weekend success

Whew...what a sigh of relief. The weekend was a success; we were able to enjoy our "stay"cation and The Mayor finally settled into his groove and had a blast with Mamie and PopPop. After a tough Friday night (for both The Mayor and myself), apparently both of us had a great rest of the weekend. Although I missed him terribly, I didn't face one second of the day Saturday wanting to cry or eager to pick him up. I realized we needed this time to ourselves to get things done around the house and just to have some downtime before Bear arrives. And The Mayor ate like a champ, ran errands with Mamie and PopPop, and played like he hasn't played before. Mamie and PopPop did an excellent job running that little guy ragged and tiring him out. Word on the street is he took a great nap Saturday afternoon and was so exhausted Saturday night, he sat in Mamie's lap for over 30 minutes just watching "Thomas and Friends" before going to sleep for over 12 hours. And to think, I was worried The Mayor was going to wear out his grandparents, but it looks like I had it wrong! They did a great job with that little 2 year old!

I feel a lot better about the next couple of weeks. The thought of being away from The Mayor for 2 nights having Bear no longer makes me anxious. Obviously there is going to be a huge adjustment period once we come home with the baby, but I know we will all be ok. And I now know The Mayor will be ok away from us. He is growing up so fast!

running errands at Home Depot with PopPop

chowing down on homemade pancakes...made with love by Mamie

swinging at the playground

cuddling with Mamie...after a long day of playing

"stay"cation begins

It is 2:24 in the morning and shocker, I can't sleep. So I decided to blog. I have made it through the first day of our stay-cation and The Mayor being gone. I made it about one hour before I had to text PopPop to see how he was doing. And I checked the time on my phone every 5 minutes for about an hour until I knew he would be in bed so I could call and get an update. That update almost had me in tears. I think the only reason I didn't break down was the fact that we were in the middle of The Disney store at the mall. Pretty impressive considering the surge of hormones running through me. I am sure many tears will be spilled while I recap.

According to Mamie and PopPop, The Mayor had a great time playing, but once it came to bedtime, he started missing his momma. He was asking for me while his little lower lip trembled. Doesn't that just break your heart? When I spoke to my dad, he said The Mayor was still a little upset but was calming down and would hopefully be putting himself to sleep shortly. And when he said goodnight and I love you to Mamie after she put him in the crib, he did it through sobs.

As much as I want to go to the house, even at 2:31 in the morning, and pick him up because I miss him so much, this weekend is badly needed. For all of us. In 2 weeks, The Mayor is going to be away from us for 2 nights while we are in the hospital with Bear, so the practice is definitely needed. And it is good for The Mayor to rely on someone else besides me for a couple of days in case, not in case but actually WHEN, I will need the help once Bear arrives.

Luckily tomorrow will be a busy day for us so it should hopefully go by quickly. Sunday morning we will be meeting PopPop, Mamie and The Mayor at church and The Mayor will be back in our possession by 10:30 AM. I can do this...and so can The Mayor.

2 out of 3 ain't bad

Today is day 3 of operation "we miss daddy"...and thankfully it was a great day. I was really worried how today was going to end up considering the day we had yesterday, but today was good. This morning was spent at an indoor playground, where lucky us, they had a trampoline set up. It was awesome! And what a perfect way to have a 2 year old burn off energy...indoor playground with a trampoline...with a net around it. So he could just be free! After several minutes of jumping around, The Mayor went from one playground display to another. After 1 1/2 hours of full-on running, jumping, swinging, sliding...and he was ready to go. The ride home was quiet because he couldn't stop sucking his thumb. Lunch and a great nap for both of us followed.

After nap, we ran up to Publix to load up on some groceries for The Mayor's weekend away at Mamie and PopPop's. I still can't believe he is going to be gone for an entire weekend. I really hope I can relax enough to enjoy the peace and quiet and don't spend the whole weekend feeling anxious wondering how he is doing and missing him. But this will be good practice for both of us when in a few short weeks I am away from him for a few days while in the hospital with Bear.

I just checked Delta's website and daddy's plane is over Georgia! Thankfully our family will be under one roof again in a little over an hour. Tomorrow is going to be a great family day!

jumping in the trampoline

cruising down the slide

operation "we miss daddy" day 2 part 2

Yep, just as I predicted...day 2 kicked my butt. The Mayor FINALLY went down for a nap after he fought it for almost 2 hours. He woke up mad, sad and crying. Thankfully PopPop and Mamie were home and opened up their home for us to visit. This put The Mayor in a great mood. However, right before we left to go see them, I received a call from the baby furniture store where we ordered Bear's furniture (that should be arriving any day now) to be told there has been an issue with the manufacturer and the furniture won't be in until the end of March. AAAAAHHHHHHHHH! Seriously! Our house is literally utter chaos. The ONLY room that is clean and organized is The Mayor's new bedroom. The nursery, our bedroom and the downstairs guest room are cluttered with Bear's stuff...clothes, bedding, strollers, decorations, I could go on and on. And now, the furniture probably won't be here until the end of March/beginning of April. Of course, we really don't NEED the furniture since she will be sleeping in a bassinet for the first few months in our room, but we do WANT the furniture now so our home can go back to being orderly and clean. Everything in its place. So annoyed about this.

Back to The Mayor. He was so excited about seeing Mamie and PopPop, he talked about them the entire 3 1/2 miles to their home. He ran to the front door with anticipation until the front door opened and then his tantrum began. WHAT? Sometimes I would love to be inside that 2 year old head of his to get a glimpse into his world and what makes him tick. How does one child go from 0 to 60 so quickly? A quick "time out" and the realization that I wasn't leaving him but actually staying seemed to do the trick.

Thanking the Good Lord above that tomorrow is day 3 and the day daddy returns home. Sadly, he won't be here until after The Mayor is in bed, but at least he will be here!

operation "we miss daddy" day 2

Um, today started out great, but I am afraid we are deteriorating. Last night, The Mayor went down to bed so easily and so quickly. He was content on only reading the 2 books he chose once each and then asked to go to bed. The whole routine took 6 minutes. And then the angel slept in until 9 AM this morning. He ate a great breakfast and played well until he had been up for about an hour. And then something happened. What, I don't know, but something happened. He was no longer a happy camper. He was upset, very upset, about something. Two trips to timeout finally did the trick.

A trip to Target with Meega and Bennett and a run through the McDonald's drive-thru rounded out the morning. He ate about 10 fries and then said "all done". Upstairs we went for nap time...this is where we fall apart. I heard the trains he decided to bring into his crib fall out and then the tears started flowing. Around 2:00, when he still was talking, I went upstairs to find his blankets, stuffed animals, trains, pants, socks and DIAPER laying on the floor. This diaper thing is getting very old very quickly.

I quickly put the diaper and pants back on him and firmly told him it was time to go to bed. We will see...at this point, I will be lucky if I get an hour nap out of him. So far, day 2 is kicking my butt.

operation "we miss daddy" day 1

Daddy left this morning for a 3 day business meeting in Arizona. 1.) we, especially me, hates it when he has to travel 2.) we, especially me, hates it when he has to travel and I am 9 months pregnant.

You don't realize how much you rely on a person until they are gone. And it isn't that The Mayor has been difficult today; in fact, he has been the opposite. He has been in a great mood and a joy to be around, but I do miss the extra set of hands from 5:30 until bedtime. I should be grateful that his travel schedule isn't what it used to be. He is rarely gone, but these are going to be a long 3 days. Wednesday night can't get here fast enough! The #1 priority of the day has been checked off the list: his safe arrival in Arizona. I am thankful for that. I hope he enjoys himself at his conference...he deserves it. But I can't wait to see him in a few days!

We are 35 minutes away from bedtime (not that I am counting) and then this momma is going to recline and put her swollen feet up. Praying day 2 of operation "we miss daddy" is a success!

fantastic day

Today did not disappoint. Starting with the weather...you could almost feel spring around the corner. Beautiful sunny skies, a light jacket needed throughout the day, but temperatures in the 50s. Tomorrow is supposed to be much of the same!

This morning, we had to run a few errands. One of which was at the mall, and instead of strapping The Mayor into a stroller, we decided to let him be a big boy and walk the mall with us. We also let him burn off a lot of energy in the indoor mall playground. We needed The Mayor to tire himself out because he needed to go down for an early nap so he would get up early to attend a birthday party this afternoon. Plan was a success! He went down early and slept hard. We had to wake him up after sleeping for 2 1/2 hours so we could make it to the party.

There was a bouncy house at the party and The Mayor had a blast! He didn't want to come out of the bounce house...even when we asked him if he wanted a piece of cake. You know The Mayor is having fun if he says 'no' to cake! We barely pulled away from the party before The Mayor had a dazed look on his face and the thumb was in his mouth. He was worn out!

What a great day. I am so appreciative of these wonderful days the 3 of us get to spend together before we become a family of 4. Speaking of 4, we are 4 weeks away from the due date of Bear. It is so wild to think in one month, our family will be expanding...and be complete. I love the fact we will have one boy and one girl. Our precious babies...can't wait to see what the future holds for us!

send in the clowns

This morning, The Mayor and I ventured back downtown to go to the circus! We went with some moms and their kids from our MOM's club. One of our moms hooked us up with some VIP tickets. And I mean VIP. We had private parking, access directly to our suite and when we didn't use the suite to let the kids run around, we were sitting about 10 rows up, front and center, from the show. It was amazing!

I did however panic when I read last night that the show was 2 hours long with a 15 minute intermission. Yikes! The Mayor is definitely not one to sit still in a chair for long...and 2 hours, well, that would definitely require a miracle from Jesus himself. This mommy did a lot of praying this morning while getting ready. Another night of little sleep for me, I prayed hard for patience and for a 2 year old that would cooperate and somehow sit still during the show. We serve a great God because The Mayor was very well behaved.

Before the show officially started, The Mayor sat quietly in his own seat and watched the clowns entertain the crowd. Once the show officially started, The Mayor wanted to sit in my lap to take it all in. This could not have made me happier. I love it when my little man wants to sit in my lap and cuddle. We watched the elephants, horses and zebras run around the rings. Once the animal portion was over, it got really loud and a little overwhelming for my 2 year old. But instead of fussing or trying to run away, he turned himself over, curled up on my shoulder and sucked his thumb. He stayed like that for the next 40 minutes. If I had known he would have had this reaction to the circus, we would have gone to see this show a long time ago! Cuddling with my sweet boy made my day. About 10 minutes before the intermission, he decided to sit back in his seat and have a little snack. During intermission, we took the kids down to our suite to let them burn off some energy. Since The Mayor and his friend Blake weren't really into the circus, we decided to bring the boys home and take them to lunch. A nice lunch out with friends rounded out a fantastic morning.

This weekend will bring lots of sunshine and warmer weather. Today was a great start to what will be a wonderful weekend.

sitting like a big boy...watching the clowns perform before the show officially started

he loved the elephants, he used his arm like the elephant's trunk to make the elephant sound

what a view

right before intermission...starting to lose interest

i will survive this

I now know why God blesses most parents with well-behaved first born children. 1.) it keeps us having more children and 2.) it helps us survive the daily grind of raising a toddler while pregnant with baby #2.

I am running on fumes and am so happy The Mayor has had a jammed-pack social calendar this week. It has kept us out and about, kept him extremely happy and kept my mind from focusing on the fact that I am getting no sleep. I am so thankful it has been sunny (although cold...but at least it isn't raining) and we have been able to get out and had plans every day. If we had been locked up in the house this week I think I would have snapped by now.

I am looking forward to the rest of the week...tomorrow is another fun day with our MOM's club and Friday we are going to the circus!

a sweet moment of PopPop reading to The Mayor

date with the mayor

Today I took The Mayor down to the aquarium for a little one-on-one time...a mommy/son date. It was such a wonderful day. We explored all the different areas of the aquarium looking at sea life, river life, Arctic life...and in just about every display, The Mayor would look at me and say "whoa, big fish!". I probably heard that phrase no less than 85 times today. It was precious! This was his second trip to the aquarium, but the first trip were he understood what he was looking at. I love seeing life through his eyes. Everything is so exciting, so fresh and so new.

After the aquarium, we picked up daddy and went to lunch. We enjoyed a fantastic Mexican lunch and The Mayor was thrilled to be seeing his daddy during a work day. It was such a special treat for The Mayor...actually, it was such a special treat for all of us. Getting to be together during a work day...life is good!

the little things

I am so tired...so tired that tired isn't even a strong enough word. I am not sure what Bear has against me, but baby girl has refused to let me get a complete night's sleep for almost this entire pregnancy. And the more pregnant I get, the less I sleep. Last night I believe I had 2 hours of sleep. Anyone with a toddler knows, 2 hours a night just ain't gonna cut it.

So I am thankful to God that he has blessed us with a toddler that has been almost entirely perfect for the past 3 days. We had such a wonderful weekend that we were almost afraid to talk about it in fear we would jinx it. But today brought another fantastic day. The Mayor played hard this morning at our Monday morning play date, he ate a great lunch at Chick-fil-a with our friends from the play date and then played even harder in the indoor playground at Chick-fil-a. This took us right to nap time, where the angel slept for 3 hours. After nap, we went grocery shopping where he was pleasant the entire time. And when we got home, daddy was already here to help with The Mayor and unloading the groceries. It is the little things that are keeping me going and from being on the brink of tears. The Mayor has a jammed packed social calendar this week, so I am hoping the good attitude continues through the weekend.

My house is a disaster but who cares about that? Right now, I am going to enjoy the little things...

finally moved in

The day that we have been planning for has finally arrived...The Mayor moved in to his new big boy room! The last bit of touchup paint was done last night, and today after his nap, all the furniture was moved into his new room. It is about 85% complete. We are still missing a few decorative pieces (they are due to arrive in the mail this week), but other than that, The Mayor is in! And he loves it! He loves it so much that he asked to be put into his crib to play while we hung pictures on his wall. He couldn't have been happier tonight during our bedtime routine to be cuddled up in his new train quilt. Hopefully the night will be a smooth one and he doesn't wake up afraid or wondering where he is.

Today was also Valentine's Day. The Mayor enjoyed opening his presents...this year's theme was Disney's Cars. The Mayor received a toy Mater and a book. He was so excited; he toted Mater around all afternoon.

It was a wonderful weekend...filled with lots of playtime in the snow, a huge transition from nursery to big boy room, and a reminder to always cherish the ones you love.

cheesing it up in his new room

bathroom sink area

bedroom view from bathroom

opening his Cars book

playing with his toy Mater...notice his busted lip? Life with a toddler!

i love a snow day

This morning we woke up to the beautiful white stuff still on the ground. But to make it even better, the sun was shining and there was no wind! We could have stayed outside all day. The Mayor actually enjoyed eating the snow today and he and daddy made snow balls. The Mayor was working on his fast pitch (after carefully taking a bite out of each snow ball his daddy made him). He is getting pretty good with his pitching!

We are back inside, brownies are in the oven, and we are settling in for some fun play time. After naps, we will be venturing back outside to enjoy the snow before it melts. Today it is supposed to be sunny and get up to 39, so hopefully the icy roads will melt so we can get out and run some errands. Operation "Move The Mayor Into His New Room" is under way! The curtains were hung this morning and the rest will go up while he is napping. Hopefully, by this evening, we can get his furniture moved in and he can sleep in there tonight. If not by tonight, definitely by tomorrow! It is going to be a great weekend!

bear's first snowfall

getting ready for his fast pitch

real snow

Finally! Real snow has hit Atlanta. Not just a light dusting either, in the past 4 hours we have had over 2 inches accumulate here (which for our standards is a lot!). It is so pretty outside. The branches covered in white and a quiet has come over the neighborhood. I love the sounds of outside when it has snowed. It is almost like everything is muffled and so peaceful.

Of course, we absolutely could not let this opportunity pass us by, so The Mayor was bundled up and off we went outside. He didn't really know what to think. But he loved just walking through the yard and letting the snow cover his feet, and then he would run out onto the sidewalk and kick the snow off. And once he found the bushes, that was it. He loved just shaking off the snow from the bushes. If I would have let him, he would stayed out there brushing the snow off the bushes all night long.

Hopefully the snow will still be here in the morning so we can enjoy another round of play. In the meantime, we will enjoy watching the flakes fall from the warm inside of our house. Thank goodness for hot chocolate!

taking it all in

kicking around in the snow

brushing off the snow from the bushes

the look on his face after his first taste of snow

he knows something is going on

If you ask The Mayor if he is having a sister, he finally says "yes". And although he is too young to truly understand what that means, he definitely knows something is going on. He senses it...changes. We are going to finish his new bedroom and have him moved in by the weekend, new pink baby stuff is making its way into the house, he knows something is going on. Which has made him especially clingy, especially with me.

Because of this, it looks like we are entering a phase where he wants consistency. Last night, I dropped him off at Mamie and PopPop's house (like we do every Wednesday night) so we could go to small group, and Uncle Sloan was there. The Mayor didn't seem to like that his regular Wednesday routine had a new person involved. For the first time, he followed me to the door and looked sad while I pulled out of the driveway. Luckily, he warmed up to Uncle Sloan being there and all was well again. According to PopPop though, The Mayor wouldn't leave Mamie's side all night.

5 1/2 weeks until Bear arrives...I am hoping the transition will go smoothly and The Mayor will quickly adapt!

bear's baby shower

Yesterday Mamie and Meega hosted the most beautiful baby shower for Bear. It was totally girly and perfect. Pink was everywhere, candles were lit on the buffet table, pink roses were placed on every table, and almost every gift bag and gift was wrapped in pink. Such a change from the showers for The Mayor. His were all blue, all sports/cars, all boy. Still can't get my mind around the fact this household will be seeing pink in a short 6 weeks.

It was so much fun being surrounded by wonderful family and friends honoring the upcoming arrival of Bear. She is loved so much already; I can't wait to meet her and hold her and love her. Aunt Natalie, Uncle Tom, Trey and Luke even ventured up here so Aunt Nat could come to the shower. That made it extra special! Having family here is the best!

i'll eat those words but with a side of fries please

I really do make it a point to try and stay away from the "I will never..." and "my kid will never..." or "my kid will do this...". I have been around enough children in my life to know every single one of them is different and every single one of them WILL, at one point or another, do whatever it is you said you swore they would never do.

But there is one thing I did make the mistake of saying I would never do...and in the past 24 hours I have eaten those words 3 times. I always said if or when we owned a car with a built-in DVD entertainment system, that said system would only be turned on for road trips. And my definition of road trip was truly a road trip. Car packed up, spending the night somewhere other than home. Those words tasted mighty delicious last night when we left the dealership in our new minivan...equipped with a DVD entertainment system...that upon entering, The Mayor promptly asked for "Thomas and Friends". He hasn't even been in a car with a built-in entertainment system, so I am a little perplexed how my little 2 year old knew to ask for it upon seeing the system in the ceiling (the TV wasn't even pulled down yet), but somehow he knew, and on went Thomas and Friends. That DVD has been on every single time we have been in the car.

I am fully aware that I am the momma and I can say no. But there is almost nothing worse than listening to your 2 year old crying, over nothing, in a trapped environment. And I just don't think I have it in me (especially considering I am sleep deprived from being 34 weeks pregnant) to say no yet to the DVD being on and listen to the endless tears that would inevitably come from not putting on Thomas and Friends. So in the meantime, I would like a side of fries with my words please.

uncle sloan has come to town

Uncle Sloan is home on a 25 day rest and relaxation from the Army. He got home last night and this morning made the rounds seeing his nephews. He met Bennett for the first time this morning and then came over to see The Mayor.

The Mayor enjoyed seeing his Uncle and the time they got to play together. It will be fun having him home for the month!

On a side note, I am now officially a mother. We bought a minivan. Yikes.

the mayor in his "cheese" formation for the camera

precious

cherish these moments

I am 0 for 2 in regards to taking pictures for the blog. Meega and Bennett came over, and although there were many precious moments that should have been captured, I just enjoyed sitting back and watching them take place in front of my eyes.

Last night, a sweet little baby girl named Aubrey Bowden went on to be with her Heavenly Father. She was 1 year old and was suffering from a rare cancer. In my former life of working girl, I worked with her father. My husband, who works at the same company I used to, has the pleasure of working with him. I can not imagine the pain of holding your sweet baby in your arms and having to say good-bye. I know loss, I lost my mother to cancer when I was 13. And as difficult as that was, there can be no more harder pain to go through than losing a child.

I received word on Aubrey's passing in the wee hours of the morning. Through a haze of tears, I stumbled to The Mayor's bedroom and just watched him sleeping peacefully. It took every fiber of my being not to pick him up from his deep slumber and put him into bed with us for the night.

It is a gentle reminder to cherish these moments. They are so fleeting. We aren't guaranteed anything, so we need to make the most of the seconds we are blessed with.

And to Aubrey...you are with your Father now. You know no more pain. Rest easy baby girl, and because of your parent's faith, you will be reunited again one day.

great day

We had a great day today! It was in the mid 50s and sunny without a cloud in the sky. We went on a nice walk, played outside on our tricycle and little 4-wheeler and introduced The Mayor to sidewalk chalk. He loved drawing on the driveway and then scooting his little bottom through his artwork. Thankfully we were in play clothes.

An evening spent at Mamie and PopPop's rounded out the perfect day...such a great day I didn't even get my camera out. Tomorrow Meega and Bennett come over...the camera will definitely be out for that!