In just a few short hours, we will embark on our very first family vacation! I am VERY excited! We will travel to Missouri to visit my family, going to St. Louis to the zoo, among other things! Then we will trek across Kansas (can you tell I am thrilled?!??!) to Colorado to visit Andy's family. Colorado will be beautiful, I'm sure - I just wish Kansas wasn't in the way.
Our car is packed, and as soon as Andy is off of work, we'll be on the road. So, don't worry if the blog isn't updated for a long time - you'll just have TONS to read once we get back! (We are planning on being home Monday, August 6.)
Here are some pictures of our patio in the daylight - didn't turn out too bad, did it??? :)
Yay! Our patio is done!! Well, for the most part anyway - -
We had to hurry up tonight, because as you can see from the sky in the background, we had a storm quickly approaching! We were able to move the picnic table onto the patio, and Andy finished cleaning up as I snapped the picture!
We are very happy with it - and most of our neighbors have been over to look at it and give their thoughts about what we need to do next....which reminds me.....
I have one of those poll things off to the left - I think only 4 people have voted so far, but let us know what you think that we should do next! I know that more than 4 people read this - so get voting!!!! (Please!!)
We are exhausted, so this is going to be short tonight - sorry! See you all tomorrow! :)
Well, work tonight was a little slower going, but we still did get quite a bit done! Alex still didn't do too much tonight, but at least tonight he was awake throughout the entire thing! :) We set up a blanket for him to sit on next to the patio, and he seemed to enjoy watching us work from there. I had to take this picture because it was just so cute to see him sitting there on the lawn, so small compared to everything else in the yard.....
And here is the rest of the patio that we finished tonight - well, a little more than this is done, but I wanted to get a good shot before the sun went down. :)
As you can see, the patio is coming along beautifully! We are thinking that we have one more night of work, as there are only about 2 more rows to do before we run out of sand! :) We'll see you tomorrow night! :) Keep the comments going, we LOVE to read them!! :)
Well, the rest of our patio came today! Unfortunately, the delivery man wasn't in on the deal to install it for us, so we were left to do the work (wink, wink!).....
I did snap a picture of the guy delivering the rock. He was kind enough to drop it off in the backyard instead of the front, as it the usual policy for the delivery company. Here he is coming down the alley with the first load of rock.
Once Andy came home from work, it was off for more work! Here he is finishing up with the third stone - he suggested we take a picture after each stone, but he didn't want to take up the first two, and we didn't want to completely bore you, so we decided a few shapshots would be enough. :)
As Andy pounded each stone in, I was the "official carry girl" - I got the next stone and handed it to him, and occasionally swept more sand where he needed it....I also fixed supper, and that was about all that I did tonight - I felt pretty much helpless as Andy did most of the work....but he said that I did a lot, so I guess I should just take his word for it.
One member of the family did slack out on the work - I took a shot of him as he was napping......
We did get quite a bit done - this was at 9:45 - Andy was still at work! We are a little under halfway done - but we think that the hardest part is over! I did begin to sweep the sand into the cracks, so that's why some of it still appears sandy.
Hopefully we can get Alex to contribute a little more tomorrow :)
We had visitors today! Daryl, Kendra, Kayla, Lauren, and Matthew Wagner came to visit from North Platte. They came to assemble the picnic table for our new patio! Although the patio isn't done yet, the picnic table is, and it's BEAUTIFUL!!
Here are some shots from throughout the day:
Daryl and Kendra deciding what to do next: (Note Daryl's "sweat rag" on his head - it was 95+ outside with 60%+ humidity - not an ideal day to be outdoors!)
Lauren and Matthew shooting hoops with Alex.
Kayla was Andy's "shadow" today - she's thinking about becoming a Physical Therapist, and wanted to see what it's really like. I think that she enjoyed her day - here they are returning home from a hard day's work.
Thanks again, Daryl and Kendra for the table - we LOVE it!! :)
Today was the day for Andy's baseball end-of-the-season picnic. I even took the camera outside, but do you think that I remembered to take pictures? You guessed it - sorry!Anyways, I dressed Alex in an outfit one of the baseball families had given us. I wanted to show it off to them.....and he just looked so grown up in it! I am so happy with the little guy that I have here, but it only seems like yesterday that I had this little baby in my arms! He's not even 9 months old yet, and he has already grown and changed so much! I love the little man that I have, but I am still so fond of my little boy! Okay, now that my reminiscing is over, here is my guy standing up in his "big boy" outfit! Too handsome! And here he is about to fall - - LOVE that smile! :)
As we were cleaning up after the picnic, Alex seemed to want to help - here I caught a shot of him wanting to be outside with his daddy - waving to him. (This is one of those father-son shots that I LOVE!!)
Here are a couple of adorable shots that Andy took from the outside, you can barely see that little head over the top of the metal part of the door! It is just too cute to see that little guy and the little things that he does!
Open door - PLEASE!! :) I want to get to my daddy!
We are making good progress on the patio - we think that we are finished until the stones are delivered...we got quite a bit done today, thanks to the help of some great friends with a "bucket". We got up early and laid the weed barrier down over the dirt, so that when the "sand movers" got here, we'd be ready.
Andy's aide, Cheryl, and her husband Chuck came by this morning with their tractor (what everyone else calls a "bucket") and moved the 3 cubic yards of sand from our driveway back to the future patio site. It took Chuck at least 6 loads to get it all back there, and he even dumped it in places where it would be very easy to spread.
As you can see, we have all of the sand spread out (it's not completely even yet, but for the most part it's ready). We're having a picnic with Andy's baseball team and their families tomorrow, so having some freshman, sophomores, and some juniors in our backyard, the sand is sure to be messed up (although Andy assures me he'll kill whomever messes with it.....). I'm not going to hold my breath. :)
Tonight as we were finishing up laundry, Alex decided to go after the cat once more. He had her cornered! There were a few hisses from Squiggles, but less than there normally are.
After about 30 seconds of cornering, Alex let his guard down for a second and Squiggles took her opportunity. She mildly escaped the famous "tail-pull" and went back into her hiding place behind the bed.
That's it for today - we are exhausted from all of the outdoor work today...Andy more so than me. I think that Alex is ready for bed, so I had better close! Hope you all are having a great weekend! :)
Now that we have all of our materials purchased (and some on the way), we have begun the work! Our first step was to remove all of the never-ending weeds that seem to grow back there no matter how hard we try to stay on top of them. Just as soon as we think we have them under control, we are gone for a few days and it's back to square one.......anyways....
We decided on a 16' by 16' red brick patio. I really liked the looks of some of the other patio stones in gray and beige, but there is already so much red brick in our landscaping that I wanted it all to "go" together. Here's the lot:
Nevermind that blue-ish car in the background - it's the neighbors, and, as you can tell, has weeds coming out from under the hood. I think that the window is marked "For sale" if anyone needs a car - we can get you their number. :) Anyway, the dirt is where the patio will go. Behind the patio (towards the alley and the car) we have 4 blue spruce trees planted, that are still pretty small. Once they get nice and big, the blue car will be far less noticeable. Down the road we may even put in a fence - we'll see what happens. :)
Now, to the reason that all of you are really reading this blog - Alex. He had a crazy hair day today....he had a bath last night and went to bed with wet hair and it only got worse as the day went on. He took a hard nap on one side of his head, and that only added to the craziness. I also love the "deer in the headlights" look he's giving.....I tried my best to get him to smile, but no smiles were to be seen while the camera was in view.....I'll try again tomorrow!
And why do I love Wal-Mart? Because they have the cutest baby things!!
Example 1:
In case you can't read it, the shirt says, "Naps are the enemy" - -And today they certainly were! My normally three-1 1/2 to 2 hour naps per day baby has only slept for 2 hours today, and we are C-R-A-N-K-Y now! (I left him with his father for the moment to have a minute of quiet!!!) But these pictures were taken fairly early on today, while he was still happy. I also had to take the "ironic" picture - of him sleeping in his "Nap enemy" shirt - although you can't see the shirt in this picture. He wouldn't let me get his "lovey" away from him.....
That's okay - he's still adorable!
Okay, so I guess I only gave you one example - and it's not only the shirt that's adorable, but the baby inside of the shirt.....so I guess I should say that I love my baby in Wal-Mart (or any other cute) stuff! :) And he seems to be cute no matter what he's wearing (or not wearing, as the video a couple of days ago showed!)
Okay, Grandpa Dave - ummm....Carl Edwards?? Okay, now I can move on. . . . :)
Tonight we ventured down to Grand Island to get some things for home. We received as a gift, a few years ago for Christmas, a gift certificate for Andy's Uncle and his family to build something for us. They suggested a picnic table, and it is perfect! (We'll get pictures once it's delivered.) Anyways, they called us earlier this week to find out a time to come and deliver this table, and we have no where to put it! Now, we've been wanting a patio/porch for our home for some time now, but have always been putting it off for a number of reasons.....it's too hot, too much work, where should we put it, how do we even do it???? Anyways, we've decided to bite the bullet and get it done. So, we were off to Home Depot. Once we pulled into the parking lot, I saw the cart that we'd be using for our trip - a racecar!!! Yes, it is the number 20, Tony Stewart, and some people aren't too fond of him (cough, Grandpa Dave, cough), but Alex in the car was just too precious!
Yes, I know he's on the passenger side, however, the driver's side safety strap was broken....so this will be a European racecar. :) Alex had a GREAT time driving around - much like the time we were at the mall in Lincoln - (this pic was from early June, before our blog was started)
So maybe we do have a future racer on our hands? Who knows - but he does look awful adorable in whatever car he chooses to "drive".....at least until he's 16!
Well, kind of - - - do you REALLY think that I'd show a naked baby on here? Come on, this is a FAMILY blog! :)
After Alex's bath, Andy put him in his crib for a while to let him have some "freedom" without his clothes on. He pulled himself up to the side and started to "dance". You can tell that he thought about blowing some berries on the edge (remember the kitchen barstool video?), but decided that dancing was a bit more fun. He also waved mid-video....he just raises his hand. It's pretty funny - no movement from the hand/arm, just raises his hand. A couple of weeks ago when we were in Columbus for the wedding, one of Andy's PT classmates called Alex the "Hitler-youth" because of his "wave". So, it's now my MISSION to get him to wave normally! It's cute, but now every time I see it I think of his comment! (Isn't it silly how one person's comment or action can TOTALLY ruin something???????)
Anyways, here's my adorable son playing in his crib....enjoy! :)
Wow - I thought that I would never get to this today!! It's about 5:00, and Alexander is down for his second nap of the day....his naps today are more like my "pre-baby" naps - lasting for 2-3 hours!! He woke up at 9:00 this morning, and was back down about 11:30....asleep until 2:00, then back down at about 3:45.....I miss my baby! Here's a shot of him snoozing, just taken moments ago (isn't technology AMAZING?!?!)
Now, on to the events of the weekend.....it was BUSY!!! Friday afternoon Alex and I went to go pick Andy up from work. Alex wanted to play with everything in sight (as usual!), so I gave him some weights to play with. The red one was 5 pounds, and a little heavy for him, but he enjoyed rolling it around. The purple one was 3 pounds, and he could lift that one, but it was a little much. This pink one (yes, pink....it's okay, he's manly enough to play with a pink weight...) was 2 pounds and PERFECT for chewing on! What a funny guy! :) I guess Andy already has our son on a weightlifting program.....8 1/2 months and already benching the big 2-pounder! Friday night we were off to York, which is about 15 miles south of Stromsburg, where the baseball tournament was to be played. Because of a BIG rainstorm Thursday night, many of the games were postponed until Saturday. The TBS guys first game was Saturday at 4:00. They played really well against Loup City - whom they had faced and lost to in the regular season - and beat them 9-8. We stayed for the next game, because the winner of that game would be the ones that we would face on Sunday. Alexander was too pooped for it, though, and took a nice nap in his stroller. I must have been a crazy driver as I pushed him in his stroller - look at his hands! Holding on for dear life! I didn't think I was THAT bad! (wink, wink!)
After supper we headed back to the hotel to cool off and try out the pool. Alex enjoyed the pool as long as it wasn't too loud or lots of splashing. Once any droplet of water fell above his shoulders, we were upset. So, we headed back to the room and Andy and Alex played around before bedtime.
I just LOVE that grin!! :)
Sorry this picture is a little dark - once Alex crashed, he was OUT!!! We did get a kick out of the funny positions he put himself in as he slept!
Now we're back home - laundry to do, unpacking, etc......it seems to never end. Andy still hasn't seen Alex awake yet today, so hopefully he'll wake up soon to play!
(Thanks for the checkup Claudia - it's good to know that there are people out there looking out for us!) :)
We are STILL waiting for these teeth to appear (I'm beginning to think that this may not be teeth - how long does it take them to show???), but Alex did have a blast today with my kitchen barstools. He would pull himself up to them, blow a BIG raspberry on the upper lip, and then repeat it all over again. I had to shoot a video of him doing this!
I think that I may try to take a picture of the inside of his mouth - how I'm going to do this, I'm not sure...but I'd like the opinions of all of you experienced parents out there to see if indeed we are working on a tooth or not! (Because honestly, we don't know!!) :)
Just a note - we will be in Stromsburg all weekend for the baseball tournament. Therefore, we'll have a bunch of posts Sunday evening, but don't be disappointed if there isn't anything between now and Sunday! We'll see you then! :)
Today I decided to leave the front door open, as it was a nice day outside, and I wanted to catch the mailman to give him our outgoing mail. I was in the kitchen doing dishes, and after a couple of minutes, I couldn't hear Alex. I went on a little search for him - and found him right by the front door! It was too cute! Andy was due to arrive home about 5 minutes after this video was shot - and Alex waited by the front door until Andy pulled up. He was so excited when he saw Dad's car pull into the driveway!
Alex also had some fun playing with his basketball hoop. I wasn't too sure how long it would take him to get the hang of this, but sure enough, he has figured it out! He loves to hear the sounds and see the lights, and he has figured out how to make them go off! I don't think he "gets" the numbers and counting yet, but it's never too early to start!
Andy had his final baseball practice in Sargent tonight, so I decided to go along and get a little bit done in the classroom. The guys had finished cleaning and waxing the room, so I thought I could get a little work done. I took Alex with me, and he LOVED crawling around the room! He especially liked "squeaking" his feet on the bare floor. I HAD to take a picture of him - he's SO little compared to the 6th graders that are normally occupying that room! (Although I do appreciate his attitude FAR more than the "normal" 6th grade attitude!) :)
Bath toy update - Andy decided to give Alex his bath toys back, so Alex has them for now - we'll have to see if they disappear again! :)
Alex spent the better part of today soaking EVERYTHING he could get his mouth on. (My shoulders on my shirt are still soaked from earlier today!) He licked, spit on, blew raspberries on, and gummed everything that could even remotely come close to fitting into his mouth. Here he is gumming the arm of the couch - -
And Andy is enjoying his newfound fame with the bath toys. I guess now it's like a "hide and seek" as to where I am going to find them next. Today they at least were in the bathroom - keeping company to my plant. Where will they end up tomorrow?
And as far as I know, Claudia, there aren't any plans to take over the world - just my sanity. :)
Right after my lovely husband, Andrew Michael, finished reading today's post, he went to his little stash of bath toys and added these to these to the Mr. Quackers "bath". (Sorry, I can't remember all of the names he has for them, I guess I'm just bad with animal names....) :)
I love my husband, I love my husband, I love my husband...... :)
Alexander showed us a new sign today - NO!! This morning, as I was feeding him his cereal, he shook his head "no". Then again at lunch, as he was finishing up (and I assume getting full), he shook his head again. So, in the car on the way to the "game" tonight (I'll explain more later), Andy was talking to Alex and he shot this video......
Here's a picture of Alexander finishing up his carrots for lunch today - he was giving me a little "tude," so I snapped a picture of him. He's just so cute! :) Now, about the game.....Central Nebraska got anywhere from .5 to 5 inches of rain last night. Andy's last regular season home game was to be tonight, in Boelus. This morning at 7:00 the coach from Boelus called and said that it was still raining there and they may need to cancel the game......he said that he'd call back by 2:00 if the game was to be canceled. We never heard from him, despite our tries to call him on his cell phone, so drove to Boelus and arrived there at about 5:00. (Boelus is about an hour away from us....) As we were pulling into town, the coach called Andy and wondered what he wanted. Andy said that we would be at the field shortly, and we'd see him at the game. The coach became silent, and said, "Shoot, I forgot to call you!!" He'd forgotten to call Andy to let him know they'd canceled the game! So, a lot of driving for nothing.....although Alex did get a good nap in on the way home...I don't know how he can sleep like that without having a neck ache once he wakes up!
Now for the reason that I may be in the "loony bin" sooner than one might think.....
Andy has this duck (he calls him "Mr. Quackers") that is a tub toy for Alexander. It has a little gauge on the bottom that tells you when the bath water is too hot. Anyways, Andy has a fond affection for all of Alex's bath toys - in fact, they are in Andy's nightstand, nowhere near the tub! (And he has names for ALL of them!) Once we came home from the "game" tonight, Andy took Mr. Quackers out and put him in the sink - and started to fill the sink with water....I don't know why, I stopped asking questions a long time ago. However, if I have dropped off of the face of the earth, everyone will know why....my husband replaced me with a duck.
This morning we took a little time to sleep in, as yesterday was so busy! Alex was up at about 6:30, ate, and went right back to bed. Andy and I were up and around, and while we finished getting ready, Alex was "dead to the world". I now know the true meaning of this! Alex slept through the sink running, shower going, blow-dryer, television, everything! I had to keep checking on him to make sure that he was still breathing!! So, because he was just so precious in this picture (you saw the ornery picture when he was at the park!), I had to snap it. We're back home now, doing laundry, watering the grass, and chilling out before the week starts again. We love hearing from you and reading your comments! Keep them coming!! :)
Grandma and Grandpa Frank left early this morning, boo hoo! We are all alone again - - back to "normalcy"???? (Yeah, right!) When I went to upload the pictures to the computer, this video was there - thanks Grandma Le!! I think that in 21 years Alex may be a Coors Light man! :) (Yay for those good ol' Rocky Mountains!)
Yes, as the title says, we have had another encounter! As we were packing to get ready to go to Columbus for a wedding, Alex was on the floor of our room and noticed the cat sitting between the dresser and the nightstand. Alex got about 4 inches from Squiggles face and then went back to a sit - Squiggles saw her opportunity to escape, so she did. Alex just watched her go by!
Here I come, ready or not!!
Almost there!
Whew! I'm tired!
The Escape!
After that, we were off to the wedding. We decided to stay in a hotel that night, and they had a pool! We weren't too sure about how Alex would take to the water, because he HATES having his face/hair wet. Dad snapped a couple of pictures as we entered the water.
For the most part, Alex was okay. He didn't like trying to "float" on his back - as soon as the water touched his ears, we weren't happy. He also didn't like it when Dad splashed around, or went underwater. I think that he knew that he didn't like being underwater, and didn't want his Daddy to be under the water! Such a silly boy!
As you can see, the patio is coming along beautifully! We are thinking that we have one more night of work, as there are only about 2 more rows to do before we run out of sand! :) We'll see you tomorrow night! :) Keep the comments going, we LOVE to read them!! :)
Here are some shots from throughout the day:
And here he is about to fall - - LOVE that smile! :)
As we were cleaning up after the picnic, Alex seemed to want to help - here I caught a shot of him wanting to be outside with his daddy - waving to him. (This is one of those father-son shots that I LOVE!!)
Nevermind that blue-ish car in the background - it's the neighbors, and, as you can tell, has weeds coming out from under the hood. I think that the window is marked "For sale" if anyone needs a car - we can get you their number. :) Anyway, the dirt is where the patio will go. Behind the patio (towards the alley and the car) we have 4 blue spruce trees planted, that are still pretty small. Once they get nice and big, the blue car will be far less noticeable. Down the road we may even put in a fence - we'll see what happens. :)
I also had to take the "ironic" picture - of him sleeping in his "Nap enemy" shirt - although you can't see the shirt in this picture. He wouldn't let me get his "lovey" away from him.....
Now we're back home - laundry to do, unpacking, etc......it seems to never end. Andy still hasn't seen Alex awake yet today, so hopefully he'll wake up soon to play! 
Bath toy update - Andy decided to give Alex his bath toys back, so Alex has them for now - we'll have to see if they disappear again! :)
And as far as I know, Claudia, there aren't any plans to take over the world - just my sanity. :)
We're back home now, doing laundry, watering the grass, and chilling out before the week starts again. We love hearing from you and reading your comments! Keep them coming!! :)
