Still here . . .

Hey! Yes, I'm still here. Yes, I am a terribly inconsistent blogger. Anyway, had my 22 week checkup yesterday, and everything is looking and sounding great. This has been a very uneventful pregnancy thus far, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way. It's amazing how much faster a second pregnancy seems to go than a first when you're busy with a toddler! We had our 20 week ultrasound just over two weeks ago (5/14/07), and the important news - IT'S A GIRL!!! Sean is going to have a little sister. So, the clothes buying has begun, albeit slowly thus far. I still need to go through all of the stuff we have packed away to see what is neutral enough to reuse from Sean. I've found some bedding on the internet that I love, now we just need to narrow it down, choose one, and order it so we can get the room painted. Sean is as funny as ever and growing like a weed. He loves to talk! Guess that's it for now. Later!

He ain't heavy . . .

So, this past Sunday (5/6/07), mom and dad agreed to babysit for Sean at our house while we bowled the last night in our league. A few weeks back, they babysat as well, then spent the night and spent a huge portion of the next day helping us put together a swingset in the backyard for Sean. This past Sunday, all that was left was to install the slide and add plastic rocks to the climbing wall. After it was all finished, Sean was having a blast checking it out and playing on it. The rock climbing wall has plastic rocks and a rope affixed to it to assist with climbing. However, Sean has decided that he likes to climb on the rocks only, and ignore the rope. My mom decided to try to teach him to use the rope, so after he finished climbing to the top, he was sitting on the platform looking at us. Mom said “here Sean, you use the rope like this (holding it with both her hands), and pull yourself up like this”. She placed a foot on one of the rocks and pulled up a bit. Sean looks at us from his perch on the platform and says “No Grandma, you too heavy.” I haven’t laughed that hard in quite awhile!

Who knew mowing the lawn could be so fun?

Monday evening (5/7/07), Sean had an appointment with his ENT to check the tubes in his ears, so by the time we grabbed dinner at Red Robin and stopped at the store, it was just after 7 PM by the time we got home for the day. Scott decided to try to get at least half the lawn cut before we put Sean to bed, so I took Sean to the backyard to play on his swingset. He asked for his lawnmower, so we retrieved it from the garage. I told him that he could cut the backyard while daddy cut the front. He wanted to see daddy, but I wanted him to stay out of the way, so I kept him in the back. He was pretty excited when daddy made a pass through the side yard, and we could see him from the back. He began yelling “Hi Daddy, Hi Daddy”, but over the noise of the mower, Scott couldn’t hear him. When he made the next pass, I told him to wave to maybe daddy could see him. He waved excitedly and yelled even louder, “Hi Daddy”, Scott waved, and as he headed back toward the front yard, Sean yelled “Daddy, I cut grass too!”. He is just so darn cute sometimes! We eventually headed to the front yard, where he took his mower, and watched daddy for a second, then started walking along the same pattern up and down the yard from the house to the street and back, pushing his mower just a few feet over from daddy. Adorable!

Cuteness abounds

In the wake of a 2 1/2 year old boy, it is common to find a wide swath of crumbs, toys, tears, tantrums, and other miscellany, but through the whirlwind of activity, cuteness abounds. Even on the days when the limits have been tested to the breaking point, he still manages to leave me with smile on my face and joy in my heart.

• This morning while we were getting ready for work/school (daycare), Sean was coughing something terrible. He seems to have inherited all of mommy's allergies, and the cough was awful this morning. I went in the bathroom to get some cough medicine, and he followed me right in to take it. He *loves* to take medicine. That is sincere, not sarcasm. He drank it all up, then took the spoon, as he always does, and noisily slurped up the little bit that remained. "All gone" he informed me as he handed me the spoon. Then he turned to daddy who was sitting on the edge of the bed watching the proceedings, "I eat it all gone" he informed daddy proudly. He actually says this quite a bit, and though not grammatically correct, I think it is totally adorable.
• The Sunday before last (04/15/07), we had stopped in at my parents house for a visit, lunch, and a nap (which never did happen), after getting Sean measured for his tux for Kerri and Brad's wedding. He didn't want to sleep because he wanted to play with Grandma and PawPaw. All afternoon, he was pushing the limits. Not really acting up badly, but just not listening. At all. To anyone. Not even just me, which is par for the course. Towards the end of the visit, I was extremely frustrated with the lack of listening skills he had on display. I put my hands on his shoulders and turned him to face me. "What is wrong with you today?" I asked him, "Are your ears broken?" He finally made eye contact and said "Yeah Mommy, my ears are broken." I couldn't help but laugh. What else can you do? He is just so darn cute sometimes!

Kill me with kindness

Last night, after we had gone through our nighttime ritual and tucked Sean into bed, Scott went to the basement, and I was starting to pack for our big wedding weekend. I found outfits for Sean to wear to rehearsal and the after-wedding brunch and set those aside, along with the black dress shoes I found him, my shoes, and a few other items I want to be sure not to forget.

Then I set about the dreaded task - find myself something to wear to the rehearsal. I was digging through a bin full of formerly "fat" clothes, and found a skirt that I wore for Easter after I had Sean. The thing should still be too big on me, but sure enough it fit just fine. I dug through my closet for a shirt that would match and was pulling one on when Sean walked into the room with a little grin on his face. "Daddy downsairs?" he asked. I told him yes, and that he could climb up in mommy and daddy's bed for a few minutes until I could take him back to bed. I vetoed the first shirt, pulled on a second one and looked in the mirror. Sure enough, just look fat, not pregnant. Yuck.

At that moment, Sean peeked his little head up from laying on the bed and looked at me. "Your dress is pretty, Mommy." Awwwwwwww. Sometimes he just melts my heart. I'm not even sure where he learned the word dress!? I don't wear them often, if at all! Okay, guess that's what I'm wearing then baby!

It's been a long time . . . again

Eek! I can't believe it's been so long since I've been here to post an update! So much has happened since January.

• Sean is growing like a weed. He's amazing and exasperating - right on track for a two and a half year old!
• Sean is also going to be a big brother! I'm pregnant with baby #2, due September 29, 2007. Being busy with a toddler is certainly making this pregnancy go much faster than the last one!
• My SIL is getting married this weekend, and all three of us are in the wedding. Should be a beautiful, hectic time.
• My nephew is more than 6 months old already! My how time flies.
• Sean has a new swingset that Daddy and PawPaw put together this past weekend, minus a few finishing touches . . . like the all-important slide. He is loving it!
• Sean taken yet another step into the land of a big boy, and is now sleeping in his new room in a twin bed. Lightning McQueen and Mater are the decor of choice. The room still needs some finishing touches and paint, but he loves it. He has done phenomenally with the switch, and will now go into the nursery (his old room) and point to the crib, swing, exersaucer, and bouncy seat and tell anyone who will listen that they are for the baby.
• Work is crazy, as usual. Still working too much, but with maternity leave and the final due date for this project both looming in September, at least there is an end in sight.

Okay, can't think of anything else right now, so I'll sign off. I'll try to check back sooner than the last time!

Happy New Year!!!

Where does the time go? I just can't believe it's already 2007. What an exciting year this is going to be.

We started off by ringing in the new year at a little party with a few great friends, some wonderful food, football on the television, and plenty of alcohol. I think a good time was had by all. I had a fantastic time!

This year will be a year of celebrations with Scott and I both turning 30, Scott's sister getting married, our little man turning 3, and my nephew celebrating his 1st birthday. Cheers to a wonderful year for everyone!!

Capturing time with family portraits

A little mommy love. This is what being a mommy is all about . . .






















This captures him so well. The little man does love his thumb . . .





















Two years already? My little man is getting so big!!





















Does he love his daddy? One look says it all . . .





















Go Boilers!





















Tackle!





















Touchdown!
















A traditional family portrait for the ages. Family time . . . priceless





















My favorite!





















The family that plays together, stays together





















WHO DEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





















Football fans? Us? Are you sure??

Life just gets away from you sometimes . . .

Why do I feel like this happens to me more than it should? Just once, I would like to feel like I have enough time to accomplish everything that needs to be done. Well, everything that I think needs to be done. I guess maybe I just need to learn to adjust my perception of what needs to be done. If only the powers that be at the fantastic day job would realize that we're real live human beings with real live families and real live priorities. Imagine that.

So, now that we've established that work is kicking my butt . . . life otherwise is good. Busy, as anyone with a two year old could tell you, but overall pretty good. Vacation is looming closer. The holidays are approaching. I'm an aunt! My little man is one of the most well-behaved two-year olds I've ever been around. Husband, toddler, marriage, house . . . check, check, check, check, all good!

Now, if only I could figure out a way to fit 25 hours into the day, and not take any family time away with work, but still make money, I'd be all set! ;-)

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

My baby sister and my baby-man

Mommy and her little man

My sister and I, enjoying the limo ride to the church

I know I haven't updated in forever, but I've been a very busy girl. Here's a few pictures from my sister's wedding as proof!

Keeping my head above water . . . sort of

Wow, I didnt' realize it had been so long! Life is moving right along, and I'm just trying to go with the flow.

• Work is incredibly busy, and I'm still feeling more like a newbie than I was expecting.
• Sean is wonderful and adorable and growing like a weed, but he's going through a bit of a phase and it's more than a little exhausting. He keeps refusing bottles intermittently, but eats well, has diarrhea quite often, but doesn't have a fever or act sick, he's been waking during the night more than he used to, but not every night, and he cries more than he used to. I think the crying is rooted in his frustration at wanting to be more mobile, but he hasn't quite gotten the hang of it yet. He can pull himself up onto his knees from a sitting position, and get from a sitting position onto his hands and knees, but then he lays down and gets angry, because he can't get back up to a sitting position. He seems really close to crawling. I know once he does, I will have to chase him all over, but I hope he figures it out soon. I hate seeing him so frustrated. He fell sound asleep laying in bed with daddy this morning while I was taking a shower and getting ready for work. It was so sweet. I wanted to take a picture, but I didn't want to disturb them with the flash.
• As of Tuesday, the first floor of our house was framed, so it's actually starting to look like a real house! Yay!
• Our next three weekends are booked solid. We'll be lucky to have time to breathe, much less relax!
• The little man's baptism is finally scheduled, so now, in all of my "free-time", I have to get invitations ready and mailed, find a christening outfit, and plan a party. Good times!

Well, that about sums it up for now. I'm goin' home to give my baby kisses!!

My Poor Baby :-(

My little man isn't feeling well. :-( I'm hoping he's just teething, but if that's not it, then he's coming down with some sort of bug. Last night was just miserable. If we weren't holding him, he was crying. Crying HARD. He would NOT sleep. He was sooooo tired though, I could just tell. Then the diarrhea started. Fun, fun, fun. We tried teething tablets and Orajel, walking and singing, nursing and rocking, bouncy seat and crib. Plus lots of diapers and Balmex. Snuggling on the bed with mommy and daddy was the only thing that was close to working, and that was just to keep him from crying so hard, it wasn't helping him go to sleep. At one point we realized that he was starting to feel warm, so I went to the diaper bag for the Tylenol. I've only used it a few times, and it was in a Ziploc baggy, so I know it didn't leak, but it seems that it congealed or evaporated or something. We couldn't get anything out of the bottle. It hadn't even reached it's expiration date. Ugh. It was after 11 PM. The Walgreens near us isn't open 24 hrs. Grr. Now what?? So, after debating for a bit, and more crying, I took his temp. It was a low grade fever, about 100°F, but I knew he was uncomfortable. Scott volunteered to run to the grocery, but I wasn't sure it would be open. Luckily, their hours were posted on their website, so off he ran. By the time he returned with the medicine, the poor thing was drifting off to sleep. We got a dose in him quickly, and laid him in his crib. It was 11:45. We repeated the fun at both 1:15AM and 4:30AM. Wahoo! The alarm went off at 5:30. Ick. I slept in for an hour and went into work about 45 min late so I could let the poor baby get some extra sleep before I had to get him up and ready. He seemed a bit happier this morning.

I am soooooo sleepy!

Penny for your thoughts . . .

I have been so insanely busy this week that I haven't even had time to collect my thoughts, much less write them down in any sort of coherent fashion. So, of course, now I'm writing, when I should be doing 800,000 other things. Many more productive things. But who cares. This is what I want to do right now, so I'm doing it. Anyway . . .

Progress is being made on our house. We check on it almost daily, or at least every other day. They dug the foundation, poured the concrete walls (there will be three windows in our basement :-)), waterproofed the foundation, and probably did lots of other things, but to my untrained, never built a house before eye, those are the things that jumped out at me. There is even a sold sign out front now with our future house's address on it. Yay!

The little man is doing awesome. He rolls all over now, but only in one direction still. Once he hits the couch, he keeps trying to push it away so he can keep rolling. Hasn't figured out yet that he could just roll in the other direction and go lots more places! He isn't quite pulling up yet, but he did manage to reach his mobile while laying in his crib, and was pulling on it pretty hard, so we will be dropping the crib mattress this weekend. Ugh. I will probably have to start lowering the side to lay him down now, rather than just reaching over. It's just so convenient the way it is, but I don't want to take the chance of him getting hurt.

My sister and her fiance closed on their new condo this past week. It's very cute. I think our bridesmaids dresses were finally ordered this week as well. Guess I should probably check on that. January sounds so far away, but I'm sure it will come up fast. I would so love to lose some more of this weight before then!

Guess that's all I've got for now. I'll get back to ya when I can think coherently again. :-)

Mommyhood & Me

I *LOVE* being a mom. Being a mommy is now officially my favorite thing in the whole wide world. It's funny, I always knew I wanted to be a mom, but the enormity of the whole thing is incredible. I love my baby boy more than life itself. More than I ever knew was possible. I could stare at him for an eternity. Sleeping, eating, playing, smiling, laughing, even crying. It doesn't matter what he is doing, I could just watch him forever. Sometimes I feel like a selfish child with a new toy. I want to hold him forever and not share! I have this overwhelming urge to protect him from the world. I love smothering him in hugs and kisses. I even love kissing his precious little tootsies! (and I am SO not a "feet" person . . . ick) Everything about my little man is amazing to me. He is growing and learning every day, every hour, every minute, every second, and I am so honored to be a part of it.

Public Service Announcement

I am the mommy. Please let me raise my child as I (and my husband) see fit. If you already have children, you have raised/are raising your child(ren) the way you see fit. It worked/works for you, and I am fine with that. If you do not yet have children, trust me, your ideas on child-rearing will probably be modified if/when you actually experience parenthood. Until then, you don't know what it's like. Please respect my right to take care of my baby as I would like to. Thank you.

. . . sorry . . . mini rant off now . . .

Can ya'll dig it?

Well, today is finally the day. They should be breaking ground for our new house as I sit here typing this, and me, being the dork that I am, can't stop obsessing about it. Or, using, commas. Whatever. It is so gray and overcast outside, I just keep hoping the rain holds off so they can get this process moving. I haven't gotten one useful thing accomplished here at work today. All I can think about is the house, and how much I would rather be spending time with Sean.

We took him to another Reds game yesterday. He brought home another Reds win (10-6 over the Orioles!). He is such a good luck charm for them. He loves to go to the games, and is so good while we're there. Everyone always asks me how old he is, then they comment on how well-behaved he is to sit at a game like that. Well, between me and his daddy, you have to figure it's in his blood!

He is becoming much more proficient at rolling, though he doesn't seem to have figured out how to use it as a way to get places. That's okay though, he's so much easier to keep tabs on this way. ;-) He also got his first bump on his head. :-( As he is trying to learn to become more mobile, he is also becoming a danger to himself. He was sitting on the floor last Thursday night, playing with his toys, when he must have decided that he needed something slightly out of his reach. He toppled over, face first on a toy, and now has a little bruise on the left side of his forehead. He barely even cried. My rough and tumble little man . . . don't grow up too fast baby!