coppertone baby

With all the time that we have been spending outdoors and swimming lately, I noticed that Alex has a very white bottom compared to the rest of his body while I was giving him a bath last night. Since we spent yesterday morning at the pool with his friends, his shoulders were a tad burnt. That's with sunscreen on! But since he has my skin tone, his shoulders were a nice brown this morning.

for the pint-sized Gator fan

The people at Pottery Barn must know that there are millions of Gator fans out there with toddlers because they have these adorable alligator backpacks. I had planned to buy one for Alex since he is starting "school" in the fall, but not until it got closer to the school year so I could see if there were any other cute pre-school backpacks out there. But I was drawn to the free shipping. That always gets me. By the end of the week, he should have his backpack for "school," and I just have to get it monogrammed locally.

bumbleBEE!

Chris and I had an afternoon to ourselves yesterday, and decided to watch Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. I thought it was better than the first one, mostly because this one seemed like it was targeted towards a broader audience. Not just guys, because along with the cars and women and military, they had some humor in this one. At times, I just couldn't stop laughing. Anyhow, Monaco Theaters had two of the cars and a motorcycle from the movie. Not the exact ones, but replicas that were custom made by a local car place. It was fun afternoon.

p.s. I need to stop going to Bridge Street... I have been four consecutive days now.

thank you

Regardless of how you feel about Micheal Jackson, you have to admit that the King of Pop had tremendous impact on the music industry. I have been a fan of his since I was in first grade... I remember having a poster of him in my room and listening to his Thriller album (on a record player!). I want to thank him for his inspiration of music and dance. I hope that in the afterlife, he is able to find the childhood he never had.

party at the piazza

This month's Bridge Street Buddies event was a Party at the Piazza - with free pizza, ice cream, and carousel rides! What more could a child ask for? Haley wanted to ride the carousel the entire time, and I think Mary got dizzy riding it 9 times in a row! Anyhow, Alex was not a fan of riding the horse while on the carousel, but was a huge fan of the tea cup! I let him sit in there for 3 rides in a row. That was after having pizza and juice. Afterwards, Beth and I went to Gymboree to check out there sale, then went to Maggie Moo's to get our free ice cream! It wasn't too hot yet so all in all, we had a great morning/afternoon. It tired Alex enough that he went right to sleep when we got home.

wordless wednesday

prayers needed

This sweet little guy is Ian. He is my good friend, Kyla's nephew. I know many people don't know his entire story so I'll refer you to his website for that. To make a long story short, doctors did not expect him to make it to 6 months, let alone 12. Ian is now 20 months old. Miracles do happen. However, they went to see a cardiologist in Birmingham today and did not get good news.

They have given Ian a minimum 6 months to live. It seems his little heart is starting to get weak and his oxygen levels are getting low. They are calling hospice back in and Ian will be going back on oxygen. They have told Mary to cancel his ear and eye surgery. Please keep Mary, Wae and Ian in your prayers for the months to come. They will definitely need the strength!

daddy's day

Last month, Alex and I joined our friends at Laura's house to paint mugs for Father's Day. I let Alex paint the entire mug and helped him write the word dad on it. After he painted the entire outside of the mug, he started to put the paintbrush inside the mug. That's where I made him stop and got him snacks so that I could continue with painting Alex's name and the year on the bottom. I tried to get Alex's thumb print on the bottom, too, but he did not like me pressing his thumb to the mug. Anyhow, I think it turned out pretty well. The brown ended up looking black when I went to pick the mug up a couple of weeks ago, but it is what it is.

a night at the opera

My friend, Kristina, called me the other day to let me know that she had won tickets to the opera through her work. She invited me to go since, obviously, this isn't something her husband really would like. I, being the theater lover that I am, gladly accepted the invitation. It ended up being an awesome girl's night out. We started out with dinner and drinks at Surin, followed by the show at the Rennaisance Theater. It is this beautiful, historic building in downtown Huntsville. Kristina and I were both pleasantly surprised with this production of Pagliacci. And agreed that we should do this again sometime. I really do love my friends.

old video

Chris took this video about a month ago. I just happened to find it when I was cleaning off our camcorder's hard drive. Anyhow, I had left to get my hair done and have dinner with some friends. According to Chris, not too long after I left, Alex walked over to the window by our front door saying "Abby, Abby, Abby." He called me "abby" for about a month instead of "mama." He calls me "mommy" now. Anyhow, it was too cute and I am glad that Chris recorded this for me to watch. I have a few more videos, but some of those are probably just going to be uploaded to either vimeo or facebook.

carb addict

I'll admit that I love my carbs - breads, pastas, etc. Apparently, Alex loves his carbs too. Anyhow, I am trying to get Alex to take his long afternoon naps again. Swimming lessons ended yesterday. He got a certificate for completing the course and everything. I asked the instructors where his cap and gown was so that he could move the tassel. They just laughed and said that those things weren't part of the registration fee. Since that's over with, I can get things done around the house again. I'm also in the process of getting the past two months worth of videos off our camcorded so expect a few videos here and there. I actually found a really cute one that Chris took back in May.

not-so-wordless wednesday

The "I Wish" edition...

I wish I was a little bit taller...

I wish I was a baller...

I wish I had a girl who looked good, I would call her...

day 4

Today's swimming lesson consisted of a review of last week, as well as swimming through a hula-hoop. Not underwter, though. Alex loves watching people swim laps before his lesson. The next Michael Phelps? Possibly.

curtains

I've been in the process of finishing Alex's room. Sad, since I should have done this before he was born. We changed out the blinds in his room to cordless ones and finally bought curatains. We're sticking with the baby blue/sage green colors with cream as an accent color. Next, I have to get Chris to finish putting the pictures up on the wall.

it's going to be a hot summer

Alex and I went to Big Spring Park to spend the morning with some friends. We ended up leaving after an hour because the humidity was killing me. Anyhow, we got home and ate lunch. Lo and behold, Alex now has teeth 13 and 14. The two insisors on the top have broken through.

day 3

Alex brushing his teeth in his favorite spot! Alex is 15 months old today! I'll give you the newest stats after his appointment next Tuesday. Anyhow, we spent the day at swim lessons. We had a make-up lesson today since they cancelled yesterday's class. I'm exhausted... swim lessons are exhausting me (Alex too!). I can't wait until next week - when they are over.

wordless wednesday

day 2

So day 2 of swim lessons went excellent. After I dunked Alex's head under the water, he fussed and fussed for about 2 minutes. Then, all was okay in the world. The only thing he didn't want to do was float on his back. He did really well when I held his arms out and told him to kick, kick, kick. It was so much fun today!

busy, busy, busy

So I am swim mom this week. Alex has swim lessons for the next two weeks, but in addition to swim lessons, I also have to take him to his 15-month well visit, playgroups and do our normal everyday stuff. Swim lessons were interesting today. Once he got in the water, he took everything in and then decided he wanted out of the water. We got back in the water, only to get out two minutes later. Finally, he settled on sitting on the edge of the pool and dove in head first. Oh my! I have an interesting two weeks ahead of me. By the way, aren't the little baby crocs adorable on his feet?

proof

Alex is half-Asian. Not that we had any doubt. But Alex ate an entire egg roll by himself the other day. Not one that I made, but one from the chinese take out place.

in suspense...

I picked up the Father's Day present that Alex made for Chris a couple of weeks ago. It's turned out really cute... you can tell that a kid made it. I added a few things to it before we left, but considering that a 15-month old created it, it turned out great! You'll have to wait until Father's Day to find out what Alex made for Chris. Stay tuned...

oh my!

I left Alex to play in his room this morning. After 15 or so minutes, I realized that he had been quiet for way too long. This is what I found. He had flipped his ball pit over, spilling balls everywhere. He had also managed to scatter toys under his crib.

another ava

Alex's friend, Ava, is now mobile. We had a playdate at the mall so earlier this morning so that Kim and I could shop and have lunch after we let the kids play for awhile. She is getting so big.