Spa Buddy

Colin's hooked on the day spa! It was bound to happen with my long addiction to keeping my nails perfectly polished. Colin has been with me to the nail shop a few times now, but this was the first time that he wanted to sit in his OWN massage chair with the "mote" (remote control). He even took his shoes off to get a little foot bath (we are in the "monkey see, monkey do" phase of life.) But I drew the line when he asked for toenail polish...so instead I painted his fingernails. :)

Backyard Makeover Day 2

Backyard Makeover

It's day 1 of our backyard makeover. Now that our new fence is installed and stained, we are starting the stone work.




Hopefully it will look a lot like this when we are finished - stay tuned!

A Day In My Life

Good morning!!! My morning starts off with my baby alarm clock (Colin's cries for rescue out of the crib). I am not a morning person so this is not my favorite part of the day. However, it does put a big smile on my face to be greeted by my sweet boy. I grab him and take him to our bed for a 30 min snooze while we watch Mickey Mouse on (cringe) the Disney Channel. I remember when my morning routine consisted of watching the Today show while I tried to pick out my best outfit for the day...ahhh, memories. Back to my new reality - full-time motherhood - I skip my shower, throw on an old tee shirt and saunter to the kitchen.
Colin's best meal of the day is breakfast so I try my best: cereal, yogurt, and scrambled eggs. All of this for me too plus my "eye opener," vanilla coffee.


After breakfast, dishes and throwing in a load of laundry, it’s off to our first activity of the day - Hoppin' House! Colin had a blast climbing in and out of the bounce houses and going down the slides. I get my work out too while I jump and climb for a full hour.



On our way home, we stop at the grocery store to pick up some items for dinner.

And of course Colin asked to ride in the car.

Then it's home for lunch, a nap (for Colin) and a chance for me to check email, return phone calls, clean the house and rest for a while. Fingers crossed Colin will sleep for 1-2 hours.

When Colin wakes up from his nap, we go to Lowes to buy flowers for my new hanging baskets and porch pots. I do love home improvement projects!



5:45 I start cooking dinner. I am trying to cook more, but I am always a sucker for the same 3-5 meals: tacos, burgers, pizza and grilled chicken (is that considered cooking?) David returns home from work around 6:30. We all eat together and then play for another hour.

At 7:30 it’s time to walk Monster and get Colin in the bath and ready for bed. We read books, sing a song and it's lights out for Colin and time for me to finally unwind after a busy day.
9:00 David and I clean the kitchen and watch tv. We are hooked on a few shows (like 10-15 to say the least).
10:30 I crawl into bed...I hear my phone...emails, texts, messages...I decide to go to bed and read them in the morning - I have a hard time doing that. 11:00, I close my eyes and fall fast asleep.

Play Doh

I had to check twice to be sure I didn't misspell "Play Doh" and sure enough it is in fact "Doh" not "Dough." Duh, right?

Anyhoo, Colin loves his Play Doh. His favorite part is rolling all the colors together and smashing them back into different cans. This is hard for me to watch! As a child, I was so OCD with my Play Doh that I didn't want to mix the pretty colors. I gasped and cringed when Colin smashed the turquoise Doh into the brown can, but I showed great restraint and let Colin play HIS way (later I frantically tried to separate all the colors).

He and my mom (GaGa) had a ton of fun making Doh jewelery. And yes, I have to keep a close eye on Colin because he does try to sneak a pinch into his mouth every now and then. But who doesn't? Eating Play Doh is a Pre-School right of passage, and every self-respecting American toddler must try it - multiple times - to be sure that every color does in fact taste terrible. There is something so great about the way Play Doh smells - it sure doesn't translate to the way it tastes. (Cringe) I could get lock jaw just thinking about it right now.

Pinterest

Are you Pinning yet? Yes, "Pinning." As in Pinterest - the web's most delicious collection of imagery and vacuum of precious time. I could (and do) spend hours pouring over images - from fashion to interior design to kid's toys - selecting my personal favorites to add to my Pin Boards. To say it's addictive is an understatement. Pinterest is the new "Oprah's Favorite Things" but digital, organized and constantly being updated. Here are some of my recent pins:

Love this for a boy's nursery...

I have to get one of these...

Colin could spend hours playing with this...

I still love a great stripped tee...

Light fixture I like...

Whistle Blower

I took Colin to Zilker Park's Barton Springs Pool today. It's officially summer and time for some fun in the sun. And you can't be in Austin's 90 degree sunshine unless you are near a freshwater spring.

Colin splashed around in the water and played with his shovel and bucket. This kept his interest for a few minutes, but he quickly grew tired of it. Then he started looking for more physical challenges - like climbing on the surrounding rocks. This quickly got the attention of not ONE but TWO lifeguards. They each shot an evil eye at me, and blew their whistle to scold my little billy goat for his wild ways. Sigh - he's not even 2 years old and he's getting "the whistle" at the pool! We were there for almost 3 hours, and I didn't hear a single other person get in trouble.

Sweet Colin - I'm SO in for it! This child is a daredevil, explorer type with no fear and an insane amount of energy. He will definitely need his beautiful smile and cute personality to get himself out of whatever trouble he climbs into. I'm a sucker for his infectious grin, and I'm sure I won't be the only one (lifeguards aside).