March Fun

 

Hey Y'all! :) I hope you all had a great weekend. It was so pretty here! It usually is too cold, too windy, or too foggy sometimes to do anything involving water but this weekend was gorgeous! So we bought B a sprinkler and water guns. This is him on Sunday totally loving life.

Then today it was so nice again we had to take a trip to the beach! So off we went with Granny G. It was so pretty and B loved it!

Lil' Mrs. Crafty!

Ohhh I have been busy in blog land but just not over on this blog:(  I now have TWO blogs to keep up with!  I started a new craft blog! It's been fun and I've been learning alot! You can check it out here:

                                                               www.lilmrscrafty.com

Show me some love and follow me!!

Happy Friday! OH and I turned 25 week this week!! YAY! I plan on snapping a picture soon. After I get my hair done this afternoon:)

B's Craiglist Score

J found a sweet deal on a train table this morning. So him and B went to look it at. We now have a huge train table in middle of the playroom. He LOVES it. Look at those smiles. It can stay anywhere he wants if he flashes those cute little smiles my way. We are going to move it into his room once we move one of his dressers into Ryan's new room.

I started a new craft blog today. I haven't done any posts yet but I will be sure to link it up when it's ready for visitors. I have been doing some crafts and I wanted to share how I did them. Be sure to look for it soon:)

Happy Saturday.

21 weeks!

Another week down! My answers really haven't changed much:) How far along? 21 Weeks
Total weight gain: 12 pounds...no change
Maternity clothes? Mixture of my regular clothes with maternity jeans.
Stretch marks? no
Sleep: some nights better than others. starting to get a little uncomfortable.
Best moment this week: hanging out with my two favorite men.
Miss Anything? my energy.
Movement: Lots of kicks!!
Food cravings: Cereal. All cereal all the time. We can also add eggs and bacon to this list.
Anything making you queasy or sick: don't really want anything to do with some meats.
Gender: BoY!
Labor Signs: Nope.
Symptoms: aches, pains the usual. Headaches and I get tired super easy.
Belly Button in or out? In. Mark my words it will never be an outie. br> Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy
Looking forward to: getting the baby's room ready:)

I poked my eye momma.

Baby Boy #2!

So like everything I've been seeing on Pinterest I wanted to do track my belly pictures too! I had all intentions back in October to do it but never did. So what better time to start than at the half way point:) Oh and yes I plan on doing that cute lil' chalkboard to but it's been a work in progress.
How far along? 20 Weeks
Total weight gain: 12 pounds!
Maternity clothes? Mixture of my regular clothes with maternity jeans.
Stretch marks? no
Sleep: some nights better than others. starting to get a little uncomfortable.
Best moment this week: seeing the little guy on the ultrasound and listening to his heartbeat!
Miss Anything? my energy.
Movement: Lots of kicks!!
Food cravings: Cereal. All cereal all the time.
Anything making you queasy or sick: don't really want anything to do with some meats.
Gender: BoY!
Labor Signs: Nope.
Symptoms: aches, pains the usual. Headaches and I get tired super easy.
Belly Button in or out? In. I will be really really surprised if it ever becomes an outie. It's like a black hole. No joke.
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy
Looking forward to: dinner! or maybe snack time.

Sorry B mommy is bored.

B started school today. In his playroom. I've been so inspired by all the pinterest stuff I see on "toddler" education one of my goals this year was to actually do it. SO B's learning corner was started. I'm trying to plan all my lessons out way in adavance and put them in file folders so it's just a "go-to" type of thing. If I have to plan every week I know I won't do it. There are some amazing blogs about what other mom's have done and I basically just took all of their wonderful ideas and sort of adapted them to fit B, our schedule, and what I have on hand. I'm planning 2 week units that focus on a certain theme, letter, number, shape, and song. Sounds like a lot but it really isn't. So I'm taking all this motivation to pre-plan most of the activities. So far we are almost a week in and it's actually been quite fun. I just try to do a small 15 minute or so activity in the morning and one in the afternoon. If we are busy that day and can't do the activity then we simply don't do it. This week's lesson was about cars, learning to count, learning our shapes and colors. Here is his "Learning corner" and his Chicka chicka boom boom tree.

Here he is with his hotwheels doing some one to one correspondence.

We painted using our hotwheels then we took the cars to the car wash.

We stuck shape foamies to the window using some water.

Those are just a few things we have done. I really hope to keep this going for now. I know things will get crazy in June but I really think he has been enjoying it. We did counting a few times this week and I saw the "light" flicker a little in his head and he got so excited. He counted to two. He knew he did it and he jumped up and started doing a little dance then he came over and gave me a hug. So neat. He also started music class this week. I'm not sure how much he liked it. He kept giving me his shoes and wanted us to leave. He didn't really participate in any of the class except at the end. He grabbed all the drums and made a drum circle around him. I think I may have a future drummer on my hands?? My other goal this year will be organizing. I need to go through my closet, B's closet, my bathroom, and all my crafts. I'll be ready for another garage sale soon! fo. sho. That's about it for now. I will have to post some pics from Christmas soon. :) Happy New Year.

Hello Fall

I always love this time of year! We have done so much already! At the begining of September my mom came and visited for an entire week. It was so nice to have her around. We went to the Grove in L.A. twice while she was down and ate at the Marmalade Cafe. (yum). Locally, we did the Bob Jones Trail in Avila and visited the barn there. I think she really enjoyed her visit and hanging out with the B.

NeNe and B riding the Santa Monica Ferris Wheel

Santa Monica Beach

Playing at the Grove

Spent

Second wind. Running around with all the other kids.

The fountain show at the Grove.

On October 1st My friends invited me over for a Hocus Pocus Party. We brought "halloween" themed snacks and watched Hocus Pocus! It was nice to escape for the night and be around friends.

They did such a good job decorating!

We went to the pumpkin patch again down in Avila! B ran around and visited all the animals like he always does. He especially loves roosters and ducks. I did the hay maze with him and we got a little lost! (sad because the maze wasn't very big!) It took us about 15 minutes to get through it all and almost missed our tractor ride. Needless to say I was a hot mess with hay all over me. We found a pumpkin to take home and got lunch at The Custom House down by the beach. It was such a fun day:)

I thought this was a little fun.

B's first time at Avila Barn.

2010 Visit

2011 Visit! Wow. Time flies.

Of course I also have to show you my mantle that I worked hard on this year.

I made a flag banner to count down the days to Halloween!

I made a fabric pumpkin with Modge podge. The picture is B's ghost handprint from last year. We did another one this year and I have it sitting in my bookcase.

I wrapped yarn around wooden letters to match everything:)

That's about it for now. B should be up from his nap any minute!!

Take Care!
Tori

Birthdays

Hello.

That kid had a great birthday party.

I'm pretty proud of my cupcake skillz. I totally fail at cupcake making but these turned out pretty good. Way to go me.

We went to a local bounce house place and all his friends came. At one point I think he became delirious because of all the excitement. He just started running around in circles. It was a good time.

We have been doing well here! I went to Vegas with my friend Gina last week! We had no husbands and no babies!! We went for our birthday's and it was so nice to get away! Seriously, it took me like a whole day to get out of mommy mode. It took me three whole days to get back into it. We met alot of crazy people. It was so fun to people watch. People are bit crazy in Vegas. We met a cop from New Jersey who liked to make it rain...napkins. The cocktail waitress were like ohhhh here he goes again.

A year ago today B was in the hospital getting his kidney removed. Crazy what a year makes. He is doing great but we still have to go back to the doctor on Friday. They want to fix some plumbing issues down there. I am really not ready to put him through surgery all over again. So we will see what the doctor has to say!

My 29th birthday was this Tuesday! It was wierd because I couldn't remember what I did last year. I could remember my 27th but not my 28th. I seriously thought about it most of the day and finally I saw a "year ago" post from facebook!(sad I know) That's because we were taking B into surgery!! My mind erased that day from memory. Kinda wierd how that works. My birthday this year was better! J surprised me with flowers, take-out, and cake. It was pretty good:).I probably won't mind forgetting next year's birthday;)


That's all for now.

It's almost nap time.

yay.

Wow. It's been a long time.

Hi:)

Well I have no excuse. It's been a long time since I last posted. I'm kind of sad about it. This blog has been like a timeline of B's life and I love looking back on it. So now I'm going to try to update at least once a month maybe more:) Let's see...we shall rewind to December when the little dude started walking.

December: My Mom and Chet were able to come and spend some time with us a week before Christmas. It was SO nice to have them come down. I sometimes forget what it is like to have family around during the holidays! This was the first time in a LONG time we had family in for Christmas. The highlights: We played minute to win it holiday style in my living room. The low light: I drank a little to much when we went wine tasting. It wasn't a pretty ride back home and J has never fully forgiven me to what happened in his car.

January: Not to much happened this month. It was mainly preparation for our big trip to Florida! I did get to spend some time with friends which is AlWAYS a good time:) I also think around this time we bought our new mini-van. Oh yah a minivan. The one thing I told J I would never drive in my life. But you know what. It's amazing if you have a kid and I think I still look pretty hot driving it tyvm.



February: J had to go to Alabama for SOS. So B and I decided to go visit Florida for almost 3 months! We drove from Cali to Alabama in 3 days. B was amazing. He was pretty cool with chillin in the back seat for all that time. I made him little goodie bags to pass out along the way. My Mom and Chet picked us up in 'Bama and we drove the rest of the way to Florida.


March: This month was crazy. B absolutely enjoyed hanging out with his grandparents. He loved the golf cart and Chet taught him how to play golf. He spent time with Cousin Korbin and they kindled a bromance to rival any. He loved riding on the boat with his Grandpa and LOVED going on their long walks to take the dogs out. Grandma and Grandpa Grant came down from South Carolina to visit. We took him to the beach and the mueseum. It was nice to watch B develop a relationship with all of his family.


April: The beginning of the month J met us in Orlando and we spent a few days at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We took B to Disney! He loved it. He liked It's A Small World and was kind of "iffy" about the Peter Pan one. He liked looking at the characters from a distance. We didn't even try to do a meet and greet. We didn't want to stand in those long lines just to get up there for him to freak out. (he has issues with ppl in costumes). We had to say bye to J and he flew back to California. We stayed in Florida for the next month so I could participate in my sister's wedding. I also did her bachelorette party that month. It was alot of fun..and that's all I'm going to say about that. The end of the month brought my sister's wedding. With all the craziness and running around it turned out to be one of the prettiest weddings I have ever been to.





May: I had to say bye to my Fam:( My Dad and Karen drove me back home. I was excited to go on this journey with them and happy I didn't have to say bye to them so quickly. We took about 5 days to get from FL to California. We stopped alot along the way! We went to New Orleans, Roswell, the meteorite canyon, and the Grand Canyon! It was an adventure and it was alot of fun. We finally made it back to California. B was so happy to see J. I had to say goodbye to my Dad and Karen as they left by train on Mother's day. :( Then I had to get our life back in order at home. B adjusted well and was sleeping back in room after the first night. This month I also decided to start my own Etsy Shop. It has been something I have ALWAYS wanted to do but scared to do. So one day I just did it. I've been learning as I go and it really has been fun. You can check out my shop www.toristidbits.etsy.com



June: We got back into our routine very quickly. We celebrated J's 32nd Birthday! He had some friends over to play video games and eat pizza. This month we also got SICK. B had it, J had it, and I got it. It was the most horrible flu that has hit the Grant Family to date. I taught crafts during VBS this year. So fun. B really enjoyed going!! We also went to VEGAS. At first I wasn't too excited. I was like Vegas with a toddler? But we had so much fun. We went to the pool alot! We took him to the Shark Reef. He thought that was pretty cool. We took him to Rio to go see the WSOP tournament. Ok well he wasn't allowed in but he played with some tots in big foyer area while J got to see it all. We took him to Gameworks and he won a ton of tickets. He went and saw the Lions at MGM, and then ate at the Rainforest Cafe. There was alot to do with him. We even found a babysitter (who was fantastic) that came and watched him one night. J and I had date night in Vegas:) We had it all planned out to go to a fancy restaurant and visit certain hotels. Well we ended up going to Hooter's Casino and we both won! I won $250 on the wheel of fortune slots:) So we stayed there and our fancy dinner was from Hooters:) but it was the best night!



Well now we are in July and I am planning my baby's 2nd birthday. Craziness. I would type more about it but if I don't get off the computer soon B is going to blow a gasket. I will add pictures to this post soon:)

Happy Sunday:)
Tori