Happy Independence Day!

First, we hope everyone has a fun 4th of July weekend! Ours will be full of pool parties and BBQ's. Busy but good!

Other than not sleeping very well we had a GREAT time in the mountains. Nate absolutely LOVED being outdoors exploring his huge "backyard". We literally had to pry him in kicking and screaming. He was very happy walking around, studying streams and plants. Every night when it started to get dark we had deer and elk that came out across our cabin, it was so relaxing to sit and watch them. And then we had a bear warning...*sigh* I sucked it up for my boys and sang really loud while we hiked and tried to ignore noises at night. I think I deserve a pat on the back for not flooring it back home!

Nate also had an awesome first dental visit. Not that he enjoyed another person being in his mouth, but got an A+ on his report card. It's been confirmed that he has molars and other teeth coming in and no signs of tooth decay, cause of concern for cavities,etc. Whew. We hoped for the best since he doesn't make brushing teeth very easy!

Thats our biggest news for now, off to watch a monsoon storm!

Off..On..Off..On..

I think this title is appropiate for a few reasons--for starters Nate has found the excitement of light switches, and this is how his eating and sleeping have been lately. One night he sleeps all the way through, the next up for five hours straight. Then one day he'll eat fruit, the next few days wants nothing to do with it. So really, I don't know what to expect on any given day!

Our Father's Day was good. We made daddy breakfast, took him out for lunch and made him a frame with a recent picture of him and Nate to put up at work.

This coming weekend we're leaving for the mountains for a few days, hooray! Daddy will be off soon for a week and a half. We're looking forward to being busy with him!

Nate is trying to pronounce "f" words and has gotten into Sesame Street. He has his first dental visit in another week, I'm really hoping we get good news. Otherwise, we're just trying to keep busy with dates with friends and trips to inside places (it's starting to get way too hot for parks and even the zoo, unless we're there at
6 a.m. I'm afraid!) Nate gets hot and red pretty fast so we're trying to stay cool.

Have some things to do so this is all for now!

So Cuddly...

Nate has gotten this compliment from a few people and lately it has proved true. He's had a rough last couple days with his naps (at about an hour he wakes up screaming)and all he wants to do is lay on me. Not that he falls asleep, but he wraps his arms around my neck and digs his head into my shoulder, just wanting to be rocked for a while. Then its over and he runs around, not able to fall back asleep (once he has slept at least for a little bit there's no putting him back down, just an earlier bedtime!) Anyway, I wanted to mention that because it gets me through him not taking a very good nap :) Little Cuddler.

I just took him for his first "professional" haircut this week. We went to a kids themed hair salon so it was good in keeping him entertained some. He wasn't sure if he was suppose to be scared or not, he was half okay and half panicky! hehe. Luckily it didn't take more than even five minutes and he came out pretty adorable.

Josh and I just celebrated our wedding anniversary last weekend--we got to have a really nice dinner out. Fabulous!

We're looking forward to Father's Day. Not quite sure what we're going to be doing yet, some of the time will be with extended family.

I've got someone tugging on my arm now. Ta-ta for now!

An "A" Visit

Nate went in for his 15 mo checkup and the dr was happy with his progress--23 pds, 32 inches long. Three months ago she wanted him to weigh more and be eating more solids. Mission accomplished! He's free to visit the dentist for his first time. Yipes, he doesn't like us brushing his teeth so I don't imagine that trip being too fun. Looking in his mouth is off limits!

We're trying to stay busy despite it being hot out. Thinking of all kinds of air conditioned activities to do! On that note, I am now officially President and Activities Coordinator for my Moms Club. We have had such a fun time with the girls and kids in the group, if no one stepped up to be President the club would have closed. So I will soon be busier! The end of June is our fiscal time so I have to look at bank statements, tax stuff...the total business side. Then it'll be back to scheduling ice cream tours :)

Our cabin getaway up north is in a few weeks, we're really starting to count down! Can't wait for a few days of cooler weather. Have a great weekend!

Taking Off !

Mr 15 month old is getting in more teeth, can run now, eating chicken nuggets and cheese (yay!) and now his favorite words are "dog" and "duck". We also just took him to McD's for his first Happy Meal and playtime. I went ahead and threw away all his bottles so I don't get tempted with bottle weaning. It seemed to be doing pretty well, except that lately at naptimes he's been having a difficult time settling down so I gave in twice....uggghh, I hate that. But hopefully the difficulty will pass soon!

I had another great experience this week getting to attend ASU's graduation commencement. President Obama gave the commencement speech. Despite whatever political party you're with, I think it's awesome to get to at least see the President in person. I also got to see his motorcade leaving town which was also neat. I'm so blessed to have family that can help me out with Nate so I can do fun things every now and then!

We're looking forward to another long weekend next week. It's really warming up here-talking 105 degrees now-so we're also happy that it's time for swimming! Have a great week and a Happy Memorial Day!

Mother's Day

Make a Smilebox greeting

Weaning off Baby :(

We're taking away all of Nate's last baby characteristics--weaning off his bottle is almost a success and now we're also starting to take him off his jar food to encourage more "real" food. He now enjoys yogurt! We have more work to do with fruit,meat, basically anything other than crackers! I guess he has to try things 500 times before he starts to like them :)

He walks 100% of the time now. Thats all he wants to do (preferably outside). He throws his biggest tantrums if I take that away from him! On the outside note, we just booked a cabin getaway for all of us to escape to cooler weather at the end of June. Nate and our dog love the outside so this should suit them well!

Nate got to enjoy Easter a little more this year. He got a basket of books (he loves to be read to before he sleeps) and we had an Easter egg hunt.

I'm starting to look forward to Mother's Day--going out to the spa for a few appointments and dinner with my gentlemen. Should be a nice weekend! Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's!! We all deserve a fun and relaxing day :)

Easter

Make a Smilebox greeting

Tantrums

Nate has gotten into becoming upset when he's taken away from doing something/playing with a toy he enjoys! Luckily it doesn't last for too long and he's pretty easily distractable!

We had a GREAT weekend last week when we left Nate behind to take a mommy and daddy trip. I had to keep a stiff upper lip at first, but once we got going we all started enjoying the fun things we were doing! I was very relieved and thankful that Nate actually slept pretty well despite his new and different surroundings, some of us know how hard new things can be for kiddos!

Nate met Mr.Bunny for his first time last week...not too crazy about it. This isn't our first Easter with him but really the first time we'll be talking to him about leaving carrots out and hiding eggs and a basket for him (he was only a month old last year!) So we're excited about that, spending time with family.

Hope everyone has a Happy Easter weekend!

Hip Hip Hooray!

Nate is FINALLY consuming "real" food! Not by the pounds or boxes yet, but he has started eating small crackers, spaghetti, nibbles on apple slices and even meat. After what seems like a year (more like six months) of trying I'm glad he's finally come around. He's still into his baby food yet, but I'm glad he's gained the courage to try different things. Sigh of relief come doctor time in another month!

It may not be too much longer before he's walking pretty permanently. He's starting to do that more than crawl, even in public places with shoes on! (he wasn't crazy about those at first) Nate is really looking the part of a little boy vs "baby face" now. Sad but fun to watch him grow too.

This coming weekend is our big "mommy/daddy super date" away from the little boy for the 1st time overnight. I imagine we'll all be sad at first but once we get into having fun time will fly! Until next time...

Losing Sleep Momentum

I think someone is in the process of telling us that his sleep habits are changing again. Naps have been shorter and he sometimes has difficulty falling asleep. He's slowly needing less sleep! Bummer, a day you wish would never come. Happy to say at least that we're all getting a good night's rest, at least if we aren't having bad dreams.

Nate can now stand on his tippy toes and reach the door handles--and open and close the door! We don't have knobs, we have the kind that you pull down on. He's really enjoying the activity of opening and closing doors. Now that we're using our "swimming pool" (the spa), he really enjoys being in there too. Its hard to believe that some days are feeling like summer-we've hit 90 degrees already.

Otherwise all is well. We're done being sick again, I think I may be successful with finding a way to workout where Nate can stick with me so he doesn't have separation anxiety (a stroller class, which believe it or not is very hard! running,lunges,squats,weights,ab work...blah!) Its nice because we get to a point where we let the kiddos out of the stroller to crawl around while we're working out. Today of which was my first class so I'm pretty tired. Ta-ta for now!

White Noise

Okay so...we started using the humidifier when Nate was having trouble with his nose, but even when he's not I leave it on. Not only does it help drown out noise, but I think it might help "soothe" him to sleep and when he wakes up. I tried not having it in his room last night, and he couldn't fall asleep! Put it back in, gave him a little bit more to drink, and he was out for almost twelve hours! That baby is staying in there!

Getting over head cold stuff once again. Somehow we've gotten into this once a month at least habit.

Last Friday he started a "play" class : involving balls, mats, one of those air bounce machines, parachutes, songs, bubbles....loved it! Some of his friends are in it. He just likes to crawl around to everyone, Mr Butterfly! Its at a really nice park and rec center. Seems like we'll be heading out that way more often.

We've been holding our breaths waiting for what changes would be coming to Nissan with the whole auto downfall. Nissan isn't laying anyone off at Josh's plant, but are starting to give extra "holidays" around holidays in the coming months without pay (their way of budget cuts). It will be great to have Josh home those extra days but without pay is a bummer. We'd much rather have that over a layoff though! If business doesn't go up in the coming months they will continue to do that for months in the fall as well. I hope it doesn't get that far.

On that note, I have been quietly looking for a flexible, home based job. I have a feeling I won't have much luck--things are looking rather grim out there.

Hope everyone has a good week!

Aaaahhh...

Whatever sleeping fairy that arrived last week and helped Nate sleep through the night has stuck around! For the last week and a half he has slept through the WHOLE night : as in 6:30/7pm until at least 5:30-7am! He may wake up a time or two and cry for a minute, but he drifts back off. His teething has also subsided I think as he is back to eating jar food. Our colds are also finally gone!

Exciting news for mommy and daddy: they have officially booked a day/night away from Nate for the first time since he was born the first weekend of April. We're going to miss him terribly I'm sure but are looking forward to some couple time, back up in Sedona. We're looking forward to hiking, eating at a normal dinner hour...whatever our little hearts desire at whatever time! It will be a good trial period for when we also hope to get away for a few days in July. Not to mention the grandparents enjoy all the quality time so it works out for everyone!

Hope you all have a nice weekend. Can't believe March is here already.