date night

Well, we have done it. We are past the excuses and the procrastinations and the hope that something will work out. We have decided to pay for baby-sitting. Probably not an earth-shattering moment for most of you, but it was something we really were hoping to avoid. are we cheap or what? :) Those who live by family, be veryveryveryveryvery thankful!
We ALL say, oh, of course we will keep our regular date nights after we have kids. After all, our marriage is our first priority. uh-ha. and then kids HAPPEN. So for us, 18 months, and oh, maybe, 6 dates later, it was time for drastic measures. Our marriage was suffering. Not having even a monthly time to go out of the house together, talk, share, laugh, enjoy.....it really makes a difference. Graham goes to bed at 7, so we technically have about 3 hours each night of alone time. But it's not the same. You're in your sweats (super sexy), you're busy with the tasks you didn't get gone during the day, you're watching tv, you might have ice cream on your chin....yeah, not the same. :)
 We had tried doing swaps and we really thought that was the answer for us, but you know what? It's harder than it sounds. You feel like you're bothering someone or they feel like they're bothering you, and it can be difficult to work out times that work in both of your schedules.....We're still hoping to do the swaps, because we want to be available for others who need kid-sitting and we want to encourage other parents around us that you must absolutely go on dates. But I think you have to have an understanding that I'm not bothering you and you're not bothering me, so let's do it!  So, any Pgh parents out there that want to swap, call me. :)
So, last night we went out on a date. A 3 hour date. It was good. I didn't even bring the camera because I didn't want to be "writing a post in my mind" during it. I didn't even know if I would post anything about it. But, maybe some of you have gone thru this scenario or have some tips on how to make it work.
And so I encourage you, if anyone else if finding themselves going week after week without having that time out, make it happen.
So if it takes us a little longer to save for that larger vehicle or we can't necessarily go out for dinner all the time on our dates, it's ok. Because all you need is love. :) :)

[Love you babe, thanks for the FUN date!]

The first cut is the deepest

the boy needed a trim, there was no doubt about it.

Let the first haircut commence!

hey, why am I wrapped up like a mummy?

the little piece we saved

being such a good boy!

instead of a trim, it turned into a wack job. :(

 the back looks ok, but the front is toooo short. we need a little practice on little boy haircuts! oh well, I guess it will grow back soon.

thanks daddy for my haircut, I'm really glad my bangs aren't in my eyes anymore!

Big brother tells all

I am so happy to tell you that mommy & daddy are finally getting around to the business of giving me a brother or sister. Yay!! Well, I'm kind of hoping for a brother, but I'll be sweet to a sister too. Mommy thinks I'm going to be a good helper and is starting to teach me many things that I'll need to know in order to be a big brother (it's a big responsibility, you know.) Mommy would really like me to potty-train, but I haven't made up my mind on that one yet.

We're excited to have another February birthday (I sense a pattern here!). We'll be 2 years and 2 weeks apart. The official date is Feb. 20. Mommy is 13 weeks already and excited to be finishing the 1st trimester. (She waited a little longer to tell everyone, because we got to tell her family in person last week!)
The best news is that she has not been very sick, but exhaustion has been a big battle. She said something about having a crazy man to run after all day.........she must be talking about my daddy. But she is already feeling less tired as she heads into tri 2.
So that's all the news for now, I am sure she will be sharing more later. We're all very excited!!!

More fun in Minne.....

A little lunch on the airplane!

he actually didn't terrorize the kittys too bad

.

one of the most fun things @ Gma & Gpa's house!

 

girl cousins dinner before the wedding.

more couzins.

here comes the bride!

playing tag at the wedding. the children needed to let a little steam off. :)

sisters.

aw, banished to sleeping in the bathroom the one night we were in a hotel!

saying please for something! and no, he was not drinking that soda in his hand.

'helping' great-Gma in the garden.

I love that he stopped, smiled, and said cheese! for this pic! It's very helpful. :)

a yummy dinner cooked up by my brother!

Aunt kate.

loved this little rocker at my Grandma's, from the 1800's!

home

Very good to be home. Traveling with an energy-charged toddler is not my favorite thing to do alone!! (and why is it that everyone who is around G for 2 seconds comments on how much energy he has?!)

The little man did so well this week! He was his happy little self almost the whole week in spite of sleeping in 5 different places, being continually surrounded by "strangers" who wanted to kiss him, and enduring lots of activities! He was a good little trooper and I think he knew he was with family because he loved everyone!

Here is our little (growing!) family. Taken at my cousin's wedding. Only missing Andrew - big boo!!

David (bro), Phuong, Kelly, Andy (bro), Deb, Dad, G, Mom, Jack, Lexi, Livi, Charis (sil), Sean (bro), Katie (sis).

We had such a fun week together, love them all. :)

and the sweetest boy cousins of the night!

This + That

Southwest + Midwest = separation. :(

Andrew is packing for a business trip to Phoenix this week. He will be training an assistant that will hopefully help ease his load, especially when he has to be gone. We are continally thankful for his job and praise God for providing it.
BUT Gman & I are heading out as well! Off to MN to see the family!! YAY, we can't wait! Except for my mom, grandma & sister who have been out to visit us, we haven't seen any of them since Christmas. It's hard to believe that Graham wasn't even walking at that point! He is one different little boy, that's for sure! So many tricks to share. :)

We have 2 hour and half flights each way, so hoping he decides to be a very calm, sleepy, lap-loving little boy (seriously, I believe in miracles.)
We are also staying 4 or 5 places over the course of 7 nights. Ugh, that could be a real treat. Praying for God's grace, and knowing however the week pans out, it will be okay!
My cousin is getting married on Saturday! We do not have many opportunities to have all our extended family together. A beautiful, outdoor summer wedding, I know it's going to be wonderful.

The hard part is that Graham is now at the age where he asks about Dad when he's not there. So it will be really sad for them to be apart for 8 days and for G not to understand where his daddy is. :( 
But, we are looking forward to a great week. Can't wait to see all our family!!!

*Blog note* Since some dedicated spammers have decided that they really like to have some input on my posts, I have had to move to approving comments. Annoying. Most of their comments are in some type of Chinese. How is that even worth their efforts when I have no idea what they're writing???? Or the English comment of late - Poverty is stranger to industry. So spammers - please go away. Seriously, I can't be worth your time.

This verse came to mind tonight and I rejoiced in its truth -

My heart is steadfast, O God! I will sing and make melody with all my being! Psalm 108.1

18

A very full & busy & learning experience this year and a half has been! For all 3 of us.
Graham's latest excitement.........................

• LOVES shoes! His new fav is pulling out daddy's shoes and trying to walk in them. We had our first argument over him wanting to wear different shoes that I put him in. WHAT?!! But there are seriously shoes strewn everywhere in our house. Agh!

• Most days he is loving life and is our cheery little boy who sometimes just looks at me and says hi!

• He loves rocks and it's hard to get him to walk from point A to point B without him finding one!
• He has discovered dipping! Ranch & ketchup are 2 new best friends. Since he is loving dipping veggies in ranch, no complaints here!
• He likes to repeat things in threes....so all day long I hear ball, ball, ball or milk, milk, milk.
• He learned how to say L and he thinks it's the funniest thing!
• I have picked up a chucked sippy cup 550 times. Seriously, I did the math.
• He's learning about reflection time (aka time-outs!). He sits in the chair until the timer goes off after one minute. He knows that after discipline time, we pray and then he has to kiss us and say sorry. As soon as he is headed for discipline, he immediately starts making kissing sounds and folding his hands, hoping that we can cut straight to that part. haha, what a nut!
• He LOVES animals. He greatly enjoys reading his animal books & learning how to make each sound. We love to hear him say cock-a-doodle-doo.......ok, it actually sounds like luldfkjlkdf-doooooo. He's trying!

• He has also recently fallen in love with Hop on Pop & Curious George. Classics!

• He doesn't have a huge vocabulary, but it is fun to hear him learning new words all the time. He has started mumbling longer unintelligible phrases, but I think he thinks he's really talking! He says puppy, kitty, bird, elephant, cow, duck, bee, head, hat, milk, ball, Hop (when he wants to read that book!), something that is supposed to resemble "Curious George", snack, truck, bus, bath, diaper, hot.........ok, I won't bore you with every word he knows. Bottom line - he's starting to talk - yay!
• He likes to talk on his cell phone. He basically just says hi over & over. I guess he can't think of anything else to say!
• For a while he would say baaaaa when you asked him what any animal said! He is starting to make some distinctions!
• loves to dance and the second he hears any music, the bopping starts. Where do they learn this? It's not like Andrew & I are be-bopping around the house.
• I have decided to stop carrying him. This probably seems weird, but even after they walk, it's just so much easier to pick them up to get where you going. But for me, it was starting to be the lazy way out, so now we're working on walking, holding hands and making him walk to the car or into the store, etc.... He's doing very well so far. And my entire body is thanking me daily.

• I've also stopped using his changing table. He is seriously just a load to pick up & down. My main reason for doing this was because as we begin traveling this next month, we won't have the luxery of the changing table and he is much more likely to roll, scoot, scamper away when not on the table. So I knew I was doing a favor to myself, by getting him use to the floor change. He is doing much better as well! (We've been doing several training things in prep for our time away. Hopefully they help!)
• Speaking of diaper changes, trying to get a prefold, snappi, & diaper cover on a boy that decides he doesn't want a diaper change has resulted in a few long battles. Good grief! This is when I wish I had only all-in-one diapers!
• So, gearing up for our flights next week. I've been told stickers, new toys, books, M&M's...... (if desperate!) Well, I'll probably do craisins, since he thinks of those like m&m's anyways! Doing some serious praying that the Gman decides to be compliant. Any other tips?
• He's says thank you whenever he hands me something. Apparently this is because he hears me say it whenever he does hand me something! However, if I ask him to say thank you, all I can get is the sign! 
• ahhhh.......... dinnertime, aka the battle of the belly. There has been much improvement in this area, but we still have our aghhhhhhhhhh. moments. This biggest thing we have done to save our sanity is not fight. I have been told that they will eat if they are hungry and since he eats good breakfasts & lunches, I am not sweatin' it. A few times he has only seemed to take a few bites, but he goes to bed without a fuss and doesn't seem to wake up ravenous, so I've learned that it's really ok! Since he discovered ranch, he will usually eat a good serving of veggies - yay! The rest? Hit or miss. The few times he absolutely refuses to even take one bite, we (yes, it takes 2 of us!) have held his hands, opened his mouth and shoved a bite in and made him chew it. At which point, he immediately began saying "mmmmmmm" and proceeded to eat the rest of it without a problem. Yes, mommy is not feeding you poison and you actually might like what she made if you would try it. Does it have to be that shocking to you? :)

Mastering the cheesy smile............?!

Speaking of these Alpha Books, they are one of the favorite gifts we have received. Each "book" is one letter and has 3 little pages. I am amazed at how much he remembers in each book! When he picks up the K book, he right away starts making kissing sounds, because one of the pages is kiss!

Other fun..............

What a nut this kid is! He cracks us up every day! We're also stumped all the time on how to do this whole parenting thing. :) Whew. What a challenge it can be. And I know we're barely started! But it sure is rewarding as well. Wouldn't trade it for anything.
We love you sweet boy, happy year & a half.