Mini Break

My Grandpa Barlow (my mom's dad) passed away last week.  Because I arrived in Utah on Tuesday I was able to see him one last time just a couple days before he died. I have lots of fun memories of him, especially all of the fun drives he took us on as kids. I am so lucky to have been able to spend time with him and truly know all of my grandparents.

Since Sam and I are traveling to Southern Utah for his funeral to be with my family, I'll get back to posting on Saturday. 

Day 165 - Old Friends

Old Target Friends + La Frontera = Perfect Lunch

Day 164 - Baby

Someone decided that instead of a normal stroller, he wanted to ride in the baby stroller.

Day 163 - Lesson Learned

This afternoon we took a quick (2 hr) jaunt up to Promontory Point to see where the golden spike was laid. We were so excited when we got there and the two replica steam engines were out on the track.  That is until I realized that I royally screwed up and neglected to bring my camera. I was sick. I take my camera EVERYWHERE! So I missed out on getting a kid staring lovingly at his favorite thing.  

Don't worry though. I replicated the scene in my mom's front yard.  Just pretend that the GeoTrax Engineer is Sam, my mom's yard is barren land west of Brigham city, and the two toy trains are giant steam engines.

Day 162 - Round 4

This morning I was able to do family photos for my sweet friend Shannen.  Last June we were taking her very first pregnancy photos.  It was fun to return to the same location today to get photos with the whole family.  They are so professional and easy to photograph.  Even the baby is a pro.  This is what happens when you have two amazing maternity shoots, newborn family pics and summer family pics all before you are a year old.  Now I just have to talk her mom into continuing at this rate.  

Day 161 - Big Boy

My parents bought a big boy bed (toddler bed) for Sam to sleep in at their house.  He loves it.  As previously mentioned, he has been in a crib up until now.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to get him to stay in a regular bed but lo and behold, I underestimated him again.  He has gone straight to bed every night and in the morning he sits on his bed until I come to get him.  Love that boy.

I'm sure that like his mother, Sam feels safe knowing that Lightning McQueen's pit crew is watching over him while he sleeps.  

Day 160 - Cousins

Sam was able to play with his cousins today.  One of our nephews is a month older than Sam.  And six inches taller.  Ok, maybe only two inches.  As soon as we got to their house he came running to play.
They had lots and lots of fun.

My favorite photo of the day is Sam hugging my niece otherwise known as my best buddy. She even sends me letters.  I love them.

We're so happy to be able to hang out in Utah and play with the fun cousins.   Especially when they look like this.

Day 159 - Parker Time

I love my Parker.  He's been doing my hair for almost 3 years and he is the BEST! I have seriously refused to get a new stylist in Texas so I just limp along until I can have Parker do my hair.

Since we are FB friends he always catches the picture of the day.  He wanted to be a part of it.  Originally it was going to be a photo of my lovely lovely color but I decided he was even more lovely.

Again, he's the best.  If you live with 200 miles of Salt Lake, you really want this man doing your hair.  Call Salon Rain and tell 'em Tracey sentcha.  

Day 158 - Vegas

Sam and I flew to Utah today, leaving Ben behind in TX.  We had a two hour layover in Vegas that turned into a three hour layover.  UGH.  Luckily, Sam was really interested the slot machines.  Unfortunately, he wanted to play them.  So he had to be content to sit in his chair and watch the players while eating fries.  At 8:30 am. 

Day 157 - AKA Day 7,964

Today's picture isn't actually a photo.  It's a contract that my aunt (who is my age) and I made my uncle (her brother) sign when we were 10.  Someone must have come across it while they were cleaning out my Grandpa's house.  Anyway, I don't remember the exact circumstances but I think my mom must have been annoyed with her four children.  (Beth came the next year)  I'm pretty sure Danny said something like, "I would LOVE to have four kids. That would be so fun." He must have been in his early 20's at the time.  So my aunt and I made this little contract for him to sign.  As you can see, I was a strange child who apparently had an inflated sense of self-importance.  

In case you are wondering my uncle now has four kids. I'll ask him next time I see him if it is fun.

Day 156 - Potty/Father's Day

Tonight during our fabulous Father's Day dinner Sam gave Ben the best gift ever.

The gift of potty.

I've been working with him a little bit here and there but Sam just has not seemed interested in going potty.  At all.  I sit him on his little seat before he takes a bath and such but he never actually does anything.

Tonight during dinner, he walked into the bathroom.  When Ben checked on him, he was climbing onto the toilet.  Fully clothed.  He proceeded to tell Ben, "Pee Pee" so Ben took off his pants and diaper. Apparently, you have to be completely naked to go potty because Sam insisted his shirt had to come off as well.  Once the details had been taken care of he climbed up and proceeded to do his business.

We were shocked.  Needless to say there was lots of clapping and cheering.  He even got a special Cars truck from Mom's toy stash.  The battery truck to be specific. You know, "Mack? I ain't no Mack, I'm a Peterbilt for dang sake! Turn on your lights, ya moron!"

Anyway, imagine our excitement when he did it for a second time before bed! Ben said his favorite part was when he heard me say, "Sam you're missing the toilet and I don't even care."

So in celebration of his accomplishment here is a picture of Sam throwing away a diaper.  Not for real though.  Those things are expensive and I'm sure we'll still be using them for at least a little while longer.

 

Day 155 - Family Photography

I was able to do family photos for one of Sam's buddies tonight.. He is such a little sweetie and plays so well with my little guy.  It also doesn't hurt that I L-O-V-E his mom. She was one of the first friends I made in Austin.

 It is always so fun to shoot the little guys because you never know what you're going to get.  So much energy in such a little body.  He had Grandma, Grandpa, and Dad all chasing him.  Then I got to chase him with the camera.  Let me tell you, running with a camera while shooting is tricky but oh, so fun.

Day 154 - Wake up call

One of my very favorite parts of the day is getting this guy out of bed in the morning.  He always wakes up so happy.  I love the giant cheeser I get every morning.

Today we decided that it is time to convert the crib to a toddler bed.  Every night for the last week, Sam has tried to go to be in either "Doggy's Bed"  (aka cardboard box bed) or our bed.  I will miss our little morning wake-up ritual of cheeser, binky relinquishment and "1, 2, 3! Out please!"

Day 153 - Right now . . .

There's a photography blog that I love and her challenge of the day was to photograph whatever was going on when you read it.  For me that was tonight when I was putting off my photo of the day.  How fortuitous.  

Anyway, here is a slice of my desk RIGHT NOW.   This might be boring so don't feel obligated to continue reading. 

A homemade vanilla milkshake.  The current late night obsession at our house.  

A piece of cloth waiting to be made into cloth-covered buttons for some crafty purpose.  Maybe a ring?  Necklace?  Earrings?  We'll see.  

My cloth scissors that aren't allowed to cut anything but fabric.

The Father's Day gifts that we are doing for the dad's at church on Sunday. More on that later.

Packing tape.  Used to tape the above mentioned Father's Day gifts

My keyboard with spray adhesive goop below the "Alt" and Ctrl" keys on the left side.  Spray adhesive is great but your probably shouldn't use it around your computer.  

My computer screen with Photoshop open.  Surprise, surprise.  

Finally, a layer of dust on the base of my monitor.  Again, not a surprise.

Day 152 - Camera

After 152 days of this, I think someone is getting tired of the camera. Now as soon as I pull it out he points and says, "Camera. Mommy's camera. No touch."

Day 151 - Delicious

They say everything is bigger in Texas.  I didn't realize that they were talking about bugs too.

Sam must be extra delicious because the mosquitos would not leave him alone at the pool last night

 I caught the mosquito responsible for these bites in act of devouring my child.  You will be happy to know that it met a quick and decisive end.

.

Day 150 - Caged

My friend Susie helped me with some facial deforestation today (eyebrow waxing).  Sam had a great time playing with their sweet dog.

 And hanging out in the dog's crate. 

Is it completely inappropriate that for a moment I contemplated buying a crate for our house?

Day 149 - Personality

Dear Sam,

Today you decided you needed to take three baths.  We let you have two but drew the line when you requested the third.  

You started to cry when you thought we passed the turn to go to church.

You threw your biggest temper tantrum to date.  At church.  Over bubbles. Screaming and kicking on the floor in nursery.  Your dad took you home and left your mother to hitch a ride home.

On the way home from church you requested, "Big slide", "Fries" and "Pool". You got none of the above.

You refused to eat your dinner until your mother gave up and gave you yogurt and tortilla chips. 

You once again decided to wear cowboy boots with khaki shorts.  And a red polo.

Finally, at eight o'clock you told us you wanted to go to bed.  We gladly accepted.  

Let's try for a better day tomorrow ok?

Love, 

Mom

Day 148 - Pirate Vest

We went to San Antonio for my cousin Zaylee's birthday party today.  She had a fairy/pirate party.  Sam was one of the two pirates.  Since the girls made wings and wands, the boys got swords and vests.  Luckily Ben was on hand to make Sam's vest.  I didn't get a good picture of the back that included a skull and crossbones along with his pirate name, "Stinky Pete" which is also what we call him on a regular basis.  Here is a picture of the front though.  I had no idea my husband was so artistic.

Nicole, I'll have pics for you later.

Day 147 - Work

Sam discovered instant message today.  Ben would type a word and then Sam would copy the words by typing it on the keyboard.  They also had a great time taking turns counting.  I was in charge of pressing Enter.

When I asked him what he was doing his response was, "Work."

This might be an indicator that I spend too much time working on the computer.

Day 146 - Grandpa Shoes

Sam is really into possessive nouns right now.  Especially when it comes to shoes. He likes to go through the shoe basket and tell us who each shoe belongs too.  Yesterday we had the following interaction.

I hold up a big black tennis shoe.

Sam:  Daddy's shoe.

I holds up a black high heel.

Sam:  Mommy's shoe.

I hold up a black Croc (Apparently we have lots of black shoes)

Sam:  Sam's shoe.

I hold up one of Sam's cowboy boots.

Sam:  Pee-paw's (Grandpa's) shoe.

Texas shirt courtesy of Grandpa and Granny Hanson.  Cowboys boots courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa Dannelly.

Thanks to the grandparents for helping us explore our inner cowboy.

Day 145

Ben got his early (like weeks early) Father's Day/Birthday gift tonight.  He has been reading the on the iPod touch at night for the last year.  It was time to get him an actual e-reader.  Especially since the iPod will be leaving with Sam and I when we head to Utah in a couple of weeks.  We are now the proud owners of a Kindle AND a Nook.  Ridiculous.

Day 144 - Stupid Glasses

I have officially wasted 24 hours of my life looking (stressing) for these glasses.  

This is what happens when you buy fancy no-scratch-no-break-see-through-walls-awesome-glasses.  You lose them.  Then you stress.  Then your husband finds them for you in your undie drawer.  Where you apparently threw them in with your undies during your frantic rage filled glasses search.

Grrr.

Day 143 - Peanut Butter Ear

Over the last couple of weeks we have been finding random smears of PB&J behind Sam's ear and on his neck.

Today I figured out why.   My son really dislikes messy hands.  However, instead of
wiping his hands on his pants or my carpet like most kids, he wipes them on his own head.

Day 142 - Ben Shirts

When I married Ben, he had a ridiculous collection of Savers (Goodwill) t-shirts.  There were many times that we would leave the house and half-way through the day I would look at him and notice that he was wearing something awesome (or ridiculous).  Most of the shirts have been sent to the giant t-shirt store in the sky but we still have a bunch.  I think Ben's shirts may become a regular feature on the blog. 

 To start us off, here is Ben's Christmas t-shirt (Thanks Sam and Anya)  that he wore today.  The fifth of June.  In 99 degree weather.  

Oh, how I love this man.

Day 141 - Ice Cream Sandwiches

We had dinner with friends tonight so I attempted some homemade ice cream sandwiches.

 I found the recipe here.  I was lazy and used local Blue Bell Ice Cream (not to be confused with Blue Bunny.  Gag.) which is a Texas brand that I loooove.  

Here are some tips.

Freeze the ice cream in a sheet a day ahead of when you want to make the cookies so it doesn't melt all over the place.  Like mine did.  

Also, once  assembled, let them freeze for at least two hours.  The batch that I took to dinner didn't have as much time and the filling leaked all over the place.  They were more like cookies on top of a refrozen piles of ice cream.

Day 140 - Dance!

Sometimes you just gotta dance!

We had no idea Sam was a dancer until today!  We were watching Nick Jr and during a "music video" the kid starts busting a move

Unfortunately I think he may have got his moves from Carlton on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air   

There's a very good chance I'll be sharing a video tomorrow.

Day 139 - Adoration

Words cannot express how much I adore this little face.  I am so lucky to be his mom.  

Sam loves the pool.  We missed out on swimming with our friends earlier today. We went and got a haircut and mom left her wallet at home.  That was fun. Anyway, I felt like I owed him a swim tonight.  He was thrilled to get to have Dad  along.  When he discovered he could play catch in the pool he was even more thrilled.  

As you can see by his little face, Sam adores Ben.  Cutest buddies ever.  Ben said that Sam said that Ben is Sam's best friend.  But Sam isn't Ben's best friend.  That's because Tracey (me) is Ben's best friend.  At least according to Tracey.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, last night while Ben was putting Sam to bed, Sam tried to drag Doggy's bed (cardboard box bed) into his room so he could sleep in it.  

Yup, he tried again tonight. I think it might be time for a real bed instead of a crib.

Day 138 - Doggy

While in Dallas, we tried to go to Legoland.  We got there to discover a 1.5 hour wait.  We went to Build-A-Bear instead.

Sam picked out a dog.  He named him "Doggy".

Sam LOVES Doggy.  He especially likes to put him to bed.

And cover him up.

Doggy was going to sleep on mom's side of the bed in the fancy Hampton Inn Hilton bed but he was relegated to the couch.

When we got home, Doggy needed his own bed.  Enter Huggies box.

In case you're wondering, one MUST remove their shoes before bed.  According to Sam.

Unfortunately, a diaper box was not going to fit Doggy AND Sam. 

So I got out my exacto knife and some huge boxes we saved from our move.

Now we have a BIG bed for Sam and Doggy.

Too bad Sam throws Doggy out every time he gets in.