Spring, Summer AND Fall

I have decided that this summer I would be more frugal with buying D clothes. Last summer I went a little nuts. He had about 15 pairs of shorts and I don't know how many t-shirts. Most of them went unworn and it just makes me sad. I don't even have that many pairs of shorts.
I'm going to see if anything from last summer (I bought bigger sizes 18-24 months) are still OK to wear. Last year they were all so long on him that this year they may be just right. I tried to buy adjustable waist to that may work in my favor this summer.
I want to have a few nicer pieces when we go out but honestly kids grow so fast and in this economy it's just wrong to have clothes be only worn once or twice.
When I was a kid (insert violin sound please) I seriously had 3 skirts, 2 pairs of tights and a few shirts. They were re-washed and I just had to wear the same thing over again, not to mention they were hand me downs after my sister.
I want to teach D the value of a dollar at a young age and to appreciate the little things and not name brands BUT it's so hard when...
my MIL has great taste in clothes for D and brings the cutest outfits to try on him.
Check these out. Aren't they just adorable? I figure he can wear the vest with the plaid shirt under it for mother's day and my niece's graduation and even perhaps Father's Day and get his photo taken in it. The white sweater I was on the fence, BUT then I tried it on him, he looked like an angel so, I figured if it's cold out for Easter basket blessing he can wear that and maybe he would be OK to wear it for Thanksgiving. And did you see the hat? He looks so cute in it.
See, I'm reasonable, I can push myself to have him wear one outfit to many occasions. Darn Gymboree and their great styles. I will survive Spring, Summer and Fall without spending hundreds of dollars on my son, I swear, I will. Now, my MIL is another story. :)
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Weekend Recap

Despite the circumstances, Daniel's birthday weekend was very nice.

We celebrated his day by first going to church on Palm Sunday, having breakfast with grandma and grandpa and going to the Children's Museum downtown.

I'll let some pictures do the talking...with some commentary, of course.

Here is the big boy on his BIG day! His hair is wet because we have to drench it before it decides to "calm down".

Sign given by grandma and grandpa. Thank God I took this picture because when we got back it was gone with the wind. I'm breaking the news to G and G on this blog as I know this thing cost a small fortune. Thank you!

Cake time after breakfast.

Ready to pay the ridiculous admission fee!

If this place had any wheel, this birthday boy found it.

Water fun.

Watching daddy make airplanes and making them fly. Playing a computer game.

Having some fun with mommy.

Exhaustion setting in at the end of the day.

It's great to be the KING for the day....OK, that's every day.

WOW!

"That's one BIG wheel, how can I spin that?"
That's all folks...till next year's celebration

Rest in Peace

Baby Leo is now with Jesus. May he rest in peace.
My Grandma Barbara also passed away early yesterday morning.

We have changed our plans for this weekend and will not be going away.

A year in review

We have 4 full days before D turns 2!!!
I cannot wait. I have his outfit picked out (ordered when we thought we were going to have a theme party) and we're hoping for a great time at the water park.
How can it be that my peanut will be 2?!
It seems like yesterday he was just 6lbs!!
So, what has he been up to the last year?

Here is D celebrating his first Easter last April. Look at that crazy hair.
Getting into tons of trouble. May 2009 and it continues.
Meeting his hero, Ralph. June 2009.
Going on his first vacation. July 2009.
Enjoying his first blueberry picking trip. August 2009.
Going to his first parade. September 2009.
Joining the force. October 2009.
Surviving "the shower" in the rental. November 2009.
Going to his first concert. December 2009.
Enjoying all the new toys from X-Mas. January 2010.
Homeless but getting lots of love living with Grandma and Grandpa. February 2010.
What will the next year look like? A new house would be a good start.
It was a great year full of memories, lots of laughter, tears of joy and most important lots of LOVE.

Weekend Recap

Not much to really say about this weekend except it was way too busy.

Saturday, D and R got haircuts together. D did great sitting on daddy's lap and having me entertain him in the front.

After an early nap we left to go to my mom's so she can watch D as we got our taxes done.

D did great at my mom's. We are storing his old toys there and he was in heaven playing with all of them.

In the evening we relaxed as the weather made us soooo sleepy.

Sunday morning we ate breakfast and then prepared ourselves to see 11 homes. The first 2 homes we took D, then we dropped him off at my mom's. My sister's dog was over there and D had so much fun chasing him around.

R and I came back with no home, hungry and exhausted.

We are looking forward to this weekend, we're leaving Saturday for some water park fun and to celebrate D's 2nd birthday in.....6 days!

Visit

Today, my in-laws brought D to my work for a little visit. He had all the ladies wrapped around his finger.

He enjoyed my desk and of course some kneebouncers.com games that I had on for him.

Here he is plotting how to ruin my career by sending his own emails...just kidding that didn't happen

After a visit to the office we enjoyed a nice lunch with grandma and grandpa before they had to take a tired D back to their house.

Next week they are planning a trip to daddy's work.

As a tribute to my baby turning 2 I have updated the blog background until his birthday.

The count down is...10 more days!!!!

Fightin Irish!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Pardon the annoying voice.

The many faces of a leprechaun!






Hope you all enjoyed some Corned Beef because ours in GONE!!! I ate wayyyyy too much of it.

Weekend Update

Well, it was an eventful last few days.
Thursday, I said "goodbye" to my dear friend who was leaving our company. We had a great time at Uncle Julio's. With a good sangria and some queso (that's Spanish for cheese) things were cheerful but today is a different day. I'm realizing I can't instant message her and it sucks!!!
Friday, R, D and I went to Friday's to get some dinner. We need to do that more often on a Friday night, just the three of us. After that we went to Toys R Us since it was pay day for daddy and it has become tradition for daddy to buy D a car or two that he doesn't need. $50 and an embarrassing breakdown later, we were home.
The thing that caused the breakdown.... pulling D away from the pink Barbie car! He runs to this car every time.
A mom standing next to us with a boy slightly older than D told me her son just stopped doing that his last two trips. :)
Saturday, D had his therapy, after not having it for a month he did great. I have been in another room the last few sessions and he does great with "Dee Dee" by himself. He even said "Dee Dee" (nickname for Denise). Once in a while he'll run away and look for me. We're trying to make up for the sessions that he missed while homeless and squeeze many sessions in but when Dee Dee showed up on Sunday, D waved her goodbye and shook his head no. Eventually he did OK with her.
After therapy we went to a b-day party at Chuckie Cheese. It was a fun time!
D getting ready to leave to the party.
D enjoying some pizza and fruit punch,
playing a game or two with mommy and daddy since he refused to ride any rides, we had to use up our tokens. We decided not cash in our tickets and collect them over time so we can get something decent (we'll need around 3000 tickets for that to happen, only about 2,950 to go).
After the party we were pooped and D took a nap. We cuddled after as it takes D about an hour to "wake up" from a nap. I appreciate every minute of it.
Sunday, D had speech therapy again and afterwards we went food shopping where we sampled good food and bought $20 worth of corned beef. Here it is cooking today. I cannot wait!!!
We enjoyed a walk to the park and around the neighborhood later, but it was a bit windy. We ended the day with playing some bowling on Wii and dancing in the basement/playroom.

Today is back to work and reality. With losing one hour of sleep it feels like a whole day was lost.

What can you do?

I have to admit, I've been a little overwhelmed with stuff lately. Between moving, trying to get settled in, potty training, just being a mom and a wife, it's got me drained at the end of the day. I told myself that I will try to work on getting things done at night to make my mornings less chaotic. This morning however was as chaotic as it gets.

• R woke up with a stomach ache.
• I had to get D his milk, get him dressed, put on his DVD, etc. (Usually R does all of that)
• I rushed through my shower so it was a pony tail day.
• The sitter arrived and D wanted nothing to do with her. It took 5 extra minutes to get him settled and stop pulling on my arm.
• I was stuck in traffic for an hour and 45 minutes trying to get to a meeting downtown.
• My gas light came on while on the expressway. Panic set it and I got off an exit, as I looked around the shady area I pulled away from the gas station and arrived 20 minutes late to the meeting with no gas.
• A full day of meetings left me exhausted.
• I noticed my wipers were DONE and on my way home half my windshield was blurred.
• I also remembered on my way home that my closest friend from work is leaving me and her last day is Friday but tomorrow is her "farewell" and I had to get a card. (Tears will be shed tomorrow).
• I also remembered we have a 4th b-day party this Saturday and I needed a gift.
• I got home, took D on a quick walk with R and then ran errands like a crazy woman.
• I came home with a very crabby baby. I rushed around getting everything prepared for tomorrow.

I'm so behind in my TV shows. UGHGH. I just feel like I can't get ahead. I haven't done a scrap book page since Thanksgiving and I need to get caught up.

OK I feel better now.....I'm sure I could have gotten a couple things done while writing this whining post. Thank Goodness I get to work from home on Friday.

It's Potty Time!

This weekend I decided to get serious about potty training. D has gone pee pee (#1) on the potty a while back but with everything going on with the rental the training took a back seat.
His old potty now has a new home at the Grandparents house and I ventured out to get a new potty OR two. After D and I ran a few errands (post office, Babies R Us, park, lunch at Panera (just the two of us) and Target we arrived home with two potties. Right away a favorite one was chosen (the $30 one, of course) and we began our new adventure.
We started out with your basic bribery, consisting of chips and some water to make things go quicker. He lasted maybe a minute before he ran off.I gave a grand speech or two about being a "big boy", how pee pee and poo poo belong in the potty and not a diaper. I tried making a $30 piece of plastic with no extras (noises, fake flushers, music) sound fabulous to an almost two year old, here is what he thought of it all...a bunch of plastic pieces that looked like fun with no other purpose other than for banging and stacking.
The next morning with a new outlook on the whole potty training business I took it up a notch. I figured out the best time of day for him to really need to go to the bathroom based on his regular schedule and went to work.
After being served a royal Sunday breakfast, I knew it was the right time to try again.
In case you're wondering what that is, I hate throwing out deli meat left over from the week so I usually cut it up and use it with scrambled eggs. That yellow glob on the right is a piece of baguette dunked in eggs and fried. Daniel hates scrambled eggs but he LOVED this.It was time. I sat him on his potty with his belly full of food and gave him a juice box. He rarely gets juice so when he does get it he drinks it until it's gone. Then I gave him gold fish (nacho flavor) and waited. This time I was a little bit more stern about saying "not yet" when he tried to get off. I sat in front of him reading a couple of books and I made a few "sounds" to encourage pushing #2 out and all of a sudden he made #1 and #2!!!!My BIG BOY!!!! He got up looked at his accomplishment and ran away screaming. I tried to make him flush it down but he just waved bye bye to it as I explained that it was going down to the ocean to the fish. I even danced for him. Anyone remember the movie Look Who's Talking Now when Mikey makes pee pee and skinny Kristie Alley and young John Travolta dance and sing for him? I stole it and it works great. Can you sing...Pee Pee in the potty, Pee Pee in the potty??!!!He thought he was the rock star for the rest of the day posing for the camera.


I had to include this picture below as it captures his latest obsession with everything being a "boo boo". He runs to me anytime he hurts his head, finger or toe for me to kiss it even if he really didn't hurt it. What a man!

Wish us luck as we continue to encourage the big guy to use the potty.