The weekend in review

This past weekend was a rather busy one. Here are a few things we did.

~Chinese "fued" for lunch on Friday with Pinki. (Gusley's request)

~Biscuits for breakfast...makes everyone happy.

~LAAAAZY Saturday - everyone had a nap!

~Chipotle for dinner! Mommy is one happy camper! Gusley got his "ta-cuu"!

~Jake went bowling!

~THE CIRCUS!!! Greatest Show on Earth - enjoyed by all in attendance!

~Lunch at Hard Rock Cafe - nice treat -Gus slept through the entire meal - another nice treat ;-)

~Fun finds at the used book store.

~Even though this was on Monday, I still think it was a great way to end my weekend/start the week...ZUMBA!

Oh Happy Week!

I swear I feel like we have been on a roller-coaster between last week and this week.

FRIDAY: Jake called me from work around 3:00pm and said, "pack your bag we are going to our 10 year reunion, see if you parents will watch Gus." In a frenzy I start trying on dresses and throwing cloths and shoes in a bag for me, Gus and Jake. When he gets home we are packed and ready to blast off! We dropped Gus and Buttercup off at my parents and away we went. Both second guessing such a long and quick trip, but we looked at each other and said, "You only live once and you only have one 10 year reunion." Away we went. We left around 7pm after a quick stop at Target, gas and food. We did not tell anyone we were going to make it to the reunion, but we kept taps on what a few of our friends were doing via FB. The all went out on Friday night and we were still driving when they were getting in....very funny drunk posts from a few! We got in around 4am, fell asleep at 5am and were up for 8am.....3 hours of sleep!!

SATURDAY: My father in law cooked a yummy breakfast and we visited with Sarah and Buster and the kids for a while then we headed to town because of all the shoes I brought none of them where quite right. We headed to Danny and Bridgette's because they had a huge bag of hand me downs for Gus!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Then we went to Marshall's. I bought a pair, but I was not sold on them. Off to Ross we go. I knew Ross would not disappoint and I was right! Found exactly what I was looking for! By this time we are both wearing thin and starving. We get Cane's and head to the rents house for a nap before the reunion. Friday was a near and dear friend of mine, Allison's birthday. I was going to wait and surprise her at the reunion, but something was telling me to call her before. I did! We played phone tag, but when we finally spoke we were just screaming and giddy that we were going to see each other! We made plans to meet at her house and ride with she and Robbie. We napped, showered and got dressed and away we went!

THE REUNION: When we got to the reunion it was a total shock for most that we were there because during the week I had told a few people that I did not think we were going to make it, so they were happy to see us! It was so nice to see old familiar faces and catch up with old friends! Everyone seemed to have had a blast. I know we did! Not long after we got there they started doing door prizes and people were telling me that my name was called (I had no idea they were giving the prizes away) and I was like, "for what?" Then I see someone holding up an ice chest...I won an ice chest! After the reunion no one wanted to part ways so most of the crowd went to Dooley's, a little dive bar that has a fabulous jukebox!! At 2am when the bar closed everyone still wasn't ready to leave so we all went to a classmate's parents house and swam until 4am!! What a blast, but we realized that we were certainly not 18 again and can't quite hang like we used too!! Thank you, thank you, thank you to our awesome sister and brother in law for coming get us at 4:30-5am and stopping at Mr. Ronnie's! Sarah and Buster, y'all are wonderful! Thank you so much!! By the time we went to bed it was 6am.

SUNDAY: Up and at it for 11am. My father in law was on his way back home with fried chicken! We showered, ate, visited and were back on the road headed home for 2pm, but had to make one more surprise visit with Maw! She was so happy to see Jake and I, but I know she was a little disappointed that Gus was not with us. Speaking of Gus, Saturday morning when I talked to mom he had woken up and thrown up a few times. She seems to think he had a little bug because after that he was fine...not 100% up to par, but still managing to laugh and play! By the time we left Maw's it was 3pm. We stopped to fuel up on gas and groceries and we hit the dusty trail. We were making great timing and north of Hattisburg, MS we caught some horrific weather and had to get off the interstate and wait it out for about 40 mins. I don't think we put the radio on until we were about 2 hours from home because we were just laughing and reminiscing about the night before! We drove up to the house at 12:15am, unloaded and I went to mom's and got in the bed with Gus. He came and snuggled right up to me. Oh I love that child so much!

RECAP OF THE WEEKEND IN HOURS: 18 hours = total driving time; 9.5 = total hours of sleep we got; 32-34 = total hours we were in Houma; the memories are PRICELESS and so worth every second of the trip!

MONDAY: Can we say dragging a$$ really bad?! However, I enter a picture of Gus into a contest and never heard anything back (there were not that many entries and his was one of the cutest). I had told Jake on the weekend that it was odd that I had not heard anything. Today I got a call to say that our picture won 3rd place and we would be receiving a $100 gift card from Visa!!!! Now that is how I like to start off a new week!!

TUESDAY: Not much happened today. Jake cut the grass and Gus was in bed for 8:30pm!

WEDNESDAY: Happy Birthday Mom! We went over to Nanny's house to celebrate Mom's birthday! We had a really good time and Gus enjoyed the cats, dog, dollhouse, radio and vacuum cleaner!! Nanny made two yummy cakes and sent us home with half of each one so it has been a challenge to keep Gus away from them!!

THURSDAY: Gus' little gal pal from across the street came over to play with him and they had a picnic lunch together! Oh yeah, our mailbox got hit yet again...3 times now. It was hanging on by one screw, we were able to put it back on the post, but Jake will have to add more screws to keep it on for future knocks!

FRIDAY: Well the day has just started. Gus slept until 8:45am so we should have a good day!!

Happy weekend!!! At least this post was not near as exhausting as the previous one!

Road trip happenings

In short, I will sum up why the blog is a little behind. We have logged 6000+ miles in a matter of 7 weeks. YES, you are reading those numbers correctly. Needless to say we are true road warriors!

During one of our recent trips I told Jake we needed to get a journal to keep in the car so that we can write down things that we happen upon while we are on the road. We forgot to get the notebook so I figure I would just blog about our mist recent happening.

Tonight on our way back to TN we stopped in MS for food and gas and as we pulled up at the station there were 3 big dogs laid out in front the station like people greeters! We all cracked up because they never budged. Jake got out to pump the gas and he said one of the dogs got up to cross the street and it looked to the left saw a car coming and turned around and went back to his watcing post. Mom went inside and she asked the clerk about the dogs and she said they have been there for several months. I guess they really like it there! I tried to get a picture but it was too dark and they are scared of people according to the clerk!

Should we have anymore happenings tonight I will make sure to post them!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A little change

Please excuse me while I am in the process of changing up the blog a bit. I am still working on how to change the heading to be centered and maybe boxed (just not on top of my picture)! Any suggestions or tips on how to accomplish this are certainly welcomed!

For now, enjoy the bright, tangerine that reminds me of the summertime!!

Update...

We are still pee-peeing in the potty 3-5 times a day and sometimes on the floor just after he gets off the potty!!! That is a-okay with me. It is all progress! Not much to report just keeping a log for myself!

The weather is beautiful. Every window in the house is open. The wind is blowing. Not one light is on in the house and it is very bright! Gus is napping. I am having to stop myself from eating an entire bag of animal crackers! Buttercup is laid out in the sun. Looking forward to a nice walk, workout and a big tall glass of wine!!

I just came across the above pictures and am daydreaming of life living in one of them!!!! It would be so serene and peaceful in the PINK one and very fun and bright in the ORANGE one! On my bucket list is to live in a thatch roof and a vibrant colored house! For now...back to day dreaming!

Earth Day 2010

Today is Earth Day! What did you do to help our Earth? We turned off the A/C, opened all the windows and did not turn on any lights until it was almost dark out. This is something that we pretty much already do on a daily basis because our house has awesome natural light at all times of the day! We really enjoy having all the windows open hearing the birds chirping and the wind rustling through the bushes. The sounds of Spring bring a smile to my face and peace in the air! We did go on a walk and planted some more wildflowers. Not to mention I did not wash one single batch of laundry today. I think overall we had a really good Earth Day and we treated Mother Nature pretty darn good on her day! If you are interested in ways to protect our Earth and promote Green Peace you can sign up for emails from Greenpeace.org and they will keep you in the know!!

PEACE, LOVE AND BE GREEN!!!

Swing time!

Not much to blog about today. The weather was perfect. We went to the park. Gus did not leave the swings except to slide a couple times. His gross motor skills are incredible. There are these inverted monkey bar type things that he managed to climb up with Jake and I spotting him to make sure he did not fall through the holes. Truly amazing to watch him play these days. Not to mention there is not much fear so we have to be on our toes at all times!!

I hope the weather was great for y'all! From what we hear, Louisiana has been having some pretty nice weather. Enjoy before the humidity sets in!!

Inspiration..........

My spring project is to transform Gus' room from a 'nursery' to a 'toddler's' room!! I have been perusing the internet for pictures and ideas and today I had my ah-ha moment of inspiration! I happened upon this woman's blog, her name is Lauren and she has a son about Gus' age and her taste are very similar to my own (looks like she has a much, much bigger budget) but, I have to start somewhere. Not to mention she decorated his room with the Little Golden Book, The Saggy Baggy Elephant, which is one of the pictures I have framed in Gus' room!!! I can't wait to get started with this project! First things first, convert the crib to a toddler bed and out with the changing table then we will take it one step at a time!! I will make sure to post pictures of my progress!

Six Flags here I come...............

TOMORROW, WE WILL BE RIDING THESE COASTERS!!! IT HAS BEEN ALMOST 4 YEARS SINCE I HAVE RODE A MEGA COASTER....4 YEARS TOO LONG!! I AM TOO EXCITED TO BLOG AT THE MOMENT, BUT PICTURES WILL COME!!!! HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!!

A child fare cost how much???

So Jake and I are going to be taking two 9hour trips almost a month apart and we were trying to figure out how we could cut some of the drive time and not have us all cooped up in the car for 36hours total. Jake suggested we fly down to NOLA for Sarah's wedding and found $80 each way tickets for he and I. On Southwest's website they say to call them for a "child fare". I did. I gave the dates and Gus' age and the lady on the other end is pecking away and comes back with this, "this is a discounted rate for the child fare, and for the dates you gave it will be $353.60, which is $170 something (it was here that I got a little distracted and did not get the exact each way amount and I do not care to figure it out!) I reply, "Ma'am, my husband found $80 each way tickets on your website. Why is a discounted child fare doubled?". Her response, "You can buy an adult sear for your child." the conversation ended and I hung up very confused with a purplexed look on my face!

End result: we will be in the for 36 hours in a months time!

Way to go Jake!!

I have to brag on my husband today. The squirters in the car (the things that squirt the water on the windshield) quite working a few weeks ago and we have been crazy busy and haven't had a minute to fix them. He did his research during the week and today while Gus and I napped he got to the bottom of it. When we woke up he was headed out the door to the auto supply store so we went along for the ride. He changed out the part at the store and it did not work. He was a little disappointed, but did not give up. Instead kept his wheels turning to see what else it could be. Once we were home he got busy with the parts in the garage. About 45 minutes later he came in beaming! He had fixed the squirters for $18!! Way to save us $170...we were quoted somewhere around $190 to make them squirt again. A little time, patience and elbow grease goes a long way!!

Way to go, babe!!

Ch ch ch changes...

So now that we have seen the first of Spring, Jake and I have decided to make some lifestyle changes and be better role models for Gus. We have made a pact to exercise together every night with and without Gus. It can get a little tricky with a little person in and out of your legs or hanging on your legs or better yet thinking you want to play horsey when you are on all fours doing some stretching! We are also going to try as best we can to stay away from processed foods and eat leaner meals rather than the big hearty ones that we are accustomed to.

We really feel good about the choices and we feel that having each other as motivation is a big plus. We want to pass this on to Gus so that he can start out on the right foot. I will keep you posted on our progress and if there is any weight loss. We did take before pictures, but I will not be sharing those with ANYONE!

Fat Tuesday

Happy Mardi Gras!!!!!

Almost 2!!!

I can't believe that as of midnight tonight we will have a 2 year old! It feels like yesterday that I was calling Jake telling him we are having a baby TOMORROW!!

I now know why it has been said that the first 3 years are some of the most fundamental years of your life. We have watched Gusley naturally latch on to nursing like a pro in the first hour or two of his life. Then there was cooing, rolling over, tummy time squirming all over the blankets, wobbly sit up to straight back sitting up, then up on all fours rocking back in forth which quickly turned to crawling, crawling up the steps, to pulling up, to walking on the edge of furniture to taking his first steps on our 3rd wedding anniversary, 12.09.08. The walking soon turned into a race walk which was quickly mastered and soon evolved into a run!! Now he climbs the stairs like a pro and chooses whether or not he will use the railing. He is babbling up a storm and his vocabulary seems to be expanding! His recognition is incredible!

There are days that I ask myself am I doing enough? should he be in a daycare with other children? do we have too many toys? do I read to him enough? do we watch too many kid shows? etc.... Then, when I ask him to go get something or what something is and he shows me or gets it correct on the first try all of these questions are laid to rest. The answers to the above questions are as follows (this is my opinion): Jake tells me I am doing more than enough and even though Gus may not be talking as much as other kids his age he knows what's up! No, he should not be in daycare. Plain and simple there is nothing they can do with him that I can't. I love being able to be home with him everyday and seeing his smiling face when he wakes up from his nap. As for toys, well let me just say that since he is not in daycare I feel like I need to have many options for him to play with different objects throughout the day. He has an art area, a reading nook, a kitchen area, music space, pretend play area, building blocks, a train track and a space dedicated to his Little People which he loves so much. I feel that this is necessary to make him a well rounded little fellow. I would much rather have too many toys than not enough to where he is bored to tears and ram shackling everything in the house everyday because he is left with a bucket of bits and pieces that he can't make heads or tails out of any of it. He loves to take things out and then pick them up where they go so it really isn't a big deal to "pick-up" after him because he doesn't leave much of a mess. That is my theory on toys and I am sticking to it!! I read to him at least 4 times a day and usually we read no less than 4 books per session so YES, I do read to him enough! As for kid shows, he has his favorites so I think it seems like we watch them more than we actually do because he has a select few that he really likes. It is so incredible to see what an impact we have made on him in these last 2 years.

I have always felt that I have a strong maternal instinct/maternal nature and I am so happy to finally put it to use with my own child. It has to be one of the greatest feelings ever...the bond between Gus and I is intangible and I LOVE it!!

I know I digressed just a tad, but that was on my mind as I am pondering having a 2 year old and after all, I like to keep track of my thoughts so there are my thoughts for the day!

Saints Superbowl Picture

With the Superbowl only 4 days away I thought I would share the New Orleans Saints Official Superbowl picture with my fellow fans!!!!! We are getting ready for the Superbowl here in TN. We all have new Saints shirts and Gusley has two! I guess he will have a wardrobe change sometime during the big game! Aunt Lisa sent him one that says "BELIEVE DAT" and I just finished ironing on a Fleur de lis on a black shirt for him!!

This is an interesting little fact that lots of friends have been posting on FB so I thought I would share it to!

This will be the 44th Superbowl. Obama is the 44th President. There are 44 days from Christmas to the Super Bowl. The Saints franchise is 44 years old. On Super Bowl Sunday it will be 4 years and 4 months since Katrina. The Saints won in 4 minutes and 44 seconds overtime.......Will the score be 44 to 4? Who DAT!

Technology........has come a long way!

Last year I had the basic model cell phone...no camera, no internet. Just dial and text. Gus took care of that one for me......he put it in the toilet and shut the lid! I went without for a while. Then I got a newer phone. One that had a camera! I really liked it. We went canoeing and flipped.....phone got wet and a month to the day later the phone squigged out and quit working. Gi-Gi sent an old phone that she had laying around the house for me to use in the interim. After making a claim with AT&T and getting a new phone shipped to me we learned that it was simply the battery that shorted out. When we get picture mail, we can't open it because we don't have the picture package so we are always left hanging as to what the picture is. Most importantly we couldn't update our FB status.....NOT!! Anyway, the point of this post is to say that I no longer feel like I am in the dinosaur ages and outdated. I really felt out of touch the last time we went home and my niece was asking her mom for a new cell phone, I think she wanted the Impression? She had a perfectly fine cell phone that took pictures and had internet and all the bells and whistles. I had to give her a reality check by whipping out my Nokia 6010 that Gi-Gi sent for me to use (Gi-Gi, don't be offended, I am very grateful that you had an extra and sent if for me. Really, I am, because honestly it doesn't matter to me what kind of phone I have.) Below is the phone that Gi-Gi sent to me!! When my niece saw the phone her face dropped and she was like "Whoa, you are in the dinosaur ages"! and my sister-in-law told me she had a light up case that would fit my Nokia 6010. Just what I needed!!! With all that being said, Jake and I have graduated to iPhones and quite honestly, I am still in shock and amazed by the capabilities of this phone. Everyday Jake comes home and tells me something else the new phones do. It is incredible. Which is why I feel the need to reiterate the title of this post...technology has come a long way!!!

So for the recap....I went from this............................

To this........................................

Homemade King Cake.....

Oh because its carnival time, mom being from New Orleans (and me craving king cake) thought we should have a king cake to make it feel as much like home as possible! I remembered she had this wonderful recipe for a Homemade King Cake and wonderful it is!! The purple sugar did not turn out too PURPLE but the cake sure tasted VERY GOOD! The next night at SuperTarget I found a container of Mardi Gras Purple sugar on the dollar spot.....PERFECT!! We will be making another King Cake so I will post a picture with the perfect purple!!!!

Mommy's new must have

As I mentioned on Tuesday, Gus started with the snotty nose. In an effort to give him relief and get him on the road to recovery we decided to purchase a Vapor Plug In. The last time he had the stuffy, puffy nose we attempted to use the good ole fashion vaporizer. WHAT A JOKE that was. The directions said to put hot water add the solution and if in 10 minutes it did not start to 'vaporize' add 1/8 teaspoon of salt. I did it the first 4 times.....ALL TO NO AVAIL. As soon as the salt hit the water the damn thing would start spitting water out of the spout, making a huge mess. I tried less salt, same thing, even less salt, same thing, a pinch of salt...nothing happened. There seemed to be no in between with this thing. By the 4th time, I was ready to throw it out the window. Jake came in and I read the directions and he did EXACTLY what they said...it began spitting. After several attempts he thought he had the right combination and guess what as soon as he left the room...SPITTING HOT WATER. We had a garage sale a few weeks later and some poor lady bought it from us for $5.00. I did not have the heart to tell her about all the troubles that thing caused us, I was just glad to see it go.



So, as you can imagine, when Gus started with the runny nose I was not a happy camper because all the memories of the good ole vaporizer came flooding back. That is until I remembered reading on a friend's FB page that someone recommended the plug-in. WHAT A SUPER INVENTION! The night light on it is a little bright, but the vapors it emits is just right. We have used it every night and each day Gus wakes up with a little less snot. We will be keeping extra refills here in the house at all times and this little piece of magic will make the 'must pack' list for future travels. I highly recommend this item if you or your little one has a stuffy nose or cough!

Who's Gonna Win Dat Superbowl? Dem Saints is!!

We are getting really excited about tomorrow's game! A little nervous too!! We are a little bummed that we will won't be back at our old stomping ground for the game. This is really history in the making!

Our good friend in Slidell wrote a song and made a video to go along with it titled "Who's Gonna Win Dat Superbowl? Dem Saints is!!" It has already gotten 6000+ hits on You Tube!! If you have 3 minutes to spare check it out. I have linked it to the title of the song in this post!!

GO SAINTS!!!!

Freebird

Jake and I just watched the last "Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien". I had a lump in my throat throughout the entire show and even shed a few tears, especially when he got choked up. I can't believe the show is over but he did go out with a bang....Will Ferrell with a cow bell singing a very fitting song for the moment...."Freebird" and Conan on a guitar! Whatever Conan's next venture is we will be faithful followers/viewers. Not much to say except that I am very bummed out about this and probably won't, well I won't watch Leno. The skunk had his run. The young crowd wants to see the tall Irish redhead, not the old skunk! Sorry about the rant. TEAM COCO maybe off the air for now, but have no fear he will come back better and stronger! Conan O'Brien for life! Peace!