Random Thoughts from Today

• G is walking now, started about two weeks ago and everyday he's getting more and more confident.  There is nothing better than having him walk across the room to me with a big cheesy grin on his face.  What amuses me now is that a few weeks ago I never thought he'd walk, now I'm just worried that with all this walking his little thigh chub will melt away :(  I've taken to kissing and blowing raspberries on the back of his chubby little knees every chance I can get.

• For the first time today I actually seriously considered getting a tattoo, I've always been open to the idea but never had anything worthwhile to permanently ink my skin.  I'll have to ponder it a bit more and see what the husband thinks :)

• My brother and sister in law introduced us to a new addiction while we were down in Indiana "Shaun the sheep"  a cartoon made by the creators of Wallace and Gromit, great for both kids and adults and G is completely addicted.  He recognizes Shaun (the sheep) on the computer screen from a mile away and will start bouncing and dancing the second he hears the theme song (which by the way has been stuck in my head for the last two weeks!) I highly recommend you take a peek :)   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBVSMReUXJ4&feature=grec_index

• G had a complete meltdown in the grocery store today, I was totally "that mom" with the crying wailing child in her cart.  Darn kid cried all the way from the dairy aisle to the checkout and through the parking lot, I was ready fight him tooth and nail to get into his car seat but he went in peacefully and promptly stopped shrieking, apparently he just didn't like sitting in the cart.  sigh 

• aaaand because I can't seem to post without putting up some pictures, here are a few of our trip to the beach this last week. 

 G's 1st time in the ocean

he loved it! (despite that look on his face)

off to play in the sand

Wisconsin/Illinois/Indiana Part IV - Muncie Indiana

after about about 2.5 weeks in Wi we headed down to Indiana to visit my brother and sister in law and our niece.  It was nice to get a change of scenery and visits to Indiana have always been low key and peaceful, and this trip didn't fail to deliver.  We spent our days taking long walks, splashing in the pool, attempting cake pops and some great heartfelt conversations with my brother and sister in law. 

homemade water slide!

playing in the backyard...yes that is a dog jumping over my child

mini golf with daddy

Uncle Aaron's hole in one

Double date

cake pops!

out for ice cream

Wisconsin/Illinois/Indiana Part III - Girls Weekend

finally I got a chance to be baby free for a bit and sneak down to chicago to visit some girls from college.  It was great to catch up with all of them, eating, walking by the lake, getting to see a bit of the town and of course staying up way to late being silly :)  I love these ladies and can't wait to see them again!

Em, Johah, Stacy, and Anna in the Hancock Observatory

view from the top

Em's little guy loved the air mattress pump...what a cutie!

Wisconsin/Illinois/Indiana Part II - Chilling

After recovering from camping we spent the next week chilling with family and visiting friends.  G was getting over a cold/allergies and had to be on a nebulizer so we had a few cranky days.  But once Daddy came back to Wi on his weekend things started to improve. It was great watching G interact with his cousins, friends and best of all grandparents.  (there is nothing more special than seeing someone love on your child almost as much as you do)

playing with Uncle Jordan in his new wheels

1st ATV ride with Grandpa

Watching a cartoon with Finley

showing cousin Benaiah how to work the ergo

Chilling with Grandma and Cousins Benaiah and Gracie

Wisconsin/Illinois/Indiana

aah laundry in the dryer....the dishwasher is running....homemade chicken pot pie in the oven.....and I'm blogging.  sheesh! must be feeling productive tonight!

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of traveling and visiting and more traveling and more visiting and then finally coming home and catching up on 3.5 weeks of laundry, cleaning, cooking and time to ourselves.  Whew..makes me tired just thinking about it.  We had only intended on staying in Wi for two ish weeks, and then decided to extend it slightly and then due to bad weather couldn't get flights out (dang standby) and then just decided to drive down to Indiana where we we're going to have visited anyways.  So our two weeks became almost a whole month!  Not something I highly recommend with a 14 month old, especially one who is sensitive to transitions, but overall a great visit and we got to see a ton of people!  I'm hoping to blog about our trip but will break it up into several parts so you're not stuck reading one humongous blog :)   I'll start with part I now


PART I - Family Camping Trip at Devil's Lake State Park

Although I wouldn't call camping with a 14 month old fun I would say that we had a great time sitting around the campfire, playing at the park, playing cards, and hanging out at the beach with my family. 

on the swings with cousin Benaiah 

Digging in the sand with Uncles Andy and Jordan

Napping in the Ergo during the rain storm

Playing in the sand with Uncle Jordan

Wisconsin

we've been in WI the last week and a half, hence the lack of posting.  I'll have a ton of things to blog about when I get back next week.  So far we've spent our time visiting with lots of family and friends, camping, eating way too much food (yay for WI ice cream!) and nursing our poor little baby back to health.  Unfortunately G's immune system isn't too keen on all the traveling and we've dealt with everything from infected gums to wheezing and all around crankiness.  Despite all G's aches and pains we've been having a blast and I'm really looking forward to being baby free a quick girls weekend in Chicago in just a few days! 

my little sea turtle splashing in the waves