18 months

Ian,

My buddy boy, you growing and changing so much. Which is completely normal just happening a little to fast for this momma.  At the doctor this AM you weighed in 27lbs 13oz and you're 33in long with a head (a nicely shaped head I might add) circumference of 19.  You are in the 75th precentile for both weight and height. 

You have learned the following words:
Momma
Dada
Doggie, often followed with some panting
ruck= truck
Uh oh
Ease= please
anx=thanks
Hi
all done=followed with a turn up of his hands
ack=cracker
I'm sure there are more as you are always jabbering I just haven't figured out what they mean yet...I'm a slow learner.

You are shy around strangers (stranger danger, stranger danger...remember that) and talk up a storm and become very animated when with the ones you love.  You have nailed down waving bye bye in a timely manner and following that up with blowing some kisses.  You overall a smart boy and we don't give you nearly as much credit as you deserve.  You follow directions (when it suits you which is usually always). You can tell us when you are in need of a diaper change.  Yay for knowing when you pee your pants!

Motor Skills: your gross and fine motor skills seem to be good I'm no expert but you can put the lid back on a water bottle and you can feed yourself...Yep GENIUS!  Which you seem to be favoring your left hand which is a delight to your CiCi, Granny Ree and Uncle Don!

Food, by golly you are a picky one this apparently has not affected your growth.  In the last couple of weeks you have gotten big into feeding yourself so shirt off, bib on, hand over the food and a spoon and let you go to town.  Still not to adventerous on what goes in but at least food is going in. You keep us on our toes.

Sleep, still haven't quite figured this one out yet.  Sometimes you sleep through for example this past week you slept from 9:45-8ish (ALL NIGHT) and then the next night you were awake.  What gives little man?? 

We celebrated your 18mo bday with a trip to Disney and the beach, not that you will remember it but that's why there is an entire blog post dedicated to our trip so you can read about, perfect solution!  We are also celebrating later this summer with a trip to Mackinaw with your Grammie, PaPa Jim and CiCi.  Hope you have overcome your fear of bike trailers as none of us really want to relive that experience.

I can't imagine life without you, you are such a joy and true gift from God.

I love you buddy forever and always!
Momma

our new space

Alright so here it is what you all have been waiting for.
I'm currently sitting out by this:

We are totally not going in order but oh well.  You'll figure it out, I do beleive you are smart.

Front:

 Living room from front door:

view of living room from hallway

view from kitchen doorway:

let's take a trip down the hallway:

Ian has a hallway to run down now

where we will stop in to Ian's room shhh...sleeping Ian

all toys fit so nicely plus still room to play

and let's take a pit stop at the full bathroom where I already have paint color picked out:

And one of the things I'm most excited about is:

A laundry shoot, I'm in LOVE!  Although after I throw clothes down it I have to run downstairs to make sure they made in the basket.  Kinda defeats the purpose I know can you say OCD??

Onto bedroom #2 our decorating staging area:

Back into hallway to take a look at the master bedroom:

And another view of the master from the half bath:

And a view of the half bath:

View of half bath from other door:

Kitchen/dining area from half bath door:

Kitchen view from living room doorway:

 Dining area from kitchen:

Kitchen from dining area

 Pantry is too the left, fridge and last but least my fantastic green universal chef oven, I love that it is a built in:

door leads out to garage:

let's head downstairs:

Finished area:

bedroom #4 in basement:

Another view of bedroom 4:

Storage area of un-finished side

Laundry and utility area of un-finished side:

Back upstairs and let's head outside:

Pool area which needs some landscaping help (aka a lot of things REMOVED):

our yard is BIG

 View of back yard from corner of property:

So there you have it our new home, we have lots to do as far as appearance goes in the landscaping dept and interior.  I'm determined to wait to paint until we have everything we need to completely complete a room and I'm dead set on a color.  I have the tendency to change my mind A LOT!!!!

shorts party

Thanks to Crowdtap myself and 3 friends got to go shopping together at our local Old Navy! We had a blast trying on the different styles of shorts that Old Navy has to offer. We each found a pair of shorts that complimented our body types as well as a top and accessory to make a complete outfit. We are ready for summer!

Mary Clare went with a versitale look that will take her from a casual BBQ to a night out with her lovely hubby John!

The look that I went with reads a great outfit for going out on a date night with my hubby while our son enjoys some bonding time with his grandparents. Or girls night or a chic BBQ so versatile.

 

 Jen went with a versitale look as well that she can sport to many different summer functions with her hubby Jay and son Ethan.

Fine Print:

Here's what happens when you don't read the fine print that clearly states women's apparel only.

So a back up plan comes into play when your orginal 3rd person is on vacation 3hrs away.  You shop for them.  This was FUN the opportunity to A: shop for my mom B: Shop for her without her C: get her something she may normally not get for herself  are all very rare things to happen let alone happen at the same time.  Her look is being sent to her but a sneak peak of her shorts, I can't locate the other items on Old Navy's website so I will attempt to describe picture the same top Mary Clare has on only in a offwhite color with print on it.  And the shoes are a cute strappy sandal in a coral color. Wow that was a really bad description I apologize!

What I like about Old Navy is how versatile their clothes are each piece can easily be paired with other pieces in our current wardrobes making even more outfits.  We did each change at least one piece of item from what we tried on.  Mary Clare got different shoes, Jen different shorts, and myself different top (same style just different color).

We had a great time and look forward to another opportunity to do it again.  I did just find out I was approved for their embellished tank top promo so that will be fun, gotta love embellished tanks.

5 days

This post was originally written last weekend:
We took over possession of our new this past Sunday afternoon and since then the following has been accomplished all while we have both worked our normal work hours and did our everyday routines (working out, gorcery store, etc), Marcus doing some station time, and I showing our current house to interested renters (since sign went up a week ago Tuesday I've had about 25 phone calls and scheduled 15+ showings however only 12 have showed)...I do believe a meltdown may occur in the very near future.
Here's the list of what has bee accomplished
-washed all walls, windows, kitchen cabinets, doors, and bathrooms.
-Painted living room, hallway, and 2 out of 3 bedrooms (Hubby was at house until at least 1am painting on Mon, Tues, and Wed)
-lined all kitchen cabinets, moved all plates, cups, and silverware except for 2 of each, all pots and pans except for 2, all non-perishable food aside from what we need to get through this weekend.
-Small kitchen appliances (blender, mixer. etc) are also at the new house
-carpets have been cleaned
-a frog has been rescued from the pool filter seriously this frog was huge I have never seen a frog so big not behind glass.  My dad played the role of animal control and was successful and released it at my Uncle's house in the woods.
-majority of our storage tubs from the basement have been moved to the new basement

So I'd say in the last 5 days we have made a lot of progress our goal is to finish moving by this weekend.  Then we will be back to old house to finish up some projects there and give it a good deep cleaning. I see a light at the end of the tunnel, hopefully nothing caves in and covers it or a meltdown will happen a lot sooner.

Vacay

I know you are all waiting on the edges of your seats for house details and real quick we got the keys Sunday and wouldn't you know it I forgot my camera and what are details without pictures? So, you'll have to settle with vacay. And can I just say it seems like such a long time ago we went but really it was just 2wks ago.
This is going to be a 2 parter there just no other way around it. As we spent part of our time in Disney and the other part at the beach.  My in-laws joined us in this trip and we created some memories! We flew direct flight from our home town to St. Petersburg, FL.

Day 1 (travel day): Now, we have a very dinky dinky airport in which the be there 2hrs prior to plane departure does not apply you are good with 45min before departure.  We went in with the intentions of carrying our luggage on  however the plane was full and everyone was carrying on so they were checking bags for FREE. Umm...we didn't even have to think twice as we were only carrying on to save money not because we enjoy walking onto a plane with 2 carry on bags, diaper bag, personal bag and a 17mos old.  We all survived the flight Ian played with the reading material in the seat and then the window and then slept for about 1.5hrs the total flight time is 2hrs 20min.  We arrive safely retrive our luggage and rental car, load up and head over to Orlando.  About an hr and half later we arrive at our resort with the help of my sister on the phone, to say we had directionally challenged people in our vehicle would be putting it lightly.  A quick trip to the grocery store and a chance to freshen up (note, this is where I went into a bit of a tailspin as I learned I forgot my straightner, my straightner to me is what a curling iron is to my grandma's...IMPORTANT.  I quickly texted my sister to have her bring me hers) my sister (my hero) arrives to escort us to Downtown Disney to meet my grandparents for dinner.  We ate at Raglan Road which is a fun Irish restaurant with Irish dancing and all!  From there we headed to my sister's place for homemade apple pie, visiting and for Ian to run a muck of my sister's house.



Day 2 (Magic Kingdom): My sister and her entourage arrived at our resort to escort us to the park.  My MIL is still recovering from having the arch in her foot rebuilt, and bones realigned in her foot so she got a wheelchair (which is basically you're golden ticket to the front of every line, thanks MIL).  Our plan was spend about 4-5hrs in the park and then head back to resort so Ian could sleep. We parked hopped on the ferry and made our way to Cindy's Palace.  We did It's a Small World (Ian clapped and danced along w/the music), Pirate's of the Carribean (he stayed awake this time on it, last year he fell alseep), Country Bear Jamboree (he LOVED this one), Buzz Lightyear (gotta admit this one is so much more for adults than a 17mos old but it did kept his interest and he was able to do a little bit of it but I got way more into than he did), and Jungle Cruise (gotta love corny jokes) were our attractions for the AM.  Ian fell alseep on the monorail ride back to the car and then was completely awake and wanted no part of a nap once back at the resort so my sister and I put our suits on and Ian's suit and too the pool we went.  After a refreshing swim and some relaxing we ate dinner (well some of us did Ian got a milkshake) at Fuddruckers from there we headed back to Magic Kingdom for the Light Parade, changing of the castle (which is AWESOME), and the fireworks show (which is also AWESOME and starts right after the castle).  Now here's a little Disney tidbit for the fireworks the best place to stand is anyone on Main St that the train tracks cross. Stand there and you won't miss ANYTHING!!

Day 2 (Animal Kingdom): This a smaller park when is comes to attractions.  It has the most land out of all the parks though.  We sent out to It's Tough to be a Bug which is located inside the Tree of Life, on the docket next was Kilimanjaro Safari this is worth the wait (we waited 80min) if you can get a fast pass then GET ONE after this my sister had to leave us as duty called and she had little ones to teach.  When you get off the safari ride you walk right into the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail which is a self guided tour where you can see more animals.  From there we headed to the Wildlife Express Train which is a train ride over to the Conservation Station (do this early sometimes you can watch actual procedures, check-ups, etc being done on the animals that reside at Animal Kingdom), Affection Station (petting area).  We called it a day after that now if we hadn't then I would've gone on Expedition Everest and then called it a day.  Now, when Ian is older there is more that he would enjoy to do there but since we are still pointing, grunting and calling everything a doggie we aren't ready for fossil finding just yet. Future visit. We kept it simple that night and ordered Ian's favorite for dinner PIZZA and he ate NONE of it.  He barely ate any type of meal while were gone he survived on grapes, apples, puffs, french fries (when he would eat them), milkshakes, and milk.

Day 3 (Hollywood Studios and Epcot): this is our final day doing the park thing so it was go time with no time to waste.  We started with Hollywood Studios so that way we could end with Epcot and watch their firework show, but more on that later.  A must (so we have heard) is Toy Story Mania my advice is the 1st thing you do when you get to the park is gather everyone's ticket in your group ditch them at the enterance and run like you have never ran before to the fast pass distribution area for Toy Story Mania and get your fast passes. As it is apparently a great attraction, we were not smart and did not do this therefore we didn't get to experience the greatness. We did instead the following: Disney Junior (warning this is without a doubt for the kids, Ian loved it), we meet Winnie the Pooh and Mickey (we totally used our smarts on this as the line for Mickey was about 45min wait and the wait for Pooh was about 30min so as I searched for Marcus my sister waited in line for Mickey and then Marcus, Ian and I waited for Pooh for FIL was our line informer and right after Pooh we walked over to Mickey and my sister was next in line...PERFECTION. From there we headed to the Back Lot Tour, and then the Great Movie ride.  Now, if it was just Marcus, my sister and myself then we would've done Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. We headed back to the resort where once again Ian had NO interest in napping, after some freshing  up we headed over to Epcot where we visited all the countries.  Ian and I took a trip to the Yacht and Beach club which is the Disney resort my sister works at part time to meet her co-workers who I have heard so much about.  After a while we headed back to Epcot (it's all with in walking distance) and meet up with Marcus and my in-laws. We did more venturing around and waited for the clock to hit 8:45 at which time we headed to the bridge that connects England with Paris (best in-park spot to watch the fireworks if you don't book a pontoon at the resort my sis works at).

Day 4 (Downtown Disney and travel day aka My Birthday): we packed up and headed to downtown disney where we were meeting my sister for a sandwich from Earl of Sandwich and Ghirardelli ice cream and of course to fulfill all of our souvenir needs.  We also rode the carousel which Ian disliked A LOT, and played in the water fountain which after some warming up he loved.  Big thanks to my sister who during lunch took Ian outside so Marcus and I could eat without a Ian taturam although she did take him to the water fountain and he ended up shirtless I still thank her! We then hopped in the car and headed west.

Enjoy some pics of Day 1-4:

Granted

So remember when I posted about being homeowners for 5yrs and our wish list for our next house? Well, our wishes have been granted and were not just talking a few items on our list we are talking each and every one.
We were not looking it more or less found us. It's in the same neighborhood as my in laws (we're close but not Everybody Loves Raymond close). In fact we were over at their house for mother's day and went for a walk, saw the house and for fun picked up the info sheet. And, then for the whole week both Marcus and I couldn't stop thinking/talking about it. So, he called up our friend who is a realtor to arrange a showing and dinner. And from there the ball got rolling and we put an offer in, they counter offered we accepted, inspections happened, a good game of phone tag was played. And can I just say thank goodness for online banking, scanners, email and fax machines. The process would have taken so much longer if we had to relay on snail mail.

We close tomorrow as in 1 more wake up and we will be homeowners of 2 homes!  If you don't hear or see from me it's because I'm either packing or have been locked in a padded room.

I'll share more details later when I can post pictures along with it.

Fire

On may 31st after 9mos, 512hrs, and 36wks of training Marcus graduated from Clay fire territor's fire academy he has his firefighter 1-2 and EMT certification. He is now a probie and will remain a probie until he has completed his probie handbook it can take up to a yr to complete. To help complete the handbook he has to do 48hrs of station time and attend at least 1 training pre month.

Here are some pics from the event I will also note I was completely soaked from the oh the chest down on the left side of body as I had to walk in pouring down rain not to worry my hair stayed dried thanks to a box I had in my car. I should probably consider buying an umbrella to keep in my car...

we all survived

replaced the yellow recruit helmet with a black one!

Marcus and my cousin Adam

Magic

Here is a moment I was able to capture while visiting with my grandparents.  My Poppie would always do this magic trick with us and my cousins.  I'm so glad he was able to preform for Ian and needless to say Ian was impressed!

To do list

I feel like it's been forever since my last post so let's do a recap of events I plan to do individual post on the below events. So if anything this post serves as my blog to do list.

*marcus completed the fire academy

* family vacation(currently on) celebrating fire academy completion, my birthday, MIL birthday, Ian's half birthday

*we are in the process of buying a new house, sbkzdfuvjdja!!!!

*summer I feel is officially here, I have a sunburn, bikini tan lines and well that makes me happy

* we spent memorial day weekend painting the outside of our current house

I think that is it for now, I'm still on vacation so I'm not going to think too hard about what else is going on at home. The next couple of months are going to be crazy but fun!