Summer stay at home mom

I'm halfway through my second week being a stay at home Mom. I have really loved being home with him. I won't say every moment has been perfect but I really have enjoyed being with our little one so much. 90% of the time he is so much fun and keeps me laughing constantly. The other 10% we just won't talk about. I feel more exhausted in some ways but less stressed in others. I realize I'm one of the few that gets both worlds of working full time and also being a stay at home Mom. Let me just say... Every way is hard! I really don't think one is easier than the other. There are perks to both but it is all hard work! I've missed social interactions with adults but not missed some work stress. I've missed getting out of the house as much but embraced (maybe too much) my much more "casual" (borderline cat woman) wardrobe. I've loved being home but realize Austin is getting too attached and maybe me as well. He is starting to not want to see others and wants to sit with me all the time so I've scheduled some babysitters and play dates (can we talk about how I loathe that word? It's just awful. If there's a purgatory I've gained a year for using it) so he can be around folks more. 

Here's some pics to recap the last couple of weeks. 

Sadly my grandfather died and his funeral was on Memorial Day. Austin spent the day with grandma (who he has recently started calling Nana, I think it's adorable). I tried to snap a couple of pics of him in his patriotic outfit but this little wiggle worm was too fast for me! 

I bought a water table a few weeks ago not really knowing what all the fuss was about but now I get it. we play "wa wa" pretty much all the time. 

We also moved in our stuff 2 weeks ago so there's been just a wee bit of unpacking going on. You know whatever. Anyway, this little one has been so good about running errands with me and sometimes I feel guilty that all we do is run errands and unpack. Anyway, one day I was feeling particularly guilty and we had these sweet CeCe's gift cards so I threw my only healthy food mantra out the window and treated the little boy to his first ice cream/fro yo. He LOVED it. What's not to love? 

We went to story time at the Library for the first time on Tuesday. He was really unsure of everything at first and sat in my lap for 30 minutes. It was so amazing. He hasn't been that still since before he was born. The leader sang several songs, read a book and we created a craft. the kids glued on shapes a piece of construction paper and I was ridiculously proud. After getting to use the glue stick he decided he really loved story time and began running around with the other kids! 

Helping Da-Da. Whenever we go anywhere now and we see or hear someone mowing a lawn he points and yells, "da-da". Ugh his cuteness is so much sometimes I want to burst. Slow. down. this. time. 

We have been playing in our backyard a lot! 

We got a new gardener! I thought he would want to play outside as I watered the flowers but he was all over the hose! I can barely get anything done outside with him but he has so much fun I end up not caring!

Monkey pajamas? Check. Foofee? Check. Patriotic sunglasses inside? Check. 

Happy Summer! For Natalie's News this has been, Natalie-Corinne. 

15 months

While I'm glad to not have to take the sticker monthly pictures anymore, I realized I wasn't taking many pictures of this little one at all. I'll attempt to get my real camera out soon but my iphone will have to do for this update. 

We voted on Thursday and he pushed all of the buttons and got to play with a dog. He was in Heaven! 

ALL boy. From 5 months this boy has thought doing this is HILARIOUS!  

He loves this hippo at the park. It has the body parts of the hippo written in French, Spanish, and English. He's more into throwing the mulch out of the big opening but I'm sure we will be trilingual in no time. 

It was super windy, he really doesn't have that crazy of hair. 

Some stats

Weight: 24.5 lbs (70%)

Height 32.5 inches (90%)

Words: Ma-Ma, Da-Da, wa-wa (water), Linda (his babysitter), Banana, get-cha (game, see below), night-night, poo (yes, for poo), monkey, fruit, toes, no (only a few times but I'm afraid it will be more of a thing in the future), he attempts to say grandma but it is still a work in progress. 

He can identify his toes, nose, ears, hair, cheeks, eyes, and mouth.

Other fun stuff: Our babysitter taught him to blow dandelions so now he wants to pick and blow every flower when we're outside. She also taught him that monkeys say "ooo, ooo" so now whenever anyone says, "what does the monkey say?" he says, "ooo ooo". He still growls at most animals but has started making some kind of hybrid barking sound for dogs. 

He signs more and all done. I'm working on please now. 

He loves to play outside or in the playroom, he LOVES to attempt to get on the stairs (see previous post), the pantry, or any other room we would prefer him to stay out of. He loves music and does his little bend at the knee dance whenever he hears it. He thinks moon walking is the most hilarious thing in the world. He also loves to have a spoon or spatula while I'm in the kitchen but he uses it as a hammer. 

He is starting to understand the purpose of toys. The other day Philip was putting together something using his tools and Austin ran in the playroom and grabbed his toy hammer and screwdriver and brought it back to "help" Philip. 

He also loves being around other kids, especially those a little older than him. He stares and loves if they show him any attention. 

He still loves peekaboo, and has started loving to play hide and seek, and "getcha". We tickle him and I guess I started saying "I'm gonna getcha, getcha, getcha" so now he says "get-cha" when he wants to play and then starts slowing running away because he really wants you to get him. He loves hugging and then throwing stuffed animals, throwing balls, and just about anything else he can get his hands on. 

He really is so fun right now. I'm excited (and a little nervous if I'm being totally honest) to be home with im all summer. I still can't get over how fast everything is going!

Love, love, love this fun little boy! Lucky to be his Momma!

For Natalie's News this has been, Natalie-Corinne. 

Senior Tea

At my first year at Brentwood, my Mom and I planned a senior girls tea. We had such a fun time planning it together and Ms. Alicia helped with her perfect touches. We had a pinterest board, cooked a lot, and really enjoyed working together Friday night at Saturday morning. I have to be honest, every year I do a little less. The first year I feel like we cooked quite a bit, the second year I bought a lot of it but from a lot of different places, this year I bought everything from Costco. 

Of course you will never have a date where every senior girl can attend. This year 16 ladies attended and it was a very fun group! 

Mom's china

I'm just now realizing I forgot to put doilies on the plates :) whoops. Anyway, it was a lot of fun and the girls really seemed to enjoy it. I'm not posting a picture of the students but know they are very pretty, nice and smart! We had a lot of fun and I love getting to use Mom's china. Last year this event was really fun but sad for me because I just kept thinking of how much fun Mom and I had putting it on together but this year I was able to think a little bit more about the fun and a little less about the sadness. Baby steps. 

This was also the last event we will have at our old house. We close in a week and a half and will have to focus on making memories in our new house. 

For Natalie's News this has been, Natalie-Corinne. 

first ER visit

15 months from when we came home from the hospital we returned for our first scary trip to the emergency room for Austin. We were 15 minutes away from leaving to go to the Ben Folds Project at the ballet. I was trying to do too much at once, get Austin's dinner ready, pjs, diapers, etc. not to mention attempting to get myself ready. I looked up and Austin was on the third stair. We have gates but I left it open and I was about to get him off but decided to put his clothes down before I got him. Obviously that was the wrong decision because he lost his balance and fell right on his head on the hardwood floor. He instantly starting screaming. He was dizzy and even when we wanted to get down he couldn't really walk well. I asked Philip to google signs of concussion. About 5 minutes after he said puking was a sign of concussion, Austin puked twice all over everywhere. We quickly changed Austin and rushed to St. Thomas. Poor Sharon received most of the vomit (both times) and still came with us. I grabbed a shirt of mine and she changed in like 10 seconds and came to the ER. I could tell he was feeling better but I am so glad we went anyway. The doctor said he looked like he was improving but he wanted to watch him for a while rather than doing a scan. He said levels of radiation are low but he believed we over scan people and he would rather just watch him eat and hang out before we scanned him. Of course his appetite didn't suffer and we were finally free to go. We were supposed to wake him every 2 hours but he woke himself up a couple of times so we didn't really set an alarm or anything. 

The doctor said, "I have 2 boys, this will be the first of many ER visits". Let's hope the doctor is wrong about this! 

For Natalie's News this has been, Natalie-Corinne. 

1 year pics

Yes, this child is 14 months but I DID get those done when he was actually 12 months. Then I got them 3 weeks later. Then they've sat on my computer. We went to Noble Springs Dairy on a beautiful Sunday. 

Cheesing! 

They had so many babies and Austin was all about petting them. 

This is how he "hugs" anyone and I thought it was so sweet he immediately tried to hug the goat :) 

Even though it's been a while, I still can't believe it's been a year! 

For Natalie's News this has been, Natalie-Corinne. 

Some outtakes

Hey you! 

This is my done face.

Get on out!

Grace and beauty. 

Easter pictures

One day I was obligatorily checking my facebook (seriously, it feels like it's a requirement like checking email. I feel like vacay when I don't and think about quitting all the time. Maybe it's another thing that changes when you get older. You see through the haze now. Sure fb was fun a decade ago when people posted fun pics out drinking with friends but now it's all judgy political and religious statements, tons of babies, and awkward selfies) when someone posted on the Brentwood buy/sell/trade website about Easter pictures. Ummm...people do this? Whoops, this Mother of the year forgot last year but found a last minute photographer this year with animals. Winning! (I'm still using the Charlie Sheen catchphrase, deal.) She was SUCH good deal with animals and a farm! 

He was so sweet with the animals. I thought he would be scared but he loved them. 

Yes, I kept and brought the target dollar isle Easter bunny ears! His little bunny tail no longer fits but I'll keep getting him to wear these as long as he will play along. (I can't believe this lasted as long as it did. At home they usually make it 10 seconds or less). More importantly where did my itty- bitty baby go? Seriously, slow, slow, slow, slow, slow down time!

For Natalie's News this has been, Natalie-Corinne.