It's a Rough Life

Watching cartoons on a Saturday morning with his blanket and milk.  Poor kid, he has a rough life.

Cute, Inexpensive Shoes

While in Old Navy yesterday, I was excited to see that they are starting to carry their spring line.  I love spring clothes.  I love bright, happy spring colors.  I love cute little flats and sandals.  I'm pretty sure I was giggling in the store.

I bought some yellow flats that I couldn't find on their website so you'll just have to imagine them.  Take a look at some of these and tell me they don't make you happy...

Happy Friday!

Thursday Randoms

• While browsing Pinterest last week, I saw these Valentine's decorations

Source: marthastewart.com via Lori on Pinterest

They are made from crayon shavings between two sheets of wax paper melted together with an iron.  My college roommates and I made these for our apartment one year, and they turned out really cute.  (Although making them was 99% of the fun!)

• Last night after I put Jacob to bed, I heard his little feet running around upstairs.  As I came upstairs, he was running back to his room from ours, and seeing me on the stairs scared him to death!  He may be small, but the kid can jump.  Funniest.  Thing.  Ever. 

• I was finally able to put my hair in a ponytail today, for the first time since I was almost shaved bald in December.  It took 239, 984 bobby pins, but I have a teeny-tiny ponytail. 

• Monday was Food Day at Frank's office, and I made Snickers Popcorn.

Source: cookiesandcups.com via Lori on Pinterest

(Not sure why that picture is SO BIG... perhaps it's to warn you what will happen to your butt if you eat it :)  I snacked on it as I was putting it together, and it was fabulous as the picture.  I'm very glad it wasn't in the house long.

• Frank has been out of town since yesterday, so I had Taco Bell for dinner last night.  It will always be my fast food of choice. 

• I'll leave you with a song that's currently running through my head...(Warning, you WILL be singing it the rest of the day...)

Milestone

Last night was his first night of sleeping in his toddler bed.  I"m happy to report that all went well.

Diary of a Refugee Weekend (Or The Post With No Pictures)

This past weekend, Frank hosted some of his college buddies at our house.  They went out for dinner, and one spent the night, and I didn't want to be That Wife Who Tries to Hang Out With Her Husband's Friends, so Jacob and I went to my parents'.  We were refugees!

Actually, I dropped Jacob off with Grandma and Grandpa and went to visit my friend Emily who lives about half an hour from their house.  It was so nice just to sit and chat for a few hours! Ethan, her 4 year old, entertained us with his his hockey moves as we ate brownies and gossipped.  Caleb, her 2 year old, managed to stay awake for the brownies, but then went upstairs to take a a nap.  I seriously don't think we've had that much time just to have a conversation since we started having kids.  It was fabulous. 

I was in such a chill mood driving back to my parents'-- anticipating my mom's pulled pork and cheesy potatoes--but when I walked in the door, Jacob flew at me.  Remember sweet little cousin Caleb, who Jacob views as his arch-rival for Grandma's attention?  Well, sweet little cousin Caleb had arrived for dinner, along with Uncle Brian and Aunt Sarah, and Jacob was not amused.  That's putting it mildly.  We spent the next few hours eating our delicious dinner and watching Jacob try to pretend he was the only grandchild.  Each time the kids get together, I think, "Maybe this will be the time they start to become friends."  But Saturday wasn't that time. 

Later that evening, I was trying to remember the last time I had spent the night at my parents' house, and I think it was Easter of 2010.  I think.  Then, I tried to remember the last time I spent the night there without Frank, and that was September 2007, the one and only weekend we spend apart while we were dating.  Apparently, Jacob was thinking about Frank, too, because all of a sudden he yelled, "Dada! Car! Home! Nowwwww!"  After a quick call to say goodnight -and interrupt Dada's dinner- he settled down, and we curled up in bed together.

For two refugees, we had a pretty nice weekend!

Counting with Jacob

Lately we've been working on learning numbers and counting.  I'll give you a sample of what I've overheard just today at various times as he jibber-jabbers to himself, and you can be the judge of how it's going.


"One...two...two... foe... cold..."

"One...two... fwee... go!...two... fwee..."


and my favorite:

"Foe... five... sis... ate... poop..."

Hey Now, You're An All-Star

On Saturday we went to Arthur to watch my niece Jenna compete in a cheerleading competition.  The little girls from my mother-in-law's gym got 1st place.  Even though their was no competition in the little girls' division, they still had a great score, and the girls in Jenna's division got second out of five groups. 

I took a few pictures during their warm ups... Jenna is on the far left, getting ready to step into the other girls' hands. 

Getting a few last-minute instructions from their coach (my mother-in-law, Jenna's Grandma, below)

A few more pictures from warm-ups...

She always "brings it" with her expressions

Look at that girl in the middle!!

Look at that enthusiastic crowd!

We had a good time watching the girls perform (despite Jacob's expression!), and we couldn't be prouder of our one and only niece!

New Lamps and a Celery Eater

I mentioned earlier that I was looking for a particular lamp base from Target.  Well, the lamp I wanted has officially been discontinued, so I was left with no choice other than to buy two new lamps.  After many, many returns and exchanges at a few different stores, I finally found the lamps I wanted and the shades I wanted. 

Lamps - Target; Shades- Lowes

I LOVE the way they pull the bedroom together!!

Totally unrelated:  Yesterday Jacob was having some chicken noodle soup with a piece of leftover French bread for lunch.  I realized it looked sort of... prisoner-like... so I offered him some celery with peanut butter. 

I have to interrupt my story to say that serving celery should earn me MAJOR mom-points, as it is one of the very few foods I don't like.  We had it in the house because I was making soup.  It's okay in soup.

Anyway, he liked it!

Guess this means I'll have to (gulp) serve celery every now and then.

Dolphin Love

They say that after a while, you start to resemble the thing that you love. 

I'd say they're right.

Big Boy Room Ideas

This morning I'm doing some thinking/planning about changing the crib into a toddler bed or twin bed.  (His bed converts to either.)  I don't want to do it too early because he likes his crib, and I don't want to take that away from him.  However, he's regularly slipping out of it, and I think it might be safer just to make the switch. 

So I looked at Pottery Barn Kids this morning and this room jumped out at me:

That's the mural Jacob has in his room now!!

I'm pretty sure it's the exact same one!  The notes on this mural say that you can use a dry erase marker on it, but we won't be testing that! 

The bedding they show with it is called Greyson. 

Love the bedding.  Also love this option:

Of course, what completes the room for me is the Discover lumbar pillow, which comes in the red and blue plaid or the green and blue plaid. 

I could die from the cuteness. 

Wednesday Randoms

•  Isn't this weather great?  This is how January should be: cold enough to wear a coat but no snow!

• Jacob and I went to the library this morning, and some of our friends were there.  The Normal Public Library has a great Children's Room that has Legos, puppets, and all kinds of other toys. We ended up playing for two hours.

• I have been hunting for a particular lamp base from Target to match an existing one I currently have on my nightstand.  (Did I mention I got a new nightstand for Christmas? Yay!)  Now I need a matching lamp-- are you with me?  Anyway, this is what I need:

     

It's only available in stores, except it's not available in any of their stores!!! They have a similar one, but similar isn't going to cut it.  I talked to Target yesterday, and they said to wait a week or two, in case it suddenly came in stock again, but I think I'm going to have to buy two new lamps.

• We watched Celebrity Wife Swap last night and loved it.  Ted Haggard's wife traded places with Gary Busey's girlfriend.  Entertainment at it's finest.  Don't judge. 

• Did I mention that I accidentally got my hair cut right before Christmas?  Well, the haircut wasn't an accident, but the actual way my hair was cut was an accident.  A tragic, tragic accident.  (Not that I'm being dramatic or anything.)  I honestly don't know what happened.  I took the same picture to the same stylist and I left with... heavily layered hair that's so short I can't wear a ponytail anymore.  I know, I know, it will grow.  But right now, looking at it makes my heart very small and black.  (Not that I'm being dramatic or anything.)  I priced extensions a few days ago, but Frank (probably the only one of us who has any sense when it comes to this tragedy) says no. 

• Happy Wednesday- only two more days until the weekend!

Escape Artist

All of a sudden, over the course of the last few weeks, Jacob has been saying new words, doing new things, and seeming more and more grown-up. 

One of his new talents is escaping from his crib.  He wasn't a good napper last week, and he howled at being put down, which is uncharacteristic of him.  One afternoon, I was downstairs, trying to tune out all the noise upstairs when it finally got a little quieter... and I realized he was standing RIGHT BESIDE ME! 

By the third time (third!) he slipped out, he wised up and didn't make a peep, but I could hear his little feet running around the room.  When I came upstairs, I saw this:

His wipes were all over the floor, along with his pants. 

I kinda had to laugh. 

Then, this morning when Frank went in to get him from his crib, he had already gotten out, stood on his trash can to turn on the light, and was playing happily in his room. 

He can easily slip out of the crib now, which I think is pretty cool and terrifying at the same time.  His new behaviors remind me constantly that the rules of the game are changing, and he is becoming his own little person. 

Bring on the big-kid bed!