A Perfect Ending

Our last weekend as a family of three.

It couldn't have been better.

Chris finished work early on Friday and our weekend began! I was happy to have the extra pair of hands in these last few days of pregnancy, and Joey was happy to have both Mommy AND Daddy all to himself for a whole weekend!!

Friday night we went out to dinner and had one of the best restaurant experiences yet. Joey was a perfect angel, stayed in his high chair the whole time, didn't yell or scream, and as an added bonus - even ate his dinner! After dinner we went to the little toddler park on Main Street and Joey got to show Chris all his favorite things to do there!

Saturday morning was filled with me racing around like a lunatic trying to get all the last minute things done. I vacuumed, HAND MOPPED all the floors, did some laundry, cleaned the bathrooms, sent Chris and Joey out for diapers and wipes, Chris moved his office stuff out of the baby's closet, I moved all of the baby's things into her closet, and Joey - thankfully took a 3 hour nap that day so we could get all of these things done! Then we cooked out on the grill and went for a family walk before bed. Joey had fun pushing his lawn mower all around during our walk and ended by holding Charlie's leash!

Sunday was a true "family day." We went to Shady Brook Farm where Joey played on the playground. Then we went into the store and bought some fresh milk and veggies, plus an apple and hot dog for Joey to have for lunch. We sat on the picnic tables while Joey ate his lunch and then finished up the morning on the BOUNCE BOUNCE!! Yes, that's right - Joey finally got to go in a bounce house!! The farm was having a strawberry picking festival and during Joey's lunch they set up a bounce house! He was SO EXCITED!!

Later that night, we cooked out on the grill again, and then as I cleaned up, the "boys" vacuumed out my car. As I was washing dishes and looking out at Joey and Chris on the driveway I was overcome with gratitude for my wonderful family.

I felt so at peace knowing that we had this last weekend to spend together and that Joey was so happy all weekend. Over the past 21 months, he has grown up so much and he's just the most precious thing to Chris and I. I feel SO fortunate to have such a beautiful family that includes an amazing husband and the best little boy ever! And now - we are adding a new addition. Not only a daughter for Chris and I, but a little sister for Joey! My world could not be more perfect right now!

So today, Memorial Day, we topped off the weekend by taking Joey to the town parade. He had a BLAST!! He was so excited to see all the cars go by! His favorite things were the marching band, the fire trucks, the cars that went "beep beep," and the real horse! After each thing passed he would say "More More!"

It really was the best weekend! Not that we did anything super fabulous, but just that we spent it together and really enjoyed each other!

Now, we close one chapter of our life - "A Family of 3," and open the next - "A Family of 4." I can't wait to see what this chapter brings!

Patience

Patience.

During my professional career, when people learned what I did for a living, they would always say, "You must have a lot of patience."

When describing me to others my dad would say, "she has a lot of patience."

Parents of kids that I worked with would tell me, "you are so patient."

And now, when I am taking care of Joey or helping out with my mom, I do still think I posses that quality of patience. However, I don't know that I would describe myself as a patient person.

Sure, I don't get easily frustrated when teaching a child a new skill, or when waiting out a tantrum during a time-out. But when it comes to driving behind someone who is going way to slow, or waiting for some lady to to find all her coupons and then write a check for her groceries while my child is quickly counting down the minutes until he can no longer sit in the grocery cart - patience is NOT what I have!

And while waiting and waiting and waiting for the day my baby will be born - I have NO PATIENCE!!

Since I expected Joey to be born close to his due date and then was unexpectedly diagnosed with pre-eclampsia right at 38 weeks - I never had to wait for him. One day I thought I had two weeks left, and the next I was in the hospital in labor!

So this whole waiting and wondering when the baby is going to come is TORTURE!! I wish someone could knock on my front door and say, "Hey, your baby is going to be born on such and such a day."

THEN, I could be patient. But now? No, not now.

Tumbles

I wanted to blog about Tumbles (Joey's gym class) because I'm always talking about it and no one really gets to see it!

It's a 1 hour and 15 minute class once a week and Joey LOVES it!! He gets so excited when it's time to go. Usually, he's the star of the show - but occasionally he'll let a few of the other kids shine! :)

The class always starts with a circle time where they do a warm up/stretch routine. Joey can now do most of the stretches by following the teacher, so I don't help him with these anymore. Sometimes, he opts out of the stretching and stands in the middle of the circle dancing instead! Like I said - he likes to be the star!

After warm-up, the go around and say their names. At this point, I still have to prompt Joey to say his name and he always says "Joe" while nodding his head. Then he claps for himself!

The introductions lead into a weekly practice skill which is always different and then they do a song with motions.

After that, they have "adventure time" where they can play on any of the equipment, plus each week a few different things are set up for them to do with the teachers.

When adventure time is over they bring out a bubble machine and swings. The swings are one of Joey's favorite parts. There are 4 regular swings and two red car swings. Joey ALWAYS waits until the "truck" comes out - he won't swing on the regular ones!!

Then, when swings are done they come back to the circle and have some sort of "parent share" which is usually a glitter wand, little footballs, colored mats - anything you can manipulate and talk about. Then they bring out a ball pit and the kids play in that.

To end, they do one more song and then sing a good bye song while using shakers.

Joey has been doing this for so long that he knows when shakers are over the class is over and he runs immediately to the bench to put on his shoes. Then he waits in line for a stamp on his hand - he always gets one on each hand. He talks about the stamp all day long and then for the rest of the week he points to his hand and asks where the stamp is!

I really love this class because Joey has a great time, he's learning to follow instructions from a teacher and separate from me, and I also have met some good friends there. There are two moms in particular that I really like and Joey has play dates with their kids.

Here are some recent photos of him during class!

The Life of a Stay at Home Mom

Sometimes people think that they go to work all day and us stay at home moms just stay at home.

So today, I decided to write down all the things I did today.

Woke up at 7:30
Fed Joey breakfast
Cleaned and disinfected Joey's high chair
Fed and let out the dog and cat
Showered myself and Joey
Made the beds
Straightened the bedrooms
Did a load of laundry
Took Joey to the park
Went to CVS to buy Mother's Day cards
Fed Joey lunch
Called the babysitter to set up babysitting for my birthday
Rested on the couch for 1.5 hours (after all, I am 36 weeks pregnant)
Fed Joey a snack
Took packages to the post office to be mailed
Went to the hair salon to buy Chris gel
Took Joey out to dinner at Cheesburger Cheesburger
Went to the mall (with Joey) to buy Joey summer clothes
Put Joey to bed
Fed the dog
Did a 2nd load of laundry
Paid the bills
Unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher
Put away Joey's toys from the day
Straightened the kitchen
Cleaned the cat fur from the baby's crib (after realizing he had been sleeping in there)
Packed the baby's hospital bag
Sat down on the couch at 10:30 pm to write this blog

Big Daddy

Upon waking up on Saturday morning, Joey immediately asked for his slippers and then for a hat. After digging through his hat drawer he decided on a sun hat from last year that doesn't even fit his head anymore. Whenever he picks out his "accessories" I always think of the movie Big Daddy when Adam Sandler let the little boy where whatever he wanted to!



(He also carried those 3 straws around all morning ~ it was part of the outfit!)