7.25.2011

A weekend without the kids

We spent the weekend with some of our neighbors soaking up the sun (I really soaked up way too much) and enjoying each other's company without the company of our small boys. I will say, when I first moved into our neighborhood I was sceptical about meeting couples that were our age. But, God has really provided us with some great friendships that are conveniently located within walking distance of us. And, since our lives will be slowing down a bit with the new baby this fall, I'm really trying to focus some energy on having fun with friends! We boated, floated, golfed, got our nails done, enjoyed the pool, ate some delicious meals together and most importantly got a chance to relax just a bit! Here's what six parents on their "off-time" looks like...
Mr. Z
Dad can do tricks too, Dean!
Deanna & Christine
The Cresaps
Mr. Cresap trying his hand at boat dock swing
The normally hard-working moms
Nathan's Mom & Dad
Scotty's Mom & Dad
Dean's Mom & Dad

7.12.2011

Pinterest

Oh my. There are no words to describe my love of Pinterest. It's amazing and I love it to pieces. I would take time to explain it a little more for those of you who have never heard of it but, that would really cut down on my actual Pinterest time. Sorry. Here are some of the images I've been Pinning lately...

I have a board called "She can do no wrong." It's all my favorite Kate pictures. It's true, she can do no wrong. I love her.
Fun table ideas for future parties and showers.
Such a creative idea for adding some fun to a plain envelope.
This is brilliant. Maybe the next house?

Fun birth announcement ideas.
Cute sibling photography for future.
This one is on my "Maternity looks I don't totally hate." This girl looks adorable. Clearly this is her first child because her button down is still buttoned up completely and there are no large stains on her - and it appears to be midday. Maybe I'll give this a whirl on my off day. ;)
I'm a sucker for chevrons. I'd take one of these in every color of the rainbow.
Great nursery ideas. I love this book wall.

7.11.2011

ALMOST the boy on the milk carton

Let me start my little story by saying that I know most moms have their own version of this same nightmare. This was comforting in the aftermath of our little "Nordstrom incident" on Friday. So, THANK YOU to all the sweet moms who shared their stories with me in an attempt to make me feel a little better. It helped.

We headed to Nordstrom on Friday morning to shop around a bit.....ok, ok we headed to Nordstrom because I wanted a new pair of sandals. But, we ended up on the third floor in the kid's shoe section trying on Crocs with a Lighting McQueen charm-thingy on it. I'm such a sucker - I know. I sat Dean down with his new shoes on to color and look at the fish tank 3 feet away from me. I turned to hand the cashier my card and turned back around to an empty little chair. I darted around the shoe section looking for him and FULLY expected to see him pop out from behind a chair. After realizing he was not in the shoe section I began to get hysterical. I remember repeating, "My baby is gone. My baby is gone! MY BABY IS GONE!"

Folks, there are no words to describe the fear and adrenaline that take hold of your body when you cannot find your little one.

So, the louder and more unglued I got, the more moms in the store began to notice. The sweet guy helping us called someone and said, "We have a code 7 on the third floor." I then instructed one mom to stand at the exit (which is right by the shoe section) and, "don't let anyone leave with a kid!" I then sprinted toward the escalator all the while thinking he was about to put his precious little fingers in the moving parts and get his arm ripped off. Just as I got there the escalator came to a screeching halt. Apparently, they shut off the escalators when a mom can't find her little one. Thank goodness for that. I then ran through a women's clothing section and began flipping up the clothes on the rounders.

No. Dean.

I continued screaming his name thinking he would pop out of somewhere. By this point a few other sweet moms had begun to call his name and help me search. After about 2-3 solid minutes of screaming and sprinting one mom yelled, "I'VE GOT HIM!!!!"

Music.

She had found him in a women's fitting room....laughing. I rounded the corner in tears, shaking and hugged him tight. I scooped him up and hugged the mom who had found him. When I finally stopped sprinting, baby #2 would not stop moving. Poor kid. He probably thought I had decided to take some sort of upper and go run a 5K!? I hope I haven't already damaged his psyche.

I returned to pick up the contents of my purse and pay for his new shoes that apparently give him the super-human powers to run faster than a speeding bullet and make himself invisible. Sheesh.

I'm so grateful to the sweet moms who spread out and help me look for him. They are angels. I was going bananas in that moment and I'm so glad they were there to look in all the places I probably should have checked first.

So in the wake of that experience I'm now in the market for a kid leash. Does anyone out there have any good kid leash suggestions? Actually, if I could, I'd just put a chip in his neck so I can track him from my cell phone or something. Kinda like baby Lo-Jack. Hey, with another little boy on the way I think these type of precautions are the only thing keeping me from going completely grey haired before my next birthday.

Here's a recent picture of the ultimate hide-and-seek winner....



7.06.2011

Lake Rat

Our Fourth of July was lots of fun! Dean turned into a little lake rat on us and decided that he would try everything that mom & dad allowed him to try. He went for a ride on the jet ski, he drove the boat, he hung off the front of the boat, he jumped off the boat dock with dad, he floated in the lake and he did lots of swimming in the pool. This made for a very exhausted mom & dad. There weren't any fireworks to watch this year but we were having so much fun they were hardly missed.

It seems that over the past few days Dean's vocabulary has really exploded. It made the weekend even more special to listen to him say new words and really perfect some of his current vocab. It also scares me to death that he is now trying to repeat every. word. I. say. He was in my bathroom drawers the other day and I told him, "Nope. Mommy doesn't want you playing in here." And he immediately opened a different drawer and repeated, "Nope!" and then closed the drawer. This was repeated about 2o0 times. Times are changing that's for sure!

Hope everyone had a safe and fun Fourth of July!