You are 16 going on 17 (Well, months that is)

You love your Scott. He has become your best buddy.

You call Stewie Stew.

You say that everything is "stuck" 

By far, your most favorite thing to do is to help mommy and daddy do anything (grocery shop, unload groceries, put in laminate floors).

When you're at daycare, you tell everyone to "ssshhhh" when the babies are sleeping.

You love your MOVERS.

You don't love brushing your teeth.  

You tried to pronounce "strawberry" this week and instead pronounced your first "L" and mommy laughed very hard.

You go down your slide all by yourself now!

You know all kinds of words like "Monkey, duck, car, truck, star, cheese, keys..." 

You learned how to say "please" when you ask for something.

You are always very cranky between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. 

You fall asleep like a little champ every night!

You call your blanket your "Ba" 

You ask for mommy and daddy when one of us isn't with you.

You just learned how to fist bump and it's pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen!

You say "Hi and bye" like a little gentleman

You say "Hello" when you hold the phone up to your ear

And mommy's favorite:

You will always give us a kiss when we ask! 

  

I love you my little mona mi!  

All my love,

Mommy

Like I said...

This whole not caring thing is great. Another night went by that, post-dinner, the words "Let's just clean this up later" jumped from my mouth. I'm sure Gabe is probably wondering what on earth happened to his OCD wife, but he might not mind the replacement so much. 

Disclaimer: While I did leave the mess for quite a while last night, I did pick up....but AFTER Ethan went to bed....and only at the commercials during Modern Family!!!

However, THIS is what my kitchen looked like prior to meeting my Method spray:

Okay, this is quite possibly the hardest thing for me to swallow. I cannot stand dishes in the sink. This is like some kind of medieval torture therapy for me. But, in all fairness, the dishwasher was full of clean dishes waiting to be put away (did I mention that I can't STAND loading and unloading the dishwasher?) It's lose-lose for me, really. Can't stand putting the dishes away and can't stand dishes in the sink. Maybe I could put my dirty dishes under the sink??
 
For you germ-a-phobes out there: Ignore the sponge, I don't use that for my dishes. It's a wipe down the sink only sponge...) 

 Yes, the microwave is still dirty from Tuesday night....(okay, maybe you can't quite see it, but there's definitely still egg in there!)

 The product of not emptying the dishwasher. Every piece of silverware we own is either in the sink or in the dishwasher. Too bad you can't eat Ramen cave-man style!

(On a side note...yes, we had RAMEN noodles and grilled cheese sammies for dinner. And IT.WAS.FABULOUS. Yummy and quick: my favorite combination of words when it comes to dinner during the week.

  I don't think I'm quite ready to surrender wiping down my counter tops every night and sweeping my living room floors at least once a day, but, I am making progress. Baby steps!

Slowing down

I have this horrible tendency to do everything at the speed of light. Just this morning I realized that I am never walking behind Gabe, but rather I'm always walking 5 feet in front of him. It's not that I don't want to walk with him, it's just because I have 2 speeds, 0 and 50 and most times I'm operating at about a 47 or 48. 

Last night was the first night in a while that I actually left the kitchen a mess after dinner. The microwave had remnants of exploded egg in it (yes, I cook eggs in the microwave- very UN Martha Stewart-ish), the pan from cooking the breakfast sammies was still on the stove, the dishes were on the counter top, and my glass still had a bit of chocolate milk circling the bottom. And you know what,  I really didn't care. We brought Ethan's slide in the living room and watched him have a ball indoors while the weather outdoors was drizzly and dull. We went upstairs and gave my homie and bath and then dressed him in MIS-MATCHED jammies. Then, we played. We bowled with fuzzy paint rollers that are part of the construction mess in Ethan's soon to be a reading nook and his art nook. We took turns putting on a witch hat (that mommy puts on so everyone knows when she's crabby), we stuffed a fluffy football under Ethan's shirt and let him chest bump us and pretend to knock us over (which he found to be a complete riot). 

My point here is that I was completely out of character last night. It's not that I don't play and have fun, but that usually comes AFTER all of my cleaning is done and making sure the house is just so-so. 

Maybe it was a short-lived  evolution. Maybe it was an epiphany that will stick. I'm still not sure. All I know is that sometimes it's nice to slow down and just not care. 

It's amazing

It's amazing how different life is these days. We've traded in really late nights for really early mornings. We eat cold meals most of the time. Our living room has been taken over by bouncing balls and giant foam alphabet puzzles. A pick up and go has been replaced with a 3 week plan ahead. 2 loads of laundry has turned into 3 or 4. Our grocery list has added things like diapers and mini forks and spoons. The last book I read was "No Biting". The bathtub is littered with turtles and squirty crabs. My fall decorating has been quite scaled down (and put up high, I might add). 

And the truth of it is, I wouldn't trade it for anything. As hectic as our life gets, it's just that, our life now. We are parents first, spouses second and Jamie and Gabe last. Don't get me wrong, life isn't perfect. For example, one of the last times we went out to dinner, Ethan decided that he wanted nothing to do with sitting in a high chair, despite my desperate plea. Even after putting him on my lap he went into limp fish mode and was trying to slide under the table. We went outside and had a talk (and if I remember the conversation correctly, it went something like this:

Mommy:           "Ethan, you need to have a better attitude"

Ethan:                "Dog?"

Mommy:           "No, Ethan, there's no dog. Okay wait, yes there is a dog in that car, but we're being a little cranky and you need to behave"

Ethan:               "Dog?"

Mommy:          "Ethan, we don't eat Mommy's shirt"

Awesome. Sweet talk. I'm pretty sure I didn't even finish the dinner I ordered that night.

Then we have our evenings between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. most nights. We call this "that time" of the evening. The time when our sweet, blond haired, blue-eyed angel turns into a shell of himself. He's cranky, doesn't want to be held, but doesn't want to be put down....it's special. 

Then we have the mornings where Ethan equates having his diaper changed to having his arm ripped off. At least that's what you'd think was going on if you heard him crying. It's a really fantastic start to a morning.

BUT, then we have the moments when I sneak in Ethan's room to put away laundry early in the morning and I realize that he's popped his little head up and he's waiving at me through his crib, like this morning. 

You have the moments when Ethan always calls for the other one of us that's not with him. If just I am dropping him off at daycare, we'll get out of the car and Ethan will say "Daddy?", in the sweetest voice, because he's so used to us both dropping him off.

You have the moments when he says "MMMMMM AAAAAAA" whenever he gives you a kiss.

You have the moments where he smells a lemon or a lime with a sniff......followed by a blowing of his noise...because he doesn't quite understand that sniffing something only goes one way....in not out!

He's a character and he's a sweetheart and, just like Gabe and I do, he has his moments. When I feel like I'm losing control and I feel like my child is a nightmare, I remind myself that adults have "off" days, so why can't toddlers. And once I climb over that sense of panic that I'm going to have a bad child I realize that this is my life. This is our life. It's hurdling the struggles to get to all the good "stuff". 

And life, well it's about to get even more interesting.....to be continued. 

A letter to my little love

To my homie:

You have your mommy's sense of humor. You're silly just like me. You're also stubborn just like me. We give daddy a real run for his money sometimes. You have a smile that lights up the entire room and a laugh that can make even the crankiest of mommy's smile so big.
You look just like your daddy so, naturally, I fell in love with you the minute I saw you. You have mommy's big blue eyes and I think you're going to have daddy's dimples, so you're probably going to be a heart breaker. Just remember, mommy is your first love!

You have such a big personality. I love your determination to do anything, even if it's just trying to climb the back of the couch.  Again, just like me, you're impatient and you have a hard time taking no for an answer. But I know that you'll go far in life because of it.

Your hugs and kisses make me melt. I know it's silly, but if it were up to mommy, you'd stay little forever. I sometimes just sit and look at you when you're in your big room sleeping and you seem so very small. It makes me sad to think that one day you won't need me in the same way that you do now but I can promise you that even when you're big and grown, I'll always be here and waiting.

You are the center of mommy and daddy's world. We have good days and we have some bad days, but our little family is full of so much love. You're so smart that it makes mommy cry and smile all at the same time. I'm already so proud of you. Whether it's learning a new word or bending your knees to shoot a basketball already, you're so determined! You pick up your little screwdriver, just like daddy, and you already know just what to do with it.

Mommy worries about you and always tells you to be careful and daddy laughs and says that I'm silly! You're so rough and tough that I'm sure you'll have lots of bumps and bruises and mommy will always come running to kiss it and make it all better.

When you point at your belly button, mommy points to hers and tells you "That's wear you were connected to mommy" and it always makes you smile. It makes me smile, too, homie. I loved every minute that you were in my belly. I most loved your hiccups. Mommy was so sensitive while you were in her belly that it made me laugh and cry (like lots of things still do when it comes to you).

When I finally married daddy I thought that was the happiest moment of my life. And it was, until I saw you. I always wondered what kind of mommy I would be, but you make me realize every day that as long as I give you all the love I have, nothing else matters.

I call you my homie. I'm sure other people think it's silly but it's your and mommy's "thing". You give me high fives, big hugs and lots of wrestles. You are and always will be the light of my life. You are what I am most proud of.

With all my love,
Your homie, Mommy

10 Things...

To my Gabriel Vincent. My guido. My best friend. My only-one-who-knows-the-real-me. I love you, and here are 10 reasons why:

1. For whatever reason, you "get" my sense of silliness. You watch me dance and make a fool of myself no matter where we are, and you still love me!
2. You really "listen" to me when we talk.
3. You've given me the greatest gift in life, our little man.
4. You continue to be the person who knows me better than any one and you accept that I'm kind of a pain in the you-know-what.
5. That you still put your socks in your back pocket and walk around the house when you're getting ready for work.
6. You can fix anything.
7. That you always want to snuggle.
8. That you never say my name, but always call me Guido.
9. That you work so, so hard.
10. That you have been, and continue to be, the best friend any girl could ever ask for.
11. (I know I said 10, but here's a bonus): You are an amazing father. I know that Ethan adores you and I fall in love with you all over again when I walk passed Ethan's room and hear the 2 of you reading books and giggling. **ahhhh, that's love**

Love always,
Your Guido

[Sound of crickets chirping]

That about sums up my last 24 hours. There are no words, but rather the silence speaks more loudly than any adjective could.

It all started yesterday morning. I woke up at 6:30 a.m. and realized that our big guy was still asleep. I should have known that the world was off its axis when Ethan was still sleeping at 6:30. You see, this kid has an internal alarm clock that has been set at 6:00 a.m. for quite some time now. Despite our sneaky efforts to trick the clock (putting him to bed half an hour later), we've failed miserably. Maybe this is the reason why we never choose to stay up past 10:00 p.m. When and if we ever contemplate a night out, any ideas of what to do are quickly followed up with a "Yeah, but we need to be home before 10". I need at least 7 hours of sleep a night to keep up with Ethan. The only time this kid sits still is when he sleeping and even then he still fidgets! (Gee, I wonder who he takes after????).

Okay, back to the story.

So, I wake up at 6:30 and immediately my overly-active brain starts running wild. After quick deliberation with myself I decide that I'm going to head outside and pull weeds. Seriously? If this isn't insight to my personality, I don't know what is. Who pulls weeds at 6:30 a.m.? Apparently this chick does.

I put on Pandora, gleefully put my headphones on and start pulling away. About 10 minutes in I feel my phone vibrating; it's Gabe. "Where on earth did you go?" He sounds mildly concerned, but as I say "I'm outside pulling weeds" I can mentally picture a face that says "Of course you are". He knows me so well. I tell him that I'll be done in 10 minutes. That quickly turned into 45. I became increasingly irritated with the chives growing on the side of my deck and decided that it was just time to cut them back. Gabe came out on the deck with Ethan with a look that was a little confused but more amused. Seeing my little guy and my guido both still in their jammies made me jealous so I removed my wet gardening gloves and brushed off whatever of the black dirt I could and headed inside.

I walk in the kitchen and I am met by the toothy grin of my 14 month old, and a sharp pain in my back that literally brings me to my knees. Gabe looks at me with a furrowed brow and says "Are you alright". I wasn't quite sure how to answer. I concluded that it was just from bending over pulling weeds and that it would go away.....well, it didn't! I spent the remainder of the day walking around normal one minute and the next minute looking like I was doing some sort of awful dance and yelling out a horrible noise. I wasn't even this vocal when I was giving birth. So, yeah. It hurt. And it still hurts. Really? Hurting your back from pulling weeds. Try making that not sound ultra-sissy!

I'm going to blame the next installment of my story on my aching spine and the fact that it was taking over any rational thinking I had left.

I had taken out chicken and was marinating it for dinner. I decided that since it was such a ginormous package of chicken I would grill the remainder for the rest of the week. I figured I'd be ahead of the dinner game. I put it on at 10:45 a.m. Gabe was busy upstairs painting the ceiling of our still-in-construction-stages master bedroom. He came downstairs and saw me with a plate of raw chicken and said "Do you want me to do that while you feed Ethan his lunch". I replied with a confident "No, I've got this". I've got this. Yeah, I had it alright. I put the chicken on, all seasoned with lemon-pepper and heard the sizzle. Yum. I thought to myself "Man, this is going to be really good in a salad this week". I went back into the house, continued the big man's lunch, and then stepped outside about 8 minutes later to give 'em a flip. They were starting to turn into grilled perfection; golden grill marks and all.

Fast forward to 5:30 P.M. We're at my grandma and grandpa's house with some family getting ready to start grilling our dinner. My aunt is in the dining room telling us how they had already grilled their chicken. I went to say "Hey, I did the same thing", but instead all that came out of my mouth was a "OH MY GOD". I quickly tried to convince myself that it wasn't true. "No, I didn't. I took it off". Nope, I didn't. I never took the chicken off the grill. This is, yet another reason, I'm glad we're literally 25 seconds away. My uncle assured me that the grill had probably already run out of gas and that everything was "probably fine"! He and Gabe ran home to check on it. Thankfully, the house hadn't burned to the ground. But the chicken? Well, it didn't make out so swell. Needless to say, they were now chicken bricks.

Yeah, I've got it. Bet I won't say that again.

Luckily, we got a good laugh out of it. In fact, we laughed all the way home (for that long 25 second drive). We laughed....until we walked in the door. And that's when the real "fun" began. We had left Stewie (our Westie) out while we were swimming and enjoying the bbq. Normally, this isn't an issue. He's pretty good. Well, this time, he wasn't so good. In fact, this was really, really bad. Obviously he was secretly fed way too much "people food" at Gabe's company picnic on Saturday because my living room had turned into his personal toilet (if dogs used toilets that is). It (and we all know what I'm talking about) was all over the living room. And it wasn't the kind you could just pick up and throw in the potty. This was the kind that, well, I'll spare you the details. Let's just say that Gabe and I looked at each other and said "Uh, how in the hell are we going to clean this up". I quickly volunteered to give Ethan a bath. Gabe was a champ and took on the challenge. I was pleasantly surprised after rocking our babe to bed that the living room showed no signs of the "crime scene", as we dubbed it. He was victorious. Stewie's stomach, however, was not.

We recovered nicely by sharing a pint of chocolate almond ice cream while snuggled up on the couch. We even got to bed early. It was a pleasant end to a, well, we'll just call it an interesting day.

The alarm went off at 5:00 a.m. this morning. It's Monday so it already sucks (sorry, there's no other way to put it) but waking up at 5:00 sucks e even more. But here's the kicker, I was up even before the alarm went off. What woke me up, you say? A smell.

Yes, folks. A smell that seemed all-too familiar. Like the 8 hours ago kind of familiar. I laid there for a moment. First of all trying to figure out what time it was. Second of all trying to convince myself that I was dreaming. But then Gabe woke up and he confirmed my fears. "Oh god. He did it again didn't he". I rolled out of bed and Gabe whispers "Watch your step, it could be up here".

Alright, I'm sorry. But this is already a BAD way to start a Monday morning. You never want to hear "Watch your step" when it's referring to that any day. Let alone 5:00 a.m.............ON A MONDAY!

I creep downstairs, trying not to wake up Ethan. I reached for the light and I hesitated for a moment. I don't know why? Like I thought if I closed my eyes hard enough it would just vanish on its own. My better judgment won the battle and I turned on the light and saw the disaster. Yes my friends, this time it was worse. Much worse. At least last night it was contained to a centralized area. Now it was everywhere. It spanned from one end of our living to the other.

Gabe and I tend to always be on the same page about things. Today, thankfully, was no exception. We, almost simultaneously, said "Where are the knives?" Mmm hmmm. That's right. At 5:00 a.m. this morning, well, probably more like 5:15 by the time we gathered our whits about us, we were cutting out our living room carpet.

Now, in all fairness, it's been the plan since we moved in to replace the carpet with laminate flooring. We just planned on waiting till the fall. Well, our "plans" showed us who's boss, didn't they? The funnier part is that I didn't feel like moving all of our living room furniture around before work so we cut out the "bad" parts and left the rest in tact until tonight. My living room now has a giant circle missing from the middle of it and miscellaneous square patches here and there on the outskirts. It's super classy.

Just to add a little more pizazz to my morning I almost ran over a ginormous turtle when I left the house and then after dropping Ethan off a rather large dog, who I mistook for a deer, darted across the road right in front of me.

Oh yeah, and my back still hurts.

Happy freakin' Monday.

I suck...[and summer so far]

I suck. At blogging, that is. I've said it before and I'll say it again; I'm in awe of people who manage to maintain a daily blog. I'm too tired at night to lotion up my summer-sizzled skin let alone turn on the laptop! So I'm not sure why this evening is affording me a few minutes of me time to share some of my summer with all of you. Maybe it's more that I'm attempting to block out the screaming 14 month old in the room next to me who has decided that going to sleep at night just really isn't his thing. Maybe it's because I'll feel less lazy if I'm laying in bed with my fingers busy at the keyboard rather than just laying in bed.

Either way, before summer passes by and the next time I'm blogging about Christmas shopping, here's a glimpse into how we've been enjoying of these warmer-weather days:

Ugh, HOT, HOT, HOT!

Getting teeth. Always an AWESOME time around the Redmond household.

 Ethan and daddy putting together a present from mommy and daddy!

 I think he liked it!

 Swimming on the 4th of July

 This kid's favorite toy...a BALL!!!

 Planting some dill!

 Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... my favorite!!! Nothing says summer like corn-on-the-cob!

 A quick trip into town led us to a hometown staple! Yummmmmm!!!!!!!!

 My weakness. This ended up all over me, my jeans, my car....

 Summer dinners on the grill...(and those are chives from our house!)

 Ethan was a little unsure about the tent...

 Crazy! I'm in a picture!

 The tent that Gabe put his sweat and tears into setting up...that we never ended up sleeping in. Tooooooooooo hot!

 Getting sidetracked on our way home from getting ice cream (again)

 Summer's real rough, isn't it?

 Sometimes a wrong turn can lead to beautiful discoveries (though, in all honesty, we knew this was here...we turned down the road specifically so I could take a picture...but still...)

 Can you say shish-kabob, 'cause I certainly can!

 Michigan's Adventure and a quick beach trip to Grand Haven

 The Redmonds (his foot's a little bigger than the last time we took this photo)

 Middle name: TROUBLE

 Can't take a trip without taking this...

 Sleepin' at the park!

 While Ethan napped we each enjoyed our own trip around the lazy river!

 My 2 best boys

 Who doesn't love a baby with a 5 o'clock shadow?