Sunday, August 26, 2012

Blessings and the Beach

I'm finally starting to catch up in blog world! There's a lot to share!

I have a great blessing to share....Mike started a new job with Wells Fargo on Wednesday! God is so good! His job with T-Moblie officially ended the 18th, so we didn't have any lapse in insurance, etc.

He was offered the job on Thursday the 9th, so we decided on the 10th to head to the beach for a short trip before he got started. By the end of the day on the 10th we had a condo, a dog sitter, and travel companions in place. We left on Monday the 13th for a little fun in the sun. It was a great trip. For my future reference, we stayed in Crystal Towers 509 (I can never remember the names or numbers when it's time to book again) in Gulf Shores. Mandy and Maeleigh went with us. I think we all had a great time. Since it was a short trip, we just hit our favorite spots along the way: the outlets, the Hangout, the Original Oyster House, LuLu's. We spent as much time as possible on the beach. That meant late lunches and late dinners, and two toddlers that were little troopers. They loved it all!









See Ya' Later Alligator!



Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Brennan

He is still here. He is still funny. We still love him to the moon and back! He is 2 1/2 now, and has just had a mad growth spurt. I'm not sure how much taller he is, but all of his 3T shirts are getting short. His obsessions at the moment are trains and Mickey Mouse Club. He wants to watch the MMC Road Rally episode all day every day. When he isn't watching it, which is often, he is pretending to be apart of it. His imagination is huge right now. A lady at the bank asked him what he had done one day and he made up this entire story ending with me picking him up a few minutes before. Ha! Thankfully his pretend day included good things for a two year old to do, mostly involving trains and a road rally. He loves to be tickled and loves to spend time with his daddy. With Mike home more right now, I'm totally old news most days.

 A few interesting facts to not be forgotten: He ALWAYS runs out of the bathroom naked after his bath. He finds whichever parent did not give the bath and announces his nakedness. There is normally a superhero cape/towel flying behind him as he does so. He MUST have his sunglasses any time he will be outside. We now have three pair to alleviate a little stress every time we get ready to leave the house. His latest exclamation word is NEVER. On our way to Georgia he started telling us,"No, Never!" It was hard not to laugh the first time, but the new wore off quickly for those of us over two. The second night we were trying to go to sleep and he was wound up. I asked him to lay down and be still. His respond was, "No Never!" I calmly told him that I didn't like him saying that, and he shouldn't speak to me that way. He responded, "No", waited a few seconds and then said, "But I didn't say never." He is not as cuddly right now. We went through a phase of him asking to be held a lot. That has changed to him rejecting my kisses and wiggling away. He does want to be forehead to forehead when he goes to sleep though, and still wants to hold an ear. He loves his big boy bed, but freaks out when I change the sheets on our beds. It doesn't matter if it's his or ours, he melts down begging for the current sheets to stay. He then begs for a couple of days to change them back. Then when we do change them back, he cries all over again for the other sheets. Craziness!  His favorite foods haven't changed much. He will at least try some new foods now, but hasn't really liked any of them. His staples are peanut butter, carrots, peas, mac and cheese, chicken noodle soup, and cereal of any type. There are a few other things he eats, but only by his choice. He is a chip eating fanatic, but we don't keep those around too often.

Our days include a lot of time at home. If we aren't at home, Brennan is often asking to go there. He loves his toys and doesn't want to be away from them for long. When we came back from two days in Georgia you would have thought we had been gone for months. He was so happy to be back at home!  He spends a lot of time playing trains and with trucks. He also likes puzzles, play dough, and art projects on occasion. He loves to play outside, especially with his lawnmower and big truck. He has discovered a dirt spot where he can fill his dump truck and loader. He will often sit down, take his shoes off, and soak in the dirt I think. He swims all over the pool with his Puddle Jumper on, and will jump off the diving board. He still doesn't want his face to get wet, and often chooses to just play outside rather than swim. He is starting to really recognize certain letters, and likes to count right now.

We are loving watching  Brennan grow and change. I still take a second look sometimes in disbelief that we now have not a baby but a little boy.

He still loves his Cozy Coupe Fire Truck



This is how we found him in the playroom one night. Covered in red finger paint! 
The paint is now hidden.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

The Big Book

Do you remember the big Sears and JCPenney catalogs that used to come in the mail? I loved those things! My grandmother always had them, and they were so versatile. I would spend hours planning my house, my wardrobe, my nursery, and when it was time to eat it became my brother's booster seat at the table. Seriously, I would look at them intensely, writing down what I would buy one day (twenty something years in the future). Funny thing, I don't know that I have bought anything for my house from Sears or JCPenney.

Today I got the updated version of those catalogs in the mail, the IKEA 2013 book.



I was just as excited to see it as I used to be for a new catalog at Granny's! Yes, I will sit down at some point and plan my house from it, probably a dream kitchen. I'll make a list of items to look for the next time I go to Atlanta. The biggest difference.......you will definitely find some of those goodies in my house in the near future!

Monday, July 30, 2012

Subway Art

My latest obsession!




Subway Art! I've wanted to try these for a while and finally did it. It was really fun. It did take some time and I have a few improvements to make, but I think the next one will be easier. I can think of so many possibilities for these!

 I used this tutorial to get started:

Thursday, July 26, 2012

A Saab Story





This week I had to say goodbye to the Saab. Yep, one of the last remaining pieces of my single days will no longer live in our driveway. It was the only car I have purchased completely on my own with no one else even having an opinion. It was also the only car I've ever gotten a speeding ticket in. It was a fun little drive, and a great reliable car. It brought me back to Alabama. It took us away from our wedding and to Atlanta to fly away for a honeymoon. It took us to the open house that eventually led to our buying a house in Hartselle. We soon outgrew it when Brennan came along and there wasn't enough room for an infant car seat, so it became Mike's commuter car to Birmingham. A few weeks ago it had a run in with another car in downtown Huntsville.We won't discuss who was at fault or any of those details, right sweet hubby.  The damage didn't look too bad, but it was an expensive fix so the insurance company totaled it. No doubt, this is another one of God's steps in the plan he has for us. We knew we were going to have to replace the Saab sooner rather than later, and weren't expecting it to be an easy sell. With Saab's becoming more and more rare, so are people who can work on them and people who want to take a chance on them. At first, it felt like just another day of not so great luck. In the end, I think it has worked just fine. We have an old truck that is our back-up vehicle.  Now we are just waiting for Mike's next job to come along, and then we'll look for an appropriate replacement. So long Saab!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Way Down South

We spent a fun weekend in south Georgia visiting family. When you are two, apparently every part of a trip is exciting.

Packing


Hitting the road


After dinner entertainment

(Glow in the dark bracelets)

We went to celebrate my aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary. My cousins hosted a very nice dinner.  We enjoyed being in Albany, where my aunt and uncle live, and the reception was beautiful. 


It was great to spend time with family. Two little cousins especially enjoyed getting to spend so much time together.


They also enjoyed meeting their younger cousin and were pretty attached to their older cousins. We all went to my aunt and uncle's house for breakfast Sunday morning, which turned into a lazy Sunday afternoon visiting. 


It was a great way to spend the weekend!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Christmas In July Anyone?

Am I the only one with Christmas on the brain? Yeah, I thought so. I have no idea why, but I almost always start to think about Christmas around this time of year. I always imagine how amazing it would be to get all of my shopping done now, and make those cute projects I've pinned, and even plan what I will bake.My thought is if I do some of that now, we'll have more time to spend on the real meaning of Christmas.  No need to get jealous, it never happens that way. Not even the year I had a big incentive to get ready early, an 8 lb. 11 oz. incentive due at Christmas. I never know what I want to buy this early, and there's usually a lot of other things to do at this time of year besides make Christmas projects. The funny thing is by the time it is time to do these things the urge has passed and I don't really do all that much.

I thought I would share a toddler gift idea just in case there is someone else out there plotting their Christmas purchases. When Brennan turned 2 we got him a Strider balance bike.


I had seen them on the Today Show a couple of years ago and thought they were neat, and my friend Kacie had seen them in her neighborhood and thought they were pretty great for this age.  They are small and don't have pedals. The idea is that young children can learn to balance first, and then move to a regular bike without ever relying on training wheels. I was a little skeptical since he had only been mobile for about a year, and was still rather clumsy on his own two feet at times. He was actually asking for a bike so we went with it. Within a couple of weeks Brennan was riding pretty well, and now after seven months he zooms everywhere. They can be a little pricey, and I didn't have much luck finding a deal on this one, but it has been worth it. There are several brands out there. The Strider looked most like a big boy bike and had pretty good reviews. It seems to be good quality and has held up well. The only thing I wish it had is a kick stand. I would like for Brennan to start out taking care of his bikes, and it is a little hard when it can't easily be stood up. If you are in the market for a first bike, I would highly recommend a balance bike.

Brennan was more than happy to show his riding abilities:





(I'll have to work on my video skills. I think the Flip might work better. Hopefully you can get the idea!)