its all on me

whoever was the creative force behind the playskool ball popper and thought that toddlers would love it was dead on.

however, that same person MUST not have been a mom who on any given day is up to her armpits with laundry, dirty dishes, two lovable labs, floors that need to be cleaned, and chasing after a busy one year old. IF he/she were they would have reconsidered this toy. Its so cute that Christopher can push the red button to make the popper pop but its NOT so cute that these little five balls shoot off in 5 different directions.

This creates a giggle from my little man and he thinks its a game. NOT FUN! Especially when a certain yellow lab thinks he is part of the game too and tries to catch them in his mouth.

To the makers of the playskool ball popper, while this is a great toy for your toddler market I think there should be a warning to parents as to their level of commitment to make this an enjoyable toy. Lets face it....there might have been a time or two that the balls popped, went their five directions and when the red button was pushed and nothing came out....Mommy said "uh oh, its broken."

This should be called the "greatest workout ever" Really, have you ever tried to run in 5 different directions and dump them back into the tube just to do it all again. And your being timed.....

At the end of the day, I'm BEAT. Not by and active 1 year old. But by this crazy ball popping toy!

I'm sure I will enjoy this toy more in a few months when Christopher can retrieve them on his own. Until then, its all on me.....oh and Cooper.

A door frame to a special moment

We are BAAAACCCKKKK! More on vacation later but lets just say it was a great time to be away, together and with great friends but honestly I could not be happier to be back home with my little man!

Since about 10, I knew I wanted to be a wife and mommy. I just had that yearning. After 5 years of trying, fertility treatments and procedures we were pregnant. I will never forget the day. I was sure it didn't take and felt like I was going to start my cycle any moment. I walked into the Reproductive Endo (RE) office that morning for my blood test and told the sweet nurse not to even bother with the blood test. She said she had to so I obliged. She said she would call that afternoon with news. I went on to work. The phone rang at 2:33 that afternoon. I was alone in my office and recognising the number, almost chose not to answer.

The voice on the phone started with "I'm sorry to tell you" Great......I knew what was coming. "Shannon, you were wrong. Congrats, you are pregnant" WHAT? ME? I could not believe it! I sputtered some sort of thank you and called J who was expecting the same news I was. We were cautiously hopeful. From there, we needed our numbers to double each test over the next couple of days to signify a viable pregnancy. They quadrupled each time. Great news....either a VERY healthy pregnancy or several little ones.

The result is my precious Christopher James! I could not be more blessed. I have the sweetest, happiest and lovely little boy. I just love to watch him discover new things and see his little person develop.

I was the one to approached Jonathan about getting away for a weekend or something. We haven't had much of that since our honeymoon 7 years ago. I KNEW we needed some down time together but didn't know how hard that would be. We decided on the cruise with our good friends Marcus and Amanda. It was the perfect trip (almost.....but more on that for another post).

Our plane was 20 minutes early getting into Dallas. It had been a long day. We were up on Sunday at 7am and after 2 flights 5pm couldn't get here fast enough. There was another plane still at the gate so we waited. Those 20 minutes almost killed me!! I knew my little man would be sitting in the baggage claim area with Jonathan's parents. I couldn't be there fast enough. As we began to deplane, J grabbed my carry on and told me to "go". That was all I needed I ran, tears streaming to see my little man.

The rest of the evening, we just spent as a family. Cuddled, read books, talked and played. The cruise was great, but there is NO place I would rather be than with my guys! Just like the day we found out we were pregnant, I don't think I will ever forget this day!

Jonathan was getting Christopher ready for bed and I was washing and unpacking our bags. I changed into some comfys and checked on my guys. I found them rocking in the chair, cuddled together and just quiet. I sat, crying for the umpteenth time, leaning on the door frame watching a special moment.

Blessed. God has a perfect plan for our lives. And although there were times I was hopeless and impatient, I knew He had us tightly in His grip. His perfect plan isn't contingent on my timing or my goals but because he knows best and wants the best for me.

Now, sitting on the floor, playing with my little miracle I love that I get to see that little 10 year old girls dream alive!

There is no place I would rather be!

The big man just likes to chill....

Its been a busy week. Right now I should be packing for our cruise since we leave in less than 48 hours and I have to be packed by tomorrow night! Instead, I'm editing gallery's and looking at my little guy. Its going to be hard to leave him behind....good for him and us but hard still.

I have pictures from his first birthday that I need to edit and post....more on that soon. But until we get back from the cruise I just have these to share.

On Monday, the Harry kiddos came to play at our park. I would have called them the Harry Boys but that just sounded weird. We had a fun, all boy climbfest and they were pooped after a picnic lunch.

Here are a few of my favs of C from that day. As my mom calls him, the man of many expressions.....he didn't disappoint!!

Christopher LOVED hanging on the fence....I think he felt so big.

He liked watching the big boys run around.

He was in a great mood and kept flirting with Jenny.

Found some pretty cool sticks.

Mulch is a good source of fiber....right?

Climbed all over the play structures....this guy has no fear!

It was a great afternoon at the park with great friends. Christopher played hard and then too a minute before we left.....just to chill!