Busy Busy Week!!

As usual, getting back to the hustle and bustle after the holidays is hard. After a devastating loss to U of Smell in basketball, I wasn't much in the mood to hop on the happy train and take down Christmas decorations in the house .... therefore, they are still mostly up and it's a little bit embarrassing ... especially since I've had to DT parties at my house this week... so people notice!!

This week (and last!) has been a real booger as far as my schedule! OMG we have had so much to do! Now, reality is setting in that we are going to be taking a 9-hour mini-van trek to New York in less than a week and MAYBE I need to start planning for that a little bit!!

SO far, I have stocked up on Gerber Puffs and Crunchies (moms, if you have not tried these Crunchies yet .... get in the car now and go buy them!! Connor LOVES them... they are my new favorite thing to bring to the mall as a 'happy maker'! They are like puffy Cheetos for babies... amazing!) and we bought a portable DVD player for the car (this is our third one since our honeymoon.... I suggest getting an extended warranty on these puppies! What a load of crap!). These things might be the only way we have even a chance of making it up to New York without me jumping out of a moving car or resorting to heavy drinking.
side-thought: Lisa just had her tonsils taken out and has some great meds .... too bad I'm not a pill head!! (haha) - actually, I guess that's really not funny....
moving on...

So right now I'm waiting on Connor to awaken and we are headed to the gym. Unfortunately, my laziness over the holidays and not going to the gym for OVER a month has caused Connor to regress back into crying while in the kid's area at the gym. We went through this before and then got over it ... so we'll see if it's any better today!

Gymboree Time = Mommy Talk Time

We went to our weekly Gymboree class this morning (courtesy of Jamie's mom for a year as a gift for Connor's 1st Birthday) and I suddenly realized that infant play dates are SO much more about the mommies talking than the socializing of babies... and do babies even socialize?? or need to? Anyway...
When we get to Gymboree, Connor, as always, heads to the large plastic bin of primary colored balls and starts flinging them all into the floor. Meanwhile, I make mindless conversation with the other moms who are watching their respective tots climb on puffy ramps or crawl through nylon tunnels about Black Friday, how long they breast-fed, the best luxury SUV's and the in-laws coming in for Christmas. There's no doubt some of these convos quickly turn into one-up conversations ... but it's all friendly mommy-time fun, right!? ;)
For some of us, this might be the only outlet we have to talk about such things and we take full advantage of it. Who else can we discuss these topics with (obviously not your husband who has little insight as to what it's like to cook, clean, shower, shop, AND be a mom all in the same day ... ok, sometimes I don't get to shower) so this really is the perfect storm of women desperate to have a conversation with someone other than their one-year-old.... and with other women who are not completely discussed nor bored with the topics you wish to discuss.
I love it because you can always tell the mom or three or more because she actually will take he eye off her child for more than a nano-second and doesn't even flinch when another child (ok, normally Connor) throws a ball at her precious angel's head.

So, that was my day so far .... well, that, and cleaning up dog puke from the carpet for hours on end ... but that's for another post!

Busy Busy Busy!!

So, I thought that when Jamie and I decided I would stay home with Connor after he was born, I would have all this free time in my life. Ample amounts of time during my week to work on becoming the next Martha Stewart, Rachel Ray or Betty Crocker. (hahaha - life and thoughts before motherhood - I was so cute... and ignorant! )

As it turns out, I haven't been able to even think about the fact that I have a blog to write, the need for a shower, and to feed the dogs in almost a week! "What have I been doing?" you might ask. Well, seriously nothing that exciting, but just a LOT of little things. This little crunch we're going through now isn't even "Holiday time" related ... meaning things are only going to get more hectic! But I'm not complaining. Being able to stay at home with Connor is the best thing ever - I think I just need a little refresher in time management (but that will never happen!)

Most people agree that the more time you perceive yourself to have, the more time you kind-of waste not getting anything done! For instance, Connor has been sleeping in later in the morning! Alas! Sleeping until almost 10 am! He definitely is his mother's son! BUT, not getting up until then takes at least 2 hours of morning time away from our day - plus we can't make it to the gym in time for the play area to still be open for Connor. This is just one of the reasons we have been on what feels like a hamster wheel - running in place but not getting much done other than the occasional trip to the water bowl and lots of pooping (Connor that is!).

We've also started going to the Level 3 Gymboree class (compliments of Jamie's mom for Connor's birthday) which is at 10am on Monday morning. Jamie and I toured Chance School on Friday so we apply for 2-year-old preschool for Connor next year. My car was in the shop getting a bunch o' crap done so I had a rental (of my exact same Land Rover, which was nice) that I constantly realized things I needed were not in. ie: tissues, napkins, pens, garage door opener, cell phone car charger, radar detector ... etc... sucks. We also went to Indy with my mom to visit Lisa at Butler and go to the outlet malls on the way back. (side note: hit up J.Crew outlet - sucked, Ralph Lauren - ok, Gap - good, and Banana Republic -ok) Jamie was been wicked busy at work, which is a good thing in this economy, but not so good for his stress and helpfulness level at home ... but good.

Next week is another busy week, ending with being in a wedding on Saturday! Can't wait! I'll try to post more than once!! ;)

1st Birthday Pictures!

These are the best of the best and the cutest of the cutest pictures from Connor's birthday party! It was super hard to pick, but I managed! All pictures were taken by our friend and photographer, Jonathan Palmer!

Today we had our first class at Gymboree - and Connor was basically in heaven because they had tub after tub filled with balls of all types... I mean absolute heaven! I think we will get a membership and start going every week so Connor can get more face-time with other kiddos - it'll be good for him! We did bubbles and parchute games, sang a bunch of songs I didn't know (uhh) and afterward basically bathed in antibacterial gel! haha!

Tommorow, we're off to the gym and then to get Connor's shots (that we weren't able to get last week due to Connor's fever :( ... and then off to see Nights in Rodanthe with Bunco ladies from the neighborhood!

Busy busy week! Until next time ...