Midwest Bound

We're just about ready to head out of the Southwest to the rainy Midwest ... I won't care about the weather because my most favorite people are in IL and I cannot wait to hug them, share Andrew with them and spend quality family time that is *much* needed!

Can't wait to see you all. XOXOXOXO!

Easter Joy

"I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders. I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High." Psalm 9:1

 

This year I felt like we had such a nice, slow-paced, joyful Easter with MUCH to give thanks for AND ... Daddy was here! It's funny to think Andrew came home from the hospital on Easter Sunday 2009 and then Jeff was gone for Easter 2010 and now it's 2011?! How did that time fly by?

Easter over these last wonderful years with our pride and joy ...

Aunt Beth rode with us on the way home.
April 12, 2009

Easter 2010

 And growing into a little man ... Easter 2011

Happy 2nd Birthday Andrew!

April 10, 2011 marked our little man’s 2nd birthday and I cannot believe I am even typing that. I am still amazed at how much of a big boy he is, how smart he is, how cute it and what a sweetheart he is. He does something so cute and something so bratty on a daily basis…such is the life of a 2-year-old :-)

His big milestone this month has been sleeping in his big boy bed which is his crib converted into a toddler bed. I added the Cars mesh railing because the “railing” that came with the crib just wasn’t gonna cut it! He had only a few rough days adjusting to napping in there without getting up. Day one nap: he got up 50 times, yes FIFTY times, but since then it whittled down to just 5-10 times and now only once or twice! Bedtime has actually been easy. He doesn’t even get up so we are very thankful for that. I have more stamina at nap time obviously! The funny thing is that it’s not like he was upset about this new bed. It was just the new freedom he was having fun with as I could tell with his little smirk every single time he got up and opened his door coming to look for me and my reaction. Oh and also funny, naptime at Tracy’s house (babysitter), day one, he gets up once and she tells him to go back in his bed and he does it and stays there. Booger!

The 2nd birthday party was fairly small with the close friends and the kiddos he loves most. Asher, Cole, Makenzie, Tanner, Kyle and Carter were all there to celebrate with him and he had tons of fun! We went to the park and decorated for everything Mickey and he really enjoyed his cookie cake from Paradise Bakery and especially enjoyed presents. “More presents?!” He thought it was GREAT! More Photos HERE.
And here's a cute video of the Happy Birthday singing with him blowing out his candles.

Two is so fun and I really cannot believe how much he’s learned over the last few months. He is getting to be quite the talker and is starting to have his little funny phrases we love…

• For me?!?
• Chai, git down! (yelling at the cat)
• Minnie bite? (always sharing his snack with the dog and cats!)
• Sit Daddy or Sit Mommy (wanting us to watch a show with him)
• Singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat but it sounds like this: Row, Row Boat…Streeeeammm….merry, merry, merry….dreeeeeammm! He likes to sing it like he’s on super fast mode!
• He likes to count to 3 and will count to 10 with help!
• He is starting to sing the ABCs with one of his musical toys.
• Recently he walked in the kitchen where I was and cocked his head to the side and put his hands up to his face and said “please” It was so freakin cute and made me laugh. I don’t even know what he was wanting!

There is so much more so I need to start jotting these gems down. The 2-year checkup was Monday and he is 75th percentile all around. Above average and proportioned well :-) He got one shot and a finger prick check for iron. Just a cringe, but no crying. We’re all set until age THREE! Whoa.

Now we're getting excited for Easter and our trip to Illinois in about 3 more weeks. Woohoo!

March Madness

It seems I’m still on a monthly blog update schedule … Too much happens in a month, so I need to update more! I will have SOME extra time soon because I decided to change jobs—I quit my job at Gold Canyon and I will officially be a SAHM as of May 13!

I am very excited, but I am going to miss my friends at GC and my job very much. However, I decided after a long while of thinking it over that this was the best thing to do right now and something I definitely wanted to do. When you have this opportunity, it’s hard to pass it up.

At GC I was just part time and so thankful for the schedule they allowed me, but there is just too much work for a PT person and it was getting very stressful. A big factor in this decision also was that Andrew’s in-home daycare provider is moving farther away so driving to her house would be pretty far out of my way. Her last day is May 27, so that’s why I decided May would be my last month working. He LOVES Tracy and going to play with all the kids, so I know we will have to visit often :-). Luckily Tracy is moving out by my other friend Rachel (with the twin boys Andrew’s age), so we’ll definitely be in the area pretty often.

Everything kind of fell into place at the same time and I’m so happy to be staying home with Andrew and maybe working on some projects of my own at home, etc. Not that I’ll have much time ;-)

OK, now that that big news is out in the open, I’ll have to summarize (not really, it's LONG) the rest of our busy March!

• March 2 – my 33rd birthday! It turned into a birthday week with fun times at the park that day with Andrew, then work, then dinner with Jeff at Carrabas and the first movie we’ve seen in FOREVER while Tracy babysat. Yay!
• March 4 – the birthday celebration continued with the girls at Texas Roadhouse, but we had Andrew and Makenzie with us—they were amazingly good at the restaurant and Andrew thought Rachel’s gift was for him. “For meeee?!” It was hilarious.
• The next week was just as busy with me officially giving my notice at work and then that same day the Libert fam came into town for Cubs Spring Training on March 10. We had lot of fun with Miles and Andrew loved entertaining him. They did OK for a while at the game, but we had to exit for a grassy knoll and leave the game altogether before 7th inning stretch—nap time!
• March 16 - our 9th anniversary! We actually got a babysitter and went out for the first time in a LONG time! Had dinner at Toby Keith's and just hung out and relaxed. We are planning for a return to the honeymoon spot on St. John in the Virgin Islands for #10...can't wait...I hope we are able to do it!
• March 26 – time for our family photos in honor of Andrew’s 2nd birthday! I am in denial that this snuck up on us so fast! Here’s a link to them ALL!
• Andrew was back at swim lessons every Tuesday and Thursday in March and we’re continuing through April. Then a break in May so we can head to IL to visit Aunt Beth and the Grandmas! Andrew and I will head out May 14 on our own, Jeff will come out about May 25 and then we’ll all go back together May 30. Time for another summer in Arizona. Whew!

Now it’s April 3 and one week from today our baby will be TWO! We’re partying at a local park surrounded by orange trees with a special Mickey Mouse party and a mini Easter egg hunt. I can’t wait, but now we’re down to the wire—I gotta finish shopping!

 

Major Milestone: Andrew's First Concert!

February FLEW by and now my birthday has already passed and it’s almost our NINTH anniversary. That is crazy and makes me feel super old! If you were fairly young when you got married (I had just turned 24), don’t you look back now and feel like you were sooooo young? I do. I feel I was mature enough to get married, but yet still so young, inexperienced and stupid :-) Such is life…

Anyway, more on the marriage when that dates rolls around, but now of course (and as always), it’s all about Andrew! He experienced a big milestone February 25—his first concert! He LOVES the Disney show, Imagination Movers, so I just had to get tickets when I heard they were coming to Mesa. $100 for tickets for all three of us plus $25 for a VERY cheaply-made stuffed mouse once we got there and it was ALL worth it.

I thought he’d maybe be scared of the loud music at first or maybe just embrace it by going crazy and dancing, but he was kind of in the middle. What was funny was the fact you could tell he was just dumbfounded at first because he could not believe these guys were REAL! Finally, toward the end he got more into it, but you could tell he was just enjoying himself and taking it all in the whole time.

He was very excited by the posters as soon as he saw them!

Thanks for my mouse daddy!

We had such good seats too! Thank you mommy :-)

There's that mouse he loves.

I’m not keeping up with my blogging lately because we’re keeping busy and by the time Andrew’s in bed I’m spent, crashed on the couch watching How I Met Your Mother reruns. J Time well spent laughing my butt off.

We enjoyed a little “cold” weather lately so we had to pull out the Gap boots and onesie before he never gets to wear them again!

Playing at the park with a “coat” on. It was soooo windy, but Andrew didn’t mind playing for as long as I would let him.

Finally making some time for crafts and photos. Need to do more!

Cookies for Super Bowl/Valentine’s Day.

And speaking of the Super Bowl…someone was VERY happy and screaming in whispers since Andrew was in bed J

Nap face and hair. Oh just a little longer with that paci. It will be harder on me than him!

EXCITING plans this weekend…Jeff and I are attending an Army Strong Bonds Marriage Retreat in Chandler. Free weekend in a hotel room all alone and meals paid for. And hopefully we’ll learn something too ;)

MOPS

Andrew and I had a new adventure today attending our first MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting. He actually didn't cry when I left him at "Moppets" with the other kids. However, one of the ladies did say he got teary eyed (*sniff, sniff*) after about an hour. He isn't used to staying in a new place for longer than an hour (this was 2 hours). But he did OK and he was so happy to see me when I came to pick him up. It was so sweet. 

He still struggles staying at the church nursery ... he usually cries when we leave and then he is fine almost instantly after we leave. I can handle that, but it's still hard!

Jeff and I are thinking about joining a new gym--Now the gym daycare I'm not so sure he'll be able to handle because I envision it being pretty loud and boisterous in there. Our visits to the Y when Jeff was gone often ended with me on the eliptical for 15-20 min before they came up to get me! I have to accept that my return to a regularly scheduled workout routine is going to include me up at 5 a.m. to workout before Jeff leaves or the dreaded evening workouts. I've successfully done both, so I have no excuse! Yikes.