baby steps

Yes, i mean that literally, our BABY took his first STEPS yesterday!!!!

This mommy could not be more proud! All the while a couple thoughts are running through my head:

Bout dang time!

Slow Poke!

Thank god, my back was starting to really take a beating carrying around a 27lb baby.

We're in trouble now.......

Remember in this post where i told you one of my main reasons for wanting Matthew to stay home with me while I work was so that I dont miss out on any of his "firsts"? Well I guess god works in mysterious ways, because I just so happen to have him home with me yesterday and figured we would burn off some energy by playing in the grass out front. I put on a little pair of his shoes, grabbed some juice, and out we went.

We had been practicing walking for a few minutes, with him holding my hands finger. He was doing pretty good. And he was literally leading me back and forth across our large front yard. I decided like most mommy bloggers that it was only necessary for we to snap a pic of our lil man standing in the front yard. Now, lets get this straight, hes 14months and 2 days old, barely stands by himself, and usually refuses to let go of one of our hands while standing. He can crawl at lightening speed, walk around the couch, use the table and his toys to get around, and even climb onto the couch. But he still doesnt want to stand without holding on to something, and always drops before he can even take one step.

So back to the story

I want to snap a pic. I get him balanced enough to stand. I let go. Scoot back a touch. Squat down to take a pic, and what does he do? He takes about 4 steps! not just one, but FOUR! And then plop. I must have scared him, as well as looked like an absolute fool to any bystanders watching, when i screamed OH MY GOSH!!! BUDDDY!!! (i was able to control myself though, and held back any tears) I clapped, he smiled, and then i thought "SH*T!! my phone was on camera and not video!!!"

So of course, we had to try again. I was actually able to catch his "second" steps on video. Its a really short clip, but I just have to share

Honestly, i was in shock for at least 20mins after this. I tried to catch a couple more video clips, but wasnt as successful in my attempts. Plus, it was like 95* outside and lil man was drenched in sweat. So after downing some juice we headed back inside where we sent the video to Daddy (and a whole bunch of other family members).

Needless to say, the minute daddy got home from work we continued to practice our walking skills out front. But of course, as I like to correct everyone when they say they are so happy hes walking, "he walked, hes not walking.... he doesnt seem to want to do it again lol."

 

So for now, we are just going to continue practicing, and prepare ourselves for the trouble that we are going to enter in the very foreseeable future........

also linking up with linking up with Kelly, Lindsay, Megan, and Carly for Trendy Tot Tuesday (technically it was Tuesday when I wrote this lol) because I just think the first lil outfit he was wearing (that had to be changed due to sweat, grass, and juice) was just so adorable. My sister-in-law bought it for him this past weekend at BabiesRUs when they had a huge sale. The pants are actually a little big since they are a 3T but they are SOOOOO soft!!! And plusalso, his shoes, too cute! The ones in the first pics & video are from carters, and the ones in the last couple of pics are Toms that I got on a huge sale when they were on Zulily.

Five on Friday

Yep, switching it up this week and totally jumping on the 5 on friday bandwagon! Linking up with Darci, April, Christina and Natasha

O*N*E
After mentioning last week that i was debating on dishing out the hefty price for my BOB Revolution SE Single Stroller,  I sat down with my sweet husband to discuss. You see we made a promise a few months back when we new we needed to slow down on spending money, that from now on if either of us wanted to make a big purchase we would discuss it with one another before actually buying it. Yes, i know this is something we should have been doing all along, but it just never happened, and we would always be upset the other didnt ask to spend the money. Needless to say, my sweet, kind, understanding, loving husband (<---thats me sucking up hehe) agreed that not only does he know that i wouldnt buy something without it being a good deal, but that I also work hard, and if I really want the stroller, then i deserve it. You heard that right, I am a proud new owner of a lovely navy blue Bob stroller!!!! only sucky part, it doesnt ship for another 2 weeks!!! uuggghhh!!!

T*W*O
Today is Friday, and weather permitting, that means Starlight Musicals tonight. Its kinda a family tradition during the summers. We, meaning my immediate family, my sis family, my parents, and lots of friends, pack up the cooler filled with nice cold brewskies, throw the Radio Flyer Wagon in the back of the truck, and head down to a local city park where they put on free live music concerts every friday from 7-10pm. Its a cheap easy way to just chill and hang out with everyone. Granted, its the summer, in south florida, there are about a bajillion mosquitoes and there is a good chance you are either going to sweat like a pig or get rained out. But, that being said, we have a great time and it really does help wind down the busy work week. I love that Matthew is starting to enjoy it too. His cousins pull him and his friends (our friends kids Easton and/or Sam) around the park in his wagon. I remember going to the musicals when i was a little girl and I hope that Matthew will continue enjoying it as much, if not more, than I did.

T*H*R*E*E
I know Ive mentioned some friends here on the blog, but when i read this post last night, it was as if I was writing it myself (although i probably wouldnt have been able to write it as good). I have alot of friends acquaintances. But honestly there are only a handful of people i can count on. Some friends, mostly family, and honestly those friends are the ones I consider family. Im recently, well actually currently, going through a time in my life where a friend, a truely close friend of mine, just isnt who i thought she was. She used to fall into the category of family, but somewhere she lost that title. It kind of hit me out of nowhere, as I had thought everything was ok. But like it says in her post, im probably not the best a friend could be lately. Just like Becky, it kind of all started when I got engaged, got married, bought a house, got pregnant, had a child. To me that was just life, and I thought this friend understood that, as she was/is going through the same life stages. But obviously I just wasnt there enough for her, and disagreed with too many of her decisions (mainly fiance). Ive reached out multiple times and have tried to make things better. But maybe this is just one of those times that you just have to "choose to walk away from a friendship that doesnt work" anymore.

via

F*O*U*R
Im seriously considering giving this whole couch to 5k thing a shot. Im defintely not a runner. I prefer to walk/powerwalk or rollerblade. And honestly any type or race or marathon completely freaks me out. But i was thinking that if I did decide to go for it, it could be something that truely challenges me and takes me out of my comfort zone. Something that I can commit to doing for myself. It will help in my weight loss efforts, help in getting me out of the house, and help me feel just a little bit more accomplished. However, it scares me to death. Me run? a 5k? whos chasing me? thats more normally my attitude, but now that i got am getting my jogging stroller, this is kinda like a sign right? right. just keep telling myself that.....

via

F*I*V*E
I finally started putting some things on our walls. Mostly pictures. Weird considering we've lived in our house for close to 3 years. I dunno, it was just always kind of like we were waiting for things (renovations) to be finished before putting anything on the walls. Ive seriously had 3 big canvas photos sitting on our bedroom floor since matthew was about 4 months old. Theyre supposed to be hung up in the living room, but Im just too indecisive on where to actually hang them. And quite honestly, the photos are now kinda out dated since there are the first professional photos we had done as a family of three. We've now had like 3 more photoshoots, and im thinking maybe of getting new ones. Plusalso, our house is kinda small, and im nervous that by putting things on the wall it will kind of make it look cluttered. May have to scour pinterst this weekend to come up with some ideas.

Well, thats about it, and I hear matthew waking up over the monitor now. So hope you all have a great weekend. And if your new here from the linkup, thanks for stopping by! Would love to get to know you all so leave a comment!

Working from home, with toddler in tow part 3

You can catch up on my decision to try and keep my 1yr old home with me while I work and read how our first day went.

Im going to try to wrap the next two days up into a quick summary, as they were honestly quite the same as the first day, with only a couple differences.

Lets start by saying that the number one thing I noticed was that the days where Matthew woke up between 7-7:45am (Wednesday and Thursday), the rest of the day panned out alot better. The one day (Friday) where he slept in till about 8:45 kinda threw me for a loop.

You see, normally, during the school year, I need to have him up, bottle fed, and in the car by 8:20am to head to my sisters. This way it gives me enough time to get across town and drop him off, pick up my nephew and drop him off at middle school, and be back to my house and begin my work day by 9-9:15am. My sister then feeds him breakfast (so I dont have to wake up even earlier). However, during the summer, when my niece and nephew dont have school, my sister instead drops them off at a summer camp around 8:45am and its on my side of town. Thus, she comes and picks him up for me, and thats normally around 9-9:15am. Meaning both of us can sleep in till 8:45am if we wanted, but normally we will wake around 8:20am, and i still have enough time to feed him breakfast before she gets to my house.

Now if were being 100% honest, my sister has mentioned to me multiple times that if I would just get up earlier in the morning, that he would nap alot better during the day. To which I have replied multiple times, that Im not getting up earlier if I dont have to and she will just have to figure it out herself. (i know im a mean "boss" and sister :P) Well, i guess this is where it comes to bite me in the ass. And against better judgement I even admitted it to her that she MAY (and i mean that with only a slight possibility) be right on this one.

We did our normal thing in the morning, whether it was earlier or later. Bottle, cartoons, getting ready, breakfast, etc. Then i logged into work. Matthew entertained himself for a lil bit while in his walker. I brought a couple of toys, including a book, into my office to pass to him if he were to get a lil antsy. Once he was bored with the book, he tried playing with the bubble wrap again. Unfortunately (or i guess fortunately in my case) his lil fingers cant pinch the bubbles hard enough to make them actually pop, so every now and then I would pop a few for him and man would his face light up!

On the good day (ie earlier wake up) he went down for his nap around 10:30am and I was able to get alot of stuff done before he woke up. On the off day (later wakeup) he didnt go down for a nap till 11:30am and then ended up sleeping till 1pm, right thru what would have been my lunch break. Technically it wasnt a big deal, as I didnt have any client calls, and I just took my lunch later. But it threw my schedule off because I knew he then wouldnt go down for another nap around 2:30 like usual. He would instead go down around 4:30, only leaving me about a half hour left of my work day. And as a consequence mess with bedtime. But, as I knew before going into this, there are going to be great days, off days, and bad days. Thank god I havent had to experience a bad day yet.

Both days, lunch went smoothly. I tell ya, this kid will eat anything and everything, which makes mealtimes so easy for us. And as a plus, when hes home with me, i feel like i eat better/healthier opposed to snacking all day on junk. I figure since i have to make him lunch (pb&j, i know extravagant right? lol) i might as well make myself a healthy lunch too. I do admit tho, its a little more difficult trying to figure out multiple healthy options for lil man. Would love to hear any ideas on this, as im kinda stuck in the pbj, grilled cheese, ham & cheese sandwich routine.

After lunch, we took a ride over to the post office since i had to send off my Ergobaby carrier for exchange (absolutely cant wait to get the correct one!!!). By pure coincidence as we were walking up to the post office there was a train passing by. Matthew has started to love trains, i think mostly because of "Choo Choo Soul" where we get up and dance when its on TV. So, even though it was like 90* + degrees outside, i couldnt help but stand in the hot sun and watch as my son pointed and smiled at the train going by.

When we got home I set up a the living room as a play area for him and grabbed my laptop to sit on the couch and work while he played with his toys and occasionally watched the TV. I want to point out right here, that Im a little nervous that if I do keep him home with me during work hours, that i will rely on the TV almost as a babysitter. And I really dont want to. What I want to do is have more interaction with him and teach him things during that time. I know that the TV does occupy him if im in a crunch, but its just something that worries me.

The day we didnt visit the post office he ended up playing in the Tupperware drawer during this time. It absolutely amazes that he has no shortage of toys whatsoever, yet can be completely entranced with Tupperware for a good hour.

Then as it neared naptime again, i gave him another sippy cup of milk, and off to catch some zzzz's he went. I headed back to my office, set up the monitor, and went back to work. Of course on the day that he didnt go down till 4:30 for his second nap, i ended up working all the way till about 5:45pm when he woke up, catching up on stuff i didnt get done earlier. Usually i dont like him sleeping past 5-5:15pm because it messes with bedtime, but i needed to get some projects finalized.

So that was my not-so-quick summary of our 2 final days of trial period. Some things i need to look into more about this whole work-from-home-with-toddler-in-tow include sleep schedules (not only his, but also my own), engaging activities we can do together, and healthy mealtime options. I think that my #1 problem/concern, is that if he does sleep in, i need not sleep in with him. I need to still get up at the 7-7:30am time, if not sooner, to get work done while hes still sleeping to make up for the time i wont get later in the day. As for the activities and meals, i will be scouring Pinterest to try and find some ideas, or any suggestions are welcome!