Wednesday, August 31, 2011

T-Man's Shenanigans

I feel like I’ve been a bad mom lately. Not bad, just not really good. It probably has something to do with the fact that I feel like death most of the time and spend the majority of my time laying down in pain. Gotta love being pregnant. And the few times that I’m not down I’m frantically working on my ever growing to-do list. So yeah, I just haven’t been as present with Traegan as I usually am. I kind of miss him. I love that boy. He is so sweet.

Anyway, I just wanted to mention some of the awesome things he has been up to lately.

These pictures were back when I was showing him how cool Photo Booth is… you will read later on that this was a bad idea…



Traegan has figured out how to open doors. All doors. Boo! We haven’t bought child proof door handle things yet so mostly I just chase him around all day.

Anyway, because he learned this he can now get to the computer by himself. He has also learned how to open Photo Booth and proceed to take millions of pictures of himself. Seriously, there are like 200 more pictures than there were two weeks ago.

Whenever it gets really quiet, I pretty much know where he is. I call out for him and I hear, “Mom… Cheese!” He really is the best. Always good for a laugh.



When daddy finds him on the computer, he joins in the fun. :)


A while ago, he watched a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode where they played with bubbles. After watching it, he said bubbles. (His first two-syllable word)! We went out and blew bubbles and since then that is ALL he wants to do. Everyday he goes to the back door and says any combination of the following words to get outside and get blowing bubbles: Outside, Shoes, Bubbles, Please, Mom, Dad. It’s pretty funny.


Note all the changes of clothing, these were all on different days. He does this every time he can sneak away from me.


On August 9th, I believe, he did the funniest thing ever. As I’ve mentioned a few times, he is quite obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Particularly Toddles. For those of you who don’t have a toddler, Toodles is a Mickey Mouse head shaped thing that flys around and brings them the things they need when they have a problem. I won’t get started on my rants about Toodles.

Anyway, I was giving him a bath on this specific day and he wanted a bubble bath. Which he has never had before at our house, but I think he got a few times while we were cruising and he was hanging out with Grandma.

So he asks for bubbles, I say we don’t have any bubbles, and he proceeds to put his hands by his mouth like he was yelling, cock his head back, and yell, “Oh Toodles.”

I laughed hysterically for a few minutes before I told him that Toodles wasn’t going to bring him bubble bath.


In regards to his speech, it is coming along nicely. He is learning new words everyday and getting much easier to understand. I told my mom a while ago that I don’t even care how much more he learns because my wildest dreams have come true. He now says “food” and “cup” and that is really all I need. Now I know what he wants when he crys. (I’m kidding of course, I would like him to keep learning to talk).


These pictures make me think one word... gremlin.


When I tell him I love him, he says “eh too”. It means you too and I love it!



After I change Traegan’s bum, he says “Ta Da”. Only he just says the last part, “Da.” He also does this whenever he does something he feels he should be praised for. People look at him weird when he says “Da” about a hundred times before I say “Ta Da”.



And somehow, the fact that I have been blogging for a while now, but blogging about Traegan’s awesomeness somehow makes me feel like a better mom… weird. Maybe it’s just that now I'm caught up with blogging and that's one more thing checked off the list?

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Polite Under Pressure

On August 20th, we went to Hogle Zoo. We had been talking about going for a while because they have the animatronic dinosaurs there now and well, Josh LOVES dinosaurs. We finally had a day where we could go so we took off.

When we got there it was HOT! Really, really hot. And it was SUPER crowded. But we tried our best to have fun still. (Towards the end of the day we were walking past cages and barely looking in them trying to get out of there).


Traegan had lots of fun looking at all the animals and he even seemed to enjoy all of the dinosaurs.



Traegan watching one of the moving dinosaurs.


When we got to the big T-Rex however, Traegan’s attitude changed drastically.

That thing is HUGE and it roars really loud. And it lowers its head so you’re pretty sure it is actually going to eat you.

But sweet Traegan was polite as ever. He sat there for a about a second and then when it started moving and roaring he started screaming. Then he started screaming, “No! Please! No! Please!” He really didn’t want the dinosaur to eat him and he asked him politely not to. :) Best. Kid. Ever!


After the fairly traumatic encounter with the T-Rex, we walked through the reptile/ bird/ stinky house for a while. Traegan loved it because we just let him run up to all the cages and look for himself. I have a picture of him looking at these same ugly animals the last time we went to Hogle Zoo.


After our jaunt in the stinky house we (I, because I am the meanest mother ever and was not satisfied with my pictures yet) decided to try the T-Rex again. This time I made Josh take him so I could work the camera.


He ran away screaming "No! Please!" again. :)


Then Josh held him up by the T-Rex. He did better, but he still says "No! Please!" once in the video and it ends crying. Ha! (Again, meanest mom ever).


Then we finished the loop looking at more nice animals and walking as fast as we could to get out of the sun.


We finished our day riding the train. Traegan loved it. Like a lot!


Now a small side story that relates to the next video. Traegan's new favorite movie/show is The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Choo Choo Express (Or as he calls it, "Oh Toodles Choo Choo"). I know, it's a long title. But after watching Finding Nemo (Or as he calls it, "Elmo") 7 times a day for over 2 months, it's a welcome change.

Anyway, Mickey and his pals are on a train for like the entire hour. And for most of that time on the train they are singing a song in which "Choo Choo" is pretty much the only words and moving their hands from side to side.

Well when we left the train and then the park, Traegan was singing "Choo Choo" over and over and moving his hands around. I only caught the end of it because we were at the car and Trae wanted to leave about as bad as we did, but it's still cute.


And that was our hot, crowded, exhausting, dinosaur filled, funny, mean mommy trip to the zoo. I call it a success.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Swings & Clubs

So I believe this was Tuesday, August 9th. I could be wrong. Not that anyone cares, but me. Yeah. Moving on.

Janece’s boyfriend, Ian was in town so we met them up in Logan to do some mini golfing. We headed up early and went to dinner and to Willow Park first.

Traegan was pretty content to play on the big “Whee” (as usual) and look at/play with the other kids that were there. But I pulled him off for a minute and made Josh push him in the swing, since he’s never done that before. (Baby swing doesn’t count right? Right!)

When we first put him in, he put his hands in the leg holes as well. Which made him lean REALLY far forward the whole time and pretty much just stare at the ground while moving. He didn’t love it…


Once Josh fixed his arms he was a little more enthused.


But once I started grabbing his feet and making silly noises when he got to me... we were set.

Feel free to love this picture forever with me!


You can love this one too.

Also around this time Josh asked me if we could ever have a family outing that didn't involve the camera. I replied no. Seriously.


Then we headed over to Willows for some mini-golfing. Have I mentioned I hate mini-golfing? Hate it. Suck at it. Usually just take my 5 and run to the next hole…

Ian showed Traegan the ropes. Probably good he learned from someone who actually knew what they were talking about. (Ian is on his college's golf team).


Traegan did this every time his ball when in the hole. Awesome. There was also some cheering. :)


T-Man was very good at retrieving balls for us. Even though he had to lay down to do it a few times. What a good little helper.


Watching the water under the bridge


Traegan had a blast. He loved it. There was plenty to do and see and climb on and balls to chase. He was fun. He did however make it rather difficult for the rest of us to play, but I sure as crap didn't mind.


Here is our group: Tobin (behind my mom), Mom, Josh, Traegan, Janece, and Ian (and me taking the picture)


Janece and Ian
(Janece didn't like this picture, but #1 this isn't her blog, #2 I'm pregnant and mean, and #3 I think she looks beautiful)


I wanted a family picture as usual. I waited too long and Traegan was done. Josh was also done and especially done with the camera. Love you babe!


Oh and I just have to say that I didn't come in last... second to last, but not last. All in all, it was a pretty fun night.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Big Ace Quilt

The beginning of this month (so far behind) Janece came to visit so we could finish her quilt before she left to go nanny. The quilt is made from all her dance, drill team, and high school t-shirts and stuff. We started piecing it quite a while ago, but once we were sewing in the strips and the border we realized something… this quilt was going to be HUGE!


This gives you a better idea of the massiveness.

It ended up being about 9 feet by 7 ½ feet. I have NO idea what she will do with it.


Traegan was most helpful throughout the entire process. Particularly pinning. Ugh.


As a side note to life, Janece is gone now. She left on Saturday. I MISS HER SO MUCH ALREADY! Just knowing that I won’t be seeing her on the weekend or that she isn’t coming to visit me soon is killing me. However, she is happy where she is and I know it will be good for her. All I can say is, you better freaking call me EVERYDAY Janece!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

#2

Well I’m very behind again. I have lots to post about Traegan and what we’ve been up to, but I’m starting here because I feel like a bad preggo.

For those of you that missed it in the last post, Josh and I are expecting baby #2! We are thrilled. I am due March 1st and I'm 13 weeks along tomorrow.

Now for the boring stuff…

I hate being pregnant. This pregnancy has been a little different than the last because I went into it with eyes wide open. I knew from being pregnant with Traegan that my body and pregnancy don’t get along. My issues with my tummy and my IBS/lactose intolerance are hugely exacerbated by pregnancy and it makes my life miserable. I knew I would turn into a whale. I knew how big I get so early on. I know people will ask me if I’m having twins and if I’m going into labor right then starting at about 6 months. The list goes on and on…

All this led up to me really not being super excited to be pregnant. Thrilled to death to have a squishy new little baby at the end. But NOT excited for the nine months prior.

Well this pregnancy has been a little different. I’m sick all the time as expected, and I’m nauseous all the time. That is a new fun little twist. I’m dizzy. I’m constantly exhausted and can’t nap nearly as often as I’d like because I’m a mommy to a wonderful friend already. I’m also super onery (poor, poor, poor Josh) and overly emotional. And the motivation for just about everything has just disappeared completely. Lets hear it for being pregnant. Yeah….

So there you go. That is how I’m feeling and such. Not good.

I’m not even going to apologize for complaining, because apparently when you are preggo you have license to be crazy. At least that is what Julie keeps telling me. By the way, I love you Julie! Also I’ve been up for a while and it’s early.

Make no mistake though. Come the end of February, I will be beyond ecstatic at the new addition to my family and grateful for these awful months. I can’t wait to hold my new little buddy!

On to the ultrasounds!

This was at our first appointment, Wednesday, July 6th, and I was 6 weeks along.


This was at our second appointment, Thursday, August 11th, and I was 11 weeks along. I got my official due date at this appointment as the baby was too small to tell at the first one.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Cruising Mexico (only two months late)

Okay so here is our long delayed, cruise post. But before I get into that… if you are one of those people who just kind of scan through things and don’t read much, that fine, but I’m just warning you… YOU MAY WANT TO READ THE LAST PARAGRAPH.

Ok. Now for the cruise pictures. Um… fair warning, picture overload. This really could have been/should have been multiple blog posts, but I’m too lazy.

I’m posting this picture first even though I think we took it on almost the last day. This was our whole group that went with us. My Grandma and Grandpa Perkes paid for our whole family to go. One of my cousins and his wife just had a baby so they didn’t go, and Traegan and my cousin who is slightly younger than Trae also didn’t go, but other than that we had the whole gang! And it was by far the best family reunion we’ve ever had! ;)



We flew into Long Beach, CA the night before the cruise so the next morning we got to walk around the Long Beach Pier. It was really fun and so beautiful.

Josh and I with our heads in a train thing. We all know how much I like to stick my head in stuff for pictures. Ha!



Janece and I



Getting on the boat! Whoot whoot!


The first full day on the boat ended with formal night. I had fun dressing up and dancing with my hubby. Josh tolerated it because that was the night they had the fanciest stuff in the dining room!





Josh and I waiting to get off the boat on the first day in port.


Our first day in Cabo San Lucas we went with my immediate family to Dophin Discovery. It was hands down one of the coolest things I’ve done in my entire life.

First we got to pet the dolphins. Then they had us kind of make a spitting noise and the dolphins would blow water out of the hole and make the same noise. Fun.

I was the VERY first person to do the whole standing while they push you with their noses thing. I was freaking out. But I did it and it was wicked awesome!

Josh went next and after he almost lost his shorts... ha! He did it too.


Then we did the dorsal fin pull, which is cool, but mostly is just a lot of salt water in your mouth. :)


Here is one of all of my family doing the standing push one.
Left to right, top to bottom: Mom, Dad (who almost lost his shorts too), Justin, Janece, Brandon, and Tobin (doing the gorilla beating the chest thing).

Because I asked and because our group wasn't full, they let us do the standing push thing again so they other dolphins could get their exercise too.


Seriously... just cool! Just all around awesome.

This was on our second day in port in Cabo. We just walked around and did the rest of our souvenir shopping and bartering! It was pretty fun once I stopped being scared and feeling bad for ripping people off.


The next day we were in port in Puerto Vallarta. We had an awesome excursion planned with almost our whole group. It was seriously awesome and I felt super adventurous. It involved riding donkey’s up the mountain, hiking for a minute, and then doing about 9 ziplines, 2 repels (one of them a free fall repel), ropes course, more hiking… it was wonderful!



Oh that's just my sexy hubby repelling down a waterfall...

That's right. I repelled. Despite my instincts telling me to run or something.

Josh and I. Happy and in love (and happy to be on solid ground).


My siblings and I.

We're kind of... different. I love them!

My mom and Janece and I. My best friends...

My cute mom and dad.

My extra cute Grandma and Grandpa. Who I can't thank enough for this awesome trip!


The last zipline was a race. I was all gung ho to race my honey and then the workers counted, "One... Two..." (pushed me really hard) "Three". So I won, by a lot, but it wasn't really fair.

Once again... awesome!

I made Josh take this picture with me because we ate our weight in ice cream while on the boat. They had the machines where you just walk up and serve yourself. It was amazing. Josh and I had a little joke going the whole time, "Josh, um... I don't have any ice cream in my hand." I think I ate about 35 ice cream cones. It was awesome and made my tummy very happy, and then unhappy with the lactose intolerance thing. :)


We tried to mini golf on the boat on our last day at sea. It was so windy! At one point it picked up Josh's ball and threw it 3 decks down. Luckily no one was injured. :)


It was a blast and we had so much fun. Great memories. And somehow, all our carefully planning worked out perfectly, and we came home with the best souvenir ever… A bun in the oven. Ha!