The REAL Strife of the Toddler Life

Holy Moly. Someone call for backup because we are in STRAIGHT UP, FULL ON, FOUR ALARM toddler mode over here. A year ago my mother-in-law handed down some advice that the newborn stage would be the easiest time of mommy hood. (My sleep deprived, un-showered, nursing-self gave her….well, not the nicest look.) Now I agree…the sleep, poop, eat, repeat process is definitely easier.

Greyson has found his little legs in the past two months and ALL….and I mean ALL… he wants to do is run around the house from one thing to the next. And toddler speed is pretty impressive. I’m over here like the hunchback of Notre Dame chasing him around and trying to prevent him from falling onto something dangerous. And apparently I’m failing at that because we’ve ended up with 2 bruised foreheads and a chipped front tooth.  This resulted in my hubby sanding the edges of our coffee table into rounded corners.

Nice and baby proof. And yes, that is a cowbell randomly lying on the floor.  Go Dawgs.

In a desperate attempt to gain back a few minutes of my day, we cleaned out our stairway closet, threw in some toys and added a baby gate. I feel like this is the most genius thing since Newton’s law. Or Wal-Mart Grocery Pickup. It’s a tie. 

And G actually loves it. I really think it stops him from walking so much that he can actually sit down and enjoy his toys! Jeremie and I call it “Independent Play Time.” It’s developmental. Wink.

The upside is….he can walk! Now I’m not as concerned about the ball joint coming out of place from Baby on a Hip Syndrome. The playground is a new outlet too, because he can run around ‘till his little heart’s content while I sit on a bench and breathe. And eat a snack without having to share it. Because apparently that's another toddler thing. They want everything on your plate. And that’s just not cool with me. I love eating off other people’s plates (my hubby’s pet peeve) but don’t touch mine because, yes, I plan to eat all of it.

Hiding things has also become a problem. Greyson is obsessed with swiping my spices. Which has taught me couple things: 1) CLOSE THE PANTRY! 2) I need to rearrange the pantry. (Or maybe I just need to baby proof better.) One day he somehow managed to sneak some spices into the backyard when we went outside to play. I thought I’d gathered most of them until I tried to make his teacher gifts the next Tuesday. (Of course I waited until the LAST DAY of Mother’s Day Out of the year to whip up four pumpkin breads.) It had already been a hectic morning so I about lost it when I couldn’t find the dang ground cloves. Then it hit me. I felt like a CRAZY person frantically searching in the backyard for my missing spice. Let’s just say the breads didn’t receive their eighth of a teaspoon of cloves. Hope they tasted good. (I finally found them last week under G’s crib…DUH.) We’ve also found my slippers in the bathtub, mascara in my hoodie pocket (that was missing for 3 weeks!), and most recently, the Apple TV remote in the hood of G’s little red convertible car.  And while I was at the doctor recently, my purse started singing familiar toy tunes. I scrambled to the bottom and found G’s Fisher-Price TV remote. I think he left it in there just in case I’d forgotten about him.

In another attempt to keep G still for more than two hot seconds, I’ve tried to incorporate some arts and crafts sessions. (And by some, I mean two.) Plus he comes home with cute little makings from Mother’s Day Out and his teachers will write on his report: “Greyson enjoyed making his stocking, today!” So of course, in full mom guilt, I thought maybe I was depriving my craft loving child from a creative outlet. So around Christmas I decided we were gonna craft it up. I had the fantasy of a gingerbread house and my sweet hubby told me I was setting myself up for failure. (I still bought one and yep, it’s still in the box.) So I Googled “Crafts for a one year old” and off to Wal-Mart we went! The goal was a foam snowman and a Christmas tree using a cork to blot on the ornaments. Easy enough right? Here’s what we ended up with.

A blind snowman and a bunch of paint everywhere. Pretty sure G was as terrified as I was. This week we tried a chalk tablecloth. FOOL PROOF. Right? Well, after I drew G a couple samples, he just wanted to roll around in the chalk and carry the colors everywhere.

And today he grabbed the real TV remote and quicker than two shakes of a lamb’s tail, he pulled up “Straight Outta Compton”. I don’t even know what that is….a movie?

But listen. Despite all the crazy, it’s worth every minute. The other day we came home from the arboretum and I looked down at my neon wrist band that allowed us into the children’s garden. It made me laugh because a few years ago, a neon wrist band on a Sunday usually meant that I had a SUPER FUN time the night before. But nothing can top this. It's such a joy and blessing to watch this child grow and develop a personality. I can’t wait to see where this adventure will lead next.

And where the tv remote is, because it’s nowhere in sight……..

I Wish Every Day Could be Like.....New Year’s Day

Happy New Year! It’s 2016! For starters, I think it’s gonna be great because it’s an even number and I like even numbers. (I’m not crazy-my friend shared the same feeling last night!)

I just love how the New Year brings such a fresh feeling, one of a blank slate and empowerment that THIS will be the year you do all the “things” that make you feel like you’re reaching your full potential. Living life to the fullest. (You know….all those things that started sliding through the cracks about March of last year.)  There’s really NOTHING different about a new year, it’s just advancement on the calendar of time. But for some reason a fresh set of 365 days makes us hopeful, helps us start anew. I’m not a different person than I was on December 31^st,  just a more optimistic version. 

So along with the masses, I took my head full of dreams and cheerfully headed to Target with my toddler (who let me tell you-LIVES LIFE TO THE FULLEST EVERY DAY) to get a new planner. A BIGGER planner.  (Mainly because my to-do list each day is now longer as a mommy.) And I just loved the blank pages in the back where I planned to put my 2016 GOALS so I could continually refresh myself of my new and improved lifestyle. So I started penciling in what I wanted those goals to be. I decisively began with four columns: Faith, Personal, Mommy, Marriage. I started with the “big” ones:

• Complete daily bible study lesson
• More prayer/quiet time
• FINISH reading the entire Bible (um, I started this one year mission in 2012!)
• Volunteer more
•  Blog more
• Work out at least twice a week (People, I actually DID THIS last week!)
• Pray for Greyson more
• PLAY with Greyson more (Like intentional play time, not just keep him distracted)
• Pray for my hubby more
•  Pray WITH my hubby more
• Go on more dates with hubby

For some reason all this sounded doable, so as I thought of additional goals, I’d add them to the list. Then it started to get out of hand…….

• More intentional 1:1 time with friends (not to interfere with the increased quiet time, volunteering, and date time with my hubby
•   Keep a cleaner car (clear out the 72 water bottles and empty squeezables)
•    Clear my photo stream so I can UPDATE MY PHONE!
• Stay updated on printing said pictures on my phone (because, one day I’m gonna start scrapbooking again, right?)
•  Clean out closet & dresser
• Keep house clean (but not TOO clean, because that would mean I’m not having intentional play time with Greyson)
•   Clean out office space (to do more blogging in…..duh...)
• Go to bed earlier (After this list, how the heck do you think I’m gonna do that?!)

Lawd have mercy, I’m already exhausted after just typing my list. So far today, I told my phone to “Remind Me Later” about updating; I ate M&M’s WITH my hot chocolate, and whispered an angry prayer to have more patience with my husband. But I did hit the button on the Roomba and let her sweep the floor, so I have somewhat cleaned the house, right? Geez.

But ya know what…it’s hard to be discouraged. At first, looking at my messy (again) kitchen makes me defeated, and well, tired. But it reminds me that I had homemade beignets with my husband and son this morning. The fact that I can’t update my phone is because there are so many photos of my darling family. I didn’t go to bed early last night because I had a super fun night out with my girlfriends. The reason the office is a mess is because we finally moved back in after a horrible house fire last year and months of renovations. And let’s go big picture…those water bottles in my car… mean I have clean water to drink..

Goals are great-they give us a sense of direction and it feels so accomplishing to meet your goals. BUT-instead of feeling discouraged-or like I’m falling short-I need to focus on being THANKFUL even when I don’t measure up to my expectations. God tends to disguise blessings in failure, shortcomings…..and yes, even messy kitchens.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

November-ISH

By no means am I an OCD person, NOR do I keep up with this blog faithfully, but I feel like I just can't move on to blogging about December until I cover November.  We were busy people, but not nearly as CRAY as October. Here's run down......

We had our 12 month appointment complete with a big ole set of shots. He screamed like a banshee. Chunky Monkey weighed 20 pounds. (Now that he's been eating tablefood, I'm pretty sure he's gained 10 since this day.) He's only in the 35th percentile for height, but let's face it, I didn't marry Labron James. (And I don't offer much in that area.) I just couldn't believe we were at our 12 MONTH appointment! I felt like we'd just been there for his 2 DAY appointment with my sweet little 6 pound baby. This time G ripped the table paper to SHREDS and almost knocked over the big exam mirror on the wall. 

November 13th marked one year since the house fire. It was INSANE to think about much our world was turned upside down 365 days ago and how far we've come since then. All I can say is Praise the Lord. I should try to write an entire entry on what He has taught me about His faithfulness in those 365 days, but honestly, I don't know if I could put it into words that would make sense! 

We DID get our gas logs just in time for the one year anniversary and lit a celebratory fire! 

Greyson and I did some Christmas shopping.......

Greyson also cut his upper molars. And folks, it was BRUTAL. He ran a high fever for 3 days and was so pitiful, fussy, inconsolable. Thank the Lord for Baby Einstein videos.

And this one's just for your viewing pleasure.......

And at the end of the month, we headed to Mississippi for Thanksgiving. On the way home, J suggested stopping at the Bass Pro Shop so G could "run around" and get out some energy. Right. You know how much I believe that? 

J is already doing hunter education with Greyson. 

And boating safety. J daydreams about one day having a boat. In fact, he's always called my engagement ring "the boat".....like it was his "boat money".....but let's be honest, if he would've bought a boat instead of a ring.....he'd be riding solo...... ; )  #popthequestionalready

We enjoyed 2 Thanksgiving meals with our families, left Mr. Fancypants with the inlaws, and headed to Starkvegas for the Egg Bowl. This was our first overnight together without a baby! We hit up all our favorites including The Grill, Anthony's, and The Lodge. Anthony's was our favorite date night place when we were in school and where we went after J proposed! We always eat in a little corner booth by the window. 

We also snooped around and toured the new addition to the stadium called The Gridiron. 

Even though the score didn't result in Bulldawg favor, we had a BLAST! 

Being on campus is just magical for me and Jeremie.

And meanwhile.........the inlaws SPOILED my child rotten. He's in there somewhere. 

And as far as I was concerned, the second Thanksgiving was over, it was time for Christmas! We hit up the Arboretum with our friends Nicole and Hagen to see the big tree. I can't say enough about the arboretum. I'm shamelessly obsessed! There's so much to do!

Say CHEESE!!!!



So that was November folks! One more month in 2015!!!!!

October: Pumpkins, Parties and Plane Rides

Sweet Mercy. I can't believe we actually fit all we did into the month of October. It was fabulous though. Such a fun, jam-packed month, and it might be my favorite month of this year so far! 

At the beginning of the month, me and Lil G loaded on a jet plane (a very small one) and headed to MS for the BIG Taylor-Myers wedding!  

This was the 5th time I've flown with Mr. Tinypants, and ya'll, even though I feel like I've got it somewhat down to a science, it never gets any easier. Even though the flight itself is only a little over an hour, it's like trying to hold down a cat in a bathtub. I enter the plane with a full bag of tricks....a new toy for every 15 minutes of flight. Fortunately on this trip, G had his own seat, so at least I didn't have to try to hold him on my lap without scratching, grabbing, or licking the person next to me. 

We arrived at CC and Pop's who had a flashy new rocket for him to ride on. They don't spoil him at all. 

We immediately got to work on all things wedding, including painting road signs, packing lanterns, and loading the car. The next day, Mom and I dropped Lil G off with his other grandparents before we headed up to Starkville. When we arrived at their house, I opened the backdoor and saw this....

SADLY, as much as I love chocolate, that is not what this is. I FROZE. I didn't even know what to do or how to begin to redeem this situation. My mom was also gasping, but probably secretly saying to herself: "PAYBACK!!!!"  So I began executing a plan of wiping him down as best I could so I could at least touch him to get him out of the carseat. My mom ran into my inlaws house and got a trash bag which we laid in the driveway and put G on and striped him naked. Then we took him straight to the bathtub. After pressure washing the carseat for 15 minutes, we were finally on our way to Starkville to wedding prep! 

Greyson had a great time with his Nona and Papa

We spent the next 2.5 days setting up tables, chairs, hanging lanterns, decorating arbors, and hanging more lanterns. 

The happy couple!!!! What you might not know about these two is what they've already overcome before their wedding day. Two weeks after Adam proposed in February, he was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and went through chemo for the next 5 months. PRAISE THE LORD on July 30th he went into remission!!! So their JOY on the wedding day was just overwhelming and so sweet. They are completely perfect for each other! The wedding was absolutely gorgeous!

Isn't she lovely?

And the ring bearer was pretty darlin' too.....

And even though every part of my body ACHED from wedding exhaustion, we were so happy to take Greyson to campus for the first time the next morning! 

He looks like a happy Bulldog to me.

Reluctantly, we loaded our crew up and headed back to Texas. I spent the week recovering and returning clean drawers to our drawers, pardon the pun. (Let's face it.....I was gone a week, there was much laundry to be had.) 

THEN.....DUN DUN DUN.....I woke up Friday morning SICK. AS. A. DOG. Mama down. Jeremie is a VERY supportive husband, but on this particular morning had a VERY important meeting 9 a.m., so he was kinda giving me the "you're just gonna have to power through it speech". But he did say he'd change/feed/play with Greyson until his morning nap. As I literally CRAWLED into the kitchen to try to take over, I saw G completely throw up his entire breakfast. Baby down. At that point, Jeremie just called it a day and did his business over the phone. 

By Sunday, me and G were feeling better and NEEDED to get out of the house. And let's face it, it was already October 11th, so in my eyes we were already 11 days late to the pumpkin patch. So to the patch we went!  We hit up a darling place in McKinney called Storybook Ranch which had a great petting zoo, pumpkin patch and wagon ride to the 1800's replica village in the back of the property.  It was SO cute! G really enjoyed holding onto the pumpkins and walking around. (Which is his new obsession now.) 

And after our blissful first trip to the pumpkin patch.......the plague returned to our home and Jeremie was SICK. Daddy down.  I sent him to bed with a phenergan pill and Lysol(ed) every door knob, light switch, and remote in our home.

G was kind of pitiful throughout the week; it took him a while to get back to eating and drinking normally. Thank goodness he recovered just in time for our families to arrive on Thursday for his FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY! 

We did a Milk and Cookies theme and it turned out SO CUTE! I had SO much fun getting everything ready and decorating! 

Lil G's 12 months of photos was one of my favorite decorations!

About 2 hours before the party, Jeremie asked me "If I get my to-do list done, can I set up a tv outside?" It was SO sweet and hilarious! Clearly, he finished his list and set up his very own tailgate within a matter of minutes. I think all the male attendees were thankful.

Greyson didn't really know what to do with his cake. 

What a crew of mamas and babies! We were missing a few, but these girls have seriously helped me survive the past 12 months!

Post party shenanigans with Pop!

The next day, the whole crew loaded up and headed to the Dallas Arboretum which has the MOST AMAZING pumpkin patch! It's insane....like 75,000 pumpkins! Since there were so many of us, our parents just bought us a membership and called it a day!

My parents are in the back, me and J are between his parents and to the right is his sister, our sweet "La-la" (Lauren), and the one and only cousin Judah.

In other news, Greyson's obsession is the water hose. He likes to help his dad water the grass.

Soooo......as if we hadn't gone enough, that Monday, me and G loaded back on the jet plane and flew back to MS with my parents to visit some family for the week. That Friday was technically G's first birthday (October 23rd) and he was PROUD OF IT.

I'm ONE.

We were supposed to fly out the afternoon of his birthday, but dear ole Mother Nature had other plans. Storms were a-rollin' through Texas. My dad took us to the airport and after the news that we had a 3 hour delay, we escaped to Gander Mountain and Wendy's to eat. Fortunately this little buggy/car contraption at Gander Mountain bought me an hour. 

Unfortunately, as we were on our way back to the airport 3 hours later (which was now also G's BEDTIME) I got news that the flight had been cancelled. I was SOOOO disappointed, but based on the radar, I think they made a great call. ; )  The real deal breaker was when Dad and I were about 5 minutes from their house and he realized that we didn't go back to the airport and get my bag. I know it's not a HUGE DEAL (the airport is only 30 minutes from their house) but I was exhausted, G was exhausted, and that was it for me. (It's never the big stuff that finally sends us over the edge, is it?) I had myself a good ole breakdown and cried my eyes out.  I feel like men in general don't know what to do when girls cry, much more with dads when their daughters cry. But Dad did a great job comforting me and after he dropped me and my screaming baby off at the house, he and mom went BACK to the airport to retrieve my bag. Parents FO LIFE.

We finally got on a flight on Sunday morning and couldn't get enough hugs from Jeremie! 

The party continued on Monday as The Jones arrived in town since Hunter had work in Dallas. 

Monday we headed back to the arboretum to try to get *real* pumpkin patch pictures.  Sadly, G would have none of it.  

This was the best of the litter.

We sure love being mamas together!

And Greyson and Jaxon are BFF's too.

Tuesday, while G went to Mother's Day out, I was an extra set of hands for Meg at the consignment shop and Playstreet Museum, which is the most darling place to take your kids in Plano. Wednesday, we headed out to the Heard Natural Science Museum, which I've been reading about lately that has a full scale dinosaur exhibit. It was really neat, but honestly, will be more fun when the kids are like 5 and really running around on their own. Everything was pretty much out in fields and it was like driving a stroller through a gravel pit. We were both exhausted by the time we were done. But not too exhausted to swing into the Outlet Mall on our way home. ; ) #winnersneverquit

Aunt Meggie made the boys matching shirts.

Look at those blue eyes.

Thursday we drove out to the country and hit up the Big Orange Pumpkin Farm at Preston Trail Farms. It was ADORABLE! It had a ton of animals, photo opp stations, a hayride, and a darlin general store! Our other BFF's Jorie and Preston came out to meet us. We had a blast and will definitely be going back next year. 

Perhaps the most entertaining thing at Preston Trails was the fact that Meg bottomed out their SUV rental in the mud when we got there. All the storms from the prior week made for a great mud bog in their "parking lot". Fortunately, we called the general store from inside the car and these three cowboys came to rescue us. #neveradullmoment

The best part was when Meg's hubby, Hunter asked us over the phone: "How is it, that 2 girls from wherever you're from in Mississippi get stuck in the mud?!"

By the end of the week, we were about to turn orange from all the pumpkins and totally ready for Halloween. Friday Greyson sported his cowboy outfit at the house. When you're a baby, every day is an opportunity to dress up. 

Saturday morning we had a birthday/costume party and that evening we went to a block party in our neighborhood.  Greyson was the cutest little dragon I've ever seen. 

I can't begin to express how much fun this was for me! 

October was such an amazing month and we made memories that will last a lifetime! It makes me so excited for the holidays! November better bring it, cause October set the bar high!