Puddles.

Early this morning around 4am we had a huge storm full of lightening, thunder, and lots and lots of rain... so needless to say we had puddles to splash in this morning. I picked up these froggy rain boots for Henry at a local consignment sale last week and they came in handy for a morning such as this. His feet are a little bit small for them, so walking around in them was a bit wobbly at times. That didnt stop this kiddo from exploring.

I will post pictures from our trip to Las Vegas soon.... need to upload them.

see what we've been up to....

The weather is finally cooling off which means play time outside is on! I am so excited about that... this has been such a long summer full of hot sticky humid days. Last night we got out a bunch of fun outside toys and Henry went nuts! Sandbox, tricycle, wagon, bouncy balls, and the dogs made for a fun time outdoors. Last week Henry fingerpainted for the first time. And like any momma I was so proud of his painting! He had such a good time, and wanted more and more paint-- that is a boy after my own heart!

He is learning how to pull the chair out and climb up... oh boy!

He has the best smile - look at all those teeth!

My daily little visitors outside our back window.

{body paint}

As a mom of a toddler I am trying to find new and fun ways to spend our days together. I came across this homemade "fingerpaint." I dont think one could quite call it paint when it is more of a "goo." But needless to say it entertained Henry for a long time yesterday morning.

It is a combo of cornstarch, water, sugar, food coloring and a drop of dishsoap. Good thing it was somewhat edible because like everything else it went into the mouth for the ultimate taste testing. Based on the look on his face I dont think it got too many stars. Ha! Yuck!

the latest...

Wow. I cant believe that a whole month has gone by since my last posting. Yikes! Sorry. But we have been a tad busy. The three of us packed our bags and took off for a few days to sunny California to spend some time with Jared's family. We were busy busy everyday doing all sorts of fun things: going to the local zoo followed by a picnic in the park, Fairytale Town in Sacramento, going out to dinner and walking the local farmers market, playing in the backyard kiddie pool and an open house for all family from near and far to come and say "Hi" and meet our darling Henry. It was action packed and full of fun. Henry did so great on the plane rides to and from. The return flight was a bit more difficult due to the high volume of people on the plane (no seats left empty) which literally cramped our style. Jared was such a good dad and husband taking the middle seat. Thanks babe! We took the red eye home hoping that would work best with Henry's sleep schedule, and he slept some but left Jared and I suffering for the next week trying to catch up on our sleep.

So long story summed up.... we are home and rested and back to the same summer routine.

We celebrated Jared's 30th birthday on Tuesday. I baked a homemade carrot cake and made him his favorite Mexican enchiladas. I sang Happy Birthday and he opened gifts. Meanwhile Henry was off creating his own little party in the bathroom by creating toilet paper confetti! He was so quiet and having such a great time that Jared and I just laughed and took pictures of him.

Ahhh.... Cloud Sand.

So you are probably scratching your head right about now, wondering what the heck is this "Cloud Sand" that I speak of. Well let me tell ya. It is a mixture of flour and baby oil.... it keeps the texture of flour yet has the ability to mold into shapes. I read about it online back a while ago when browsing to find activities to do with a toddler. And the reason I decided to make this concoction is because last night while playing outside Henry decided he wanted to "dig" into my plant dirt. (he is such a boy- I know). So since we don't have a sand box I thought I would get creative! Thus, the invention of Cloud Sand.

Boy was that kid having a ball! He dug right in and started squishing it between his fingers and then in between his toes.... and when that wasn't enough he decided to dump it around a bit- oh and don't you forget one has to "taste" everything that one touches. So of course into the mouth it went. That resulted in "yucky" face but of course he proceeded to taste a second time to make sure it was yucky. It was. After about 10 minutes of digging around he thought he might get a bit creative and then started ROLLING around in it. I could only sit and watch giggling to myself at how silly and happy he was! =) But don't you fret, I was also thinking in the back of my mind about the "clean up crew" and how much they (I mean I) would have to do once all the fun was over. =) Well I decided that I had to stop the fun once Henry got the bright idea of THROWING the cloud sand around the kitchen.

After I stripped him down right there in the kitchen I carried him kicking and screaming into the bathroom to take a mid morning bath. He was definitely NOT finished playing with the sand, but once the water came on all was forgotten about in the kitchen and the splashing began!

And since becoming a mother I have learned that I have gotta have a sense of humor... children have to make messes and be a mess to have fun. They are only little once- time to enjoy it! The "clean up crew" had a smile on the whole time! =) 

"Naked as a Jay Bird"

My Aunt Barbara said in the South this is called being "naked as a Jay Bird..."

Last night after watering my plants and veggie garden, I was "misting" Henry and got the great idea of having an impromptu pool time! And well as you can see, instead of rushing into the house to grab all of the pool "essentials"-- I thought, "why not give the little fella some naked time." As you can tell from the following pictures both he and the dogs loved the refreshing pool water! I am sure when he is about 10 he will hate that Mom took these super cute naked pictures. Ha! Life's tough buddy, mommies love to take those cutie pictures. 



it's Monday

So I had a little extra time to spare while Henry was napping today so I thought I would indulge you with another post! Lately it has been so hot outside so we have been staying indoors during the afternoon until things cool off in the evening. So to mix things up, yesterday after lunch Henry dove into an afternoon bath. He loves the water and loves to get Jared and I soaked! He is just so cute all we can do is laugh while dripping water all over the floor.

After bath time and playing in his nursery for a while we moved our play time into the living room where I decided to build my little mister a "fort"... yes, the good old fashioned kind with chairs and a big blanket. He loved it but not just being inside the "cave dwelling" but because he has this obsession with blankets on his face-- so what did he do? He pulled that blanket down on top of him! It was fun to see how excited he got crawling in and out of the fort! But after about 15 minutes he got bored with it and went on to play with his favorite toy ==> a paper towel roll. Silly boy!

Gotta run... guess who is up from his nap...

Here's what's been happening.

So a couple of days ago Jared and I decided to take a quick little trip over to the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. It gave Henry a change of scenery and a chance to watch other children which he loves to do.



Henry's personality has been blossoming before my eyes... he loves to do things "himself" with little assistance from anyone else. There is a definite stubborn streak in him (probably gets that from me). He loves to give me hugs and blow kisses (I cant get enough of that!). We enjoy reading together quietly while he sits on my lap... its pretty cute how he has learned to sit on my lap- he backs up into me if I am sitting on the floor indian style. Although his vocabulary isnt very big yet, he has a great understanding for much of what we tell him. He loves making messes, splashing water, throwing balls, picking up any little speck he might find on the floor, and screaming in the car (that is the one we are working on because Jared and I are pretty fed up with that "trick"!).

As most of you know I am not a fan of the television... as a matter of fact it took us living here close to a year before we even purchased one at all. So I am definitely not thrilled about sitting Henry in front of the TV to entertain him, however this one particular day when he was extremely fussy and teething it was about the only thing Jared and I could do to have a little peace and quiet while I got dinner cooked. It is a pretty cute picture of him watching Sesame Street.

{zoo zoo}

We spent our Friday afternoon at the zoo... It was hot hot hot and every summer camp in Montgomery was there for a field trip, but we had a good time looking at the animals. Henry got some walking time in at some of the exhibits. His favorite animals to watch were of course the monkeys, and elephants. We had a small snack under a shaded tree on a bench close to the monkeys so Henry enjoyed watching them swing from rope to rope. After our zoo trip we both came home and took an afternoon nap. Good way to spend a Friday afternoon!