Plan B

On to plan B....

Decompressing

Had a great day, decompressing after the weekend trip with Aaron's parents. Aaron even took the day off.

I put some more (million or so) pics of our weekend up on our Shutterfly website here. Sorry about the pic quality in some of them. It's our top three choices. There are some pics of Savannah, the house on Gloucester (our 2nd choice), the house on Brompton (#3) and the house on Waite (current favorite). Each shows the outside of the house and then the inside.

The place on Waite is still our favorite, we've put in an offer and received a counter offer and are trying to decide what to do. It's a great house, but needs a lot of cosmetic work. It's been rented for a while and the owners made some interesting decisions including green and blue carpet in the bedrooms and bathroom. However, it does have an apartment above the garage (it's the last pics in the album). So, we will see. The apartment bathroom also has carpet and the vanity is up about four steps above the shower and potty. Interesting.

It was really great to see the boys again. I missed them so much, although Aaron and I had a great time. Waylon is feeling tons better, but still having issues with diaper rash and now a rash all over. We're heading to the pediatrician tomorrow.

Which one?

Plan A:

Plan B:

Tomorrow!

Heading out of town tomorrow! We are very excited, but it is tempered a bit by the fact that Waylon is STILL having GI issues. They aren't huge, no pun intended there, but he's still having problems. He's basically just miserable when he poops. Poor guy. He's still doing that more frequently than he should too.

It occurred to us, tonight, that it could be a food allergy. Might not be, but that could be one of the reasons his body has been so screwy lately. The only thing that's been new in his diet for the last couple weeks is cereal bars, but who knows. Since we're leaving tomorrow and can't do much right at this exact moment, we're going to cut out everything for the time being that we think could be upsetting his system. So, poor guy will be eating plain noodles, fruit and veggies for the next couple days. I just hope it helps. I wish he was feeling better, but know that he'll be in great hands with Caroline. I never realized how great it is having a mother in law that is a nurse before. :) I'm blessed.

Byron is all ready for us to go. I don't think he'll miss us at all. He's just really excited to have Nana and Poppa coming up.

Hope you all have a great weekend. Hopefully, I'll have lots of exciting pics and news from our trip on Monday!!

House hunting fashion advice

Hi guys. So, a little advice needed here. In my complete obsession about this weekend I've already put together the outfits to wear. I'm trying to break out of my usual jeans and tee mode here. On Friday, we're going to go house hunting and meet for lunch at the hospital. This is what I planning to wear :

The cardigan has a floral pattern on it which didn't show up well in the pic here. Does it go with the skirt okay? Aaron and I have differing opinions here. It's just a plain black tee underneath. I have a snazzy new black belt to go along. The skirt is a little high-waisted and has cute little criss-cross belt loops.

Next day more of the same house looking, offering, I'm not sure what in this outfit...

T minus 3 days!

Only 3 days until we leave for Savannah. Aaron and I fly out Thursday night. Woo hoo!! So excited I can hardly stand it. Today, the boys helped me pick out my house hunting purse. Tada...

The purse

The last time I bought a purse that wasn't a diaper bag, I wasn't a mom. Shocking, I know. I love Marshalls.

I am completely obsessing about everything for this weekend. I've already wrote out our "typical day" for Pete and Caroline this last Sunday. Way too much information, I'm sure I'll be very annoying.

Talked to the realtor. She's all ready for us. She's picking us up on Friday at 9 am. This is where we're staying.

The Bohemian

Did you see those palm trees out front. Palm trees!! It also has a roof top restaurant/bar. The river is just behind it. Ah! I'm so excited.

Maggie posted about Anna's third birthday last weekend and posted a pic of Anna with the boys. You can see it at her blog, Our Little Baby Blog.

Last completely unrelated note, I'm reading Little Women again. It is such a good book. I haven't read it since I was a wee little one. I have another Louisa May Alcott book on my "to read" list and wanted to brush up on it. I love reading great books.

Bedtime boys

The boys hairstylist hard at work

Bam bam or Steven Segal???

Waylon hoping someone will help him wash his hands (he LOVES this).

Wild animals

It was beautiful the last couple of days around here. Today, we went to the zoo!! Byron was super excited. He loves animals. We had a great time. Waylon was a little tired, but hung in there like a champ. Byron said the fish were his favorite. Waylon really liked the meerkats, the had him mesmerized.

Monkey business...
Sea lions....
Byron's favs....Tunneling like termites.....A last hippo ride....

Other than the zoo, we have been more social in the last two days than I have been in the two weeks previously. We went to Haas with Amanda and Faye yesterday afternoon and then had them over for dinner and playing. Tonight, Kevin (U of C resident) and his family came over for the same (park and food). We are definitely living the good life.

One of the things I love most...

..is playing outside with the boys. Here's some pics from our backyard after lunch today.

Unspeakable acts

Some things should never be put together in the same sentence. Two of those words are baby and enema. Sadly, that's what we had to resort to this weekend. However, it seems to have worked. Thank goodness. Waylon is feeling much better today.

Our weekend really didn't hold much else other than trying to get Waylon back on track. It rained like crazy on Saturday and was pretty cold, so the boys didn't get out of the house. It was pretty today, but rather windy. We did make it to the park in the afternoon. It was great. Everyone was glad to be out for a bit.

Saturday I made stuffed Poblanos for the fam and Pete. They turned out really well, but they were quite a bit of work. I wore myself out and that's the only cooking I did all weekend.
Next time I'll buy the Soyrizo (fake Chorizo) instead of making it from "scratch" like the recipe called for. I love my Passionate Vegetarian cookbook, but almost always shorten the recipes. I'm definitely not a purist when it comes to cooking.

Potty training preview

Waylon had his first successful encounter with a potty today. I'm sad to say, it was only because he was having some potty issues though. He was having at least one dirty diaper an hour. He has such a bad diaper rash, that it was really painful for the poor guy. So, he was running around bare bottomed and I was dashing off to the bathroom with him every 30-40 minutes. I'm sure that this afternoon would be really hilarious to an outside observer.

It seemed to work though. This evening was much better. We are on the BRAT diet for a bit, although I'm not exactly sure what's going on with him.

I'm hoping tomorrow he'll be much better. I put as much Desitin as I could on his poor hinney before bed. I hope it works it's magical powers overnight.

Byron kept saying he was a doctor just like dad today. He even said he helped poopy doopy babies at one point. That guy is a scream.

Bread #2, Irish Soda Bread

Tried my second bread recipe of the week. I feel like making bread this week. Which is kind of weird since I really haven't made much bread before. It's an irish Soda Bread recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, the Passionate Vegetarian by Crescent Dragonwagon. Is that a name or what. It was easy to put together, made the house smell like heaven while cooking, and was very tasty. Well, I don't think Aaron liked it the best but he's not big on raisins.

Ta da...
By far, the prettiest bread I ever made. I felt pretty proud about this one.

We had a pretty rough night last night. This guy....is teething or something. Who knows!! I can't wait till he can talk. He was up a ton. Neither Aaron or I got much sleep. I ended up sleeping with him on the couch out of desperation. I really don't like doing that. I'm kind of a stickler about sleeping habits. I really try to keep the boys in their beds at all times, but I just gave up. Live to fight another day I guess. I'm praying to all sleeping gods tonight for a good nights sleep.

Thankfully, had a great day out at Maggie's house. The boys and I had a great time. Good friends and good times.

Mud mud

This is a new game that Byron has made up. Today, he asked me " Mom, I'm going to play mud mud, is that okay?" I was getting dinner together and said sure! Well, mud mud just means making a big mess as in.......
That's a puzzle, potato head and a basket of books poured on the floor. Not to play with, just to make a mess. The sad thing, is that it actually always looks this way. The only time our apartment doesn't look this way is between the hours of 8 pm and 6 am, when the boys are sleeping.

I tried to get a good pic of the haircut today. It honestly doesn't look any different, but mom has requested so, ta da....I tried taking a group pic with the boys, I think I look silly just all by myself and this is what happened.....

Nothing-to-do weekend

Those can be my favorite kind of weekends. We didn't have anything to do, but filled it with a bunch of great things.

1. Park and Starbucks on Saturday morning. A great combination.

2. Haircut! I got my haircut for the first time since September. No big changes, but just a little trim.

3. Arturros Saturday night and then movie night afterward. Our in house date night.

4. Farmers market and park (again) Sunday morning.

Farmer market apples, yum!

5. Lasagna and bread (homemade, trying this recipe) Sunday night.

6. Last but definitely not least, playing outside in the back yard with the boys.

Signs of spring

Updates

Some updates on the fam...

Waylon:
He is now down to one nap a day. He was definitely ready. He's taking one 1 1/2 to 2 hr nap each afternoon. His third molar is still on the way. We're all anxiously awaiting its arrival. He had a 5:15 am wake up time this morning that I'm praying was just due to teething. He continues his reign as babyzilla. Nothing is safe around him, unless the door is closed. Thank goodness he hasn't figured that one out yet. Just at dinner the poor guy spectacularly fell out of a chair. Just a couple new words. He says ow, tattoo, bye and I think nite nite now.

Byron:

He is still taking one nap a day also, although periodically he will skip it. We had soccer class this afternoon and he did great. I even saw him pass the ball to another little boy once. We did go one time and he didn't want to participate. He isn't sure what to make of an actual game, but loves the drills. He now loves to tell stories and talks all the time. He used to ask "How?" for everything and now has switched to the more standard "Why?" in response to anything I say. He calls his brother Way.

Aaron: He is really enjoying his research year at U of C. The hours are great. He recently started studying for another stage of the boards he has to take in early July (oh joy). He's also waiting for his licensing to go through for the state of Georgia. That has been a spectacular pain in the butt, but I guess it's good. You don't want just anyone to get licensed. He had to submit 3 different DNA samples. (just kidding)

Cindy: Everything is great with me. I'm really excited about our trip to Savannah in 3 weeks! I had a doctors appointment for my eyes, again, this week. All is fine. Just a little irritation that is being treated with some steroid drops. My eyes will be huge!! I've been reading a great book by Barbara Kingsolver (one of my fav authors) about food and eating locally. They talk about making their own cheese and I'm really excited to try it sometime soon. I have yet to order the cultures online.

Our day

It was in the low 40's today. It was absolutely heaven. It felt more like 80s. Guess where we went this afternoon?





It felt so good to be outside.

It's done!

My latest craft project that is. I was crocheting a blanket for some friends of ours who had a baby this last December. Here it is!
They live in Boston, hence the sailboats. I'm really happy with how the colors turned out. These are fun to do.

The boys were absolutely wild today. How could such sweeties be so crazy??
I cannot wait for Haas park to open back up.

Hello March

Isn't that crazy. March! I can't believe it's March already. I am so excited. This is the month that we go to Savannah!! Woo hoo! Ok, not until the 25th, but that's only 25 days away. I spent the boys nap time today calling our realtor and a bank. It's a little daunting thinking of buying our first house, but I'm so ready. I don't think I'm going to have that moment where you get freaked out about signing yourself up to be in so much debt for so long. I'm ready for it! Bring it on! I want to be in debt forever!!!! ( just kidding, don't freak out you Dave Ramsey fans)

Had a great weekend. Nana Renee left on Saturday morning (crying a little here). But, we had a great visit. We're trying to plan something of a girls weekend in late April. My spring seems to be filling up fast already. Bye Nana!!

Popa Pete and Nana Caroline came into town on Friday to help watch the kiddos while Aaron and I went to the opera. It was awesome. I really loved it. We saw the Marriage of Figaro. I didn't know it was so long, but I loved every minute of it. It was 3 hrs and 45 min. Aaron was a little antsy by the last act. He said he's just not made to sit in one place that long. The Pederson fidget gene always gets him. He is a great husband though. The opera was my valentines day present. It was incredibly thoughtful of him. I'm ready for more opera now. Hope they have some in Savannah.

Here's some cute pics of the boys trying on their new swim outfits for Cancun. Byron loved the sharks and kept asking to wear his trunks. Waylon was less enthused. I think he definitely looks like a tourist in his trunks with his slippers here.