For Sale

Well, it seems we're close to outgrowing our current house.  We are just fine and would continue to be just fine with our 1200 sq ft and 3 bedrooms, however, it sure would be nice to have a little more space and some room to play outside!  So, we've put our house on the market.  We'll see how it goes.  So far, it's been interesting with a two year old but it's going well.

We took a weekend, without Thomas (thanks Meme!), and got most of our house packed up.  All the extra toys are gone, all the extra clothes are gone, we are officially decluttered.  Mom has some extra storage space so we packed up a 14 foot UHaul truck and loaded it into mom's storage.  It is amazing to me how much STUFF we can acquire in such a relatively short amount of time.  The kicker is that most of the stuff belonged to one little boy, who shall remain nameless.

So, this...

...turned into this.

And, this.....

...turned into this.

And so on and so on throughout the rest of the house.  And now we're ready to do it all over again when we sell 2429 Appalachian and find our next home. :)

Trip to the Zoo

So, the day after my last post, we went to the NC Zoo in Asheboro, NC with Papa, Oopsy and Aunt Whitney.  We met bright and early in the morning off the highway and then made the rest of the trek to the zoo.  What a great day it was!  The weather was great and the animals were so cool to watch.  Thomas enjoyed running (or strolling) from exhibit to exhibit and often barely looked at the animals.  He did like the polar bears and the seals.

This is Thomas riding on the back of a monkey. (not real, of course!)

 

Thomas and Oopsy enjoyed watching the chimpanzees.  The cracks in the glass made Mama a little nervous, but all was well and there were no crazy monkey outbursts.

The walkers and the strollers.

We packed a picnic lunch and avoided the chaos in the dining area in the middle of the zoo.  Instead of people surrounding us, we had geese!

The bear keepers sent us a message loud and clear!

Here we are after a long day at the zoo.  After this picture we walked back through the park instead of taking the tram.  I was happy for the exercise and Thomas was happy for the nap.  Guess we wore him out!

Big Boy Footsteps

...That is what I hear coming down the hall these days.  It's no longer a pitter-patter.  It's a full-out run on those size 8.5's!  Things that bring Thomas running these days - the sound of the iced tea maker coming out of the cabinet (he helps fill it with ice and put the tea bags in, making sure to leave the tags out); filling up our Brita water pitcher (he helps "carry" it back to the fridge); any of his favorite shows on TV (Handy Manny, Sesame Street, Mickey Mouse, Chuggington, etc.); running his bath.

We also seem to have a pretty polite child, which is nice.  He almost always says "please" and "thank you" and uses them correctly.  We even walked by a stranger on the sidewalk tonight and he said "excuse me" in the sweetest little tone.  The conversation we have most often around this household goes a little something like this:

Thomas: "Hi Daddy!"
Daddy: "Hi Thomas! How are you?"
Thomas: (through a wide grin) "Duhd" or for those of you that don't speak Toddler-ese, "Good"

We have this conversation over and over and over with anyone within earshot.  Daddy first, then Mommy, then grandparents if they're around, one by one.  He gets such a kick out of this simple little conversation.

Speaking of conversation, he really is starting to take off with the talking.  He regularly says two-word (or more) "sentences" and knows how to address the person he's talking to.  For instance, the other day, out of the blue, he said "Happy dayday Mama!"  That's how he says Happy Birthday, and no, it wasn't my birthday.  He'll also say things like, "please Daddy" and "Mama's car go home"...you get the picture.  So cute!

I'm starting to realize that discipline is really starting to become an issue so that is a hot topic in my life right now.  He is starting to enjoy a little more freedom, so listening to Mama and Daddy is becoming even more important.  I'm sitting here looking at a list of 8 books that have been recommended to me over the past couple of weeks.  I'm going to narrow them down and start reading!  I keep telling myself that it won't be an answer that works perfectly from the get go and never fails.  But, I sure do need more info and knowledge on the subject, from a few different points of view!  We'll see what I find out.

Here is Thomas with his friend Lilly at the park.

The weather has started to get warm and we've been spending a lot of time at the park lately.  We just tried a new park this week that was great and we even got to take a nice long walk around the lake with our friend Amanda and her dog, Cooper.  (By the way, we may just put a saddle on Cooper and bring him to Thomas' birthday party. That dog is huge and was a hit with the kids at the park.  He's such a sweet dog!)

The boys of OIB, enjoying some piano time.

We spent Easter weekend at Cherry Grove with the Williams'.  We enjoyed spending time with family and we even got to see Shawn's cousin Jo, her husband and their baby girl, Holly.  We were able to check out Ryan's new ice cream shop in Myrtle Beach and Thomas got a free scoop!  That's the benefit of having an uncle that owns an ice cream shop, I guess!!  We cooked out the last night and broke in Shawn's new cornhold boards.  Thanks mom!!

Thomas rode his first carousel while at Barefoot Landing in Myrtle Beach.

I think he was holding on pretty tight.

We're headed to the NC Zoo for the first time with Thomas tomorrow so I'm sure I'll have some pictures to share soon!  Hope everyone is having a lovely Spring so far!!

Valentines Day & Dinosaurs

This is one of my favorite funny pictures from Thomas' 21-month pictures at Portrait Innovations.  Ms. Kathleen always does a great job and she loves to see how big Thomas is getting.  He was stuck to Mommy for the first five minutes (which is odd, considering that has been like a second home to us...), but after that he was hamming it up for the camera.  He was, however, more interested in playing with the soccer ball and the bubbles.  I think he thinks it is a play place, where they just happen to have cameras to capture the action.  Here is another good one.

We had a very nice and relaxing Valentine's Day.  I got up and made heart-shaped pancakes and bacon for the guys.

Thomas spent a night away with his Grandma and Grandaddy.  They took him to Myrtle Beach to see Uncle Ryan and Aunt Cassie.  He had a blast riding his 4-wheeler and eating ice cream at Uncle Ryan's ice cream shop.  When we called to check-in, they happened to be at the shop and when we talked to Thomas on the phone, the first thing he said was "ice cream!"  I think he enjoyed it!

Last weekend we went to the Museum of Natural Sciences in Downtown Raleigh.  That place has so much to see, some of which was interesting for Thomas and some...not so much.  He did enjoy seeing the dinosaurs and the fish.  By the time we got up to the butterflies and various other animals, I think he had seen all he wanted to see.  He was very interested in standing in a window sill on the top floor and looking out over the buildings.

We often drive by the tower at the WRAL studios near our house and the NC State Bell Tower.  He points enthusiastically and says "TOWER!!!"  Now, when we drive by any building over 3 stories, he shouts "TOWER!!"  It's cute.  He's saying more and more cute stuff and I really need to get better at writing them down as I go.  Today I noticed him lining up his cars, as usual.  He moved one to the front of the line and said "excuse me".

We typically would have a pancake or a waffle for breakfast, but recently I let him try some of Mommy's oatmeal.  He loved it and ate the entire bowl.  So, now he is enjoying his oatmeal most mornings.  He's pretty good at feeding himself.  I will say, the bibs with the pocket at the bottom are worth every penny!

So, Thomas is now 22 months old and we are hurtling toward his birthday.  Can't believe my little man will be 2 soon.  He's such a sweet boy and has such a kind spirit.  Recently he's been holding out his arms to ask for a hug.  Instead of saying "hug" he just tilts his head to the side and says "awwwww" with a grin on his face.  That's the same thing we hear after we take his picture.  He says "cheese" and then does the head tilt, awwww thing.  So funny and so sweet!  I love my little man.

The Blizzard of 2010

Yep, we got snow.  Not much, but enough to have fun with...and enough to be tired of it 3 days later.  It snowed on Friday night, overnight, and sleeted for most of the day on Saturday.  We tried to get out in it Saturday afternoon, but not for long.  It was cold and windy.  So, Sunday we made it out before lunch.  I put together a sled out of a cardboard box, garbage bags and duct tape.  It was perfect for the few times we sledded down a little hill in our back yard.  Thomas had fun and kept saying "adin, adin" (again).

For all the parents out there, can I express a frustration?  When are they going to come up with gloves that actually stay on my child's hands.  We spent most of the time pulling them back on and then we just gave up.  He played in the snow with bare hands.  I just checked them often and figured we'd head in if they got too cold.  The mittens don't work and we haven't even tried the gloves with fingers yet.  I can't even get his thumb in the right place in the mittens, much less every finger where it belongs in a glove!  Am I the only one that feels this way?

Moving right along, after playing in the snow, we came inside and had hot chocolate and grilled cheese for lunch.  We also had chili this weekend.  There is something about those foods when you've been out playing in the snow.  Makes for a perfect day!

Thomas has been playing a lot of basketball on his kid-size hoop recently.  It is on the lowest setting and the rim is still about 2 feet above his head.  He likes when we pick him up, but he'll also throw it himself and does a pretty good job.  He'll make a real basket every once in a while.  When he doesn't make the shot he smiles and says "misssssssssssss".  Makes me giggle.

So, the snow is finally melting away and we are getting back to normal.  I felt like I'd been freed from jail when we were able to drive somewhere yesterday!!  If you had snow, I hope you had fun in it.

Amen. Now eat!

So, my post was just a little premature this afternoon, as there was a noteworthy funny at supper tonight.  Mom, Whit and Devin were over for supper and we were all sitting around the table.  As we do every other night, we held hands and Shawn said a blessing.  When he was through, Thomas wanted to hold various hands and say "Amen" again and again.  Finally, he said "Amen.....now eat!"  We couldn't help but laugh.  I can't believe he just said that.....hilarious!

So, I hope you all had a wonderful evening and a wonderful supper.  Amen.  Now eat.

Catch Up??

I don't even think I'm capable of catching up......  How about we just start over?

My name is Lauren, my husband is Shawn and we have a 20 month old named Thomas....okay, I guess we don't have to go THAT far back.  Christmas was great, busy, but great!  New Years was uneventful, as usual, except for a fun gathering with some of our friends while Thomas rang in the New Year in his crib under the watchful eye of his Mamaw and Grandaddy.  January has been just fine.  Typical NC weather...75 one day, 32 the next.  In fact, Thomas and I went to the park to play in jeans and t-shirts last week and we're supposed to get snow this weekend.  Why can't I ever seem to get used to this weather??!!

Thomas is sending us (or should I say me?) on a roller coaster nearly every day.  He'll be an angel for most of the day, listening to me when I ask him to do something, laughing, eating his snacks and meals and then he'll take on the personality of someone I wouldn't choose to be around.  He throws good ole' toddler fits, slings food across the table, throws toys, screams at the top of his lungs with his fists clenched.  Can you picture that??  Really try to picture that.....  Seems cute, doesn't it?  It's not.  But, I must say, he is a wonderful little boy with a great demeanor and some of the trouble lies with me.  I need to work on patience, consistency, and many other things I'm not even aware of yet!

Some random notes about Thomas:
-- He is learning many new concepts and is really starting to converse well (for a 20 month old).
-- I was in our room the other day and he was playing next to me.  Next thing I know, he's walking out, shutting the door and looked right at me and said "bye bye" with a big smile on his face.  He also says "bye bye" when he pushes his high chair away from the table.
-- He repeats everything!  Our conversation in the car the other day went like this.
Mama: Did you have fun today?
Thomas: Today.
Mama: What did you do?
Thomas: Do.
Mama: Did you play with your new toy?
Thomas: Toy.
You get the idea....  :)

The child will be TWO in a little over 3 months!!!  That is just insane!!!  Where's the pause button??