Happy Wednesday!

I am celebrating today by just posting a few cute pictures.

Missing The Guys

Update to answer a question: I finished all of the pages that I could in my scrapbook. I still have 3 pages in my travel book that I am missing pictures for and 2 pages in my wedding book.

I can't believe that I survived a whole weekend away from my sweethearts. It is not for the faint of heart, I'll tell you that.

I spent this past weekend working on scrapbooks with some other women down at a beautiful lakehouse near Houston. My sister, a scrapbooking aficionado, invited me to come down to work on my books. Since I don't own any tools for the whole scrapbooking thing, I decided that if I was ever going to finish these books (my wedding album and pre-JD travel album), then I would need to go ahead and do it.

I really enjoyed myself, visiting with other adult women, watching chick flicks and eating yummy food. It was nice to have some "me" time. I knew that JD was in capable hands with Daddy. But I still missed them like crazy!

It sounds like they had a great time, playing outside when it got a bit warmer and hanging out around the house. When I got home, JD looked happy and healthy! Daddy did such a great job! But JD did look a little different to me - slightly bigger and had some new expressions and mannerisms.

I'm looking forward to spending the week with JD, learning about all the new things that JD tried out this past weekend!

Super Awesome Date Night

Okay, so the title kind of gives it away. It has been a couple of months since Jon and I have had a real date night. You know, the kind where you actually change clothes and get ready for it?

Usually, if we are lucky, Jon and I can go out to dinner twice each week - once during the week and after church on Sunday with family. We usually just strap in the kiddo and go to Chili's.

But I'm going out of town this weekend to work on finishing my scrapbooks (from my WEDDING five years ago). So Jon decided to surprise me with a date night! He came home and said we had a reservation at a restaurant that required business casual attire (what, no jeans??). I was a little concerned about JD at a business casual restaurant with tablecoths, but I figured we could leave if he was a mess.

So I got dolled up and Jon changed into some nice clothes and we even got JD dressed up in a sweater and corduroys. How fun! The restaurant was Lavendou's, a French Provencal restaurant nearby.

The waiter was so nice to JD and brought him some noodles to play with. JD was on his BEST behavior. He did so well! The atmosphere was so cozy and warm. Jon and I really enjoyed our food. I ordered a salad with warm goat cheese and pine nuts and lamb with roasted potatoes and ratatouille. Jon got a duck and pork terrine and venison with roasted potatoes and green beans. It was SO good!

Of course, we capped off the dinner by splitting a chocolate mousse cake that was so rich and decadent. It was just perfect!!

Jon and I actually had time to just sit and talk during dinner. We reminisced about our trip to France and how much we missed Provence. We weren't rushed since JD was in a great mood. He tried some of our potatoes, green beans and tomatoes. I even let him have the teeniest-tiniest bite of cake on his very own tiny silver spoon that the waiter brought.

I left the restaurant feeling relaxed, refreshed and revitalized AND reconnected with my sweet husband. All things that are tough to come by these days as a stay-at-home mom.

What a fabulous date night!!

One Small Step for Man, Two Giant Steps for JD

We hit a HUGE milestone today!! JD took his first steps! He has been threatening for weeks to do this, cruising around the room by holding on to the furniture and the walls.

Tonight, the temptation of chewing on new dress shoes proved to be greater than the fear of taking wobbly steps without the furniture. While trying to get to his yummy shoes, he crossed into the great unknown as he stepped twice without the security of anything to hold on to.

We are so proud!!

Tempting

The transition to a stay-at-home mom hasn't been the easiest. After working in corporate America for more than 10 years, the adjustment to mommy was sudden and severe.

I think my work friends were a bit surprised when I made the decision to stay home with JD. I took my career seriously and worked hard at what I did. I moved steadily up the ladder in a corporation where women have a tough time succeeding.

But I think I always knew that I wanted to be home with my babies, if my husband and I were able to swing it. It has been a tough change, both financially and emotionally. I used to be consulted about building marketing strategies for the biggest sales deals. Now I wipe backsides and noses and comfort bumped heads and scary bathtimes.

I have had a few offers to come back to fulltime work, with bigger titles and paychecks. It is pretty tempting, especially as I see things that I would love to get for JD and our family.

But I can't imagine leaving my sweet baby every morning with someone else and missing out on the important things like learning how to hold his sippy cup and how to push a toy car back and forth.

I'm so thankful that we were able to figure out how to make it work with me at home. There isn't a paycheck or title big enough for me to leave this behind right now. Of course, we haven't hit the terrible two's yet...

** - Disclaimer: This is/was the right decision for me at this time in my life. There are tons of working moms out there that are wonderful parents who are making the best decisions for their families too. I want to send out much love for the working moms too!!

Like Father, Like Son

I can sometimes see into the future. It doesn't happen often, but when I do - it is usually right on target.

When we found out that our baby would be a little boy, we knew exactly what we would name him - Jonathan Douglas. My husband's name is Jonathan and my father's name was Douglas. Two of the finest men that I have ever known. Perfect! The only problem was that I knew (here is where my visionary powers kick in) that he would get the nickname Little Jon. So to preempt this, we gave him the nickname JD, which I think is just so cute.

Then when JD was born, I was SO happy that we made this decision. Because, you see, my son is the SPITTING image of his daddy. They look identical. If you compare baby pictures side-by-side, you could get them confused. So he is literally a "little Jon." But since we have already dubbed him JD, we have avoided all of the potential name calling in school that could come with "little Jon."

I love that my son resembles his daddy. I happen to think that my husband is the most handsome, sweet man around and I hope that JD resembles him not only in looks, but also in personality. I already think JD has his sense of humor!

Wiggly Party (Everybody Dance Now)

For those Wiggles fans, you recognize the title.

JD's cousin Ellie Beth had a Wiggles party today at the Wiggly Playcenter up the road. It was interesting. Lots of Wiggles songs and videos and a giant play area for the kids.

There was a section that was labeled 0-18 months, so I figured this was the spot for JD. Nobody told me that this was where the older kids come so they can feel like giants. We had 3, 4, 5, & 6 year olds running around like Godzillas amongst the babies. A 5 year old chunked several large soft blocks at JD (and other kids), even after I told him to cut it out.

JD wasn't really sure he liked it at first. Can you imagine being his size and having screaming toddlers and older children running around you, squealing with delight and clapping at the Wiggles videos? It was a tad overwhelming (even for me).

Ellie looked like she was enjoying the party, though. The party guests had a ball running around and playing. JD and Marin hung out in the babyzone, trying to avoid aerial maneuvers by the giants.

I told Jon he didn't need to attend this function, since I knew that it would have been torture for him (not the biggest Wiggles fan after the 14 hour car ride to and from Colorado with all Wiggles, all the time). So I came home and Jon had assembled JD's baby swingset and slide in our backyard! JD was so excited!! He loved it!

I think I will just cart our tv out in the yard with Wiggles DVDs whenever we get in the mood for another Wiggly Party.

I'm a Big Kid Now

JD hit his nine month birthday with little fanfare in Colorado. But I have to say that I am a proud mother.

He grew his 6th tooth around this time and is slowly but surely starting to get a little more hair. He is crawling like a maniac now and walks in between the furniture. He is saying baba and mama and understands important things like "Do you want a bottle?" and "Are you ready for bed?" (I know he understands because to both questions he starts crying.)

But he is a smart little guy. He recognizes his name and turns toward the right parent when we say "Where is Mama? and Where is Daddy?" I'm pretty sure this is an early indicator of genius. He has started dancing a bit to the Wiggles and claps when he is happy.

We took him to the doctor today and he measured up at 29 inches long and 20 pounds. That puts him at the 75th percentile for height and 45th for weight. Tony Romo, watch out because JD is quarterback material based on those percentages.

The nine month benchmark is giving us a little bit of a challenge in regard to the previously mentioned bathtime and also in regard to sleeping habits. But the rewards are so much greater! His sweet smile, babbling and playfulness at this age are so much fun.

Ten months? Bring it on!!

Terror in the Bathtub

There aren't many things in life that are better than a nice, long soak in a hot bath, preferably with bubbles and some candles and a some good reading material. I feel that I must have started this appreciation early on in life. I remember lots of happy times in the bathtub as a child.

Up until two weeks ago, I felt like JD was beginning to understand how great baths could really be. He had started playing, chasing around rubber ducks in the bathtub and splashing around.

Then we went to Colorado. It started off innocently enough. We gave JD a bath on one of the first nights we were there. We brought his bathmat and played with his toys. He seemed fine.

A few days later, my sister Dara and her girls decided to do bathtime on the first day that we were all there. I thought we might as well throw JD in too since he had been crawling around on the dirty floor for a few days by that point. We ran the water in my mom's clawfoot bathtub and put the bathmat down.

We put JD in with Ellie Beth (the youngest) and that is when bathtime turned into Chinese water torture. JD started to scream bloody murder and stood up in the bathtub and wouldn't sit down. I panicked and thought it might be too hot, but Ellie Beth was sitting in it just fine. Dara and I sang songs and tried to show him how fun it could be, but he would have nothing to do with it. He just screamed and cried and big, fat tears streamed down his little face. So we washed him as quick as we could. Dara thought it would be easiest to just rinse the kiddos off with the hand shower unit. I really thought that JD couldn't get anymore upset than he already was, but I was wrong. As soon as the water hit his head, I thought he would just fall apart. Then of course, Ellie starts in on the crying too.

I chalked the whole incident to "this is a different bathing experience - another kid in the tub, weird bathtub, etc" and didn't really think anything else about it. So we tried it again a few days later. Same situation, but we put JD at the opposite end of the tub (away from the spigot) with Ellie Beth. Same result - SCREAMING his head off until I took him out of the tub.

So I thought to myself that we would need to address this at home, but I was confident that he would be more comfortable in his bathtub with his ducks when we got home. No worries.

Last night, Jon and I gave the little guy a bath. I put bubbles in and all of his favorite toys. The second I put the child in the tub, you would have thought that I was yanking off his toenails one by one. He acted like the water was sheer torture for him, screaming and crying and carrying on. My husband is a big believer in helping JD to overcome his fears, so we made him sit there until he calmed down, while we played and sang songs to him. Then we ran some more water, which of course started the whole screaming episode all over again. A quick 15 minute bath turned into a 45 minute nightmare.

We finally took him out when he was calm again, but he was definitely not happy with us. Actually I should say me. For some reason, JD decided that the whole bath debacle must be my fault and he refused to come to me and clung to his dad.

On the plus side, JD did sleep great last night and didn't budge until almost 7 this morning. I imagine that he was completely worn out.

This morning, it was like the whole thing never happened. He smiled and played with me all morning and did great at Baby Boot Camp. But I'm suspicious. I have a feeling that if I took him anywhere near running water, he would probably try to pull my toenails off. Thank goodness we can wait a couple of days for the next bath.

Home Again, Home Again

We made it back late last night after a fairly uneventful drive home. We did have some high winds in Colorado and saw three semi trucks flipped over from the wind. But we managed to make it through just fine. We heard there was a pretty decent snowstorm that came in on Saturday night. Thank goodness we decided to leave on Saturday morning!!

JD did great in the car. We borrowed 2 Wiggle DVDs from Aunt Dara to give us some relief from the one that we had. JD just loves the Wiggles - at least the singing and dancing.

We drug ourselves out of bed this morning to go to church. It was hard to get motivated when the house looked like a Christmas nightmare (presents everywhere, wrapping paper still out and about, etc).

JD was so happy to be home too. He crawled everywhere and smiled at everything. It is nice that he recognized his home.

Now we are working on getting down the Christmas decorations, unpacking, doing laundry...vacation is over!

Last Day in Colorado

What a great trip! We have had some great adventures since we have been here, mostly involving snow.

I got to ski yesterday with Jon, Josh & David. Dara stayed home with the kiddos. The skiing was great!

When we got home, we played with the kids out in the snow for a bit. JD was pretty tired, but he still had fun.

David and Suzanne cooked us a yummy meal. JD tried his first bite of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans. Now that he has SIX teeth (that's right, he got his 6th this week), he is ready for some big boy food!

Now we are doing the final trash pick up, clean out, etc before we leave tomorrow morning. This afternoon we are all going into Breckenridge to walk around and eat garbage pizza at Downstairs at Eric's.

Tonight we have five more episodes of 24 before we are finished with the season. Can't wait!

Happy New Year!

Hooray for 2008! We rang in the New Year with the Boyd bachelors, David & Suzanne, Dara & Josh and the kiddos.

David, Jon and Josh spent most of New Years Eve day plowing tremendous drifts in the road. The guys planned on skiing, but the work was too much to get the road plowed so we could all get in and out.

The brothers came in from the wrong direction, so David and Jon had to go and tow them out of a big drift before dinner. Josh cooked up fajitas while all of that was going on, so we were ready for dinner when they finally got to the cabin at 8.

We rounded out the evening again with 3 episodes of 24. We determined to finish the first season before we leave!

It is just me and Ellie and JD today. Everyone went off for skiing today while Suzanne went to Denver. Emma was signed up for some lessons and I think Jon and David were going to take a lesson too. The weather is beautiful today with warmer temperatures finally. No snow in sight.

Ellie and I are currently eating apples, drinking water and getting ready to watch Cinderella (we have already watched the Wiggles, Polar Express and Mickey Mouse). JD is down for a morning nap, so I feel like I might be able to handle a toddler and a baby someday...(but don't get any ideas because I'm not planning it anytime soon).

I guess I need to go start "Innereyya" which is Ellie for Cinderella. She is tired of Beeckey (or Mickey).