Day 2 - Christmas in June....with a mouse

What might promote me to go up in the attic to drag down the Christmas Tree?  Just some Laura Numeroff's, "If you Take a Mouse to the Movies".  Why we couldn't have chosen to read "The Bernstein Bears go on Vacation" is still plaguing me.  But...who can deny a child that wants to take a story and make it real??  Not his mom, that happens to be a teacher...and a lover of literacy!

So, we bring down the tree, pop some popcorn, string it on the tree, read the story (again)...all so he can eat every peice of popcorn that was threaded using needle and string.  While this wasn't a part of the actual story, it did leave for a humerous ending to our afternoon reading :)

Good job mom! 

Here, let me help a bit...

Just read this one more time...

So I can tend to this popcorn business.

I'll be selecting afternoon stories from here on out.  Thanks Laura!

Summer Savoring, Day 1

It's official. Summer is here. I had an AMAZING year at my new school (was honored to be named Teacher of the Year by my colleagues whom I respect and admire more than they'll ever know) and enjoyed a very special group of children that will forever be a part of my heart.  After a surprise brunch at school with friends and family, a few training sessions at the district office, and one last clean up in my classroom, I am beyond happy to have summer-time here to celebrate a little man that often doesn't get enough of me. 

So....I'm determined to document at least one moment from every day that I am blessed to share with this little guy.  Who knows, this might be our last summer being "just the two of us" and I don't want to look back come September and wonder "where did our summer go??"  I want to remember and smile on every day that we have together...whether it's good or not-so-good because I know these moments won't last forever.

Good-bye class of 2011-2012, you all are the BEST!

My amazing kiddos, the most spirited, enthusiastic and caring group I've ever known.  I love them all dearly!

All the beautiful arrangements given by my friends and family.  They are too good to me!

Helllllooo summa-time!

It's a blurry one, but it's the first official picture of our summer.  After training at the D.O. I picked him up so we could play at Cherry Park.  He's just doing some relaxin' ;)

At some point, I might make it back to re-cap one the many many months that I have been less than efficient in my blogging documentation.  But for now, just pretend like you know where we are in life...

1.  2 (and 6 months)...and not so terrible :)
2.  Potty trained (spring break was a pee break in this house)
3.  Silly, just like his daddy
4.  Loving
5.  Hilarious
6.  Big boy bed (or cage, as he refers to it)
7.  Singing, dancing, and talking up a storm!
8.  Riding his bike
9.  Will jump/jump off anything in sight
10.  Still loves to sing, dance, and will talk your ear off!

Birthday Post - All Aboard!!

A little late, but still in our hearts! We had so much fun preparing for our little guys 2 year birthday train bash! I can't explain how amazed I was with my husband. Chap did an amazing job job converting the lawn mower into a chop chop train!! I think he was worried about my sense of control when it comes to the parties, so he stepped right up and took full advantage of the fact that his little boy is obsessed with trains...and he knows how to make them!!

The kids had a blast riding around the yard yelling "all aboard" in their party favors, conductor hats, whistles, and scarves. We had a great time watching them :)

Inside we had an electronic riding train in one room, train tables in another, and choo choo snacks in another. It was a wonderful day celebrating our sweet boy's two years of laughs, love, and wonder. Thank you to all our friends and family who celebrated this day with us. Your support and love are a huge part of us and our little boy. We are forever grateful and can't wait to see year #3!!

Circus Fun!

Last night we had a GREAT time at the circus!! Winn was so excited to see all his friends, waving hysterically as soon as they came out. He pretended he was the ring master, telling all the elephants, tigers, and clowns what they should be doing. Today e thinks he is the "strong clown" and can lift everything and swing it around his head. This could get messy :)

I had to swallow back tears a couple times because how amazed i was and how lucky I felt to be there. Holding my boys, sitting beside my husband, and enjoying every second.

We had so much fun and can't wait till our next family event. Life gets better every day with a 2 year old!!

(ps... In attempt to keep up with my blog life a little better, I'm trying to post from my phone. If there is an app for not being slack, I'm on it!)

Where Are We??

Obviously MIA?! Don't think that this blog hasn't been in the back of my mind the last 5 weeks of our hectic lives, epecially as we get within sight of Winston's 2nd birthday. I know excuses aren't allowed; but we've been kinda busy??

Things We Hear/See Often

"I hold you." (When he wants me to hold him)
"All done, I play now." (After just about everything)
"Allll Aboard, chugga chugga choo." (Choo Choo Soul style)
"Tinkle, Tinkle, ittle tar..." (Twinkle Little Star)
"Hop Momma" (Get up, I will help you, and you will play with me)
"Shaka Hiney" (shake your hiney)
"Miiiiine"
"I hold it."
"Winton tuuuurn" (anytime I try to get him to share...always his turn)
"Let's Do Dis" (let's do this)
"Truck with Dadda"
"Momma news car" (Mom's new car.)
"Corn Pops" (Popcorn)
"Bown Bear Bown Bear, ut do you see?" (He can recite this book...almost perfectly.)
"Shaaaape Time" (When he wants to get his bucket of shapes out to play. I'm guessing this is how his teacher announces its time to play with shapes).

He LOVES puzzles right now, but doesn't fully exhibit patience (kind of an essential requirement...makes for an intereting grunt match usually).

Story telling is slowly starting - he will remember parts of a memory. Finally. I must ask him 50 times a week "What did you do today? Tell dadda what we did..." However, recently he's been giving a few words with no prompting.

"Groggy hop me. Get me, here (pointing to his neck) I pet Groggy." This was his re-cap of an altercation he had with a gigantic tree frog that was hanging out on the door of his play car. Rather than giving Winn a high-five, as he requested, the frog jumped directly on his face and stuck there. Mother of the year screamed and ran faster than my child was able to start crying. Anyway, as soon as he caught his breath, he declared that he was really sad because he couldn't pet the groggy. Needless to say, we spent the next hour looking for another frog for him to "pet".

Tonight (and my motivation for an update) after prayers he looked at me and said, "Good Day. Drive Elmo." Which began the prompting process of him giving words and me filling in the blanks of our lovely afternoon...

After school we went to the mall so momma could get new make-up and Winn could drive cars with Elmo and Dinosaurs (electronic play area the middle of the Galleria, A.K.A. my lucky star). Next, was the park, then we went to watch daddy work (on the train tracks!), had dinner, watched a little bit of Gabba, and waited for dad to come home. That he was able to label his day as a "good day" made my heart so happy. School has kept me very busy these days, making me very aware of how precious time is with my sweet boy. Anyway, I know it's a random pic, but this is in the car on the way home from our after school excersions..

More posts to follow. I MUST get caught up!!

Our 'Biolin' Boy

So, we recently discovered a new passion...the violin. Not sure when exactly this developed; we think it might have been the lovely quartet at the Nebraska wedding. Earlier this week Winston was very clearly trying to play the violin...with whatever he could use to reflect the violin motion. His arms, pens, crayons, sticks, etc.

During an after-dinner-band-practice session this weekend (sit around in the kitchen while mom cleans up and play the drums with kitchen accessories while dad accompanies with guitar), we decided to get Chap's real violin out to see if he would know what to do with it.

Turns out he did. Kind of. The bo was entirely too long to take with him all the places he needed it; the car, the grocery store, the pool, the bed, etc.

This was earlier this morning at breakfast. He has been getting up EXTRA early screaming "Mommmma...BIOLIN" in his crib until I wake up, and take him to get his violin (no we have not actually let him take it to sleep with yet; but a few more early morning wake up calls and I might be tempted...)

Seriously...I haven't seen him this obsessed with anything yet. It cracked me up. We took the strings out of the bo, so it doesn't even make noise. Yet, he thinks he is playing the violin...he will have a little performance, set the bo and violin down, and begin clapping for himself.
Watching Dave Mathews Band to get motivated after breakfast. He loves some Boyd.

So, this afternoon (after several near domestics with the extra long bo he was using from Chap's violin) we decided we'd venture down to the local music shop, Woody's, to see if they had any smaller bo's he might be able to manage a little better.

...and instead we came home with this. A gently used baby violin. Comes complete with baby bo, baby case, and a baby CD/DVD set for mommy and daddy teaching them how to play the violin (which by the way...listening to someone learn the violin is simlar to what I imagine cats might sound like when they are dying.)
I'm not sure why I didn't think of it sooner...stick + guitar = his Heaven. I'd be lying if I said there isn't a small part of me that hopes he has a little bit of talent to combine with his passion for music. However, if not...that's ok too. At least he will be a little diverse with his instrumental knowledge, and can perhaps start a one man basement band of his own one day.

"Airpanes" and Nebraska!

My cousin, Drew, married an amazing girl (and an amazing family) this past weekend. Katie is from Nebraska which = roadtrip!! Note: our last “family trip” was in a RV that lasted about 32 hours round trip (Greenville, SC to Hot Springs, Arkansas) which included lots of sleeping, movie watching, hanging out, freedom to pee at any moment, snacking, games, internet, did I mention sleep? etc. Sounds a little like luxury when you consider the newest variable in this journey: my child. The entire Gourley Gang loaded up 10 bags, 6 adults, and 1 toddler to celebrate the union with Drew and Katie in Omaha, Nebraska. You’d think the adult/toddler ratio would have the adults coming out on top. After a wonderful weekend, with lots of love, happiness, and new memories with Drew, Katie, and the entire Berky family, I am humbly admitting that there is some crap that I just can’t control.

Drew and Bryan are like brothers to me, so in the planning of this trip I was hell-bent that my child would be well behaved enough for me to enjoy and celebrate this special day with my cousin (and yes, for all you “toddler parent veterans” I did explore/beg the option of boarding my child with his wonderful, Cookie…at which I was quickly dismissed). After a wonderful and humbling weekend I am here to admit that I have don’t have near as much control over situations as I thought. I’m also slowly realizing that it comes with the toddler territory??

Was my child Satan’s spawn? Absolutely not. Was he a toddler? Absolutely. Am I still proud of him? Without a doubt. He did the best he could, considering he had a double ear infection, had never flown before, changed time zones, and had been away from his consistent environment 5 days prior to the trip. Reflecting on it, I wish I would have relaxed more about how “well behaved” my 19 month old was. My family was wonderful, my sister-in-law was a life saver, brother was his usual “rock solid” and supportive self, husband was patient with me while I tried to make things as “in control” as possible. My lesson: JUST LET GO. There is no way I’ll ever be able to live up to unreasonable expectations (that are often set forth by myself) if I continue this annoying trend. I am going to miss a lot of wonderful/horrifying memories along the way that I may or may not want to miss.

I loved understanding love a little more this weekend. Drew and Katie’s new love, mine and Chap’s patient love, and my love for my little boy – unconditional and always!

Thank you, Drew and Katie, for including us in your amazing weekend! We had SO much fun celebrating your new beginning! Chap and I could see how much you loved each other and it truly made us remember the love we have for each other...even when patient is thin :)

Pictures are in no particular order. Evidently I am letting go of controling that also :)

At the rehearsal dinner - he might have had a medium sized meltdown because he couldn't see the choo-choo train that he witnessed as he was walking in. Trust me, there were many tactics tried...but none that could penetrate the "MY TRAIN" episode.

Semi-under-control at rehearsal dinner. Thank GOD for my Auntie Anne, her amazing prep work included Lightning McQueen who talked, and lit up. Sent straight from Heaven, I tell ya. This is the slope the ramp he found at the hotel. This is also the only time he actually "walked" down the ramp, holding the rail as instructed. If you noticed the door behind him, you might have also guessed that it does open and does knock down 1 1/2 year olds that like to play outside it.
Aunt Mandi, mommy's miracle :) She was so wonderful and probably worked just as hard as we did to make sure things went "smoothly". Thank you sista!!
The boys golf outing...wonder who the photographer was of the "thumbs up" picture?? :)

Visiting with Tutu -makes every second worth it. We love you, Tu, and can't WAIT to see you soon! YES! The airplane was just as exciting as I'd dreamed and hoped it would be for my little guy! He loved it...and literally chanted and sang the entire time. Our first night home he asked me after prayer, "Go airpane with Unc Norm again?" Yes, honey, you can probably go on an airplane with Uncle Norm again. And only Uncle Norm. ;)
Visiting the cockpit for the first time!
Layover in Chicago - 3 hours of airplanes, ice cream, distraction, and "cheers"!
I love this picture, and love my Tutu!!!
The Quartet + 1 played throughout the wedding dinner.
Thankfully, this crew didn't mind a little air piano via Winn. This was the moment I realized I needed to let it go. ;) Breakfast with Unc Norm, CHEERS!
Adventures around Omaha with Aunt Mandi. Not just a "walk in the park", I assure you of that :)
I love this boy so very much! And love my family for loving him as much as I do! Thank you all for being patient with us. We had a BLAST!!!