October

It's hard to believe that October is over already. I find because I am working 4 weeks ahead at work that sometimes it's hard to focus on now and then suddenly it's gone. It was a pretty busy month with a lot of fun things going on. To start back the beginning of the month John went to San Francisco for work for the weekend. So Bug and I were on our own. He was really good for me and I even brought him into bed with me one morning and we cuddled for a bit. That isn't something we really ever do, but I love when I get to snuggle him.

 


After John got home we went to grab some food and saw this Hello Kitty car. This car was all out; I had to take a picture. There was a family having a birthday party at the table next to us and when they left they didn't take their balloon bouquet. I asked the bus boys if JJ could have one of the balloons and they cut it off for him. He was a happy boy. (Maybe not so much in this picture but he was).

 

 Those two pictures are random because a lot of times I see that picture of Nick in JJ. The picture of my messy living room is because one night after we put him to bed I was sitting looking at the mess and I just smiled because I know it looks that way because JJ was there playing and having fun. I live for him to be happy. 

 

It's FINALLY cooled off. It does seem like it was a really long summer. I like having the doors open when we can. This little boy surprisingly hasn't started walking. He doesn't seem to have much desire either. He has started crawling versus army crawling more and he can climb on the couch and walk around the furniture. I think he knows that when he starts walking I'm going to make him wear shoes.







It's even been almost cold some mornings out running. I seem to be fighting shin splints or a hyper-extended knee or something. So I have cut back on some of my running. I've wanted to do a road race with bikes for a while and Nick, Shar, John, and I all went and looked at bikes on Saturday. I digress, I got home from a run the other morning and it was so bright and clear I could clearly see Venus and Jupiter! We had another garage sale one Saturday. It wasn't a huge one and we didn't make a ton of money but we got rid of some stuff.

We went to dinner one night and after we were standing outside talking to Stephanie and Bart and John put JJ's hand on the back window. I'm sure I should have been mad about my newly washed car, but I don't. I love it.




He still has crazy hair. I've been trying to comb it more so it doesn't just stand on end. It doesn't usually last long. He's also started climbing into his wagon. He's a very busy little guy.



We did another Escape the Room night. We got John and I, Stephanie and Bart, Nick and Shar, Lars and Erica, and Tim and Flora. We had the whole room to ourselves and we did The Dig. I'm happy to say that this time we escaped. We also escaped in a really fast time. We did it in about 42 minutes. After we walked down to the Sugar Bowl and had some dessert. As always it was a really good time.




I had a bunch of cute Halloween clothes but it's been too hot for him to wear. I finally said screw it and just started putting him in stuff. We took a few minutes one night to paint his pumpkin. Literally it took a few minutes. It took longer to wash him off afterwards than it did to get some paint on the pumpkin, but I love it anyways.

Stephanie had found a Happy Halloween/Merry Christmas block decoration. I thought that my friend Heather may be able to do this for us and she said she could. So we found a Friday night to go over and make them! It's a time consuming craft! We were there from about 8 to 130 in the morning. Sorry, Heather but thank you!! We are still looking for some Nightmare Before Christmas stickers to add to it, but they are good for now.



Add to that late night the next night we had tickets to Garth Brooks. I wasn't sure how it would be since he's getting a little older but bucket list I wanted to see him at least once. We didn't have amazing tickets but I didn't care. I think we all agree that it was overall one of the best concerts we've ever been too. We were around a group of people who were a lot of fun and so we were able to enjoy talking to them and they entertained us quite a bit. We won't go into all the details about after the concert, but we can say that we kept it interesting!



The next morning we went to breakfast. I haven't had two late nights like that in a long time and I paid for it. I was so exhausted after. I took as many naps as JJ would let me. He did think that he could drink some spaghetti o's that afternoon. It was pretty funny.



Sunday night we went to dinner at Liberty Market. JJ loved it because he got to have mac-n-cheese and sit outside. After dinner we let him feel the big ball and the water there by the restaurant. There was an awesome sunset that night as well.



That almost finishes up the month but there were a few more important things. Well, these aren't important but JJ decided to try and eat a leaf and it just got stuck to his chin. Silly boy. He has also found the box of tampons under the sink. I don't complain because it gives me 2 minutes to go to the bathroom when we get home and he's not trying to play in the toilet while I'm using it. But he thinks they are great toys. In fact, the other night he had to take 3 of them with us to pick up the babysitter. We had a babysitter because we went to dinner at The Keg for John's birthday on the 29th. Brad brought us milkshakes the night before for John's birthday. They were so good. I tried to get John to get me one tonight, but he wouldn't.



Nick and Shar and Stephanie and Bart came to dinner too. It was yummy as always and we all had a pretty good time with the raw horseradish.



I know JJ's daycare doesn't like it when I dress him in pants, but I had to for his Halloween outfit! Little pumpkin butt was so cute. He wasn't in this when I picked him up. He's been trying to take a girl's bottle at daycare this week. I've got him cut to 2 bottles a day but he pretty much refuses to drink milk from a sippy. I guess we'll give him some more time.



Last is today; Halloween! We had to run the car to the dealership this morning for service and we spent most the rest of today just being lazy. Bug had on another one of his Halloween outfits.

I knew we weren't going to have a lot of luck with his Halloween costume but we got even less time than I expected. But I love the pictures anyways. I had to bride him with a sucker that was covered in 'lion hair'.

After the very quick photo shoot we went outside to pass out candy. Bug was loving it. We went and visited the neighbors who are back from Canada. I'm not gonna lie I gave JJ to her and left. Just for a minute to go get my drink so we could visit some more, but she took him right inside to get some toys. We have had some sparklers since the 4th of July that I've been wanting to set off for Boo, so tonight we stuck them in the grass and lit them. I don't know that he cared one way or the other. The last picture is my poor baby's feet. He took off crawling down the sidewalk. He made it about 3 houses down and he was headed further but I grabbed him to head home. When I picked him up I couldn't believe he's worn sores on the tops of his feet! I felt awful.
 

That sums up our month of October. I think November is going to be pretty busy as well. Got some things I am really looking forward too!

September - One year already!

At the first of the month I asked Nick to take some pictures of JJ for his 1 year coming up. I'm not going to lie I didn't think we were going to get any good pictures because he's become sort of camera shy and he can be so serious. I was so happy with the way they turned out! We got some really great pictures and thank you Nick for taking them!!




I also made John go to the Farmer's market and get some Utah peaches. I remember eating them last year when my mom was down here and I've been waiting a whole year for some more. They did not disappoint.

This may have been the end of August but we were out and about on day and JJ fell asleep in his stroller. He's never done that before. It was a shock!



I'd read a review about a restaurant that was nearby and heard it was good called, High Tide. I have been looking for a good seafood place because they are rare in the desert. I LOVE this place. It's not overly expensive and big portions. John and I had a date night and went there and then to the new Mission Impossible movie and we liked it so much we went back the next night with Nick and Shar.



My spicy seafood pasta and the beer steamed clams. So yummy!!

It's starting to cool down a little but not much. So we got up early on day and took Bug for a bike ride. We rode over to a few of the parks in the other subdivision and let him try out the swings. He loved it.



He doesn't use his walker a lot anymore, but he was cruising around one night while we ate dinner and he'd gone into his room and gotten his blanket out. That is a new favorite thing to do is to get his blanket out and take it all over the house.




For the holiday weekend we didn't do a whole lot, but we did get with Stephanie and Bart for a bike ride down to Blue 32 for some dinner. I can't remember if Bug didn't feel well or why, but he was pretty grouchy through that meal and that is rare for him. I do remember that he had a fever when we got home so I'm sure it was him being sick. I ended up staying home Tuesday with him and he seemed fine.

He did well at school Wednesday and Thursday but when I picked him up Thursday evening Laura said he had been acting a little off. We got home and I was getting him out of the car and he suddenly projectile vomited over my shoulder. I turned and looked at Nick with a shocked look and he started vomiting again. I ran over and held him over the rocks and once he stopped I turned and walked in and immediately stripped us down to get into the bath. I also called John and told him screw the truck emissions get home NOW.

I had decided to take Friday off to get ready for the birthday party that got a little out of control. So I took the day off to get stuff ready...well that went out the window staying home all day with a sick baby. And of course, he was fine.

My mom and dad came down for Bug's first birthday and I really appreciate that they came and all their help. They got here Friday night a little late, but we'd done burgers at our house with Nick's family. Saturday was busy running around to get everything ready. First, we did a family bike ride to Dunkin Donuts though. That was fun and I think everyone enjoyed it.

Mom and I went to dollar store and got a few decorations and stuff for gift bags. I couldn't decide it I wanted to make his birthday a big thing or a little thing and it turned into a big thing. There were about 30 people there. I will say that I am so thankful for the friends that we've made down here. We've been here 9 years now and to have a group of family and friends here like we do is awesome.

After the dollar store we went to Walmart to find a present because I hadn't even done that yet.

I really dropped the ball on this birthday because I know he's not going to remember it so I didn't put really any effort into a theme or decorations or anything. The one thing I had planned and decided to spend money on was a cake. I had made arrangements with this lady in probably July about the cake. It was all set for her to deliver the cake at 4 right when the party was starting. It was supposed to be a 2 tier butter cream cake with fondant decorations. She sent me a message at 1 saying that she had dropped the cake and wouldn't be able to stack them and what did I want to do. I was not happy and didn't know if I should scrap the whole thing because I knew it wouldn't be what I wanted to just go with 2 separate cakes because I didn't really have a backup. John told me to have her bring the cakes so that was the plan.

About 3 John and my dad went to pick up the pizza and my mom and I were getting Bug his bottle and finishing the last few things. I got another message from the lady telling me that it wasn't going to work and she wasn't coming. I'm not even going to say that I didn't tear into her. I was not happy. So now with 1 hour to go we were rushing to Walmart and Costco looking for a cake.

To shorten a long story I was mean enough the lady said she would bring the cakes over; John went crazy and bought 2 Costco sheet cakes, and then Stephanie came over with a giant cupcake cake for JJ's smash cake. So we ended up with 5 cakes. It was a little bit of a disaster. JJ also had only taken 1 nap and by 345 was super grumpy. So we put him down and by 5 he still wasn't awake and so he got woken up and he wasn't the happiest of campers for his presents and cake.

Thank you to everyone who came though and all the presents. I definitely learned a few things that I'll remember to take into consideration if/when I do another birthday party.



 

John and I had noticed an increase in scorpions since about July. We had the pest company come out and do an extra spray but we were still seeing quite a few (mostly outside or the garage). So we bought a black light and decided to go scorpion hunting. We started the Friday my parents got here I believe and we found proably 15-20 that first night. I was shocked. Since then we have gone out pretty much every night. The first week we were getting about 10 a night; since then it has gone down to 2-3 a night. It's been a bit of a battle with the pest company trying to get them to understand what I mean when I say their treatments are ineffective! We went out and spent a bunch of money on chemicals ourselves and are going to treat it ourselves for a while.

Demon toes!!

This was the first night I think. This jar is about 1/3 full now.

The Sunday after JJ's birthday we got up and decided to do a family ride again. We rode to Apple Dumplings Cafe. It's about 7 miles round trip and everyone had a good time. Bug was wiped out by the time we got home. We've done this again the past 2 weeks.

JJ trying out one of his new toys.

Monday was JJ's actual birthday and my mom and dad were leaving that afternoon. We went to Tia Rosa's for his birthday lunch. As always it was fun to have my parents here and we can't wait for their next visit.

Along with the scorpions we've had really bad mosquitos! I sat here in the house one morning and got 7 bites. I never even saw a mosquito! They have been eating JJ alive. He gets really swollen when he's bitten and then it turns into almost a rash. The doctor said it's nothing though, or nothing we can do.

With all the new toys and presents we needed to get some toy storage. JJ was a big helper putting the new shelves together.

This past weekend Shar invited us swimming. She'd gotten a key to the Power Ranch pool so JJ and I went for a swim. He had a lot of fun kicking in the water and walking around the bench. He made it about an hour and a half when I think he was tired, hungry, and I was worried about too much sun. When we got home he and I were playing so I took a selfie of us.

Picture from one of our morning bike rides

That pretty much sums up the month of September. It looks like October is going to be busy as well as we already have pretty much every weekend booked. 

 Let me say a few things about JJ at this one year point. He had his 1 year appointment and the doctor said he's doing great. He weighs 20 lbs 11.5 oz and is 30 1/2 inches tall. He still army crawls. He will stand on the furniture or beside it but I think he's still a ways off from walking. He is a silly thing with an amazing smile and laugh. He loves the song Honey I'm Good. He doesn't really eat baby food anymore and his current favorite food is spaghetti O's. He loves his bottle and he still doesn't hold it himself. He hates holding still for 1 minute to get his diaper changed. He goes to sleep about 730 and is still up about 530 everyday. Until recently he was napping twice a day but he thinks he should only take 1 nap (I disagree). He has 8 teeth, 4 up and 4 down.

I can't let it go by without adding something about this first year of being a parent. I can't believe it's been a year already. I can't believe how much he has changed in a year! I can't believe how much I absolutely 100% adore him. I won't lie and say it's all been amazing because it is hard. It is exhausting. It is mentally, physically, and emotionally draining. When I'm with him sometimes I just want him to take a nap but when I am away from him I think about him nonstop and can't wait until I get to be with him again. I get frustrated when he won't nap or when he won't sit down in the tub and then slips and falls. I get upset when he gets hurts or when he doesn't feel well. I wish he would sleep past 530 am. I worry. I worry that we've messed up by jumping up at every little cry (around 515 am). I worry that he won't have friends, that he'll struggle with school, that someone will make fun of him, that he'll get hurt when I'm not there, that he'll want to play soccer... the list goes on and on. I'm amazed at the shift in everything in my world to focus on him. Sometimes I can't even go in and check on him at night because I will just stand there and stare. His shirt says it all (Little Game Changer).