I’m Leavin’ On a Jet Plane…

I’ll be back in two weeks.  Don’t miss me too much.  :)

Read Full Post »

Two Lists in One Week!

You guessed it.  I’m feeling listy AGAIN.  And just a warning.  I’m going to have a lot of those YELLING moments.  I’m feeling like raising my voice for WHATEVER REASON!  So get over it.

1. Today is going to bite, I just know it.  Friday has become the longest day EVER.  I almost hate Fridays.  But really how can you hate the end of the work week.  Well, maybe when your work doesn’t end on the weekend, THAT’S WHEN.  Ok, so really I wasn’t feeling like complaining, just raising my voice, so I’m going to stop with that.
2. This is why today is going to bite.  We (Jack and I) were supposed to go and get ice cream with Brady and his mom today and well, I’m pretty sure Brady is sick, or his mom thinks he might be getting sick (because she is just like me – super paranoid – because she is going to be handing him off for a few days to his Gma next week and she is stressing that something will screw up two completely planned (down to the second) days of freedom).  I digress.  Ice cream.  Yeah, so Brady is sick and now we won’t be going for ice cream.  Which I was really looking forward to.  And I just can’t go by myself with Jack because we will look incredibly pathetic and the people at Coldstone know me by my first name at this point (and so do the people at J Crew… this is becoming a problem) and well, it’s just all very pathetic.  And it’s supposed to rain today. 
3. We’re (Jack and I) are heading out to MI next week.  And I’m freaking out.  Just a tiny bit.  This will be my first flight alone with the Jackster.  And there are no longer direct flights to my destination (or at least that is what E says), yeah, so now I have to worry about making my connection.  And let me tell you how huge it is to have another person present to hand your child to when you are flying.  Because for a second you can sit back and relax and pretend you don’t know them.  Then you can go back to calming down the kicking, pinching, and screaming.  And let me tell you, I am PRAYING that we don’t have the same sleep issues we had in Chicago because I have planned a ladies night (which means NO boys, not even Jack) where I will be able to spend time with my girlfriends for the first time in I don’t know how long.  And well, if I have to leave him with anyone and he is boycotting sleep, I will be home by 9:30.  And well, I was hoping for a little bit later than that.
4. We’re off to test drive one more car this weekend.  ONE more.  Because that is all I can handle.  Yes, it’s supposed to be a little cooler (upper 80’s versus the upper 90’s that it’s been for the past eleventy billion days in a row) but still, can I piss and moan (like I have a right, I’m talking about the new car I’m going to be buying here not the hog farm I have to go clean) just for a second about how much I hate test driving cars?  First it’s hot.  And you hop in that car that’s been sitting in the blazing heat (YEE HAW) – God FORBID that we let the damn thing cool off because the car salesman must HURRY so he can move on to the next schmuck who’s not going to buy a car.  Anyway, so I’m all sweaty and they hand it over to me.  And the air is full blast freezing my sweat and I’m driving in an area I’ve never driven before and for whatever reason I feel like I’m in driver’s training and I’m so damn focused on not wrecking the damn car or getting pulled over or scratching it randomly on something (?!?) that I can’t even think about whether or not it even has any positive attributes.  So by the time we’re finished I’m sweaty-wet but freezing cold and I hop out into the blazing heat again and I’m all confused and bewildered at what just happened.  Did I like the car?  Wha?  Car?  Huh?  Geez! 
5. Last but not least… no more bitching… I promise.  Great news.  We sold the townhouse in Atlanta last night.  WOOO  HOOO!  What a load off.  Talk about some major celebrating we’ll be doing this weekend!

Read Full Post »

Lots and Lots and Lots and Lots of Pictures

                                  

Here’s a couple pictures from the water-park thingie at the Y down the street.  Fun fun fun in the sun!

                              

Check out the cute new jammies.  Don’t you just want to snuggle him?

                              

I love this little outfit.  I almost lost it when I found it.  So dang cute!  Can’t wait until he’s old enough to play!

                                      

I absolutely love crib pictures of babies.  Especially right after they wake up.  So cute!  I love that little sleepy face.  And all of the snuggling and smelling of Ralphie.  haha!!

                                 

Here’s a few more water-park pictures from today.  Lots of fun!  Tomorrow is our last day of swim lessons and I have to say I’m a little bummed!  What are we going to do with our mornings!  Maybe go back to running?  Hmmm…. how about drinking coffee and watching the Today show while wild man Jack climbs all over me.

Read Full Post »

Listy list

I have only one thing to say.  I’m feeling listy.

1. I have a problem.  I can’t stop eating Cool Whip.  It started out a little bit here and there.  Now I’m eating a container every week.  The big one.  I’m being serious here.  This is a real problem.
2. Ok, now that we’re finished with that we can move on to real news.  Another random super-hot summer weekend behind us, full of home improvements, eating ice cream, and test driving cars.
3. Test driving cars?  Huh?  Who is dumb enough to do that in the blazing heat of July?  Me.  That’s who.  So, we’re ready to replace the trusty old Pathfinder for a new something or other for me.  We’ve got it narrowed down to an SUV and a wagon.  I love having an SUV… I’m having a few problems though.  I hate guzzling all that gas.  It makes me feel unbelievably guilty and lame and so wasteful – and really, do Jack and I really need all that space?  I don’t want a ginormous vehicle.  So that leaves me with the mid-sized SUV’s which are basically mini-vans in disguise.  And I’m sorry.  I just cannot do the mini-van.  Then there’s the wagon.  And well, it’s a wagon.  Enough said.  So we’ll see what happens.
4. E installed a new diswasher this weekend.  Our old one was completely ridiculous.  It was pretty much the cheapest model the builder could find and I’m pretty sure the people at Home Depot gave it to them to get it off of their hands.  Talk about a pile.  It was so unbelievably loud and you literally had to wash the dishes before you put them in there otherwise any residual food or drink would become petrified to the dish until the end of time.  The new one is so fantastic.  You can actually have a conversation next to it.  Without shouting.  And you can watch TV… in the next room.  Can you BELIEVE that??  And it has one of those fancy delay settings (IMAGINE THAT) so you can set it to run after you go to bed (unlike the other one which we’d always forget to start when we went to bed then I’d wake up all fired up – in a bad way – because no bottles/sippy cups/whatever were clean)… but why you would need to is beyond me because it makes less noise than that damn fly that’s been hiding out in my kitchen for a week.  Always buzzing around in my face when I’m trying to cook.  Bastard fly!
5. Ok, let’s see.  So we’re still doing swim lessons.  And it’s still quite a hit.  Jack is by far the loudest kid in the class.  Lots of squealing and woo hooing and yee hawing on his part.  And I’m fairly certian that I am the loudest mom as well.  All the “paperwork” they gave us when we started emphasized being very positive and having fun while in the pool because you want to associate positive and fun thoughts with the pool.  Ok.  So, I’m taking this very seriously (which I’m sure sounds totally ridiculous) but really, I almost drowned in college and have been extremely leary of the water ever since.  And it’s a bummer.  Because I have always loved the water so so much.  And I really want Jack to love it.  So here I am at 8:30am WOO HOOing like a champ.  Motor boat extraordinaire.  I have to say, I do the most exciting “wave jumping” sound effects.  Jack loves it.  Anyway, we’re having fun, and that’s what’s important.  Sure, I get a few looks from one or two of the sour-puss mummas, but who cares, right?

Ok, so that’s it for now.  I’ll update later this week and post a few pictures as well.

Read Full Post »

Better Than Nothing

Ok, so here’s a few recent pictures of the little man.  Only a few though.  I haven’t had a chance to get any from the pool or water park just yet.  Maybe later this week…

Oh, I almost forgot… I figured everyone had figured this out already, but I realized last week that it’s not quite so obvious, while talking to my mom.  I title all of the photos.  So if you hover over them with your cursor, you can see what I’ve called them.  I think it’s funny.  Whatever.

Someone very much enjoys running his food through his hair, pushing it up his nose and poking himself in the eye (with food).  It makes for a very messy mealtime.

Jack has a new favorite “toy”.  I get so tired pushing him around in the darn thing and every time I show signs of stopping he yells at me, so I keep pushing him around until I just about collapse.  Then he throws a fit and picks up the box… and hits himself in the head.  Every time.  Finally I have to take it away and hide it until he’s grown tired of all of his toys again.

Woo Hoo!  Brrrooom broom!

Goin’ Streakin’!!  Come on guys let’s go streaking!

I wasn’t sure I should include this photo because of all the weirdos out there… but it’s so damn funny.  We started letting him run around without a diaper lately because he’s had a little bit of a diaper rash.  And well, the kid loves it.  LOVES it.  To the point that it takes two of us to get his diaper back on.

Read Full Post »

My Low-Key, Blazing Hot, Mini-Hiatus from Blogging

So, in case you all didn’t notice, I took a little break last week.  E’s big case settled early in the week… just in time for the 4th.  So Jack and I spent lots of low-key quality time with Daddy.  It’s been painfully hot here so we spent majority of our mini-break in the freezing air conditioning catching up on movies (The Painted Veil, Children of Men, Flags of Our Fathers, Touristas…. hmm, think that’s about it), going out to eat, shopping for new running shoes for E and I, and getting started on a few home improvement projects in the house to get it ready to sell (possibly) next summer.  We also managed to get out for some ice cream several  a few times.  Got to love the Coldstone Creamery.  Mmm.

We actually decided to skip out on the fireworks this year.  You can actually see a few nearby shows from our house, so it’s nice to be able to drink as much as you want at your leisure, dodge the crazy mobs of drunk people and out-of-control teenagers, and still get the little man in bed at a decent hour.  That and I have to admit, as much as I love the 4th and this time of year (picnics and barbeque’s, swimming and sunning), I absolutely hate fireworks.  From the time I was a kid I hated them.  My dad used to have to sit in the car with me, at his old farmhouse, where he’d have big firework displays.  We’d watch from the car and I’d cry and cry.  I’m sure it was painful for him.  In high school I was downtown GH, sitting on the boardwalk and the wind was blowing just right that night so that the little red coals from the fireworks were blowing in the direction of the crowds.  I was sure my hair was going to catch on fire as everyone around me dodged the burning coals.  The same thing happened in college, downtown GR.  But just picture so much haze from the fireworks that you could barely see the display at all.  Everyone was coughing and once again dodging coals.  And the crowd.  So many people and everyone was bumping into each other trying not to get hit.  Yeah, so I’m not a fan of fireworks.  I know, party pooper extraordinaire!  

Today we started swim lessons.  And I have to say, even though it was a little chilly (for us) this morning and quite cloudy (and a couple of the kiddo’s were shivering) it was a lot of fun.  We have already learned a little swimming stuff – like how to teach him to kick and paddle, and we learned some fun games to play in the pool as well.  Which is great for me, because when it’s hot I love to take him to the pool for some exercise and playtime but I quickly run out of things to do to keep him occupied.  So, it’s going to be a fun couple of weeks!  And then we’re off to MI for an extended vacation!  Woo Hoo!

Ok, so I’ve got some funny pictures of the Jackster for later in the week.  And hopefully we’ll have some pool pictures too.  Hope everyone had a great 4th and took a little time off to enjoy the holiday! 

Read Full Post »

Quick Update

Ok.  So there is absolutely nothing going on with us.  Jack and I are all fired up for our big trip to MI in a couple of weeks.  In the meantime, Daddy has been working his butt off and we’ve been doing our best to keep busy and cool in the blazing heat.  Here’s a couple of pictures of the little man…

He’s getting so big.  I swear, sometimes I look at him and can’t even believe what a big boy he is becoming.  He’s losing his baby-ness and really becoming a toddler.  Crazy.  Makes me a little sad… but mostly really excited for all of the fun stages to come.

He’s walking!  Still a little shakey and wobbley.  But that doesn’t stop him from RUNNING!  haha!  It’s funny to see how different kids are.  Brady (Jack’s little buddy that lives in the neighborhood) completely mastered the standing and balance thing and took his time walking.  He was very sturdy before he took off with slow and steady walking.  Jack, on the other hand, literally would try to bolt off into a run as soon as he realized he could stand! 

Someone has discovered the television.  And that there are actually shows on it that he is interested in, besides the few odd commercials with cats, dogs, and cars in them.

This looks harmless, doesn’t it.  Well, he has discovered he can scale the side of that bookshelf/library thingie and push himself on top of the leapfrog table in order to gain access to the foyer… where the stairs are!  Which he can climb.  All of them.  In seconds.  It’s lovely.  I need ANOTHER gate.

Read Full Post »