If a Tree Falls in The Forest...

Last Monday we had a dying spruce tree removed from our backyard. I also decided once they got here to have them trim up the two trees out front. Rob wasn't thrilled with my little add-on project but he did say that it looked nice once they were done. He was at work while they were here and I didn't want him to miss the excitement of taking out the big tree so I recorded it. I didn't mean to narrate the clip, I just happened to be talking to someone on the phone at the same time and I was telling them what was going on.



Here is how the corner looks now-



Now we have to figure out what to do with our empty corner. Our plan was to put in a small-ish swingset but I'm not sure there is enough room and we kind of blew the budget on tree removal and pruning. We definitely need to do some screening along the fence to get some privacy and block the view of the neighbor's house for everyone's benefit. I am thinking it is a perfect spot for a little fenced-in vegetable garden like this.



It was ridiculously hot earlier in the week and then by the end of last week, and still by today, it has been cool and rainy with lots of hunderflash (that's Rex-speak for thunder and lightning), much to Rex's dismay. I took the boys out for a walk on Saturday morning when we had a little break in the weather and we went to the Farmer's Market. Apparently all there is in Iowa at this point is cilantro and I think I saw some onions too. I bought some baked goods and jams at one stand from people I have purchased tasty treats from before but that was it for us. I decided I better just plant my own stuff if I want some homegrown produce so Rex and I went to Lowe's on Sunday and bought 2 tomato plants, 1 cherry tomato plant and a cantaloupe plant. I have never grown cantaloupes before so I have no idea what to expect from that but it was only $3 so I thought it was worth a try.

I bought 2 delphinium and 2 foxgloves too because I love them and planted them in the bed along with the tomato and cantaloupe plants.



The boys are doing good. No real big excitement for them this past week except Rex can finally say his name! Yay Rex!!! He has always just said "Reh" or maybe "Rek" but couldn't quite get that x sound until this past week. Here is what they are looking like on Monday, June 13th.

Wyatt playing with Rex's blocks-



Rex in our front yard, just as it was starting to rain this morning-

DIY Weekend

I took the boys out on a walk Saturday morning- it is something we do every day, weather permitting- and found an awesome retro stereo console for sale at a yard sale. I had to cross the street and get a better look at it because it just looked so cool and I was thinking it would be perfect for under our tv. I was right, it is!



And it was only $35- woohoo! I don't know what Rob was planning on doing this weekend but I know what he ended up doing. He gutted the old stereo and record player parts from the cabinet and put our cable box and dvd player in there.



He also put his nice amp in there and hooked it up to the speakers so we could put the big speakers (that used to be hooked up to the tv) away. Rex loved to unhook the wires and he can't do that anymore which is awesome. Rob bought a remote relay thingamajiggie so that the remote still works even with everything all closed up inside. We still need to attach something to the wall to hide the cords and then put a latch on top of the console so Rex can't get in there and then it will be perfect.

I had my own little DIY project I have been working on, trying to recreate a Pottery Barn trellis that I love. I got it all put together but it was a while before we had a non-windy day so that I could spray paint the thing. I finally got that done on Saturday and here it is in my garden.



I would still like to get some solar string lights to go on it but it looks good for now. That was my prototype and since I am happy with the way it turned out, I'm going to make two more. I think I'll end up spending about $30 for four of them instead of $99 for one. AND mine doesn't have any lame hearts on it. Holly Hobby I am not.

Rob and I discovered we may have hit the jackpot with Rex. He loves to play with his teeball set in the backyard which he and I do a lot during the week. I knew he batted opposite of me but I didn't know that was a big deal that he hit it left-handed. So when Rob saw him do it, he was pretty interested. We tried to get him to bat right-handed and that was not happening. He hits (naturally!) way better left-handed. So then we did a little test with his throwing and discovered that he throws right-handed. Rob tells me that a player who hits left and throws right is desirable and rare. I just want him to have fun and as long as he likes to play, I will encourage it. I would never be a parent who forces my kid to play a sport they don't like or ruin something they like to do and have fun with. But if he turned out to be a baseball superstar, that would be pretty awesome.



Rex got his first skinned knee this week. Poor baby. He looks just like his mommy though.



Wyatt is getting closer and closer to walking all the time. He is figuring so much out every day and you can tell he just can't wait to walk like his big brother does. Part of his development is pulling himself up onto things- AND out of things it seems. I put him in his walker the other day, walked in the kitchen and came back seconds later to find him like this:



It is possible that Rex helped him but I really doubt it. I am certain Wyatt did this all on his own. See that cheshire cat grin? That's the face of a boy who is awfully proud of himself.

We had a good weekend working on projects but Rob and I actually got to go out to dinner on a little date Friday night which was the best part of the weekend, without a doubt. We left both boys with a sitter for the first time ever and went to a work dinner Rob had which was a lot of fun. They had a raffle for prizes and we both left with stuff. Lucky us!

Happy 300th Post!

Yowza- this makes 300 posts! I really enjoy blogging and using this as a way to keep in touch with all our long-distance family and friends (which is most of the people we know). I hope anyone who is still reading this is enjoying it too!

It was a nice long Memorial Day weekend for us. After the awful week we had with Wyatt being sick, it was so wonderful to finally all have some fun and enjoy life again. There was a lot of shopping (most of it doesn't matter but I got these shoes and I LOVE them!) and working on projects around the house AND we even all went out to dinner on Saturday night. I was wanting to eat food at a Mexican restaurant because I can't even tell you how long it has been since I did that. I asked Rob if we could get take-out sometime soon and he said we should all just go and eat there. I guess I was feeling pretty brave that day so we did. The boys were the opposite of the first, and only other, time we ever all have eaten in a restaurant. Wyatt was a peach and Rex was the challenging one. Since I was on Wyatt duty, I had a great time. I don't think Rob (who was on Rex duty- we play man-to-man defense here) would probably give it such a good review. I also had a tasty glass of sangria to celebrate the end of my nursing duties so that may be why I had such a great time too.

Our projects around the house didn't get finished because we both needed to paint. Rob was working on some window trim and I was working on building my own version of these. I have been coveting these garden trellises from Pottery Barn for a while now and though they did recently go on sale, they are still too pricey for me. I could do one but I really want like 3 or 5 of them and who wants to spend $300+ on these for their yard? And that is without the lights still! So I'm working on creating my own and I'm going to blog all about it once it is done. It has been pretty windy here too so my plans to Round-Up some undesirables in my yard have been put on hold. I was also working some indoors on our office and trying to get it more organized. I would like to do a little scrapbooking again now that the boys are getting to be easier to manage. I can not wait until Wyatt gets to one nap a day and I have a nice block of time everyday when they are both asleep. That will be awesome.

The boys are doing great. Wyatt said his first word today "cra-ka" for his graham crackers. He babbles "mama" and "dada" but that goes without saying that he would say those first. Rex keeps us laughing all the time. Earlier today, he hurt himself doing something and was crying so Rob told him, "It's okay. You're fine." And Rex told him, "Rex not fine. Rex owie." He nearly always talks about himself in the third person. One really fun word he has lately is "hunderflash" for a thunderstorm- he hates the hunderflash but it is so funny to hear him talk about it. He loves to play with Wyatt and make him laugh and even try to soothe him when he is upset. Rex knows all his letters and can now sing the alphabet with them all in the right order too. We were just talking today about how smart he is and then he was jamming his fork in his ear at the dinner table so who knows? Really smart but no common sense apparently.

Sorry for no pictures this time but I'll try to get some this week and definitely some of my trellis project as soon as there is a good day to spray paint!

Happy 1st Birthday Wyatt!

Guess who just had his first birthday?



Wyatt did! Wyatt's first birthday was yesterday and we all had a really fun day. Rob and I discussed going out of town for a long weekend but we decided that it might be more trouble than fun with a 1 and 2 year old. We ended up going to Des Moines to do a little birthday shopping at Toys R Us and the Jordan Creek mall in the morning and have lunch there too.

Wyatt, just after lunch.


Yes, we ate lunch at the mall food court. A little lame but a lot easier with the boys than a restaurant is.


We wore him out- time to load up and go home.


We all got some toys and/or clothes so it was a good day for everyone, not just the birthday boy. Apparently we wore both of them out with the excursion- besides sleeping in the car on the way home, they both took giant naps once we got them home. I went out during naptime to pick up Wyatt's cake and take care of dinner. Here are some dinner and cake pictures.







Finally, we ended the night with opening presents and then playing with all the toys he got.





It was a wonderful day and let me tell you, we all slept a ton last night after such a busy day! Wyatt seemed like he had a good day and I know the rest of us did. Today was the crappy flipside to yesterday though- four shots at the doctor's visit. Yuck. He did okay though. Although we've finally got him eating good, he's still a skinny guy. He's not quite 19 pounds yet. He's kind of a shorty too but I think the weight and length will start to pick up now that he is eating good. He is finally a pretty good sleeper too so we've come a long way in this first year. Wyatt is such an amazing little guy and I love every second with him. We are so lucky to be his parents. Here's to another 99 fantastic birthdays!

Mother's Day and More

Last weekend was a great weekend. We had some friends over on Friday night for dinner. We barbecued a tri tip and ate outside because the weather was great. A little cloudy but still pretty close to perfect. Rob uses this rub on tri tip and it is fantastic. I tried making Armenian Rice Pilaf and it came out really good, which was good news since it made a TON. I don't really remember what we did on Saturday but my Mother's Day was so nice and relaxing. Rex woke up super early so Rob got him dressed and took him out to breakfast while Wyatt and I slept in. They brought me back my favorite cinnamon toast bagel- Yum. I went out shopping by myself for a few hours and it was so nice to just get in and out of my car without having to deal with two carseats! I got some new clothes and shoes for my self and got everyone else something too. We ended up eating leftovers for dinner because we'd been cooking a lot lately and didn't feel like or need to cook more food. Here I am with my two boys on Mother's Day.



In case you were wondering why there aren't many photos of me, that's why. My husband doesn't have the patience to take a bunch of photos or to make sure I am looking my best in the photos he does take. Anyhow, I had a nice relaxing day doing whatever I wanted to do and that is awesome.

Yesterday Rex and I went on a little adventure. Rex always gets so excited when he sees a bus driving around town and yells out "Bus! Bus!" Actually, he says, "Buth! Buth!" because he has a hard time with the letter S. Rob and I talk all the time about taking Rex on the bus and going to the library so he can finally ride a "buth". Rob got home from work a little early yesterday so I grabbed Rex and we headed off to the bus stop. We got on the bus and he was so quiet and wide-eyed the whole time. We sat close to the front on the way there but I was smarter on the way home and we sat in the back which is higher up and he could see a lot better from there. I could tell he was way more excited when he could actually see out the windows and see what was going on. And he had a blast at the library, like he always does, so I think it will go down as Best Day Ever. The library has a lot of toys and a fishtank and then we get to bring more books home with us to read so what's not to love? He was literally jumping up and down as he talked to the librarian because he was just so excited to be there. I tried to take photos with my phone on the bus and at the library but the piece of junk kept telling me "capture failed" so we didn't get any pictures of the trip.

The weather has been really crazy lately. It was kind of cool last weekend, in the 60s, then it got record-setting hot (it was 97 I think) at the beginning of the week and now it's cool and rainy again. Rex loves to be outside so I try to get him out there as much as I can but the weather doesn't always cooperate. Seems like a lot of this week was either too hot or too cold/wet for being outside. Rob and I are talking about putting a playset/swingset in the yard for Rex because he just goes bananas over the ones at the park. He would slide from sunup until sundown if he could. He can't get enough. Rob and Rex are off to Lowe's right now to pick up a lilac bush for our backyard. My plan for this weekend is to get some yardwork done while it is nice and cool out and the ground is easy to work since it's been raining. I have some things that need to go in my big brown trash can and I have some things that need to be relocated to those vacant spots so we can make some room for that playset! Isn't it funny how your opinions on things change once you have kids? Our house is a few blocks from the park and I swore that we would never have "one of those ugly swingsets" in our yard- the kids could just go to the park. But now that I know how much Rex loves it, I think it would be great to have one right in our backyard that he can play on whenever he wants.

Daily Thoughts

The other day I thought, "Jay Mohr- sometimes funny, but sometimes just an idiot." My next thought was, "I think about some weird stuff. It would be kind of funny to start a Twitter account for one day and just record all the random thoughts I have throughout the day." The more I thought about it, I decided it would just be easier to put it all in one blog post instead of opening a one-day Twitter account that no one would know about or follow. So here goes, my thoughts for Tuesday, May 10, 2011. I won't put the boring everyday stuff in like grocery shopping or the kids, just the crazy, off-the-wall stuff I think about too much.

9:07- Is Lady Gaga the new Madonna? Hmm. Madonna's good stuff was probably when she was just born or a toddler. Why is the early music always better? It doesn't seem like people with long careers have as good music later on. Madonna, Michael Jackson... Except U2. They are still rockin'.

9:37- How does Sesame Street get so many good people on their show? Well, if I was famous, I would totally go on Sesame Street. I guess everyone else feels like that too.

1:00- I don't seem to have as many random thoughts as I thought I would. Most of my day seems to be taken up with regular everyday things- mostly trying to keep Rex on track and out of trouble.

1:25- If I went back to school to get my masters degree, it would be cool to tie my thesis into The Wire somehow. It's probably been done already by someone, but I'd like to take a crack at it and see what I could come up with.

3:46- What is up with the whole wedding dress thing? I just flipped past an entire show dedicated to finding one and see girls paying $5000 to $6000 for a dress. That is crazy! That is like $500-$1000 an hour. I mean, seriously, it's just a dress. I got married and I wanted to look beautiful that day and I get it but that's no reason to go crazy. You could feed a lot of people with that kind of money- and still have a lovely dress. I'm glad we have 2 boys so I won't ever have to worry about having a fight over buying a wedding dress.

4:10- Fresh salsa- so much better than the stuff out of a jar.

Well, there were problems with Blogger and it wiped out the last part of this post. It did get all my thoughts I had for the day because once Rob got home, I forgot about this. My experiment made me realize that I don't have as many random thoughts in a day as I would have expected and when I did have them, I couldn't get to a computer fast enough to get them down before they left my head again. It was a fun little experiment though and now I'm thinking about starting a second blog where I can post one of my random thoughts every day. But I don't want it to be contrived so I'm going to think on it for a while and see how I feel about that.

Step By Step

There are some things I don't teach Rex how to do because it makes my life a little easier. Climbing down stairs was one of those things. With him believing he couldn't climb down stairs, he couldn't get out of the house because all 3 doors have steps and he couldn't go down to the basement. Last Wednesday, he went out the back door and down the steps to the backyard. Hmm. We grabbed him and brought him back in. He went to the garage door and went down those steps. Uh oh. We secured those two doors so he couldn't do that anymore (the third door was already secured). Then he got really brave and tried the basement stairs which are pretty steep. He did just fine. And it turns out, he loves being in the basement. We couldn't keep him out of there so we decided to go ahead and fix it up so he could play down there. Part of the basement is finished- finished in 1960s style and not my taste but it could work. I spent some time clearing out the finished part of the basement this winter and organizing our stuff down there so it only needed a little work to be ready for playtime. Rob replaced the overhead lights and some ceiling tiles and cleaned it up. We got some big rugs and moved some furniture down there and both boys have had a blast playing down there.





The biggest surprise of all is how much Rob and I like being down there. We thought it would feel like you are in a hole but it doesn't. With the paneling, good lighting and new rugs, it feels nice. It feels like we added on to the house or we are on vacation or something. There are still things to do as far as decorating and storage but it is usable and comfortable now. And since the only guest room is downstairs now, I don't feel bad at all about having people stay in the basement because now it is a nice place to be.

We had a nice Easter. I was really excited about the Easter baskets because I got some new ones for the boys. I wanted to get Rex one with his name embroidered on the liner for his first Easter but I thought I should wait to do that until his little brother/sister came along so they could have matching, or at least coordinating, baskets. Since I had been waiting a few years to do this, I did it right and got nice ones from Pottery Barn Kids. Here they are before Rex got to them.



Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of the boys with their baskets because Rex took them all apart before I even got Wyatt out to see them and get any pictures taken. Oh well. I am just lucky I took this photo so at least I had something. We didn't do any egg hunts because it was cold and rainy for Easter weekend. I am not a fan of ham so I took another crack at making lechon asado which uses a fresh ham. I found a 17 pound bone-in fresh ham and cooked the whole thing. It was crazy- I've never cooked anything that big. I went ahead and copied the whole Versailles menu and did rice, black beans and fried plantains too. My plantains came out perfect. They were so delicious. We had some guests which were kind of a last-minute deal and I was a little nervous to feed them my Cuban Easter meal but they said they liked it. Rob and I thought it all came out really good. I wish I had some photos but between being cook and hostess, I didn't have a chance to be photographer too.

Rex has his first cold today. I guess we did good because he is almost 3 years old and he's never had a runny nose, cough, any of that before but our luck has run out. I noticed he sounded a little stuffed up and then I noticed his nose was running and now he even has a very tiny fever too. He doesn't seems to feel too bad but is definitely not running at 100%. I had a migraine yesterday, my first in about 2 years, so thank goodness these health issues are back-to-back and not overlapping. Hopefully we can keep Wyatt and Rob healthy and get everyone back to feeling good soon!

Nothing To Say

It has been very uneventful around here lately. We were going to go to a big festival thing that we went to last year but it was so cold and rainy that we decided to skip it. When I did the link to my post about last year's festival, I noticed a photo of Rob mowing for the first time. It just so happens that he mowed yesterday for the first time this year- AND for the first time with his new mower! Yay for the new mower! It is much taller so he doesn't have to hunch way down and it actually starts the first time you try to start it. This was the first year I didn't get a picture of him mowing the grass and he even had the new mower so I really blew it. It is very exciting stuff to mow your yard around here because it means you made it through another winter and you don't have to deal with snow for the next 6 months or so.

I got my haircut on Friday night and got a little time out for myself which was nice. I like the haircut too and if it wasn't still wet right now, I would take a picture and share. I don't have any pictures of anything to share this time so I'll be sure to start taking some photos right away. The only photos on my camera were from Rex's first number 2 in the potty and that is not something to share with the world. Potty training continues at a snail's pace. The boys are getting restless and I don't really have anything to say so I think this is it for now.

The Great Outdoors

It has been so warm and wonderful for the last week or so- it was 82 here today and in the 80s last weekend as well. We all have been having a great time outside but nobody more so than Rex. He loves to go to the park a few blocks away and go on the slide and jungle gym.





When we can't make it to the park, he likes to play around in the backyard too. He has a little golf set, tee ball set, soccer ball and various toys for the backyard. His favorite? Taking the golf "bag" for his clubs and pretending to vacuum with it. I'm trying to get him to butch it up a little but what woman wouldn't want a man who does the vacuuming? I guess it is good to be well-rounded.



He has this cool big wheels trike to ride on but he is having trouble getting the hang of it so Rob decided to show him how it is done.



Even though Wyatt can't do as much as his big brother just yet, he still likes to be outside and feel the wind blowing through his hair (what little of it there is!).



After a long cold winter, it is so nice to be outside again! I love playing with the boys outside and seeing all my flowers come out of the ground. Right now I have daffodils and hyacinth in bloom and the tulips aren't far behind. Rob will probably even have to mow the grass sometime this week. He got a new mower that he is pretty fired up to use- I'm surprised he hasn't been out there mowing yet just so he can use his new toy. Maybe he is just pacing himself because there will be plenty of time to use it in the next few months. It was a pretty low-key weekend for us. Rob worked on some stuff around the house and I took care of the boys. We're still working on the potty training and man is that a drag. I think I'd almost prefer to change diapers until he is old enough where I can just explain it to him, he gets it and we're done. And it's weird to tell someone how to pee when it is all very different from how you do it. There's a bit of a learning curve there for both of us. Anyhow, still plugging away at that. I realized today that if I can get Wyatt potty trained around the time he is 2, I only have like 1 more year of diapers to go. Woohoo for that!!

Table For 4

Our new table was delivered this week!



It is so nice. So is Wyatt's new Space Saver Highchair that we had to buy because our old full-size one no longer fit in the dining area. Now I need to find a new impermeable vinyl tablecloth so the boys don't destroy the new table. There are already sticky handprints all over the table where the two of them sit.

The new table and finding related accessories has been the big excitement for the week. We are on the hunt for a new garage door but not sure what to do. All I know is I really don't want the standard raised panel garage door that everyone uses these days. It looks fine on newer homes but I just think they look weird on old homes like ours because they don't go at all. I think something like this, in the Westfield design, would be great. Lots of decisions still to make but we are working on it.

Wyatt is getting better and better about eating. This week I've gotten him to eat some Cheerios, ground beef and rice. Baby food doesn't really seem to get him excited but he does okay eating bits of whatever we are eating. He also does a lot better if he can feed himself. I decided yesterday that I've had it with changing Rex's diapers and so we are now working on using the potty. He gets ADD though as soon as he gets in the bathroom (toilet paper! curtain! towel! sink!) so it's tough to get him to focus on the task at hand. He isn't telling me when he needs to go either so we just keep trying every hour or so. It's very time consuming which is tough with a baby in the house that needs a lot of attention too. We'll get there, hopefully sooner rather than later!