Show Stopper

We are in Nags Head, NC. I've never done a blog post on my phone so excuse the spelling errors! Is traveling with a toddler ever really a vacation? OMG the packing alone is enough to not want to do this more than once a year. So far we have not really done anything but drive and sleep. Friday night was Kristin & Alec's engagement party in Baltimore. So Saturday morning I drove 3 hours back to Richmond, spent 3 hours packing, then drove another 3 hours to VA Beach to meet Mike. I was exhausted! yesterday we made the rest of the trip down to Nags Head...another 2 hour drive. We were able to spend some time on the boardwalk before leaving VA Beach. There was an art show and A LOT of people. Without a doubt the star of the show was Sophie! I forgot how much people are fascinated with pugs! No less than 10 people wanted to pet her and about every third person exclaimed "Oh look at the pug!" Not one person said anything about Kolton. Well I better get my screaming child down to breakfast. Hopefully I'll figure out how to post photos soon! And what do you do when your child goes down by 8:00 in your hotel room?

Home Is Where The Heart Is

Yup, that's the same shirt he slept in last night!  I am a terrible Mama sometimes =)  He may be the only toddler in America still in his infant carrier.  But he is still within the weight limit so I think its OK...right?

I think we may have finally found a place to live.  It's a terrific townhouse about a mile from where we live now.  The really awesome thing is we didn't really have to sacrifice on space at all.  AND its only 9 years old so we didn't really have to sacrifice on style either.  PLUS there is a community pool.  ALL for about $500 less/month than we are paying now.  WHOO HOO!!!!

But I can't believe this will be Kolton's 3rd home in his short life.

Evaluation Day

Today was Kolton's speech and motor skills evaluation.  Basically, two observers played with him for 2 hours.  They introduced different toys looking for specific skills and asked me a number of questions.  I was impressed that they were able to fully understand his personality.   I was afraid that they were going to quickly judge him.  

Kolton had one minor freak out for about 5 minutes.  And all i could think was "no, no, no, baby, not now!"  I think they just chalked it up to over stimulation.  In the end they are not worried about his motor skills at all.  He walked around freely and also stood up from a three point stance.  But he definitely qualifies for speech therapy.  Little man was pretty quiet the entire time.  Which is normal for him.

What does all of this mean?  Basically I need to turn into a babbling fool!  Is this something that most Mommy's do that I just didn't know about?   I mean I knew it was important to talk to him but I didn't know I had to narrate our entire day.  Even though its therapy for him in reality its a coaching session for me. Its actually going to be kind of hard for me.  Because Kolton plays so well by himself I'm not really in his face all of the time.  Changing the way we play is going to take some focus and concentration on my part. So they next time you see me and it seems like I'm talking to myself you'll know why!

After all that I got a little treat this evening when he fell asleep in my arms with his head on my shoulder.  We stayed like that for over an hour ;)

Multi-task

Just another day at the office!  I took this photo last week when it was slightly cooler outside.  The tie onsie cracks me up!  Also gotta love Sophie doing her thing.  Kolton has become quite the little multi-tasker.  While he still hasn't  mastered the skill of walking he is now walking and drinking his milk at the same time.   I imagine someday he'll be pacing and drinking coffee.  He definitely showed a lot of interest in taking unassisted steps this weekend.  He walked freely around the family room but stayed mostly on the area rug.  Then he took a lot of steps outside at the mall...we are starting to get recognized for our frequent visits.  Maybe this is the break through we've been waiting for!!!

Also on my mind this weekend...

Moving, Aaaaaaah!  Just wake me when it's over!  We have considered abandoning the idea all together.  But then we also looked at a couple places and applied for one (we're 3rd in line).  Like a lot of other people in this economy we might need to make some small sacrifices now to ensure a better future tomorrow.  Its a whole other serious post for another day.  Thinking about it makes my head hurt.

I'd love to hear if any other new parents have become as boring as us.  Friday night Mike and I sat in the dark; him on the computer, me on the iPad.  Saturday night I went to Kohl's at 9:00.  Did you know they are open until 11:00 on Saturdays?  The last time I went there at night it was during the holidays and I was amazed at the number of parents that had their kids/babies out that late.  I figured they were just stressed and trying to get their shopping in.  Nope!  Totally the same scenario.  I'm not judging(really!) just observing.  And right now I'm eating Cheetos and watching Aladdin (yes, the Disney one!).  I swear I'm an adult...having a glass of Pinot Grigio just to make sure =)

Sleepy Time

Now that its summer my TV watching schedule has dramatically decreased.  Mike might disagree with that statement but honestly its true!  I used to have shows I wanted to watch every night of the week.  I'd even be up until 11:00 most nights.  I don't know why but I'm not a huge DVR person, I like to watch episodes as they air.  So, to make my point the past couple of nights I've let him watch whatever he wants.  I have been asleep by 8:00 both nights!  I don't mean to but there is something about basketball and politics that has me drifting off like a sweet lullaby.

When It Rains...

Ever wonder why a bad day just keeps getting worse?  How is it that unrelated events can all go wrong at the same time?  Yesterday was one of those days.  Just a bunch of little things that individually weren't really a big deal.  But, by the end of the day I was screaming I WANT A DO OVER!!!!

Now that we are reconsidering our decision to move and I'm frantically searching CraigsList, Zillow, and Trulia I think I'm just a little edgy overall.  Then the wire shelving in our closet came crashing down.  Which is ironic because I used to sell custom closets (for about 8 months) and always told people this could happen but really didn't believe it myself.  Both top and bottom racks pulled the screws straight through the dry wall.  I still wanted to make it to the gym so I just left it for the time being.  Well once again it was a waste of time because the KidZone had to come get me out of the yoga class.  This was the first time I had not dropped off diapers and Kolton decided to poo.  He rarely poos in the afternoon and I had already changed two that morning.  Oh, and they also thought he had peed himself silly because he was all wet.  Really he had spilled his water all over on the way there.  Does it make me a bad mom that I just dropped him off anyway?  So I got him home, changed, and out for a walk in the wagon.  Guess what...It started to rain!!!!

Thats when I gave up, told Mike we were going to the diner for dinner and drowned my sorrows in a chocolate shake =)

Great Weekend!

The sitter worked out really well Friday night.  She told me that Kolton fell asleep on her while she was reading to him.  I was a little worried only because he was showing some signs of clingyness.  He's such a momma's boy that he cries a little when I go out of sight, even if its just to go upstairs.  This happens at our house too so it isn't just a strange place thing.  The one nice thing about being a stay at home mom is I feel zero guilt over going out for a night.  I spend so much quality time with the little guy that having a little quality me time is well deserved.  It was so great to catch up with the Baltimore ladies.  I'm starting to call Kristin's guest room "my room" because I'm there so much;)  That's Kristin's boyfriend, Alec, in the pic.  But I'm totally relieved to have found Rachel so if any of you gals need a sitter let me know!

The weather this weekend was ridiculously beautiful...80's and sunny with low humidity.  We don't get that luxury very often.  I know I post a lot of photos at the mall but it really is a fun outdoor thing to do.  There was even a little concert going on.  People brought chairs and claimed spots on the lawn.  Welcome to family life!

Sunday Funday!  Its taken us a little while but we now realize there are a ton of festivals going on in Richmond.  Today we went to Broad Appetit.  Broad Street is a main drag that runs from downtown Richmond all the way out here in the West End so that's the reason for the name.  A few blocks were shut down and local restaurants...there's that word again....set up booths and sold small tasting plates for $3.  There were a ton of people pushing strollers there as well.  What's crazy is there really isn't any place to conveniently change a diaper.  I don't think I've ever noticed changing stations at any festival but there are always a lot of kids.  I ended up laying Kolton down on a sidewalk behind the porta potties!  I have a skip hop changing pad so it wasn't like he was on the actual sidewalk but still...gross right?  I used an extra diaper to give his head a little pillow.  But if anyone has a magic secret strategy please share because I think we'll be going to a lot more festivals.  We had a really lovely afternoon and it'll help us discover Richmond a little more too.