July

     Adrian had so much fun on the 4th of July playing with his cousins and exploring a mud puddle.  We jumped on a trampoline and had homemade ice cream.  Adrian clapped for the fireworks while I covered his ears, and then quickly fell asleep.

     This month I've been busy getting ready for Adrian's party and most of it trying to get my house into some kind of order.  I just want to keep getting rid of things.   Adrian has been busy trashing my house and learning new words.

     We've managed to go swimming a couple of times and Adrian loved it.  It's tempting to get him a bathing suit with a tube built into it like I had when I was little.  Those are hilarious.

He fell asleep like this by the air conditioning vent.

He's awake here, just being silly.

     I started working out again, I know I do this on and off all the time.  I think I picked a video that can hold my interest this time.  We're giving up fast food and trying to drink less soda.  We cancelled the cable and are going to get a cheaper phone service.  My goal is to lose 10-20 pounds.  I would love to fit into my dresses again and my eating habits have gotten in the way of that.  This will also help me practice my cooking more.  It's embarrassing that I only know how to cook chicken and hamburger.  I would also like to get more advanced with sewing so I can make Adrian's Halloween costumes and perhaps make my own clothes.

Looks like he's scolding Sophie but he was just talking.

     I can't believe Adrian is going to turn two in two days.  He doesn't look like a 2 year old to me, but he sure acts like one.  He talks more and more all the time, it's just not always understandable.  He throws tantrums, tells me when he needs a diaper change, and one time I watched while he opened the screen door and threw several toys outside so he could play.  We will be getting him his first haircut soon and I can picture Matt and I holding each other and bawling.

A big boy bed and a house update

     A few days ago I watched Adrian climb up the stairs and creep over to the opening at the top.  I thought he was going to attempt to get on the other side of the gate.  Nope, he used the side of the stairs as a slide.  Here's a picture, I don't know what to call it:

In our new house it will be easier to put a gate up on the stairs, and there aren't as many stairs.  I'm so glad we are moving soon.

In the past few days Adrian has said "Adrian's treats" in regards to some baby fruit snacks, he has said "Papa" when I was talking about my dad, and he has started saying "yes".

We turned Adrian's bed into a toddler bed.  He has been doing pretty well.  He got out of bed in the middle of the night once and he seemed really upset so I wasn't sure if he had a nightmare.  I was really tired so I just let him climb in bed with me.  Otherwise he has been sleeping through the night and enjoying his freedom in the morning.  I've been giving him a stuffed sheep that makes a bunch of peaceful sounds like the ocean, and rain.  That helps him especially since people are setting off fireworks.

We tried to have a garage sale on Friday and it down poured all day.  On Saturday the weather cooperated and we had a pretty good day, but still not as many shoppers as we wanted.  We were going to try again on Sunday but again, it was rainy.  The weather has been so weird.  Still, I made some money and my house is less cluttered.  We are going to try again in a couple of weeks.

I took pictures of the tile that got put in the house so far:

The lighting was terrible but this is the tile and border for my bathroom.  The tile is actually white. 

I can't believe we wore long sleeves and pants yesterday, in July.  We went to the park and got attacked by mosquitoes.  I got some cute pictures though:

I hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th of July!  God bless America!

Milestones

     Yesterday was a milestone kind of day.  First we went grocery shopping and I made the mistake of putting the bananas in the cart without some kind of elaborate ruse to distract him.  So he was mad the whole time that I wouldn't give him a banana and he said his first sentence in the right context: "want that".  Then I fed a banana to him when we got to the parking lot and he said "more that".  I was so proud.  The other day I think he said "I don't know" but it was random and not in any sort of context.

     Later I was getting garage sale items ready and he was cranky and needed a nap.  So I put him in his crib and a few minutes later I heard his voice getting closer.  Then he slid down the stairs.  He climbed out of his crib for the first time.  Thankfully he didn't do it when he woke up at 6:30 this morning.

     We haven't been able to walk around the pond at our park lately because Adrian is scared of the fountains.  Finally today we put him in the stroller to walk around it and he did well.  After one lap he was walking towards the water so he could get in.  Now we have the opposite problem.  Perhaps we can try a splash park again without him screaming his head off?  Who am I kidding.

A blanket and a nearly two year old

    I've been working on a project for the last few months so I didn't have time to blog.  Also my netbook broke, so I have to use Matt's computer right now.  Anyway here's what I made:

     It's for my mom's birthday.  I worked on Aunt Patty's blanket at mom's house sometimes and she said a couple times how well the color would go with her living room.  So they're the same color but a different pattern.

     In other news, Adrian is talking up a storm these days.  We just can't understand most of what he says because it's not English, but he's trying!  I think a language explosion is around the corner.  So is his second birthday.  I just can't believe it.  I was looking through his baby things to see if I could sell any in the garage sale and I almost wanted to cry because I can't believe he has gotten so big.  The older he gets the more fun things we can do as a family so that makes it less sad. Matt gets sad about Adrian getting older too but it doesn't give him any new baby desires.  Boo.

     We've been going to the park a lot and working on our house.  The bathrooms are starting to get built up again and things are coming along. There is new tile in the entry way and by the fireplace.  I'll take pictures next time I go.

     This weekend we are doing a garage sale with Michelle and her in laws and our parents.  I can't believe how much I have to get rid of; it's perfect timing.  I feel like once I get my storage room cleared out I can pack and shove everything down there.

     Adrian has been pointing at what he wants.  He'll ask you to pick him up and then he emphatically points towards where he wants you to go.  Normally it involves food.  Another habit is spitting.  He spits drinks out or just spits without a drink and it drives me crazy.  The weirdest thing he has picked up is a love of feet.  I have no idea where he gets this from because I think feet are gross.  He sticks your foot on his face, rolls around with it, tries to wrestle, and tries to stick your toes in his mouth.  He likes to wrestle with everything and everyone.

Here you can see some of his spitting mess.  This led to getting muddy.

     For real this time, I think I can be better at updating.  Fingers crossed?
   

   

Updates, updates everywhere

     I knew I was behind but assumed I had at least written at the beginning of the year.  Oops.  The house is under construction, most of the demolition stage is over.  My parents took on the master bathroom and are almost ready to build it back up again. They're putting insulation in, everything is sanded, the main bathroom is almost ready to build back up, and the ugly pet cage in the back yard is gone.  So much has been done.  I've mostly been taking care of Adrian but I'm hoping to help more now that the weather is nice.  He can hang out in the back yard with me.

Here's the living room when we bought the house but I think some cleaning had been done by the time it was taken

After:

I don't have a picture of the wooden floor from this view

Here is the living room from the view of the dining room:

Without the carpet:

Kitchen before and after:

Carpet in the kitchen.  

Still better than carpet, a lovely seafoam green linoleum floor.  I'm sure it was aces back in 1959:

I need to work on getting pictures in the same view.  Fail.

Master bath

     Adrian is doing well, he's getting into everything.  He has a new habit where he takes a drink, swishes it in his mouth and spits it out all over the floor.  It drives me bonkers.  Most of what he says all day is negative: "no" oh no" and "uh oh" are his favorite things to say.  We bought him a potty chair so he can get used to it for when the time comes.  I think at the very least we'll have to wait until we move since that's a big change and he'll only have just turned two.

     Oh another thing Adrian started is sticking his finger up his nose.  The first time he did this was at the cash register in No Frills.  He has awesome timing.  My favorite new thing is that he gives kisses now.  Just sweet little pecks and if you're lucky he'll grab your face so you're facing him and press his forehead as hard as he can on yours and wiggle it back and forth.  This is how he rubs noses.

     With the nice weather we have been going outside every day.  His favorite thing to do is walk around and pick up sticks. Even with a whole playground in front of him he will be most excited about the sidewalk.  It's fun to watch him explore, I think he'll love the zoo this year.

I didn't write for awhile because my netbook charger broke and I was waiting to get another one.  I hope I'll write more, I like looking back and watching Adrian grow.