like curious george, not george from seinfeld

A couple of weeks ago, our church organized a "mommy & me" trip to Imagine It, the children's museum in Atlanta. In anticipation of our arrival, I tried to explain to Jack where we where headed. He asked if it was a museum like George goes to. And just to make sure I knew he was talking about the cartoon monkey he added, "Like Curious George, not George from Seinfeld."

I assured him that this was the kind of museum where we could touch everything! Jack loved shopping in the market, running the register, loading the grocery truck and milking the cow. Sam was a busy body as well. It was a workout to keep up with the two of them.

this boy likes to shop for groceries!

squeeze!

Sam loved the ability to explore

painting fun!

Not My Best Ever

I dragged the boys to CVS this morning to get a few things, and by a few, I mean:

• 4 cases (12-packs) of coca-cola


• 3 jumbo pkgs of Pampers


• 2 pkgs of foundation


• 1 men's power razor


• 1 pkg (9 rolls) of charmin


• 3 bottles of Dawn


• 4 Glade scented candles

I spent $37.17 out of pocket for all this, and still have $5 extra care bucks and a $5 rebate coming (minus the cost of the stamp, I guess).

Anyway, certainly not my best trip ever, but anytime you can snag good diapers for less than $5 a package, it's a good trip.

How to Celebrate Your Birthday

In case you were wondering what exactly the best way to celebrate a birthday is, here are some tips:

First, recruit some really awesome people to help you celebrate (ie, adorable kids and beautiful wife)



Second, make sure bubbles are involved. I mean seriously...isn't everything more fun with bubbles? Thanks for the fun bubble blaster, Aunt Cindy & Uncle Roger!

Third, try to squeeze in some retail therapy. Yes, it was my hubby's birthday. And yes, he likes to shop. And yes, at places besides REI and Bass Pro Shops (although those are two of his favs). And yes, I realize you hate me right now.

Finally, make sure food is involved...preferably cake or ice cream or both. Side note, awesome people celebrating alongside you will help you with the consumption of said food.

Thanks for having a birthday, Josh. I think it's safe to say...we all enjoyed your special day!

Two and Two

So, our house is home to a two year old and a two week old...both boys. So far so good. I'm still in one piece. I've learned that a lot of things that I normally wouldn't have thought twice about require a bit more planning these days. Obvious things like a trip to the grocery store and less obvious things like taking a shower. I've figured out if I can find a good program like Curious George or Elmo's World and a pretty involved snack...Jack is too distracted to mess with Sam while I'm grabbing a quick shower. We ventured out to CVS today...there were a few deals I just couldn't pass up. Jack behaved pretty well and I carried Sam in the baby bjorn, which worked wonderfully. I can see it coming in very handy!

With temperatures in the 60s today we ventured outside before lunch and again this afternoon when we returned from CVS. The sunshine was so good for my soul. Being holed up with a newborn is not so bad, but when you throw an active two year old in the mix things can get a little hairy. Anyway, there was much ball playing and various toy riding today. Here's hoping spring is just around the corner!

The 3 R's...

Saturday was full of the 3 R's: Relaxation, Relatives & Retail Therapy. Last year for Valentine's Day, my sweet hubby gave me a massage from Spa Sydell. I have tried to use it on a couple of occasions, but something always came up. On Saturday, I was finally able to cash in on the relaxation, and it was excellent. While all of it was incredible, I could have let the therapist massage my feet and hands all day...that was the best! So, thank you again, Josh!

During my 60-minute massage I kept going back in forth in my head thinking about how God has blessed me. I'm married to an incredible man, who is my best friend and makes me laugh every day; I've been blessed with a wonderful and healthy child; I have fantastic family members and dependable, supportive friends; and much, much more.

The other thought that I bounced around is much less profound and just sort of weird. I found myself wondering about the therapist: "how long had he been doing this?"; "was there a part of him that found it weird to touch stangers all day, every day?"; "does he have regular clients? if so, does he talk to any of them during their treatments or is it the silent treatment for everyone?" Anyway, as weird as it seemed to have thought these things, I did leave feeling very relaxed and thankful for life's many blessings!

Since we were going to be in Atlanta, we talked to Josh's parent about meeting up with us for lunch. Fortunately, his mom already had to be in Atlanta for some school obligations (she's hard at work on a doctorate degree). So, it worked out perfectly for us to hang out with them as well. So, Josh, Jack & Grandaddy hung out while I was at the spa and Grandmommy was in class. The guys picked me up and we did some window shopping until school was over. Once class was out, we all had lunch at Maggiano's. It was oh so yummy!

Afterwards, we headed into the mall and did some more window shopping. Josh had found some shirts at T.J. Maxx for Jack, but I wasn't having any luck with any deals. After spending some time in a couple of furniture stores (a fair amount of that was spent in the massage chairs), we were losing our steam. Then, I remembered I needed some frames and had some coupons for Babies R Us. Jack was also losing his steam. So, his grandmommy graciously took him and his lovee to the glider section at Babies R Us. I picked up my diaper deal, and Josh and I headed to Michael's next door. I found a couple of frames I liked and we returned to find Jack asleep. We let him nap for quite a while, but eventually had to get going. The nap energized him for most of the ride home. So, he watched his new Valentine's gift from his Grandmommy & Grandaddy: Fraggle Rock. He liked the puppets...especially the dog. "Woof, woof" he says.

Where's Rhianna when I need her?

She so kindly offers space under her umbrella. So, where is she when I need her? Yesterday, Andrea and I went to Buford to pick up a baby shower gift and run some errands. Somewhere between Babies R Us and Michael's the rain began to fall and the winds were right with it. I hesitated before getting out my trusty gold Northeast Georgian gift umbrella, but decided it could hold up long enough for me to get to the back of the vehicle to get my monster umbrella. No sooner had I stuck it out the window and opened it, had old goldy turned inside out and was preparing to carry me away like Mary Poppins! A quick dash to the back and I retrieved my monster HMC umbrella (wouldn't you know...also a gift). I now confidently strolled over to the back seat to get Jack out of the car. Well, if you couldn't tell from this picture, my monster umbrella was also no match for these fierce winds! Gripping our little ones tight, Andrea and I bolted into Michaels laughing all the way!

Since my umbrella found a new home yesterday, I had to take a picture (in case, no one believed its destruction). Anyway, by the time we left the store 15 minutes later the mini wind/rain storm had died down and we could safely walk to the car. What a funny sight I must have been though on the way in, dragging my broken umbrella behind me!

This photo also made my Project 365 album. I've read about this on a couple of different blogs and sites. Basically, you take a picture every day for a full year. I think you are supposed to then scrap the pictures in a pretty book, but let's be real honest...I have yet to scrap Jack's birth, am I really going to find time to do this either? So, in a compromise I started a Project 365 album on my Picasa page. I'll post the photos there.

So, taking a picture every day? How hard could this be? I've taken like a million pictures since Jack was born. Seriously, my friends tease that he's the most photographed child ever. But, I've already missed Jan. 3, 4 & 5th! In my defense, I didn't really decide to do it until like Monday, but still! Anyway, I'll keep a link to the album on my sidebar. Who knows? Maybe I'll find someone or something besides Jack to photograph!

I resolve to NOT...

With all the focus on New Year's Resolutions, I came across the idea of doing NON-resolutions. Sounded perfect to me; I'm pretty good at not doing things (like cleaning the bathroom, etc.)

I resolve NOT to...(*corrected for my husband's sake! Sorry to all you English fanatics who were grimacing at the fact that I split my infinitives!)

1. Take for granted Jack's cuddly size; he'll be so big this time next year!

2. Worry about what my kid is doing versus others his age. So, what if he crawls to kindergarten? At least my kid's not running away from me (okay, so he's furiously crawling away from me...there is a difference, right?)

3. Spend so much time on the computer. Ouch, this one is going to be a challenge. Maybe I should clarify: I mean paying bills doesn't count, right? And updating the blog is part of our obligation to family and friends. Email also keeps me from having to make so many phone calls, and Facebook is...

4. Make too many Non-Resolutions, I mean that last one is getting pretty close to a real resolution!

Jack and I spent last Thursday night and Friday in Athens. I had the opportunity to try out my dad's new Wii and experience the Wii Fit. I'm pretty good at the hula hoop and long jump skiing; everything else I was pretty terrible at. Jack enjoyed watching and loved Dad's workout gear. He kept wanting me to put it on him. After taking it off, he wanted it on again! Silly boy! While we were in town we managed to squeeze in a meal at Chick-fil-A and a trip to the Elephant Trunk (all the Christmas clothes were 1/2 off). I snagged Jack the cutest pants and a Christmas outfit for this year (it's 2009, people!)

Dancing the Day Away

Thursday night Jack got his first real haircut. Josh had previously trimmed the sides while I was out of the house, but this was an all around hair cut. I held him still while Josh did the trimming. It looks so cute and even more like a little boy and not a baby! I can't believe he'll be one in a couple of weeks!

Since I can't remember what I mention in my posts and I'm too lazy to review previous posts, I probably end up repeating myself. Anyway, Jack is beginning to show more signs of some word development. Josh and I both swear he said or tried to say "milk" a couple of weeks ago. He seems to be saying "Daa" or "Maa" when being held by one of us, but I don't know if I'm ready to chalk any up as first words. Am I just an idiot or is this first word thing really supposed to be clear cut? Despite my uncertainity for his word development, he has definitely figured out that cars, trucks, tractors, etc. make a motor sound. Whenever he is pushing a toy with wheels he makes a motor sound with his mouth. It is so cute and funny! As you can see from this photo, he also loves his blocks. He takes them out of the box and puts them back in over and over again.

Josh, Jack and I went shopping on Sunday to try and get some work done on our Christmas list. We stepped into Brookstone, where an Ipod tower was blaring music and Jack just started grooving in his stroller. I captured some of it with my camera. If you have 53 seconds with nothing else to do, check it out.

Shop till you Drop

On Saturday, Stacie came to spend the day with us. She's such a trooper; she agreed to accompany us on an all day excursion to Buford. I needed a few things from Target, and we had several other places we wanted to stop by. The fun began in Target when we spotted this really cute club chair for a kid. I couldn't resist putting Jack in it. It was so funny. Oh, and no we didn't buy it.

We saw some signs that Toys 'R Us was closing (they are opening a newer one, right next to a brand new Babies 'R Us...yeah!) and trying to get rid of as much as possible. So, we went in. They had a lot of markdowns, but they weren't giving anything away yet. We picked up a birthday gift for someone who shall remain nameless (in case they read this!) Of course, we couldn't leave without letting Stacie show off her Guitar Hero skills. She just got Guitar Hero at home and now we can't wait to stop by for a visit next Sunday!

The fun continued until dinner at Provino's...one of our favorite places in Buford. I think one reason we like it so much, is Josh and I went to the Provino's in Athens for our first date about 10 years ago! Shortly after that, it closed...not exactly an excellent omen, huh? Anyway, we're glad to see another location going strong...at least we think? After returning home, Stacie even agreed to stay for a movie. I hope we didn't wear her out too much. The greatest thing happened while we were loafing around the video store. Our bestest friend, Terri send a picture message to show and tell us that she had gotten engaged! We were so excited, we had to call her right then! I can't wait to see her and her rock on Sunday! Congrats, Terri & John!