Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Where do I start...

Do you ever find that you have nothing to blog about so you wait a day or two only to realize that you had a TON of stuff you could have blogged about but now you're so far behind it's not even worth it? That's me... if you understood any of that. I'm very tired which is strange considering I took a two hour nap yesterday and today. Bear with me if some of this is long winded or typo'd.

This past weekend Dick and Sharon came for a visit! We were just in Louisville about two weeks ago to see them but it's always nice when they get to see Ari in his "element". He's something else, that's for sure. Every morning I wake up and he looks SO much bigger and every day he's doing something new and amazing us in every way. Do you know that he now knows three colors and a dozen body parts! Not to mention all the animals he knows and various sounds that go along with them. It's crazy, he's not even two!

We enjoyed a nice relaxing weekend, a little early birthday celebration for me (it's Monday!!!), and a nice date night for Matt and I. We went to see Tropic Thunder and can I say it was HILARIOUS!!! Seriously, I was laughing out loud more than a few times. In preparation for the visit I painted the guest bedroom and bathroom and Matt and Dick installed a new light fixture! I took pictures but they came out all wonky. It's been raining for two days straight and the lighting is all funny so I think I'll wait to take better ones before I share.

Speaking of weather, we sure have had some! Our yard is part pond/part river! It's crazy how much it's rained the past two days! I'm not the slightest bit bothered though, we needed it. I just wish it weren't so stinkin' humid.

Ari had his first day at the baby sitters on Tuesday and he was a champ. As soon as we walked in he ran right to the room with the toys like he'd been there every day. Matt and I enjoyed a nice brunch and some birthday shopping before we picked him up. He did great and was sound asleep in the car before we were even out of the neighborhood!

I think we're up to today, it was half price Wednesday at Monkey Joe's and some of the moms from my moms group were going so we decided to venture out. Big Mistake! Apparently every mom in Charlotte thought it was a good day to go and it was PACKED. Ari hated it so we left and met Michelle and Ella at Chuck E. Cheese. Ari had a great time playing with his best friend and we had pizza for lunch. Well, everyone but Ari had pizza, he threw his on the table and refused to touch it. When we left he fell asleep in the car again and continued to sleep for two hours once we were home!

I've been scrapping away for days, I have quite a few new creations to share with you very soon! I am really happy with my recent creations and think you'll like them too! I also have some super fun exciting news to share but again it will have to wait. I have to make sure I'm allowed to spill the beans, I don't want to get in trouble ;) Enjoy the rest of your week, Matt is off work until Saturday or Sunday and we are very much enjoying our family time this week. Ari goes back to the sitter tomorrow and I think we have a little more shopping to do! I know I'm way overdue for photos and I promise I'll share soon but right now my pillow is calling my name. I'm exhausted! See you later.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Ok, can I just say

Actually, I have two things:

1. It's a gorgeous day, cool and breezy. Perfect for open windows. Except for the fact that my neighbor smokes like a freakin' chimney and I CANNOT stand the smell. Seriously, I can hardly breathe. It's making me nauseous and now I have a headache. It's really rediculous that I can't even enjoy my own home without feeling ill from second hand smoke blown throughout my very non-smoking house.

2. It's really stupid to plant fake flowers in your yard. I don't say many things are stupid but this definately qualifies. I'd rather look at the trash that they picked up in order to plant said fake flowers. It's not the same neighbor.

One more thing, yet another neighbor has decided that their dog belongs outside... indefinately. Now I get to listen to the never ending barking (all night long) and whining on top of the smoke and fake flowers. Remind me again why we moved here??

I really am in a good mood today, I'm sure you can't tell. I'm just sick of the insanity that I have to deal with on a daily basis. It's absurd.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Question:

Is cat food harmful to toddlers?

Seriously, this kid knows how to push the limits... you know you're in for it when it's so quiet you have to search! He was sitting under the kitchen table with two fistfulls of cat food. Sheesh...

*I know it's probably not harmful*

Things that make my smile

1. Ari watching morning cartoons while I clean my scrap area, quietly!

2. No dirty dishes in the sink, Matt did them before he left for work yesterday!

3. A freshly painted bathroom, new towels and a new shower curtain. I like the end result, not the painting part :(

4. Laundry that's already folded and just needs to be put away.

5. Pay day, need I say more :)

6. My neighbors cleaning their yard and garage, now I can actually open the curtains! It looks like they're getting ready to put the house for sale, that makes me even happier :)


I may be back with pictures later, we'll see if I have the energy. I'm exhausted, it's still stinkin' hot around here. I have a few errands to run today after Ari's nap so I don't expect to have too much computer time until late tonight. Darkness doesn't make for great pictures...

Friday, August 15, 2008

Hehe...

I failed to mention in my last post the slew of new toys Ari came home with last weekend. See, when I fall off the deep end the only thing that really seems to bring me back to the surface is shopping. Yeah, I know. Anyway, as I was cleaning out the family room (yet again, seriously this kid can make a mess faster than anyone I know) I realized that he doesn't really have any "big boy" toys. With his birthday being three days after Christmas he gets everything at once and it's all geared for that age. Well, 19 months is WAY different than 12 months and his old toys are just not interesting anymore. So we went to Toys'R'Us last Saturday and came home with a brand spankin' new kitchen play set and a shopping cart to haul his new "groceries" in.

Long story short: As we "speak" Ari is in the kitchen with his shopping cart unloading my cabinets. He has nearly every baking pan I own crammed in that little cart and he's counting as he takes them out, "on, too, fee..."

Melt my heart...

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Back and better than ever!

Whew, I needed that~

It felt so good to just be with my family, focusing entirely on them and our home! Ari hit the terrible, terrible twos full force this week. It seriously caught me off guard, I felt like I was hit with a mack truck! We transitioned from two naps a day to one and that has helped immensly. He now goes to bed at 7 pm and sleeps until around 9 (sometimes 10!!) in the morning and stays up until after lunch! We moved lunch time from noon to 11:30 and he goes straight to bed after lunch. He knows what to expect now and today asked to go "night night" while he was still in his chair! I'm so proud of him, he's doing a great job. No more head banging, at least not hard enough to leave bruises~

His vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. He can now repeat just about every word we say! His pronunciation is a bit off but goodness, he's only 19 months! He has his own wacky words for things, it's adorable. He used to be able to say "water" pretty clearly when it was bath time... now he says "baadie" which we think is "bath" and "water" combined into one word. Who knows, only Ari! He knows several animals, he thinks monkeys are the funniest things he's ever seen! He is still terrified of mice and we found out this week that giraffe's freak him out even more than mice! He cries big fat tears when they come on his movie and we have to fast forward past them. Too funny. Nemo is still his all time favorite and when Nemo swims out to touch the boat he, very passionately, yells "Not Nice Nemo, No Nemo!!!". LOL!!!

I've been searching for a preschool but that search is quickly coming to an end. We simply cannot afford (nor would we want to) $140 for two days a week. That's absurd, it's preschool for goodness sake, not University. We settled for a babysitter down the road, she is looking forward to watching him two days a week for three hours! I am thrilled but terrified at the same time. The thrilled part wins out over the terrified-ness though and he starts in a couple weeks! He's going to go to her house so I'll have some much needed alone time at home to do whatever I need around here!

I have several tasks on my to-do list for the house that I would like to have completed by the end of the year. I'm trying to be realistic and give myself ample time to actually complete everything! They include but are not limited to:

1. Finish Ari's room completely (that should be done this week, there's not much more to do)
2. Paint the guest room (should be done before the parent's come in a week or so)
3. Finish the paint in the foyer and kitchen (also should be done very soon)
4. Finish both bathroom floors upstairs (that's on Matt's list...)
5. Reorganize garage (I want to be able to move Ari's outside toys in there for the winter so he can still use everything even if it's cold out)
6. Tile the backsplash in the kitchen (I picked out tile yesterday!!)
7. Install french doors to the family room (may have to hire someone to do this, we would need to do framing and drywall work and I don't know if I want to tackle that one by myself. I can, just don't know if I want to)

That's the bulk of my list, pretty hefty huh. Of course we still need to paint ALL of the trim and doors but that's going to take the rest of my life so I'm not even putting it on the list. We'll have to do it before we decide to sell but I am not looking forward to that at all.

I have been scrapping this week, mostly design team stuff so you can't see it yet. I made a list of scrappy things I want to do and it's massive so I have a lot to do but I'm excited about all of it. There are some fun home decor projects on my list that involve some browsing at the local antique stores so be sure to check in with me every now and then. I'll be posting the final results and *maybe* some instructions but we'll just have to see how it all turns out. Right now it's just an idea in my jumbled up head but I'm fairly confident that I can create what I see.

Well, I'm sure I've rambled enough... I missed you all! I feel so refreshed and on top of things now, thank you for all of your support. I know I have some truly fantastic friends out there and I love you all! Hugs and Kisses!!!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

I'm falling in.

Hey everyone, I just wanted to leave a little note that says I'm going to be taking a break from the blogger world. I feel a bit overwhelmed in general lately and I'm trying to cut anything out that could make things a little easier for me. It's only temporary but I feel this is something I need to do for my sanity. I'm no good to anyone when I feel like this, especially Ari, and he is very needy lately. I'm struggling to keep my patience with him and I feel guilty for that. I don't know how long I will need to be away from things before I feel like I have the energy to jump back in. Please know that I love you all and really appreciate all your kind words and comments, have patience for me while I figure things out. Thank you!

Sunday, August 3, 2008

I didn't fall in...

Did anyone ever say that to you? If you went somewhere and took too long, when you got back they'd ask, "did you fall in?" I don't know where it came from but it's one of those sayings that's always been around.

Anyway, I didn't fall in. I went out of town at the last minute! Matt's parents were babysitting Landon, Ari's little cousin, so we went for a visit. Landon lives in Indianapolis with his mom so we don't get to see him very often. It was great to watch the boys play together and visit with Dick and Sharon. Matt was working so he wasn't able to make it this trip but they're coming to see us in a couple weeks so it's all good.

We were gone for 4 days, we did a lot of playing, some shopping and swimming. It was a great trip but I'm glad to be home at the same time. I think the summer heat is getting to me, I'm so tired and sluggish lately. I have a ton of chores to do around the house but I think they can wait. I'm going to spend the next couple days with my two favorite guys and I may squeeze in a day just for myself too. Apparently I need to do that more often...

I'll be back later with pictures and something more interesting to say, I just didn't want anyone to worry about me! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!