May Fun

May May where did you go?

Wow May went by fast! Work has been CRAZY and the weather is warming up so that means less time on the computer and more time outside with Johnners. He is full force right now. Talking a mile a minute and repeating everything you say. His big thing right now is when riding in the car he's constantly saying "mom - Loook!" and pointing out the window and every thing that sparks his interest. The most exciting things he sees are tractors, cranes, and big dump trucks. In fact Mark got him a shirt with dump trucks on it and when he wears it he's constantly pointing at it saying "Look!" It's too cute.

We went down to Lincoln for Mother's day and spent some time with my grandma and mom.

Here's me and auntie Mandie cheezin it up on my mom's new bench - she's so proud of her purchase!


Memorial Day Weekend



We had a really fun Memorial day this year - we went out to a friends lakehouse and played in the sand with friends. Mark took a spin on a kayak and we fished. The fish were actually so tame that they would swim right up to your feet. Johnners thought that was the best thing EVER. He would reach down and could literally touch them. It was so fun to see him giggle and squeal with delight after interacting with those fishies!
This is one of my favs - he was SO happy that day! :)

We tried to convert his crib to a big boy bed - THAT was a mistake!!! He thought it was sooo great that he could climb in and out that it would take him an hour and a half to finally fall asleep! We'd poke our heads in and he'd be riding his rocking horse or looking out the window. Geesh! Plus he fell out of his crib a few times... :( I had pillows under the crib and it's not very high off the ground. It was so cute though because the last time he fell out I rushed in there and he was sitting on the floor, he looked up at me and said, 'Uh Oh!" (This is at 4 in the morning). OH my gracious child!
So I converted his bed into a crib last night and the little guy zonked out! Maybe I was pushin my luck with the big boy bed...all in good time right?

June my sister comes home and then she takes off for a YEAR in JAPAN! Don't know how I'm gonna get through that one... sad for me GREAT for her.

tootles!!

Happy Easter

Hippity Hippity hop the Easter bunny came to town. And as you can tell, Johnners wasn't exactly thrilled to see him...

It actually was a great Easter and the weather even cooperated too :) I run the activities for our company and hosted an Easter Egg Hunt for over 100 kiddos this year. Fortunately Makenna and Maguire got to participate this year as well. They had fun running around and gathering up eggs.

Johnners just thought it was cool to get the eggs. UNTIL...he discovered that there was candy inside! Awww man! My poor sheltered baby. He doesn't get much candy b/c mommy won't let him have it and when he does get it - look out! He was totally obsessed on Sat. He had more sweets that day then he ever has his entire life!! So I realized two things. 1. Maybe I should gently expose him to sweets so he doesn't go hog wild when he does get it. 2.That boy LOVES sugar!!! Again, awwww man! I want him to think sugar is strawberries and peaches - yum yum. Well you can't 'protect' them forever huh? Shoot!
We went to grammys and pappys for Easter day and had a good time doing yet another Easter Egg Hunt and other fun stuff. The kids all got outfits from grandma Stanton and they all looked sooo darling. I of course was trying to get some cute pictures but I'm learning fast that little ones don't like to take a lot of pictures - oh and neither does my husband. Hence all the awesome smiles you see on their faces... :)

Even grandma Jean came over to celebrate the day with us. She got a cute new hair-do too!! I thought this moment was so precious between the two of them. :) She was telling him all about the train on the outside of this box, and he was totally eatin it up!

Happy Easter to you and your families too!!!

bath time and reflections

So I'm giving Johnners a bath the other night and notice that I still have his robe (from a baby shower of mine) up on a towel rack in his bathroom. The tag says 0-9 months. Does that stop me from putting it on my little guy to see just how cute he is in a robe that's a YEAR too small for him? NOOO.... It was SOOO cute! He loved it! He was prancin around showing off how cute he was and smiling for pictures. He thought he was a stud - and so did I :) BTW thank God I put a diaper on him prior to taking this picture... think it's a bit small?

I hear mothers saying that their kids are growing up too fast and how sad it is but I haven't understood the profound meaning of that statement until recently. John will be 2 in July - 2! He's running all over the place, climbing up ladders at the park, and talking a mile a minute. When he's stinky he now looks at me and says 'stinky' then puts his hand up to his nose and says 'peee uuu'. He seems to learn a new word on a daily basis and he LOVES to read. We read books which he refers to as 'boka boka boka' and he points out all the animals and then makes their sounds. How is this possible? He was just rolling on the ground unable to walk a year ago. Now he's saying sentences and plays with the 'big kids' in the neighborhood. What? WOW!

It was a year ago in April that we moved into our new home and I can remember he was crawling all over the place so I was a total clean freak about our floors. We also had baby gates up all over the place. Now we have no gates and we've redone two of our floors simply for the maintenance and look plus the wear and tear it gets from a tot AND dog.

I'm constantly reflecting back on my life and wondering how I got to this place. What's the reason for it all and now that I'm here, what am I supposed to be doing...

Having a child has changed me in a way I never would have thought possible. He is the delight in my day the laughter I experience on a minute to minute basis. He is truly a gift and I am so thankful for him. What an honor to be a mommy. I'm sure I'm going to make a million mistakes and have already made a few bazillion - but we'll learn together and make it through. What a delight - he is my precious precious little baby boy. I never thought I could care for another the way I do for him. It's like my heart grew two sizes when he was born. :)

I love you so much my little buddy - you are the joy in me and your daddy's day :)

A special Anniversary

March is a month full of fun. My parents 30th wedding anniversary was March 4th and my genius sister Amanda and I decided to plan a surprise party for them. It was a good time but mostly the fun was to see my mom so surprised and have a 'great' time :) As I get older I realize that birthdays are a big deal when you're a kid - as you age, the number you 'are' isn't so important. The big deal to me is number of anniversaries you celebrate. My parents have been through their fair share of hell with and without us 'precious' kiddos. The fact that they have remained true to their vows and have stuck by each others side is a really BIG deal. We "Americans" don't do a good enough job of recognizing that there are a lot of folks out there who do 'make it work'. We're so caught up in the latest divorce rate that we fail to look at those who are continuing to grind it in their marriage daily. Believe me, I'm the LAST person to preach about 'it's wrong to get divorced' but again, as I reflect on my life it really is a BIG deal to me that MY parents have stayed together for 30 years. I feel so fortunate to have two loving parents who choose and continue to set a positive example of marriage for me. Sure I've seen them go through good times and bad. But we all have those days/weeks/months - it's the commitment to endure through those bad days/weeks/months that speaks volumes to me. Mostly I've seen the change in my father. His focus has become less on himself and more on my mother. WOW! Now THAT'S BIG TIME:) They make a great team and now that I'm in my (ahem ahem) 'late' 20's, I've reached a new 'stage' with them. They have become my sounding board and my confidant. Two well respected and much appreciated people in my life. They are actually number 2 and 4 on my speed dial - WOW. I never thought I'd be saying that.

Cheers to you for making it this far. For continuing to be supportive and loving. Cheers to you for sticking to your commitment to each other and CHEERS to many more years together. I love you both :)

Of course, I had to toss one of the kiddo in :) My little guy cheesin' it up

fun with grandma and grandpa stanton

We took a trip up to Clear Lake a few weekends ago with Johnners and Maguire. It was fun to visit with family and see Auntie 'M' and Uncle Luke as well. Johnners only had two accidents in the first few hours we were there. He cut the side of his lip and fell on his noggin. I was ready to get him a helmet by the time we left. Poor little guy. He's always getting into something! It just goes to show you can't protect them all the time.

Johnners loved to see grandpas horses! Mark said he walked right up and extended his hand - no fear. Which at first you go, Ohh that's so sweet. Then reality kicks in and you go, Oh crap - he has NO fear!!!
Here he is with grandpa - he did NOT want to take a picture so Jim was imitating his little 'fit' I thought it was cute...:)He definitely had fear when we went to the Dr. for his 18 month check up. He got on the scale and totally freaked. I had never seen anything like that from him. It was like all of a sudden he realized where he was and that the last time he was there he got a shot and he didn't like it. Well folks, he got one again. Talk about an unhappy boy! Hey, I can't blame him. I hate shots too!

We got a big bunch of snow at our home and took Johnners out to 'play' in it. I couldn't stop laughing at him. He was all bundled up in three pairs of pants, turtle neck, jackets etc. And just happy as a clam! Oliver loves the snow too.

Johnners is getting so big! As he gets older he has more words and new ways of thinking. It's fun to watch him grow and learn. I love you buddy! Your precious sweet face and big blue eyes - every inch of your little frame from the tips of your toes to the top of your hair!

Fun-O-Meter

Sooo, now that we're almost in the end of January I thought I should update the pictures from New Years - makes sense right? Jeepers... I forgot about all the fun pictures I had from NYE. I realize that once you have kids the 'fun-o-meter' goes WAYYY down. I'm not necessarily complaining just simply stating that that 'fun-o-meter' is really low once that kiddo arrives. BUT - and yes there is a but...you find new things to trip that fun meter. Like when your little guy leans in to kiss you good night or wakes you up by whispering in your ear and kissing your face. Those are the new moments in my life that I get my 'high' from. :)

Luke and Melissa came over for a few days to spend NYE with us and also our anniversary with us. It was so fun to see them and have them visit us. We all went out to Bonefish Grill for our 2 year Anniversary dinner and it was delicious! very very yummy :)

Had good times and good cocktails - see, the fun-o-meter was UP that night :)

My precious mother watched Johnners all night on the 30th so we could go out and celebrate our anniversary! YAHOO!!

Here's Auntie 'M' with the kiddos all playin around before dinner - what fun:) Maguire has the most killer smile - he totally cracks me up - tooo stinkin cute.

My auntie Moogie knitted Johnners this adorable sweater and hat - he looked sooo stinkin adorable - Mark called him his little Thurston Howell. :)

All in all our NYE and days off from work were fun and we enjoyed the high and low moments of our little fun-o-meter :)

Enter 2009

Alas the holidays have come and thankfully gone yet again. We were home (in Lincoln) this year for Christmas. My brother even came back - I haven't seen him in two years! He got to meet his nephew John for the first time. It was soo sweet. I was fortunate to get to spend a lot of time in Lincoln over the holidays. Catch up with my sister (who now lives in Portland) and see my brother (who lives in Miami). For a moment time stood still and it was just the six of us all over again. Just more 'grown up'.

I miss being that energetic kid at Christmas. You got two weeks off of school and life was vibrant and exciting. Once you grow up that luster wears off and things just become hectic and stressful. Trying to manage every ones schedules and fit into the time tables is very frustrating. I want to go back to when the holidays were just fun and family. NO stress. Don't get me wrong, it's not that there wasn't fun but just more stress then I would have wished for. Because we just got a new dog and he's not fully potty trained Mark had to go back and forth with him and the kiddos every night. It worked best for sleeping arrangements and the dog. It's sad because I didn't get to 'sleep' with my husband while we were on vacation together. I realize this is a simple stupid thing but sometimes in life it's the little things that matter.

Johnners absolutely loves being at Grammys house and honest to God my favorite thing about the holiday was the fact that my mom let me go back to bed every morning while I was staying there. She would get up and grab Johnners then they would go make Swedish pancakes together and play. I was able to sleep for an additional two or three hours!!!! HOLY LORD was that AWESOME! It was really the best of both worlds because my mom got one-on-one time with Johnny cakes and I got to sleep. Wonderful!!!

On Christmas morning there were presents upon presents for the kids. John wasn't too interested in the presents but there was one in particular that caught his eye. My mom had wrapped up her old cell phone and given it to him. He opened that thing and for the next few hours all he did was walk around and talk and talk and talk! It was so precious!! and BOY does that kid have a lot to say. He LOVES pretending to talk on the phone. If there's an actual voice on the other end he'll refuse the phone. The other night I caught him pretending to talk on the phone and there wasn't even an actual phone in his hand! TOO CUTE!

He's all over the place anymore. It's amazing how much kids understand even at this young age. He loves to read and jabber with me and Mark. He's constantly running all over the place and has taken up 'swimming' in the shower. He lays down on the shower floor and covers the drain with his tummy. Then creates about 2" of water and thinks it's the BEST! I have to pull him out! He is SUCH a water baby. I love it! He is now 17 months and I can't believe how big he is getting. He's obviously going through a growth spurt because he's eating everything in sight. I pick him up from daycare and have crackers in the car to feed him on the way home. He doesn't let me forget either. If I don't hand those suckers back there after we pull out it's immediately 'cookie mommy, cookie' - see all 'cracker' type items are cookies. I don't actually let him have 'cookies' yet... His idea of a sweet is fruit! I realize this might come back to haunt me someday but I'm willing to face that when and if it does.

Life keeps us busy and Johnners does as well. He is completely obsessed with tags - more so than ever. If he sees a tag he immediately latches on to it and begins to suck his thumb. It doesn't matter where the tag is attached. If someone is wearing a shirt with a tag - he'll grab it. Dish towels, bibs, even (God forbid I admit) underwear! - I mean of course CLEAN underwear :) It makes me laugh - better yet he makes me laugh. I am filled daily by his energy and life! Love him Love him Love him!!! :)

till next time...