Wordless(ish) Wednesday: Tomato Picker

A boy after my own heart <3 He picked a pear tomato off my plant and ate it while we played outside. Tomatoes picked straight from the plant are my favorite summertime snack!

Fun in the Bean Bin

The time between when we get home in the evenings and dinner during the week is torture in our house. I hate to have to say Alex spends close to 11 hours a day at the sitters, so he's tired, Kris and I are both exhausted from our day at work so suffice it to say, we're all stretched thin and a "little" cranky. But dinner still has to made and the evening must go on so I've had to come up with ways to distract Alex while I prepare dinner and wait for Daddy to get home.

If you follow me on Instagram, have already seen a little of the bean madness going in my home. Those of you who do not, here is a little run down. Last week, I discovered the power of Pinto Beans. I filled half of a shallow plastic storage bin with uncooked pinto beans, added in some sand toys and small plastic cups and, voila! Instant toddler entertainment! It's unbelievable how simple (yet creative) this activity is. Alex has so much fun that we have to hide the Bean Bin when it's not in play, as soon as he sees it and realizes he's not playing in it, high pitch squeals of the non laughter type fill the room. But on those evenings, which sadly these days tend to be every evening, I am almost guaranteed 30 minutes of kitchen time if the Bean Bin comes out. 30 minutes that buys me both sanity and enough time to get dinner ready until Daddy gets home to take over Alex duty.

I put the bin on the kitchen floor, that way I can supervise him, and Alex will play and giggle without a care in the world. The bin is shallow so it's easy for him to climb in which he always does, I was crazy to think he would quietly sit on the outside of the bin and play with the beans. He climbs in and will move his hands and feet around in the beans, I think he likes the way it feels between his fingers and toes. Then he will grab the shovel, scoop up some beans and pour them in a cup and them empty the cup *mostly into the bin.

I'd be lying if I said this activity was mess free, be warned. There is some cleanup required afterwards but because it's beans, it's pretty simple. The beans are easily picked up by the vacuum cleaner or scooped back into the Bean Bin. Another perk of using beans is there isn't that musty stale odor like you might get using rice. Fortunately for me, Alex likes to put things away. He seems to really take note of where things go, he knows his books are on the shelf in the living room and his blocks are inside the storage ottoman. He seems to enjoy putting things back just as much as he enjoys dumping things all over the room so often I can get him to help me get the beans back in the bin before we put it away. I have such a good little boy :)

What We Did This Weekend

Boy, were we busy this weekend creating awesome family memories! 

The weekend started on a somber note, we said a lot of prayers for a family we hold very close to our hearts who needed our support and will continue to do so. 

But then Friday night came around and we played, and we played, and then we played a little bit more. Charlie and Alex had a great night together which brings a BIG smile to my husband and my face. Charlie can be a little, what we call bi-polar, when it comes to Alex. Sometimes she plays with him but then a flip switches and he's the worst thing that could happen to her and she growls at him, never bites, just growls. But Friday night Alex and Charlie played with her tennis ball for what seemed like forever. Charlie looked so happy that someone was actually playing with her and Alex laughed and laughed (I could listen to his laughter forever, it's music to any mama's ears.)

Side note: I've noticed that in all the pictures I post, it may appear that we never put clothes on our child. I assure you this is not true. We've had a hot summer, and by hot a mean scorching so when we are home, we usually let Alex have a little nakie time so he's comfortable. I promise Alex wears clothes when we go out. 

Playing with Charlie, I knew they'd be friends eventually. Charlie doesn't seem to love Alex as much as he loves her. 

Was really into talking on his phone until he got a little frustrated with the paparazzi and demanded the camera lens go back and the camera and the camera goes away. 

Saturday, we decided to take advantage of that Zoo membership we bought. This time, we took Kris's Dad and Step mom and it turned out that was a fantastic idea! Alex had a blast at the zoo and we noticed he seemed to be a lot more observant this time around. He noticed everything and loved looking at the animals with his little finger pointing at it all while he said "ook." With my FIL, he went into the aviary where a bird landed right on his Grandpa's hand and Alex was desperate to "pet" the bird, luckily Daddy was there and was fast enough to pull Alex's hand back, that may not have ended well considering that "petting" for Alex is usually a hard slap. 

On our way out, we swung by the Zoo gift shop and decided we were going to let Alex pick out what he wanted. I know, I know, he's 16 months old, could he really pick something out? Well, pick something he did. When we walked in the door, he looked around and then ran straight to the display with stuffed snakes. He pulled on a 5ft long Burmese Python and then carried drug it around the store. He stopped and looked played with a few other things but never let go of the snake, so we took home a Burmese Python from the Columbus Zoo. 

After the Zoo, we went to Easton where Alex hit the jackpot when Grandma discovered Buy Buy Baby, lots of really cool new toys, clothes and shoes. We followed up with a great family dinner at P.F Changs where Alex fell in love with lettuce wraps and lemons, not kidding, he sucked about 4 lemon slices at dinner. The real fun came after dinner though. We went to the splash park in the center of the mall and Alex was in his own little slice of heaven. It's amazing how happy my son is when there is water around, I have so much fun watching him run around and laugh. 

As you can see, Alex had a GREAT day with his Grandma and Grandpa Schmelzer!

Sunday was a bit more laid back, I figured after Alex's big day  the day before, he could use a little break before going into the grind of the week. We played around the house for a little, had a nice family lunch together and then before nap time, we walked over to the nearby elementary school and played on the playground. I think Alex could have stayed here all day, in fact we had to carry him home kicking and screaming, he was NOT ready for the fun to end. 

The evening ended peacefully, which was really nice compared the tantrum throwing version of Alex we typically have in the evenings. All 3 of us snuggled on the couch, Alex with his new snake draped around his shoulders, and watched the first half of Over the Hedge together. Then it was bedtime, as busy as the weekend was, is sure did go by fast.

Here's to making lasting memories, and I am thankful to have this blog to look back at and remind me of how wonderful my life is. :) 

What's YOUR Strategy?

How do you do it? How do you be a mom without losing it? Lately, Alex has been suffering from Early On-set Terrible Twos. It's real, look it up. It seems that as soon as he hit 16 months the attitude surfaced as did the tantrums. Good LORD, the tantrums! It seems that anything and everything will throw him into one. Life has become a little bit like walking on egg shells in the house because we are grasping at straws to keep our sanity. He sees the keys from across the room, he throws himself on the floor. He spots the sweeper in the closet, he throws himself on the floor. The dog looks at him, he throws himself on the floor. The wind blows, he throws himself on the floor. Do you see the trend? It's just never ending and it's really starting to wear on me.

In this picture, Alex probably didn't get something he wanted . . . . 

The weekends are pretty smooth, I look forward to them and it seems that when we have him with us all day he is fantastic. It's during the week that I find myself losing my patience, I hate that. All is well when I pick him up from the sitter's house, the car ride home is smooth, but then we get home. Getting in the front door is always a hassle. Charlie (our dog) is always so excited to see us we can't keep her down, her tail (and tongue) flopping everywhere. Charlie has a little issue sometimes we refer to as "happy pees" so our mission every time we come home is to get her to go straight to the back door so we can get her to go outside. So, trying to do that, while holding my laptop bag, lunch bag, purse, diaper bag, oh AND Alex making a mad dash to the back of the house so I don't have to clean up any happy messes is a bit daunting, ok it's INSANE! Once Charlie is out, I drop every thing, except for Alex of course, to the floor and then set Alex down. This is when it starts, he screams every evening when we set him down. He stops briefly when Daddy gets home because he will pick him up. Than he puts him back down and the screaming starts again. This  carries on throughout most of the evening, making most things, well, pretty much impossible to accomplish. The only reasoning for this behavior I can come up with is that he runs himself hard all day long, playing with other kids, eating, playing, oh and playing. The kid never stops moving and I think he's just so tired in the evening's that he's just hard to deal with.

I find myself losing patience. I find myself yelling at him and walking away. How do I keep my cool. I don't want him to think of Mommy as that kind of mommy. I feel like such a terrible mother every time I yell but sometimes, ok a lot of the time, I just can't seem to handle it. Help me! I strongly despise that this is the only weekday relationship I seem to have with him. I work and hour away from home which results in my being away from him 10-11 hours a day. That's a long time, especially to a 16 month old. In the morning, we get him up, fed, dressed and we are out the door. In the evenings, we come home, eat dinner, give Alex a bath and then it's bedtime. I feel like I don't even see my son during the week, like I only have weekend custody or something, so it just drives me nuts that the only time I do get with him, is filled with his whining, screaming, tantrum throwing attitude and my losing my patience with him.

This is what I look at the majority of every evening.

What's your strategy? How do you keep your cool? Please help, would love/need advice on this one. Deep breathing? A little chant? A happy dance? What can I do hold my patience?

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble

How can something like this . . . .

Turn into something like this in about 0.2 seconds?

What happened here is Alex didn't get what he wanted. We were having a great time, he still really enjoys his bath so I thought I'd bring in something new to have even more fun, bubbles. At first it was great, he was having fun watching them float all over the bathroom and thought it was great when they would perch themselves on his arm or belly. But then it changed. You know how a laser pointer can be really funny with a cat, but then the cat figures out where the light is coming from so that's all they stare at? Well that is kind of what happened with Alex last night in the tub. He was loving the bubbles but then he spotted where the bubbles were coming from and that's all he cared about. He wanted the bubble wand and he decided he was going to scream until he got it. I gave it to him and he of course tried to eat it so I took it from him and decided that bubble time was over. So the bubbles went away, Alex screamed, and I lost my mind.

The. End.

Randomness

Sometimes, life just gets in the way of blogging. I promise you I have not left the blogisphere although it would appear that I have since my last real post was 2 weeks ago, sorry about that. I've been randomly busy with all sorts of things so the blog has been kind of put on the back burner for the time being but don't worry, soon I will be back in full swing with lots of new posts full of my family happening goodness. Until then, here are some random things that have kept me busy and just some of the random things that pop in and out of my head.


1. We've been playing, lots! Our city is riddled with parks, lots and lots of parks. We tend to gravitate towards the same one but decided to mix it up a little recently so we took Alex to a playground that I used to play on when I was little. Alex of course loved and I got relive a little of my childhood while my husband dabbled a little bit in his too :)

2. I have extended a promotion at my ETSY shop through Monday. Enjoy 3 extra days to get 15% off (HAPPYHEART15) all Happy Heart purchases. OR . . . . . drumroll please. . . I'm offering FREE overnight shipping (HAPPYHEARTSHIPSFREE) until 11:59 Monday, August 13, 2012. Happy Heart has lots to offer, check it out and remember to place your orders by 11:59pm Monday to take advantage of this special promotions.

Happy Heart of Mine on Etsy

3. My son won't eat vegetables, help!

4. I've been struggling with self confidence, as in I have none. So I made the decision that I am the only one that could change the way I felt about myself and started making some changes. I had a little mini makeover, I went and had some highlights added to my dull brown hair and started Weight Watchers, here's to the (future) new me!

5. Alex is suffering from early on-set terrible twos, and my sanity occasionaly checks out

6. I've mentioned in a previous post that Kris and I have 2 things that we turn to when Alex is upset, the great outdoors and Just Dance on the Wii. Well, we were out of town last weekend and a storm hit home. Unfortunately, our Wii took a hit. It died. Alex is devastated and Mommy and Daddy's sanity is gone. We have resorted to playing a CD with non-stop Hey Ya by Outkast in a loop. It makes me crazy but it makes the 16 month old happy so we just deal with it.

7. Semi lookin forward to the weekend. Kris is golfing this weekend (again) so we are sans Daddy for the weekend. He is going to be able to meet us Saturday evening though in Columbus, we're taking Alex to his first baseball game. I know he's a little young, but courtesy of my work, we've scored a lew of tickets and have decided to take Alex with is rather than get a sitter for the night. Wish us luck!

Wordless Wednesday : I almost forget. . . . .

. . . . . . what it was like to look down and see almost only belly. Me at about 36 weeks, Alex was born at 39.