Thankful : Day 14

Today I am thankful it is Thursday! Not only because tomorrow is Friday, but because Thursday's are the days that I get off work at 3:30pm and Mason and Seth don't get home until 5:30/5:45pm. Seth always picks Mason up from daycare because it is more on his way home from work than it is for me. So even though I get off early (not early, but earlier than other days), I let Mason stay at daycare until his normal time. I use this time to run errands if I have them or come home and get some cleaning done or whatever. Today, I got to catch up on blogging and have some iced coffee.

I know it sounds super bad to say that instead of picking him up and having more time with him, I leave Mason at daycare. Let me first start by saying, I love love LOVE every minute with my boy. EVERY MINUTE. And I can never get enough. BUT for those of your with kids (younger kids, kids under 2), you will know what I mean. Sometimes you just need some time alone to get things done. Like I said, I love my time with my boy but it is almost impossible to clean, do dishes, blog, etc with a 15 month old running around. He is in that super cute stage where he wants to be around me 24/7 which is great usually, but if I am trying to do the dishes, he wants to be in the dishwasher. If I am trying to blog, he wants to be on my lap. And then hitting every key on the keyboard. If I am cleaning, he wants to throw everything on the floor. So... sometimes you just need that extra hour and half of alone time (and I only get it once a week). So today, I am thankful it is Thursday :) Until next Thursday... when I will have to take full advantage of that extra hour and a half to pack and get ready for VACATION!!! WOOHOO!

Thankful : Day 13

I know this may sound silly and not really something to be thankful for, but...I am thankful for my Keurig machine. I'd been wanting one for forever but even more after visiting my friend, Tara, and her husband and son in New Mexico in March. She had one and I drooled over it the whole time we were there. Thankfully so did Seth (!!!!!!) so I was able to get one. He bought it for me for Mother's Day and I have been infinitely happier ever since that day.

Happy wife, happy life, right? :)

I love it because it is single serve. Even if Seth and I both want coffee in the morning, we just make 2 single servings instead of 1 big pot. During the week, it is also infinitely faster than a regular coffee pot when you are rushing out the door to go to work. Or on the weekend, nothing goes to waste and nothing gets cold before we can drink more. Plus, Seth usually likes stronger coffee than I do so its nice that we can get 2 different types and both be happy.

This is how our coffee drawer looks right now.

I've been on an iced coffee kick and ever since I found these on special at Target and had a coupon, I stocked up. We also decided that it was more practical to get a giant box of regular coffee from Costco. This is the Kirkland blend. Seth is not picky about his coffee (except he needs it to be strong) so we thought that 100 k-cups for $38.99 (or less if there's a coupon!) was an excellent deal. I, too, like these ones. I just put my hazelnut creamer in and I'm good to go.

The Keurig is way easy for set up - you just turn it on, let it heat up, and pop the k-cup in and push the button and let it do its thing. And it is way easy for clean up (you just throw away the k-cup).

Since getting the Keurig, we haven't really branched out too much except for the variety pack that came with the machine. I've been dying to try some holiday ones but they are usually so expensive so I have been looking for sales. Bed, Bath, and Beyond is awesome for this because sometimes they have them on sale and you can use a 20% off coupon - double score!

So far some of my favorites are :

Donut Shop - Regular Extra Bold
Green Mountain - Breakfast Blend
Green Mountain - Blueberry (really! it's good!)
Starbucks - Breakfast Blend
Celestial - English Breakfast Tea
Gloria Jean's - Hazelnut Coffee
Green Mountain - Hazelnut Iced Coffee

And I'm dying to try :

Swiss Miss - Hot Cocoa
Green Mountain - Apple Cider
Celestial - Black Iced Tea
Snapple - Peach Iced Tea
Donut Shop - Hazelnut Iced Coffee
Dunkin' Donuts - Hazelnut Coffee

If anyone has tried the ones I want to try, let me know how they are! Or if you have any recommendations, I would love to hear!
This post was not sponsored (though they should pay me for my review haha). I just love my Keurig that much. I'm thankful I was able to get one!

Thankful : Day 12

Thankful for my friend, Lindsey, who introduced me to country music. Seriously, it must have been back in like 8th grade or something. I remember talking to her about music one time when we were hanging out and she asked if I liked country. "NO WAY!" I said. In reality I had never really listened to country music before. I just had this idea in my head that it was twangy and awful and I would hate it. And yes, there is some older country music that is twangy, though not awful, still not my favorite. I took her advice and listened to some more "pop country" and found out that I really liked it!

And then my country music love was born.
And I've never turned back. It's the only thing I listen to on the radio now.

I bring this up because the other night I was watching the Country Music Awards and I was thinking about how much I really do enjoy listening to it. I like the messages portrayed in the music and I like the beat and just overall like the sound of the music. The country I listen to is more of "pop country" I guess you could say. Or at least that's how the newer artists seem.

In fact, I just found out that iTunes has iTunes radio now where you can pick a type of music or a radio station to listen to. The only thing I don't like is that there is commercials but that's how it is on regular radio so it's ok. I don't totally know how it works, but I found a great country station that I've been listening to as I write this and I've liked every song in it so I think I have found a keeper!

If you don't listen to country and you have been against it for forever, I suggest listening to at least a couple songs. There are some really great artists out there if you just give it a try :) I even got Seth to listen to it! Not all the time, but at least usually while I am in the car and even sometimes on his own ;) I'd say that's a win!

Thankful : Day 11

I'd been looking forward to this weekend all week last week. A 3-day weekend with my family! Since the weekend started, I'd been looking especially forward to Monday since we didn't have any plans and we could just relax and hang out. That being said, one thing I hadn't planned on was waking up at 1:30am to a crying baby.

If any of you have babies, you know how terrifying it can be to be woken up at who-knows-what-time in the middle of the night to your baby crying. Seth and I always pop up like the house in on fire and hit the monitor button to see what is wrong. Everything looked fine, no arms or legs stuck in the slats of his crib. He quieted down and we thought maybe he had a bad dream or accidentally hit his arms or leg or something. But then the crying continued. I tried to comfort him, he calmed down, I put him down and crying again. I "shushed" him for a bit and rubbed his back and he fell asleep. I tried to sneak out and... crying. I comforted him again and then was able to sneak out. What seemed like 2.7 minutes later...crying again. Seth went in this time and tried all the same things. I fell back asleep...again for 2.7 minutes...and crying again. At this point Seth had gotten his pillow from the bed to lean on since the rocker we have is kind of uncomfortable. I went in to Mason's room and told Seth to bring a blanket and I would stay in Mason's room. He seemed to be ok when someone was in there with him so I told him "Mason, mommy is here." and he calmed down. Long story short (or maybe not so short...sorry!), this was my bed last night :

Not so comfortable. And I even smacked my head on his crib once. But it did the job and that is all that matters. I would do anything for my boy. I would sleep on the floor every night if I had to. I would. Though I realllllllly hope I don't need to.

On to happier things... Mason slept in until 7:15am and we all got up in a happy mood! Daddy made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and even made one in the shape of a Mickey for Mason.

After breakfast we played a little, did some laundry, and watched some Disney Junior. Mason took a nap and I had an idea that we could walk to get sushi and then have a picnic at the park for lunch. Seth was on board so we got ready and once Mason woke up, called in our order, and headed out. We took Mason in his roadster car and we took the diaper bag of food. (And Mason wore his new shoes...and loved them!!!)

Our tiny bit of fall.

The leaves are a bit deceiving since it was like 80 degrees today!

Once at the park, we started eating. Mason was content eating his food until he saw ours. I opened the box of edamame and holy cow.... we have a new love! Mason could. not. get. enough!!! We had to teach him what to do though because he just wanted to shove the whole thing in his mouth.

After lunch we walked back to the park by us since the one we were at was kinda crowded. I'm so happy we did because we had the park all to ourselves. With his new shoes on, Mason was off! He learned how to climb up the stairs to the slides all by himself!

And we played on the slide and the swings. And we even got a glimpse of Mason standing on his own (!!!!!!) when he and Seth were playing with the steering wheel! This confirms what we thought... he knows how to do it but is just lazy/scared. But since he didn't realize what he was doing since he was having fun, he did it unknowingly.

We came home, played a little and then mommy went to the grocery store and snuck in a trip to get a much needed pedicure :) Overall, it was a great day! So happy to have an extra day with my family this weekend!

Happy Veteran's Day!

Thankful : Day 10

We had planned this day for a while : shopping with Bubbie. She had been wanting to buy Mason his first real pair of shoes for a while, but since he doesn't walk on his own yet (without holding on to something), we figured he didn't need them. But the more he progresses, the more we thought he should have real shoes with grip on the bottom.

Auntie Erin had bought Mason some Toms for Christmas last year in size 4 and unknowing how big Mason's feet really were, I had never tried to put them on him. Since he didn't walk and didn't really neeeeeed shoes, I figured we had time. Then we had family pictures and I thought the Toms would look so cute with his outfit and... they BARELY fit!!!! Whoa big foot! So I quickly stuffed (literally) his foot into the shoes for the pictures and stuffed them in a few times more and he got some wear out of them. He's mostly been wearing his PediPeds that are pre-walkers but we thought it would be good to get him something with more stability. Bubbie had been wanting to be the person to buy the shoes so we took her out to lunch at Mimi's and then shopping.

Mason was SO GOOD at lunch, I was so happy. Right when we sat down we started to feed him the food we had brought for him. Between eating and throwing his water cup on the floor a hundred times, he was pretty happy. Then my corn chowder came. THE BEST CORN CHOWDER EVER. I am wishing right now that I still had some. Mason has been super into wanting what we are eating so of course he wanted my soup. I put a tiny bit on a spoon, cooled it off, gave it to him and... of course he loved it just as much as I do! He couldn't get enough. I He quickly finished my soup and then Bubbie, Seth, and I ate our lunch. When the bill came, Mason was the first one to look at it which means... he has to pay right?? Unfortunately he forgot his wallet at home so daddy to the rescue paid for lunch :) Also, before we left, Seth gave Mason a little of his iced tea and Mason sucked it down.

We arrived at the mall and it was so cute...Bubbie grabbed the stroller and wanted to push. She was so excited to be shopping for Mason's shoes!

We headed to Stride Ride first and I quickly found some shoes that I liked. I had originally thought that Mason would need a size 5 shoe but we had his foot measured anyway. They suggested a 5.5 but when Mason tried on the shoes we realized that his toe was pretty close to the edge and he would probably outgrow them in about a month so we went with the 6. I thought it might be too big but Mason walked around (holding on to the ottoman seat) like a champ. Size 6 it was!

Mason was pretty excited that we found his shoes so quickly and made himself at home. We headed to Nordstrom, Gap, and Hallmark to run a few errands and then we were done for the day! Even Seth was happy with how short the mall trip was :)

Thankful for Bubbie and for new shoes today!

Thankful : Day 9

Today we took Mason for a haircut. He hadn't had one in probably two months, which may seem like not very long for most kids, but for Mason...enter the mop on his head.

This kid definitely has his dad's hair. Well actually I'd say a mix between Seth's hair type and my brother's hair line. There's no denying whose kid he is :)

I am so thankful that I was at the right place at the right time and happened to mention that I was looking for a good place to get a baby's hair cut. Enter this super nice woman who was working at the place I was at and she suggested Cristal at Cool Cuts 4 Kids. I made the mistake of not making an appointment the first time and we got a random person. While she was ok, I wanted Cristal. So the next time Mason needed a hair cut, I made an appointment with her. She is AMAZING. She is so good with Mason and he LOVES her. He lights up when he first sees her and he smiled at her the whole time she was cutting his hair. The kid is a flirt! She is so good with the kids, I am so lucky we found her!

Thankful : Day 8

As adults we are often consumed by things.

The things we need to do when we get home from work.
The things we need to do while at work.
The things we need to remember to buy at the grocery store.
The bills we need to pay.
The chores we need to do at home.

But it is never the small things. It's always big things. The small things are what life is all about. And having a baby makes you really realize that. Mason doesn't know stress. He doesn't have a list of things to do when he gets home from daycare. He just lives in the moment and enjoys the small things. I am so thankful that we can provide a life for him that lets him live for now and enjoy everything going on around him.

I am thankful for :

- the way his face LIGHTS up when seth/i get home from work and he crawls like a mad man to come greet us
- the way he sticks out his finger, ready to turn on/off the light when we enter/exit the bathroom for bath time, teeth brushing time, etc.
- when i turn on the water in the bath tub, the way his face lights up and he climbs up to stand at the bath tub waiting to get in
...and the way he splashes like a mad mad in the bath tub
- the way he gets so excited to brush his teeth
...and the way he gets excited to wipe his face after we're done
- the fact that he gets so excited over little things...like us shaking a half empty water bottle - queue giggles galore!
- the way he scrambles to get up and see who has come in to his room to get him when he wakes up in the morning or from a nap
- the way his face lights up when he sees Luz in the mornings
- the way his face lights up when he sees Mickey appear on the tv and he realizes we're watching his show
- the way he scrambles over to the washing machine when he sees me doing laundry
...and the way he peaks his head in the "portal" while the washer fills up with water
...and the way he scrambles over to the dishwasher when we are loading it or the fridge when we are getting something to eat or just scrambles to be right with us, wondering what we are doing

I am so thankful for the fact that he is such a happy boy...and if you couldn't already tell, the way his face lights up over so many things. There are so many more "little" things that I am thankful for but those are just a few examples. To most they may seem like just that, little things. But to Mason, they are everything.

Taking the time to see through a toddler's eyes is everything.