we will never forget

where were you on that fatefull day of september 11, 2001? i know exactly where i was. i was on an oil rig, about 120 miles off the coast of galveston,tx. i woke up at 10 a.m., was getting dressed to start my tour, when i turned on the tv and saw all of the smoke. i figured something like a gas leak, or something of that nature had started a fire. i never in a million years would have ever though that my country, the U.S.A., could ever possibly have been attacked by terrorist. that kind of thing doesnt happen in our country. well, it did. it did and thousands lost their lives, loved ones, friends, co-workers. i went to ground zero a couple years ago. all of the footage i saw on tv, i thought of the people in the twin towers, the folks on the street. however, i didnt think of the folks in the buildings next to the world trade center that were eye level to all of this. the buildings are so close together and i cant imagine what it was like to be eye level with all that was going on. this day will forever leave our hearts and minds full of the image of those planes flying into the world trade center. if there is a silver lining in all of this, our country came together. i cant remember a time when i felt and saw so much pride in our country and nation. everyone was ready to fight, everyone was quick to cover their heart with their hat when ol glory waved. i was then and am now mighty proud to live here in the U.S.A. although our government is screwed up, AMERICA is still the greatest nation in the world. so, when you lie down tonight, think of those that are doing the same, but without their husbands, wives. tomorrow when your kids come in to wake you up, think of those that will lie there knowing their kids will never come wake them up again. WE WILL NEVER FORGET!

Forever Long

I am blessed to work part time, spending the majority of my days caring for P and our home. It's weeks like this that remind me of my blessings! I only worked 2 days this week but, due to lack of sleep, it seemed like my work week was forever long. Last night I deceptively thought P would sleep through the night. Rob was watching the Packers game and was teaching him the fundamentals of the game. P would "go fast, fast, fast" then Rob would "packer" (ie tackle) him. They did this for about an hour, long enough to wear out a lil man. He went right to sleep at bedtime and I, foolishly, thought for the night. Wrong! He woke up twice during the night and was up for the day a little before 5:30AM. I had bought him this nightlight a few nights ago that illuminates fish on his ceiling. I told him he couldn't come to our room if he could see the fish picture. As brilliant as the plan sounds, it failed. He realized he could come to our room any time he wants...and by golly he does. So, thankfully I only had to work 2 days and thankfully they were fairly easy. It makes tiresome weeks like this one ok because it makes me appreciate my blessings that much more!

Life With a Newborn

Rob and I have been trying to get pregnant for a year now. Some days I'm frustrated it's not happening and other days I'm thankful we don't have a second child at the moment. Today is one of those days I'm thankful that we only have 1 child to demand our attention. For the past week and a half P has woken up 1-3 times a night, coming into our room and waking me up. Once I gave in and let him sleep with us because I was too tired to take him back to his room but every other time I get up with him, carry him to his bed and tell him he can't get up til the sun wakes up. Last night was the worst and I have a feeling I'll be reeling all day as I did when P was a newborn. P woke me up 3 times within 45 minutes last night. Once he finally stayed in his own bed I couldn't sleep because of the moths in our room. I fell asleep just in time to be woken up by Rob's alarm. Then I got a few more minutes of shut eye before P woke me up at 5:15, ready to start the day. I've put a nightlight in his room to no avail and I'm encouraged to hear that this is a common phase for toddlers. I'm just hoping this phase passes soon because this lack-of-sleep-like-having-a-newborn phase is taking its toll on me! ZZZZZZZZ..............

Class Clown

I think it's safe to say that Rob and I will be at the Principal's office a lot when P is in school. I've noticed it for awhile but today it hit me like a ton of bricks that P LOVES to be the class clown. If he can make someone laugh, smile or clap at him he's happy. At gymnastics today he was behaving until he tried a "big kid" move on the trampoline. The parents clapped so he tried it again. By the third time the parents stopped clapping so P stepped it up by trying to be silly. A couple of them chuckled at his antics and that set him off for the rest of class. He did everything in his power to get anyone and everyone to laugh. On the way home I turned up a new CD I had just got. P had his snack cup full of teddy grahams when I noticed him laughing uncontrollably. I turned the song down and asked what was funny. He said, "Bears dancing!" He proceeded to shake his snack cup, teddy grahams flying everywhere. When I started laughing that got him going even more. Then he started putting toys in his cup, making them "dance". After his nap he started in again, wired higher than a kite. While looking for some paperwork this evening I came across the last letter my Papa had written me right after my 26th birthday. I came out of the room, crying, and P did all he could to make me smile. It was a sweet gesture but it made me cry even more because I wish my Nana and Papa were still alive so they could enjoy P as much as we do! We are so blessed to have such a sweet, fun loving boy...even if it means we'll be on a first name basis with his principal!

Just Keeps Getting Better

Every weekend I think, "This weekend can't be better than the last one." but it is. This weekend was the perfect combination of quality time with friends, fun family time, productivity and relaxation! Our weekend started with our annual Ribfest that we have with good friends. We make a quick rib run to avoid the crowds downtown, then we take the ribs to our friends' house, where we do our own rib tasting. As always, it proved to be fun. The only downfall is that P got bit several times by fire ants when he was playing on a mound of dirt. Luckily, Rob was quick thinking and decided we needed to get Calamine lotion ASAP. Between that and the Aveeno bath we gave P, you couldn't even tell he'd been bit by the next morning.
Saturday Rob had to work and P hadn't had a good night so P and I laid low. I hit a sale to get P some Winter clothes and I went for a long walk with a neighbor friend in the afternoon. Other than that, I tried to catch up on sleep and relaxed.
Yesterday was rather busy because we went to church in the morning then stopped by a friend's to pick up a piece of furniture. Our afternoon was relaxing, which was nice, since last night was a late one for P. We took him to his first minor league baseball game. He loved it and was well behaved!
The tickets I had were supposed to be for the lawn seats but the lady at the ticket window let us upgrade to the third base line for free. A guy right behind Rob caught a foul ball and we had hoped he would give it to P but he wanted it for himself. After singing one of P's favorite songs, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", during the 7th inning stretch we decided to call it a night, much to P's dismay. He was having so much fun and wanted to stay but he had started showing signs of being tired. As soon as we got home and put him to bed he was out.
This morning we woke up to a little rain, some wind and a beautiful sunrise.
Since Rob had the day off we went to VC for breakfast and some park time. Then Rob hung out with P at the house while I went down the hill to run a few errands and meet a friend for sushi. It was nice to catch up with her and be able to get things done without having to bribe a toddler. This afternoon we worked outside to get some things done. Then we topped off the weekend with burgers on the grill.
It was such a perfect weekend! September is going to be a fun, yet busy, month so I have no doubt we have more outstanding weekends in store.

Fun Pics

Although I've been taking a lot of pictures, I've been itchin' to get behind my dad's camera and have some fun with it. This afternoon I wanted to go on a "fieldtrip" but wasn't motivated to actually go anywhere. As luck would have it our neighbors came out to play with P so I used the opportunity to snap some pics. Enjoy!

Special Dates

My lil man and I do a lot of fun things together, especially on days I don't work. He's at an age where he soaks up everything and I love to expose him to different things in life. Even though we do a lot, our favorite thing is our frozen yogurt dates once a week. We usually go the first day he's at school for that week because it's his longest day and I feel he needs that special 1:1 time after school. I pick him up with anticipation, knowing he's going to ask to get a big treat. Then we make our way to one of 2 shops we frequent. But, no matter where we end up, his order is always the same.....vanilla frozen yogurt topped with M&Ms. I use this time to teach him colors. He asks for the Thomas M&Ms and I tell him they're blue. He asks for Percy and tell him that's green. After filling our punch card at Yogurt Beach he still hasn't mastered his colors. But that's ok because it means more frozen yogurt dates in our future. Oh, how I love those special after school dates with my lil man!