Well, well, well...

Long time no blog... Sorry 'boutcha.  Didn't mean to leave you hanging. 
Liars...  I know you didn't notice!   :)
Things have been a smidge hectic lately, but I've accepted that's just life.  BUT - I think I got in my ten acts of kindness, but lets list them out and see, shall we? 

1.  Left a bag of candy and a "have a great day" note on a co-worker's desk.  Just because.
2.  Sent a thinking of you note to a friend I've really missed but lost touch with lately.
3.  Helped a woman with a screaming child like mine to load her boxes from Costco.
4.  Left a note for the next person at Avis that got "my car"---  "Careful!  There were ants in here but I think I got them" with my can of ant killer just in case.  (Maybe not so nice if I freaked them out!?!?)
5.  Let a uniformed soldier take my place in the front of the line at security at LAX.
6.  Shared my umbrella to get someone to their car in the rain.
7.  Gave a snack size bag of chips and a bottle of water to the airport valet.

Surely I'm nice enough that I've done more than this but I'm really struggling.... maybe I'm just so "naturally" nice that I don't take notice of them...errrrr something.  UGH, well, I've got a little over a week to finish off strong!  Taking suggestions since clearly, I'm just not that nice of a person! 

Other than that, we've moved to the new house:


I'll give a tour of the inside soon...
but let's just say if I didn't have to move for forty years, it'd be too soon!!!!
Lots of landscaping is planned as the flower beds are pretty wimpy but we'll get it looking good in no time!




Played at the park with cousins:

Played in the baby pool and the neighborhood pool:




Clearly this is the baby pool in the backyard, but he LOVES the neighborhood pool!



Done lots and lots of breathing treatments:

Which means lots and lots of Thomas Videos... and somehow my almost two year old found a Snoop Dog/Thomas the Train remix.  Who makes this junk?  Anyways,  I'll forfeit my mother of the year award pride and share this video.  But please don't judge (or at least judge silently and don't leave any nasty comments!).  Yes, there are moving boxes in the back.  No, we don't make our bed when we are recovering from moving the day before every day.  We've joked about how someday our kids are going to be so embarrassed when their friends get in the car and we are "so embarrassing!" and play rap or whatever like we're cool.  Apparently, if this is any indication, we were way wrong.

I'm so tempted to delete this.  Does everyone hate the way they sound on video?  I hope that's not what my friends have to hear all the time.  Holy annoying.

I made a new wreath for our new front door.  Feeling crafty lately!

And after missing a week of "school" due to illness, Luke has learned all kinds of new, "great" tricks. And by cool tricks, we're talking a body slam.  I know, I know... we probably shouldn't allow it, but it's so funny how hard he works to throw all 22 pounds of himself on you. 

***I have video but just can't handle how annoying I sound. Maybe I can be quiet enough tonight to get a new one and add it in :)

I know this video is dark, but the intent was to be "calming down" before bed.  Instead, Luke decided the other night,  he'd rather play right up until the last minute and then he says when it's over.  From here, he just walked into his room and stood next to his rocking chair waiting for me to come in there!  Such a big boy these days!

 

I can't believe it's June already.... I feel a bit like we're driving through the mountains.  At 100mph.  Blindfolded... but so far we're all in one piece so... BRING IT ON!

Sending Love...

Wow, what an amazing Mother's Day.  I really felt beyond blessed this year to have a healthy little boy that made me a mama, and a husband that worked so hard to make it a special weekend, let alone day.

And that got me thinking...  (I know, I shouldn't start thinking...that's when things get wild around here...)

As blessed as I was feeling, who out there was having a rotten day because it's Mother's Day?  Those wishing desparately to have a baby in their life.  Trying and hoping and hanging onto the thought of becoming a mama.  Or those that are single mamas, and don't have a husband to coordinate for the littles.  Or, God bless them, those that have lost their spouses and are facing this holiday alone. 

How did I get so lucky?  What makes me any different?  And it hit me.  Nothing makes me different.  No one is protected from this crazy life.  And, as brutal as that is, something about it made me feel a little more connected to this little world we live in.  And I want to do something about it.  Do something to make it a better place to live. 

SO, if you had a tough day yesterday, know that you were on my mind.  I'm sending love your way and thanking you for all your hard work, whether you are a mother in the traditional sense or not.  We can all make it a better place to live.

In honor of all those that maybe wished it wasn't Mother's Day yesterday, I'm going to focus on doing ten acts of kindness over the next month or so.  It's not a lot.  And it's not flashy.  But it's a start. 

Happy Mother's Day.  Or Non-Mother's Day.  Whatever it is you're into.  You. Are. Loved.

Our New Normal

I think it's safe to say, chaos is my "new normal".  Maybe not new...For as long as I can remember my dad has always told me that I was the most organized person he's ever met that can exist in a constant state of drama.  Well, not one to disappoint let me completely oversimplify a couple things.

1.  Our house is on the market.  And twice the sale has fallen through.  So there's been a bit of uncertainty around if we were moving.  If so, when, where... all that fun.

2.  Luke's babysitter had to give notice.  He's moved from personalized, one on one, in home care to an in-home daycare with five other kids.  No comment on how this is going other than to say it's rotten.  And totally not for wimps.  (Or maybe we are the wimps and that's why it's hard?  I digress... but let's just say he's thrown himself down on the ground kicking, screaming and spitting the past two drop offs.)
3.  An offer was accepted on our house and the closing is scheduled for June 3.  That means we are moving out May 24.  Fortunately, we found a house in the same neighborhood, have scheduled to transfer utilities, all that good stuff... and it's completely a done deal as of yesterday.


So, you can imagine my tremendous sense of relief when we knew as of last night that we had a place to move, it's still in the same neighborhood, not going to completely bankrupt us, signed, funded all that.  I literally walked in the door last night feeling like a huge load had been lifted.

And then I hear dripping.  It wasn't raining (outside).  A pipe in the attic had backed up and was leaking through our ceiling, down the blinds and dripping onto the window seat.


So, yep chaos.  It's the new normal....  Instead of buying packing tape and throwing our belongings haphazardly into boxes tonight, this mama is headed to happy hour with some girls at work. 

Have a lovely day!  Bring your rain boots (and packing tape.  and a bottle of wine) if you plan on dropping by my house this weekend!



And to add some sweetness to all this sass....

Hitting Target like a ladies man

Eating dirt, no big deal...



Deciding that clothes are overrated, clearly...



Makin it rain

Mobile naps, a way of life when you're showing your house!

Hijacking a friends truck since toys are put away at home

Daddy's in charge of teaching all the really important stuff....like riding a scooter!

Easter Pics

Easter was so fun this year to see Luke pick up on the idea behind the Easter egg hunt.  He (of course) had a Thomas the Train easter basket...his obsession with Thomas has gone from average to full throttle and we live and breathe Thomas (or Tah!) from the time he wakes up until he goes to bed!

Off to hunt for eggs... with Thomas in hand

Not too sure about these confetti eggs...  Where's the candy!?!?!?

  

Must find more eggs!

Nope, this one doesn't have candy either! 

This one looks like a keeper!

Ditched the basket for better agility!

When it was all said and done, the Easter Bunny brought confetti eggs, blow-up swords, candy, dollar bills, a monster truck (toy, duh)  and beef jerky (for daddy).  Happy Easter!



Note the fancy folding chairs!  We had fun with Nana, Poppa, Cousins, Aunts and Uncles so it was a full house!



After lunch the "big kids" (errrrr, grown ups, whatever!) played whiffle ball in the driveway.  My sister-in-law totally sacrificied her body to keep one from going in the street.  And because we are so sensitive, we couldn't stop laughing long enough to find out if she was okay.  Poor thing!

After that, I held Luke on lock down to avoid him getting nailed!

It was a long day but we were still sad to go!  See you next year, Easter Bunny!

Can YOU do the Harlem Shake?

Well, what's a girl to do when the hubby is out of town for a weekend?  Gather her little boy, her big brothers and neice and nephew to film a Harlem Shake video.  Duh.  Because we're cutting edge like that.

In all seriousness though, I get that this whole Harlem Shake thing is weird and usually it's not that funny.  Unless you watch one person at a time.  And of course, with my mama blinders, I think Luke is hilarious.  Of course he had to be the token guy in his underwear jumping around.  Awesome.... Check it out for yourself!

FOR {FOUR} YEARS

Have I really been a married woman for four years?  In so many ways it seems like so much longer - I think because I can't imagine life any other way--- but then I think back to the wedding and the honeymoon and it seems like just a little bit ago that we were so fortunate to have so many friends and family in the same room to mark the occasion with us.  Four years sounds so short.  Especially the way time flies by these days or when I think about my grandparents that were married almost 75 years.  But when I think about how drastically our lives have changed for the better in these past four years, it puts things into perspective.

Four Years
1,460 days
208 weekends
35,040 hours
3 houses
4 new jobs (combined)
2 international vacations (Costa Rica and Mexico)
Lots of weekend get aways
32 days of visiting our heart outside our body (Luke in the NICU) which brings me to...
By far our coolest "accomplishment", one crazy little boy


I'm so lucky to have married a man that makes me laugh.  That loves our family with all his heart.  Who sants to be the best husband, father, and friend that he can be.  If you want to see the night that started our married life, our slide show is still out there, which makes me happy to no end.  You can watch it here:  Carrie & Kelsey Wedding Slide Show

What a fun celebration that was, and honestly one that I feel like continues on!  Here's to another fourTY or so more!  Definitely going to dust the 'ol album off and flip through it tonight while we eat a fancy dinner of frozen pizza or Eggos or something.  But don't worry, we're celebrating big on Saturday.  Luke's spending the night with his Nana and Poppa and Kelsey and I are heading out on the town!

Remember the Alamo! (and an 18 mos update)

First, how cute is lil Davie Crockett in his coon skin cap?

Ok, now that we are all in agreement that he is precious.... let's get down to the business of his 18 month recap.  (or you can totally quit reading, but I have to document this or it will go right out the window)

Luke,

WOW.  18 months.  You're getting so big.  You are definitely a "toddler" now I'm sure, and between running and discovering new things and trying to test boundries, you are non-stop action.  And while I'd love to sit here and tell you what a joy you've been to be around, honestly, between your one year molars finally showing up (all together and a little late to the party!) and the temper tantrums, we've all kind of been struggling the last week or three.  Although it's not been all glitter and rainbows, you definitely impress me with your focus -- when you want something, you want it and you want stop until you get it.  And you are so strong willed (no, baby, that's NOT code for brat.  I promise.).  Both of these qualities will be such a blessing when you are a little older but right now it seems like it's "your way or the floor that you throw yourself on screaming and kicking highway".

The good news is that you are a healthy, active boy just like I always pray(ed) you would be.  You are accomplishing so much and your daddy and I truly believe once you can communicate even more, you won't be quite so frustrated and in turn, we won't be so frustrated!  Here's your big stats:

Weight:     23 pounds, 4 oz      (15th percentile)
Height:      31 inches                (10th percentile)
Head:        18.5 inches             (25th percentile)

Gross motor skills ---- you are running, walking (you can even walk backwards!), climbing, trying to jump, you kick the ball, throw the ball and you are just overall a strong lil fella! 

Fine motor skills ---  we love to watch you work your little fingers.  You pick up small things and stack and sort so well.  Your favorite thing right now is your Uncle Jay's Nerf gun and you load the "darts" in so carefully.  I can't even figure out how to use the darn thing but you've got it nailed.  Please don't start shooting at people (even if it is Nerf, you will give this mama a nervous breakdown)

Body parts you know---  eyes, head, nose (your favorite), ears, mouth (you stick your tongue out!), teeth, belly, boobies (your's, not mine), toes, feet, arms

Words you are using ---  mama (over and over and over), dada, annabelle, doggy, "baaaaah" (with a sweet wave and a southern drawl, this is my favorite), hi, nnnnas (nose), mmmm (when something is yummy), "ba" (bottle, which  you have successfully said bye to, congrats big boy!), boom!, pow!, ball, no, fish, bird, "shs" (shoes), "turk" (truck), "cah" (car), "nahnah" (nana), "pahpah" (papa), Jay, Pop...  There may actually be more that I'm forgetting, but the point is your Dr. girlfriend was way impressed with your verbal development. 

Your dad and I are so proud of you and can NOT believe you are now closer to 2 than 1.  Seriously, who said you could grow up so fast?!?!?!  We love you lil man!