19 & 20 months

Happy Memorial Day!  So I haven't done a post in a little while all about my favorite little person so I thought I would catch up on things he is up to now.  He is now 20 months and I can't hardly believe my baby is turning into a little boy so fast!  First off, he slept in til 8am this morning and I actually woke up before him....he is sleeping so great and I love it...has been such a weight lifted! 

It is so fun to see what he's interested in and how much he can say and how he understands a lot of what we say now.  Here are some things he is doing now in a list of randomness!

• Names body parts and points: eyes, ears, mouth, nose, belly, arms, legs, knees, feet, etc.
• Enjoys when I run with him in the jogging stroller now which he used to not care for
• Loves books! 
• I started working on his ABC's and he can point to several of the magnetic letters on the fridge and can say which letter it is. 
• Says a lot of words....too many to list on here but my favorite is how he says "mama" in his sweet little voice :)
• For breakfast he will go to the fridge and point to get his yogurt out and goes to the spoon drawer to get his spoon and asks for his milk.
• If we want him to try something or do something and he doesn't want to, he will repeat "No, No, No"
• He likes to run and twirl around in a circle and climb like a monkey....he now can climb up the swing set by himself in our yard and slide down the slide.
• He just became very interested in coloring so we have our color time and get the crayons out and paper and he likes to scribble.
• He gives the sweetest hugs and kisses and he enjoys cuddle time when he's tired which totally melts my heart!
• He can brush his teeth and his hair
• He can name a lot of different animals and say their different sounds

Tantrums are upon us now!  The first one he did, I didn't know what to do but laugh because I hadn't seen him act like that before (on the ground hollering and kicking legs around)....it was a bit amusing and over something silly like not getting a second pack of fruit snacks.  It tested my patience for a little while there, but luckily those moments are just occassional and seem to be when he is overly tired or overly stimulated.  He's usually happy and a really good boy so I feel lucky since he's pretty easy going for the most part....but don't get me wrong, he has his moments where he can go from calm to throwing a fit in a matter of seconds if he doesn't get his way on something or if he can't figure something out but I think that is typical at this age when they have so much new stuff to learn and testing out the waters of what they can or can't get away with.  I have learned to be firm and stand my ground when necessary(on things he shouldn't do or if he's misbehaving) but to give in to things that maybe I don't want to do but things that would make him happy....like pushing toy lawnmowers down  the driveway 20 or more times ;)

He weighs a little over 30 pounds now and his favorite show is still the Bubble guppies.  We don't watch a lot of TV and actually recently downgraded in our channel selection because we are just so outdoorsy that we werent using most of the channels but the basics so now he just watches some morning cartoons on the baby first channel which is also educational, then we turn it off until the evening where he will watch more of the baby first channel.  He used to watch a little Kung Foo Panda and loved it but when we realized he was picking up on all the moves like a little sponge, we figured that probably wasn't the best show even thought it was a G-rated cartoon ;)


Below is something I did from one of my favorite editing programs, Picasa!  It was so easy you just upload a photo, click on "text", choose the font and size and color and after you have all the words on the pic you want, hit "apply" and "save".  It was something easy and I think I may start doing it as the months go along.  I just put his favorite things in words and some things he says and it looks like a magazine cover:)  

A few updates

1.  Cory turned 20 months this past Wed!  I can't believe he is going to be 2 so soon!  My baby boy is getting so big! I will do a separate post for him since there is sooo much new stuff he is doing these days! 

2.  John and I are going out of town early tomorrow to celebrate our 7-year anniversary!  We met 1st week of college in 2001 and he asked me out on a date after being friends for about a month and we have been together every since:)  Our first date was going to see the movie Sumer Catch!  We met running on the track, which is random but totally fitting for my future spouse...lol.  We are going to Barren River State park to go fishing, canoeing, hiking, picnic lunches and outdoors activities!  We will be back Sunday so Cory will have his first sleepover at Nana and Pap Pap's house!  After 20 months we get a night alone....haha!!  Not that we had to wait that long, but earlier when we had planned for him to stay the night over there he got sick so it didn't work out and with me nursing until he was almost 18 months, I was pretty much his only means of wanting to go to sleep and not in the best of sleep habits at the time.

3.  My sister officially moves in her house in LaGrange on Monday so I am excited!  It will be so great to have lots of pool days over here this summer and she will just be about 5 miles away so it will be so convenient for us to hang out and get the kids together a lot.  Clay will be starting kindergarten in Aug so it worked out perfectly to get him in Oldham County before school.  I am happy Cory can grow up close to his cousins!

4.  Running has brought me back my complete sanity!  =)  I have been back at running and this past week was my first week back from my snowboarding accident and I feel like a new woman!  I truly believe it makes me a happier person and has been a part of my life for so long that without it I feel something is missing.  So John and I signed up for 2 different race series in Oldham County...each series has 4 or 5 races in it and it will lead us up to running the Indianapolis Marathon in Oct!  Excited and pumped!!!

Typical Week!

This was a pretty typical past week and a half other than a few extras.  Friday night I went to a friend's babyshower, Saturday went to see my nephew play his teeball game (1st time I saw him play) and it was sooo adorable.  I almost cried it was so stinkin' cute I couldn't stand it:)  It was so funny when they were all running around the field in their cute little outfits and doing some of the silliest things out there.  I wish I got some photos but forgot the camera!  Then Sunday we went to our neighbor's house across the street in the evening for her Grandson's 4th B'day party.  Cory had a blast with Autumn, their Grandaughter who is the same age as Cory, just 1 month apart.  She is adorable and they were having a great time jumping on the mini trampoline, eating cake and playing with the balloons.  I am happy she hangs out over here a lot so Cory has a little friend in the neighborhood since there's not many, there are at least grandkids:)  I painted my fireplace mantel this week and will post a before/after pic soon. 

Cory has a fun time hanging out at Claire and Natalie's house once a week....this is what bits of my day today looked like with these 3 cuties:

Watching TV

Hanging out in the crib

Horse rides on me!

Taking a break for a picture!

Cory and Claire with Mr. Bear :)

Week in a glance!

We had another great week.  Early in the week we ate at Texas Roadhouse and Cory met a little 16 month old girl and it was the cutest thing to see them interact.  They held hands and she tried to share her sippy cup with him.  When she had to leave he waved bye and gave John a high five right after and a random guy in the booth beside us:) 
Last week Jen and Ken signed a contract for a house in La Grange, I am sooo happy they will be so close!!  We will have lots of cousin and sister hang out time!  It is beautiful 3 bedroom house with a bonus room, 3 and a half bathrooms and finished walkout basement, huge closets, great layout and awesomely landscaped yard with a great garden of flowers and a swing in the back fenced in area. 

Clay had a blast handcuffing Cory last week:)  At first he thought it was fun but then he wasn't so crazy about them and wanted out!

Last week my Dad came to visit and that is fun, he loved coming over when all the grandkids are over and he brings us dinner.   It is fun for me watching my Dad having fun with the kids!

 We had a great visit with Ed last week and his friend Michelle!  They brought there Papillion pup name Happy.  We had a great weekend with them and Ed came all the way from Hawaii so it was great getting to see him and for Cory to meet his uncle! We had fun catching up!  The highlights were going to a Korean restaurant, hanging out in the hottub, going to Henry's Ark to feed the animals, going to the airshow and going to El Acapulco.  They left shortly after church sunday to go to Nashville. 

And lastly I put some lables on my pantry project.  I have been switching my food over to glass jars and I love them.  I'm not complete yet with labeling or organizing but here's a look. 

Easter in Birmingham 2012

We had a great week last week and spent the Easter weekend in Alabama. Here's a look into our week Cory got to have fun with his 2 cousins on Tues! It is great living close to my sister after many years apart and she stays home with her 2 adorable kiddos so we get to spend lots of time together! Even better she has her house up for sale and just sold it last night so they have until May 10th and will move out to Oldham County :) so that will be awesome! We will be able to help each other out a lot more if we need to run an errand, have an appt or whatever comes up it won't be as far of a drive and I am excited Cory will be so close to his cousins while growing up!

For Cory, the Easter bunny came a little early since he stumbled across his present in the guest room...oops. Since he loves any kind of ball ...he got an easter basket filled with different sport balls...basketball, soccer ball, kick ball. The funny thing is he wanted to open it immediately when he saw it and I didn't have the camera out, so I told him to wait so I could get the camera and he had a slight meltdown! Ahh life with a toddler...patience isn't his strong point at this age but it made for some funny pictures.

The day before we left for our trip John mowed the lawn and toward the end we put Cory up there to ride around with Daddy and he loved it! It was cute to see him looking intent like he was steering it and you can just tell how much he wants to be like Daddy since he loves doing everything he does!

When they were finished, he got out his own personal lawnmower and completed the job:)

We got up bright and early Friday and left the house at 6am heading to Birmingham. When we got there, we ate lunch with Mama and Papa, my first set of grandparents, and she cooked a delicious southern homegrown meal. We spent the rest of the day hanging out, pushing Cory in the little red wagon, and going to the park!

Saturday after breakfast and getting ready, we left Mama and Papa's around 10am and went to my other set of grandparents, Grandmother and Grandaddy Meadows. We ate lunch with them and she cooked us a delicious meal and my cousins and Aunt and Uncle came over as well! Cory was such a little ham and had the spotlight all on him which he was loving. As soon as they got there he was all smiles and handed out easter eggs to everyone and kept doing a funny little happy dance when they praised him. (I wish I got it on film!) We had a little easter egg hunt and there was a smartie in each egg which Cory would shake the egg, open and eat the candy and throw the empty eggs in the basket. We also took a walk around their neighborhood and Cory loved the cows!

We went to church with them on Easter Sunday, and out to eat afterward at Ruby Tuesdays before heading out.

We made a stop at my cousin Wendy's house to see her and my other Aunt and Uncle and more extended family while they were all over there celebrating my cousin's daughter Kaylee's 12th Birthday! We just stayed an hour since we had to get home before too late and John would have to get up early monday morning for work. Cory really liked Kaylee and went straight to her when she reached out for him! He also loved their dog Nessie who was the same size as him! :) Cory did so great the whole trip and was so well behaved...he made me very proud!

We got back home around 10:30pm and John had to pack for Maysville Ky, which is about 2 hours away and where he will be working and staying the night Mon-Thur for the next 4 weeks! This isn't a typical thing but they recently added this bank to their list to inspect so he won't have to go there again for well over a year. The good thing is he will be home on Thursdays around 5pm and he will have Fri-Sun off to be home and will go back Monday mornings. I will be staying pretty busy during the days with babysitting tues, wed, thurs and getting the dogs exercized and Cory goes to sleep now around 8pm so it's not really much different as far as our routine goes, but I do miss dinners & movie time together and not having my own personal chef.....I know I have been spoiled! A good thing is I have been going to bed super early so I've been catching up on sleep at least!

Fun Week!

A look into our week! :)

Sat 3/24- Went to a baby shower with great friends from high school. It was fun and great to catch up and see Candace's adorable baby bump!

Sun 3/25- Church, family walk around the neighborhood with John, Cory and the pups, lazy day!

Mon 3/26- Took Cory to Traderbakers in La Grange just to browse, only been there a couple times but it's kinda fun to browse all the antique stuff and Cory likes looking through the toy booths:) Some stuff there looks junky since it is all a mixture of new and used but there are a lot of good finds for cheap! I have been looking for a lamp to go in the living room for better light in our reading area and found a brand new one I really like...it is simple but just what i was looking for. I got the lamp, the pillow in the reciner, the magazine basket on the floor next to the bookshelf and the new hallway rug in the second pic all for $32 total! I think that's a great deal!

Tues 3/27- We watched adorable baby Avery! I keep her twice a week normally, though I have been injured so once a week here lately with my sister helping and and my niece and nephew and Cory get a playdate. I will have to take some recent pics of her and Cory....they are too cute together and will be great friends and won't be long before she can play too! He likes when she comes over and hasn't been jealous of her but will show off for her and try to make her smile...it is the cutest to see them together!

Wed 3/28 - Cory got his 1st official haircut! I have trimmed his hair several times myself in the bathtub but now that I am injured and his hair was getting long I just took him to a place called Short Cuts 4 Kids off Springhurst Blvd. It is so cute where they sit in cars/trucks, get to watch their own personal TV, get bubbles and a sucker and they have a little play area there for after. He liked it but had his serious face on. It was $14 for a kids haircut which I know isn't to bad but I mainly did it for the memory to put in his scrapbook and the experience because for as little as they cut I would prefer save the money and do it myself;) He did look quite handsome though after!

That evening we went to church....we go every Sunday and back again on Wed evenings and I have been teaching the 2 and under class every Wed for the past 3 months. It has been a lot of fun and the class has about 8 to 10 kids in it including Cory. We first talked about Noah, then Jonah and the whale. We are about to switch teachers so I'm hoping Cory will still do good without me in there!

Thur 3/29 - Went to the zoo with some friends from church that are also stay at home Moms! Vanessa with her son Ryan who is just a month older than Cory, Terra with her 2 girls Kaitlynn who just turned 4 and Faith who is 15 months, and Jaime with her son Campbell who is 4. That was a lot of fun and all the kids did really good! Cory and Ryan fell asleep as soon as we got in the car on the way home. I should have taken some pics! Then thurs afternoon I had an appt to get a short cast put on, which feels much better!

Fri 3/30 - John, Cory and I left early for a one day trip to Nasville where we met up with some of his cousins and ate lunch at O'Charley's! Then we went to Rivergate mall and played at the Incredible Dave's gameroom area....Cory had a lot of fun playing skeeball though he couldn't get the ball all the way up the ramp:) Cory got to ride the train in the mall and loved it. We got back around 8pm. (Forgot my camera so didn't get any pics today)

That was pretty much our week! Fun but busy! Today we are looking forward to watching the Hunger Games and seeing UK/UofL play!!

Play Hard, Sleep hard!

What a fun but tiring day for me and my little guy! Today was also a pull-your -hair out kind of day. Some days I just have to sit back and laugh at the little tornado that seems to have hit our home (aka Cory) . He is getting so active and constantly getting into everything so I would spend all day cleaning up one area as he would be getting into the next pulling things off the shelf. Not a big deal but i wonder how much time is spent putting things away only to look like I hadn't lifted a finger all day by the time John gets home so that is why I realized it can be pointless to clean during the day and I don't want to focus so much time and energy to cleaning up messes but to wait until the evening or when little man goes to sleep. Sometimes Cory "helps" me clean up at the end of the day which is cute while I am vacuumming he pulls out his play lawnmower acting like he is vacuuming as well. I started a project of cleaning out my pantry today, which I will have to post a pic of later...it looks pretty now:) Just to name a few things that didn't go as planned: Got 2 dog bones out and gave them to the dogs in the living room while Cory's watching TV on his chair, turn my back to work on pantry project for a bit, Cory walks in the kitchen holding a half eaten dog bone, the other half is in his mouth(yuck)! I spilt all the spaghetti on the floor because the package wasn't closed and didn't realize, before I could clean it up Cory was breaking it into little pieces and putting it in the dog's water bowl. Just my luck of the day after filling up the dog bowl with clean water I get tripped up by the vacuum cord spilling half of it if the floor and half on me....grr....so had to change clothes! Something was just up today and naptime was non-existant since Cory cried longer than usual and i kept going to his room to check up and realized he had pooped while jumping in his crib refusing to nap so I get him out, change him and we ended up just playing outside! It was at least a gorgeous 80 degree day so we stayed out for most of the day! He was running around like the energizer bunny! We did some swinging on the swingset, I walked with him in the stroller, we went down to the woods, he wanted to splash around in the creek and threw a mini tantrum when he couldn't so we came back up to the house and in our yard there was a random dog I had seen before walking around the neighborhood. Nick and Lucky see him and darted over faster than ever charging at him and almost got in a fight but I was yelling at them and they didn't do anything but chase him around. My no-nap wonder sat down to eat dinner and was so pooped that he fell asleep there in his high-chair! This is the first time he was ever too tired to eat his meal and fell asleep after eating about half of it...pretty funny but tomorrow hoping the nap time goes a bit smoother! He's asleep in his crib now and I am happy his sleeping through the night wasn't a fluke because he has slept 10-12 hrs a night without waking since we started the sleep training...yay! Though in the moment I can get frustrated with the little annoying things that can happen in a day, at the end of the day I still feel so thankful to have my little guy and my pups to chase around and clean up after and wouldn't trade living these busy but entertaining moments, whether they be fun or not-so-fun....bring em' on! :)