The Easter post...a week late.

Thank goodness finals are this week, then maybe I can get caught up on a few things that have been neglected... like my precious blog, some housecleaning, and maybe a little baking...like some yummy snickerdoodle cookies!

This year it was a rainy Easter, so much so that we went from drought conditions to flooding!

Since Good Friday is one of our many Holidays at work, we headed down to the lake Thursday evening. When we got there, the Easter Bunny had delivered Bryce an early present. Since it couldn't fit in his Easter basket he thought we could go ahead and break it in at the lake.

Bryce got his very own 4-Wheeler! With a little practice he can now make it go all by himself. However, he just doesn't get the concept of turning it and watching where he goes.

Despite it being rainy on Thursday, it was a GORGEOUS Friday! We spent a little time on the dock fishing. 

Unfortunately Bryce isn't really keen on staying on the dock for an extended length of time, but I was able to catch a couple of fish including this nice crappie!

As I watch Bryce this year, it's hard to remember how helpless, dependant and immobile he was last year. It's a good thing this child LOVES to be outdoors. He even tries to help Daddy with the firewood.

Nic worked Easter Sunday so we had to come back home Saturday. Since it was raining we ended up coming home pretty early. Sunday morning the Easter Bunny delivered the rest of Bryce's Easter Basket. Since he had plenty of toys he received some candy filled eggs and a few books.

Later that morning we headed down to Norman to spend the afternoon with my Mom's side of the family. Since it was raining, thundering and lightening any Easter egg hunting was not going to happen. The kids still managed to enjoy themselves.

In watching Bryce interact with everyone, I can't help but realize how extremely lucky he is to have so many people that love him. Also he is lucky to have the opportunity to get to know all but one of his Great-Grandparents. When we are all together I try to get pictures of him with them since I don't have pictures with mine...which I believe is due to my great-grandparents not being alive when I was born, but I'm not 100% sure about that. I guess that's something I'll have to ask my Mom.

Below is Bryce grabbing my Grandpappy's feet. Also in this picture is my Grandma.

Back in the saddle again...

Wow, it's barely been a week and I'm creating another post...okay it was went I started this post on April 3rd but lo and behold it's now April 12th and I'm just now finishing it. I still cannot believe how fast time flies now that I have a child.  

I realize on my last post I kind of ended it abruptly. There was much more I could have shared, but I guess I wanted to make sure I published it before I got distracted and forgot about it...kind of like what happened to this post!

For one I forgot to share that Bryce was going to be starting part-time day care because Nic's Mom was going to be starting her seasonal job. A few weeks before he started, he and I went for a visit to checkout the facilities. When I couldn't get him to leave, I knew that was the place. So now he's gone for 3 weeks. Since the beginning, he barely fussed when we leave,  which surprises me since he's really bad about separation from me.

Also since my last post Bryce has not had a pacifier again! We have officially broke the binky habit and he continues to sleep all night! If I had known it was going to be this easy I would have done it sooner. Of course the weekend we got rid of the binky, was the weekend before he began daycare. I was relieved to find that no other child there had a pacifier. I was afraid our progress might get set back.

Now that I think about it he's been pretty easy to wean off of everything we wanted to wean him off of.  While we're reminiscing....we got out his infant carrier car seat the other day to let some of our friends borrow it until they could find the correct base for their infant carrier. Bryce crawled up in it like he missed it.

Some tid bits...

We're still waiting on that 12th tooth to break through. As fast as the others came in, I'm surprised it's taking this long.

Bryce has started saying his version of "Ready, Set, Go" but he only gets to "Set"...then he takes off running.


Now for the fun part...pictures!


Playing with his cousin Kell's Nerf Gun.

Brushing teeth in our new chair.

Visiting Daddy at the Fire Station.

Enjoying hot days in April

Licking the homemade whipped cream off the beaters.

Hopefully now that things are slowing down at work and I'm not going to be as mentally exhausted, maybe I can keep up better on the blog.

So yea, it's been a while...

I just CANNOT seem to get a grasp on fitting in a little time to blog.

Yet my baby boy keeps on growing from a baby into a toddler!

Bryce has had 5 teeth come in the past month. We've now got top and bottom molars and 7 out of 8 front teeth (a total of 11) and the last of the 8 just about to break through.  But I don't dare stick my finger in to feel for it as he likes to chomp down on it. That's one I'll just have to watch for real good.

He's been doing really great about sleeping all night in his crib, so we felt it was probably time to give up the pacifier. Wednesday night I cut off a little bit of tip of a pacifier so hopefully it help him lose interest in it. The first night I gave in and let him have an uncut binky to sleep with. Last night I did not give him and left him to sleep with the cut binky. Needless to say it was a rough night for everyone in the house. He's also been EXTREMELY cranky this afternoon. Hopefully tonight will go much better. At least he fell asleep peacefully without a pacifier, however I had to rock him instead of him just laying in his crib and falling asleep. But for now we'll do what we have to do to break this habit.

Other notable news...

We have graduated from the ducky tub to where Bryce is now taking baths directly in the bathtub. If I ask him if he wants to take a bath, he goes straight to the bathroom and starts trying to climb in the tubs with clothes on and all. He seems to enjoy the extra space to move and splash around.

He continues to be a fabulous eater, he even loves a little sushi...and Momma's chop sticks!



He's finally growing out of 12 months clothes and fitting nicely in the 18 months. Of course we don't have many long sleeve 18 months shirts, so we're stretching the 12 months as long as we can. As much as I would love to buy a bunch of winter clothes on clearance, I'm afraid to because I have no idea if he'll still be in 18 months come winter time or if he will actually be in 24 months or 2T...so we'll just have to skip out on any sales.

Some of the cute things he's picking up from our habits. He knows very well how to blow his nose. He is my little towel boy. He knows when I'm finished with my shower and he will open the door and hand me my towel! It's just amazing the things they pickup on and I'm sure I'm going to continue to be amazed, especially when I hear things come out of this mouth!

Speaking of speaking...he still have a very limited vocabulary, but some new favorite words of his are dog, ball, bye, and a bunch of words that must be some kind of foreign language. I'm hoping with the binky out of his mouth, he will start to say many more.

As spring arrives it comes time to get the garden ready for home-grown tomatoes and onions. We've been spending many evenings outside in the garden. Of course Bryce loves to be outside so I'm sure he will be a big help this year.

Of course we all know that following spring comes summer which means lake time!!!!

This past weekend we took our boat down to put in the dock for the season. I was anxious to get Bryce's life jacket on him, first for safety and second to see if he would tolerate it better than he did last year. Fortunately he didn't seem to mind it much.

You may want to sit down for this one...

WOW! Has this month flown by or what?!? Since my last post we spent two weeks with snow on the ground, which is HIGHLY unusualy for Oklahoma.  Bryce started getting another bottom tooth the weekend following my last post. Now he's about to have two more top teeth break through, to make a total of 9.  He's continued to want to eat everything we eat, including sushi!

On Friday Bryce had his 15 month check-up...thankfully no shots were required. Just a some stats to share, his head measured 49 cm which is in the 91 percentile!! His length was 30.5" (29%) and weight was 23 lb 13 oz ( 40%). Yes, he can still fit in some 12 months clothes. He's no longer has to drink whole milk, which is great since I'm tired of buying 2 different gallons of milk, he can just drink what we drink now.

This is the "I'm going to do something I'm not supposed to do" look, like hit you with the end of this stick horse!

In addition to normal everyday life it's been a busy month, with all the events leading up to my sister's wedding and the wedding itself. I was the Maid of Honor so it has consumed every bit of free time I've had. We had her bachelorette party last weekend at the Hard Rock Casino of Tulsa (which is actually in Catoosa). 

The area is quite familiar to me...or was at one time before the Hard Rock Casino took over. Regardless I always experience a little bit of nostalgia when in that area and remember exactly how it was. My Grandpapy and Memaw for as long as I could remember had lived in a 5th wheel in the KOA. We would spend lots of time in the summer and usually a week during Christmas break staying with them up until we moved to Tulsa in 1994, then we spent many summer days swimming in the pool at the KOA. 

Unforunately as of a few years ago the KOA is no longer there. : ( Any evidence that it was there is nonexistant so much so that it's hard to even imagine where the KOA was as it looks so different. Then you factor in the major expansion that were done to the Cherokee Casino to make it into the Hard Rock...

Oh well I'll always have my memories of the way it was, and in my 30 years change has always been a constant...especially when it involves your child.

So back to the bachelorette party...we booked a couple of rooms, of course the room that the Bride was staying in was a small suite. We had planned to have dinner at Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill. I had called to see if they would let us make a reservation for our party of 12, but they would not. So I get there a little early to get our name on the list and they tell me it's going to be a THREE HOUR WAIT!! That just was not acceptable so we had to choose an alternative restuarnant which ended up being the Italian Restaurant, which after they told me it would just be an hour wait, it ended up being two. Thankfully we did get to sit down and eat, even if they had to put us at two tables.

Here's just half of the crew.

From there we had a VIP table the Friction Night Club in the casino, where we danced the night away.

The biggest significance of this night was that it was the first night I spent away from Bryce. Since Nic had to work early the next morning, Bryce stayed the night at his Mamo's and Papa's along with his cousins. We both survived!

This past weekend was the wedding. We started the weekend out with most of the bridesmaids and of course the Bride getting manicures and pedicures on Friday afternoon.

The next morning we were up bright and early. I was tracking down some greenery to make arrangements and the bouquets. It was my Mom's bright idea to do it ourselves. Thankfully one of the bridesmaid's mother also helped, otherwise it all would not have gotten finished.

It was a day full forgetfulness. My little sister's dress and shoes were forgotten, the plates for the reception were forgotten, and my mom took out her carseat forgetting that she would be taking Bryce home that night.

The one thing that could have turned into a disaster was the zipper busting on one of the Bridesmaid's dress. We didn't have time to replace the zipper since our pictures were in about 10 minutes, so thankfully someone had  a sewing kit and we literally had to sew her dress on!

 All in all the ceremony itself went off without a hitch, I didn't pass out and all the vows were said correctly.

Then to the afterparty...uh I mean the rehearsal. But before the rehearsal there was a little pre-party on the party bus!

Then we made it, and I was forced to do a speech, which was short and sweet...but no tears as everyone thought there would be.

Bryce was in a "I want my Mommy, so nobody else touch me" mood, as evidenced by him trying to push his Daddy away.

Then I dressed Bryce in his jammies, before he went home with Granny (in the car seat out of my car) for our second night apart. BUT before they left he and I took a picture in the photo booth. You'll have to ignore the pink pacifier, he found it at my Mom's and it's become his favorite.

The wedding is over and my sister is happily married. So now hopefully things will settle back down to normal.

An Oklahoma Blizzard

All I know is that darn groundhog better NOT have seen his shadow!!

I know there are many areas in the country that are used to blizzards, but here in Oklahoma we are not one of those areas. Yesterday we had a record breaking snow fall with measurements ranging from 10 to 20+ inches. I know in my short 30 years its the most snow I have ever seen...or atleast recall seeing. Also tonight I believe we are going to have a record low in the negatives.

One of my facebook friends posted this picture and it couldn't be more true!

My office has been closed for two days, my college had been closed for two days, and schools are out for who knows how long. Yesterday we had the unfortunate luck of our electricity going out. Knowing it was going to get really cold in our house real quick, we packed up and headed to my Mom's, even with Nic's 4 Wheel Drive truck we got stuck at the entrance of our neighborhood and struggled in other areas. Fortunately our electricity wasn't out for long so we made the decision to head home...there's just something about sleeping in my own bed!

Beside gas stations and Walmart nothing was open, it was like a ghost town. I couldn't believe all the vehicles I saw stuck, I can't imagine what some of those drivers were thinking to even attempt it in their Toyota Camrys and Honda Accords, I wouldn't have even tried it in my Pathfinder. Even if I wanted to I couldn't get it out of our driveway. It's buried!

We get a weekend in the middle of the week, however the best thing is that I was supposed to have a test last night so I now have another week to study...and with such a horrible teacher I'm sure I needed it.

So there is a major case of cabin fever in my household. After having a warm weekend where we were able to spend a little time outside, we're now cooped up in the house. I did bundle Bryce up and briefly take him outside.

He wasn't sure if he liked it or not. He definitely didn't like his sunglasses on and maybe didn't like the three layers of clothes he had on either!

Since I've had a little extra free time, I thought I'd get a post done. I hope everyone stays warm and safe, because I know we're not the only ones that are dealing with the brunt of this storm!

Happy Anniversary!

Today marks 8 years of marriage to my wonderful husband. My husband surprised me with a GORGEOUS bouquet a flowers that were delivered to my office. I even blushed when I received the call from the front desk stating that I had a delivery.

Well I was going to share a picture, but my computer doesn't want to read my SD card so I'll try to add it another time.

Who knew how much things would change in 8 years, with the biggest change just occuring in the last couple of years. If anyone says marriage is easy, that's definitely not the truth! The truth as all of us know is that it's not easy...at times it can seem impossible.

We've both changed a lot as individuals and as a couple, especially with parenthood. Nic has become a phenomenal husband and father. He always tells me he just tries to do his part, but the truth is he does way more than his part including a lot of mine. My job now is in downtown, which isn't too bad of drive directly from our house because it's all highway. However 4 days of the week Bryce stays at my Mom's which is on the completely different side of Tulsa including lots of stop signs and the worst two highways in Tulsa. On those mornings/afternoons my one-way commute time is right at an hour. The best way Nic has began to help me is to take Bryce anytime that he can, and/or pick him up, which splits my commute time in half. He also continues to do a big part of the housework. Sometimes I wonder how did I get so lucky! I just have to remember to show him how much I appreciate him. When I'm finished with school I plan to take some of these chores back from him.

In our time together we have been through a lot, gone many places, met many new friends, and learned lots of new things. Here's to many more years together...and maybe another baby at some point!

So to avoid having a completely pictureless post I will add this photo of my nephew and Bryce. It's not a great photo as it was taken with an iPhone but I think it's pretty funny...just ignore the chocolate on both of their faces!

Slipping...

Hopefully I can get back in the routine of this blog thing again. I just cannot get a handle of time and make it slow down because it is going by WAY TOO FAST! Here we are midway through January and I feel like Christmas was just last week.

I had every intention of posting on the 4th and I knew exactly what I was going to write since it was the 1 year anniversary since I returned to work after Bryce was born. Also we had just completed a full calendar year of Bryce's life which when we look back on 2010 it's always going to be a year of most of his great firsts. But 11 days after the fact won't have the same effect.

Not only can I blame Bryce for keep me busy, but my new job...well now that I'm 10 days shy of being there 90 days I guess we can just call it a my job...anyways, my job keeps me busy from the time I sit down at my desk in the morning until I've worked my 8 1/2 hours (6 on Fridays). I truly enjoy it and I love that I do stay extremely busy. Now if only finishing my degree would seem to fly by as fast.

Since the beginning of the year Bryce has started a few new things to help make 2011 memorable.

To begin with a first, Bryce got his first black eye Monday the 3rd! He's become quite the dare devil and likes to test the limits. He was trying to slide down his slide on his feet, he'd creep to the edge and then sometimes he wouldn't fall then a few times he would. Well this time he did and hit another toy. Then to top it off at the same time he had two scratched between his eyes from pulling his wooden puzzles down on him. So I called him my little UFC fighter!

Here's a picture of it. It really is hard to see, but it was his left eye. Needless to say he's resumed going down the slide on his belly.

Dare devil is not the only word to describe this little boy, he's also a rebel. I guess the two kind of go hand in hand. He definitely pushes and sometimes exceeds the limits. He's started shaking his head no, sometimes in anticipation or maybe it's a confirmation or acknowledgement of "no". For example: He's pretty much killed all of my indoor live plants, and probably would kill the artificial ones if they were alive. So when he walks over to the artificial plants he turns to us and shakes his head no. Sometimes he still tries to pull the leaves off, sometime he does't.

He's started blowing kisses in his own unusual way. He puts his thumb in his mouth and pulls it out real fast so that it make the popping/smacking sound. I don't know why he started that because he can make the kissing sound, which he does mostly for the dogs, but I guess from watching us blow kisses that's what he thinks we're doing. I've tried to get a video of it, but he hasn't cooperated with me yet.

On New Year's day I noticed that his top molars are coming in. I was surprised since I expected him to get a few more teeth in the front first. He still only has his 2 top and 2 bottoms. I guess his body thinks he needs those molars a lot more than the others right now...and I would have to agree since this child LOVES to eat. I haven't been able to spot the bottoms but they very well could be hiding in there as well.

He's also began having coffee (decaf) in his sippy cup in the morning. He saw my Mom enjoying her coffee one morning and he wanted some. To our surprise he liked it and has come to expect it every morning he is at Granny's house.

Since Bryce began walking we have had a difficult time getting him to wear shoes. Everytime we'd put shoes on him, he'd act like he had blocks of cement on his feet and would not move. I had bought him a pair of tennis shoes a while back, then my Mom bought him some really cute Converses for Christmas, and then my Step-Mom gave us a pair of Squeakers. I really liked the Squeakers because they were lightweight and I thought he might like the sqeaking sound.

Finally after a few tries in the Squeakers, including one test run where he held on to anything he could while he first walked in them, he will not only wear the shoes without complaint but he will walk in any pair of shoes including the heavy (but adorable) Converses! He's even started bringing his shoes to me to put them on, along with his jacket or coat...and my coat!

I guess that's all for now, but before I publish this post I'm going to share a video. Since's Bryce's toy room is overflowing with toys we moved the Rocking Horse into our bedroom since he's still a little small for it. Well the other night he spotted it and of course wanted on it. He then showed us that he is not too small for it!