Catch Up!

Once again, it's been forever since I've written, but I'd better get geared up for November. I've gotta try to blog every day for National Blog Month!

So now I'll try to catch up on the past 3 weeks in my true random fashion...

Daniel and I made yet another trip to Iowa because Erica flew in for a visit. I struggled all week trying to figure out if we should go or not, but in the end I'm glad that we did. I just never know when we'll see Erica again, so it made sense to go.

I think I've eaten enough candy corn to fill the back of a semi. Okay, maybe not that much, but I finally hit my wall the other day. I picked up another bag and then made myself put it back and step away. I may have needed an intervention soon if I bought another bag.

Jacob and I got to go on a date. It's something we don't really get to do often, so I really enjoyed it. We went to see Taken 2, walked around Barnes and Noble, had Olive Garden, went to Target and get dessert before heading home again. I don't mind taking Daniel places with us because he's a pretty awesome little dude, but it was nice to just be the 2 of us for a few hours. No lugging a kiddo in and out of the car. No taking breaks every other bite to give him food too. Yes. It was nice to have a break. :)

What's new in the life of Daniel you ask? He now has tooth number 5! He walks very quickly around the furniture. He stands in his crib, holds the rails and jumps up and down! He's still very picky about table food, but right now his newest faves are yogurt and cheese sticks. He can't get enough! He gets into EVERYTHING.

Exhibit A:



Exhibit B:



Not to mention he's just the silliest, cutest little boy in the world!

I'm excited for Halloween next week! We're going to take Daniel to a Trunk or Treat here in town! Takes me back to the Valley View days!  I'm convinced T.o.T. is the way to go. So much easier that traipsing all over a neighborhood. Plus they have free food too! Super excited to get Daniel all dressed up!

I'm also excited for next week as well because I have an interview at the YMCA to work in their nursery. It's a job where I can take Daniel with me for free and make a little extra money. It sounds perfect. 5 days a week for a 2 hours and 15 minutes a day. It doesn't even interfere with nap time or lunch. The only thing I would have to change is my grocery shopping schedule, but that's nothing. I'm going to have to start going to bed earlier. I've gotten used to staying up. Especially now that Daniel is sleeping better. I don't get up til 8 and don't shower until 9 or later! This will be a good way to get my butt moving in the morning. I'm interviewing Monday morning!

Anyway...yay! I blogged!

Lastly...2 of my new favorite pictures courtesy of...me!

Love My Boy

I know I post about Daniel a ton, but he's my favorite thing to talk about!

A couple of weeks ago marked his 10 month milestone. 10 months. Say what? With each month that passes I find myself both happy and sad. He's still my baby, but not that little bundle we brought home from the hospital. He continues to amaze me though as he learns, grows and explores his surroundings. He's really starting to figure out how things in the world work.

Now to go along with his pulling up skills he has added it some walking around things. He pulls up and then walks along the perimeter. He topples over sometimes...he's got a bump on his eye from hitting in on the couch last night as he fell, but he usually gets right back up again. I got out a push toy for him last night and already this morning he figured out that he could walk with it. He's only done it once, but I'd say by next week he'll be cruising around the house with that baby. He's even getting brave and letting go of things. He kind of stands for a second and then sits himself down.

He has "Go Go Gadget" arms. He can reach just about everything now. Example...he can reach up and pull things off the table now. Sigh.

He LOVES his bunny. He drags that thing around with him everywhere. He always carries it by the Easter egg that's attached to it. Silly boy!

He still wakes up usually twice a night. I always get that "annoyed" feeling when he hearing the fussing, but then once I wake up a little bit I kind of enjoy the bonding time. It's when I can actually snuggle with him. Although he was up at 3 this morning just as happy and as alert as can be. I did get him back to sleep thankfully. I got him to lay down with me and I usually won't make eye contact because he gets all excited, but this time I looked right at him and he just stared at me so content. It was the sweetest thing ever. It made my heart happy!

He's learning the meaning of "NO!" and cries now when he gets in trouble. I kid you not, his sad face is so adorable. Of course, I can't let on to that, but his little lip comes out and everything. Or he gets mad. He furrows his brow and kind of huffs. It totally reminds me of me when I get mad! It doesn't stop him from constantly testing the limits. His favorite "naughty" things to do are pulling books off the shelf (and ripping pages if I don't get there fast enough", playing with any and all cords (especially the fan cord) and pulling open drawers under the TV.

He has also figured out that he can choose what he eats and doesn't eat. We're currently going through a phase where he pretty much only eats carbs. He'll still eat at least one jar of food at supper which is good, but other than that he lives on crackers and bread. (And occasional bites of ice cream. His favorite!) I'm not concerned right now though because I've seen plenty of babies go through this phase. I still offer him things. He usually throws everything he doesn't want on the floor or squishes it in his hand. I'll just keep offering. Eventually he'll decide he wants more.

Other things he enjoys:

Looking at himself in the mirror.

Loud silly noises that Daddy makes. Seriously, he usually jumps in the air and then cracks up laughing.

"I'm Gonna Get You!". Last night I chased him on my hands and knees all over the house. I don't know which one of us was laughing harder.

Following the vacuum around. He used to be scared until I got the new vacuum. It's a bit quieter so I think that helps. Sometimes I just keep him in the crib, but other times like today I let him out. He'll crawl close to it and then when I move it closer he takes off as fast as he can in the other direction. It totally cracks me up!

I suppose that's enough bragging on my little guy. He just melts my heart.

Road Trips Are Fun...But There's No Place Like Home

The last 2 weekends have been super busy! 2 weekends ago Daniel and I made a trip back to Iowa again and then this last weekend we went up to Oak Forest to visit Heidi and Zach!

In Iowa, mom, Kendra and I went to the UNI craft show, while my dad watched Daniel. We were gone about 6 hours and it was kind of nice to be kid free for awhile, but on the way home I couldn't wait to see him again! He and Grandpa had a good time together though.

The craft show was fun. I got a few little things. Then I got to go see where Kendra lives and then we went to Famous Dave's for lunch. Mmm!

The next day our family went to Bloomsbury Farm! It couldn't have been a more perfect fall day! It's probably been about 5 years since I had been out there, and they've added so much more. We had a great time. Daniel is always very serious when we're outside, but he really did have a good time. I think his favorite things besides crawling in the grass were playing in the hay and sitting in the row of pumpkins!











He was a very good boy on our trip and we had lots of fun with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Kendra! My good little traveler had a rough time though going home. He cried for almost an hour and a half. I had to stop after 45 minutes. We got out at a gas station and walked around which made him happy, but as soon as I put him back in the car seat the screaming started again. He of course passed out 5 minutes from home.

We came home on Monday afternoon and then left again Thursday morning for Heidi's. We took the boys to the park to play in the afternoon and then hung out at the condo that evening. Zach has recently figured out how to get into the fridge and at one point it got a little too quiet. I went to peek around the corner and found this:





Ha!

On Friday we headed to another Pumpkin Patch. Heidi's sister, mother, and grandma in-laws all came along too.









Daniel ended up passing out right before we left. Poor little guy was so sleepy, but I knew that this would be his only nap so I was hoping he'd sleep all the way back, which he did.

On our way back though we almost got into an accident. It was pretty scary. Heidi was talking to Jeff on the hands free set while we were driving back. Jenny, her sister-in-law was right in front of us. I was looking down at my phone not really paying attention. For whatever reason I glanced up and realized that the cars in front of us stopped and Heidi was still going the regular speed limit. I honestly can't remember what I did. I don't know if I gasped really loud or said, "STOP!" I do know I was waving my arms around like crazy. She immediately slammed on the brakes and we literally just missed hitting Jenny. By all miracles there was no one behind us even though there were a bunch of people in front of us. We would have been hit pretty hard from behind. Jeff was still on the phone and is going, "What happened??" over and over again and we were trying to collect ourselves. Ya know how sometimes when you're super scared your adrenaline kicks in and makes you laugh? Well, Heidi responds with, "Brakes work!" I almost lost it laughing even though I was still shaking like crazy. I replayed it so many times in my head and it terrifies me how close we were to hitting the van, but we're all okay. Daniel slept through it all and Zach was more upset because he wanted to talk to his Daddy.

Back at the condo, Daniel decided he was going to be wide awake. I thought MAYBE I could get him back to sleep, but in the end he won.



At least Zach napped! Then we went to Chick fil a! It had been way too long since I had some chicken and waffle fries.

Once we FINALLY got the boys to bed we watched The Proposal and also had a good laugh over Heidi's caramel apple snapping off the stick.

Saturday we went shopping at IKEA and Meijer and then grabbed some lunch before heading back to the condo to make sure the boys got naps. While they napped we watched 27 Dresses and waited for a text from our mom's to let us know when they'd be there.

We met them at Cracker Barrel. Man, I LOVE that place.Who am I kidding? I love eating out in general.

That night Aunt J was going to stay with Heidi and Zach and mom, Daniel and I were staying at a hotel. Horrible,horrible experience. It was dirty. I let Daniel crawl around for just a bit and then set up the pack n play and made the poor kiddo play in there. I got woken up by a screaming drunk guy and slamming doors. Our phone was broken so I had to call the desk from my cell phone. Then I got woken up by, how shall I put this? The couple next door were having a bit too much fun if you know what I mean. Talk about paper thin walls. When I told my mom how bad I slept and everything that happened she was upset I didn't wake her and said we would have left the hotel then. I just didn't see the point in waking Daniel up and having to pack everything up. I still wouldn't have slept.  We decided to see if the breakfast was worth it, but they didn't even have high chairs so we went to Denny's. Much better!

I was on the road before 9 and Daniel slept the entire 3 hour drive! It was so good to get back home and be able to spend time with my little family. It was a fun 2 weeks, but this momma is happy to be home!