Backyard Fun

It has been super nice here on the weekends and Spencer has loved being outside playing.  Luckily for him, Zach has spent some time out in the backyard with him.  Spencer got a baseball, bat and glove for Christmas from Gram and PaPaw, so he's had a blast in the back hitting the ball.  He's got pretty good hand-eye coordination for a 2 1/2 year old.  He doesn't swing per se, but usually hits the ball.  It's so cute!  An arctic blast is going to hit us tonight, so these outside times may be too few and far between for awhile.

His giggles melt my heart!

The Weekend {tad bit late}

I'm ipretty late with this post, but wanted to update on the swimming party Spencer went to Saturday.  Well, Spencer has been talking about this party for a solid week and thought he would just jump right in when he got there.  The pool is 1ft deep the entire pool with a few slides, stairs, water squirters, etc.  Well, there's also this GIANT "bucket" that fills up with water and dumps down all over the place and we found out first hand that is not good for our little sweet pea. 

See the scary bucket at the top? ;)

He wanted to leave immediately it scared him so much.  We thought he would see all of the kids from school (especially Emmy) and want to jump right in, but not so much.  So, about 30 minutes pass and he decides he wants to go on the stairs only if Daddy goes with him.  Sounds easy enough, right?  Well, Daddy had jeans on.  Guess what Daddy did?  You got it!  Jumped right in there with him and took him up the stairs.  I'm pretty sure 99.999% of dads/moms wouldn't have done that.  It really almost brought tears to my eyes because he didn't think twice and went for it.  Then we were just sitting on the edge and I had my feet in the water and Spencer thought it would be fun to TIDAL WAVE splash me, so needless to say, we were the VERY wet parents at the party.  Rick ran home to change and came back in time for pizza and presents.  Needless to say it was a great time and Spencer ended up having fun which was the most important thing...not our wet clothes.

He had fun...he really did!

We had great weather Sunday and Spencer loves playing in the back.  His latest thing is running.  That's all he wants to do in the backyard (as well as kicking the balls).  He has started being very curious about our large tree in the backyard and I'm pretty sure it'll be no time before he's climbing it like a monkey. 

Where has our little baby gone?  What a big boy!

Lately...

Man, I have to get back to posting more regularly.  I don't know what's happened to me.  Don't you worry, I will starting NOW!

We haven't been doing a whole lot out of the ordinary lately...

...found some new hiding places.

...enjoyed our monthly micro brew shipment.

...grilled pizza & ketchup.

Spencer has a birthday party tomorrow at an indoor swimming pool and he cannot wait!  Swimming in January, who wouldn't??

Can you dig it?

It seems lately I'm diggin' some things more than other things.  Here's what I'm totally diggin' at the current moment...

1) Reading - These three are on my nightstand and I'm currently reading The Omnivore's Dilemma.  See a trend here?  I do love me some George and Laura! 

2) Ragin' Cajun Jalapeno Relish - We have been eating this stuff like crazy on EVERYTHING!

3) Chai Lattes - Thank you Day Break for making the best ones on the PLANET!

4)  C9 Fitted Running Capris - Man I love these things...perfect for cold days & you don't get too cold with part of your legs showing. 

5)  Fun Hair Clips/Pins - I do have a pretty hard time finding these because my hair is so thick and most won't hold my hair, but I've found some pretty heavy duty ones from Goody and Target.

What are you digging these days??

Resolutions?

I'm not one to stand firm on making resolutions every year because I never have.  Most people who say they don't make them it's because they can't keep them.  Not me, I just have never made them.  I'm usually pretty good at setting goals for myself anytime during the year and sticking to it.  Well, in the past week or so, the word 'resolution' has come out of mine and Rick's mouth a few times, so I thought I would post some of the resolutions I have for the new year...only two of them...

1.  Spend a lot more time together...just Rick and I.  We get so wrapped up in parenting and we love every minute of it, but we just don't take the time we need to to go out with each other.  Babysitters will be used more and of course Spencer's favorite, Gram and PaPaw time.  We have more fun together and it was so nice the last week when Rick was on vacation to get to spend time with each other. 

2.  Lose those 10 lbs I talked about in the summer that have now turned into 12 lbs.  I've started running outside now and have been able to tell a difference in my clothes and some people have even told me I look like I've lost weight, but I need to be back to where I was before getting pregnant.  End of story.  So, the ab lounger is coming out of storage (Rick loves hearing that) because that sucker REALLY works.  Rick is going to get a stationary bike to go with his BowFlex that he loves.  We eat healthy as a way of life (except the garbage we eat on the weekends...haha), so being fit needs to go back with it. 


Now I've taken the liberty to make some for Spencer (and I know Rick will agree with me on these).  These actually are probably more our resolutions for Spencer, but you get the point...

1.  Get rid of the paci!  If you have any creative ways to do this that work, please, please comment and let me know.

2.  Potty trained in the coming months.  They work on it at school and we have to be diligent at home to work on it.  Again, any creative tips for potty training boys would be appreciated!  We bought one of these to help us:

Baby Bjorn Potty Seat

3.  Play more in his room, rather than dragging out toys all over the living room.  This really fits into part of my resolutions for myself (and Rick) because sometimes we just need to go in there and play with him.  He's surrounded by kids at school all day to play with and when he gets home, it's just us three.  He loves playing with all his toys and we want his room to be a fun place for him to go play whenever he wants.

4.  Finding an effective "spot" for time-out.  The score on time-out sessions at the current moment is Us - ZERO, Spencer - 4,595 ...get the point?  We're looking for a time-out chair to put somewhere and hopefully that will work.  Any suggestions??

Here's to 2011 and accomplishing these resolutions!

Brotherly Love

Spencer is SO fortunate to have such sweet siblings and siblings he can truly share quality time with.  He is infatuated with his brothers and has had such a great time with them this past week.  So many special memories!!!

Christmas Part Deux

We finished off our Christmas at Dad and Dana's.  We brought pizza and I made an eggnog bundt cake (which I will link up here and won't post later, but it's soooo easy and sooooo good!).  We had a wonderful time just relaxing and hanging out. 

Of course, Spencer got his fair share of more toys...

Lots of John Deere stuff!!

...and a TRICYCLE!!!!!

Gifts for PaPaw and Gram!

This was a great ending to Christmas and we know 2011 is going to be so wonderful because we have AWESOME family and friends and most importantly, we have each other!