Our Random Excursions

I have been trying to do stuff with Christopher this week that does not involve going to the pool or playing out back in the water. I figure he will get enough of that when we head to Va Beach and Nags Head for the next few weeks! So on Monday, I took Christopher to Barnes and Noble. It was a rainy, overcast day so I figured a little time in the bookstore would be fun. I knew there was a train table and lots of stuffed animals and books everywhere- he would love it. I hadn't planned on the major downpour though as we were getting there. I had just taken the umbrella out this past weekend when I played chauffeur, but what little kid doesn't love to dance in the rain! He laughed the whole time until we made it to the door!

Once inside, he beelined it to all the stuffed animals (and I spent my time picking up every one of them that he discarded.) Obviously I didn't even attempt to break out ths stroller in the rain, so he literally was let loose in there.

We finally made it over to the train table.

Does Christopher need one of these? Are they worth it?

Tuesday I took Christopher to the mall to ride the train. Mom is always telling me to take him, so I finally did. He did seem to like it. He just stood on the seat and stared out. I think I heard "Look how big his eyes are!" about 5 times. :)

Here we are when we first got on the train! He was sitting...

And then he realized he could climb up onto the seat and look out the window! You can see his little train ticket in his hand. He kept it in his hand the whole time. I thought for sure it would fall out along the ride.

Click here to see Christopher riding the train!

He went back to daycare today after almost a full week off! I think he was super happy to be back, but he is home again tomorrow so now I need to think of something for tomorrow. I would love to take him to Centennial Olympic Park to play in the fountains, but if you know me... you know there is no way I am going there alone. I was thinking about taking him to PetSmart and letting him look at all the animals. I think he would like that. We are going to the zoo when we go home which I know he will love. I am sure his hand will be so tired of saying hi to all of the animals.

I wanted to be sure I got a picture of him helping with the dishes so that I can show him later on when he screams about having to do it for a chore.

And in "not Christopher" news..... Here are my latest Pinterest inspired creations!

Greek yogurt trail mix bars-

vanilla yogurt, strawberries, banana nut granola, mini chocolate chips

Another yarn wreath! I think I have one for every holiday now!

Matt invited Christopher's biggest fan over to spend Saturday with him. I think Sarah was most excited when I asked if I could take a picture for the blog! 

 

Here are a few videos I have from the week. I have already posted one to Instagram so it may not be new to everyone!

Water Slide Fun

Morning Dance Off

And we are off to VA on Saturday! Please pray for safe travels and a baby (toddler) who doesn't mind being trapped in his car seat for 6 hours as we head to Blacksburg, VA.

Father's Day Weekend

This past weekend we celebrated Matt. I thought it would be a perfect time for him to jump back on here and give yall his take on what being a daddy means to him, but alas, it is Wednesday and I am impatient. Christopher got his daddy a Braves shirt and a Braves shirt for himself! He also gave him a board book for naptime reading called That's My Daddy and a framed picture of this....

It is Matt's favorite picture from our trip last year. We plan on recreating it every year!

Here are some of Matt's favorite videos from Monday night...

Palming... and dunking. https://www.dropbox.com/s/z0b7eyabebpcek3/20130617_192721.mp4

Scaling the couch. https://www.dropbox.com/s/m9k4vxvgf1kqo37/20130617_193734.mp4

And here's the rest of the last few days...

Christopher had his first fast food lunch. I was craving Chick-fil-a on Friday so we went for lunch. By the looks of this picture... he doesn't look like he likes it, but he really did! He gobbled down that chicken (especially when I showed him how to stab the chicken with the plastic fork).  He would stab, laugh, eat, repeat. He ate his applesauce and loves his Paddington Bear book!

When we came home from lunch, we played outside for a bit and had some watermelon on the deck!

We went to Henry's for dinner! This is Christopher's first coloring sheet. No- I didn't save it.

This picture is a great recap of the weekend. Yes that is Stroonz Christopher is laying/hugging on. We went to the pool both days- thank goodness for a beautiful weekend because it has been overcast and nasty all this week!

Off to the pool with Uncle Anthony!

Anthony and Rocco came to play on Saturday.

Here is what I made Matt for his Father's Day dessert. We enjoyed it Monday night though because our neighbors, Matt and Patricia, invited us over for their Father's Day cookout and they had homemade gelato. YUMMMMMM. It's so nice having great neighbors since we don't have either of our fathers here to celebrate with! Matt didn't want the chocolate so I made a graham crust, strawberries and sugar free cheesecake pudding. It was quite tasty and sooooo simple!

Just do it.

And lastly....

The baby birds are learning how to fly! There were 3 out of the nest today on the deck and flying around our yard. Christopher was in awe.



Fun in the Sun... and Torture the Kitty.

Christopher and I have been sunning it all week! He loves to be outside at the pool, playing in the backyard, and enjoying his new water tables. Yes I said water tables. I was annoyed at the first one we bought because the top play stuff would get knocked over very easily. You can see in this first picture that with one swipe Christopher took it all out! So.... mommy had to go and get him the one that he plays with at daycare!

Here they both are.

I mean, look how much fun Christopher has at daycare with it! (I stole these pictures of Ms. Jeanne's Facebook page.)

You would go get one too after seeing this smile! 

Yesterday I filled both with water on the deck with buckets of tap water while Christopher was eating, ran to the bank, came back and changed him.... and brought him out to super warm water in the tables. Big mistake... and the deck was hot. So change in plans. Thankfully my neighbor Jennifer came over to hang out with us so she played with C while I transferred all the tables down to the yard, filled them up with hose water, and hooked up the sprinkler! Christopher pushed around his lawn mower for a bit and then played at the tables and sunbathed while eating some watermelon! I just love his little tan hands. They are nowhere near as dark as mine.... but WAY darker than Matt's!

On the deck before the move downstairs.

Instagram pic!

Petting Stroonz before heading outside! This is going to be his Fourth of July outfit since we will be inviting ourselves to Mrs. Neely's pool for the day! :) :)

We also went to the pool on Tuesday! My friend Rachel and her two girls met us there. Christopher wore his new bathing suit outfit and walked around and around and around the pool. Thankfully, Rachel's oldest daughter didn't mind walking all around with him. I thought it would be a blessing that he was walking by pool time, but sometimes I just want him to stand at the edge of the pool and play with his water bucket. Mr. Independent hates holding my hand as we walk around the pool and hates me even trying to help him do anything while we are there.

Who? Me?



Here are some randoms....

Mama's always on the outside looking in!

Do you see my belly?!?!?! Why does he do this? He really likes to show off his belly.

Christopher spent this morning torturing Stroonz. While I was cleaning up C's breakfast I heard him talking... walked into the dining room and they were both under the table. It could have been bad. Poor Stroonz.

Pet the KITTY!

Watch this video first, which should make you feel bad for Stroonz... but then Christopher tries to make it up to him by feeding him his snack.

Here's a video of C squatting dancing.... and then throwing a block at Stroonz.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5iglo7t258g7cim/Video%20Jun%2014%2C%208%2031%2017%20AM.mov

And here's a video of Christopher trying to lift Stroonz...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cqweksuyxac0e4t/Video%20Jun%2014%2C%209%2034%2012%20AM.mov

Last night Christopher really loved Matt. I guess since it's Father's Day coming up, I won't be too jealous. Look how sweet this picture is...

And please watch this video... He couldn't stop hugging Matt.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/l5uc2b9ncbi9t5h/Video%20Jun%2013%2C%208%2030%2057%20PM.mov

And just as an update... the baby birds are huge now. One fell out of the nest. Do you see Stroonz staring at it through the window? Luckily the mama bird still feeds it, so we didn't have to take care of it. It flew down to the ground and lives under the bush right near the nest. 

Dad retires today!!! He mentioned spending one week a month down here with us. I wonder if I should start transforming the downstairs bedroom into a Notre Dame room for him to remind him of home... :)

2 weeks til VA!!! :) :) And I can't stop thinking about Duck Donuts while we are in Nags Head.... C will LOVE them!! :) :)

Busy Bee

Christopher is in to EVERYTHING and talk about INDEPENDENT. I am lucky he will even let me carry him down the stairs. Now he wants to walk up the stairs. He has figured out that he doesn't have to just put his knee on the stairs, he can actually put his whole foot. I think maybe he has grown a little bit too because he can climb pretty easily onto almost everything and he also thinks he should be able to climb in everything. We keep the wagon in the house and he thinks it is a jungle gym. The truck Anthony got him- well one door opens but if he isn't on that side then he tries to climb in through the window. I bought him a water table... and he keeps swinging up his leg trying to get into it. He certainly has kept us on our toes lately!

And on to the pictures from our busy couple of days!

Busted! Christopher has just been sitting in the back of his truck a lot lately... but when I looked over yesterday he was standing in the cup holders. This child has no fear. (Well, except sitting on horses. I will explain later.)

Trying to wake up Stroonz from his nap.

Christopher was having the best time posing for his pictures during lunch! What was even better was showing him all of the pictures. He certainly thought they were funny!

Stop, Mom, stop!

When Christopher was born, Matt's dad- AKA Big Daddy- bought Christopher a cowboy hat. We were playing in his room the other day and he walked over to it and started putting it on. He has gotten used to hats a little more since he has to wear one at the pool (you know, the whole no hair thing) so his head doesn't burn.

This is when Christopher could fit IN the hat....

And now we wear the hat. It actually fits his head perfectly. Remember he has a really large head.

Howdy, partner!

Here is a video of Christopher taking the hat on and off!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hcvqvsx39x0p1bc/Video%20Jun%2007%2C%2011%2035%2022%20AM.mov



I thought he was just loving on his stuffed animals...

but then he came over and was squeezing it! Look at that face!

Matt and I headed downtown Friday night for a wedding! It was sooooo fun! I finally got the chance to let loose with some of my crazy friends!! We had Ms. Jeanne's daughter come over and babysit. I think they had a great time!! :) Then, Matt let me sleep in til 7:30 this morning which made it even better. :) (Is 7:30 really sleeping in? I guess now it is!) Somehow I got up and made it for my 9:00 workout. It's amazing how sweating can make you feel 10 times better! Plus, I figured if I want the dress I wore to keep fitting, I couldn't skip it!

Here is our family shot. Facebookers- You have seen this one! Matt says he was just looking at the TV because the phone rang and he wanted to see who was calling.

My friends! Carmon looked so pretty!

Today we went to a birthday party for one of Christopher's friends from daycare. He had an "E-I-E-I-O" party with a petting zoo. I was so surprised that I got inside the pen. I only touched the rabbits though and poked at a feather. Christopher, on the other hand, was very hands on. I have a bunch of pics below of him touching the goats.

Peering in!

So we are not fans of horses apparently..... He didn't mind petting this horse, but freaked as soon as Matt put him on. Then we went inside and they had one of those plastic horses you can sit on and it bounces- HOLY SCREAM the moment his butt touched it.

Christopher had a great time at the party! Thank you for inviting us, Heather!! :)



Granddaddy retires on Friday!!!! Hopefully, he will come spend lots of time with us next school year!! :) :)

21 days til VA!