Day #27

Well, for once the weather man was right. We got our 12 inches of snow last night and it was a horrific mess as predicted. Bryant never made it home last night since by the time he left work at 5:30 all major roads heading home had been shut down due to abandoned vehicles, accidents, or fallen trees. He had to go to his sister's for the night. I on the other hand happened to look out the front window last night after putting Tyler to bed and noticed my prized Crape Myrtle was nearly ready to snap in half with the weight of the snow. So, I headed outside to do some midnight shoveling to get to the tree to get the snow off. I managed to save it, our other prized trees, and shovel the front walk.

Day #26

Remember that panic I mentioned before. Well it is in full bloom today! We are expecting 8-10 inches tonight. The storm is set to hit right at rush hour with the heaviest snow falling at a rate of 2 inches an hour between 4:00 and 7:00. Rather than be on the road with the other crazies I left work early, scooped up Tyler and came home to work and watch the snow fall. Here he is watching the snow out the window in the office.

Day #25

My filing system is failing me! I am normally a VERY organized person, however in the 4 years since being at my current job my department has gone from 4 people down to one...me. Which means that I have inherited everyone else's paper files. Over the years I have slowly sorted through them and condensed them into one, but I haven't finished. Today I was searching for one piece of paper with some notes from a few months ago. I can't for the life of me find it...SO frustrating for a organized person!

Day #24

I finally reinstalled the gate at the top of our stairs now that Tyler is mobile (we had taken it down after he was born when we came to the realization that he couldn't really go anywhere and it was only in our way). I believe it to be the greatest invention ever. Now that he can crawl everywhere he is perfectly content to explore each and every room on his own while mommy goes around cleaning up, doing laundry, and otherwise finally getting things done!

Day #23

My little boy is growing up. :( Today we had to trim his little baby hairs that have grown over his ears.

Day #22

Honestly...it's the middle of winter and this kid will NOT keep his socks on. It's like a game really, I put the socks on, he takes them off...ALL day long. Here he is in his high chair with only one sock...how exactly does this kid get a sock off when he's strapped in to a seat and can't reach his feet?

Day #21

In addition to yesterday being the longest day ever it was also Tyler's 8 month birthday! Here's one of the photos from his monthly photo shoot. He's fully crawling now, has finally stopped drooling constantly from teething (at least for now), and is eating his solid foods like a champ!

Day #20

Longest day ever....

I've officially been in my work clothes for more than 14 hours. I had a 3:00 meeting at work that ended up being 2 hours long (although a good meeting). So I bolted out of work when it was over, already late to pick up Tyler. I didn't make it to the gym. By the time I got home it was dinner, bath, baby in bed, and then I realized how tired I was and I was still in my work clothes. What a day!

Day #19

So, a friend of mine is having her second child, and it's a GIRL. I'm so excited since all of my closest friends have boys. Today I went out and bought a little present for the pending little one. It was a nice change of pace to buy cute little ruffly outfits instead of sports & animal outfits!

Day #18

Let the panic begin...

Around here there seems to be a panic that sweeps through whenever there is even the smallest prospect of snow or ice. We've made it until January this year without any winter weather (unlike the two blizzards we had had by this time last year), and now that it is here the panic has begun again! I say BRING IT ON!

Day #17

I'm turning over a new leaf today. Well, actually I'm just dusting off my leaf....pre-Tyler I was a 3-4 mile a day runner, but while pregnant I unfortunately had a pulled tendon (due to pregnancy) for the last 5 months. And, despite my best efforts to get back on the treadmill after Tyler was born I haven't really been able to figure out how to get an infant to entertain himself for 30 minutes while mommy runs. SO, I have joined the gym near my work. Thanks to the sister-in-law I got a really cheap membership. So, I go in to work at 7:30 am, do my time, and then hit the treadmill at the gym for exactly 30 minutes each day before I go pick up Tyler from daycare. I know it's only 30 minutes, but it's better than nothing, and I can always increase speed or incline to make it burn faster!

Day #16

Those magazines on top there are from Dave too. They are actually car magazines from the 50s and 60s. It's kind of fun to read them! 

That box there is not something that Bryant is keeping. It's something Dave meant to take home from the storage unit, but he forgot it in Bryant's truck. Believe it or not, it's actually an accordion...and it WORKS, and Dave can actually play it well! Too funny.

Day #15

When Bryant worked at the old folks home a few years ago he became friends with a man named Dave. Bryant has continued to talk to Dave and help him with his car throughout the years. Dave has three grown daughters and is getting ready to move to Texas to be closer to them. Not having any boys of his own, Dave asked Bryant to come with him to his storage unit yesterday to see if Bryant would be interested in any of the tools or car things Dave had collected over the years that he no longer needed and didn't have any sons to pass them down to. Among other things, Dave gave Bryant the stool pictured above. Dave had made it for his girls and they each used it to reach the sink to brush their teeth when they were young. Dave wanted Bryant to have it for Tyler. I'm very excited for Tyler to get to use it as he gets bigger. I'm sure it will be in our family for many, many years and it will always remind us of Dave.

Day #14

So, this year I broke down and bought us a really nice executive style desk with separate file cabinet. It's REALLY nice and has a LOT of desk top space for me to spread out my work. I also found these great lamps in a set of two at Costco for $50. They are AMAZING! Never underestimate the power of great lighting!

Day #13

Ah yes, the previously mentioned computer issue...I spent this morning working on the issue. A little background on the issue: the computer is 6 years old. The hard drive crashed and was replaced 2 years ago. Now it is unusable again. After "some" online chat help from Dell most signs are pointing to the video card being bad (that lime green thing in the bottom left). I didn't want to pay the $60 for tech support to complete the diagnostics to tell me that is what the issue is, and still have to buy the part, so I went ahead and just bought the part. It will be here next week. Hopefully that will solve the issue because a whole new computer is just not in the budget right now...

Day #12

Little man on the move!

Uh-oh...He's officially crawling! He's not lightning fast yet, but he's getting where he wants to go...to the dog toys instead of his, to all the dead stink bugs mommy hasn't found yet, to the fireplace, you get the idea.

Day #11

I LOVE Kraft food recipes. These are super easy chicken enchiladas that I make from chicken left over after I make a whole roasted chicken. Hubby probably hates them, but I love them since they are not smothered in cheesy sauce (aka calories). I smother hubby's enchiladas in sauce before serving so he likes them a little better.

Day #10

Treated myself to a lunchtime pedi today. After months of unpainted toes I decided a lunchtime pedi is my only hope of getting them done without munchky requiring my attention. If only I didn't have to put my boots on right after...*dreaming of warmer weather*

Day #9

The time has come! My little man is growing up. We dropped his crib down one level today now that he's pulling on things trying to get up. Next thing you know we'll be turning his car seat around and putting gates up around the stairs! Stop it, stop it right now! 

I know it's a blurry photo, but I can't get the in-focus photo off of my other camera right now (computer issues - more on that later).

Day #8

Wearing his big boy shoes for the first time and sitting in the shopping cart!

Day #7

Well, I was kicking butt on my to-do list earlier in the week. Come Friday...not so much. Better luck next week!

Day #6

If you live in Northern Virginia you despise traffic, and tolls. It's just my luck that the tolls went up last weekend, just in time for my meeting in Arlington today. It cost me $11.40 in tolls for the round trip. Not to mention that the "Exact Change" lanes at the toll booth are essentially useless now...who has 5 quarters handy?!?! So, in addition to the traffic on the road, there is now traffic to get through the "Full Service" toll lanes if you don't have a fancy SpeedPass.

Day #5

Bye, bye Christmas. It's always fun when you come, but it's also nice when you go...and I can vaccuum.

Day #4

Mmmm....rubber, yellow triangle...

Day #3

Had lunch with a friend today...one can never underestimate the power of a friend with good, honest advice.

Day #2

Adventures in baby food making...

That's right...I bought some organic veggies today. I'm going to try to make some of Tyler's baby food. Wish me luck!

Day #1

Well, it's a New Year. I'm sure it will be one of many new and exciting adventures in our house. While playing with Tyler on New Year's Day I began to notice how similar his ball looked to the ball we watched drop in NYC on New Year's eve.