A few pics from Grammy & Grampy's visit

I am officially the worst blogger ever.

No, really, it's OK to agree with me.

I feel like I'm in confession. Forgive me friends, for I have slacked. It's been 17 days since my last blog entry. Whatev.

Life has been CRAZY. We're finally pretty well settled into our new house, which we love. Brennan in LOVING the warm weather and all of the outdoor play time that comes with it. And I must admit, 75 and sunny is much better than the mountains of snow falling back in Michigan. I think we moved at a pretty good time.

My parents came to visit last weekend and my sister is flying in tonight for a visit so we've been busy getting the house ready for visitors and enjoying the company. It's been great having people here. Makes the transition easier for us all.

I'm too tired to write much more. Just wanted to remind myself that I really do enjoy blogging and that I should make the effort to do it more often!

Mass. Chaos.

Ever have one of those days where you just want to tear your hair out and scream at the top of your lungs til your locked in a padded room and they throw away the key?

Yeah, I've had a lot of those these days.

Suffice it to say that life is hectic lately. We've (almost) moved out of the company house and are (not quite) moved into the new house. Going from a 1600 sq ft house to a 1700 sq ft house should be easy. However when said 1600 sq ft house has a two huge closets in each bedroom, a full basement, a 2 car garage and a 4 car garage and said 1700 sq ft house has tiny closets, half a garage, and a minuscule attic ... it's less than optimal. Let's just say that storage is an issue.

We bought our furniture to fit our old house, so while it works in this house, it's not quite perfect. The back yard is much smaller and it's in the city so the dogs bark CONSTANTLY at EVERY SINGLE sound they hear ... and even some they don't. It's completely tile except for two of the bedrooms, which is definitely lower maintenance, but it leaves the house very echo-y and in need of rugs. And I hate rugs because my large 6 yr-old and 4 yr-old dogs like to pee on rugs for whatever reason.

It's not all bad though. We obviously chose this house because we liked it. It's remodeled throughout, with high end appliances and beautiful cabinets in the kitchen. It has a nice screened-in porch and a great office/den that we spend lots of time in as a family. And we really couldn't ask for better landlords. They're great.

But it's just hard to get moved in and comfortable. I know it'll happen, but it takes time. And it's not quite baby-proofed. So that makes unpacking even harder with a 16 month old underfoot. We'll get there, but the process has definitely not been painless!

apparently my son is a pretty good kid

We decided last minute on Saturday to try to go out to dinner that night to celebrate our anniversary, which is this Thursday. The question - to take Brennan or not to take Brennan. At home, we would have called one set of parents to babysit, and then the other if they were unavailable, or my sister and her bf if all the grandparents were busy. And if no one was available, we have had unending offers from plenty of other friends and extended family members that er could easily cash in on.

Here's the catch: we don't really KNOW anyone here. At least that's how I felt when we discussed the possibility of calling one of Brian's coworkers to ask. Brian gently reminded me that while I've only been here for two weeks, he's been here for 3 1/2 months and knows his coworkers quite well. He suggested a very sweet couple who happen to be expecting a little boy of their own in May. I've met them both and have plans to have lunch with the mommy-to-be. I also knew that they'd watched her niece and nephew multiple times, so they weren't baby-virgins.

So, I said yes. Brian called, they happily accepted, and paternal that day we packed up Brennan and headed to their place. We had never left him with anyone but our parents or my sisters, so I was nervous about how he'd do. But after giving instructions and kissing him goodbye, we walked out the door. He started to cry and I made myself keep walking. We texted them when we got to the restaurant and they said that he only cried for a minute before deciding to play with his toys.

We were able to relax and enjoy dinner. Two hours, four courses, and probably five pounds later, we headed back to collect our munchkin. He ran to the door when he saw us, which of course melted my heart. They raved about how well he behaved and how much fun he had been and offered to watch him anytime.

It made me feel so lucky to have these wonderful 'ready-made' friends down here. In most other situations it would have taken me months to make friends and more months to feel comfortable enough to leave my child with them. But instead, we walked into a wonderful, accepting family full of warm, welcoming people. We could not be more blessed.

And we found babysitters who watched him and are eager to do it again. Woo hoo!

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My kid can moo

Brennan is learning animal sounds. And it's SUPER cute. He's been able to "bark" for awhile now. Our dogs bark all the time, and one day he started "ah ah ah"-ing back at them. But he wouldn't do it on command until the last few weeks. Now, when we ask him what the doggy says, he says "ah ah ah". My mom taught him how to "moo" when she took him to a dairy farm while we were in Mexico. And he knows how to quack now too, although it sounds more like "dack dack dack." The exciting part is that he responds to our questions now. The script goes a little like this:

Crazy parents: Brennan, what does the cow say?
Adorable baby: bmbmoooooooooooo
Crazy parents: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!! GOOD JOB!!!! [applause]
Adorable baby: [claps his hands]
Crazy parents: Brennan, what does the doggy say?
Adorable baby: ah ah ah
Crazy parents: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!! GOOD JOB!!!! [applause]
Adorable baby: [claps his hands]
Crazy parents: Brennan, what does the ducky say?
Adorable baby: dack dack dack
yeah, I think you know what comes next..............


So we do this over and over and over again.

No, really, it's the cutest thing ever.

I always said that I'd never be one of those parents who couldn't stop saying how cute their kid is. I swore up one side and down another that if my kid was just moderately cute, or not cute at all, that I'd admit that he was cute to me, but maybe not traditionally cute.

Well, I was delusional. I admit it. This is me eating my words. nom nom nom.

My kid is the cutest thing I've ever seen. And he does the cutest things I've ever seen. Even with his big purplish-yellow shiner he got after picking a fight with the coffee table (yeah, he lost), he's still the cutest kid on the planet. And I'd call you a liar if you told me you didn't think he is cute. Yes, you are allowed to think that your children are cuter. Every mom has that right.

Just remind me of this post next time he smacks me in the nose or throws a fit because I looked at him the wrong way or throws his plate of spaghetti on the floor for fun or ....................

It's 64 degrees .... IN JANUARY!

I feel like it's springtime. It's sunny, the birds are happily flying around, the air is crisp and fresh. The nights are pleasantly cool and the days are refreshingly warm. I find myself searching for the buds and blossoms that tell me that spring has spring ... and instead I find palm trees. And unfamiliar plants. And no flowers or blossoms or even buds. And then I remember ....

it's January.

and I live in Florida.

Weird.

I can't say that I miss the snow. I'm enjoying the many many many many many walks around the block and trips to the park with Brennan. And all the time we spend outside exploring the dirt, rocks, sticks, and trees. It's something that we haven't been able to do since Brennan started walking after winter had begun to rear its ugly head. But, it's only been a week and I still feel a bit like I'm on vacation. We'll see how it goes.

On a different note, we met Brian's coworkers and their better-halves for dinner on Friday. I had already met several of the girls during my November trip, so it was nice to have a few familiar faces in the crowd instead of 14 new ones. Brennan and I were warmly received by friendly smiles, handshakes, and hugs. I had great conversations with some of the girls and swapped contact info with one of the girls who is pregnant and gearing up to be a stay-at-home mom. She mentioned that she could use my help with her registry and of course I jumped at the chance. I feel like I've learned a lot over the past few years (Hind-sight is 20/20 of course) and love to give advice about pregnancy and mommyhood whenever it's asked of me. And of course, I try not to give unsolicited advice since I hate receiving it :) I'm feeling very blessed to already have friends in this new place!

The men in my life....

These are the reasons I haven't been posting much. I'm making up for lost time spending QT with my handsome hubby and his mini-me. It's so great to be living all together again!

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