just another saturday

I love Saturdays. I get so excited when the weekend rolls around. D is done with work and we get to scoot around town running errands together, playing at the playground together, just doing whatever together. It is so much more enjoyable to do everything and nothing as a family of 4. I mean, I love being home with the kids by myself during the week but when we are all together, it is just that much better.

Today we did nothing fantastic. Just ran some errands in the morning, played outside after naps and went to a local park after dinner. The weather is so beautiful and both kids love being outside. The Mayor loves to be free and run around and Love Bug is instantly calmed when she feels the light breeze against her. They are both so happy...which makes me and D so happy.

Tomorrow is church and then family lunch at our house. And since J, Meega and Bennett now live 3 miles away, they will be joining us! We are so excited their move went well this weekend and are so happy they are just around the corner! Life is good!

he did it

The Mayor slept in his big boy bed...all night long! He didn't wake up in the middle of the night or get out of his bed. I heard him talking to his animals around 7:30 this morning, which is earlier than we normally get up, but I figured that would be the case. When I walked into his room I found him sitting on his bed, looking like such a big boy. He got up when I walked in and greeted me with a hug. I told him how proud I was of him sleeping in his big boy bed.

His nap time went well too. I ended up waking him up after 2 1/2 hours; I wanted to make sure he would sleep tonight! And so far so good...

And now for a little update on my sweet Love Bug. She is getting so big! I can't believe my girl is 10 1/2 weeks old. She has the sweetest disposition and loves to smile and coo at us. She just looks at you with those big blue eyes and makes your heart melt. She also adores her big brother, and he adores her. The Mayor is always kissing her, hugging her, trying to get her to play with toys...it is so precious! I am so thankful to be able to stay at home with these two angels.

after nap...he wasn't quite ready to wake up

end of an era

It is a sad day for me. Today, The Mayor's crib was converted to his big boy toddler bed. My baby is no longer a baby, he is a full-fledged toddler. The last piece of his infancy is now a toddler bed. We had made the decision to convert his crib over the summer, but after The Mayor decided to climb out of his crib 4 times this week (and 3 times today during nap time) we bumped up that timeframe to today.

Thankfully, Love Bug is now sleeping about 13 hours at night. I would have for sure been in tears if I was still having to get up with her. I think I am programmed to only handle one child per night during an interrupted night's sleep.

After a late dinner and some playing at a playground, The Mayor has been bathed and read to. Lots of hugs and kisses and talking up the "big boy bed" and how he has to stay in the big boy bed took us to 9:00. As soon as we put him in bed he started to cry. I think he was nervous, the safety of the 4 walls of the crib is no longer there. We told him it was ok and that this was still the same bed, he said "ok" through some tears, we kissed him again and said I love you before closing the door. He immediately started crying again and we let him for about 5 minutes. I took the first round and walked in. I was happy to see he was still laying in bed. He asked to be rocked (which is something he frequently did if he got upset when he slept in the crib) so I picked him up, cuddled him and rocked him for about 5 minutes. Then he said he was ready for "night-night". I put him back in the bed and so far so good. It is 9:29 and it is quiet and he is still in bed.

D and I took a bet. I guessed The Mayor would be up 5 times tonight and D guess 10. We will see who is right in the morning.

my Love Bug...just want to nibble on that sweet double chin

*the picture of The Mayor was taken immediately after I showed him his "new" bed. He hopped up there and said "ta-da!" as if the crib miraculously disappeared. I love that boy.

end of class

A little over nine weeks ago I signed The Mayor up for a sports class designed for 2 year olds. It was a 9 week program, meeting one day a week, teaching the fundamentals of football, basketball, t-ball and soccer. There are no games, just a 30 minute class teaching them about the equipment, how to follow instructions and the basics of each sport. The first week of class, The Mayor wouldn't stop crying. I had to spend the entire 30 minutes in the gym with him, sitting with him and following him around. The 2nd week, D had to go in the gym with him, but this time The Mayor followed directions and participated in class, but just had to have his daddy close by. By the 3rd week, he was running into class and waving "bye-bye" to me. I am so proud of my little man. I snuck into class today to take some pictures and I was afraid it would distract him and he would run over to me. But I was wrong, instead he listened to his coach, followed directions and even smiled at me while I took pictures. Such a difference in him in just these 9 weeks. He is growing up so quickly.

running into class. 9 weeks ago I was carrying him in while he cried...such a difference

waiting in line to kick his soccer ball into the goal

he kicks...

...and it's good! GOAL!

Coach Shannon taught them how to stick their arms in the air and yell "goal" when they scored...so cute!

after each class, they gather together in a huddle, put their hands on top of each others and yell "SportTykes"! (the name of the class)

getting his stamp for being a good listener

waiting to pick out his lollipop

his class

4 dumdums and a cookie

For those mothers out there who are into bribing your children (and if you say you aren't, then you are either lying or your children just aren't old enough yet), it will take you 1 cookie from the Publix cookie club and 4 dumdum lollipops to get you 30 minutes of leisure grocery shopping time. We weren't able to squeeze in grocery shopping this weekend as a family, so I had to go yesterday afternoon by myself with both kids. We went right after The Mayor woke up from his nap so he was in a great mood. I just wanted to ensure that good mood stayed during our entire grocery shopping trip. I just did not have it in me to deal with a potential meltdown from my 2 year old, so before we got out of the car, I told him "we are going to walk inside the store, get into the cart like a big boy, and if you do all of that, we will get a cookie". A very excited "OK!" came out and off we went...following directions as we walked into Publix. After the cookie was finished, somewhere in the produce section, out came the dumdum. Thankfully I had stocked up my diaper bag and had plenty for our entire trip. I now know to always have dumdums on hand or my husband.

disappointment leads to a blessing

As long as I have been waiting for Love Bug's furniture to get here and finally get her room decorated and setup, it looks like I will have to wait at least another month. The furniture that finally arrived the other day after a long 5 1/2 months is going back. It is the poorest quality of work I have ever seen, especially considering how much it cost us. There are issues with the wood and the paint is chipping...so disappointed.

Luckily, the owner of the store completely agrees and is letting us return it and order new furniture. We went last night and were there until 9 minutes before they closed and finally decided on something. It is gorgeous...worthy of being in our sweet girl's room. It is such great quality and beautiful craftsmanship that it can be her forever furniture, and she can pass it along to her own children. We never would have originally even looked at this furniture because it was out of our price range, but the owner told us to pick whatever we wanted. So this could have been a blessing in disguise. Wish it hadn't taken us 6 months to have found this blessing, but a blessing it is going to be. The furniture should be in our possession in less than a month.

before this weekend, I was worried this is how she would be sleeping until she was ready for her big girl bed

finally

We ordered Love Bug's nursery furniture back in December, just a few days after Christmas, and it was supposed to arrive 6-8 weeks later. 10 weeks at the most. Cut to 5 1/2 months later, the furniture has finally arrived. It has been a long and annoying road to get this furniture here but it is finally in her room. Well almost all of it. The nightstand that we were giving for free to match her furniture (as an apology for the long delay) and the conversion rails to make her crib into a full-size bed still haven't arrived. But since she won't be in a full-size bed for at least 3 years, we can live without those and the nightstand for a few more weeks. But the crib, dresser, combo and hutch are in. Tomorrow I will spend the kid's nap time in that room getting it completely organized and setup. I can't wait...pictures to be posted then!