Snow!

I'm trying to teach TJ to play independently so I snuck up here to upload pictures from the weekend and update my blog! It's been much too long. Any other moms have problems with their toddlers attached to their leg at all times? So far so good, I can see TJ down playing with his Little People Castle. Let's see how long this lasts. ;-)

We got our first snow on Saturday. What a perfect day for it too. I was so glad for all the kids for the first snow to fall on a weekend. There was nothing worse than getting the perfect snowfall only to have to go to school. And it was perfect snowman/snowball snow!

TJ loved it! He was pretty unsure about all the bundling, and not really being able to move... He really hated the mittens so we gave up on those fairly early. Ha!

Here's Jim first putting him down in the snow


Things really got fun when Jim showed him how to throw a snowball!






Look Mama!




He had fun!

Pumpkin Patch

Today TJ and I went to a pumpkin patch! The weather has been beautiful this week so I am trying to take advantage and be outside as much as possible before the dreaded winter comes. We met TJ's friend Emily and her mom Sarah there. Sarah is also a stay at home mom and Emily is also 15 months old so it's wonderful to have a friend to play with!

I decided to be daring today and shot everything in manual. I haven't figured out photoshop yet so these are all unedited (wow I feel so professional saying that, hehe) but I couldn't wait to post what fun we had today. Here's just a sneak preview!

TJ's favorite part of the pumpkin patch - the tricycles! Of course he can't reach the pedals but he LOVES being pushed around in anything with wheels.


This is Emily - isn't she a cutie?


TJ inside a house made of pumpkins. He tried to dismantle a wall...


Both kids loved the corn maze. Sarah was a bit worried they wouldn't stay on track and we'd be chasing them through the stalks but they totally got it. Of course, they ate some sticks and dirt and rocks as well...


Emily driving the tractor


Hugs! There was a playground made of hay bales. Great fun! Tunnels and climbing - a kids dream come true.


There is another, even bigger, pumpkin patch near us that we are going to go to with Jim in October and pick out pumpkins. I ran into another mom that had just been there and she said they have giraffes even!! Stay tuned.... ;-)

First hair cut!

This week I took TJ to get his very first official hair cut. I have trimmed his bangs, myself, once before but I didn't count that. ;-) He was rocking a very nice, curly, mullet which I actually loved. But his aunt is getting married and he's going to be the ring bearer so I thought I should clean him up a bit.

Here's a good before shot of the mullet. And since I know you'll wonder, he's wearing an Amber Teething necklace in this picture. A few fellow mama friends have absolutely sworn by these and I was at my wits end and ready to try anything to get him to stop biting the furniture and me! He's not currently teething so he hasn't been wearing it lately so I can't quite testify to its miracles yet. :-)



The haircut itself was a bit traumatic. He was in a great mood, we had wandered around the mall while we waited and he was babbling and laughing, but as soon as I tried to put him in that chair - meltdown. And then when the stylist got out the cape HYSTERICS. I should have figured since the kid can't even stand to wear a bib.





But the gal cut as quick as she could while I tried to reason with a 14 month old who wanted nothing but for me to pick him and and haul him out of there! He clung to me sniffling with big fat crocodile tears the whole way to the car. But by the time we got home he was happy again. Here are his after shots. Cut huh?





He might be 4 by the time I try that again!

Happy 4th of July!

I realize I'm incredibly behind in updating my blog. Sadly, it's just so intimidating trying to play catch up I've refrained from posting at all. To get back in the driver's seat I thought I would post pictures from this past weekend. Hopefully, I will find some time to back track and cover our busy past two months including our vacation to Florida (and Disney World!) and TJ's 1st birthday party.

A quick TJ update. He's now a walker! He still likes to crawl since he can go so much faster but he's walking more and more each day. He's very cautious but I think he likes his new found independence. We've been going to the pool several afternoons a week and TJ just can't get enough. He LOVES the water and tries so hard to swim by himself. He still isn't talking besides the occasional Mama or Dada but his point and grunts are fairly effective. His favorite thing to do currently is take apart his duplo blocks. I spend a lot of time putting blocks together so he can take them apart.

This past weekend was spent down at the lake.



My Uncle Dave and Aunt Thuy came down from Minneapolis with their new little boy Vinh. Isn't he a doll??



TJ didn't take too much notice of him besides this one occasion where he enjoyed pushing him in the swing. I was surprised, he wasn't at all jealous of me holding Vinh.



We spent a good part of the weekend on the boat



With TJ manning the cooler



When he wasn't too busy going in and out of his hidey hole



He kept nice and cool in his pool (on the boat on the lake, funny huh?)



and Jim enjoyed it too!



TJ went swimming in the lake for the first time! And he loved it! The lifejacket, not so much...



The kid loves to splash



The weather was perfect, the fireworks grand and the boat parade um, well, was on Bourbon Street?



I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!



Happy Independence America!

Did you know?

I'm 1 today!


This morning I had birfday pineapple pancakes


Mama FINALLY got a picture of me standing without holding onto something! Last night, I even took a good three steps and one big lunge to daddy.


Like my birfday duds?


Here's a couple shots from my 1 year birfday shoot
Being 1 is exciting!




Tonight Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle John are coming over for cake and presents. My Big Bad Birthday Beach Bash is on the 19th - I hope to see you there!!

kisses,
TJ

At this time, one year ago....

I was in the hospital hunkered down for the night awaiting the arrival of the little man who would change my life forever. <3 <3 <3

Happy Eve of your First Birthday TJ!

Happy 11 Months TJ!

I didn't miss TJ's monthly birthday shoot - see below - I'm having uploading issues.

Anyways, I'll have to make this quick since I can hear him stirring from his afternoon nap. Only 1 more month (well, 2 weeks now) until TJ is 1 year old. I can' believe how big he is getting! Everyday he does something new and unexpected.

11 Months




He's starting to look like a toddler!


A few amusing TJ anecdotes from the past couple of weeks

Helping dad take down a shelf for me by holding the "ladder."


Someone doesn't like wearing bibs anymore and just rips them off. Here is our solution - eating naked! Well, in his diaper... hehe He looks pretty upset about it, doesn't he?


One of his new favorite things to do: get a book off the shelf, crawl over and climb in his chair and "read" his book.

Finished Patio!

Drumroll please!

Finally, I'm posting pictures of the finished patio. It's been done for a week now but my memory card reader is busted so I no longer have the convenience of uploading pictures on my laptop. I have to come up to the desktop which is in our loft and not at all child proofed. So I'm sure you can imagine how that works with my little charge. Unfortunately, it means I'm quite behind in uploading pictures and posting on my blog.

Here is the finished product! Well, sans grill and furniture which we do now have. As you can see TJ likes it already!







Look at how open our yard is!


And, what I think, is the biggest difference. The removal of a huge, overgrown, planting bed and 2 huge evergreen trees on the north side of the yard.

Here's the before for comparison:


After:


I'm so happy it's done! I can't wait for a little nicer weather so Jim and I can sit out there with a drink and unwind. And it's done before TJ's big bombass birthday beach bash!

Happy Mother's Day!

Wishing all the mothers out there a very happy Mother's Day! Especially my mom, my mother in law, my grandmas (and grandmas in law, I just call you grandma too) and all of my special June 2009 mamas!

I had a wonderful Mother's Weekend. Saturday, Jim took over TJ duty so I could paint my kitchen with help from my mom. I had been putting off painting the kitchen for the past 3+ years with hopes that we could just gut it. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen anytime soon. I couldn't stand it any longer so a face lift was in order. I'm so incredibly happy with how it looks now! Jim just didn't understand why I have been so embarrassed by the state of the kitchen. I finally found a good analogy. I asked him how he would feel if he hadn't mowed the lawn for 3 years and all of his family and friends were coming to the house. That is how I've felt about this kitchen for the past several years. All of the damage has been patched and the dirty blue-so-pale-is-it-really-blue? walls are now a nice shade of sage green. One shade up on the color strip from our family room. I do still want to put a fresh coat of glossy white on the cabinets and get some new hardware but the difference is so dramatic I actually don't feel the need to do that right now. I ended the day with a nice hot bubble bath. :-)

This morning I got to sleep in and then we went to brunch with my parents and brother. TJ got me a Mama card and a pedometer for me to use on our walk/jogs. Jim got my a beautiful necklace with a black pearl floating in a circle. It's EXACTLY what I would have picked out so he did an excellent job. The pearl is both my and TJ's birthstone. We then spend the afternoon at the Brookfield Zoo.

A few pictures of our fun day


My little lovebug


Getting a big fat kiss from my little man


I have to say, it was nice having Jim behind the camera so I actually have some pictures with me in them!

A very nice zoo volunteer came over to take a group shot. I can't believe how great it turned out!