Lazy Sunday

He is growing up WAY too fast.  Doesn't he look like he's ready for school or hanging out with his friends on the weekend?  I cannot, and refuse to believe Maverick is going to be TWO in a couple months.  Where is the pause button?!

A certain someone went pee pee on the potty for the 5th night in a row last night!  He is really getting into it, and I think maybe after we have the bedtime potty routine down for a while we'll introduce daytime potty fun.  I have no idea how we're going to do it...but like everything else I'm sure we'll figure it out.  My goal is to be out of diapers by 3ish, unless he miraculously gets it sooner.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeey!"

Mav and I were lazy this morning and took a Sunday off church.  I guess we all had too much fun partying with Aunt Johanna, Uncle Jon, and cousin Noa the night before. :)  Actually all 3 of us slept in late, but we decided that Robbie could get out the door in just enough time to sort of get there before it was over, ha!

So The Mav and I did a LOT of laundry (I'm actually still doing laundry as I type), vacuuming, and cleaning while it was yucky outside.  When the rain cleared we went out on the front porch where Mav likes to throw all the rocks into the grass. (notice all the bare spots?)

When I took this picture, I remembered that I took one of him about this time last year in the same spot:

WOW!  Just as adorable, but golly goodness--what a difference a year makes!

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank God for our wonderful son. :)

We ventured out to the mall playground since the parks were still a little too wet.

This is Mav's favorite ride there...shocking, I know. :)

And just as planned, he fell asleep for his nap on the way home.

Yay for Saturdays!

Ahhh, Saturday!  The one day of seven that I get to sleep in!

Maverick usually wakes up about 8:30am, and sometimes is totally content to play in his room for a bit before venturing out in the world.  Today he chose to do so until 9:00!  Woo hoo!  He opened his door and toddled down the hallway saying, "Bilk! Bilk!" everywhere until he realized we were still in bed.  "Bilk" is his word for milk. :)

First thing this morning was to pick up right where he left off last night: his blocks.  He loves these little blocks that our friend Sean made him.  Sean is a super old/close friend of Robbie's who we like to call "Magic Uncle Sean" because ever since he visited Mav in the hospital he could always make Mav stop crying--no matter what.  Sean is a wood working apprentice, so he made a bunch of these little blocks from some scrap wood.  Most of the time its the most simple things in life that bring us pleasure!

The night before, Robbie and Mav had tons of fun playing with them.

Mav actually did a pretty good job of helping stack them.

But his favorite thing was running around in circles...

...to knock it over! :)

After Mav went to bed, Robbie displayed his block stacking skills.

Bath time was fun last night, because it involved Man the Fish. 

Man the Fish came to us from my work.  Super long story short, my kiddos at work affectionately named him Man.  I have no idea why.  Kids are funny.  Man the Fish married Kitty.  But that's a whole other blog post.

Man now resides with us, and Mav LOVES him.  Can you tell?

He likes to call him "Beesh!" which is his word for fish. :)

Okay, so back to Saturday!  After blocks, Mav played with his second most favorite thing: trucks.  I love how he lays on the floor and you can really tell he is imagining that its a real truck. :)

Our morning consisted of a lot of this, too. 

To say that Mav loves milk would be grossly understated.

He begs for it all the time!  So I give him small amounts through the day that equivilate to about what is recommended, so he won't fill up on just milk.  Seems to work!

(yes, I still need to go grocery shopping today, ha!)

With the cooler weather upon us, I've been transitioning Mav's clothes from summer to winter.  He only has 1 pair of pants that fit him now, ha!  It's a good thing Maverick has a sweet little boy cousin named Noa that can hopefully wear his hand-me-downs.  I needed to go to Target today, so we combed the clearance rack there...but came up empty handed.  That's what I get for waiting until it gets chilly outside!

I totally had a mommy brain moment when we left Target.  I packed up the kid, and our stuff into the car...pulled out of the parking lot...and realized I didn't have my purse.  I left it in the cart, out in the parking lot cart corral.  Sheesh.  Thankfully it was still there and nothing was missing!

Since it was sort of on the way home, we stopped by Once Upon a Child to see what they had there.  I really love this store!  The clothes are generally still in great shape for a good price.  Although, it is sort of hard to find cute clothes because they get snatched up quickly.  Shopping at this store is rather difficult when I have Mav because he (understandably) wants to go play with all the toys on the other side of the building.

It wouldn't have been so bad except being Saturday morning, it was terribly crowded and I couldn't see him from the boys clothes section.  I spent more time bribing him to stay with me than browse the racks.  Oh well.  He had fun!  He may or may not have had a lay-down strike when it was time to leave.  :) 
I did however find a few cute things during the shuffle!

This cute little hoodie ($2.50!!) and some grey corduroy pants ($4.50!!).  Right now he wears size 2T perfectly, but I'm buying 3T to grow into.  He has sort of slowed down his growth spurt, but he's still a weed!

And these super cute DC skateboarding shoes ($6.50!)!  Maverick is wearing a toddler size 8-9 shoe (depending on the style).  Can we say bigfoot?!

I guess all the fun he had playing at the store wore him out. :)

I splurged on the way home and stopped by Wendy's.  Oh mercy heavens!!  I've been so good about watching calories, exercising, and not eating out, that this was a real treat!  In about a month I've lost about 8 lbs, woo hoo!  But I have a long way to go until I reach my goal.

Maverick is probably going to wake up soon, so I'm gonna go enjoy the rest of my quiet time while I can!  Pinterest is calling my name!  I'm also watching "The Green Mile" in the background.  I don't know why I'm watching this...it makes me sob my eyes out every time!

Happy Saturday!

Victory!

Maverick went pee pee on the potty for the 3rd night in a row! :)

I ran for the first time in exactly a week this evening.  Not to make excuses, but I've been so busy at work this week.  I've had to put in some extra hours for trainings.  Yuck.

My mother-in-law was the one who made me get out and run tonight.  She walks the track at a local high school, and pestered me to go with her.  I'm so glad she did!  With warm up and cool down, I did 1.5 miles.  Tonight was the first time I ran a mile without stopping!

I thought I'd never say this, but it was weird to run only a mile.  I definately felt like I could go more, but we were running out of light.  It also seemed so much easier on a track versus the street...which is probably why I ran a mile without stopping for the first time, ha!

Okay I promise to take pictures this weekend.  I'm sure these posts are getting boring without the Star of my blog. :)

Two nights in a row!

Going pee-pee on the potty, that is!

After our sort-of fluke celebratory first pee-pee on the potty a couple weeks ago (wait...was it that long ago?!), Maverick went on a rebellion against sitting on the potty.  Didn't want to sit on it at all, but still liked to play with it.  Which is cool.  Don't want to force it and make it a negative thing at this point. :)

Mav's Nana bought him this book a few weeks ago, but hasn't taken a huge interest in it until this week:

It is really cute.  The book is about that little hippo (I think it's a hippo?) and his stuffed bear sitting on the potty.  Mav gets SO excited when we get to the page: "I look at Bear...Bear looks at me...Here it comes...I go pee pee!" that he covers his face and giggles.

Anyways, so 2 nights in a row--Mav has sat on the potty while we read that book together and when we get to his favorite page, he actually goes pee pee!

Maybe we'll get lucky for a third?  Unlikely...but we'll try it! :)

Still Asking

First~Thank you Dad for the computer monitor!!  Seriously what would we do without you?

I just wanted to share something on my heart, even though I really need to be going to bed.  But I think I'll sleep much better once I do, ha!

Now that I'm closing in on 30 (okay, don't want to rush things--only 28 in December!) I thought I would be done wondering what the next step in my life would be.  I remember all the way back in high school being so concerned about what I was going to do with my life...I thought if I knew where I was going to go to college, or who I was going to marry, or what my career would be--I would be set forever.  I prayed over, and over, and over that God would just send me a giant blinking sign with a bullet-point list of how my life would be, and all would be perfect. (Kidding...sort of, ha!)

And then once I was in college for a couple years, I was asking the same question over and over.  I kept thinking, "Once I graduate college, I will know exactly what God wants me to do and everything will be great forever and ever."

And then once I graduated college and married Robbie...I was still asking...

And then once I had my first "grown up job"...I was still asking...

And then once I had my first child...I was still asking...

And now...I'm still asking.

And I think I'm finally learning that I will be asking God to direct my steps for the rest of my life--because that is what He wants us to do. 

If we knew everything from the start, then we wouldn't need Him or seek Him. 

We are His creation and our purpose is to seek His guidance and glorify Him throughout our entire existence on this planet. 

It seems so silly and simple, I guess.

But its the simple things that are the hardest to understand sometimes.
Thank you Lord for never giving up on me!    

Blogging from iPhone

Whoa. This is weird...blogging from Robbie's iPhone. It's very tedious so sorry, another short post! :)

My motherly intuition was right. Mav has been in the weirdest funk the past few days. Very cranky. Everything makes him cry (even after he requested it). I thought he might be finally getting his canine teeth...and all four are barely rearing their pearly white heads through his swollen gums. Can't wait for those suckers to come all the way in!

Alright. Typing that took me like 700 times slower than normal from our desktop. I've probably misspelled stuff or have funny autocorrect words going on. Our desktop monitor is kaput...so the tower is hooked up to our tv screen (which Robbie is currently using to shop for a new monitor and/or laptop). Sigh.

Yawn

Hello all.

Not much to say except that I'm very exhausted.
(Work full time + raise & love on my toddler + housework + laundry + cook meals + daily run + etc + etc)  

And very itchy.
(Did you know it takes up to 6 weeks to get rid of the irritating oil in your skin from poison ivy?!)

Can't wait for the weekend.
(Not have to wake up at 5:30am!)

It's depressing that I have to turn on my car lights when I go to work in the morning.
(Boo for days getting shorter.)

Good night.
(Sorry for the downer post.  Just pooped out!)

Pee Pee on the Potty!

So Robbie and I probably over-celebrated this event, but I don't care.  A small milestone is still a milestone. :)

Maverick went pee pee on the potty!!

I've mentioned before that Maverick isn't ready for potty training.  But I guess we've been sort of very mildly introducing him to the idea.  Mostly--whenever we can sort of tell he's going pee pee or poo poo (oh the words you swore you'd never say as a parent!) we try to make Mav aware of it, so he recognizes the feeling.

Also, he usually goes pee pee when he first gets in the bath (warm water has that effect, ha!).  We say, "You're going pee pee!  Pee pee goes in the potty!"  We point to the potty, and Mav will point to the potty.  Then he might repeat what we said or something, but he is usually laughing hysterically because this newly discovered muscle control is hilarious to him, ha! 

Tonight before bath time, we did the usual routine of naming all the characters on his Sesame Street potty ring, and then lifting Mav up to sit on it.  Just as I was telling Robbie that we should probably get a small potty so that he can sit on all by himself, he went pee pee!

Robbie and I initially gasped so loud, that I was afraid we scared Mav...but we quickly cheered SO loud that he smiled too.  He even reached for the toilet paper when he was all done, ha ha ha!

I know it wasn't "for real" because he (I don't think) knew what he was doing.  But still so fun to celebrate a teachable moment.  I am noticing that he is staying dryer for longer periods of time (even overnights), but he still has a long way to go.  As a (relatively) new mom, the biggest thing I've learned is that kids will get it when they're ready. :)

Maverick earned some extra bubbles at bath time!

Does anyone else think he looks like Peter Pan?

Itchy, itchy, scratchy, scratchy!

Aside from the unruly bushes, this looks pretty harmless...right?

Yeah, that's what I thought too!

I spent ALL last weekend (hours, upon hours!) digging up weeds and trying to make the front & back yards look decent after a harsh summer.  We've been in our house 4 years this October, and we've always had this ivy growing on our back wall corner.  Except its never been this bad, so I decided to take it upon myself to pull it all out.  It is now growing underneath the siding, yikes!!  This picture doesn't do it justice.  It was already starting to cover the other wall & window, but I had pulled it down already.

As I'm pulling it down, I noticed that the stems had sort of a red color.  Then it clicked--red in nature means "Don't Touch!"  And then I observe the 3 leaves on each stem...uh oh!!  Barnacles!!  (this is my curse word, ha!)

Yep.  It's not regular ivy.  That would be poison ivy.  Growing inside my siding, and all over my house.

And now I've already pulled most of it down.  Wearing short sleeves, shorts, and flip flops.

As soon as I realized it was poison ivy I rushed Mav to the shower.  Mav was outside with me in just a diaper, and he walked over by me more than a few times.  Thankfully he never developed a rash.

I, on the other hand, look like a leper.  I am covered on both arms, legs, feet, chest, shoulders, stomach, and even behind my ear.  It is SOOOO itchy.  I have to wear long sleeves (in 100+ degree heat) so that I try not to over-scratch.  Even then, I've scratched some spots until they bleed.  Agh!

How about some cute pictures of Mav now? :)

He is such a big boy!

There is NO way my baby is going to be TWO in a few months!

I love his look right now.  Its very middle school-ish. 

You know, the awkward & goofy stage?  But for toddlers it much more cute. :)

His goofy smile warms my heart!

His poor face/skin has constant irritation from eczema.  His drooling doesn't help either, ha! 

"Bock! Bock!" is what he says as he's throwing rocks.

"Bye bye ah-plane!"

Sometimes he likes to scream for fun.  Just to hear the echo.

(he likes to do this at the store, lovely right?)

The next picture shows what happens when you give your child a bowl of mozzarella cheese, and turn your back to answer the phone:

Right after I vacuumed that up...he dumped out an entire bowl of Cheeze-Its.

And stomped on them.

Sigh.

But...when you walk around the corner and see this:

You think that somewhere in there you might be doing something right. :)