Project 365: Week 8

Sunday, February 20th



Ahh, a real smile! Don't mind the drool. The only reason we don't have a fake smile here is because he was just blowing raspberries!

Monday, February 21st

Another shot from the park.

Tuesday, February 22nd

Intense concentration required for coloring.

 Wednesday, February 23rd

First chiro adjustment. Had to wear the "necklace" for two hours afterwards. Two words: HOT MAMA.

 Thursday, February 24th

You can't even imagine the retarded noises I had to make just trying to get him to look at the camera.

Friday, February 25th

The nightstand. My grandmother had these personalized jewelry boxes made for all of her granddaughters. I will always cherish it.

Saturday, February 26th

I kind of love this shot with Haeden running with his "acketball" and Patrick playing football in the background. Check Haeden's fly aways. Love it! 



Hot in Heeeeeer

Looks like spring has officially sprung over in these parts. We have had some beautiful weather over the past week. Or more. I can never really be sure anymore since the days seem to all run together. I have totally been griping about the cold weather all winter long and therefore I should be pretty much ecstatic over the recent change. And I am. Sort of.

I tried on a pair of shorts today. It didn't go well. Mama bear needs to lose her winter weight. Like, yesterday apparently since it's already 80 degrees outside. Unfortunately it seems like every time I actually get around to exercise, I turn around and stuff my face full of cookies. Damn you, girl scouts!

While I go get some more cookies, errrr, take a walk, check this video out. It will make your day. Or at least take your mind off of the muffin top spilling over your jeans. I mean, it's not just me, right?

Yesterday

Yesterday was President’s Day. Our daycare was closed and the loved ones I usually beg to watch Haeden already had plans for the holiday weekend. And since we didn’t plan ahead, Hubby couldn’t take off and I was left (on a Friday afternoon, no less) playing let’s make a deal with my coworkers so that I didn’t have to leave Haeden in the care of a stranger( re: back-up care provided by insurance. thanks, but no thanks.).

I have to admit that I was a little miffed about having to take the day off. I seem to burn through my PTO at a rate that is much faster than my earning it. And waiting until the day before to ask for it doesn’t exactly foster great relationships with my coworkers. Luckily though, they’ve all been in my shoes and are seemingly very understanding when these things come up.

The day actually ended up being just what I needed. I don’t know how I could have (momentarily) forgotten that H is allllways worth taking a day off. Paid or not. I mean, who wouldn’t want to spend the day with this little guy?

Yep, I knew you would. And so did his great-grandmother, or Oma, as we like to call her. So we did just that. Shopping in the morning followed by an early lunch. At the mall, she insisted on letting him out of the stroller (this is where I normally cringe because is it ever possible to get them back into it without a fight?!) and into one of these:

So, normally Haeden is a total daredevil. He loves to be thrown into the air, spun around at dizzying speeds and jump off of sofas/beds/ottomans, you name it. I foresee future trips to the ER in this one’s future. Maybe even a broken bone or two. I guess there really is an except to every rule though because that little car fah-reaked him out! I took that picture about .02 seconds before that thing shimmied to the side and he burst into tears. It would have broken my heart if I wasn’t so busy laughing. I immediately picked him up and strapped him into the stroller, drying his tears with promises of goldfish and juice while Oma ran over to the little car and began pushing buttons trying to get her money back. I think she was more upset than he was.

Later in the afternoon I took my little man to the park. He "rode" his bike there and I'm sure they heard us coming because boy howdy is that thing squeaky! It was actually embarrassing. But it was either that or the umbrella stroller (tangent: Is there a height limit to these things because I don't think anyone over 5'3 could push them around comfortably. I swear I look and feel like the hunchback of Notre Dame when I have to cart that thing around!). Anyway, the swings still make him giggle and he would spend an entire day going up and down the slides if he could.

Notice how he never really looks at the camera? I even asked him to look at Mama and Smile! Say cheese?! Whatever! He just looked at me, put his hand in my face and said, "Uh uhh"! Yeah, he's too busy watching all the other kids. And when they try to move past his slow behind to get to the slide, he yells at them all, "MY TURN!"

 

And yesterday he tried out the "rock wall" for the first time. The stairs just won't do it for him anymore! Don't be fooled by the pictures, I was right behind him the entire time.

My life needs more days like this.

Project 365: Week 7

Sunday, February 13th

Enjoying the beautiful weather with a nice long walk follwed by a trip to the park.

 Monday, February 14th

My valentines. Cuddled up on the couch and reading a favorite book. I can tell from this photo that they're at the owl part! "Hoooo hoooo!"

 Tuesday, February 15th

 Meltdown in the car... but you should have seen him in the restaurant! Ugh!

Wednesday, Feburary 16th

Patrick's birthday. Look at Haeden eyeing that cake.

Thursday, February 17th



 Somebody's teething again.

Friday, February 18th



 1st Chiropractic appointment. Fingers crossed it works.

Saturday, February 19th



Sunset at the neighborhoodish pier. Gorgeous!

Supermodel, Work!

Haeden's 15 minutes of fame are still going strong, and I could not be more proud of my little "celebrity"!Yesterday I ran across this post while checking out Apartment Therapy's blog:

And today my good friend Amy texted me a screenshot of Shutterfly's front page:

A Blogiversary & A 22 Month-Old Monster Child

Happy Anniversary to me! Today is my one-year blogiversary. I would never have realized it if I hadn’t recently gone back and added tags to all of my posts. In fact, if you had asked me two weeks ago when I first started blogging, I probably would have told you last June or July. That’s a little sad. My memory sure isn’t what it used to be. I blame motherhood. Just go with it.

In other news, Haeden turns 22 months-old today. I’m a little depressed about the fact that he’ll be two in just two short months. Especially since the “terrible” part has already started to peek through his usually sunny disposition. Yes, the past few days he has been testing us like the dickens and so far it ‘s like Haeden: 342, Mommy/Daddy: 6. We had a particularly fun (please note the sarcasm here) evening the other night that included high-pitched yelling, plate-pushing, hair pulling, slapping and sippy cup throwing. It ended with me having to get up and carry him out of a restaurant. His behavior didn’t get any better when I buckled him into the car seat kicking and screaming, but at least he wasn’t interrupting anyone else’s dinner at that point.

I know this is why they’re so unbelievably cute at this age. And the hugs and kisses don’t hurt either. Otherwise, I don’t think many kids would make it past toddlerhood, right?! Oy!

What’s new:

- Climbing the bunk bed in his brothers’ room. He can climb the ladder and get onto the top bunk without any help (though we do stand behind him to make sure he doesn’t fall because HOLY CRAP it makes me nervous!)

- Singing along to American Idol. For some reason he thinks it is also necessary to stand in the chair closest to the TV while doing it, too.

- Calls fish “shoos” even though he can actually repeat fish back and knows what both words really mean.

- Working on colors and shapes. He can point out blue, circle, oval, and octagon on a pretty regular basis.

- Forget buttball, all balls are now “acketball”. He is obsessed with basketball because they have it at daycare. We have a hoop outside and he looooves to be picked up so that he can put the acketball into the basket.

- Likes to give the fishies, or “shoos”, goodnight kisses by kissing the tank. And always tells them “buh-bye” when we leave.

- Totally has a Southern accent. Cracks me up!

- Starting to transition to a closed-mouth kiss. Right now he just tends to look toothless…

- Just a few days away from climbing OVER the baby gates. Lord help us!

Project 365: Week 6

Sunday, February 6th

Just practicing his guitar...

Monday, February 7th

Homemade pizza. YUM!

Tuesday, February 8th

Saw Hubby's friend's band open for another band. It was their first time performing in public and they were great, especially considering it wasn't even my type of music. Live music is always a good time to me though.

Wednesday, February 9th

Our family pet. Every Florida household needs one!

Thursday, February 10th

Enjoying his shape sorter... just not in the educational way. Ahhh, boys will be boys, right?

Friday, Feburary 11th

Mattress shopping. It was not unlike a candy store for him!

Saturday, February 12th

We were stuck at the house most of the day waiting for the mattress to arrive. Of course it was waaay later than expected. It was a gorgeous day though so we kept busy both indoors and outdoors with lots of play!



Rockstar

In addition to "modeling" and standing on the chair closest to the television to sing along with the American Idol contestants, Haeden also likes to grab his guitar now and again and just rock out. He's versatile like that.

A Star is Born

Being that I don't have the time, money or patience to actually scrapbook, I thought that a photo book would be a great way to capture some of Haeden's best moments. Not only that, but what better Christmas gift for the grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts and uncles who love him to pieces? I do love to multi-task!

The book took me about a week to create from start to finish, mostly because I could only devote little snippets of time here and there. Even though I created it with Christmas in mind, I actually had the books in hand by late October. I ordered early because I had an online coupon burning a hole in my inbox and they were simultaneously offering free shipping. Can't beat that with a stick!

I also decided to post the book in the their online community. I only got a couple of comments, but someone from Shutterfly emailed me to let me know they were going to feature it on their front page. Not long after that, one of their reps emailed and asked for permission to use some of Haeden's photos for an upcoming promotional advertisement. I wasn't surprised that they loved a lot of the pictures be used since a) Haeden is gorgeous and b) the Hubby takes amazing pictures, but we were still a little stunned at the offer... and a lot flattered!

Then a couple of weeks ago they also asked if they could link to the photo book in an email promotion they were going to be sending out this month. Again, of course, we agreed! I still can't believe that they choose my book. Honestly, when I first looked through the other books that had been posted in their online community, I felt like mine paled in comparison. Sure, some of them use special software, but there are a lot of great examples on that site. I guess, maybe, I don't give myself enough credit.

What I do know is that it made the family happy. Lots of happy tears upon receipt. And that is what really matters. Of course, I'm still enjoying Haeden's fifteen minutes of fame! ha!

Smooth Move

Yesterday our office suite got re-keyed. Since I sit closest to the door I have the distinct pleasure of being the official "gate-keeper" and holder of the keys. It's obvious that I'm really important, right? Kind of like this guy:

So, like I said, our suite got re-keyed and after I picked up the new set from Security (who, let's face it, take their job way too seriously), I thought it would be smart to make sure everything worked correctly. The key fit all of the locks just fine, but I did notice a wee little problem. There was no way to lock the door from the inside. I thought maybe I could open the door, lock it with the key and then close it behind me after walking back inside, but it didn't seem to work. Or so I thought...

I broke the news to my supervisor and we had a good laugh about it since we're only supposed to lock the door in an emergency situation. We figured someone was going to have to lock the doors and just make a run for it if an issue ever arose. I went back to my desk and not even five minutes later we all heard some loud knocking at the back door. It was two of our administrators, and thank God they had a great sense of humor about it because I was mortified. Apparently you can lock the door from the outside and then close it. Don't know how I missed it, but I sure am glad it wasn't the CEO of our company that figured it out. That probably would not have gone over well!

Project 365: Weeks 4 & 5

Yep, behind again. I won't even bother promising that it won't happen again. We all know better than that, riiiight?!

Week 4:
Sunday, January 23

 Terrible quality, I know. This was right before bathtime. I was undressing him and he ran out into the living room and sat on his toy firetruck. Such a nut!

Monday, January 24

This is what his face looked like when I picked him up from daycare. Dried milk? Check. Leftover snack? Check! Boogers?! CHECK! 

Tuesday, January 25 

I forgot to take a picture on this day and looked around the house for something interesting. This picture doesn't do it justice, but this is a wooden vase Hubby and I bought on our honeymoon. We were driving through the NC mountains and came across a guy selling his art out of his barn. Very cool place!

Wednesday, January 26

 I put Haeden to bed this night and went in to check on him a little later. Found him asleep in his chair rather than his bed. Too funny!

Thursday, January 287

 Trying on Mommy's belt. I helped him put it around his waist and then left the room for a minute. Came back in to find it around his shoulders!

Friday, January 28

 Tub time. I can't get enough of that gap-toothed grin.

Week 5:

Sunday, January 30

Spent a couple of hours at the zoo. Just as fun for us as it is for him.

 Monday, January 31

 Spent 2 hours waiting at the doctor's office. Not cool.

Tuesday, February 1

I think we're going to see a lot of these throughout the year. 

Wednesday, February 2

I have a little bird/owl obsession. Hubby got these for me for Christmas and I loooove them!

 Thursday, February 3

Haeden's birth day print.

 Friday, February 4

Tootin' on his pretend horn.

Saturday, February 5

Don't be jealous, ladies. Haeden's got a new sweetheart.