Much better:)
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Happy Valentine's Day!
Happy Valentine's Day! Who wouldn't want this happy smiling heart for a Valentine?
Why is he sad? Maybe because his girlfriend Addie is in Chattanooga & he is here in Birmingham on Valentine's Day? We caught him trying to ride his tricycle up I-59. He misses his Addie girl.Why does his shirt say "Love Stinks"? Because his mommy is anti-Valentine's Day. Just kidding! I'm not anti-Valentine's Day, I'm just not the holiday's biggest fan. Never have been. I'm just not a "Valentine" type person. I don't like PDAs, I don't like red roses & I don't like monkeys holding a heart saying I Love You. Yes, I am in a happy loving relationship with my husband. I just don't want him doing something nice because a holiday told him to do so. But I'm sure I sound like Oscar the Grouch, so enough about that! I may not be Valentine's Day biggest fan, but I will use ANY excuse to shower my loved ones with love! So Happy Valentine's Day! (And I will try to get a photo of my child not laying in the floor crying.)
Jake had a Valentine's Day party at Mom's Day Out & they traded Valentine's. Here are his cards for his classmates.
Disclaimer: I know that you are probably rolling your eyes saying "Really?!?! Why on earth make Valentine cards". And if you are like my husband, you are asking "Did you know that you can buy these already made at Target?". I promise, I love making anything with paper & will use any excuse to do so! But please don't think that I hand make everything. You will never see me make cupcakes. I can't do it. I have no idea how to bake & it terrifies me. So my child will always have store bought cupcakes & cakes. Ha! Sorry Jake! Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Happy 16th Birthday Gran!
Happy Birthday Gran 2009
Happy Birthday Gran 2010
Happy Birthday Gran 2011Each year, it is harder & harder to take the picture
First he wouldn't look up
Then he kept holding the sign backwards, because he was trying to read it.
So I got the bright idea to write the message on the other side as well. Big mistake. As soon as Jake saw the marker, he had a fit to "color".
Making the sign look much better
I finally gave up
Happy Birthday Dad! We love you!!Projects
I've started this post about a million times, but keep thinking of more projects that we need to finish before I post. I am the worst about starting something, getting 75% done, and then never finishing. A few projects I went ahead & took pictures of & then downloaded to the computer. Our little angel somehow deleted or hid or removed or did something to my blog picture folder that was on the desktop. We cannot find the file anywhere on the computer. So since I lost some of the pictures, I figured that I might as well go ahead & post.
Along with not finishing projects, I'm also bad about not printing out pictures. We only have 1 frame up of pictures from our wedding. And few pictures up of Jake. So I dedicated our empty hall wall to my favorite pictures of Jake.
Jake's Artwork
Robbie made the frame and I distressed it
Copied out of Restoration Hardware Kids (I still haven't put his 2-year-old picture in & I haven't written any of his measurements in. But at least I finally hung it!)
My Christmas present to my grandmother (don't worry, I put an actual picture of our entire family in the frame. Not the creepy babies!)
Wayyyyyyy back from summer. I made some decorations for a bridal shower that a friend was hosting. Unfortunately, our printer messed up & I had to print the door signs later. Of course I forgot to retake the picture.
Since I don't know how to do an applique, I used felt & yarn to make Jake a shirt. Um, next time, I'll just take the time to learn how to applique.
My Christmas present to my grandmother (don't worry, I put an actual picture of our entire family in the frame. Not the creepy babies!)
Wayyyyyyy back from summer. I made some decorations for a bridal shower that a friend was hosting. Unfortunately, our printer messed up & I had to print the door signs later. Of course I forgot to retake the picture.
Since I don't know how to do an applique, I used felt & yarn to make Jake a shirt. Um, next time, I'll just take the time to learn how to applique.
What I should have said...
We were in Birmingham for a second weekend in a row. Woohoo! Saturday morning, Robbie's mom Judy & I had planned on going to downtown Homewood to pick out some material for some outfits for Jake. Jake woke up in a great mood, so I told Robbie that he could just go with Judy & me since Robbie & his dad were going to run errands. Right before the Bush's got to the house, Jake got in trouble for messing with the computer. All it took was him getting into trouble to put him in a whiny, pouty, fussy mood. As Judy & I were getting ready to leave, what I should have said was "Jake, since you are pouting on the floor, you just need to stay here with daddy". What I said though was "I'm sure he'll be fine once we get outside". Wrong! He whined, pouted & fussed the whole car ride. Once we got to downtown, what I should have said was "Let's do our shopping first & then end with the toy store". What I said though was "Let's go to the toy store first so he can pick out a toy to entertain him". Wrong! He played with their train display for 20 minutes. I tried bribing him with every toy in the store to get him to leave. No such luck. So I just had to do the pleasant walk of shame carrying out my screaming kid. We ate lunch & then called it a day shopping. Fast forward to that evening. I was CRAVING a particular restaurant. We thought going early we could beat the long wait. Nope. We walked in & they told us it would be a 45 minute wait. What I should have said was "No thanks, we have a toddler, we'll go somewhere quicker". What I said though was "That's fine! We'll wait!". Wrong! Jake actually made it through the wait & through his dinner. But about the time they brought our food, he was ready to go. Nightmare. We went into survival mode. Scarfing down our food, trying to entertain Jake & paying our check. We went through every toy in his book bag. The final item left were the travel wipes package. As Jake proceeded to pull every wipe out, what I should have said was "No Jake, we are not going to waste the wipes". But what I said was "Best $3 toy ever!".
But on to more interesting things... pictures! (I read on someones blog that a blog post without pictures is like a Christmas card with no photo. Ha!)
The closest thing I could get to a smile
Playing with his trains
That afternoon we went to the McWane Center
Jake would have happily stood there all day with his hands in the water
Jake's saying of the week is "See you later". He loves to tell us "see you later" & then hide in the pantry.
But on to more interesting things... pictures! (I read on someones blog that a blog post without pictures is like a Christmas card with no photo. Ha!)
Sunday, before church. Sometimes Jake loves pictures, other times, not so much. Sunday morning... not so much.
The closest thing I could get to a smile
Playing with his trains
That afternoon we went to the McWane Center
Jake would have happily stood there all day with his hands in the water
Jake with all of his night-night friends
Jake's saying of the week is "See you later". He loves to tell us "see you later" & then hide in the pantry.From the mouth of a toddler...
- Jake saw Sponge Bob on TV & starting yelling "Jim Bob! Jim Bob!". I have no idea why he is calling him Jim Bob or how he even knows who SpongeBob is. We only let him watch PBS Kids, but he certainly knows who SpongeBob is & cried for me to let him watch him.
- I had put Jake down for a nap after daycare (which he was refusing to take because he counted the 5 minute nap on the car ride home as his nap). While we are in the apartment, we are just using his pac-in-play for a crib. After about an hour of him playing in the crib, it gets quiet. I smile thinking that he has finally gone to sleep. Then I hear "I DID IT!!". When Jake says "I did it" it usually means he has done something that he is not supposed to do. I peek my head in & see him running around the room. The little stinker has figured out he can climb out of the pac-in-play. We've never worried about it, because Jake has never been a climber. He is not very flexible, he is a scaredy cat and for the most part, his body weight has out weighed his strength, so even if we wanted to climb, he wasn't strong enough. Thankfully he hasn't tried it again.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Update to Entry Below...
Evidently, Mother's Day Out is not so common. Robbie told me that he had never heard of it and most people that he told about it asked what it was too. I thought that the bank had not heard about it, because maybe it was not common up north, but I was wrong! So my story was not that odd. Ha!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Birmingham
So last week was our first real full week with our new routine in Birmingham. It had its highs & lows, but overall it was a great week & we are getting adjusted.
Childcare Highs: We found a Mom's Day Out program that Jake can go to 5 days a week. Yahoo! I thought the most he would be able to go would be 3 days a week & we would have to find a sitter to fill in for the rest. But we found one that we are really happy with, he can go 5 mornings a week & they had an opening in his age group. Another high? The teachers seem very nice and they have been very sweet to Jake. He has cried each morning when I drop him off, but they text me pictures of him playing happily shortly after I leave. So that makes me very happy. Hopefully in the next few weeks he will be more familiar with the teachers & classmates and not fear the dreaded dropping off each morning!
Childcare Lows: There is no traffic light leaving the church & I have to turn left. Yikes! I drive like a 100-year-old woman & I'm terrified of driving. Turning left on a busy road without a light makes me want to throw-up. Add onto that a line of cars waiting to turn behind me, and my hands break out in a sweat. So each morning & afternoon leaving, I turn right, go down a mile or so until there is a place that I can do a U-turn at a light & head back in the right direction. Crazy? I know!! I probably put an additional 100 miles a month on my car by only making right hand turns w/out a light. Another low? Evidently you have to fix your kid's lunch for MDO. At daycare, they provided lunch. Now, fixing lunch would not be too bad to only do it 2 days a week, but we're talking about 5 days! So every day last week, Jake had a ham & cheese sandwich with some grapes. I don't know what else to fix!? It has to be something that can stay in his lunchbox & he can eat with his hands. I've got to come up with some better ideas so I can give this kid some variety!
Odd Story: I'm in Chattanooga for a quick dinner with a bank from up north that is in town for a visit & then a day of meetings. At dinner, 2 of the women with the bank were asking how things were going. I was telling them about Mother's Day Out and how happy we were to find one with an opening midyear. They finally asked me, what on earth is Mother's Day Out? I thought everyone knew what that was! You know... It's where you drop your kid off for a reasonable price at a big church so you can have a few hours to yourself & they can play with other kids. They had never heard of it. They only use daycare & nannies.
Part-time Work Highs: It is nice to have more time to spend with Jake. We are still working through the schedule. By the time we get home from MDO, it is his past his naptime. Jake naps for at least 2.5 hours, so by the time he wakes up, its almost 5:00. But it's nice to be able to eat dinner at a reasonable time & hang out together as a family. I'm not really working only 20 hours a week, BUT it is not 55 hours a week, so I'll take it!
Part-time Work Lows: Trying to keep myself from checking emails & answering calls when I'm not supposed to be working. It is so hard.
Apartment Highs: I'm not going to lie, I love the corporate apartment. Sure it has some lows, but the location is great (we are much closer into town then if we were in a house), the apartment is new & has lots of storage & closet space. Since we left all of our clutter & junk in Chattanooga, we only have our personal items in Birmingham. So there is so much room! I was even able to turn the huge walk in closet in Jake's room into a mini-craft room.
Apartment Lows: I miss our garage. I also feel sorry for the people beside us. We have a toddler that thinks he is on WWE every night. Jake screams, laughs, runs into things, basically makes as much noise as possible. I know our neighbors hate us. Thankfully the apartment below us is the model apartment, so there are not permanent residents. But I'm pretty sure we've cost the apt complex a few possible future tenants.
Most exciting from last week: Robbie passed his broker's license. Yea!! He is loving his job & I'm so happy for him.
Saddest thing from last week: Our realtor told us basically no one is interested in your house. Now granted, it has only been on the market a few weeks & one of those weeks, the entire town was snowed in! But it is still not news you want to hear. But we're also not totally surprised. We know the timing stinks as does the market. If worrying could bring you buyers, I'd have hundreds of them. But I also know that by worrying this much about it, means that I don't have faith that God is in control of the situation. I just have to keep reminding myself:). So, if anyone is looking to buy or rent a house in Chattanooga, we will give you a GREAT deal!
Childcare Highs: We found a Mom's Day Out program that Jake can go to 5 days a week. Yahoo! I thought the most he would be able to go would be 3 days a week & we would have to find a sitter to fill in for the rest. But we found one that we are really happy with, he can go 5 mornings a week & they had an opening in his age group. Another high? The teachers seem very nice and they have been very sweet to Jake. He has cried each morning when I drop him off, but they text me pictures of him playing happily shortly after I leave. So that makes me very happy. Hopefully in the next few weeks he will be more familiar with the teachers & classmates and not fear the dreaded dropping off each morning!
Childcare Lows: There is no traffic light leaving the church & I have to turn left. Yikes! I drive like a 100-year-old woman & I'm terrified of driving. Turning left on a busy road without a light makes me want to throw-up. Add onto that a line of cars waiting to turn behind me, and my hands break out in a sweat. So each morning & afternoon leaving, I turn right, go down a mile or so until there is a place that I can do a U-turn at a light & head back in the right direction. Crazy? I know!! I probably put an additional 100 miles a month on my car by only making right hand turns w/out a light. Another low? Evidently you have to fix your kid's lunch for MDO. At daycare, they provided lunch. Now, fixing lunch would not be too bad to only do it 2 days a week, but we're talking about 5 days! So every day last week, Jake had a ham & cheese sandwich with some grapes. I don't know what else to fix!? It has to be something that can stay in his lunchbox & he can eat with his hands. I've got to come up with some better ideas so I can give this kid some variety!
Odd Story: I'm in Chattanooga for a quick dinner with a bank from up north that is in town for a visit & then a day of meetings. At dinner, 2 of the women with the bank were asking how things were going. I was telling them about Mother's Day Out and how happy we were to find one with an opening midyear. They finally asked me, what on earth is Mother's Day Out? I thought everyone knew what that was! You know... It's where you drop your kid off for a reasonable price at a big church so you can have a few hours to yourself & they can play with other kids. They had never heard of it. They only use daycare & nannies.
Part-time Work Highs: It is nice to have more time to spend with Jake. We are still working through the schedule. By the time we get home from MDO, it is his past his naptime. Jake naps for at least 2.5 hours, so by the time he wakes up, its almost 5:00. But it's nice to be able to eat dinner at a reasonable time & hang out together as a family. I'm not really working only 20 hours a week, BUT it is not 55 hours a week, so I'll take it!
Part-time Work Lows: Trying to keep myself from checking emails & answering calls when I'm not supposed to be working. It is so hard.
Apartment Highs: I'm not going to lie, I love the corporate apartment. Sure it has some lows, but the location is great (we are much closer into town then if we were in a house), the apartment is new & has lots of storage & closet space. Since we left all of our clutter & junk in Chattanooga, we only have our personal items in Birmingham. So there is so much room! I was even able to turn the huge walk in closet in Jake's room into a mini-craft room.
Apartment Lows: I miss our garage. I also feel sorry for the people beside us. We have a toddler that thinks he is on WWE every night. Jake screams, laughs, runs into things, basically makes as much noise as possible. I know our neighbors hate us. Thankfully the apartment below us is the model apartment, so there are not permanent residents. But I'm pretty sure we've cost the apt complex a few possible future tenants.
Most exciting from last week: Robbie passed his broker's license. Yea!! He is loving his job & I'm so happy for him.
Saddest thing from last week: Our realtor told us basically no one is interested in your house. Now granted, it has only been on the market a few weeks & one of those weeks, the entire town was snowed in! But it is still not news you want to hear. But we're also not totally surprised. We know the timing stinks as does the market. If worrying could bring you buyers, I'd have hundreds of them. But I also know that by worrying this much about it, means that I don't have faith that God is in control of the situation. I just have to keep reminding myself:). So, if anyone is looking to buy or rent a house in Chattanooga, we will give you a GREAT deal!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Jake's 2nd Birthday Party
After the craziness of throwing together last year's party, I swore that I would plan earlier this year. Next thing I know, it is the week before Jake's party & I've done nothing. I have about a million ideas in my head, but have not done the first thing. So, I just used the same ideas as last year, just with a different theme & colors. I SWEAR next year I'm going to come up with some new ideas!
I loved the cow balloons that I found at Party City!
Front door hanger
Back door hanger
The gift bag loot
Farmyard book for guests to sign
Which he refused to wear. I don't know why I even bothered.
Tacky Party Display Disclaimer: I wanted something to cover up the china cabinet, so I could hang the birthday banner. I saw online the cutest barn made out of a red plastic tablecloth & tape. How cute, cheap & easy? Perfect! I start making my barn about 6 AM Saturday morning. It was cheap, but certainly not easy & it certainly didn't turn out cute. The tape kept wrinkling the cheap plastic tablecloth. It was a mess. I got it somewhat presentable & hung it up. (Which by this point, Jake had gotten up and was insisting on "helping".) Once I hung it, I realized you could see completely through it and couldn't tell that it was supposed to be a barn. By this point, I had so much tape & tacks in our ceiling, I figured that it would be an even bigger mess to try to take it down. So, we were left with a transparent wod of plastic & tape.
Menu Cards
Photo Banner
This was Jake as we sang Happy Birthday
He did like blowing out the candles though!
Addie & her parents
David
Addie 
Jonathan
Connor (the party picked up after the cupcakes!)
After the cupcakes. A little excitement.
Addie finally has a girl at one of the parties to talk to. I think she was telling Marrell to stay away from all her boys.
2 cute little boys in overalls playing
Our dear sweet friends. Words cannot begin to explain how much this group of people means to us. They made living in Chattanooga such a wonderful experience and they are the reason that it is so hard to leave. Thank you for coming, and making our last party so special. 
The invite
The Decor
The Decor
I loved the cow balloons that I found at Party City!
Front door hanger
Back door hanger
The gift bag loot
Farmyard book for guests to sign
Birthday hat
Which he refused to wear. I don't know why I even bothered.
Tacky Party Display Disclaimer: I wanted something to cover up the china cabinet, so I could hang the birthday banner. I saw online the cutest barn made out of a red plastic tablecloth & tape. How cute, cheap & easy? Perfect! I start making my barn about 6 AM Saturday morning. It was cheap, but certainly not easy & it certainly didn't turn out cute. The tape kept wrinkling the cheap plastic tablecloth. It was a mess. I got it somewhat presentable & hung it up. (Which by this point, Jake had gotten up and was insisting on "helping".) Once I hung it, I realized you could see completely through it and couldn't tell that it was supposed to be a barn. By this point, I had so much tape & tacks in our ceiling, I figured that it would be an even bigger mess to try to take it down. So, we were left with a transparent wod of plastic & tape.
Menu Cards
Photo BannerThis was Jake as we sang Happy Birthday
He did like blowing out the candles though!
Birthday Boy!
Dru & his mom
Addie & her parents
Jake's cousins Maddox & Marrell came up with Nana & Gran to the party
David
Addie 
Jonathan
Connor (the party picked up after the cupcakes!)
After the cupcakes. A little excitement.
Addie finally has a girl at one of the parties to talk to. I think she was telling Marrell to stay away from all her boys.
2 cute little boys in overalls playing
Our dear sweet friends. Words cannot begin to explain how much this group of people means to us. They made living in Chattanooga such a wonderful experience and they are the reason that it is so hard to leave. Thank you for coming, and making our last party so special. 
To my little munchkin who all of this was for. Happy 2nd Birthday Jake!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)