Friday, June 17, 2011
My HEB Buddy
HEB is one of my favorite grocery stores. I signed up Cannon for their summer reading program. All I had to do was read him 10 books and then mail in the form. He LOVES reading, so we wiped out the 10 books in one day. Yesterday his t-shirt came in the mail, along with a certificate, a sticker, pencil, bookmark, and 20 points (you can redeem points for prizes). I just thought it was a cute little thing to do. He was so excited to wear his t-shirt today!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Nothing Much
Nothing much has been happening around here, except trying to go through all our stuff before we pack. I hate moving, but I do like that I get to go through all of my stuff and get rid of things. It's in my nature to be a pack-rat, but I also don't like clutter. So this is a good way for me to get organized again.
We have also been trying to hit up our favorite Austin places before we leave. We have a season pass to the Austin Children's Museum and I've taken Cannon there twice in the last two weeks. He LOVES it there and I wish we could go more often.
Cannon has been into cleaning up lately, or "keem up," as he calls it. I'm not sure where this has come from, but I'll take it! I'd like to say that it has come from my superb parenting skills, but I have to admit that I've been slacking in that department. Cannon's hair is growing and getting out of control, but I love it! I'm really not quite sure what to do with it. I am in love with his curls and his wild hair totally fits his personality. I'm just going to let it grow and see what happens. Cannon also loves to sing, but usually not by himself. Every night he requests three songs that Ryan and I sing to him: Teach Me to Walk, I Love to See the Temple (or just "Temple" according to him), and Three Little Ducks (Cannon calls it "Quack, Quack, Quack"). He can sing the first and last parts of Teach Me to Walk, with a few words in the middle. He can also sing most of the words to I Love to See the Temple. And he just does the actions to the duck song.
Every night we read scriptures as a family before bed. Cannon knows ALL the pictures in the front of the Book of Mormon. I was pretty impressed and tried to get it on video. Well, he was being a total buster because he knew I was trying to record him. So he pretended like he didn't know anything and then started calling everything "Poo" and cracking himself up. I was getting so frustrated, as I was trying to capture my child doing something intelligent, but it turned out to be a pretty funny video anyway.
On Memorial Day, Rob and Bev and the kids moved to Bloomington, Illinois. Robert got a new job as a talk show host for the Cities 92.9 FM morning show and has been up there since the end of February. Bev stayed back with the kids so they could finish school. So that weekend they packed up and we had a giant slumber party for two nights (including Rick, Kristina, Cole, and Lyla). There were six parents, six kids, two grandparents, one dog, and a partridge in a pear tree. Crazy, but what a great way to spend our last few days together. The kids are loving it in Illinois and are really fitting in to everything there. Jade and T have even started golf lessons, and according to T, he is a professional now. I have no idea when we will see them again, but I hope it won't be too long!
I tried to get a cute snapshot of Papa holding his baby girls. But by the time I got my camera out Ally had had enough! I just thought it was funny because Lyla woke up with some crazy hair!
We have also been trying to hit up our favorite Austin places before we leave. We have a season pass to the Austin Children's Museum and I've taken Cannon there twice in the last two weeks. He LOVES it there and I wish we could go more often.
Cannon has been into cleaning up lately, or "keem up," as he calls it. I'm not sure where this has come from, but I'll take it! I'd like to say that it has come from my superb parenting skills, but I have to admit that I've been slacking in that department. Cannon's hair is growing and getting out of control, but I love it! I'm really not quite sure what to do with it. I am in love with his curls and his wild hair totally fits his personality. I'm just going to let it grow and see what happens. Cannon also loves to sing, but usually not by himself. Every night he requests three songs that Ryan and I sing to him: Teach Me to Walk, I Love to See the Temple (or just "Temple" according to him), and Three Little Ducks (Cannon calls it "Quack, Quack, Quack"). He can sing the first and last parts of Teach Me to Walk, with a few words in the middle. He can also sing most of the words to I Love to See the Temple. And he just does the actions to the duck song.
Every night we read scriptures as a family before bed. Cannon knows ALL the pictures in the front of the Book of Mormon. I was pretty impressed and tried to get it on video. Well, he was being a total buster because he knew I was trying to record him. So he pretended like he didn't know anything and then started calling everything "Poo" and cracking himself up. I was getting so frustrated, as I was trying to capture my child doing something intelligent, but it turned out to be a pretty funny video anyway.
On Memorial Day, Rob and Bev and the kids moved to Bloomington, Illinois. Robert got a new job as a talk show host for the Cities 92.9 FM morning show and has been up there since the end of February. Bev stayed back with the kids so they could finish school. So that weekend they packed up and we had a giant slumber party for two nights (including Rick, Kristina, Cole, and Lyla). There were six parents, six kids, two grandparents, one dog, and a partridge in a pear tree. Crazy, but what a great way to spend our last few days together. The kids are loving it in Illinois and are really fitting in to everything there. Jade and T have even started golf lessons, and according to T, he is a professional now. I have no idea when we will see them again, but I hope it won't be too long!
I tried to get a cute snapshot of Papa holding his baby girls. But by the time I got my camera out Ally had had enough! I just thought it was funny because Lyla woke up with some crazy hair!
Monday, May 30, 2011
The Sunshine State
After 10 amazing years of living in Austin, it's time to say goodbye. Our adventures will be taking us to Florida! More specifically, the St. Petersburg/Clearwater part of Florida. Last week Ryan received, and accepted, a job offer from Raymond James Financial. He had been interviewing with them for several months, but the hiring process has taken a long time. It worked out well for us since Ryan was able to finish out this school year teaching.
This is a little bittersweet for me. I am so happy for Ryan and this new career opportunity for him. I LOVE the ocean and am very excited to be so close to so many beautiful beaches. I also like warm weather and sunshine very much. However, this will be the first time I have ever lived away from family and I know I will miss them a ton. But I think this will bring growth to our little family unit as we start this new chapter in our lives.
Ryan will be starting July 18, which means we are moving out the previous week. I have never been to Florida, so I have no idea what to expect. Regardless, I know we will be happy!
This is a little bittersweet for me. I am so happy for Ryan and this new career opportunity for him. I LOVE the ocean and am very excited to be so close to so many beautiful beaches. I also like warm weather and sunshine very much. However, this will be the first time I have ever lived away from family and I know I will miss them a ton. But I think this will bring growth to our little family unit as we start this new chapter in our lives.
Ryan will be starting July 18, which means we are moving out the previous week. I have never been to Florida, so I have no idea what to expect. Regardless, I know we will be happy!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Oh Cannon
I have lots to say about Cannon these days, so lets begin.
First off, he has been returned to his crib after two months of sleeping in a toddler bed. Parent mistake #743. We moved him too soon. He did fine for the first month and then it really went down hill. He started taking short naps or refusing to nap. He started going to bed really late, waking up early, and coming into our bedroom multiple times a night. I tried all of my tricks, really tried them and nothing was working. That's when we realized he really needed to be in a crib still. He was so excited when we put it back! He was rolling in his crib like a happy puppy dog. I am happy so say that his naps are back to normal and bedtime is a breeze! I didn't realize how much stress it was causing me, but when we got his crib back in his room it was light a huge load was lifted off my shoulders. Also, since he is getting more sleep, his tantrums, non-compliance, and defiance have all significantly decreased. He has been so much more pleasant and manageable. So that's that and we won't make that mistake again!
Cannon recently had a follow-up visit with his asthma doctor. At our last visit she had talked about weaning him off his inhalers this summer, but since he got croup again I knew that would be a no go. We did do skin testing again to see if he is allergic to anything. Last time he didn't cry at all, but this time he did. My friend is a child life specialist at this clinic, so she was in the room with me to help support him. She brought bubbles, books, and other toys. I also put a movie on my phone for him to watch. I held him in my lap and he was upset, but as soon as they were finished he was fine. No lasting stress or trauma. Surprisingly the results showed that he is allergic to Mesquite trees. And that would explain why he got croup two years in a row at the same time of year since Mesquite trees are a spring allergen. So the new plan is next spring he will be on a nasal spray in hopes that it won't spread to his respiratory system and if that works, we might be able to wean him next summer.
Two weeks ago we started Kindermusik. Kristina has been taking Cole for awhile now and he really enjoys it. I found one near our house and signed up Cannon for a free class. He loved it, so I signed him up for the four week session and the teacher ended up taking $10 off the price. It comes with a music CD and we listen to it in the car. He is starting to sing along to the songs and do the actions. He really loves music, so I think he will get a lot out of this class. Last Friday I took him to a free Little Gym class. He really loved that class too and I think all the equipment challenged him physically, which is a very good thing. Those classes were pretty pricey, so I didn't sign him up. Cannon is so active and I really want to find a gymnastics class for him, but one that doesn't cost as much.
I recently discovered that he can count to 10, except sometimes he forgets nine. This isn't something we have been working on, so it surprised me. But I think he learned it from one of his kids music CD's we listen to in the car sometimes. He loves to sing along to his favorite songs, Apples and Bananas, She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain, Sunbeam, Bringing Home my Baby Bumblebee (just to name a few). At night when he goes to bed he requests a song from me and Ryan. The other night I asked him what song he wanted and he said, "Teach Me to Walk." This is one of the songs in our repertoire, but I didn't think we've sung it enough for him to remember it. I guess I was wrong! It's amazing what they are in tune to and remember at this age.
On Saturday we had a scary moment when Cannon decided to brush his teeth with Ryan's razor! We were SO lucky that he did not cut his mouth! It all happened so quickly and right in front of us. Once again, his guardian angels were watching out for him.
Some of the foods that appeal, or don't appeal, to Cannon really surprise me. For instance, he was happily eating some beets when Ryan tried to give him jello. He refused the jello and preferred the beets! About a week or so later, we offered him jello again. He took one bite and spit it out! We have continued to offer him jello several more times and he really doesn't like it! We really don't eat jello that often and I'm not trying to make him like it (believe me, I love that he prefers beets), it just seems funny to me. I think he likes the taste, but the texture weirds him out. He will eat very tiny bites of it though. He also likes pico de gallo. I LOVE pico and I offered him some one day when we were eating quesadillas for lunch. He dipped his tortilla in it and said, "Mmmm." Then he took the spoon and ate three large bites of it! I guess that counts as a vegetable.
Trains are still the name of the game. Big, little, any kind. He knows lots of names from the Thomas characters too. He's funny with them too. I heard him playing with his Thomas and he made him get the spoon (they are magnetic) and then he said, "Thomas got the spoon! Oh, Thomas. Silly Thomas." He puts his trains to bed too and tells them to go "Nuh-night."
Cannon is a total class clown and he loves to make people laugh! When he's old enough, I think he be a little bit of a smart-aleck. He is already starting now, like the other day when I asked him what he wanted to eat for lunch and his reply was, "Food." He is also very sweet. Lately he has been into giving us lots of kisses. Often when I am holding him, he will kiss my shoulder very softly. He makes my heart melt! The other night we got Chinese food for dinner and Cannon's fortune from his cookie said, "You are a charmer." And that's exactly what he is!
Here are a couple pictures of my water baby. We have been playing outside in the sprinklers a lot lately, but he does get to go swimming with Bev and her kids a lot.
Here's a glimpse of his "charming" personality right now.
First off, he has been returned to his crib after two months of sleeping in a toddler bed. Parent mistake #743. We moved him too soon. He did fine for the first month and then it really went down hill. He started taking short naps or refusing to nap. He started going to bed really late, waking up early, and coming into our bedroom multiple times a night. I tried all of my tricks, really tried them and nothing was working. That's when we realized he really needed to be in a crib still. He was so excited when we put it back! He was rolling in his crib like a happy puppy dog. I am happy so say that his naps are back to normal and bedtime is a breeze! I didn't realize how much stress it was causing me, but when we got his crib back in his room it was light a huge load was lifted off my shoulders. Also, since he is getting more sleep, his tantrums, non-compliance, and defiance have all significantly decreased. He has been so much more pleasant and manageable. So that's that and we won't make that mistake again!
Cannon recently had a follow-up visit with his asthma doctor. At our last visit she had talked about weaning him off his inhalers this summer, but since he got croup again I knew that would be a no go. We did do skin testing again to see if he is allergic to anything. Last time he didn't cry at all, but this time he did. My friend is a child life specialist at this clinic, so she was in the room with me to help support him. She brought bubbles, books, and other toys. I also put a movie on my phone for him to watch. I held him in my lap and he was upset, but as soon as they were finished he was fine. No lasting stress or trauma. Surprisingly the results showed that he is allergic to Mesquite trees. And that would explain why he got croup two years in a row at the same time of year since Mesquite trees are a spring allergen. So the new plan is next spring he will be on a nasal spray in hopes that it won't spread to his respiratory system and if that works, we might be able to wean him next summer.
Two weeks ago we started Kindermusik. Kristina has been taking Cole for awhile now and he really enjoys it. I found one near our house and signed up Cannon for a free class. He loved it, so I signed him up for the four week session and the teacher ended up taking $10 off the price. It comes with a music CD and we listen to it in the car. He is starting to sing along to the songs and do the actions. He really loves music, so I think he will get a lot out of this class. Last Friday I took him to a free Little Gym class. He really loved that class too and I think all the equipment challenged him physically, which is a very good thing. Those classes were pretty pricey, so I didn't sign him up. Cannon is so active and I really want to find a gymnastics class for him, but one that doesn't cost as much.
I recently discovered that he can count to 10, except sometimes he forgets nine. This isn't something we have been working on, so it surprised me. But I think he learned it from one of his kids music CD's we listen to in the car sometimes. He loves to sing along to his favorite songs, Apples and Bananas, She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain, Sunbeam, Bringing Home my Baby Bumblebee (just to name a few). At night when he goes to bed he requests a song from me and Ryan. The other night I asked him what song he wanted and he said, "Teach Me to Walk." This is one of the songs in our repertoire, but I didn't think we've sung it enough for him to remember it. I guess I was wrong! It's amazing what they are in tune to and remember at this age.
On Saturday we had a scary moment when Cannon decided to brush his teeth with Ryan's razor! We were SO lucky that he did not cut his mouth! It all happened so quickly and right in front of us. Once again, his guardian angels were watching out for him.
Some of the foods that appeal, or don't appeal, to Cannon really surprise me. For instance, he was happily eating some beets when Ryan tried to give him jello. He refused the jello and preferred the beets! About a week or so later, we offered him jello again. He took one bite and spit it out! We have continued to offer him jello several more times and he really doesn't like it! We really don't eat jello that often and I'm not trying to make him like it (believe me, I love that he prefers beets), it just seems funny to me. I think he likes the taste, but the texture weirds him out. He will eat very tiny bites of it though. He also likes pico de gallo. I LOVE pico and I offered him some one day when we were eating quesadillas for lunch. He dipped his tortilla in it and said, "Mmmm." Then he took the spoon and ate three large bites of it! I guess that counts as a vegetable.
Trains are still the name of the game. Big, little, any kind. He knows lots of names from the Thomas characters too. He's funny with them too. I heard him playing with his Thomas and he made him get the spoon (they are magnetic) and then he said, "Thomas got the spoon! Oh, Thomas. Silly Thomas." He puts his trains to bed too and tells them to go "Nuh-night."
Cannon is a total class clown and he loves to make people laugh! When he's old enough, I think he be a little bit of a smart-aleck. He is already starting now, like the other day when I asked him what he wanted to eat for lunch and his reply was, "Food." He is also very sweet. Lately he has been into giving us lots of kisses. Often when I am holding him, he will kiss my shoulder very softly. He makes my heart melt! The other night we got Chinese food for dinner and Cannon's fortune from his cookie said, "You are a charmer." And that's exactly what he is!
Here are a couple pictures of my water baby. We have been playing outside in the sprinklers a lot lately, but he does get to go swimming with Bev and her kids a lot.
Here's a glimpse of his "charming" personality right now.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
My Mother's Day Weekend
That's right, weekend! It all started on Friday night. Ryan and I had previously planned to go out to dinner on Friday for a date night. Cannon was already asleep when I got home from work, so we left pretty quickly after that. We got Mexican food, nothing special, but it was so nice to get out! Afterwards I told Ryan that I wasn't ready to go home yet, so we just drove around. He suggested a movie, but I said it was too late. So he pulled into a parking lot and said, "Then I guess we'll just have to go to a hotel." What? He drove around to the back and parked the car. I had some serious questions about his motives at that point. He kept telling me that we would stay at this hotel. I thought he was acting crazy. Then he got out the key and opened the back door to the hotel. I couldn't believe it! Then I asked him if his parents knew about this (they were baby-sitting). Of course they did and apparently, Ryan had been planning this for two weeks! But you also have to know that Ryan does not do surprises. It's not that he's against them, he just never surprises me with things. So this was a BIG surprise for me! He had already checked into the hotel earlier in the day and had also packed me a bag. Upon mentioning my overnight bag I asked him if he brought chocolate. Sure enough, I opened the fridge and there were two big pieces of Truluck's chocolate cake (my favorite), a fork, a glass, and a carton of milk. If I had my camera with me I would have taken a picture. I couldn't believe how thoughtful everything was! He also got the hotel room really cold, just how I like it.
So Friday night was awesome and Saturday morning was awesome since we got to sleep in until almost 10. I really don't remember the last time I've been able to do that - a really long time ago I'm sure! After we left the hotel we got breakfast tacos and donuts for breakfast. When we got home Cannon was playing in the backyard with Toni. He was happy to see us, but it wasn't the warm welcome I was hoping to receive. Toni said he never asked for us at all, but Blue missed us.
That night we had planned a family dinner at Buca di Beppo. We were celebrating Bev and Burke's birthdays as well as Mother's Day. It was really nice to relax, talk, and have fun together. Cannon, the little Italian he is, devoured the baked ziti! I think he had almost four servings.
So then Sunday. Unfortunately Ryan woke up sick and he stayed home from church and rested. Church was nice, we got chocolates and some cookies. After church we headed home to grab some stuff and then head to my dad's house. Ryan came with us this time. We let Cannon play a little outside before he had to take a nap. We put him down at 2:00, thinking he would only sleep an hour and a half. We were supposed to be at my Uncle Dennis' house at 3:30 for a BBQ, but Cannon ended up sleeping until 5:00! So we were a little late, but they saved us some food. Cannon had a great time running around and playing. Blue did too, she thinks she's one of the kids. Then we went back home and Rick and Kristina got here a little after 6:30.
So that was my weekend and I think it was great!
So Friday night was awesome and Saturday morning was awesome since we got to sleep in until almost 10. I really don't remember the last time I've been able to do that - a really long time ago I'm sure! After we left the hotel we got breakfast tacos and donuts for breakfast. When we got home Cannon was playing in the backyard with Toni. He was happy to see us, but it wasn't the warm welcome I was hoping to receive. Toni said he never asked for us at all, but Blue missed us.
That night we had planned a family dinner at Buca di Beppo. We were celebrating Bev and Burke's birthdays as well as Mother's Day. It was really nice to relax, talk, and have fun together. Cannon, the little Italian he is, devoured the baked ziti! I think he had almost four servings.
So then Sunday. Unfortunately Ryan woke up sick and he stayed home from church and rested. Church was nice, we got chocolates and some cookies. After church we headed home to grab some stuff and then head to my dad's house. Ryan came with us this time. We let Cannon play a little outside before he had to take a nap. We put him down at 2:00, thinking he would only sleep an hour and a half. We were supposed to be at my Uncle Dennis' house at 3:30 for a BBQ, but Cannon ended up sleeping until 5:00! So we were a little late, but they saved us some food. Cannon had a great time running around and playing. Blue did too, she thinks she's one of the kids. Then we went back home and Rick and Kristina got here a little after 6:30.
So that was my weekend and I think it was great!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Easter
I think I dropped the ball on Easter this year since Cannon's birthday party was the day before. I felt bad that I really didn't plan anything or even talk about Christ's resurrection. I'll make it up next year. Luckily my mom had send Cannon a birthday/Easter package in the mail, so I just used her stuff to add to his basket. Thanks Nana! The kids had an egg hunt in the backyard, which was cute. Cannon kept calling the eggs "balls" and then proceeded to throw them. I showed him how to collect them in his basket, but he thought he was done after he found just one egg. Oh well, next year he'll have the hang of it!
His surprised look.
I did snag this really cute picture of Ally and Papa. She climbed up and snuggled with him while he was still sleeping!
His surprised look.
I did snag this really cute picture of Ally and Papa. She climbed up and snuggled with him while he was still sleeping!
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