Only Monday!

The weekend feels so close yet is SO far away!  It's only Monday and this is how I feel already......today was an incredibly busy day for Jack and I.  We had to be at the business early to drop off a huge order of supplies this morning.  We are preparing for a the largest catering event yet (tomorrow) and I want everything to be PERFECT!  After hanging out with the gang and waiting for my grandparents to arrive who just got back in town from being snowbirds in Florida, I decided to give them a call and go to their place instead.  At that point Jack as getting restless and customers were starting to come in and I didn't want him making a scene.  So needless to say we ended up spending the ENTIRE afternoon at my grams!  Jack got to play with his cousin Declan which was super cute to see them interacting with each other.  Each took their turn using the other as a shoulder to lean (stomp) on in attempts to sturdy themselves when standing up....too cute!  After eating an obscene amount of puffs (most of which were off the floor) both boys got cranky and overtired so we headed out.  Stopped back at the business on the way home to check in and feed him really quickly since he woke up and wasn't having his car seat at that moment.  Headed home to meet Daddy and then I headed back to the business to close up shop and get things ready for the next day.....PHEW!  That was  a lot, I'm exhausted and can't wait to crawl into my comfy bed :)

One year ago today was my baby shower!!!  Seriously how scary is it how fast this past year has gone by!!!! It was SUPER hot that day as well.  We had just moved into our house, literally 3 weeks prior and did a CRAZY amount of work in preparation for family coming and staying with us for my shower.  I thought we were going to kill each other! 

HERE is my baby shower post from a year ago.  

 

 

It's ridiculously HOT today.....90degrees hot to be exact!!!!  I couldn't believe it, I had to take a pic and Instagram it as proof.

I found him using the diaper bag as a stepping stool so he could reach better....such a smarty pants!!  A couple weeks ago I caught him standing on top of my breast pump trying to pull magazines off of the bedside table!!!  How do they learn this stuff?!

Sunday shopping with me at Target, seriously how thrilled does this kid look!!  Hahaha

It's Been TOO Long!

FINALLY able to blog again!!  I did a stupid thing about 2 weeks ago, I was closing the top of my desk and accidentally sliced into the power cord that charges my computer.....ugh!  So I've been chomping at the bit because all of this stuff has happened and I haven't been able to document it in my blog.  So for starters we now have hardwood floors in just about all of the downstairs now!!  YAY it looks AMAZING and I LOVE them :)  I'm going to do an entire separate post on them though as I took a million pics and feel its best to keep them all together in one post.
In Jack news the past two weeks have been so much fun.  My baby is 10 months old today for starters.  Last night while giving him a bath I was thinking about how fast this past 10 months has literally flown by.  Its just not fair.  I could stare at him all day and it still wouldn't be enough.  I sort of got teary-eyed (I'm a big sap) because my own life has changed so much since he came into it.  He is now THE most important part of my life and I love him so much it hurts, seriously!  .......OK sentimental moment over.....

This is my MOST favorite face of all time <3

He is now crawling, like officially on his knees crawling all over the place.....and doing it really FAST!  I'm still adjusting to how quickly he can now move.  It happened on May 8th where he crawled across the room, stopping and going, for the first time.  He was SO proud of himself because he would get all excited each time he did it, he knew he was doing something new and great!  Before this he was doing a mean army crawl, he was seriously a champ at it so I knew crawling was right around the corner.  Thank God to, because his shirts were filthy by the end of the day.

On May 5th he said "momma" for the first time!  It was more like momamamamama but that was enough for me!!!  He still doesn't say it that much, baba is his favorite for sure!

April 25th we had to lower the crib because he started pulling himself up which was adorable....only thing is that he couldn't get himself back down.  I think he can but once he's up he just wants out at that  point.  We lowered it down 2 notches and then realized after about a week that it needed to go down to the very bottom because he is tall and was making both of us very nervous!  I need to get one of those crib rail pad thingys (or whatever they are called) because he gnaws on the crib rail and I don't want it all chewed up......
     Speaking of teeth, he's got 6 now!  4 on top and 2 on the bottom.  Everything is just progressing WAY too quick for me, he's getting too big too fast.

Games - It just amazes me that a baby "just knows" how to play games.  Last week I started to chase him and say "I'm going to get you" over and over and he turned around and started to crawl away from me at top speed and was laughing and giggling uncontrollably!!!  How did he know that was how the game was played....we'd never done that before....I'm choosing to believe that I MUST have the smartest baby around :)
He also has started playing peek-a-boo with me rather than the other way around.  It's flippin ADORABLE to watch him hide his little face behind something and then peek out around it in hopes that I'll scream PEEK-A-BOO !  I just love him <3

Mother's Day was a bust, for me at least.  I guess my husband didn't get the memo that one's FIRST mothers day EVER is supposed to be special (at least it was to me).  I didn't expect much, a card and a happy mothers day first thing would have made my day.  I did get a donut and some cookies later that day when he went to pick up dessert to take to my mother's for dinner.  Most importantly though I did spend the entire day with Jack which is what the day is all about regardless so in the end it was a success ;) AND that afternoon was very nice at mom's with her and my grandmother....always good to get together and get some group pictures.

My first Mother's Day :)

All the Mommas on Mothers Day :)

Grandma & Jack

........Just because this face CRACKS me up!

HELLO Hardwood Floors!

I've been trying to write this post all weekend but its been a shit show around here lately. We decided to rip up the god awful carpet downstairs and start laying hardwood....I can't even begin to express how happy this makes me!   Johnny got the home improvement bug and who am i to stop him :)
However my fingers hurt so bad right now because I decided I'd be nice and help pull a million staples out of the floor after ripping up carpet in the front living room. One thumb is seriously bigger than the other due to swelling....ouch!   BUT I can now say the downstairs of my house is starting to resemble what I've been envisioning since the day we looked at it!!. So BIG props to my hubby, who decided laying hardwood flooring was how he wanted to spend his weekend. AND thanks to my Dad for helping :) So now the dining room is done, with the exception of molding which still needs to be tacked on.....but its GORGEOUS!!!  I'm in love!

 This is my dining room with the finished flooring

 

This is why I have a blister on my thumb!!

Jack and I at his 9 month check-up at the pediatrician.....such a happy guy :)

went tot he market to get some avocados for the restaurant, first time riding in the shopping cart like this...he thought it was pretty neat!

swinging in the backyard....Gotta love it when the sun shines!

Week from Hell

This has been an absolute week from hell for me and I CAN NOT wait for it to be over!!!  Tuesday started off as a normal Tuesday,  swim class with Jack at 9:30, stopped over at the cafe to visit the crew (plus my husband was working), loaded the car up to head home and get ready for a food show we got invited to that afternoon......only to get into a car accident while pulling out of my parking space!  I was parallel parked in front of the cafe (which is close to a corner), and as I was pulling out (as I do every day!!) a big Denali plows into me!  I honestly don't know where to put the blame, I looked and didn't see him, he said he didn't see me.  I think when I looked he wasn't there and then must have turned the corner right as I turned back around and started to pull out.  I guess in attempt to make myself feel better I could chalk it up to just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  It totally sucks though because my brand new Jeep (1 year old) which I love is now not drivable and sitting in a garage somewhere waiting for the insurance companies to battle it out.  The worst part about the whole situation is that I had Jack with me in the car.  Neither of us were injured and he wasn't even phased the slightest when it happened (thank God!).  Me however, I feel like the worst mother EVER and can't believe I let something like this happen.  Had I been hit a few feet back on my vehicle then it would have hit his door.  This is what scares me the most.  I seriously couldn't live with myself if anything had happened to him.  I was a blubbery emotional mess all day yesterday every time I even thought about the possibilities.  Having kids really changes your perspective on EVERYTHING.  Anything and everything that happens is so much more important now.
On top of all of this I am SO embarrassed about the whole thing....it happened right outside my business, I had regular customers inside who saw the whole thing.  My hair dresser came down later in the day and said that I was the talk of the street!!!  GREAT!! NOT what I wanted to hear.  Customers were calling the cafe asking if I was OK!  Serious craziness I tell ya!  I am very grateful though that people are so concerned with our well being and like us enough to care so much.  There really is something to say about doing business in a small town, everyone looks out for one another!!
On the other hand I am SO sick of dealing with insurance companies, rental car companies, and body shops that I'm ready to scream.  And it really doesn't help that nobody ever seems to have a clue as to what's going on!!  Makes ya wonder how they manage to do any business!

In much happier news - Jack is now doing the army crawl BIG TIME!  He inches his way around everywhere and everything.  Yesterday I caught him sucking on a doorstop that sticks out of the wall.  He's discovered the dog's water dishes, and has a crazy infatuation with the swifter....weird!  Speaking of which, I can't for the life of me figure out how anyone keeps their floors clean, especially with an infant rolling around on them constantly!  The baby is not the cause but when I pick him up from inching around and see how dirty his shirt is I know that Ive yet to win the battle of having clean floors!!  I seriously sweep and swifter EVERY day at least two to three times a day....no joke!  And yet I'm amazed at how dirty they still seem.  I have two little Yorkies but didn't really think they contributed that much to my problem, I'm starting to think otherwise.  This weather (muddy/yucky/rainy) really hasn't helped the situation either, just hoping when the ground dries up it gets better.  The floors I'm mainly talking about are kitchen and eat-in area (laminate) and front foyer/hallway (old white-ish-grey tile) both of which I hate and will be replaced someday.  If anyone has any advice I'm all ears :)
In the mean time here are some happy moment pics from this week....

look who I caught giving himself kisses in the mirror...ha ha ha

My baby is 9 months old!!!

first stroller ride of the season, a little chilly but worth it!

A Beer and a Bath

Ah the weekend, its about time!!  Seriously this week was so crazy busy I never thought it would end.  Tonight is the actual start of my weekend since I worked all day today.  This is how I spent my evening....a beer and a bath!

He is getting a LOT more brave in the bath tub, he now flips over onto his tummy, and tonight he pulled himself up so he was standing and hanging on to the edge of the tub for the first time.....he was trying to reach the bottle of shampoo - the ONE thing I wouldn't let him play with ha ha

play time after a long morning of watching mommy make baby food.  I love his little eyebrows <3

Funny faces while eating, such a little clown!

Sunshine FINALLY

I am happy (and relieved) to say that we FINALLY got some sunshine and warm weather around here!  AND it even looks as though it might be here to stay! (by "stay" I mean no more white stuff).  Seriously it's about time, pretty sure I've reached my wits end when it comes to cold weather.  So needless to say it was a pretty busy weekend.   In fact we tried to cram so many things into a day and a half (had to be at the cafe for most of Saturday) while it was nice out that it ended up being more exhausting than anything.  For starters, I think everyone in town was at Home Depot buying supplies to start planting and doing yard work, Johnny spent the entire day outside planting trees along our fence in hopes of one day gaining a bit more privacy from the neighbors.  I took some pretty hilarious pics of this from the upstairs bedroom window but he would kill me if I posted them.  It was Johnny with our little 7lb Yorkie planting trees together in the backyard, SO funny!  In between mulching and digging he took breaks to spray paint the dining room table which seems to be a never ending project around here!!  Its still not finished, needs a top coat to protect and give it shine.  I hung out with Jack and cleaned, played, and tackled a project of my own....I decided to paint an end table that I have, wanted to add a pop of color in the room.  That is still in progress as well because the first color I chose I ended up hating so had to go pick something else out.  I really like it now though, just needs a final coat.  I will post pics when its all finished.

Jack has GOT to start crawling soon, Its going to be any day now I just know it.  Not that I'm trying to rush him or anything its just that he gets so close and he's trying so hard that I just want the little guy to accomplish his goal already..haha.  It'll probably happen on a day when I have to leave him with a sitter for a couple hours.  I had to do that today and I told her that if he does crawl then just don't tell me, or rather just push him down so he doesn't do it!!!  LOL  I would be so sad if I missed that, especially since I'm with him 24/7 for the most part!  He totally got on all fours yesterday in his crib but when playing on the floor he acts as though he doesn't know how to do that.  If he's really mad and doesn't want to go down for a nap he will push his arms out and get up on his toes like he's in a plank position and then flop back down.  Like I said, its only a matter of time.

In Cafe news I FINALLY found someone to work the days that I am there right now.  This way I can stay home with Jack and still pop in to visit whenever I want (but not "have" to be needed) I had to have the baby at work with me on Monday and it just wasn't happening, he's way to big and wants to be in my arms looking at everything that's happening the entire time.  THANK GOD for those little puffs and yogurt melts, they distract him and keep him quiet for a little bit :)  Yes I've resorted to feeding my kid treats to keep him quiet!  Thankfully he's a big hit with our regular customers and they love visiting with him, just doesn't allow me to actually get anything done while I'm there.

Here we are outside over the weekend enjoying some of the sunshine......bring on SUMMER, we are ready!!

First Frap of the season! Can I just mention how wonderfully convenient it is that there is a Starbucks at Target!!! 

I LOVE bath time with Jack!  He loves it so much and has become such an important part of our bedtime routine

Watching his best friends (aka the dogs) play on the floor :)

:)

Pantry Door Project.....again

So I just couldn't let it go, I was so annoyed with myself that I let a simple project such as painting pantry doors get the best of me!!  I'm better than this and knew that I could totally make them GREAT!  So I was poking around my basement the other day (like 2 days before Easter) and actually found another set of doors that must have at one point been used as pantry doors because there isn't a closet in my house that I can see them fitting.  They are solid wood but still have that ugly stenciled panes of glass in them (like my other ones), BUT I like them so much more!  So I made my husband drag them upstairs and told him not to touch them anymore, I was doing it myself this time...ha ha.  I cleaned them up, sanded them down, and got to painting them white like I originally planned.  Only this time I used a brush and can of paint rather than spraying.  This way I could do them inside and they wouldn't stink up the entire house!  The whole project took me two days, mostly because I can't get much done when the baby is awake.  So I worked on them during his naps and then again at night.  I painted the glass panels with chalkboard paint, I think it was about three coats on each (doors and glass panels).  I got them up just in time for Easter (thank goodness since we had people coming over)!

awesome basement find!!

 

Ok so I did let him help me tape off the chalkboard painted part :)

 

VOILA....I love them!

Got some new hardware and tested my new chalkboards out

All in in all I am SO happy I did this and LOVE my new doors.  The chalkboards are super useful.....grocery lists, baby feeding instructions when I'm not home, recipes.....all sorts of kitchen chalkboard fun!!

Easter Fun

 The Kong's have now officially hosted their first holiday as a family of three.  The Easter bunny was more than generous to all of us including me (thanks Mom!!).  Dinner was a success, the egg hunt was competitive as always, and Mom's Easter trivia was easy peasy as far as I'm concerned....who doesn't know everything there is to know about Peter Rabbit??!!.....just sayin :)
 
 So we started the morning off with Easter baskets of course!  Thanks to an idea from another blogger (who I was excited to see also has an obsession with chalkboards - Jessica Garvin), the hubby got his own basket this year, pretty clever right??! 
 

Watching Jack check out all of his Easter goodies was so much fun, can I just say how much MORE FUN holidays are when you have kids!!!  I mean it really doesn't get any better.

The presents just keep coming when grandma and grandpa arrive!  Look at those little feet, I just love em <3

Let the party begin!

 

FINALLY a family pic!!!  Too bad Dad just woke up from an afternoon snooze.  Check out Rufus the photobomber!!!

Would you look at that sweet sweet smile??!!  My heart melts....love

I had to post this pic because 1. I wanted a full body pic of his adorable outfit

2.the smirk he is making cracks me up, kid makes the most hilarious facial expressions.  

Button-down is from Carters and belted pants are Polo

Easter Preparations & Puffs

Easter is quickly approaching and there is MUCH to do!  Its our first Easter in our house and more importantly Jack's first Easter!! I know he's not going to remember it or even understand what is going on but I am still SUPER excited to start family traditions with him.  I've been collecting stuff for his basket for weeks now and think I'm finally done.  Just have to gather stuff for Johnny's Easter basket (which won't be nearly as extravagant) and then I'll be finished.  

On top of getting the baskets ready I've now been asked (literally YESTERDAY) if I would host Easter dinner at my house.  Which I'm totally fine with because it honestly makes things a lot easier with Jack and I like having people over.....just another opportunity to entertain!!  So in honor of hosting our first holiday at the house I've been trying to get a little festive, I just started tonight and quickly realized I don't have a lot of Easter stuff, in fact, I don't have anything at all really.  So I'll have to get crafty and fast....that will be a later post!

My Mom (thankfully) bought a ham and brought it over today, I just have to get some sides and little things.  She's got plans for games and an Easter egg hunt....leave it to Mom to get everyone to act like big kids for the day :)
On a not so happy note, my grandmother (mom's mom) is in the hospital but is now OK and doing great! The hospital  is literally five minutes from my house so after dinner on Sunday we can all go visit and bring her some Easter cheer as well! I will say, I'll be missing her desserts, she always makes dessert whenever we get together and they are to-die-for delicious!!!!

We are now eating PUFFS!...Jack that is, I was terrified to give him these little melt-in-your-mouth puffs at first, and think this was actually a bigger moment for me than anyone else including him!  He likes them a LOT!  I got the organic banana flavored ones to start.  I've been told that apple cinnamon are really good as well.  I also bought those little yogurt melts that also dissolve on the tongue which he's not a big fan of just yet.  He'll eat them but he def gets WAY more excited for the puffs.  I know he's not nine months old yet or crawling yet but he has four teeth and he eyes up everything we eat so I thought I would at least give them a try.  Its hilarious watching him try to pick them up with those chubby little fingers and put them in his mouth, and then see how excited he gets when he realizes that he did it!!  I also gave him some of my little noodles that were in my soup (they were very small and soft) and he liked those to.  Its really fun experimenting and letting him try new foods but at the same time I just stare and hold my breath while he takes his first taste.  Once its down his throat I can then relax.  I have to admit that last week I was giving him little tastes of a cracker and he was fine with it until I let him hold the cracker to suck on and literally within two seconds he had bitten off a big piece and was coughing because it was in the back of his throat....I feel like such an ass and can't even imagine what could have happened.  I just want that to be the first and LAST time I ever have to scrape food out of his mouth!!  Not to mention my husband still talks about it and doesn't seem as though he's ever going to let me live this one down!

Here we are trying to take a pic and send it to Dad at work :)