Play-date Cancelled

I don't know about Kyle, but I sure was looking forward to meeting everyone at the park for the weekly play-date. It's a way to get out of the house and actually get to know some people and make some friends.

I got up early, which simply means before Kyle did, to get ready. After my shower, I made breakfast and got Kyle ready, only to look out the window and see the rain! That's right. It started raining, complete with thunder and lightning, on the very day of our plan to go to the park! Where's the fun in that? (I also needed to get out and do some grocery shopping, but that's no fun in a downpour, either!)

Instead of getting sad and doing nothing, we had to make our own fun. We read several books and played with a calculator. Kyle emptied out his top drawer and brought some of the clothes downstairs. We also chased each other around the living room. Here's a little video of some of our fun. I'm chasing Kyle, roaring at him. He roars back, too. I love the way he constantly looks back to make sure I'm still chasing him. Towards the end of the video, you'll see him start walking backwards because I'm making the appropriate sound effects....the "beep, beep, beep" sound, like a truck backing up! (Pay no attention to all the books/clothes all over the floor. It's simply proof of all the other "fun" we were having before that.)

Bando's Last Day

Sadly, Uncle Bando's trip to Miami had to come to an end. We decided to squeeze as much fun out of our last few hours as possible. First, we walked down to the pool and went swimming. Of course, Kyle spent most of his time playing in and drinking from the fountains.





We also planned to eat lunch at an Ecuadorian restaurant that Stephen and I have passed several times and that Stephen has wanted to try out. The boys were super excited. We drove up to the place and saw a "For Sale" sign. Can you believe it? All this time we've wanted to go there, and now it's closed! Luckily, there is an Argentinian place close to our house. It served as a wonderful replacement. The boys got big slabs of meat with chimichurri sauce and said it reminded them of South America.

Kyle was being a little squirrel and didn't want to sit still. The waitress came over and held him, carried him around the place, and let him up on the counter. He had a blast, but threw a fit when he had to come back to us. We tried to get a couple more pictures, but in his flailing fit, he head-butted me in the eye-socket. I have a little black eye, now!

We sure had a great time with Uncle Bando! It was fun to have a visitor and to have another person for Kyle to play with. Thanks SO much for coming, Bando! We love you!

I've been Tagged!

Here's how it works. First, post a picture of you and your child (or children.)

Then, answer the questions!


1. How many kids do you have?

• just Kyle

2. Age of child?

• as of today: 1 year, 2 months, 2 weeks, & 5 days

3. What time do you start your day?

• whenever Kyle wakes up

4. What do you eat for breakfast?

• just about anything but corned beef hash (yuck!)

5. Do your kids watch T.V.?

• only Wheel of Fortune (I don't have a picture of this, but the minute this show comes on, Kyle stands in front of the t.v. and starts clapping!)

• It's not really t.v., but he LOVES Yo Gabba, Gabba's "Party in my Tummy!" (He literally starts laughing out loud when I play the clip from YouTube!)

6. What are his favorite activities?

• playing with electronic devices (cell phones, remote controls, calculators, anything with an on/off button)

• reading:

• playing on the stairs:

•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
• playing chase and body slam:

• bathtime

7. Do you get a break during the day for some you time?

• Thank goodness for nap time! I get to update the blog and read.

8. How do you end your day?

• I put Kyle to bed, clean up all the toys/books, spend some time with Stephen, and finally let my head hit the pillow.

9. What is your best parenting advice or tip?

• keep to a schedule, be consistent, teach through repetition, have lots of patience

10. Tag 5 people

• Marci
• Krista
• Shan
• Judy
• Megan

TAG #2:
(I've also done this by e-mail, but since I was tagged to do it on the blog, I'll play along!)

Here are the rules: I have to answer the following questions with one word answers and one word only! Here are the questions:

1. Where is your cell phone? kitchen
2. Where is your significant other? school
3. Your hair color? brown
4. Your mother? amazing
5. Your father? hard-worker
6. Your favorite thing? family
7. Your dream last night? didn't
8. Your dream/goal? debt-free
9. The room you're in? living
10. Your hobby? blogging
11. Your fear? death
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Texas
13. Where were you last night? sleeping
14. What you're not? outgoing
15. One of your wish-list items? house
16. Where you grew up? Texas
17. The last thing you did? lunch
18. What are you wearing? shorts
19. Your TV? incredible
20. Your pet? gone
21. Your computer? old
22. Your mood? happy
23. Missing someone? Stephen
24. Your car? Explorer
25. Something you're not wearing? shoes
26. Favorite store? GAP
27. Your summer? ongoing
28. Love someone? deeply
29. Your favorite color? red
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? Sunday


I am supposed to pass this on to seven people, but I've been doing quite a bit of passing on, lately. If you feel so inclined to answer, feel free! No pressure, though!

Let's go to the Beach!

We finally got out of the house today! It's been raining the past few days, which means that we've been stuck inside. So, while Stephen was in class, Kyle and I took Uncle Bando to the beach. (Well, technically he took us to the beach, seeing as he drove!)

Anyway, it was practically a perfect day for going to the sea shore...nice weather, not too crowded, good waves. We had a fun time.


Kyle likes to get in the water, but only for a few minutes. He'd rather be up, running around on the sand. He dug around a little and chased a few birds. There was a whole flock of seagulls (ha) near the shoreline, babies and all! I think the youngsters were being taught how to get food. They started off pretty close to the water's edge. Each time the tide came in, they would run as fast as they could to avoid getting in the water. It was fun to watch the adults that crowded around them and the babies learning something new. (This picture is not the whole group of birds...just a few that Kyle was chasing. There's also one of him just playing in the sand.)




Look in the background of this picture. In front of the cafe with the green umbrellas, there is a low wall with a higher place that has a hole in it. (It's right above my arm.) This is one of the showers they have at the beach where you rinse off before going to your car. Apparently Kyle remembers this from the last few times we've come to the beach. He kept leaving the water to walk all the way over there. He seemed to have more fun standing there, pushing the buttons to make the water work, and playing in the showers than in the sand or surf! What a silly kid!

The Boys

Yesterday was a day of college football, baseball games, pizza, and time for brothers and a father and son to hang out. (They let me into the party, too!)

There were so many games on at the same time, that we didn't have to watch any commercials all day long! We also listened to the pathetic Aggie game, all the way to the end, even though it was painful.

With all the excitement going on, all the boys needed to take a little power nap in the early afternoon. While Kyle was snoozing in his crib, here's what was going on in the living room:



Today, we've had a pretty relaxing day. We got up, had a nice breakfast, and listened to General Conference (church.) Kyle had a nice lunch and is now taking a much-needed nap. Here's Kyle right before he went to bed. I only hope he got some of his lunch in his mouth and not just all over every other surface!

In Case You Were Wondering

I recently had to give up my pink razor for a cheap, small, fuel-efficient, econobox of a cell phone. Here are just a few of the problems my razor was exhibiting: some of the keys not working, calls not being sent through, not charging well, and not sending/receiving texts.

I kept trying to think about how these problems could have happened. Did I drop it too many times? Did I get it wet? Was the battery going out?

After watching what Kyle did to the phone the minute he got his hands on it, I think the root cause of many of the problems may have been discovered. Apparently, a cell phone cannot serve as a reliable electronic device AND a teething toy, simultaneously.

Crazy Eights

The Great Eight Challenge!!

8 T.V. Shows I Watch
Project Runway
The Office
My Name is Earl
The Amazing Race
Clean House
Design on a Dime/Decorating Cents/FreeStyle/Divine Design/Designed to Sell(Stephen says all these shows are the same, so I combined them into one entity. I don't watch all these shows all the time, but if there is nothing else on, I always check HGTV.)
Judge Judy
The Price is Right


8 Favorite Restaurants
Outback
Abuelo's
La Fiesta
Carino's
Macaroni Grill
Taco Villa
Pappadeux
Freebird's



8 Things that Happened Yesterday
worked out
went to the park
picked up stuff from Walgreens
listened to Rush
tried to find scrubs for Stephen
took Kyle on a walk to eat up time since he didn't take a nap ALL DAY LONG!
ate cookies :)
watched the VP debate



8 Things I'm Looking Forward To
Halloween...I'm excited for our costumes!
I may fly out to Utah to help my mom organize/declutter her home.
Thanksgiving...Chrystal and Nathan are coming!
Christmas...going to Utah
going to the beach
getting my Aggie ring resized
Stephen being done with school
getting eight hours of sleep


8 Things on My Wish List
at least one more child
a real home
going on another cruise
traveling to Europe or anywhere to get some stamps in my passport
a new car (Porsche Cayenne?)
unlimited home decoration budget
"Mommy Make-over"
Obama NOT becoming president (McCain drops out and we have a Romney/Palin ticket)

Okay. Now it's my turn to tag eight people:
Amber
Julia
Chrystal
Shantell
Rebecca
Michele
Casa de King
Danielle

AND...anyone else who reads this!

Uncle Bando is Here!

Uncle Bando came to see our Little Buddy! It's so fun to have another person around to give Kyle some attention. Kyle has taken full advantage of it, too. Within minutes of Bando walking in the house, they were already playing with a jack-in-the-box....over, and over, and over....Kyle mooched some food and grape Fanta from his uncle, too. Bando has also become the go-to-guy for reading books. Here they are, reading Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? Kyle especially enjoys making the noises for all the animals. In this picture, he's making the elephant sound, complete with his arm going up like the animal's trunk would.


Here's a little video of the reading, too. You will hear Kyle make the elephant sound again. He also makes a lion's roar and attempts to make a sound for a hippo. He doesn't say a word yet, other than nonsense, but he can make the sounds for many animals and make motions to get what he wants. Maybe we'll just continue this sounds and motions form of communication. He doesn't really need to speak, right?

Park Playdate

We went to the park today! We got there at 9:00, and the park is HUGE!! There's a water park, soccer complex, baseball fields, pond, and 2 or 3 play areas. I had NO idea which one was the correct meeting place, so I just picked one. We played there for about 15 minutes and no one else showed up. So, I decided I must have chosed poorly and drove over to check out the next playground. That's where everyone was! There were 4 women from church and 2 that are neighbors of some of the ones from church. Between all of us there were 9 kids for Kyle to play with! He seemed to have fun running after the bigger kids, swinging, going down the slides, chasing birds, and digging in the sand. It was so fun to get out and let Kyle play....AND for me to meet some new friends, too!





P.S. I keep forgetting to post that Kyle has 2 new bottom teeth! He also has JUST about mastered using a sippy cup. He stills dribbles a little, but at least he'll drink juice AND milk...hot OR cold without throwing a fit. That's an improvement.

It's October

It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween around here. Pumpkin patches are popping up in peculiar places. Spiders are spinning webs and swinging from lamps and mirrors. Candy dishes are resting on every available flat surface. Orange, black, and purple have been added to the color scheme, and now that the house is set for the holiday, we can officially start the countdown to "trick-or-treat!"