“Mommy, I sad.”

This was what I heard from the backseat of our car while pulling away from my brothers house on New Year’s Eve.

“Grant, fun.”

“(Pa)tricia, fun.”

And then, because he is two,

“TV, fun.”

But while I was in awe that my little bruiser could identify his emotions so well and that he was perceptive enough to realize that when we pulled away from that house it would probably be a very long time before we saw Grant and Patricia again.

I also realized that in order to be sad, it also meant things had to be pretty good.

And it was.

 

All the fam was together for a good three days.

And it was an awesome reminder of how blessed we are to have such an amazing family.

People that love us despite our many flaws, encourage us in our endeavors, and help us when we need it most.

 

So while my little one was expressing his current onset of sadness.

Repeatedly.

For several minutes.

Without reprieve.

Over and over and over again.

I drove into the New Year thankful.

 

And then I shoved a TV screen in front of him to safe guard my sanity.

I already annoy him.

I realize that a part of being a parent is your kids finding you completely annoying and embarrassing.

I still find my parents annoying sometimes and I am in my 30’s.

But I did not realize my son would find me annoying before the age of TWO!

I was under the impression that this did not happen until at least third grade.

I thought I still had several more years of being the coolest person in his little word.

But nope.

I’m annoying.

We will be in the car and I will start dancing and I will hear from the back seat, “Noooooo.”

I will start singing a song to myself and hear from the other side of room, “Nooooo.”

Sometimes I just have to look at him and he finds it irritating, “Nooooo.”

I am shocked.

I am an amazing car dancer and my singing voice is humbly compared to that of an angel.

How could anyone possibly find me irritating?

But I am.

Already.

My one year old finds me annoying.

It is going to be a long 18 years kid, you should probably get used to this singing voice.

Fat kid in a little diaper.

The day of his appointment.

Okay, in his defense, he is really not fat.

But we had a wellness appointment for little Linc yesterday and he is in the 100 percentile in weight and height.

Which make sense, because he no longer fits into his diapers.

We are buying size 6!

Do they make a bigger size other than pull-ups?

I have kind-of looked, but I think this is the largest size for real diapers.

I see sleep diapers for older kids and things like that, but what are you supposed to do when your 1-year-old is busting out of size sixes?

Seriously, the sticky velcro sides are unlatching.

And for once in my life I am not buying cheapies!

(I know the value of a good diaper…trust me)

We are wearing Huggies and Pampers.

Crazy big kid.

No wonder my back hurts.

The good news is the doctor said he is perfectly healthy.  I shouldn’t be worried about his weight because it is proportioned.

So yay for a good report.

And boo for small diapers.

The DEAR plan.

Drop. Everything. And. Read.

I don’t know where the number of 15 minutes per day actually came from but I have heard that thrown around the parenting world since before I was even a parent.

But the word is you should be reading to your child 15 minutes a day or more.

I used to think that our bed time book would suffice for this time, but now that it is summer we are going to bump things up a bit.

Bedtime does not count.

We are going to set aside 20 minutes a day just to stop everything, go to the reading chair, and read.

Everyone is invited, Lincoln, Bo, and of course, me (I’m the only one that can actually read).

It is going to be super.

I think it will be good for the fact that we are reading, and apparently that is good for kids.  But also the fact that we are just taking 20 minutes out of the day to chill.

I like that.

Eating like kings.

We have been eating healthier here lately.

And I have been cooking/grilling more at home.

Tonight we had tri-tip steak, asparagus fresh from the farmers market, and quinoa w/olive oil and tomatoes.

Linc loved it, and his favorite part…the asparagus.

I don’t know what it is about those spears of green, but he loves them.

Another new Lincoln favorite, tilapia.

He gobbled that up yesterday for lunch.

What a little healthy eater.

 

 

Well I bought a stroller.

Two strollers actually.

That is what I get for trying to save money.

I bought something that doesn’t really work for me from a second hand store.

I was excited about this amazing deal I was getting.

I took the stroller straight from the store to the park and then BAM.

I realized that this is not at all what I wanted.

The front wheel is fixed.

Which basically means you can go straight, and if you want to turn, too bad.  Straight.  That is the direction.

If you are an avid runner this is great because then the wheel will not shake when you pick up speed.

I don’t plan on ever picking up speed.

So I quickly realized that this is not the stroller for me.

So it was back to the drawing board and I spent another few days lugging to kids around to every store, and garage sale on earth.

And then I was done.

I didn’t find anything or if I did find something good on Craigslist it would be gone before I could get to it.

Defeated, I turned to Walmart.

I do not know why I neglected this go-to store to begin with, my life would be so much easier if I just kept doing what worked.

I bought a hybrid jogging stroller online and it should be here by Tuesday.

The In-Step.

The most affordable, double jogging stroller on the market, but has great reviews.

And I cannot spend 500 dollars on a stroller.

150, sure.

This will be good on long walks but also not to big for shopping, doctors appointments, and other errands in which I am toting around two under two.

So hybrid it is.

Deanna Rose Farmstead

I found a new favorite.

Deanna Rose Farmstead is a local farm that is geared towards kids and it is TOTALLY FREE on weekdays.

 

Petting the 4 month old cows.

 

 

Our ride ’em cowboy needs a little work.  You can ride real pony’s here too, but even this was a little much for Linc.

Lincoln “milked” some cows…sort of.

The baby goats were so cute and you can pay a dollar for a baby bottle and feed them!

Linc enjoyed feeding the geese while Bo and I just chilled on a bench.

This is certainly something we will be doing again this summer.

We are back to this.

 

Bowen went in for his wellness appointment yesterday.

The doctor is still a little worried about his breathing, his stomach is still retracting, and the nurse thought she heard wheezing.

So we are back to breathing treatments.

We never stopped, but were instructed to only do them when needed.

Now we are on a strict schedule again.

Every four hours.

After a week, if his breathing is still not better, he may need a steroid.

The rest of the appointment went well.

His brother has toughened him up to the point that he barely cried when he got his shots.

Last night was a little rough, but oh well.

I love my little man and hope this breathing thing gets better soon.

This Weeks Quest: Find a double stroller

The way I currently travel. Toddler in stroller, and baby strapped to chest. Eventually the baby is going to get too big for this. And I’m already tired.

It needs to happen.

I thought I would be thrifty.

I thought I was being smart.

I don’t need a double stroller, I will just carry the baby in my Boba (which I love) and then Linc can ride in the stroller.

Thought the idiot.

Or if I am being nice to myself, the naive.

It just doesn’t work.

It is hot, difficult to maneuver, the toddler wants to get out and run every once in a while, you have absolutely no personal space, and are constantly switching the toddler and baby in and out of the stroller like it is the best carnival ride on the planet.

I need another solution.

And when I say need, I mean need.

Not like I need food, but like I need a little bit of sanity.

I want to be able to do fun things with my kids like KC Jiggle Jam and the way I am doing things now just isn’t working.

So double stroller investment here I come.

And I think it will be a good investment, because as I was looking around yesterday, kids up to 4 or 5 years of age are sitting in strollers.

Not because they can’t walk, but so moms can manage.

I am checking out Craigslist for a good deal.

So far I found a double jogging stroller (you will never see me jogging with it, but walking, yes) and a sit-and-stand stroller.

We will see if they are still available but both would be great I think.

Any advice?

Does anyone have a sit-and-stand, do you like it?

What is the top amount you would pay for a used stroller?

A boys first ice cream cone.

These are the photos of pure bliss.

Chocolate.

In a cone.

And all mine.

 

It didn’t take me very long to figure out why no other toddlers had their own ice cream cone.

But oh well.

Sometimes you just have to live.