Can I Go Back on Vacation?

Yesterday was some kind of day at work - exhausting!!! I like my job, but yesterday I would have traded places with someone in a heartbeat. All I did all day long was stress eat. My poor candy jar will never be the same.

7:00AM - Leave the house to drop Wesley at Grandma H.'s

7:45AM- Early morning staff meeting. Not too terrible because it's the one where raises are announced and at least they feed us.

9:10AM - Back to Grandma H.'s for a little snuggle time with the boy. Too bad he didn't want to be snuggled.

10:15AM - Drive back downtown to particiate in a focus group of youth librarians. This was a wonderful experience and I am so glad I had the opportunity to do it!

1:40PM - Drive back to work to "start" my day. I had approximately 1 hour of time to spend with my new employee before I had another meeting to attend.

2:40PM- Drive to NWL for a meeting with the architects working on our redesign.

3:45 - Drive back to my library for another hour of training with my new employee. The other people in my department were taking such good care of her though, that I let them continue and I caught up on emails.

5:00PM - Drive somewhere (surprised?) to pick up dinner

6:00-9:00PM - Try to get some actual work done, but manage to fail miserably and spend the evening catching up with co-workers who I've barely seen all week.

9:00PM - My night to be loser in charge. I spend the next 15 mintues locking up the building and making sure everyone is out.

9:15PM - Back in the car to drive home. Thank goodness I have a good book to listen to!

9:30PM - Home at last! Have a snack and veg out on the couch with Duane. Somehow I resist the urge to take Wesley out of his crib and put him in bed with me so I can just cuddle him. I do slip into his room and rub his back a few times.

11:00PM - Bedtime (finally) but I had weird dreams about being in charge of the building and no one would leave. Also had bizarre dream of doing a play at a school about Strawberry Shortcake.

Now it's 8:30 and I should probably be getting Wesley's breakfast ready so he can eat, I can get us dressed and his diaper bag packed. We'll drive out to Aunt Melissa's and then I'll head to work where I have no meetings, no training and am looking forward to having some time to focus on the the day to day tasks of my job. Sure, I'll still be eating a meal at the Cafe Hyundai and dinner will most likely consist of a microwave meal, but it seems so low stress compared to yesterday. Just today and tomorrow and I can spend the weekend frantically getting ready for Christmas. Can I just have a few more hours in each day please?

Truckin'

The new after dinner activity in our house is hitting the road - with books and Blue!

Weakened by the Weekend

Do you think we will ever learn to pace ourselves? I doubt it. This past weekend we crammed so much into two days it's not even funny.

On Saturday Duane and I went to his company holiday party in the afternoon, then we went to pick up some wine and hit a couple other stores before heading home. The idea was to take a nap before my holiday party that night. It didn't work out that way - Wesley wasn't about to let us sleep. On the up side, Wesley was fairly charming at my library's holiday party. He ran around the aisles, danced and was mesmerized by the colored lights the DJ shone on the floor. On the downside, I learned how much one's feet hurt after chasing a toddler around while wearing high heels and a party dress.

I was the assisting minister at church on Sunday. Wesley decided he needed to be a part of the service too and bolted out of the room while I was reading the lessons. Duane retrieved him, but Pastor Art worked it into the sermon. It was sweet and no one was upset. That's one reason why I love our church. Everyone there cares so much about Wesley. After church we grabbed a bite of lunch and did a little Christmas shopping. OK - a lot of Christmas shopping. Wesley was surprisingly good, but I was beat. Plus we still had to hit the grocery store.

We could tell Wesley was absolutely not going to let us go to another store, so Duane dropped us at home and he did the shopping. Wesley and I caught a little nap, which was a very good thing beacuse Duane and I had tickets to a hockey game last night. We had a terriffic time, but I ate something that really disagreed with me and was up almost all night. I went through today in a bit of a fog only to discover that Wesley took a FOUR HOUR NAP for Grandma and Grandpa P. and I have a feeling tonight might be a long night too.

Tea for Two

Grandma H. and I celebrated the holidays with one of our favorite traditions today - the Holiday Tea at the Longaberger Homestead. It's a perfectly girly time, with china tea cups, beautiful decorations and delicious food. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't gone. They do teas year round, but have special ones for Christmas, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day.

Grandpa and Grandma P. watched Wesley while I sipped tea today. It was perfect timing too. Wesley has been a little angel all week and I was having dreams for being a stay at home mom (only a dream - could never afford it) but today ended all that! Before we left the house at 10:00 Wesley had figured out how to open the bedroom door and made a beeline for the steps. He took a bunch of DVDs off the media shelf. He tipped over the fireplace tools. He knocked my curling iron off the vanity while it was on (thank goodness he wasn't burned!) He was obcessed with playing with the toilet brush - YUCK!!! And to top it all off, as soon as I got his shoes and coat on him, he filled his diaper. Today was a perfect day for me to have a little break!!

It's Beginning to Taste a Lot Like Christmas

Today was the annual Christmas cookie making day with Grandma H. In the past, we have started baking very early and ended after dark. Wesley's arrival changed things a little bit. Last year Daddy took the day off work and sat with Wesley while we baked (and taste tested the cookies.) Of course, last year Wesley didn't do a lot yet. This year he is a full fledged toddler and Daddy couldn't take time off work, so Grandma and I had to take a new approach to cookie day.

We started quite a bit later because we got a dusting of snow and traffic was ICKY!! It took me nearly an hour to drive what normally takes about 15 minutes. We decided to just make the time consuming cookies today and do some others as time permits. We managed to make chocolate surprises, rum balls, gingerbread cookies, cut-out cookies (not iced yet) and buckeyes.

Wesley was a doll! And quite the helper, as the pictures will show.

MMMMMM.......Cookies!!!

A tablespoon of this......

Don't forget the nuts!

May I have another cookie?

Hey Mom! What about corn cookies?!?

I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy

OK..I'm actually in love with two wonderful guys - my hubby and my son. It really hit me today how much I love being a mommy. Wesley and I had some quality couch time this afternoon. We read some books and he curled up against me which just about melted my heart. Then he discovered the zipper on my vest and was completely fascinated for a good 15 minutes. He bit it, he pulled it, he tried to say "zip" After that we moved on to the very best part of my day. Wesley and I had a little kiss fest. He'd give me a kiss and I'd say "kiss fest!" Then he just holds his lips up to mine and I give him about a million kisses. Wesley must have been in a super lovey mood, because we had a lot of kiss fests today.

I love this age! He can communicate his needs, but still does the sweet baby jabbering. He walks and runs and climbs, but I can still catch him. So much is new right now that everyday holds some sort of surprise. I just love that boy to pieces!!

Wildlight Wonderland

Can you believe that we planned in advance to go to the zoo and it actually happened!?!? I'm in shock! When we got home I realized I didn't take a single picture of the lights, but no matter. We were there to see Wesley anyhow. It was a perfect night to go. Cold, but not freezing and there was almost no one there!





Wesley had a fantastic time at the zoo. I don't know if it was the lights, being outside in the dark and cold, or the fact that Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma & Grandpa P. were all paying attention to him, but Wesley was so happy. He toddled along looking like a little penguin and jabbering away nonstop. He even said "Hi" clear as day to some people who walked past us. We did eventually give in and put him in the stroller with some blankets. He wasn't too happy about that at first, but after a little bit he sat back and enjoyed the ride.

In addition to seeing the lights, Wesley also got to have his first tast of hot chocolate. Well, lukewarm chocolate because we didn't want him to burn his little mouth. Duane gave Wesley a tiny sip. Wesley drank it, licked his lips appreciatively and started to walk away. He took about one step before spinning back around and begging for another sip. Repeat this about 4 more times, and you'll get a good picture of Wesley's hot chocolate experience. When all was said and done, he probably only got a couple of tablespoons worth, but he loved it.

We also ducked into the nocturnal animal exhibit. It was great to watch Wesley actually notice the animals. He liked the fishing cats a lot, probably because they looked like something familiar to him. Of course, the next creature we saw was also some kind of small four legged animal. I don't remember what it was, but Wesley looked at it and said "Kitty!" I guess that was the closest thing in his vocabulary, because it certainly was not any kind of cat.

All and all, it was a fantastic night. I love the zoo lights! They make me feel all Christmasy and warm inside. I'm so glad we have this great memory now.

First Day of Vacay

I'm on vacation this week - everybody say YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've tried to cram way too much into the week though, so we'll see how it all turns out.

I took Kirk to the airport in the wee hours of the morning today. He has a training session in Kentucky. His flight left at 6:00 am, so I picked him up at 4:15. In a weird way, I really enjoyed driving then. There was no one on the roads and I listened to Christmas music the whole way home. Of course, I was back in bed by 5:00 and Wesley let me sleep until 7:30.

Today was Wesley's 15th month check up. He did a pretty good job considering he got 3 shots in his poor little legs. Grandma H. and I drug him to Sam's Club after his appointment. Wesley was pretty content to ride in the cart and munch on chicken fried rice samples. I wish I had had my camera with me though, because he fell asleep in the cart. At least 4 people stopped us to say how cute he looked. I've got to make sure I keep that thing in my purse!

I have been meaning to post about Saturday, so I'll guess I'll take the opportunity to do that here. Duane's Aunt "Buzzy" always has a tree triming party. This year it was more of a "chase Wesley around" party for me and Duane, which is a whole different kind of fun. I think the highlight of the party for us, was when Stella (2 or 3 years old) kept following Wesley around and calling him Baby Jesus. Of course, Wesley stopping dead in his tracks, pointing a finger at Duane's cousin Jeff and just letting him have it in baby jabber was pretty funny too.

I'll let you know how we survive the rest of my vacation. We are scheduled for the zoo lights tomorrow.

Ho-Ho-NO!!

I decided to try and get Wesley's picture taken with Santa Claus today. I told myself that if he seemed upset by it at all, I wouldn't push it. I was able to mostly keep my word. When we got to the mall, there was almost no one waiting to get their pictures taken, so I was kind of hopeful. Wesley didn't seem scared at all and even tried to rush the "presents" on the set. The picture above is the first shot of the three we tried. As you can see, Wesley wasn't very happy, but he didn't have a screaming fit either. Santa tried to read him a book in shot number 2. I'm really surprised that didn't work. If you know Wesley, you know he loves his books, but not today. We tried sitting him on a rocking horse in front of Santa for shot number 3. He wasn't interested in sitting and I wasn't interested in pushing.

It wasn't exactly a bad experience. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed, but we have plenty of time before Christmas and that Santa guy sure gets around. If Wesley's in a good mood, we may try once more this season. Maybe not. Who knows?

We did a little shopping after visiting Santa. Wesley was really good. We were in a store that had lots of things that looked like they'd be interesting to touch, but the only thing Wesley put his little hands on was a soccer ball. Good boy! He even helped carry the bags.

Of course, the best part of the shopping experience was climbing the stairs. I don't know if Grandma enjoyed it quite as much as Wesley, but she was smiling too. Actually almost everyone who passed us smiled, so it must have been almost as cute as I think it was.

Embarrassing!

Wouldn't you know that Wesley would choose the day of my uncle's 75th birthday party to skip a nap!? My uncle hasn't met Wesley and let me say, the boy made some kind of first impression -too bad it wasn't a good one! Wesley screamed form the moment we got out of the car until Duane finally left with him and met us back at Grandpa P.'s house! Back at Grandma and Grandpa's Wesley was nine kinds of charming, but you know what they say about first impressions.

Now for all the parents out there reading this, I want to tell you that Giammarco's is easily the most kid friendly restaurant I have ever been too! All the staff was kind to us despite our screaming child. They took us through the kitchen so Wesley could watch the stuff being made. They offered to let him make a pizza. They gave him crackers and pepperoni to eat and pizza dough to play with. They brought his food out first. They brought crayons. They addressed him by name. If they were this sweet to a "sour" child, I can only imagine how wonderful they are to children who are not throwing a fit. They made us feel so welcome and never once heaved a sigh, or made us feel guilty. And the food's pretty darn good! We'll definitely be going back!

15 Months

The vocabulary of Wesley at 15 months:

• Hi
• Daddy (first sentance "Hi Daddy")
• Mom (although he uses the same sound for "more")
• Crackers (cracks)
• Outside (side)
• Car
• Doggie
• Crash
• Cyrus
• Cup
• Cheese
• Moo
• Meow (this sounds a lot like moo, but at a higher pitch)
• Up (used for upstairs)
• Cat
• Kitty
• Splash
• Socks
• Fish
• Yes

You know, I've been freaking out that he doesn't say very much that we can understand, but that's not a bad list.

Words I'm surprised are not in his vocabulary - but I'm sure will be there soon

• Noggin
• Moose
• Zee
• Tag
• Frank
• Book
• Milk
• Grandma/Grandpa
• Dora
• Blue (as in Blue's Clues)
• Jack (Jack's Big Music Show)

Sunshine and Shirtsleeves

There is nothing even resembling a winter wonderland in central Ohio these days. It was October weather today! We were outside without coats! Now I enjoy warm weather as much as the next person, in fact I'm solar powered and crave the sun if I have to go more than a day without it, but it's awfully hard for me to get into the holiday spirit when temperatures are in the mid to upper 60's.

I guess there are some pluses to the warm weather. Grandma W. had an open house today so everyone could see all the improvements that have been made to her house in the last year or so. Thanks to the warm weather, Wesley and his cousins were able to run around the backyard until their little hearts were content. Duane even raked the leaves into a huge pile for the kids to jump in. Well, Kierstin and Mark jumped, Wesley watched and ran around. I tried to get pictures, but Wesley is on the go so much that it is hard to get a picture of his face and the kids were mostly buried in leaves. Maybe next time.

Grandma and Grandpa H. also took advantage of the warmth and had Duane help put up the outside Christmas lights. I think this is the earliest they have ever had them up, but when mother nature decides to play nice, it's best to play along. We started putting some of our decorations up too. The tree will go up sometime this week. I can't wait to see Wesley's reaction to that!

Still Giving Thanks

Last night we enjoyed our third Thanksgiving meal of the holiday weekend. Since Grandma and Grandpa P. were sick/recovering on turkey day the celebration was postponed until yesterday. Meaning that Duane, Wesley and I were able to attend.

Aunt Paula hosted and Duane and I were much more concerned about Wesley getting into everything than Paula or Uncle Stacey were. Their house is beautiful and Wesley felt that it was his toddler duty to touch everything he could. We managed to escape with nothing broken or permanently stained. Yay!! Of course it helped that there was a sweet chocolate Labrador named Riley visiting. Riley let Wesley kiss her and pet her and even try to climb her. Wesley also checked out his cousin Aaron's drum set and performed his version of Riverdance for us.

Dinner was absolutely yummy and Wesley actually ate instead of insisting on crackers. Wesley sampled turkey, duck, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn bread, cheddar biscuits and green beans. Not too shabby. The only thing he didn't try was the asparagus and that is because I thought it would be too difficult for him to eat. Oh! And remembered how important it was to mooch whipped cream off anyone eating dessert. Who says I haven't taught my son the important things in life.

Date Night

Duane and I got to go out on a real date (without the boy) last night!! It was strange not to ask for a high chair and to be able to order what we wanted without worrying if Wesley would be able to mooch it (crab and artichoke dip). We had a long relaxing dinner and went to a late movie. Although it is slightly pathetic that we saw a "kids" movie. We went to Happy Feet because it's what was starting. It was cute and about 2/3 of it was really funny. However, we would not take a child to watch it. There were several scary parts and while a lot of kids movies throw in a few jokes for the adults, this whole movie was one big innuendo. Fine for us though. Wesley was sound asleep when we got home. AHH!! Date night!

Happy Thanksgiving

Sorry I've been absent from posting for a few days. The plague hit the family this week. Wesley was sick Monday, I came down with it Tuesday, Grandma and Grandpa P. got it Tuesday night, and Grandpa H. got it today. So it's been kind of ugly all the way around.

Wesley and I were feeling pretty good today though, so we did get to celebrate. We started our Thanksgiving celebration by heading up to Grandma W.'s house. Our friend Rick joined us for the festivities this year, as his wife is out of the country. Rick got to experience the overabundance of two Thanksgiving meals in one day.

We had a lot of fun at Grandma W.'s. Everyone was there! Uncle Doug, Aunt Judy, Aunt Melissa & Uncle Mark, Mark and Kierstin - even Cyrus the dog! Wesley refused to eat anything but crackers (his new word is "cacks") but he really put a hurting on them. After we ate, it was time to decorate the Christmas tree. Kierstin had a great time working on the tree. She even decorated herself!!

Aunt Judy and Kierstin making deviled eggs

Rick and his after turkey nap

Mark, Mark and Cyrus

Decorating Kierstin - I mean the tree!

Later in the afternoon we went to Grandma and Grandpa H.'s for our evening meal. I'm sad to say, Wesley wasn't any more interested in eating. He did have a great time chatting away to Al. Too bad no one can understand what Wesley was saying. It must have been very important though, because he jabbered away for at least 20 minutes. A family friend was there with her mother and dog, Crash. Wesley added a new word to his vocabulary. You guessed it! He can now say "Crash!"

Daddy carving the turkey

Wesley's spoon trick to avoid eating

Mooching pie from Rick

Aunt Carol, Grandma H., and Mommy

Why I Love My Grandparents - 2

I love my grandparents because when Mommy called them at 6:00 in the morning to say I am not feeling well and could they please come to my house to take care of me today, they readily agreed, hopped out of bed and came right down. They even brought me popsicles!

A New Discovery

This will be one of those blog and picture combinations that Wesley will want to kill me for when we is a teenager. Wesley has discovered his belly button! Like a lot of toddlers, if you ask Wesley where his belly button is, he'll lift up his shirt and smile, but yesterday we got full belly button awareness.

After the big game (GO BUCKS!!) and the departure of most of our friends we stripped Wesley down to his diaper to a) let him run around as Nearly Naked Boy and b) to try to keep him awake a little longer since he skipped his nap. It did not take him long to realize that there was something in the middle of his tummy. It was - GASP - a belly button!!! I tried so hard to get a picture of him walking around with his tummy pushed out trying to get a look, but this is the best I could do. Just wait until he discovers that everyone has a belly button. All I can say is, keep those shirts tucked in if Wesley is around!

Our New Additions

Cat Tested....
Heather Approved!

Have a Seat

I am so excited I could almost burst! We bought new furniture for our family room today!!!! In case you haven't visited our house recently, let me assure you that this was a purchase that was long overdue. We've had people practically injure themselves sitting down too hard on our couch. We can't afford really nice furniture right now, but thought we could probably get some "transition" furniture to last us a few years until we move.

We did a little looking last week and found something we talked ourselves out of. Good thing too! A quick trip to JC Penney Furniture Outlet proved to be a very good move. We found a sofa and loveseat that is going to be perfect. The colors match the front room, it isn't an obnoxious pattern and the back cushions are attached (a must unless you want the cats to squish them down permanently.) Duane and our friend Ray are picking the stuff up as I type. All that will be left to do will be to replace the curtains.

This wasn't exactly on our agenda today. Looking was, maybe even purchasing, but we didn't think we'd be picking stuff up today. However, delivery was kind of expensive and I don't have any mornings I'm off this week. The store hours are kind of weird, so it was pretty much pick it up today, or......well, we didn't know when. I can't believe I'll be watching the game on brand new furniture!!! Don't worry - I'll post some pictures later today. In the meantime, enjoy seeing Wesley perched on the new cushions.

Paprazzi Returns

I promised some pictures of Wesley and since I didn't go to work today I tried out the new camera.

I missed the picture of Wesley asleep in his jacket and hat, but I did catch a couple cute ones of him asleep in his high chair. Duane always says that he's never known anyone who can fall asleep as fast as I do. Wesley can! One minute he was happily eating beef stew and the next minute he was fast asleep.

After a good long nap Wesley and I played with his Little People farm for at least an hour. And then we played with it some more. Wesley loves to put the animals in the fence and drop his cookie magnets down the silo. He knows that a cow says "Moo" and Duane finally got to hear Wesley's very impressive cow impersonation.

E-I-E-I-O Farmer Wesley.