BBQ and Playing at Granny's

This past Saturday we spent time with BTB’s family for an early Father’s Day celebration. We went and ate bbq at a local bbq joint, and then headed to BTB’s granny and papa’s house to enjoy an evening of “children watching.”

 

 

 I actually really liked celebrating on Saturday with his family. I felt like we could stay as long and as late as we wanted-- since we weren’t rushing off to spend that afternoon/evening with my parents.

Timothy had the best time running and chasing the big kids. And he loved helping BTB’s cousin with her little boy. He brought him his bottle, stroked his hair, and cooed baby every few minutes! He was really sweet “taking care” of Jackson, who he called Jacks since he couldn’t say Jackson.

 

 

  didn’t take any pictures of the kids playing in the yard, like I should’ve. But I did take some at the restaurant of T and his other cousin. It amazes everyone how much they look alike. What do y’all think?

BTB also snapped this sweet picture of his Granny with T and Jackson that I love too!  

 

Don't mind the fact that baby Jackson almost already outweighs Timothy! Ha! My poor skinny boy!

Food Poisoning Dreams

You know vacation is near when you wish for a virus to lose that last little bit of weight before you step out on the sandy beach in a bathing suit.

My bikini envy!

 Yesterday I pulled my shirt up in front of the mirror to take a look at my non-bikini body, and couldn’t help but to think, “just a few more pounds.” Then, I thought, “man if I could get a 24 –hour virus or small case of food poisoning, I could knock out those last few pounds!” Of course I laughed to myself, and remembered how terrible life was the one time I had food poisoning.  Or the 7 months I spent preggers throwing up--every. darn. day.

I just keep telling myself that I should be happy with my body and proud of what I look like. But, like any woman, I have self conscious tendencies.  I am really getting excited for our trip and can’t wait to see T on the beach this year. I think he is going to love it this year, even more than last year. Especially since he can walk!! So I am trying to bury my personal feelings about my body, to ensure that I will have a good time!

I am also really interested to see just how crazy curly his hair will be at the beach this year, too! Have no fear, I will take silly amounts of pictures.  

Mexican and the Square

No, that isn't the title of a racist rant, but the way we started off our Father's day weekend.

Friday, we had a nice dinner for three at our local Mexican restaurant. We love this place because the food is always good and we never have to wait.

T likes this place because he knows when we finish eating we will go across the street to the town square and let him run around!

We had the best time Friday night. Dare I say it, T is getting better about restaurants. He loves the chips at the Mexican restaurant and played with his choo-choo and cars the rest of the time. I am hoping we have finally turned a corner in that area.

But enough with that, look at my sweet husband and son playing in the square!

Aren't they the sweetest??

Hope y'all are having a great Tuesday!

Wildman-Albert-Einstein-Whiteboy-‘Fro.

Timothy woke up in a foul mood this morning. I mean real foul. He is not a morning toddler. If he had his way, he would go to bed at midnight and wake up at 9:30-10:00. {Which is exactly what we do on the weekends. Holler!} 
 

One of T’s teachers taught me a valuable lesson. One day she said to me, “Timothy does much better after nap time if he thinks he woke himself up, not you.”  And she was so correct! So every morning, I turn on all the lights, put on da mouse, {AKA- Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for all you non toddler speaking folk} stomp about for a few minutes until he opens his precious blue eyes.

 As soon as he rolls over, {he’s a tummy sleeper} I grab him up and strip him down. I think to myself every morning, “When will the day come when I can dress my child without it looking like he stepped in a fire ant bed?” Then I think, “That moment will be here before I know it, I need to treasure this!” Dress him as fast as I can, and give him half a cup of milk. Because for some reason, he can never, ever finish an entire glass. And nearly every day leaves the same amount in the bottom, even with only half a cup.  He a strange little toddler sometimes.

 Because he is totally distracted with da mouse and milk, I then attempt to do something with his wildman-Albert-Einstein-whiteboy-‘fro. Which if you have a toddler with super curly, medium thickness hair, you are familiar with my predicament with hairstyling.

T and I have similar hair structures, with his being slightly more thick, but just as curly as mine. And until I had him, I would look at pictures of myself from when I was little wondering why my mom let my hair get so unruly. But really, she had zero control over it.

After that, I get ready. I can from start to finish {make-up included} be ready in 11 minutes. Less time if I picked out my outfit the night before. I don’t wear powder and concealer only under my genetically enhanced dark circles. After being told by the lady at the Chanel counter that I did not need powder for three years, my mom telling me I didn’t powder and me looking for ways to sleep an extra five minutes—I gave the powder up.

BTB is off today, so he was home during the foul mood. He is always so wonderful to help me get T ready when he is there. But this morning, that foul mood I mentioned earlier, tested BTB’s patience, big time! T didn’t want to put on his bathing suit, he didn’t want his hair brushed and certainly did not want to be sprayed with sunscreen.  It was a fun morning.

Then once we got daycare, he did not want to leave my car. Usually when we roll up, I say  “T, are you ready?” He normally responds with, “redddy” But today, he yelled back, “No!!” And then cried all the way down the hall!

All I wanted so badly to say to him, “T, first of all, it’s Friday. Everyone loves a Friday! Second, you get to play all day with your friends, lounge in the pool and eat your most favorite food, pizza for lunch. You are going to be just fine, and this is not something to cry over!”

He will learn soon enough--Fridays are great. It means the next day you can sleep as late as you want to and watch da mouse for as long as your little heart desires.

Happy Friday, yall! And happy weekend!

Content with Content

I feel like every blog I have read recently mentions not having any valuable content to share.  What’s the deal? Why are so many struggling to pull content? Myself included. Is it summer? This time of year promotes time outside and being unplugged. Is that it?? I just wonder if I have stopped taking the time to focus in on our accomplishments. And that is where my lack of content is coming into play.  

I struggle everyday to find the balance of my personal life and blog life. I find them so entangled some days, it’s crazy. While other days, they are worlds apart.

Yesterday I received a comment on a older post about preemies. It included a link to  a blog that I will not be providing. I deleted the comment and the email yesterday out of anger, then had to restart my computer so the blog address went away, and is not in my history. But if I had it, I don’t want to give the author the satisfaction of having pageviews from my blog.  

I really appreciate all the support I got from you all yesterday on the topic on Twitter, and by dinner time I was moving past my feelings of hurt and anger.

I will not let one person’s ignorance ruin me, my view on my child or my blog content. I am choosing to focus instead on our lives and what I want to document.  

Timothy asked to go to the potty yesterday 3 times. That is a daily accomplishment for our family. While it may not be burning news in the blog world, it’s burning news for us. Pull-ups are not working for T. I really wanted them to. But I think he thinks they are diapers, and that’s it. So, Starting next week we are packing three sets of extra clothes everyday for daycare, and the boy is going to wear real underwear to school.

He is showing all the signs, and while I feel like I may be pushing him a little, I think he is ready.  Or right there on the cusp of ready, and I am pushing him head or rather, hiney first. {Ha-Ha}

Beating Vacay Anticipation: How?

A  recent article stated: “The anticipation and build-up you give a vacation is the real reason you love them so much.” The actual vacation may be lackluster, but the build-up makes it better.
I constantly build things up in my head. I typically get let down because things don’t go the way I have pictured them in my head. In the last couple months I have really attempted NOT to do the big build-up. I catch myself daydreaming about an event we have coming up, and make myself come “down from the clouds” and get realistic.

We go on our annual summer vacation in a few weeks. I of course am trying not to build it up, but it is so hard not to. And since BTB and I have gotten on the meal planning/not-spending-redonk-amounts-of-money-going-out-eat kick, I am working this week on creating a menu for our beach trip.

 It’s a little harder than normal because I not only have to accommodate BTB’s picky palate, but my in-laws, as well. I am determined to make it work. Last night, BTB and I made our homemade pizzas, for a split second I thought, “how fun would it be if I made dough and then we all made pizzas at the beach?” I quickly snapped myself back to reality before throwing the idea out to BTB. His family would not enjoy this activity.

 I am also trying not to go out and buy a bunch of new stuff to wear to the beach. Because I am notorious for doing this. I always think I need something new for trips. I don’t. I have a closet that is so packed to brim that I can barely walk through it. I am blessed with plenty of clothes. I just have to keep telling myself that!

So my question: How do I keep myself sane for the next few weeks? I am going to want to buy clothes. And  I want to fantasize about all the fun and movieesque times we will have, but I have to force myself to stop. I have to learn to take experiences at face value, but how?

Getting on the Potty Train.. Whoo-Whoo

Timothy pooped in the potty Sunday night! 

I know most children first pee-pee in the potty, then they transition to pooping. But in true Timothy fashion, he went his own way. After he went, we had a celebration. We gave him a “treat” for going in the potty. After I handed him his shiny new car, he ran through our downstairs yelling, “I pee-peed in the potty!”

BTB and I gave him hugs and high fives and tried to make him feel really special. We even called both our parents and let him tell them that he went. Sunday night was a great night!

Monday, we had no pee-pee or poop in the potty. Lots of accidents at daycare, but we are pushing through. I just have a feeling that if we continue the routine of going to the potty, he will get on the “potty train” full time.

I am still super proud of my little guy. And was so excited to share the news with my friends and family!

Finger Talking Blogger

One of the best parts of having a personal blog is the freedom you have to blog about whatever you want. I sit down most nights with some idea of what I want to say or some story I want to tell. But other times, I sit down and have nothing. Nothing is inspiring me, nothing is bothering me, nothing getting my creative juices flowing.

I have to say, some of my personal favorites posts, are times when I have sat down with not a thought in my head about what I want to say. I’m not sure why or how that happens, but sometimes I sit and feel like my fingers are telling the story for me with little to no input from me or my brain.

I am not sure why some days I feel like I am funk or have nothing to say, when other times I am writing down blog topic after blog topic in my shower, because  the ideas are flowing at that very second.

I guess with the freedom we have to say what we want and share our lives with the world, the pressure to make it count is inevitable. Some bloggers seem to spend copious amounts of time, energy and money, building a blog because they want to be the next  “big” blog. I just wonder, if these people are writing for themselves or for pageviews.

I am fortunate that over the last 2.5 years I have built up a group of blogger friends and in real life friends that enjoy what I put out there. I have blogger friends that I can turn to when I need advice or help on something. I have found that the friendships and community are far more fulfilling than I could have ever imagined.

 When I decided to start blogging, a part of me felt silly telling people. I worried what they would think about me putting it out there. Heck, my own husband didn’t know until I had been blogging for 6 months andHeth let it slip. Now, I feel like blogging is an extension of myself.  I love my blog. I love this cozy space on the internet that is all mine.  I’m proud that I {try to} take the time each week day to put something out there.

If I had it to do all over again, I wish I would have found the time to write during my sickness and Timothy’s NICU time. I think my system was in such a overdrive during that time and the thought of trying to document it, was more than I could bare.  

That probably doesn’t make sense to many bloggers, who see this writing as sheer therapy. But I can’t explain it. I look back during those months and feel like I was standing still and everyone and everything around me was zooming by.

 I sometimes long for direction for my blog. But other times I am so happy at how far it has come. From me making up my own banner in Microsoft paint to taking my blog dot com. I have found a hobby that truly speaks to me and makes me happy.

This post is one of those posts where I just let my fingers do the talking. I am not sure the post has any real direction or motivation. Just some thoughts that feel good getting out. If you’ve read all this.. Thanks. I love you, mean it.

Is That Too Much To Ask??

Food.
G-a-w-w-h.

I.

Love.
It.

I am not a person who can stick to a strict diet that eliminates entire food groups . I am food and taste lover. Two people in my office are strict diets. One is doing no carbs {I would wither up and die, for sure!} And the other’s doing those shakes.  

They both have lost weight and look great. But I just can’t bring myself to stop eating food. Especially, foods I love, like carbs. I have tried to be better about portion control and educating myself on how many calories/fat/carbs things I eat have,  which has helped me push food away, but I cannot give stuff up!   

Then my evil-troll-twin in my head gets on FB and sees other people posting pictures of them in bikinis at the beach; and I think and wonder and compare myself to them. I go to the beach at the end of the month. Is my body bikini ready, err no.  Last year I wore a whole piece. Here’s why:

1)      Timothy couldn’t walk yet, so I knew a majority of my time was going to be spent rolling around in the sand and chasing a crawling baby. I didn’t really feel like I needed to expose my “Britney” to everyone or any other part of myself to beach goers.

2)      I needed to stay covered up! I know, there’s always someone strutting around in bathing suit they have no business wearing in public. But I didn’t want to be one of those people.

Here are my goals at the beach for this year:

1)      Feel good about myself on the beach.

2)      Be able to play with T without worrying about “things” popping out.

 As you can see, I don’t have a laundry list of things  I am wanting from the beach this year. Just a couple things that will make me feel good about me.  

Is that too much to ask?

The Day of Reckoning

The day of reckoning happened yesterday. Timothy moved up to his next class. This is a big transition for us. He is now in a class with three little boys who are {almost} potty trained.  I am really hoping having three friends that stand in line to “go” will entice my little one to want to go as well. We will see.

Here is how our morning started:

T and I are about to turn into daycare when he yells out his old teacher’s name {Miss Jo!} My heart sunk. I turned around and said, “no baby, you are in a new class today.”{Insert Blank stare.}

I then needed to wipe his face because I am Mom of the Year who has her child eat his breakfast on the way to school. He lost his mind. Like nothing I have ever seen before!

As we walked down the long hall to his new classroom, his head nearly turned all the way around when we didn’t go into his old room.  {I kept thinking this is going to be the worst day ever!}

When we approached the open door to his new room, screams. Screams at a decibel only a two year old in duress can reach. We rounded the corner to one little girl crying for so long and so hard; that her face was deep red with tear and snot stains running down her face. Another little one crying and stomping her feet.

The poor teacher. With all this, and me adding another to the mix. The teacher outstretched her arms and T nearly jumped to go to her. I quickly put his things away, and walked out. But not without first taking one last look at my little guy. He was sitting there, happy as could be. Like he had been in that class forever.

At lunch, while T was napping I went for a progress report. The teacher said T hadn’t cried all day! In fact, within minutes of me  leaving, he squirmed down off her lap and started playing with some toys.  She said he refused lunch, but so did most of the other children.

All in all, I am glad his first day went as well as it did. However, the evidence that my little guy is growing up-- is being thrown in my face every. single. day.

Little guy on the way home. Of course he ate as soon as he got in the car!

Red, White and V8

I don't know about y'all, but not many things say U.S.A. like Campbell's products. So, when I was approached by V8 to do a tasting for their new V8 VFusion products, I jumped at the chance. And made the decision that we would host our tasting during our annual Memorial Day celebration.

It only seemed fitting! 

My Fav

BTB's Fav

The kid's Fav

T's Fav

The whole yummy crew

If we are hosting a tasting you know food is also going to be involved. We all ate until our tummies were full. Doesn’t the saying go, “Calories don’t count on holidays” right? Plus, by drinking our V8,  

we allowed ourselves extra calories on the food!

Everyone loved the V8. With many guests and different tastes, I was expecting someone not to like the V8, but they all did! I promise, this is an honest crowd. 

And my husband and child are now totally hooked. If you haven’t tried any of these new products from V8, you are totally missing out. They are all yummy and good for you! 

Hope everyone has a happy Monday. Y'all go out and enjoy V8 as much as my family and friends have!