My Morning

The boys have actually been sleeping in until 7 lately which is awesome! I've allowed myself to sleep in right along with them. My excuse is that the 2.5yr old has made his way into our bed nearly every night so I don't want to wake him up while sneaking out. ;)

After a long week with Hubby out of town and a sick baby (most likely just a virus that is leaving him with a temp between 100-101) I decided to set my alarm and get up before the boys. I needed some alone time to start my day. Being a morning person, I find this especially helpful to start my day off on the right foot.

So I set my alarm for 6:15am. 

Beckett woke up crying at 5:56am. I went in there, nursed him and got him back to sleep. By then it was already 6:15 so I went to the bathroom and started to think of what I would do with my alone time. (I had already read my Bible and prayed when the sickie baby had me up earlier in the morning.) 

Unfortunately, I didn't even get to wash my hands before a little person had opened the bathroom door and groggily walked in. 

Then he wanted to be held. I could tell he was still sleepy so I somehow convinced him we should go back to bed. I laid down with him for about 10 minutes when the baby let out a loud cry. Barker sat up and announced, "Beckett's waking up!" So I told him I was going to the baby and asked if he wanted to stay in bed. He did.

When I went into Beckett's room, the poor punkin was in the fetal position, facedown and whimpering. As soon as I picked him up I could tell his fever was back. 

We made our way to the family room to rock and about a minute later we were joined by the 2.5yr old. It was about 6:45 by then.

For some reason I had a hard time waking up and keeping my eyes open this morning...

After lots of cries over minor incidents (like Mommy not allowing him to chew on the remote) Beckett got to go down for an early nap. 

Say a prayer for the little guy and also that the toddler (who likes to chew on Beckett's teething rings and drink from his sippy cups) won't get sick too.

I think we are all looking forward to Daddy's return tomorrow morning.

On a Happier Note: After pretty much taking a potty training break this summer, Barker has initiated going to the potty all on his own twice in the last 24hrs!

Special Moments

Written 8/12/16 but apparently didn't publish:

This summer Barker has been playing with a little road from a Lego set. He loves to prop it up like a ramp and just run all his cars on it. He knows each piece and every single piece must be connected. He calls it his "path."

 But as you can see, this path is small with only 3 tracks.

Yesterday, as he walked out of his office at the end of the work day, Brett declared Barker needed a new path. 

So after getting shoes on and loading up into the van we headed out for a quick dinner and a family trip to Toys R Us.

Naturally, the first exciting thing we saw there was a giant Paw Patrol display.

No time for pictures with his favorite Characters though, these toys needed to be inspected.

We also saw Thomas and his interactive display.

Then we finally found the Hot Wheels aisle and some "paths" to try out right there!

After a little playing while Daddy selected the perfect starter set, it was time to take it home.

By the time we got home it was past 8:00 (bed time is usually 7:30) but Daddy & Barker were too excited to be thinking about bed times.

I quickly put the baby to bed and then we let Barker stay up playing with his new tracks and cars until 9. (He still asked for "five more minutes." ;)) 

As I watched him jump with excitement and begin to experiment with the tracks and cars, I was happy to give him this special moment.

Staying up late on a summer night, building paths and playing cars with his Dad. :)

Then in the morning it felt like Christmas morning. Barker bounced on our bed asking if we could go play with the path. As I got up he cheered and then took off down the hallway. It was time to play with his special new toy.

I love this kid.

Riverboat Dinner Cruise

As I mentioned in my previous post, we celebrated my mom's 60th Birthday this weekend!
The main event was a Sunday night dinner cruise on the BB Riverboats in Cincinnati.

 We invited family and close friends to join us as we dined and took in the city view on a 2.5hr riverboat ride.

Barker started out a bit wired and had us all over the boat looking at things. I then remembered he hadn't eaten anything since our early lunch.

Once he was fed he slowed down a little. Haha He did manage to sit through dinner and he was very sweet. But after that he was ready to explore and pull along Daddy, Mommy, Aunt Starla or anyone else that would come with him.

At least the boat wasn't too big, so it would have been hard to lose him. ;)

Beckett was wonderful! He happily visited with whoever wanted to hold him as he inspected their jewelry and got his cheeks kissed.

It's hard to believe how fussy (colic) and clingy he started out. He is so chilly and just happy now!

The food was pretty good, but the best part of the cruise was the view.

The weather was perfect. Not too hot, not too cool. Everyone was outside, chatting and taking pictures.

They also had some music. It wasn't much to really write about, but Mom & Dad did get in one impromptu dance. =)

Overall, it was a nice evening to enjoy with family and I think Mom had a happy birthday.

The boys were pretty tired by the end because it was 2hrs past their bedtime, but all things considered, I was happy with how well they did.

Now we can look forward to being together again with my parents and sisters on a Carnival Cruise in mid-September! At least then there will be plenty of places to roam and explore; also our room will be nearby for breaks. I can't wait!

Painting! (With adults?!)

(oops, thought this published 3 days ago but it didn't go through)

While I do not have an actual "Bucket List" there are somethings I've always though would be fun to do and I hope to one day do them. One of the things on my mental to do wish list was to go to a recreational 2hr class and paint something. Last weekend, I finally did it!

My Mom turns 60 this week so we had an entire celebratory weekend. On Saturday, the girls got to go painting! Mom, myself and my two sisters. 

None of us had done anything like this before so we were all excited and a little nervous. 

It ended up being so much fun and not nearly as hard as you might think. 

I really enjoyed starting with a blank canvas and learning how to blend and take simple steps to make something pretty cool.

Sometime it looked a bit odd and I'd think, "what did I do?!" 

But in the end it turned out really well and I'm kind of proud of it. ;)

One of the coolest parts is when you get to the end and see how everyone followed the same steps but has something that is uniquely her own.

I will definitely be doing this again. :)