I forgot...

I also received some lovely chocolates for my birthday!! Thank you Jamey!

My 30th Birthday

Well, it has come and gone. My 30th birthday that is. I am still accepting presents, so if you missed it, just send them anyways :). Just kidding. The first part of the day I went to Stroller Striders and was distracted so the workout wasn't great for me. I just felt behind the 8-ball and frazzled. At 2, I got a deep tissue massage, courtesy of my 2 little boys and Jimmy the masseuse went deep. Too deep in fact. At one point I had to say stop. I don't know what happened to my muscles but I probably should have told Jimmy to go lighter. I have one spot on my lower back that has a little bruise and my back is sore to the touch. Maybe that's normal, but it still hurts. It was a nice treat though. I then got to go to the Farmers Market alone and buy some pasta and veggies. We had ravioli for dinner. After I got home, we went over to the Grandparent's (Kevin and Betsy's) for dinner. Alex cooked up corn, ravioli, tomato and mozzarella salad, green beans, gnocchi and strawberries. Very yum. He got me a red velvet cake, very nicely decorated from the new cake store we found called The Cake Stand.

I also got some great presents which included flowers, money, cookbook, lip gloss, a bag of beach toys and bag, a gift certificate for Everything but Water and another bag/purse. However, my favorite was the gift from my husband.

Here are some of its features:

Adjustable heated water tank
Adjustable rear and front washes
Adjustable Warm air dryer
Convenient remote control
Oscillating comfort wash
Curved rear case fits more French curve toilets
Adjustable, heated, SoftClose seat

Here is its description:

Trim. Sleek. Advanced technology. A Revolution in Hygiene. Upon activation, the automatic wand extends to provide a gentle stream of warm aerated water. An unparalleled level of comfort and clean.

Can you guess what it is? It is a Toto Washlet E200. That's a toilet seat Bidet. Yup, we first discovered them in an Okinawan public restroom and I then decided that the next new house had to have one. So, that's another reason for ya'll to come and visit.

Overall, it was a success. Alex did a great job watching the boys and cooking and preparing dinner.

The Air Show

The Air Show was last weekend and Alex and James got to go. Well, they sat in 1 1/2 hour traffic on the way out and then the same on the way home. So the 1 hour at the show was pleasant. James got to sit in a helicopter and was very excited. Alex made some ear plugs for James that were baby Q-tips, cut down. They didn't work so well and James wasn't thrlled about that. He was also not excited about wearing big earmuffs so Alex was able to find some rubber ear plugs for him. Those seemed to work out fine.

House Update

The house is moving along. And by moving along, I mean my backyard is all torn up. But that means work is being done, so that's good. Alex is laying the groundwork for an addition and a pool to be later installed. We figure we might as well get the basework done, so when we're ready for a pool we won't have to tear anything else up and we'll be ready to go. One of the pictures is from the front doorway looking into the dining room. The other picture is the extension of the l

iving room. I put other photos on my facebook account. We're waiting for the sprinkler guy to install the sprinkler system so we can finish the kitchen, etc. Hopefully in another 1 1/2 - 2 months we'll be in and able to have ya'll come and visit.

My Goals

Well, It seems that my goals lately consist of running errands and entertaining the boys. Hopefully we'll be able to utilize the beach and the local water parks once the summer begins. But I haven't set many goals for myself, so I don't feel like I'm accomplishing much. But I do have a few that I'm pretty good at keeping:
1. Making dinner 3x a week (some nights we do leftovers)
2. Cleaning the kitchen before bed every night
3. Picking up toys during the day and before bed every night
4. Doing 1 big grocery run for the week
5. Take the boys out on a walk at least 1x a day
6. Go to Stroller Striders 2x a week

Here are some of my new goals:
1. Wake up and get up at a consistent time in the morning
2. Pay bills weekly
3. File every other week
4. Go through my house and donate or sell stuff we don't use.

Well, it feels good to make some goals so let's hope I can keep them!!

Stroller Striders

Just so you all know that I am using my stroller and going to my stroller strider classes. I go 2x a week with my friend Hillary and we've been having a good time. We do arm exercises, sprint, suicides, Indian runs. Do you remember those? It's not politically correct I'm sure because who knows is the Indians ran like that or not. Anyway, it's where you run behind each other in a line and the person in back has to sprint up to the front. Yea, I haven't done those since high school. Some things were meant to be done only in high school. The park where we went today is not safe after dark, but I guess it's safe in the daytime.

New Video

Just Testing...

I just wanted to see if I could upload videos to my post. I'm trying to take some videos of the boys since it's so easy to do. Anyways, Alex and I were able to go away for a night and a day this past weekend. I had a babysitter come on Fri afternoon so I could go to the grocery store and get a pedicure. While I was sitting in the pedi chair, I started talking to this nice lady besides me. She's from Houston, here to visit her good friend whose daughter was getting married. We talked about the book I was reading and some other books. Turns out, she does reflexology for her friends and family. I guess I qualified as a "friend" because she gave me a hand rub using some reflexology techniques. So, all I had to do was sit back while my feet got rubbed as well as my hands and I only had to pay for the foot part. I was sad when she left because she reminded me of my mom and my mom is so far away. But, it was a very nice treat anyways.

Friday night, we got in the car and drove down South to Beaufort and stayed at the Holiday Inn. We putzed around in the morning trying to find some place to sit down and eat. There was one place we finally found. Beaufort has many islands all around it and it is a beautful place. One of my favorite books is Beach Music by Pat Conroy, and he bases his books around there. Like Parris island and I think he grew up on Beaufort. We stumbled on the soft shelled crab festival so I just had to have a soft shelled BLT. Yum!! Alex doesn't care for them so I got to eat it all! Well mostly..He took one bite which ate the whole crab, practically. So, I got the legs..

Crab season is right around the corner so I'm hoping for some crab picking for my birthday. I think that's about it for now. The boys both fell asleep on the way home from my Stroller Strider class and are still asleep. The amazing thing is that it was 11:30 am when they fell asleep and James doesn't take a nap till 2 or so. So the quiet house is nice.

Co-Op

I finally signed up for a co-op for June and July. I'm really excited and I look forward to sharing my thoughts and recipes. Hopefully, we won't get too much okra. Yuck!

Consignments..

This morning I volunteered at the Mom 2 Mom sale. It was actually alot of fun. Even after a Fri night preview sale and all Sat morning, there was a ton of stuff. It looked as though no one bought anything. Everything that gets left gets donated somewhere. Well, I was on the hunt for a double jogger and I was the first one in line at the Fri night preview sale. I rushed in and found the ONLY double jogger. There were plenty of single joggers, but no doubles. It's a 2005 Mountain Buggy and I love it. No bells and whistles, just a sturdy double jogger. I'm very excited. I took the boys for a walk today and they both loved it. I also got James a manly kitchen with all the little plastic veggies and pots, etc for $9. Quite a steal. He has always enjoyed opening and closing doors and putting stuff in and out of things. I wish there were more little girls I could buy clothes for, because there were a ton of cute little girl outfits. Anyways, it was a lot of fun and maybe next time I can sell some of my stuff.

Berry Picking

James and I went berry picking today. Ryan stayed with Grandma Kalman so I didn't have to push a stroller around. It was uneventful, to say the least. I picked two buckets and James picked the dirt and the plastic that the strawberries grow it. I hope they don't mind a few more holes.

That's that. It was fun and I'm looking forward to making some preserves.

We have a busy weekend ahead. There's this sale called a Mom to Mom sale on saturday morning that I'm volunteering at. If you volunteer, you get to go to the preview sale on Fri night. I'm looking for a double jogger and hoping, praying they have one. I'm pretty excited. My friend Hillary is volunteering with. My official duty is "Express Bagger". I hope I can live up to their expectations.

The island house is coming along. All permits are in so hopefully all will be done by summer. I'll take some pics next time I'm out.

We took James to see Horton Hears a Who and he did great for a 2 year old. He enjoyed it, I think. He's a movie buff. I enjoyed it too.

Anyways, that's it for now for us down here.

Stroller Striders

Yes, I went to a stroller striders yesterday with my friend Hillary. It's a bunch of women with jogger strollers who stroll around the neighborhood running, doing arm exercises, walking, etc. It's actually pretty challenging. There were arout 6 women who came, including the instructor. All had jogger strollers except me. I have a front/back double stroller. Massive and not good for running. However, it did survive. So, image driving into your neighborhood and seeing a circle of strollers with ladies walking around in a circle with their resistance bands. Yes, that is the kind of looks we got from drivers by, mostly men. They must've been thinking " I"m glad my wife doesn't do that". All in all, it was a lot of fun and I think I'll join. And as Hillary's husband calls it "Rubberbands in the Park", I enjoyed the social aspect of it also.

My Ryan!

I know that 2nd children, don't get as many pictures. That's true. And most of the things they do, don't get as much recognition as the first. So, I thought I'd devote a Blog especially for Ryan. Ryan was born 1 week early by being induced. It was a long day and I think the next time I'm gonna wait to see how far I will go. He never got the hang of breast feeding and he screamed the first 7 months of life. But because he was growing, eating and didn't spit up a lot, nothing was diagnosed by the doctor. He slept in our bed the first month of life and finally I gave in to letting him sleep on his belly. That helped but he couldn't sleep consistently through the night. I tried different bottles and formula to help, but nothing made a lasting impression except for the Playtex drop-in bottles and Similac Organic formula.

Ryan started talking to me around 1 month. I know it sounds early, but Ryan has always been very active and personable. He still yearns for my attention and is constantly moving or chasing someone or something.

Ryan started to roll over around 6 months, crawl around 7 and now at 9 months he is pulling himself up and can walk around the couch. He tries to run and fall on items which is a lot of fun to watch. He can stand on his own for 5 seconds or so and seems to really enjoy that. I'm betting his first steps will be within the next month.

And Finally!! His first little tooth is coming in. Yea!! We've been waiting for a while for that to happen.

So, as different as my two boys are, both bring joy, happiness and frustration to us. Ryan's increasing sense of determination and adventure are a pure blessing.

Like father, Like son?

Little Things...

It's the little things that make my day:
1. Ryan looking at me smiling while I get the stroller out of the trunk
2. James getting really excited over a piece of chocolate
3. Ryan laughing at me, James or Alex
4. Alex and me, watching our boys and not being able to keep ourselves from smiling.
5. A fun email from a friend or family member
6. When both boys go down for a nap at the same time and sleep for 2 hours!!

Happy Day!

How do they learn?

This is just a short blog on little things a 2 year old will do. As I posted a while ago, a quiet house isn't always a good thing. Once again, it got a little quiet and when I found James, he was hiding something behind his back, a salt shaker. He's fascinated with the salt and pepper shakers and have to put them on everything he eats. AND he has to do it himself. So, apparently, the vents looked like they needed some flavor......No major harm done. But when do they learn to hide something behind their back? Maybe the same way they hide their eyes when they're trying to be sneaky or not do something.