yadda, yadda, blah, blah

This weekend the 3 of us went to Austin to visit Gavin's parents... Nana & Papa!

Papa got transfered to Austin earlier this year and they have both been down there since the end of last school year. At the end of July they bought a house... with an amazing yard in a wonderful area and neighborhood! It is kinda like the country, but not really... there are HUGE trees, deer that wander around, not to many stores or restaurants. It is quiet, simple and gorgeous!
Their house is perfect... but the best part is their land! The back yard has TONS and I am not kidding at all... TONS of trees! Papa already hung a swing for Travis and it racked up a few miles this weekend!

We had a fun and simple weekend! Travis, Nana and I got lost walking through the neighborhood... I would guess about 2 1/2-3 miles worth of lost! There is a small plane airport (for personal planes) in their neighborhood.. Travis was in HEAVEN looking at all the planes and he even got lucky and saw one take off from about 100 yards away! He was pointing and screaming airplane (sounds more like air-pane... no L) The houses near by were super cool.. they had hangars as garages... I have never seen this before...
of course I took a picture of one of the houses!
I couldnt get over how silly it looked with this extra large garage but the house looked perfectly normal.
Being outside was rough.. Austin has more things I am allergic to. Especially in their area.
I think I sneezed well over 1000 times this weekend.
Travis LOVED everything about this weekend! He got to play with some of his Dada's old toys, and cars.. and even hung out with a little superman figurine for a while.

He also found the alarm clock in Papa & Nana's room... clicked it on and decided to dance a jig with Papas watch on! What a character. If you look close in this picture you can see a weeding picture of Gavin and I on the bedside table. Travis picked it up said " Mommy, Daddy" and kissed it... I OF COURSE, did not get a picture of that :(

Saturday afternoon we all went to the Picture People and got some family pictures taken... I thought they were going to email the thumbnails to me, but I have not gotten them yet??? If I do I will share with you all! They were spur of the moment and we all were not to coordinated with outfits but we got some cute ones of Travis with Nana & Papa! Travis LOVES to walk around the house an point out people in pictures... he knows almost every person in all of our pictures and can say most of their names... of course he is obsessed with seeing his Dada in pictures... and when he sees himself he either calls himself Dada or baby. Too cute!

Travis also played the piano with Dada... and LOVES it! He would head bop along as he played.. like he understood he was making "pretty" music!
Gavin is a great piano player.. though he does not admit it or practice! I would love to have a piano so I could listen to him play all the time!
Travis really was an amazing child this weekend... he did scream "UH OH Mommy" during church service this morning when the music stopped so he and I went and joined the preschoolers for Sunday school class since the nursery was full... He was even perfect in the car.. he has an hour and half sleeping limit and always seems to wake up or fall asleep at the same place every time! He passed out holding onto a fish that goes in the swimming pool that Nana gave him to take to Paps & Gigi's house for their pool... Gavin and I were cracking up and had to get a picture of it for a good laugh! He was perfect even when we got stuck in traffic coming home.. FOR AN HOUR over nothing. When we got to the cause of the traffic it was 3 cop cars and a perfect random car that did not look like it was hurt and they were all standing there on the phone and not moving. FOR AN HOUR, sheesh! I have to say that I do hope that is all it was even though I was frustrated, I hope no one did get hurt! Thank God for DVD players! Elmo's World saved our lives or I should say EARS this afternoon!
Overall it was a great little trip... we had a blast with Nana & Papa and will be going back for Thanksgiving... that is sooner that I realized too!
WOW, this year is flying by!

LOVE THIS VIDEO!

love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

It has been a while since I posted something sappy and lovey dovey but today I feel compelled to share a story...

I have a friend, she has not been in my life very long, but is one of those people that you feel like you have known forever.
I met her at Strollerfit when I first started in January and we talked as we worked out but never really got close. I honestly thought she was too cool for me... LOL (ever think that about other moms?)
I can not remember what happened but one day we talked on the phone and got the kids together and a great friendship progressed from that.
Our kiddos love each other, our hubbies love each other, it has been a great situation!
Then this happened:
My sweet hubby and I got into a rut.. it happens to every couple, to every family, and to really anyone that has a relationship.
(I am not going to go into details of the relationship with my hubby just because it is all fixed now and no need to rehash anything.)
I was miserable for a few days and really needed some advice.. shoot just someone to come in a fix the whole damn problem! I talked to a few girlfriends about it but talking about it and venting was not fixing it at all... Then I went over to this friends house and we sat down and talked. Come to find out she new how I was feeling, new the pain in my heart and new EXACTLY what to say!
It was like a gift from God!
It makes life so much easier when you know that you are not the only one in the world having certain problems!
We talked for hours and came up with a great game plan!

That night I got home and started my quest for a better family life...
The next day I wrote a letter, made some personal decisions and got the ball rolling.

By that night my world had changed!
My hubby and I were back!
We were a perfect little family again!

I do not know if things would have come so easily if she was not there for me, she gave me the strength to say what I needed to say and the courage to make changes!

I have felt extremely lucky and honored to have her in my life...

With that I have to say Thank you to my special friend...
You know who you are!

This is why God gives you friends!

thursday 13

Thirteen things about my little side business

Splat Creative Template Designs...

1. I LOVE LOVE LOVE designing blog templates!
2. Most of my designs are personal to me since I add little touches that I love also!
3. Contests are a great way for me to advertise.
4. Other then blogs I have created and my contests I do not advertise with any other sites.
5. I work while Travis is sleeping, some evenings when Gavin is home and maybe for a few hours on the weekend.
6. When I am stuck on a design I usually can start something else to get re-motivated.
7. I get excited when I get emails inquiring about new templates and pricing.
8.The template designs all started from a Hobby.
9. Then a good friend of mine talked me into starting a little side business (THANKS TAM!)
10. The illustrations are the most fun because I get to change them around and make then unique to my customer.
11. I love istockphoto.com, they have awesome images and are pretty affordable.
12. Templates make GREAT gifts for friends and family members that love to blog!
13. I have met and remained friends with tons of my customers, Since we communicate and work together designing I feel like I really get to know most of them!

** there is a contest going on over at Splat Designs, check it out!**

Wordless Wednesday

Under Lock & Key

Some days I am just amazed by what this child picks up from every day life... or in this case I have no idea where he got this! Gavin made him a set of keys to play with and he went straight over to the door and tried to unlock it and open it... I pull straight into the garage and have never used a key on the garage door and most of the time when Gavin takes Travis somewhere they take my car. So, the keys in the door is something he remembers from maybe 2 or 3 times when Gavin took him out of the front and used the key to open the door. Crazy what these little people can remember!Here he is picking his key to open the door...

The Key goes in the hole...

...and here is is smushing the key to make it open the door. HAHAHAAA

I want his memory!
Some days I feel like I have flushed my brain down the toilet with my morning pee...
I can not remember to do a darn thing.
I have momnesia, mom-brain or whatever you call it when you can remember anything but to feed your kid and change their diaper!
Ginkgo Biloba PLEASE!

Oktoberfest 2007

Gavin, I and a ton of our friends went to Oktoberfest last night to celebrate.... ummm, German BEER!
It was so much fun! Gav and I got there early and walked around to see all the awesome vendors that sell their art, clothes, jewelry and just stuff... We both got a t-shirt, funny thing, we have gone for the past 6 years and have never bought anything. There were venders set up selling Lederhosen, corsets, nuttcrackers.. anything German you can think of!

Talk about BEER... okay, I have been going to this festival for many years and last night I have to think was the largest night EVER... the beer was flowing faster then Niagara Falls and the crazy people were out in FULL force. The beer steins were super heavy, my arms are so sore from carrying one around all night. The food was awesome, even though I did not eat much because the smell of sour kraut turns me off of having anything in my mouth. YUKKKKY!
The music was loud, the the chicken dance and hokey pokey were the dances of the night and it was rare to see a person that did not have a pair of beer goggle on! LOL
We got a hotel room with a few friends for the night so we did not have to worry about driving home. (the little guy was with his grandparents!)
We walked there after the festival closed at midnight and hung out and chatted with buddies all night long! Sheesh, Mommas cant do that too often, I am exhausted!!

The St.Paulie's girls were out in full force... Nice boobs chica's!
I saw more Lederhosen then I have ever seen... all the little kids looked so super cute all dressed up! There were dance competitions, keg rolling contests, dog races, and some awesome roller coasters and rides!
I would recommend this to anyone! We had a BLAST!

Gavin took this picture from his phone at about 530 in the evening before the major crowd showed up... This was at one of the small tents in the beer garden area... can you imagine what the large tents looked like?!? WOW!

Mommy has it... well maybe not!!

I am officially MOMMY these days!

YAY!
I am so excited he is calling me Mommy, of course Mama still comes out often... but Mommy is the new word of choice for Mr. T!
***
I had a BAD mommy Breakfast experience this morning...
Since I am on Weight Watchers I have been watching how many points I eat and when I eat them...
I decided I wanted a Smart Ones chocolate Ice Cream thingy this morning for MY breakfast.
WHERE THE HELL WAS MY BRAIN?
I should have know that the "what yours is mine and what mine is mine" rule applies to Travis and food.. HAHAHA

So, this morning, for breakfast, my son had French Toast, Apple Sauce and a chocolate Ice cream thingy!
At least he ate all of his French Toast and some of his Apple Sauce before he got the chocolate!

I got some Priceless pictures!
Nothing like a picture with your child in his PJ's holding his night-night blanket with chocolate ice cream ALL OVER HIS FACE!



Note to self:
No More Chocolate for breakfast no matter how many points it is OR how yummy!

Everyone needs some...

...CUTENESS in their life!

Here is a little taste of mine!

Travis' new hiding spot is under the dining room table.
Which is extremely old, as you can probably tell by the way it looks underneath, it kinda worried me because there are sharp bolts sticking out under there.. but he doesn't care!

Cheese Mommy!

BUSTED!

...or maybe he was hiding under the table so I wouldn't know he was sleepy?
his is the main sleepy sign of Mr. T!

Wordless Wednesday

Where have I been?

Well.... The 3 of us have been attempting to get over the stomach bug that is going around here in TX.
Travis got it on Friday and was sick all Friday night, we called the Doc and he thought it was food poisoning because there were no other symptoms and he did not have a fever. We got through the night on just a few hours of sleep and managed to get through the weekend until Sunday night Gavin and I both got sick. Let me tell yah, it was the worst 24 hours of my life!

We are all on the road to recovery thank goodness!
***

I have had a good number of views on my Mamavice site!
Please check it out, link to it and let me know if you want to be linked on the site!
You can comment here and let me know if you want to!

MamaVice

My New Venture:

I have had this idea in my head for a while now...
Wanna help spread the word?

Also, let me know if you want to link up!

Pita for two or three?

After Travis ate his alphabet chicken noodle soup tonight he was still hungry and got his little self in the pantry and was pointing to the shelf with the bread and pitas... ummm, oK!

So, I ripped off a chunk of a pita and handed it to him and saw him take a few bites as he walked away from me. He went into the living room to finish watching Blues Clues before we went into the playroom for our nightly play and clean-up fest... (clean-up... it happens sometimes!) I was watching him out of the corner of my eye as I was attempting to find something for myself to eat for dinner that did not require cooking... Fridays are lazy dinner days in this household! After a few minutes and no luck with food, I went into the living room to join Travis in the floor for the goodbye song on Blues Clues and to get him to go into the playroom and play with me...

Then, I see this...

He was sharing his pita with his dada even though dada was asleep on the couch...

So sweet and caring!

To make this story even better, as Travis and I were off to the other side of the house I see Sasha slowing make her way over to Gavin's face...
She tried so hard to get that piece of pita off of his arm without waking him up.
She tilted her head one way, then tilted the other way and then she walked around the coffee table to try and get it at a different angle.
Then Gavin flipped over, so I don't know if she ever got that piece???
I was hoping he would get a big wet dog tongue in the face...
MAN, I am mean!
You have to admit it would have been FUNNY!

Can you imagine waking up to a HUGE wet slap from a dog tongue... LOL!

And the Shoe sagga continues...

I was determined to get Trav's feet re-measured because the new shoes seemed to just be too big for him...

After Strollerfit today (its in the mall) we went back to Stride Right and got re-fitted for shoes.
This time it was the store manager working and she was excellent! She measured Travis' feet and yes his does have some big ones!!!! Still a 7.5 xw! But the shoes we bought the other day were shoes for older children. They are heavier and have thicker soles ect...
She told me that toddlers do not need to wear these shoes because their feet are still getting use to textures on the ground and their balance is easier knocked off. So, she showed me these other shoes for younger kids... The ones the lady we worked with the other day said would not work for Travis. She put them on his feet and he was off... he LOVED them even more then the others and never once tripped! YAY!
These shoes are super cool... still brown and trendy but the tongue of the shoe sits way lower then any other shoe he has had so his ankle and more room to move!

Plus, I do not think they look so super large on his little chucky feet!

Now, I am in the market for some tennis shoes for the little guy and we will be all set... I had bid on some on eBay and was the ONLY person but at the last second someone outbid me... ARGH!

My Gym Pictures!

Today at My Gym Travis got to play with older kiddos!
The best thing about being with the older kids is that Travis loves to observe and copy!
As you can see here...

The big kid was a cone head...

Then Travis was a cone head!

In every class he will run to the trampoline, jump for a few minutes, take off somewhere else, run back to the trampoline, go somewhere else... then back to the trampoline... Its like home base!

He LOVES the trampoline!

The ball pit use to be his favorite but now he likes to jump in and ...

... climb out! Then do it again and again and again!

Today we has a super huge class.... Here is a picture of the main room in the Gym.

Balloon FUN! I was so scared he was going to pop one in another kiddos face!

We were just about to end class and Travis was trying to steal a balloon from a big kid... He got knocked down :( but he is a champ and stood right back up and grabbed another balloon!

Little Barney Rubble's

Travis got some new kicks today....

Yep, the child's foot has grown yet again!

This time it looks like he has clown feet, his shoes are so big!

We went to Stride Right... the only place that you can purchase CUTE extra WIDE shoes for little guys! The lady working there (and all her wonderful personality.. blah) measured his foot and let me know that my child has graduated to the bog boy shoe section...
7.5 xw
HOLY BIG FOOT!
(I guess they go with the 30lb/36" tall little body)
**and yes Momma has the arm muscles to prove it**

I picked out the cutest brown leather and suede boot/shoe for Fall & Winter and she ran in the back to get it... when she pulled it out of the box, I was like a deer in head lights.
"THEY ARE HUGE" I gasped...
My friend Whitney just giggled at me!

They lady let me know that I have probably been putting my child in shoes that were too small and have that vision in my head and that with her "expertise" she sees that these shoes are not too big...
WHATEVER!


Good news, he loved these shoes and thought the laces were super cool!
(he kept untying them and trying to tie them back)
He actually set a Travis record and kept them on for over an hour!!!!
I was so pumped about the shoes and the fact that he liked them that I started shopping online for any better Stride Right Deals... and found a pair of New In Box tennis shoes on eBay for $10, they are last years style, but who cares they are tennis shoes!
(hopefully they are as good in person as they look online, that is what scares me about eBay)

Anyone know of another place to buy good & cute EXTRA WIDE boy shoes?

Wordless Wednesday

A little bit of this and that!

I tell yah what.... My Stollerfit instructor has been kicking out butts this week already!
Yesterday we did a full body exercise but I swear she burned out everyones legs... then today was legs and now I can NOT walk!
If you are a Stay at Home Momma and want an amazing workout I would look up and see if Strollerfit is in your area!
***
Travis had Gym class today... we signed up for the pass that we can go every day if we want and LOVE IT! He was so good today, he LOVES to climb on everything, LOVES the trampoline.... I am going to take my camera tomorrow and get some pictures of him in action!
***
And a SPECIAL thank you to my super sassy friend over at AnGlOpHiLe FoOtBaLl FaNaTiC...
I designed a blog template for her and she refuses to STOP with the Thank You's... What a babe! She brought Travis the coolest Bubble Bath and a gift card for us both to Barnes and Nobel's to Strollerfit today! Then the crazy woman bought me a drink from Starbucks... Man, do I feel LOVED!
You gotta check her out, LINK ABOVE and on my sidebar... she is the best blogger, her stories are a riot!

***
Also, head over to see Flip Flop Mama, she FINALLY had her little baby boy after 41+weeks.
CONGRATS FFM!
***
Can you believe it has been 6 years since 9/11?
I can not at all... I remember every little detail of that morning.
Lets all say a little prayer for the families and friends that knew of a loved one affected by 9/11.

Eating Right 4 Your Blood Type...

New Book,
New Healthy Diet,
New Ideas...


Check it out here:
Inner Health Nutt

Photo Hunt

Music
Want some wonderful Country Music?
Check out Brain Houser, a GREAT friend of mine...
BrianHouser

I'm Heartbroken!

I got a refund for the Little Tikes truck I got for Travis... supposidly the company I attempted to buy the truck from was a middle man... they do not purchase the items for their store they just charge a little more and then order it through the company and have it sent to you. So, the truck was sold out on the Little Tikes site so it was sold out on the other site too....
I am sooo upset!
Anyone know where I can find one of these?
I signed up to get notified when they get re-stocked... but who knows when that will be!
BUMMER DUDE!

Baseball Scholarship?

Is it too soon to start training him in baseball?
I think the backhanded shot could get us a scholarship!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting

thursday 13

thirteen random things that make me smile
(you all know anything about my son or hubby make me smile... so these 13 are others things that bring a grin to my face!)

1. a rainbow on a rainy day
2. seeing an old couple holding hands
3. watching my dog giving my cat kisses
4. 80's movies
5. talking to my friends about silly girly things
6. Gerbera Daisies
7. painted toes
8. lemon ice box pie
9. new makeup
10. Bath & Body works... moonlight paths
11. warm bath towels
12. fat free food that tastes good
13. My iTunes!

Trav's New Truck!

Since Trav just turned 18 months I thought it was time to get him a little car ... from Little Tikes to ride on. I got on their site to see what they had available because a friend had told me that on the Little Tikes site they had tons of options when it comes to ride-on cars, like college colors ect...
Well, they had a truck, and man I was itching to get it! I clicked to purchase it and noticed it was about $25 to ship so I hesitated and did not get it... All night long I thought about this darn truck and that I had to get it for Travis. I mean Mommy makes blogger templates to buy toys (hahahaa) ! So, after strollerfit this morning I got back on to purchase it and it was SOLD OUT... AHHHH! I was devastated. I did a Google search and could not find it at all anywhere, except over seas and that was way to much to have shipped here. So, after about a 30 minutes search I was going to give up and I tried one more time... and TADA! I found one! It was $20 more but I did not care! A friend told me that the trucks are collectors items and after seeing how fast they sold out I totally believe her!

Here are some of the cool ride-on cars...
I LOVE the fire truck and police are, the lights really light up!
Of course the classic red & yellow is always a big hit!



This is the site that still has them... Toy City

iHate Teething!

Travis is getting 4 more teeth ... his Canine ( cuspids or eye teeth)

I found these charts (and wanted to share) so I would know just how many more I have to look forward to Trav getting...
(Copy these if you want... they are great charts!)

I am so glad we are almost done with all these teeth... after these 4 come in all we have to wait for is his 2 year molars then we will have about a 4 year break THANK THE LORD!!
My poor little guy has his teething norm, a runny nose, cough from drainage and just feels plain ikky... I am concerned about an ear infection since he usually gets one of those also.
YUK!

Here are a few pictures of my little guy tonight...


Even though he is feeling crumby it did not keep him from acting silly in front of the camera!



On another note...
I had a great Labor Day weekend... did you?
I am waiting for some friends to email me some pics from the lake and I will post them and share our weekend stories!

18 Months Old... OH MY!

Today is the day...
Travis is a year and a half old today!
My baby is growing up to fast!

He amazes me daily... From words he says or attempts to say to things he knows... I do not think I give him enough credit for just how smart he really is!

These 18 months have really gone by so fast, it seems like whenever I blink he is at another miles stone. Some days I feel like I have total mom-nesia and can not remember a thing from when he was itty bitty and then some days I have so many memories I need to start a journal!

There are so many things he still does that shows he is still little and my baby.. but then there are so many other things he does to demonstrate his independence and curiosity.
I live for the moments he wants to be held, rocked and cuddled but also love the moments that I get to teach him something new or see him remember something we have done before!

So often I pray that he will not grow anymore, that he will remain my baby forever... as much as I would love that, reality sinks in and before I know if my child will be at his next milestone. I can not remember much of how it felt to not have this little man in my life... and I never want to know that feeling either.

In the 18 months he has been alive I cannot even begin to tell all the times that have pulled on my heart strings, the times that I have cried with him, the times I have cried about him, the times I have cuddled, kissed, hugged, smelled, touched and just watched him... but I thank God everyday for those times!

There is not a love in life like the love you have for your child.

Here are some random pictures of my little guy:

Happy 18 Month B-day Travie... Mommy loves you!