Saturday in Suburbia

Ahhh...Saturday in suburbia. Garage sales and lemonade stands. And lawn mowers. Lots and lots of lawn mowers. It's impossible to drive down any street without seeing at least one lawn getting mowed on a Saturday morning. Our house is no exception - well, except this last week anyways. Our lawn got mowed on Monday this week due to our schedules...we're such rebels!

Ian loved helping Daddy mow!

Like, really loved helping Daddy mow! So much that Daddy was relegated to the small mower.

It's okay, Dad. We're good...still got plenty of room in here for more clippings.

Seriously, Dad. I said I'd do it.

All right. I suppose you can help me push if you want to.

See? I told ya! I got it.

We sure hope Ian is this excited about mowing when he gets to be a bit older! In the meantime, we're loving having a yard, even if it does mean mowing on Saturdays!

End of an Era

Well, in case you haven't noticed, I am waaay behind on blogging and commenting on blogs. In a way, it's a good thing though. It's because we've been so busy moving and getting the next stage of our lives in order. Both James and are going back to school this fall to pursue what we really want to do - teaching for him and linguistics studies for me. It's super exciting and extremely hectic all at the same time!

Sunday morning brought an official end to James' time at Target. He worked the night shift for the last time Saturday night and came home to a little celebration - Snoopy and Charlie Brown chocolate chip pancakes and scrambled eggs!

Of course, we had to have balloons and donuts too!

Ian thought they were great. (Excuse the mess...we're still moving in!)

Mmmm...yummy! Daddy should transfer jobs more often!

I'm really proud of us for all that we have accomplished over the last few years. There has been a lot of soul searching and having to take the harder route while figuring out what we wanna do when we grow up and how to get from Point A to Point B. We're finally in a place though that we are actually pursuing what we both want to do with our lives, rather than testing different options or biding time waiting for an option to become available.

We are also both quite relieved to be done with the crazy split shift schedule we worked this last year that included one overnight shift a week for James. It went like this:

Monday - James worked 7a-3:30p; I worked 7p-12a.

Tuesday - James worked 7a-3:30p; after 6 months of working 8p-12a, I finally switched my schedule so I didn't have to work Tuesday nights.

Wednesday - James worked 7a-3:30p; I worked 7p-12a.

Thursday - James worked 7a-3:30p; I was off

Friday - We were both off, but James took an afternoon nap so he could stay up until 5 or 6am to get ready for his Saturday night shift.

Saturday - I was off; James slept until noon or 1pm, took a nap from 4 or 5-7p, and then worked 9p-7am (often stayed until 8 or 9am).

Sunday - James slept until 3 or 4pm; I worked 7p-12a.

Whewie!! That was tough stuff. Even though we were both very thankful for the opportunity that James had to work at Target, we are looking forward to having a more regular schedule. With our previous schedule, we had no normal days where we were both off and didn't have to adjust for a sleep schedule. It was a huge blessing not to have to put Ian in daycare, but it was really, really hard to keep that schedule going. I am really proud of James and thankful for all the sacrifices he made over the past year so that I could stay home most of the time with Ian, and now I am really glad for the opportunity for us to have days off together!

We will still both be working, but not that same schedule. James is also eligible for a GI Bill from his time in the Marines that pays for housing, tuition, and a stipend while he goes back to school. While we know this year will have its own set of challenges, we're looking forward to moving on with our goals!

Making Progress

We have had a busy, busy week moving! We're definitely getting there and thought we would share how this past week has gone.

Ian thought Mommy might need the tissues to pack fragile stuff so he helped by pulling them out of the box.

Daddy and Ian had a blast playing in the boxes. Where did that hand come from?

Aww...snuggling inside the box!

Worn out from all the fun, even though the hard work has just begun!

Playing with toys at the new house.

Getting boxes ready to move.

Believe it or not, all of this (and more!) fit in both of our cars for one trip over to the house.

Ian helping Mommy vacuum. He pushed the hand vac back and forth on the rug for me. :-)

We took load after load...

after load of stuff!

We had quiet, resting moments (he's reading a book and snuggling with the stuffed manatee).

And fun outside play time moments. (A huge thanks to Gramma K, Steve, and Chione for all their hard work on Friday helping us move! We got soooooo much more done than we even expected we would!)

More sweet, quiet moments back at the apartment.

Helping Mommy bring in boxes from the car.

Ian loves the dolly that Chione and Keller so nicely let us borrow! Say cheese!

Our first sit down meal at the new house. Thanks Chione - without your truck, we would still be eating on the floor over there!

Ian made a HUGE mess with his kid's meal from Rosa's. But ya know what? We didn't really care! We now have a TILE floor instead of carpet that makes clean-up a breeze!

Hehe...Ian and Daddy were making silly faces at each other through the sliding glass door. This one cracks me up every time!

We have our fridge in place!

Ian did a thorough inspection of all the kitchen cabinets. Fortunately, they all checked out okay.

For some reason, Mommy thought she ought to fill those cabinets with stuff. So while she was doing that, Ian camped out on the kitchen chair watching Veggie Tales. He sat there for almost a solid half an hour! I don't think the new house has really felt like home to him without Veggie Tales!

He did sooooo good sitting there! I was surprised. He made a huge mess with his cookies, but no biggie. I just hosed him off outside in our back yard!

Ahh...it feels sooo good to have the kitchen set up! (Well, almost. I still need to put my cooking spices on the bottom left shelf.)

Pots and pans are in their place.

And so are the miscellaneous trays and all my non-glass bakeware.

All the glass bakeware has its own cabinet and is child-proofed!

The plates, bowls, and glasses are tucked away up in their cabinet too.

It wasn't long before Ian discovered his favorite cabinet!

He sure is a busy little cook!


Whew! Just a few more days and we'll move the rest of the big stuff and be living in the house instead of the apartment. Here's hoping all goes well with the rest of the move!

Fifteen Months!

My, oh my! Where does the time go? I was just sitting here thinking about which pictures to post when I realized Ian is 15 months old today!

This past month has been SUPER busy. We've taken two overnight trips, seen lots of family, started the moving process, been accepted into grad school, and done a lot of teething (well, okay - only one of us has done that!).

At fifteen months:

* Ian readily tries to assert his independence and often screams when he doesn't get his way.

* is a little monkey, especially when it comes to grocery shopping. We've started having to use the store cart seatbelt to keep him from climbing over the seat (his cart cover straps aren't enough to keep him down anymore).

* would prefer to ride in the back of the cart as opposed to being strapped in.

* can easily climb on the ottoman onto the couch. He likes to scare Mommy and Daddy by walking back and forth on the couch.

* still wears a size 4 diaper and 12 & 18 month clothing.

* is starting to get better about not throwing his bowls, plates, and snack cups when he is eating.

* has graduated to hard spout sippy cups exclusively. He has chewed through many of the soft spouts and now they leak if he lays (throws) them on their side.

* still loves blueberries and olives. He and I can polish off a can of olives in one sitting! He's also started liking fresh banana, especially if he can have half at a time instead of small pieces.

* is doing pretty good chewing his food. I still cut much of it into small pieces, but he insists on taking bigger and bigger bites.

* loves Veggie Tales (sorry, Wiggles...you're out!) and the ABC song.

* signs "eat", "more", and "all done".

* understands food and drink are kept in the fridge. Now when we ask if he is hungry or wants a drink, he runs into the kitchen and stands by the fridge.

* is becoming quite adept at running instead of walking!

* is no longer scared of the handvac or vacuum. He likes to try and help instead now!

* has recently started sleeping with his favorite stuffed dog, Skip. The two are inseparable at bedtime and it melts our hearts every time we see them snuggled up together.

Happy 15 months, little guy! Thanks for being such a trooper with everything going on right now! We love you!

Cheeky Summer Fun

One of our favorite things about finally being in a house is having a back yard! I don't think Ian even understood what the words "back yard" meant until this week, but he is loving learning about it!

Apparently there has been a little cheeky little water bug running around the back yard. James finally got some pictures that prove his existence.

This is one water bug that loves getting wet!

Sprinklers are his favorite place to hang out.

No worries, Mom. My clothes are still dry!

Aahh. The pure, simple pleasures of summer!

Buddies

Last week we got to go stay with Ian's cousin, Ace, while Aunt Kt and Gramma K went to an Aerosmith concert. Ian was so excited to go see his cousin - they're such good buddies!

Ian was getting pretty hungry on the way to Gramma K's house, so I gave him a little bowl of strawberries I had sliced. He has been getting better about not throwing food in bowls and actually eating it. This was our first test in the car and he did great!

I looked in the rearview mirror after a bit and saw he had even put the bowl on some toys nearby. I was so proud of him!

Gramma K had ordered pizza for dinner. After everyone was all done, Ian snuck up to the table and grabbed Gramma K's pizza crust to chew on!

Playing fire trucks together. Ian had the little one and Ace drove the large one.

Aunt Kt and Gramma K all ready to go!

Gramma K and Steve. Aerosmith, here they come.

When they left, the boys went back to their fire trucks. Ace was such a good little fireman! He rescued a penguin, a polar bear, and another couple of fuzzy friends.

Ian went behind him and cleaned up all the debris from the fires with the dump truck.

After a bit, we headed out to a nearby park. Rather than try and push two strollers, I decided to put Ian in a baby backpack my mom had gotten and push Ace. The boys did great!

Ian spent the whole ride looking over my shoulder at his buddy.

Whew! We finally made it!

Sitting patiently waiting to go play!

Ace is the cutest little climbing monkey ever! For just being two, he is extremely agile and is quite the little daredevil!

This playground was great...had lots of good equipment and was totally enclosed by a fence!

Poor Ian - he wasn't quite the daredevil his cousin was. He didn't like being up high, even with Momma close by.

Wheee! Ace had fun swinging on the bar over the slide.

Ian's favorite part was running the perimeter of the playground.

Time for some refreshment!

Look at your feet, cuz.

Cousin swing!

Come swing, cuz.

Hi!

After we got back from the park, Ace thought the stroller would be a good place to chill and watch some TV.

Pretty soon it was bath time. These boys sure love Gramma K's nice, large tub!

Hehe...they're gonna kill me one day, but they are just so adorable in the tub together!

Ace really is an amazing cousin to Ian!

Wanna see what had them cracking up?



And wanna see what had me cracking up? (Ace figured out that if he started laughing first, he could get Ian to laugh.)



Such good buddies!

At one point, Ace layed down on the floor and Ian popped up over the edge of the tub to surprise him. They did this over and over and, of course, this game was the source of many more chuckles.

A little play time before bed. Ace showing Ian how to work the recorder.

The next morning, Ian was super excited about helping Gramma K with the dishwasher. Mommy hardly ever lets him help at home anymore, so this was a special treat.

We packed up and headed to the nearby pool. And seriously - who needs swimsuits? Have trucks, will travel!

Playing peek-a-boo under the towel with Gramma K.

Haha - so funny!

More peek-a-boo!

Right after swimming, we had lunch and then Ian and I had to hoof it back to our apartment to sign the lease for our house! We had soooo much fun with Ace, Gramma K, Aunt Kt, and Steve. Ace - you are such a good buddy! Thanks for being a great cousin!