A Day at Home

Since Memorial Day was so crazy, I wanted to attempt and stay home the whole day (gasp!) on Tuesday so James would get a little break from the car seat & so I could catch up on laundry, diapers and such.  Thanks to these pictures, I’m bringing you along for the ride…

 

A bit earlier than I like to rise, but James said GET UPPPP.  Actually our morning really started at 1:30 am with a steam session in the shower to alleviate a very stuffy, can’t breath through his nose baby.

 

first order of the day…get the diapers started!

 

Then James chills in the bumbo for a hot second while I splash some water on my face, put my contacts in, etc

Buuuut he is really getting too big for the bumbo, since he can arch his way out of it.  A mad dash to rescue arching baby below followed the snapping of this picture..

Breakfast time! James does not eat solids yet..he just plays with them.  He also often insists that I cook my breakfast while holding him.

Feeling fancy so it is french toast with bananas, powdered sugar and maple syrup today (and a thin layer of PB for some more protein).  It was delicious and a nice break from my normal egg burrito.

 

Morning playtime for him

  

Breakfast dishes & trimming up some chicken for tomorrow’s dinner for me. I’d rather sit on the living room floor and chew a giraffe.

Multiply this times 8 or 9. Allll the live long day. And, don’t be fooled that the camera caught him laying on his back.. I am normally sweating, trying to snap his diaper on while he is rolling onto his stomach, half-hanging off the table.

 

We got a treat today! My brother Chris came over to say good-bye before he headed back to SC.  It was a treat to have a visitor from the outside world! He promptly wound my son up to the crazieth degree then peaced out. Thanks for coming Uncle Chris!!

  

See the booty in the air? That means he is out. Nap numbero uno!

 

The diapers are done so I hang them up and put them outside for some miraculous sun bleaching..they dry super fast this way, too!

Then the heavens opened and all the angels sang because finally….the best part of the day…The shower awaited!  Most days, since we normally go do something, I take one while he is awake which means conditioner half rinsed and only one leg shaved but not today! It was glorious!

Better late than never..morning prayer

A day full of laundry awaited, no fun during this naptime

Can I call this gardening? Trying to take care of my geraniums.

Nap is over, so it is getting dressed for the day and some quality swing time. 

An apple slice babysits while I do my least favorite chore: unloading the dishwasher

 

Nap number two means I get to blog, yay!

Aaaaan he’s up. A snack to get us through the afternoon and more floor playtime.  The front of our house is shaded at this time, so we step out to enjoy and ice cube or 3.  We lounged around on a blanket and chatted with our next door neighbor for a while.  When I went back inside, I decided it was time to turn on the AC.

 

During the last quick cat nap of the day, I conquered the rest of the laundry and chatted with my mom on the phone

My view during our late afternoon walk

We practiced crawling, which can be soooo frustrating, huh, James?

In fact, things were getting really fussy and I was feeling very sleepy so it was time to get a little help from Motown and dancing around the kitchen.       

But it didn’t last. Witching hour was truly upon us.  This picture is really mean but can you see his two little teethies?!

He didn’t eat any

 

But he got filthy. So it was time for the inaugural bath in the sink. I couldn’t decide which of the four pictures I liked the best..

 

Tonight's lineup

Books, songs & prayers before bed

He went to bed around 7:15 and I didn’t stay up too much later..he still gets up to nurse in the night so I need my survival sleep!

Not pictured: the nursing sessions that happened every 3 hours

Also not pictured: The dinner clean-up.  All those steamed carrots and mashed avocado all over the floor and in the nook & crannies of the high chair.

There you have it! What went down when I stayed home to recover after the crazy weekend.  It was a pretty good day.  Both his morning and afternoon nap were an hour and he was in a happy mood until the early evening.  I didn’t cook a real dinner since Marcus was working and we had given the house a good clean the Friday before so neither cooking or cleaning was on the agenda which makes everything much easier.  Other days James only sleeps for 30 minutes at a time and never lets me put him down.  I still like him, though- he’s a cutie!

Memorial Day Weekend

     It was a double header, my friends!  My wonderful, hardworking, generous siblings in-law planned a Happy Birthday Mom Yard Crash for the long weekend.  Grand plans included lots of yard-cleaning and clearing,  bush removal, saying goodbye to a no longer needed wheelchair ramp, ripping up an old deck, taking down an old carport and other awesomely ambitious yard maintenance things. James and I were of absolutely zero help since we were mostly consumed with the other happenings over the weekend but we did manage to show up whenever food stuffs were going down.  We hope it just looked like a coincidence.  Anyways, Marcus re-acquaintanced himself with a chainsaw and Emily slaved away caring for the littles, my brother-in-laws and Becky impressively worked non-stop.  One of the goals was to make the backyard a safe place for the kiddo’s and family gatherings and while there is still some work to be done, some fantastic headway was made! (Wellllll, if you don’t talk about the two slithering snakes sighted).  Seriously though, I’m in awe of my family-spending those 3 days working so hard- they did great work!  On Monday afternoon we enjoyed the new backyard for a BBQ.  Not only can the Crofts yard work, but they just do family picnics right.  Here is a little peek at the cute baby cousins, the backyard and the birthday girl..

     

     The other exciting part of this weekend was a much anticipated visit from my uncle Joe & aunt Azita! They came all the way from California to meet James & Rosemary!  My mom has three brothers and for  us growing up they were just all fun and games.  I remember when the three of them made trips together to spend a weekend at the beach.  When we were in Ohio, they took us to movies, bought us junk food, took us for joy rides in their fast & fancy cars, and played in the basement with us.  They were big kids and always up for a good time.   Then Joe moved to California for work when I was a teenager and  met the very beautiful, smart, sweet Azita and fell in love.  We flew to LA for their wedding.

 

Good move Joe, because our family gained a lovely new aunt. We only wish we all lived closer to one another! It was so neat to have them visit and it brought back the best memories of Joe’s old visits.  We are a mature crowd with a special knack for teasing and Joe always fits right in.  When we weren’t joking one another, we walked around downtown Norfolk, went bike riding and headed to the boardwalk & beach.  Brian took them to tour his ship on Sunday but we skipped out since the idea of carting James up and down those stairs didn’t sound like my cup of tea. My mom made delicious meals and we ate our fill of homemade strawberry pie all weekend long.  Kathleen taught Joe how to make Bergey’s dinner rolls and we spent a fair amount of time on the ground playing with Patrick’s Keva planks.  Most importantly, we introduced Azita to the Blues Brothers .(A family favorite movie)  I’m fairly certain James loved meeting his aunt and uncle as evidenced here:

 

Okay, so maybe he looks less than thrilled..but take it from me..he loved you guys!

James went for his first bike ride with over the weekend

 

(yes, we definitely should be wearing a helmet! The one we brought didn’t fit him!)

ANND he took his first trip to Virginia Beach

 

Azita & Patrick. Two peas in a pod.  In Azita’s words “We just get each other.”

Marcus and I and Brian and Kathleen. Woohoo!

     It was a beautifully busy weekend, rich in family, food and laughs.  Loved every minute of it!  James did pretty well being carted every which way…a pleasant gift for Marcus and I!