Mommy and Gusman hit the town

Wednesday is soccer practice. It is at 6pm and is always a struggle. We
made it this week without too many tears! Amanda kept Mabel so that Gus and I could have dinner after. We went to a local Mexican joint to try it out. It was pretty good, but they got our vote with pink lemonade! We were both equally excited when we asked and she said yes!! Cheers to pink lemonade and a much needed mommy and Gusman date night!!

Little helpers

Yesterday...

We had a lovely morning. We went to the park, fed the geese, I got a good walk in and the kids played hard! Came home for a picnic lunch and some down time then it was off to work. We were doing good as far as time. Gus had shoes on, Mabel had just had a diaper change and I had everything gathered and ready to go. I got distracted getting Gus down from climbing on something he should not have been on and shut the door behind me. Immediately I new we were locked out, but I tried the handle anyway. Yep, locked. I asked Gus to see of by some chance the van was unlocked...no dice.

Shit!

At this point I panic a little 1) how am I going to get two kids to school with me when the double stroller is locked in the car and the keys are locked in the house 2) how the hell are we going to get in the house - Jake is in Miami. We have no spare hidden and no windows unlocked that I can shove Gus through to unlock the door (my belly won't allow window climbing!)

The plan:
I get Mabel in the little red push car, Gus holds my other hand and we start walking the 12+ blocks to work. I texted the landlord to see if they could possibly come by and open the house and hope for the best. Off we go.

The walk:
Was not so bad. Mabel cracked up most of the time! Gus complained here and there but then we would just run to deter the complaints! (I'm tired! I have to go to the bathroom!) there was a military funeral beginning and folks were starting to line up with flags so we got to see that and Gus got to push the crosswalk buttons! We made it to school about 30 mins late, but we made it! At 5:30 the landlord texted to say "all set"! Such a glorious sight!! We all slept good last night....our legs were pooped!!

The Lesson:
There really is no lesson...just mommy's brain is just about maxed out right now!! And Gus, no climbing, please!! :-)

Well Visits.....

Perhaps they should be called something else. Maybe something like "momma you won't be well after this visit" or maybe "well hell....how does 7 shots sound?" or "let's see if your babes scream louder than the ones in the room next door visits". Anything but "well visits". I know, I know, the kids have to have these visits and such, but dear sweet 9 pound 8 ounce baby Jesus, what was I thinking taking them both in at the same time?

Oh yeah, that Gus was caught up, so no shots for him and that Mabel just needed her 12month shots. WRONG! I forgot about the flu shot so that puts Gus on the chart for one shot and Mabel was down for 3 for her 12 month boosters then they come back to say that since we are within 7 days if her turning 15 months she can go ahead and get those in addition to her flu shot for a grand total of 6 shots and an oral swab deal just for her.

Gus laid down and complied but he cried and carried on poor guy. I watched the nurse do the injection and my goodness she used force on his little tender leg. He limped out the clinic!

Mabel on the other hand was quite the production poor gal. 2 in each thigh and 2 in the backside of her upper arm. All I can say is that it was awful for her, for me and for Gus. That is all I got.

Oh, and that we picked up Burger King for lunch because I could not even gather my thoughts to put something together for us!

Here is the aftermath....

This sums up the last 117 days.....

More to come on everyone! Soon, very soon!!

Moving day!

We finally made it to moving day! What a feat that was...movers were suppose to be at the house at 10am Thursday, then we were pushed to 3-4pm, then they finally showed up at 6:45pm....we had a 26' truck to fill and a house full of furniture and a final walk through at 3:45pm the next day! Can we say stressed?

At 9pm, I went to put the kids to bed at my parents house. When I got back there wasn't much room left in the truck and still lots of items that needed to get back. I had to face the facts....it wasn't all going to fit. More upsetting, what wasn't going to fit were most of the outside toys including the newly built swingset. This really bummed me out, but what could I do?

Not a whole hell of a lot at 11pm when the movers finished. The next morning dad and I headed over to u-haul to see about renting a small trailer to attach to the truck...the space was not worth the price. We headed down the road to a storage unit, reserved one and headed home to start making loads! We took Gus and mom and Mabel got busy finishing the touch ups inside.

Dad hit the road at 3:30 and mom and Mabel went home for baths while Gus and I did the walk through and one more load to storage. We got to moms got showered and ha some supper them we hit the road long about 7:30pm. We made it to the east side of Knoxville and called it a night. The time change had caught up to us as well as everything else! We got up and had breakfast at the hotel then hit the road to Asheville for gas and lunch! We missed a turn and got set back a bit, but it was beautiful and it gave Jake and dad and some of Jake's awesome friends from work time to unload the moving truck without kids under their feet!

We finally drove up to our new home at 9:43pm. It was surreal! Gus immediately jumped in Jake's arms. Mabel was a little unsure, but she warmed up by the next day! It felt good to be home, together, under the same roof!

Mom and dad, thank y'all so much for everything, from cooking, cleaning, sanding ABC's off the back deck, chasing kids, bathing kids, having us invade y'all house for 5-6 weeks, washing our cloths and the list goes on! I am so grateful for all of it and I am not really sure that I can ever re-pay y'all, but I will try like hell!! I love y'all!

Nanny, Judi and Krista, thank y'all do much for arranging and attending the packing parties!! Great times and lots of memories! I really appreciate all of y'all help during those last few weeks!! It means a lot when you don't have to ask and people just show up to help you because they know what a task moving can be. Especially having just moved 4 months prior! Thank you!

Swimming lessons - week 2

We survived swimming!! By the end of the lessons Gus was jumping in, holding his breath and swimming a short distance to the teacher without floaties!! Lots of progress! Now that we are leaving so close to the beach, i think we will enroll him in another set of lessons just to make sure!

Holiday World ~ 2012

The Saturday before we moved a good friend and I took Gus and her daughter to Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN! We all had a blast! What is not to love about FREE Pepsi products all day long? And watersides? And glorified amusement park rides? Not to much, my friends, not to much!!

The kids were troopers and we went all day with no meltdowns!! Lots of smiles!

This year Gus was tall enough for a few more rides and slides...42" to be exact! He rode his very first water coaster! When we got off he told me it was just a little bit scary! I am so proud of him for even trying it out! Here are a few pics of our day!

Swimming Lessons - day 4

At the end of class, Gus exclaimed, "I did every fing!". And that he did! He cupped his hands and pulled the water away from him, he kicked his feet really hard and he went under several times! I really can't wait to see what next week will bring! Until then, we will be at the pool practicing what we learned!

Swimming Lessons ~ days 1-3

Monday Gus started swimming lessons! He was a little apprehensive and brought his floatie, bit his instructor had him out of it in no time!!

Day one was getting acclimated to the water without floaties and just showing the teacher what he knew. It is just he and a little girl in the class so it is perfect! After class we asked him if he was glad he went and. He told mom and I that he was very proud of himself and very happy that he decided to go!!

Day two Ms. Lindsey had them go under by the end of class!! Little mister came up smiling and said how fun swimming lessons were! They also learned to cup their hands like "mogillas" (gorillas) and kick their feet in a "splish splash" pattern!

Day three Mabel came to the lesson and she got antsy so we had to walk away and did not get to see everything, but Ms. Lindsey assured us that he did great again today and went under again!!

Swimming lessons are very important to me and even more so now with our upcoming move to the beach! Looking forward to what the remaining 5 days of lessons will bring!!

Love is pure and simple!

Treehouses

These were amazing! More pictures to come from my point and shoot.....as soon as I can fine my USB cable! There were 7 total and we liked all of them and have big plans for daddy to build us one with lots of perks. We love you, daddy and know that you would happily make just about whatever we want!!

Rainbow Fish

What a fantastic day we had! This was incredible...a rainbow fish treehouse! Gus was amazed and could have spent most of his day and all night in here just hanging out enjoying the great outdoors!!

Packing progress {part 2}

Here is what we have been up to.....

Friday fun

Today the temperature was waaaay below normal....like never got over 65 degrees below normal! It was splendid! We went to dollar tree to get a kite and got some bubbles and glow sticks as well!! Those things always make Friday fun!!

Mabel is starting to take more than one step at a time! I am hoping that she will hold out on full blown walking until we move and Jake can see her wobbling!

Gus has been giving some pretty funny excuses as to why he should stay at Pinki's! The other day it was that it was just too dusty here at the house with all that packing and stuff! where he comes up with this I will never know!

Tomorrow is our yard sale! Hoping to make a few extra bucks and get rid of some extra junk!!

Sweet dreams

Something so cute about this, but my question to them is where do I fit?! Goodnight everyone!

Perfect attendence

At Gus' preschool they do not have perfect attendance awards, but of they did he would have gotten one! I am proud to say that he went to school every Tuesday and Thursday from August to May, except for the very last Thursday. He woke up very thirsty and I gave him some water and just as soon as he got down the stairs he began to vomit. I did not want to risk it being a virus or him to get sick in the car so I kept him home. He nearly ate me out of house and home that day.

I think he was weak and his blood sugar may have been low and in turn caused him to vomit because that was the one and only time he got sick. He begged to go to school, but I just wanted to play it safe. We did have a great day hanging in our jammies just enjoying each other!

Gusley, in my eyes you made perfect attendance! You went to school everyday and you learned something new everyday. Mommy and daddy are so very proud of you. And we are so happy that we made it through the first year of preschool relatively germ free! We did get the tummy bug a time or two and a runny nose in the winter, but you still plugged along and took your medicine like a big boy so that you could get well to make it to school!!

Keep up the good work!

Down on the farm

Yesterday I took the wee ones out to the farm to see all the horses! Gus was not in the best of moods, because it was supper time, but he managed to keep himself together and enjoy his time there! We had dinner with nanny and both kids were asleep before we were on the highway! These early nights have really been nice! I feel like I am human again and well rested!

Well blow me down...

Yesterday, all of a sudden this crazy, windy rain storm blew in. I took Gus outside to check out the clouds and watch the system move in. The wind was unbelievable...hurricane type. I showed him that if I stood on one foot it would nearly blow me over so he had to do the same! We had a fun time laughing and being blown around until the lightning rolled in, then we promptly rolled in as well!

I love the sound of his sweet belly laugh. It is just hilarious and contagious! We had fun taking on different voices and saying different lines while being blown around....memories!!

Memorial day fun!

The kids were kind and slept in a little! Mom was nice and kept Gus so Mabel and I could get a good morning nap in then it was off to the races! We headed over to Judi and Krista's for some pony ridin' and BBQ! It was a hot one, but Gus helped to groom Tillie and get her nice and ready for the ride!

He does very well on the pony. He is very confident and he takes his role very serious, as he should! Mabel and Pinki snuck in a nap during the pony rides, but made an appearance for the BBQ!! Everything was yummy and everyone had a real big time! So big that Gus fell asleep on the way home around 7:15 and stayed asleep until 7am this morning!! Little Miss Memorial day had a grand time as well. She had her first pouch of applesauce (the new kind that have a screw top). She sucked all the applesauce right out and was eyeing a second one! Have I mentioned she loves to eat? Well, have I mentioned that both kids love to eat?

Water logged

That is all I have for today....two 2+ hour trips to the pool with two kids and non-stop throwing of a 40lb 4 year old....I am burnt, beat and water logged! A little weepy, but hanging in there. Luigi's Italian Ice has made it officially summertime for us!!

What a day!

We started our day at "Cow's House" for breakfast, then headed to Lowe's to show Gus all the different types of drains for bathtubs. He is currently really into drains and how they work and all the different types. I have been showing him trip levers, spin top and push downs and rubber stoppers on google, but thought a trip to Lowe's for some actual hands on visuals would really help him get it! I was right. It did help! He was so excited in the plumbing department and all the workers came to help him get a better grasp on this obsession! From there we headed to Kroger for my tailbone prescription then home to get cracking on the packing.

Judi, Krista, Pinki and nanny came over to help with all the pictures that we have. What a tremendous help they were! I really appreciate them wrapping all our pictures and prints and labeling same....it will certainly make unpacking that much easier! Gus and Mabel each got a good afternoon nap (not at the same time, of course) but they both slept and woke up in very good moods! This equates to one happy mommy! We wrapped up at the house and headed over to the neighborhood Memorial Day BBQ - or hot dog party as Gus dubbed it! There was music, yummy food and cornhole to be played! We enjoyed the evening then headed down to the pool to cool off and just rest our bones! Gus is doing fantastic jumping in an swimming and Mabel is really digging the water as well! She loves the little float and is happy to do laps at the baby pool with Pinki!!

I think I am getting a grip on this "flying solo" gig....just a little. It is hard, but we are having fun in the process and making lots of memories and not to mention I have also schooled myself on drains and I am pretty well versed in the plumbing world these days!!

Here are a few pictures from our busy, fun day! Poor daddy had to spend his day at the beach ;-)! We love you and miss you very much, daddy!