I Wish I Could Be Bored

My 18 year old brother, recently home from his first year of college at Clemson, posted an update on Facebook stating how bored he already is with being home for the summer. This was actually his second comment on the severity of his boredom, and the guy has only been home like 2 weeks I think!

Oh, to be young and bored again.

I cannot remember the last time I felt bored.

I cannot remember the last time EVERYTHING was crossed off my to-do list.

I cannot remember the last time I sat down on the couch and didn't think about the things I should be doing instead.

So to my brother... to my younger self... to all those new high school graduates ready to take on the world....

ENJOY YOUR MOMENTS OF BOREDOM. Every now and then, it's GOOD to have time to sit and reflect on nothing more than the breeze on your skin, the color of the sky, or the smell in air. Before you know it, each and every day will be a whirlwind of housework, appointments, errands, conference calls and emails, and eventually children of your own. There will be no time to think about nothing-the wheels in your brain will be turning 100 mph, trying to process life.

So now, when you find yourself bored to tears, go eat some pizza (and not have to worry about it making you fat) then take a nap. A blissful, food-induced coma in the the middle of the day, completely guilt free. Go read a book. (Do people still do that anymore?) Learn how to do something new and fun--something you enjoy--whether it's a sport, cooking, dancing, a foreign language, a musical instrument.... anything. Call your grandma or grandpa, just to chat. The next time you "have time" to talk to them, they may not be here anymore. Go tell one of your parents that you would like to go on a dinner date with them---you have NO IDEA how much they miss one-on-one time with you, and plus, you'll get a free meal. Get to know lots of different kinds of people, so you figure out exactly what you don't want in a spouse. Exercise for no other reason than simply because you can. And one last thing--get to know God (fortunately, my sweet brother has this part figured out). The relationship you forge with God at this stage of your life will carry you thru the next 10-15 years as you figure out how to go from a "kid" to a "grown-up," and on from there.

If I think of anything else for you to do, I'll let you know.
I've got to go work on MY to-do list now.

Sugarland Concert with Leslie!

THANK YOU to my RAD husband for buying tickets to the Sugarland concert for my B-Day!!!! And for encouraging me to go out and have a girl's nite... and then letting me sleep in this morning too! Leslie and I had so much fun! Just like the good ol' days.

Billy Currington opened.... He is YUMMY.

Sugarland puts on a great show!
They rolled around the crowd in these big balls at the end!

This pic is blurry but it's so cute!

Thank you Les for celebrating my b-day with me!

We may be cougars now, but at least it was a good song on.... hee hee hee

Almost Done With the Upstairs...

We're almost done with this year's round of home improvements. We had a sprinkler system put in, painted the entire interior, and replaced the crappy builders grade sink with one that is 10+ inches deep, and has a properly working faucet (the one that was in before was only 6 inches deep, and faucet was a piece of doody.) I actually get excited to use it!

Here is Brax's bathroom (our guest bath upstairs)

I debated on whether or not to paint Brax's room again-

I had painted it a pale blue when I was pregnant, but it looked more lavender than blue.

So we went ahead and redid it in this more vibrant blue. I haven't put up any of his wall decor because I'm waiting till we put his big boy bed in there. I'm not sure when that will be....

Here is our master bedroom. I am SO in love with this color blue!!!

It's called "Moody Blue" by Benjamin Moore.

View as you walk in.

View from the bed.

The view into the bathroom.

To the right of the door as you walk in.

I'm still searching for just the right print to hang in my laundry room-it is a fun yellow color. Billy is still working on finishing the paint in the 2nd spare room... I'll show the rest of the pics when we're all done! I'm most excited to get Brax's big boy room done, but I don't know if I'm ready to battle with him about staying in bed....

22 Month Stats

Seriously, these stat posts seem to come around faster and faster each month. Brax is only 2 months away from being 2 years old!!!

HEIGHT/WEIGHT/TOOTH COUNT: 37 inches, 28 lbs., still 12 teeth. I keep thinking the canines are coming in, but they're not in yet.

PERSONALITY: He's been very much a Momma's boy lately. The first thing that comes out of his mouth when he wakes up is, "Momma?? Momma!!!!" He's becoming more cautious of new people, but once he lets you in his circle, he will share his toys and steal your food like you've been friends for years. He has been doing this high-pitched screechy thing when he's mad (which I have to say, is much better than a tantrum.) If I tell him no or something, he looks right at me, opens his eyes really big and just screeches at the top of his lungs. It is not acceptable behavior by any means, but I admit--I feel that way sometimes, too!

VOCABULARY: He will repeat anything now, and we discover that he knows several new words everyday. He is consistently using two words together--hot water, cold drink, ice cream, sit down, brush hair, get up, big stick, wash car, good morning, Jace funny, touch that, watch TV, Billy paint, fly plane, come here... It's funny tho-he pauses between each word, like he's thinking really hard to make sure they go together! His favorite word is "Momma" and I love it. Mike says if we had a quarter for everytime he said it we'd be rich. He just walks around from time to time, singing, "Momma, Mommmmma, Mooooomma, Momma..." I will so miss that someday! He knows I, me and mine, adds -ing to verbs and -s to make things plural,


NEW TRICKS: Drinking out of a cup (without spills!), he knows to move his little step stool around to get to things he wants to reach, lays on his tummy in the bathtub, better at brushing teeth, tries to "spit" when he's done, rubs his lotion in, remembers people's names after we haven't seen them in awhile, names which neighbor kid lives in which house (Max, Jace/Cameron, Sam).
Remembers and talks about things that happened in the past--like the time I whacked the spider down from the light fixture in the bathroom with a toothbrush, then crushed it in a Kleenex. Sometimes he'll bring it up when we're in the bathroom, saying "'Pider. Bush. Mommy 'nex squish."
Or the time he had an owie on his hand, and the next day I asked him what happened. He tattled on Puppy Megan, saying "Puppy Menya. No no! Laura." (I guess meaning Megan nipped at him, and Laura told her no no.)
One day he ran into Billy's truck in the driveway with his trike. When I got home, Laura told him to tell me what happened with the truck. He explained, "Boom Biddy tuck."

NEW FOODS: Asparagus ("gus"), watermelon, grapes

FAVORITE PEOPLE: Mommy!

FAVORITE BOOKS: None in particular right now.

FAVORITE TOYS: Still his mower, golf clubs, blocks and paintbrushes. Also loves my hair brush and the lint roller for some reason.

FAVORITE ACTIVITIES: Cleaning anything, painting with water outside, finding sticks and rocks, mowing the grass.

DAILY ROUTINE:
7am up, breakfast
8am-12 play outside, go somewhere, have a snack...
12:00 lunch
1-3 nap
3-6-play outside, go somewhere, have a snack...
6:00 dinner
6:30-7:15 watch cartoons, play indoors, wind down
7:15 bathtime, then read books
8:00 bedtime

FAVORITE SONGS: He knows the words to songs now! He has a toy that plays just the tunes to several common children's songs, and he started singing the words one day! He knew Itsy Bitsy Spider ("'Pider, Pider, down... out... up...") and Old McDonald ("'Donald, e-i-o-e-o... mooooo... oink... quack..."). One day he pointed out a star on my shirt and started singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star ("Tinkle, Tinkle, Sar...")
I didn't even know he could do that!


DISLIKES: He hated his last haircut (the lady made the mistake of spraying his hair with water, instead of spraying the comb),


FUNNY THINGS HE SAID/DID:
I put him in time out because he refused to pick up his blocks. He sat there, crying, saying "Hug? Hug? Hug?" After time out, he finally picked up his blocks using his mini dustpan and sweeping brush!
The first few times he layed on his tummy in the bathtub, he was so proud of himself. I hollered for Mike to come see, but he didn't hear me. Brax then started yelling, "Miiiiiiike! Miiiiiiiiiiiiiike!!!" He things it's cool to call Daddy by his name.
One day Jace (Brax says "Dace") was hula-hooping in our garage. Brax thought it was the funniest thing EVER. That nite when we were rocking, he kept saying "Dace funny. Dace? Dace?" I said, "Oh yes! Wasn't Jace funny when he was hula hooping?" Brax got up on his knees in my lap and started wiggling his little hips like he was hula hooping, laughing and saying "Dace funny hoop!!!"

MOMENTS I DON'T WANT TO FORGET:
One morning he woke up way too early, so I went in and rocked him back to sleep (against baby boot camp rules, but oh well). We slept for another hour and a half in the glider, and when he opened his eyes the first thing he said was, "Kiss? Kiss?" I smooched all over his face, and then he said, "Talk?" like he wanted to chit chat!
He told me "Love doo" (Love you) one nite. He hasn't said it since, tho...

Trip to Grammy and Pop-Pop's

We spent a long weekend at my in-laws' house in Sooner country. Can I just tell you how much I love Oklahoma? The weather, the brick houses, the food, the people... everything. In my 29 years, I've only lived in OK for about 7, but for some reason it still feels like home when I come back. I have such great memories of my time there (well, except for the first year, but had I not come that first time around I would have never ended up back there--long story--'nother post).

Are you ready for a ridiculous amount of pictures??? Here you go....

All loaded in the car and ready to go to the airport.

Killing time-eating snacks while we wait on our flight.

Yep, he'll fit in the overhead compartments.

Yep, there's really an alarm on that door.

"I didn't do it!!!!!!!!"

Ready for take off.

Watching "Cars" on the computer.

Oh how I've missed that red dirt.

After a pleasant and uneventful flight down on Wednesday, Grammy and Pop-Pop took us out to a fun restaurant called Pops. (Click the link to see more-it's a Route 66 landmark!) Then we headed back to their house and played outside. Brax felt right at home with the lawn mower, the golf clubs, the paint bucket and brushes and blow up pool Grammy got for him! He slept great that evening, till 8am Thursday morning!!

Brax's first onion ring at Pops!

Mowing up plastic soldiers.

"I fit on this thing last time I was here!"

Checking out the fish, turtles, and bull frogs in the neighbor's pond.

Chowing down.

After-dinner play time.

Thursday we had lunch at Rudy's BBQ (can you tell I food is an exciting event for me??!!), dropped Mike off at the OU golf course, and then Brax and I took a 3 hour nap together. We NEVER do that at home--I always put him in his crib--but I laid down with him in the bed next to his pack-n-play and fell asleep too! It was actually one of my favorite parts of our little vacation--snuggling with my boy and sleeping!

I exceeded my 2 picture limit.

Thursday evening we went for a walk and played outside more. Brax wanted me to sleep in bed with him again, so he fussed a little before he conked out in his pack-n-play. He slept till 8am again!

Bird watching.

Feeding the neighbor's dog, Cody.

Friday we all went to the OKC zoo. We had lunch at Whataburger (I miss Oklahoma food so much) and then came home for a nap. (I purposely fell asleep with Brax in the bed this time!) We got up, played outside, and started getting the food ready for our cookout. Some family friends joined us. We had chicken, pork chops, pasta salad, baked beans, corn on the cob, and Hawaiian rolls--Brax kept stealing everyone's bread-the kid loves carbs (don't know where he gets that!).

Applying Chapstick to his nose at the zoo.

Riding the rhino.

"Hey, they tumble like you and me, Momma!"

Monkey love.

Brax's first french fry---EVER.

I couldn't deny him the joy of Whataburger fries (or the chocolate shake I had.)

Playing on Pop-Pops mo-mow after his nap.

He wasn't crazy about my driving.

Mrs. Stewart brought Brax a bubble maker!

We put the boy to work--mowing...

...painting...

...then some weight lifting.

He finally got a break to eat some watermelon.

Yep, son--I see you eating out of the grass.

Saturday morning Daddy golfed and Grammy, Brax and I went to the local splash park. He didn't quite know what to think of it--he LOVES water, but he wasn't quite ready to run thru the fountains. He just wanted to stick his hands and feet in, and sit on the spout!

Stopping to take a drink of his first Sonic slush!

(I really broke down on my no-junk food-rule for him that weekend!!!)

Mad when we made him stop.

He was imitating some older boys that were standing

over these spouts pretending to pee.

Sweet little foot prints.

Going for a ride down the slide on the playground before we left.

We had lunch at home, then Brax and I napped together (again!). That evening, we played outside and had the best spaghetti with homemade sauce and meatballs for dinner! I got one last great nite's rest (I fell asleep with Brax in bed at 8ish, got up when Mike peeked his head in and woke me, then slept on the couch in Mike's lap till 10:30, then went to bed and slept till 7am!!!!!! It was MARVELOUS. I love sleep about as much as I love food.)

Mike actually took a few decent pics of Brax and I!

And to think...
I wondered what in the world I would do with a boy.
I had no idea how much I would love him!!!!!!

Even when he plays with nasty junebugs.

SSSSSSick.

We play this game where I tell him to show me

different feelings with his face...

I'll say, "Show me your HAPPY face, Brax."

This is happy!

"Show me your SAD face."

Soooo sadddd.

"Now show me SLEEPY."

Rubbing his eyes... sometimes I can get him to pretend to yawn.

It's pretty funny.

Water break.

Sunday morning we woke up and just played a bit before we had to leave for the airport. My MIL and I ran to Wal-Mart so I could pick up an OU t-shirt for Brax (I always have to get one while we're in Sooner Country!!!). I also found a cute little OU pillow for his big boy bed, and an OU penant for the wall in his room.

We ate yet another yummy homemade lunch at Grammy's, then headed out for our flight that afternoon. I love visiting the grandparents!

He fell asleep as soon as we got in the car to leave.

But didn't sleep a wink on the plane!!!!

Next week Brax and I fly (just the 2 of us!) to California to see my dad, step-mom, brother and sister. Then in July, we'll all make a trip to Tulsa to see my mom and step-dad, where we'll celebrate Brax's 2nd B-Day! (Of course, we'll do a party in KC, too!!!) I love summer time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!