Baking

Last weekend Anthony and I made peanut butter cookies.  We both agreed, they were pretty tasty!  :)

18-months

 

Happy 18-months to my messy little guy! 

Stay Tuned!

Life has been a little crazy these days! 

I looked back and saw that it was the end of June since I had last posted.. where does the time go?  I have been a single mom for a while now, Anthony just finished his soccer season, Byron started a new daycare, I got a "promotion" at work which basically just means more work, and I have been trying to craft for my boutiques (one of which is done, the other is coming up) and plan my sister-in-laws baby shower!  Whew! 
I have so many pictures I want to post - Anthony's first day of school, soccer pictures, pumpkin patch pictures, Western Day pictures.... at least I have taken some, right?  :)

Stay tuned!  I promise they are coming! 

Catching Up

So just when I thought I couldn't be any busier, I finally got a job!  And now life really IS busy!  I think I was kinda spoiled to be off for so long and able to make my own schedule for the most part.  But I finally found someone who was willing to hire me with education but no experience.  And so far it has been good.  I am learning a ton, and although there are aspects I don't care for, I am hoping to set myself up for my long-term goal of working from home. 

It especially took Anthony a few weeks to get used to me leaving in the morning.  He really only cared on the days he didn't go to school... "But Mom, why do you have to go to work, over and over and over and over?? I want you to stay here!!"  Some days I want to stay here, too!  :)

But now that he is in summer school every day, he doesn't have time to worry about where Mommy is going and why I'm gone all day long.

Byron is going to daycare 3 days a week to start out.  Jason is working those days when they are busy enough to need him and he is still healing from his shoulder procedure.  Hopefully he gets good news from the doctor tomorrow!

And today Byron celebrates turning 14 months old!!  He is such a fun little guy.  He grunts a lot in response to what we say to him - the kiddo is smart!  He understands so much, and he has a LOVE of books, which I am really happy about.  He especially loves Sesame Street and Spot.  :)

First Haircut

It's been about a month now, but one of these pictures in particular is just so classic Byron that I had to share!!  Can you guess which one?! 

Yes, of course, it's the infamous frown...

But then he was fine with it and actually did a really good job of sitting still

 All done and a happy boy (who no longer had the curly locks of a girl - daddy was very happy about that one!)

Happy Birthday, Byron!

Happy Birthday to my baby!  How quickly one year can go by...

This little guy is an explorer! He is walking around everywhere now, so we have to keep doors closed if we want to make sure he's not splashing in the toilet or something!  As you can see, he sneaks into brother's room and plays with books...

But he is good at sitting for a little while to play by himself.  Not often, but it does happen...

He is a great eater, finally a consistent sleeper (about 8:30-6:30ish), says Ma-ma and Da-da, and some variations of "bottle" and "Anthony." (very cute to listen to)  A lot of grunting is heard by this kid!  He is good about sharing toys, but not if brother is in the mood to take them away... he's learning quickly!

It has been a joy to watch him grow up this past year, and it's very different to stay home with your baby versus dropping them off at daycare 5 days a week.  I am thankful for the opportunity.  :)

Here's to another year of fun & exploration!!

Easter Eggs

We decided to start the tradition of dying Easter eggs this year. We don't really plan on having them as part of the Easter egg hunt tomorrow, but we thought it would be fun anyway.

Anthony seemed to have fun coloring the eggs, but he really liked the part where we put them into the cup of color!

All 3 of us took a few eggs and decorated away!


Anthony chose pink, of course, for his first selection :)

And here are the finished products! We originally had 18, but several cracked during the boiling phase, so we ended up with an odd amount.



This was one of my favorite traditions as a kid, and I found that I still enjoy it! Hopefully Anthony and Byron will look forward to it every year, too :)

April Already?!

I realized that I completely missed the month of March... wow.

Although I am still not working, I feel like life with 2 kids is SOOO busy! Days go by so fast, then turn into weeks, then months... I mean, my baby is almost 1 already!

Anthony is continuing to do well in school. They have started basic addition and subtraction, are working on combining sounds when reading, and of course learning the fun stuff like ladybugs and caterpillars. :) He had spring break last week, and I was honestly dreading it because some days it is so hard to give him my undivided attention, but we spent a lot of time playing games and I think he really appreciated that. He has had quite a hard time with Byron getting so much attention, and some days he walks around with a HUGE chip on his shoulder. It's been a little rough. All part of learning to have a sibling!

Here he is today working on some puzzles. The kid is SO good at them!

Getting so big!

On to baby Byron...

This kid is in to EVERYTHING!!!! Every kitchen cabinet, the dog's water, the TV cords, my breakables, the dog's crates, my china hutch, the list goes on and on.... He will even go into a room, close the door, and play with the doorstop! He keeps us jumping, that's for sure! He is rarely content to just sit and play with toys, which is what Anthony did. Nope, not him! Ironically, he's not walking yet! The kid can cruise all over the place, but when we try to walk with him or practice it, he just wants to sit down and protest. The past couple of days, though, we have caught him taking a few steps on his own, or standing for 10+ seconds with no assistance. I think he is getting braver. :)

He adores Anthony, and has to try to play with/take everything he has, which of course doesn't make matters any better!

Even though he is fussier than Anthony was overall, he is a really good baby. It has been such a wonderful blessing to be able to stay at home with him for this long.

Always a smile for the camera...

Proof! Playing with Anthony's cars :)



I was able to participate in my first Boutique last month. I scrapbooked picture frames, and also photo/recipe boxes. Although I didn't quite meet my goal, I still did well enough to want to particpate in the fall events and try to pursue my hobbies while making some money, too!


As for a "real" job, I have been applying for them since the beginning of January, and only one interview. Really? This has definitely been playing with my confidence, and whether or not I made the right decision to change career paths. Very frustrating!! I know God has a plan for me; maybe it's to stay home a little longer. Just have faith, right?