Deke's First Haircut.

Today was such a big day for The Little Monkey! We finally gave in and took him to get his first haircut. I wasn't quite sure how it was all going to go, but he totally surprised me with how good he acted! He didn't cry at all during the haircut. It wasn't until after we had paid and were getting ready to leave that he cried and started acting out. Apparently he's a huge fan of the airplane he was playing in :) Here are pics from our trip.

All smiles

He wasn't too sure about it at first.

My Big Boy

They had a television that was playing at his station. He loved watching the girls on the screen :)

Daddy and his boy

I know this pic is blurry. However, I do love me some kissy pictures with my baby :)

Asking for more kisses

Being denied monkey kisses :( That's ok, I got more later!!

My Big Boy and his new do'

Walkin' in Style.

This afternoon, my Mom came to visit me and The Little Monkey! We ended up at the mall, shopping (who would have thought :). I've been debating on whether or not to go ahead and purchase Deke some fall/winter shoes. I've been concerned that if I buy them now, he'll grow out of them before he ever wears them. So, I decided that we would head to the Stride Rite store and get him measured and just see if they had anything that appealed to me. Of course, they would be having an awesome sale that would make it super hard for me to pass up on. So, here are his new fall/winter shoes :) Ha!

Here's his casual shoes. Deke was measured as a size 5 1/2 and we got these in a 6 1/2 (should be plenty of room to grow). If you've ever owned shoes from Stride Rite, you know that most of their shoes are not machine washable and you need a protective spray to keep stains and moisture from ruining them. Well, these are washable and I'm so in love!!

Here's his dress shoes. He has a bad habit of taking his shoes off and throwing them down (and then I can't find them). I'm hoping these hefty-Velcro shoes will eliminate our current problem :)

I could have bought several more shoes, but I needed to stop while I was ahead :) If I'm not careful, Deke will wind up having more shoes than his Mommy. HA!!

It's a Monday.

Can you tell I have no mental energy left to come up with a good title for this post? Ha! Our weekend was so crazy! We always love going back to our home towns to visit with our families, but sometimes it's just exhausting. The Little Monkey of course loves going back home, where he is spoiled rotten for two straight days and is never without a playmate :) Gotta love family :)

Anyway, if you know me at all, you know I'm in love with Etsy.com. So last night, I was shopping around and found this adorable and clever little contraption.

It's a crayon roll-up that fits in your diaper bag.

So cute!

The Little Monkey loves to color and I think this little roll-up is perfect for his traveling crayons! I can't wait to get it in!!

For a pregnancy update, I am 19 weeks today and feeling better every day. This pregnancy has been completely different from Deke's and I'm slowly feeling my energy coming back to me. I must be entering the nesting phase, because I suddenly feel the need to organize/clean/organize/clean again. However, now a days it's becoming more of a challenge to bend over so this puts a damper on all my organization and cleaning plans :( BOOO!! We are suppose to go on September 8th for our "official" gender sonogram here in town, but the Hubby is thinking he will be in the Marshall Islands for work during that time, so we may be moving that appointment. I'm looking forward to this appointment because of the pictures. I remember the 20 week pics of Deke were so clear and bright and I can't wait to get a really good look at our new son!

Feeling Their Pain

Today, has been a day of deep thinking and a lot of tears. Some of you that follow my blog may not agree with this post and that's fine. We are all entitled to our own opinions and here is where I speak mine. I have prayed, prayed and prayed for our country over the years! I was a senior in high school when September 11, 2001 happened. I can remember every little detail like it was yesterday. I remember what class I was in, what I felt the moment I saw that second plane hit the WTC, I can remember grabbing my phone and sitting in the back of a dark classroom talking to my mom and I remember wishing so hard that what was unfolding in front of me on a 20 inch t.v screen wasn't real. I also remember feeling the same heartache when I signed my name to the September 11, 2001 Memorial Wall at Ground Zero on April 3, 2002. Still being able to look up into the nearby trees and see articles of clothing and window blinds twisted and broken in the branches really got to me and I began to cry right there. Unfortunately, it was all real and I feel like so many Americans have forgotten how it felt that day to see innocent Americans killed. This mosque potentially being built in NYC has really hit a sore spot with me. It's all I can think about and it has brought me to tears throughout the day thinking about how disrespectful and inconsiderate this project is to America and the victims families! Everyone in this country has the right to worship where and how they want. However, building a Muslim mosque ANYWHERE near Ground Zero is despicable!!!! My heart is aching for the family members of the September 11th victims and I am praying for them. I'm also praying that our country will soon wake up! If we continue down the road we are going down now, this country won't be fit to live in, in the next 20 years. I wanted to include a video that I found a few years ago. I can't watch this without crying and I want to share it with you.



Please pray with me for our country. We needed change, but not the change we've gotten. We need to change our hearts, minds and attitudes and pray for this country that we love.

18 Weeks

Sweet Summertime.

I am falling behind on my poor ole' blog :( Hopefully, I can pick up next week and get some stuff done. I have tons of pictures and videos I need to upload, but just can't seem to find the extra time :) We are heading out of town today to spend the weekend at the cabin with the Hubby's family. I sure hope the storms don't ruin our lake time, but we'll still have fun regardless. I hope everyone tries to stay cool and has a fabulous weekend!

Welcome Connor!

Yesterday, Dusty's cousin gave birth to a healthy 9 lb 2 oz baby boy and he is so adorable! We were so excited to finally meet him and hold him last night. I can already tell he's going to be one spoiled little boy :)

The Hubby and I with Connor

Sweet Baby

After we visited with the family, we went downstairs to visit Aunt Nay in the Ultrasound Department. The Little Monkey enjoyed his time visiting with Nay :)

Cute :)

Spoiled Rotten

Well, if you're wondering how the potty training is going, it's not. The Little Monkey had an accident the day before yesterday where I'm pretty sure he was asking to go to the potty, but didn't quite make it (my fault) and got scared. I've tried putting him on his potty multiple times, but he really has no interest. However, he shows tremendous interest in washing his hands and playing in the water. Silly kid!!

Here he is not using it like he should :) Some of you might think this picture is strange to post, but I like to blog for me and this is worth remembering :)

Today, my Mom came up to visit and hang out with us, which was fun. We haven't been back home in several weeks, so I'm sure she was missing Deke :) We ended up at Toys R'Us where she bought him this fun toy.....

So far, he loves it! Thanks Granny :)

I decided the Little Monkey needed something to let loose and have fun with. So, I bought him these........

I really hope I don't live to regret this decision :)

and for those of you who want to see a belly pic.......

16 wks 3 days pregnant

I've been feeling good. I had a few days last week where I felt just horrible, but this week hasn't been bad. The heat is about to kill me, but I have a feeling people who aren't pregnant could say the same :) We are going for a scan tomorrow to see our little man. I'm hoping he cooperates so we can get a good picture of him that I can upload here.

I hope everyone has a Fabulous Friday and an awesome weekend!!

Potty Training.

This past weekend, we went to a friend's house to have dinner and watch to Deke and their little boy, J play together. While I was there, I noticed that J had his own potty in the restroom. I was intrigued and wondered to myself if it actually was working for them. Jessica told me that Little J had yet to "do his business" in the toilet, but it sounded like they were on the right track to potty training him. It got my curiosity stirring, so I decided to start doing some in depth research on the internet and discovered that you can start potty training at around 18 months. Also, if they show signs of being ready then that's a good indication it's time to give it a try (which Deke has shown signs here and there). So, last night we made a trip to Target and got Deke all ready for his potty training experience.

Here's the new potty. It's a BabyBjorn Potty Chair and it got outstanding reviews on both Amazon.com and Target.com. Everything I read basically said this was the best one on the market and to not waste money on anything else. To be honest, I really don't see what so great about it. It's very standard and nothing special about it, but the good reviews were overwhelming.

We also bought him this step stool to help him reach the sink. I thought since we'll be "using the potty", that would also be a good time to teach him to wash his hands after every visit to the bathroom :) So far, he understands how to put the soap on, it's the rinsing off part that he's not getting. Instead, he likes to take his soapy little hands and rub them on the mirror :) Gotta love boys!!

So, I wasn't going to attempt potty training today. I needed to locate his cloth diapers and I was still doing some research. My plan was to start tomorrow. However, Deke had a different plan. Right after his nap, I went into the bathroom and Deke came walking in and pointed to his potty and said "Whas dat"? I told him it was his potty and ask if he wanted to sit on it. He walked right over and sat down by himself. Feeling like he wanted to go, I took his diaper off and would you believe it if I told you he did a #1 all by himself, the very first time?? Well, he did!!! I was so excited :) Since I didn't have a treat on hand, his reward was one of my Oreo's ( I may have messed up here but oh well). I'm also pretty bummed that I didn't get a picture of it, but I hadn't planned for him to actually "go". There was a lot of praising and hugs this morning and I'm hoping that he continues to take interest in his potty :) Tomorrow starts full on Potty Training Round 1. Wish us luck!!!