two point five

My boy turned two and a HALF yesterday. Seriously I can’t believe this. How do the months just keep on flying by? He just keeps growing up and up and up.

To celebrate, today I took him to Edinborough Park where we climbed and explored and jumped our hearts out on their huge play structures. I got a majorly heavy-duty workout, and Ryan loved every minute of it. After that I took us out to lunch at Potbelly, where my two and a half year old requested a meatball sub. (Kind of a tragic moment for me- read here.)

Happy halfie my little man!!! You are the apple of my eye!!!

druthers

If I had mine, each and every person who visits my blog from a different country would leave me a comment to say hello and tell me where it is exactly that they’re reading from. I would LOVE that!! I love meeting people from different cultures and learning all about our global community- it’s one of the things I miss from my ESL teaching days.

FatJ is flying abroad this week. He’s spending most of the week in the UK. He tells me I shouldn’t be jealous because the trip is for work and it’s going to be super lame and he’ll be hanging out at a chicken plant in some dinky town in middle-of-nowhere England. But still…he’s flying across the pond. That in and of itself is exciting in my book.

You’ll be greatly missed this week dear!!  Bring me back something SUPER!!! (not a chicken)

pine tree orchard

Last Sunday we made our annual trip to the Pine Tree Apple Orchard. We made a wise choice this year and did NOT go on the day of the orchard 5k. (Yay us!!) The day was chilly but the sun was out, so it was a glorious morn to be stolling through apple trees and pumpkin patches. And eating apple pie and cinnamon ice cream at 10:00am.

Pictures…

hugging the giant apple (once again, this activity was a big hit)

in search of the great pumpkin

success!

Daddy had the pleasure of carrying 30 lb. Ryan and 18 lb. pumpkin all the way back to the car

Last year’s orchard/pumpkin patch adventure- read all about it here! (Oh how things change, yet they always remain the same.)

boo

I’m not sure which is scarier, this post, or the one posted right before this one.

I made his costume tonight. This was all his idea, not mine. I’m down a bedsheet, but I didn’t like that set anyway.

gut blob

I’m not really sure why I’m posting this. I just have to- I don’t know- show others? Visually explain? That I am fearing the gut this time around.

Pregnancy #1, 19 weeks

Pregnancy #2, 14 weeks

I’m pretty certain the 19w shot the first time around is smaller than the 14w shot this time around. And none of that there is baby- it’s all beer-gut flab (minus the beer drinking).

Ew.

babies

Ryan’s gotten a bit of practice over the last couple weeks in honing his big-brother skills.

[This picture was taken by Kim.] Here he is holding new cousin Vivi. He wanted nothing to do with her for the first hour. Then he came looking for her. Then Kim allowed Ryan to hold her…and whoa boy was this kid in heaven. He was very serious and focused on the task, and did NOT want to stop holding that baby.

{As an aside, Ryan continues to think that Vivi is the same baby that’s going to come out of Mommy’s tummy. He keeps asking where Vivi lives.}

Then last week, a friend of mine Katie brought over her daughter Ellie so that I could take a few pictures of her. Ryan asked right away if he could hold Ellie.

And I just have to share a couple pictures of this little Ellie, because she is SO adorable.

fall pics- Mhaha Falls Park

I have a backlog of pictures of some of our latest happenings. Here’s round one.

Two weeks ago Jen and I took our kiddies over to Minnehaha Falls park in the hopes to catch a few ‘happy fall!’ pictures of them. It was freezing out that day…we did a lot of chasing around to stay warm, and a lot of laughing.

This is Ryan wearing his finest business casual attire. He appears to be a clone of daddy heading off to a day at the office…

Ry and Sophia, chasing back and forth to a bench.

They spent some time walking around this curb surrounding a garden, and got entangled in some tall wispy weeds.

Check out that expression on Ry’s face below. Um, that is SO his dad.

How cute are these shoes?

Jen even got a couple cute shots of Ryan and I…so nice to have these!

one of these things!

Heather posted this on her blog today, and since I have no motivation to actually do anything productive right now, I’m going to do this!

Outside my window… it is cloudy, and gray, and cold.

I am thinking… it would really be nice if this boy of mine would just take a nap in preparation for this afternoon’s and evening’s activities.

I am thankful for… this purple quilt that my grandma made that’s keeping me cozy and warm right now. And that everyone in my family is healthy.

In my kitchen… there are bare, empty countertops that will remain that way all day because I don’t have to cook dinner tonight!

I am wearing… the largest pair of “normal” jeans that I own (unbuttoned), a long sleeve T, and a hoodie.

I am creating… a new life. (How cheesy is that?!!). I’m not creating anything else- I’m not creative.

I am going… to Mankato this afternoon.

I am reading… The Emotional Life of the Toddler

I am hoping… that I never get the swine flu.

I am hearing… Ryan making noises in his crib.

Around the house… are scattered piles of stuff.

One of my favorite things right now… the couch. And heat. And rest. (ooops that was three things).

A few plans for the weekend… is it possible we have nothing planned? Maybe a trip to an orchard/pumpkin patch. Oh, and some mommy alone time.

A picture to share…I like to call this one “glee!!”

blah

I don’t mean to complain. But I’m going to anyway. If one can’t complain on her very own personal blog, where can she???

I am very tired of this disgusting weather we’ve been having. It is dark and dreary and depressing. And cold. I hate being cold. My child is the very active type who adores outdoor gross motor activities, and when we spend our mornings sitting around the house or doing the most boring errand under the sun clouds as our day’s event, it makes for a very restless kid…

…on the other hand, *I* would like nothing more than to spend every morning lounging around in my pajamas and glasses while drinking some caffeine-free herbal tea and reading the newspaper. I would LOVE to do NOTHING lots of mornings. But his activity level requires it, so I search something out…

…and then fits are thrown because he DOESN’T WANT TO LEAVE THE HOUSE. what?

Remember this post?? Two point fiver possessed by a demon? That has not subsided. Some days I think the tantrums may have lessened, but overall things are entirely out of whack with the Ry. He’s whiney. He wants to snuggle anytime I don’t have all attention paid to him. He antagonizes the dog. He throws food off his plate if I tell him he can’t have more cheese. He all-out refuses to go anywhere near the potty. PT is over. I guess maybe I’ll begin again at the age of three, at that magic moment when my kid will miraculously one day announce he wants to use the potty. Whatevs. He’s not napping…at least not most days. Today I put him to bed at 1:15 and at 2:50 he fell asleep. He’s waking up at night- talking and shouting out in his sleep, and waking up unusually early. Basically, this child-o-mine is driving me relatively insane on a regular basis. And I feel guilty about that, because I know part of it’s me. I’m tired, I’m cranky, I’m impatient. And part of it’s him, that he’s going through some kind of weird developmental growth spurt phase, and I should give him the benefit of the doubt and just deal with it.

And then there’s the pregnant thing. Ugh, what a state. Just when I thought I was feeling better I got hit this week with a migraine, nausea, dizzyness, tension headache, quesiness…you name it. And there are no breaks. The teens I had babysitting in the summer are now too busy to continue with that. Ryan doesn’t go to preschool (it’s being looked into though, you bet it is!). We have a total of ONE activity per week that regularly occurs for us. The days get long. The days get monotonous. The days get BORING. I look forward to dada’s arrival in the evening, but then Glorious Demon Child goes into his  I HATE DADA song and dance and the reprieve is short and not that enjoyable.

Okay, done. Aaaaaaaah, feels better. Kinda like a virtual Calgon has taken me away.

*                               *                              *

Let’s end with some fun thoughts, shall we?

I get to go out to dinner tonight!

The Chinese gender prediction calendar says I’m having a girl! (I don’t buy it. These things are bogus- hi Jen I!)

This boy is cute.

one year ago…

…I met Oprah!!!!!

I get a lot of hits on my blog from people googling “what should I wear to Oprah?” and “how to get Oprah tickets”, and I just realized that TODAY was the day, one year ago, when I had an absolutely fabulous Oprah experience.

Gosh, I’m jealous and envious of my one-year-ago self.