Day #147

I LOVE long weekends. Today we went to Red Robin for lunch. Tyler had a great time since this handsome fella was seated next to us. AND they had balloons! Tyler was in heaven!

Day #146

Tough guy. 

Little man had his 12 month checkup today and go two shots. One in his arm and one in his leg. He was brave though. He seemed happy enough while eating his watermelon and cheese anyway!

Day #145

I came out of Starbucks this morning to this...with a car that small, did you REALLY need to park that close to me? It was physically impossible for me to get into my driver side of the car. I waited for about 15 minutes for the person to come out of Starbucks before climbing through the passenger side so that I could get to work...

Day #144

The logistical nightmare of an event happened today in Annapolis. It wasn't a complete failure, although almost half of the attendees did not show up, and the Blue Angels that were schedule to do a flyover that afternoon did not fly. On the bright side it is nice to see all of the historical buildings and the Naval Academy campus...even if it's through the shuttle bus window on my way back to the parking lot in hopes of beating traffic back to Northern Virginia.

Day #143

I love this guy. He provides comic relief at all the right moments! :)  Have you ever seen a dog sit on the steps like this? Love it!

Day #142

Now that the garden is in full bloom this little fella is sticking out like a sore thumb. His name is Bernie. Bryant and I became his proud parents nearly 7 years ago when we got him at the Maryland Renaissance Festival. He's followed us from our townhouse to this house keeping watch on the yard every day. But after all of these years Bernie has lost his colors. Does anyone know how to paint a garden frog?

Day #141

I had to strip off his clothes, but have discovered that Tyler likes watermelon! After painstakingly checking it for seeds (got the mini version with less seeds to begin with) he seemed to love it. Here he is with his other love...cheese...and a steamed carrot stick which he did not touch...

Day #140

Let them eat cake...or not...

The cake was not a hit. Tyler didn't know what to do with it. On top of that he's on some sort of hunger strike today and doesn't want to eat anything. His cousin Brianna had to help show him how it's done. I even stuck his graham cracker in the cake. He went after it, but cringed when he tasted the icing. Too funny...maybe he'll like it next year!

Day #139

I took the day off of work today to clean the house and prepare for the bash tomorrow. I made Tyler's smash cake too. I know it looks kinda funny (I'm not a good cake decorator), but he's just going to smash it anyway, right? I also made it with applesauce instead of eggs (since we haven't tested to make sure Tyler doesn't have an egg allergy). I hope he likes it!

Day #138

Between being sick this week and trying to prepare for the big bash this weekend (psst...someone's turning 1!) I am simply exhausted. So, I'm being a bad mom today. I swung by and picked up a bucket of chicken for dinner tonight. I hate fried chicken, but Bryant loves it, and of course Tyler will eat something pureed. So, no gold star for me today, but at least it's one more thing off my list for now.

Day #137

Toast...we have discovered that Tyler likes toast. I'm thrilled that we can add another item to the "approved" food list. I hope some day we'll be able to add a veggie or protein to that list too...you know...something with at least a smidgen of nutritional value!

Day #136

I'm working from home today. In between emails and phone calls I've been running upstairs and sitting in the bathroom with a hot shower running to fog up the bathroom in hopes of being able to breathe through my nose at some point in the near future. Unfortunately my nose breathing abilities only last for about 10 minutes after I leave the bathroom...stinking germs! I'm sick of being sick!

Day #135

Cherrios...my child is almost 1 year old and the only solid food he will eat is Cherrios. Has a child ever gone to college eating only pureed food? I think mine might be the first...

Day #134

They finally bloomed! My beautiful peonies have bloomed and I love them. Unfortunately I have a sinus cold...again...and can't smell them. Although, my husband and office mate tell me the smell will knock you over when you walk in the room. At least I can enjoy their beauty if not their lovely smell!

Day #133

A visit at Nana's with a little cat watching...

Day #132

The anticipation is killing me!!! My prized peony has so many big beautiful buds on it, but they haven't popped yet. I can't wait!!

Day #131

Have I mentioned I LOVE spring?! Our lilac is doing beautifully this year. We planted it last year and didn't have blooms until this year. It's lovely. And, it is planted just below Tyler's bedroom window, so when his windows are open it smells yummy!

Day #130

I got a few plants this weekend too. This one caught my eye at the store. I think it is beautiful, and hopefully it will grow big and strong and cover up that propane pipe in the background!

Day #129

Another Mother's Day gift...Bryant cleaned the truck for me. Nice and shiny...minus the dings and scratches...commuter parking lots are brutal!

Day #128

More Mother's Day lover...Bryant and Tyler raided my craft supplies yesterday while I was at the run and made me this super cute card. LOVE IT!

Day #127

No relaxing Mother's Day in this house! This is officially my first Mother's Day and I started it off with a 4 mile run. It was actually in Reston, and there was quite a bit of shade so it was really nice. Breakfast at my mother in law's after the run, a nice long afternoon nap, and some garden topped off a wonderful day.

Day #126

Victory! I have discovered that Tyler will eat just about anything (including mixed vegetables) if he's distracted enough. In this case we were sitting in the middle of the mall people watching while we ate and he gobbled up the whole jar!

Day #125

Uh-oh...Time to clear the shelves...someone is grocery shopping in the pantry. Notice his mullet too...my boy needs a haircut!

Day #124

Happy Cinco de Mayo indeed!

I was making fajitas for dinner and couldn't help but notice how my peppers and onions resembled the Mexican flag after they were all cut up. I realize it's upside down, but you get the idea.

Day #123

Safety First!

I was working from home today and during lunch decided to tackle a project that has been bugging me ever since Tyler became mobile...the looooong strings on the blinds. When we pull the blinds up even halfway the strings dangle all over the floor. So today, I started knotting and cutting, and this is the result...nice short strings when the blinds are down, and strings that only hang to mid-window when the blinds are up. I feel much better, and it was so easy!

Day #122

He might have my eyes and cheeks, but this kid is totally the mini version of his father...long camo shorts and a tee shirt that says "Major Hunk." Too cute. (Don't pay any attention to my whittled window sill courtesy of Rocko's first week with us.)

Day #121

Making progress on the party planning. We went to the party store yesterday to get invitations, goodie bags, and some goodies for the older kid bags. Unfortunately when I got home I realized that I bought the "Thank You" card version of the invite I wanted, instead of the actual invites. Ugh...back to the store we go...

Day #120

We had soooo much fun today with the Luke family. We went to the farm to see the animals (I heart good free fun for the kiddos) and then had an awesome pizza lunch. Tyler had such a great day that he took a 30 minute nap in the car on the way home, AND THEN took a two hour nap once we were home, AND THEN was ready for be at 7 pm sharp, AND THEN I had to wake him up at 6 am to go to day care. I thought for sure I'd have a 4am wake up call!

Day #119

I can't believe it's time...time to start planning Tyler's FIRST birthday. Everyone told me the year would go by fast, but WOW! I've been thinking about the plans for a little while now. Originally it was going to be a BIG party, but after stressing about how to entertain 10 kids ranging from 4 months to 6 years I decided to make this a smaller affair. Other than that my planning to date only includes purchasing this glittery #1 candle for his cake. Guess I better get moving on those party details...3 weeks to go!

Day #118

FINALLY broke out the shorts and put away most of the pants. We've had a lot of warm days around here, but it seems we have a few hot days followed by a few 60/70 degree days, so I've kept a few pants handy. Can't wait to enjoy the summer months with my soon to be walking little man!