Wordless Wednesday: Playing in the Rain

My attempt at trying to be a "cool mom".

Dodger isn't quite agreeing, I don't think.

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

(*whispers* this is why I never did the whole "say cheese" thing with Noah. I knew I'd get something like this next one. Okay, back to being wordless now...)

 

Monday Musings

Sorry for the silence last week.

It's not that I don't want to blog. It's just that there's really not much to write about. Turns out the ol' blog is suffering from the post-holiday letdown too.

Really.
Our days consist of wake up, breakfast, play outside, watch Baby Einstein, nap, go to grocery store, play, dinner, bath, Baby Einstein/George, story time, and bed. Maybe with a little cookie-baking thrown in there.
But in a sad effort to blog about something... here's some complete randomness for your Monday:

Feeding the birds.
This was more of an attempt to do something crafty with the boy, but he wasn't the least bit interested. So while he ran around, I globbed peanut butter and seeds onto pine cones. Turns out? Watching these birds enjoy my little project made me happy!

(chickadees are my favorite)

We have a family of sparrows living in our bushes, and I think we've made their home permanent now.
As long as there aren't any mockingbirds or geese involved, I'm cool with this arrangement (because seriously, those things are mean...).

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Playtime Bits & Pieces.

Like I said, we've been going outside a lot lately, since the weather has been so amazing.
The pups are loving it too. Have I ever mentioned how weird Flash is with his snacking?
The dog will eat anything.
Dodger has to sniff everything before he trusts what you're giving him. Even obvious stuff like chicken. But Flash? Well, he has a pile of goodies in the back yard... from our garden.
We had some leftover carrots we didn't use, and guess who's been gnawing on them?

Yep. He's such a weirdo.

We also got to fit in some cousin playtime. I could just eat this little guy up. Such a cutie.

While I'm really craving some snow, I'm trying to be thankful for how nice it is at the moment. Last year, we were blessed with snow on Christmas. Not sure when or if that will ever happen again.
But still. The warmer temps are convenient for taking Noah out. I don't really enjoy the bitter cold unless it's going to snow.

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PSA.
This happens to me quite often actually. It seems there's a general misunderstanding among the U.S. population... at least the ones who shop at places like Target or WallyWorld.
So please, people.
Wait until I've completed my transaction before invading my personal space with your buggy. If I haven't paid yet, it makes it very difficult to do so with you standing right in front of the credit/debit swiper-thingy. And really, it's just rude. Trying to bulldoze me out of the checkout lane isn't going to make the process go any faster. In fact, it's just going to make things awkward. So yeah. Please just wait your turn. I don't have a million coupons, and I know how to use the transaction thingy (just don't know what they're called, obviously). Give me some space, and it won't take long. 


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Running.
Still doing it. Sort of. Ever since I got sick over New Years, it's taken me this long to get over my cold. I still sound all nasal-y, but I'm almost all better. Which is good, because I was really on a roll before. One day, I actually went 6 miles. That's probably not much for all you avid runners out there, but for this girl? You might as well have given me a medal. That's huge for me.
And then I proceeded to use a walker for the next few days...

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Which leads me to...
Weight Watchers.
Yep. I joined.
I decided it was time to just bite the bullet and admit this last bit of weight wasn't going to come off without some sort of outside help. I have so many friends that have had success with the program and look phenomenal now. I guess it was only a matter of time before I caved to the peer pressure. And honestly, I'd forgotten how I used to eat before I was pregnant! I ate like a bird!
See, I'm technically right in the middle of my "healthy weight range". So in order to lose weight, they've given me the bare minimum of points. At least I hope so. Basically it's the "Eat Healthy or Starve" plan. If I don't lose anything this time? There's something really wrong with me. It's really not bad, though. It's made me realize how much crap I'd been eating and how little fruits and veggies I'd actually been consuming. I thought I was doing fine, but apparently not. You wouldn't believe how many points just everyday little things I'd been eating are. Anyway, it's only been about 4 days, so I have to wait a bit for any real results. Also, it might help if I owned a scale...

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Happy Monday!
xoxo.

New Years Tidbits

Everyone have a fun New Years?? Ours was pretty uneventful. Brad had to work, and Noah and I have been sick. So in between coughs and sneezes, we celebrated with some sparkling grape juice (water for N... he hates juice of any kind) and baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Don't worry, we're not sharing them. No need to spread the germs. Yeah, that's why...

Noah decided he wanted to party that night, so we cuddled in bed and watched the ball drop. He liked the counting. Although I think he was confused by Lady Gaga. But who isn't?

Anyway, Noah was the first one to get the cold, so I've been about a day behind him (I knew I should've resisted that slobbery kiss last week!). While all I've wanted to do is lie around, Noah still wants to do normal toddler stuff. So let's just say I'm incredibly thankful for all of the new toys he got for Christmas. And also for Baby Einstein. He's obsessed with B.E. right now. 
Since the weather was pretty nice over the weekend, I didn't mind going outside for a little bit. Noah played, while I sat around and read magazines. He didn't seem to mind.

 Plus, the pups are great babysitters...

(can you tell I'm still getting used to the new lens? holy brightness, batman...)

Just kidding.

 

Flash, pay attention.

I've learned this week that if you want to start following new blogs, the beginning of the year is the time to do it. Everyone is doing a recap or favorite posts/pictures. Makes for easy catch-up.

As for resolutions, goals, whatever you want to call them... the only one I've got is to be healthier. Which really, is more of a life-goal, not just for the new year. However, I do have things I'd love to do to the house this year. It doesn't really count as a resolution, since I'm sure most of it doesn't fall within the budget for the year. Maybe I can convince Brad some of this is "necessary". Maybe?

What I want to do the most is PAINT.
Honestly, this is the cheapest way to redo a room. I actually love to paint. Right now, we're still living with the boring white in our loft, kitchen, and guest bath. The white that came with the house. And I'm so over it. I need color.
Also, I'm wanting to redo the spare bedroom/office and make it into more of a playroom/office. Our desk is broken and needs replacing. And the walls are too dark. We painted them the same color as the master, just because we had the leftover paint. But it's way too dark for such a small room. Makes you feel claustrophobic.

Some colors I like...

For the loft.

We have so much green and blue in our other rooms that I want to break it up a little. This is a good option, since it's warmer but still flows with the rest of the house.

Plus, it's a good neutral that I can work around and add pops of color throughout the year with accessories.

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Or maybe this color?

(btw, how cute is this cozy desk space idea?)

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I know it's not that different. I just don't want it to be too dark. Our downstairs green is dark enough. I want the loft to be lighter.

For the kitchen.

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We have our green living/dining room right outside of here, and there's a hint of grey in our floor pattern. So I didn't want to go beige. I figured something like this would flow well.

Plus, our trim is white (and I still want to paint our cabinets white).

For the playroom/office.

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Okay, I'm not much of a yellow person, normally. But the rest of our house is filled with "calming colors", so I figured a cheery, gender-neutral color would be fun for a playroom.

What do you think? Too risky?

I could always go a little softer.

For the guest bathroom.

Just to bring some of the green upstairs without it being too overpowering.

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Anyway, that's about all I've got.

Between being sick and trying to get Christmas stuff put away with a toddler running around, there hasn't been much else to blog about.

Hope everyone had a great NYE weekend!

Weekend Walks (aka photo dump)

Every time we go outside, Noah is content to run around in the driveway for about 10 minutes.

He then walks to the edge of the driveway, right before you get to the road, and stops.

Every time, I firmly say, "Noah. No, sir."

And every time, he turns around to face me, lifts his arm up in my direction, and waits for me to come grab his hand. Because he knows. It has been burned into that cute little noggin' of his that he is most definitely not allowed to leave our driveway/yard without holding someone's hand.

But once we reach the other side of the road?

Pure toddler bliss.

He runs up and down the sidewalk.

In this case, yesterday, he was carrying around a chip to snack on at the same time.

He'd run a little ways. Stop. Take a bite. Then carry on.

A few months ago, he started this thing where if a car is coming, he grabs hold of my leg until they pass.

I was so excited and immediately praised him for being such a good boy.

Positive reinforcement, y'all. It's a wondrous thing.

Because now?

Every.single.time a car comes along, he rushes to my side. He could be 10-15 ft in front of me, but if a car or motorcycle or anything motorized comes our way (it could be waaayyy at the other end of the street), he stops what he's doing and runs back to me.

It's the cutest thing, and a habit I'm really happy about.

He loves to get to the top of this hill and see how far he's gone.

And once he realizes how far he's gone, he suddenly gets tired and needs to take a rest.

So that's what we do. We park ourselves on the sidewalk and wait for his legs to work again.

This time, he decided he wanted to explore a different side street.

Apparently, they have cool rocks.

And this particular street also happens to have a cat.

A very friendly cat.

I need to make a confession, I think.

I haven't always been a dog person.

*gasp* I know.

I always thought most dogs were slightly... dare I say it?... irritating.

The big ones were... well, big (and usually involved a lot of drool). And the little ones were all yappy. Dogs were smelly and dirty and needy. And they were usually most needy when they were covered in water or mud or some other God-forsaken substance. Don't get me wrong; I definitely thought they were cute, especially the puppies. We had a Great Dane, and while he was really cool and fun, he was still big and slobbered on every nice outfit I had. It was like running away from a horse with its tongue hanging out every time I had to go to class/work.

He was really cute and I loved him dearly, but I still preferred cats. They sit quietly and purr. They're not needy, but they love affection. They don't usually smell, drool, or meow at all hours of the night (except when our cat could see the bottom of her food bowl. this always happened in the middle of the night, and she would scratch on everyone's doors until someone got up to fix the problem).

Then our pups were born, and I realized why people fall in love with their dogs.

I still think dogs smell and drool and can, at times, be gross. But they're totally loveable.

And my Dodger can do no wrong.

Anyway, I'm getting off topic.

I've wanted a cat ever since Brad and I got married. I missed my cats back at my parents', but Brad says "no way". We weren't sure how a cat would handle a baby anyway. All it'd take is for 6-month-old Noah to pull its tail, and if it scratched him? It'd be a dead cat.

However, I don't think that's a concern anymore.

This kitty was so incredibly sweet, and Noah was very gentle. No pulling or hitting. He just sat and giggled every time it swished its tail across the back of his neck.

Obviously, Kitty lives with a family that has kids, because it was definitely not skittish around Noah at all.

Most cats that see a toddler running near them? They dart off.

Kitty was totally cool with him

Invariably, Noah always decides his legs don't work about 2 blocks away from the house. And if I forgot to grab his wagon before we left? Guess who gets to carry him! ALL THIRTY-SEVEN POUNDS OF HIM.

My arms don't even notice the weight anymore.

However, it never fails.

Cats know how to tell you they want you to stay...

Try lugging a massive two-year-old with a cat running in between your legs.

It's not easy.

Kitty followed us for awhile, but finally gave up after a couple of streets over. It's probably a good thing. He would've been awfully surprised at what was waiting for him in our yard.

Happy Labor Day!

Photo Challenge: The Pups

It's Pet Week on both the paper mama and iheartfaces.
And how could I, being the momma to two furry boys, not enter?

This photo was actually taken a few years ago when our pups were... well, pups.
The hubs and I were still dating at this point. His sister's dog had had puppies; so I took one (Dodger), he kept one (Flash), and my grandmother took one (Precious). It worked out great this way, because they all still got to see eachother a lot and play. This was one of those times, and I'm so glad we got a snapshot of it. They were so cute to watch.

The ball of fluff on the bottom is Dodger, the rear end in the air puppy on top is Flash, and Precious is pinned somewhere on the bottom (that's her leg sticking out to the right).

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