a "sick day" for moms

It's really too bad one of those doesn't exist.

nate's room

Remember when Wes painted Nate's room the day we got our keys to our house?

Well, it's been a work in progress for the last 7 months but I think it's done. Of course there are things I'd change but I'm moving on to my office & family room.



Nate loves seeing pictures that remind him of something. So there's a lot of nate in his room. We've got Nate with Pluto at Disneyland. When Nate caught his first fish. His first day of preschool. And Nate on a cabin car with Papa.

Nate is pretty proud of his hand painting on the wall.

These are Nate's friends that sleep in his bed every night. Yes, they all sleep in there. Even the giant Iguana named Piggy-Iggy.

i love this boy.

I am in love with this boy of mine.  He is at such a fun [and much easier] stage & I’m loving it.

For one, he is a HAPPY dude.  He’s got such a great personality.

He’s loving these newer developments:

. sitting up big in his stroller.

. sitting in a high-chair at restaurants.

. sitting in the shopping cart at the store.

[notice a trend?  much less time in the ol’ carseat which he’s not a big fan of.]

. eating puffs [best baby food invention] as well as little bites of fruit.  He loves it.  And being able to feed him during times when he’s a little bored/fussy/tired is fabulous.  I am so impressed with him – he had no trouble at all eating something more substantial than baby mush!

 

And I am loving:

. all of the above.

. that he’ll sit with a bucket of toys and just play and play.  That is, as long as Nate isn’t around to pester him.

. that he’s moving around – but I don’t feel like he’s everywhere yet.  It’s just enough to keep him happy.  Usually if I plop him down sitting up, he stays sitting up instead of crawling.  But that started to change today.

. that he goes to bed between 6:30pm-7pm every night and wakes up around 7am [with one quick bottle in between].

. that even when he’s crying and upset he can put himself to sleep pretty quickly – most of the time.

. his constant smiles.

 

I feel like we’re in that “calm before the storm” period.  The storm being where he’s absolutely everywhere and in to everything.

I’m one happy mama with this little boy.  Hallelujah that the little baby/newborn stage is over.

nate's first day of [pre]school

Today was it. Nate's first day of [pre]school. He's totally ready for some regular structure - he loves it. And today was the best day we've had in a long time. He was so well-behaved all day. He even fell asleep for an hour right after school!

We've been talking about going to school for a while now but Nate's usual response was "i not going to school." He's either really unsure of the unknowns or overly confident. But until this week he wasn't excited about school.

Luckily his cute teacher, Miss Monaca [she's in our old ward], had a pre-school open house last night for us to come see the classroom and meet his teacher. He was beyond excited as we drove there but then was pretty shy and hesitant the entire 30 minute open house. But I knew that would be the case. Monaca's classroom is adorable! [it's a little bit of a drive for us to get to school . . . so the entire way out there Nate kept saying . . . "mom, this is a little too far for me."]

Today? A totally different story. He was beyond excited. He wore his backpack for a good 30+ minutes before we had to leave & he was excited to get his "school" picture taken. He was eating breakfast and I could tell he was thinking about something. All of a sudden he turns to me and says, "mom - I won't cry at school. I'll just wave goodbye and say 'mom, have a nice day!"

And that's pretty much what happened.

School wouldn't be the same without these TWO kiddos. Two of Nate's favorite people - Hadley & Harrison. It definitely was fun for him to get to go to school with two of his buddies.

I can't believe I have a kiddo in school.

I debated a little bit on whether to keep Nate at this preschool since it is a little ways from our house and I won't be able to come home while Nate is there. But he loves being with his two buddies so seeing him today made it all worth it. And I've committed myself to walking [with an occasional jog in there] while Nate's in school. We'll probably stick closer to home next year but I think this year will be a great one for him.

I'm really excited to have some quality time with this monkey. Even though preschool is killing Ryan's nap schedule I'm excited to have some time with just him. I think he was ready for a little toddler freedom, too.

labor day weekend 2010

we haven’t stayed home for a 3-day weekend in YEARS.  so we decided to give it a whirl this labor day weekend and i have to say it was kinda nice.

simply not having to pack & un-pack was fabulous.

we did get quite a bit done on saturday as far as a few projects & errands.  but the rest of the weekend was saved for FUN. 

here’s some of the FUN:

. lots of swimming

 

. sunday afternoon on the front lawn.  it’s BEARABLE [and actually quite nice] outside which we’re loving.

 

 

. since we usually go to the cabin – wes and nate decided to build their own at home.

  

. my favorite part?  taking nate bowling for the first time.  other than nate crossing the line and falling on his head – he loved it.  and i’m a little embarrassed to say that he almost beat me.  the only reason he didn’t was i let him bowl my last one and he got me a spare without the bumpers!

It was a nice, relaxing weekend at home with our little family!

a story to remember

Once again, for the sake of recording . . . .

A few weeks ago on a Saturday morning, Wes got Nate dressed and off they went to Costco while Ryan and I were working on my office.

An hour or so later they came home and Nate ran upstairs in his underwear to tell me that he sat in gum and his shorts were on the counter.

I walked downstairs to help put stuff away and I see Ryan's 6 month shorts on the counter with gum plastered on the rear.

Apparently Nate is skinny enough to fit in 6 month shorts without question from dad. I'm sure they were a little short [i wish i could have witnessed him in costco] but they slid right on. These same shorts are a little snug on Ryan's rather large belly.

It made for a good laugh on a Saturday morning.

i can't help but smile.

When Ryan wakes up he is almost always HAPPY. He rolls around in his crib and "talks" for about ten minutes before I go in and get him.

Lately he greets me like this: the bumper pulled down so he can stare at the door, waiting for me to open it. As soon as he hears the handle turn he's all smiles.

And I am, too.