Where did the time go??

My little stink bug is already 18 months old!!! How did that happen? He is such a little buddy and I can't get enough of him. He is one of the happiest babies I know. He is also the most active baby I know. He can be such a stinker, but he is too cute for me to care that much. He is so naughty but I laugh at him most of the time and I know that does nothing but fuel him.

I love that he waves at everyone and says hi. When the "I love You" song on Barney starts to play, he knows it is almost over and starts to wave and say bye bye to "BaBee."
I also love that he is starting to put faces with names. He walked into my dad's office yesterday and said "hi Papa" then ran into John's office and said "hi John".

He is a very smart little stink and he knows it. He knows that he has his mom and dad wrapped around his chubby little finger. Right now he gets away with most anything, but I am sure he will grow out of it.

Lately he wants to do everything by himself. He won't let me feed him anymore which presents itself with an interesting challenge of figuring out which types of food will take less time to clean up than others. He insists on brushing his own teeth (good thing his grandpa and uncle Morgan are dentists!). He is starting to catch on the idea of "clean-up" but pulls his toys out about 5 seconds after they are put away.... baby steps. Now if I could only get him to go to the bathroom by himself that would be awesome.

To be quite honest this boy has us on our toes at all times. He can climb on a bar stool and on the kitchen counter in under a second which has given me more than one mild heart attack, but oh how I love him. I just can't believe he has crossed over the baby mark and has become a little boy. I just wish I could trap the time in a bottle but instead I will just appreciate every moment with him.

18 Months = Nursery!!!
Warren LOVED Nursery on Sunday.
I loved attending church for the full
3 hours for the first time in 18 months!

Was there really a time when "up to 7lb"
clothes drowned this now 30lb baby boy?

How is this possibly the same baby that lives with me today?? It is crazy how much he has changed in such a short time.

Perfect Day

I can't believe I have never been to the Thaksgiving Point Gardens. We went this week for the Tulip Festival and it was incredible. A perfect place for kids to run around. The weather couldn't have been better. 80 degrees with no wind. We had a fabulous time. Warren walked most of the way which was about 2 miles and oh did he sleep well that night!

These babies will be best friends.

My best boys.

Such a little buddy.

Perfect baby Lily.

An active child's dream. A big, wide open field of grass.

Janers glows in the dark, just like her favorite aunt and uncle.

Lori n' Hess

One word. Awesome.

Yes, I know our legs are the same color as snow, but it was the first time we busted out the shorts this season. You have to start somewhere.

Warren was way more excited about the tractor than the silly tulips.

Courtney, Lori, Merz and Me.

Warren got so hot we dumped ice cold water on him. He thought it was so funny.

What a perfect day. I highly recommend the Tulip Festival.

Easter Buddy

What a cute and crazy bunch.

Note to self.

Of all the millions of parenting books that are out there, not one of them can prepare you for motherhood like experience itself. I learn something new about parenting, Warren and myself every single day. What I learned today is if you are trying to teach your child how to feed himself and spaghettios happen to be the meal of the day, don't carry your child to the tub to wash him off if you are wearing a new shirt you really love if you don't want it ruined. Spaghettios stain. Awesome.

My little buddy.

I love that Warren is doing something new every day. Although this has been a very difficult age with the fainting, gagging and climbing to name a few, I do love watching him learn new things. His little personality is awesome. My two favorite things he is doing are....

He loves to "help". He helps with dishes, putting things in the garbage, dusting and his favorite is putting clothes in the dryer. Andrew was building shelves in a closet and Warren just had to be right in the middle of it all.

I am so glad Warren likes to read. He either sits on my lap, or on his little chair. The best is that he gabbers along like he thinks he is actually reading and his eyebrows are raised as if he thinks his book is so exciting. I can't help but wonder what goes through that little head of his.

More in love today than yesterday.

I fell more in love with two people today than I thought possible. As I lay here in bed the house is quiet, the baby is sleeping and I realize how blessed I am to have Warren and Andrew. Heads up, this may be a mushie post.
Today started out as a typical Saturday. Cleaning/laundry day. Andrew was finishing up a project and so it was just me and Warren. I decided it was a great day for him to learn a little bit about "helping" out. It really turned out to be more work for me, but such a joy to watch. He helped me shove clothes in the dryer and put the dryer sheet in. I gave him a rag and while I was dusting he trailed right behind me doing the same thing but really just leaving more paw prints for me to clean up later. My favorite was when I was sweeping the kitchen. I bought him a little broom the other day and he thinks it's the coolest thing ever. I was sweeping and like he had done all day, he followed right behind me. The cutest part was when he grabbed one of his gold fish crackers, put it on the ground and swept it into my pile. That was the fun part of my day and where I found myself loving my little Warren more than ever.
Later on in the afternoon, I pulled out one of my favorite treats... the little pre sliced apples with carmel dip. I am SO glad I didn't give any to Warren because about 20 minutes later I felt like it was 800 degrees in our house, every ounce of energy sucked out of me and it felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to my stomach. Later I realized it had to be food poising. Dang apples. I thought I'd better get Warren down for a nap because I really didn't feel well. I couldn't lay down fast enough. What are the chances it would be a time when Warren wouldn't want to take his nap? Pretty good I guess because that is how kids are. I let him cry for about 10 minutes then I went to check up on him....One of his new things is gagging himself and occasionally it ends up in vomit. Sure enough, this was one of those cases. Perfect timing because the last time I remember feeling as sick as I was feeling was after 22 hours of labor and a C-Section.
I called Andrew and told him to get home as quick as possible. Luckily he wasn't far away. He got home to find Warren in the tub and me worshiping the toilet (TMI, sorry). Warren's room was a mess. It was projectile like I had never seen. In comes the mushie part about my falling deeper in love with my man.
Andrew came in and cleaned everything up, made me get in bed and got the baby dressed. Later that night he came in and said "the baby is asleep, I have a bath ready for you and I am going to go to the store and get the things on your grocery list." Really??? I don't know a lot of men that would do that. He is one in a million and I can't believe how blessed I am and how much I love him.

Obviously Childless

For anyone who has spent much time with Warren, you know about "the scream." It is the highest pitch and loudest screech you have ever heard. We are working on whispering, but he doesn't get it quite yet. The thing is he isn't usually screaming because he is mad, it is because he likes to hear himself. Yes, this is embarrassing to me but I don't know what to do about it. I can't hide in my house until he grows out of it. I have become used to it for the most part. The reminder is when we are in public and everyone stares at us. People turn around to see what is going on and I just move along as fast as I can to get out of the way.
The other thing that is really difficult is going to the grocery store. I have found that it is best to go when Andrew is home so I can leave Warren home and go alone. However... Andrew is not always home when I need something, so my little buddy goes with me. He is not allowed in a shopping cart. If I put him in the seat, he wiggles out of the buckle in less than a second. For awhile I let him ride in the big part, but is was less than one shopping trip before he figured out how to jump out of that too. Most people say try the little car shopping cart.... yep, tried that too. My escape artist can get out of that in no time. So, he rides in the 5 point harness stroller. This leads to me only being able to get a small amount of groceries, enough to fill the tiny little basket under the stroller.
So I already have challenges going in public. The loud scream that gives me an indescribable headache. The stares that I can fill going through me. Not being able to buy my entire list because it won't fit in the stroller. So when the following happened, I lost it......
My stroller was almost full which means I was almost done. Warren was screaming away and I was moving as fast as I could so I could get out of there. I was walking down the cracker aisle when Warren let out one of his best screams while at the same time waving to people thinking he is just talking to them. A young woman, I would guess 20 ish looked over and said in the most snippy sarcastic tone "wow, that's not annoying or anything." I took a deep breath and swallowed the tears and with as much dignity as I could muster up said, "you obviously don't have children, do you?" She looked a little shocked I said anything back to her as she gave me the response I knew I would get, "no." I then told her that when the day comes that she does have children, she will be in public and embarrassed by her child's behavior and remember the moment we were in the cracker aisle at Wal Mart as she almost brought a mother to tears. It will be at that moment she will realize how hurtful her words were.
I walked away before she could respond. I was proud of myself for not freaking out more which would really have been justifiable. Seriously though, do people not realize how hurtful the stares and the words can be??? I know any parent knows how I am feeling right now. If you don't know it's because you have never had a child induced public humiliation and for that, I hate you.
Let me toss in a disclaimer... it may sound like Warren is a difficult child. He does have his difficult side like any child. However, he is the most loving and friendly baby in the world. He loves to give big hugs, he blows kisses to everyone, he talks and talks and makes me laugh most of the day. He is a great dancer. He has a new eye brow lift that he does when he sees something new and it is the cutest thing in the world. He loves to sleep, lucky me. He is just a ball of energy and sometimes it is a little draining. I wouldn't change him or his personality for the world though. I don't think I could love him any more.