing. They know me. They know the stupid things I did as a teenager. Yet they know I have changed. And I know they have changed too.

Last night a group of us girls went to dinner together. And it was a blast. We laughed about the past and not-so-secretly hoped our children aren't as stupid as we were. We talked about the present. And just enjoyed our time together.

I am so happy to see that time and distance doesn't change feelings among friends. And reconnecting with old friends makes this move so much easier.


Now to get my own house, so I can actually invite people over.

Snow Day

Why hello there Wednesday, where did you come from? Last I checked, it was Sunday. Seriously, where has this week gone? The week never goes by this fast.

Today, on Sunday we went up to the snow. As you may or may not recall, Connor does not like the snow. And it appears nothing has changed. He still does not like the snow. He doesn't mind if we stand in it and hold him. In fact, he will even stand in it himself for a minute or two (as long as it isn't too deep) but to walk or play in it, no freaking way. 

We even tried sledding. Sure he cracked a smile a time or two. He may have even laughed once. But most of his energy was spent screaming.

I think Connor's favorite part of the day was when Ian let him drive the car. We could have done that in our driveway rather than driving an hour and a half away. Oh well.

It's the simple things in life, right?