Cute Cousins!

A couple of weekends ago Dane and Ashleigh (my bro and sis-in-law) dropped off Rafe and their adorable little Berkley. Tyler decided it would be fun to do a video. When we asked Rafe if he wanted to have a dance party he replied by saying "yeah, brake dancing!" What a cutie! Here is the finished product...thanks Tyler for putting it together!

Thoughts

So as the cloudy skys turn a little brighter here in Oregon, Lucy and I have been spending more time outside. Now we live in an apartment complex that has a play area for kids. I have come to realize even more than I did before that I am no longer in the happy valley of Utah. The other day I had to ask some guys (looked like they ranged from age 9 to 12ish) to watch their language. Lucy is like a sponge and the last thing I want is her to cuss at random people. Then yesterday as we played at our apartment play structure I noticed I was not just the only married mom, but I was the only mom that was a non-smoker too. We stayed for over two hours so I watched many come and go, but it seemed they all took turns going and standing off in a distance smoking. They would say things to their kids like "not now, mommy is smoking." I had to laugh to myself when Lucy walked a little too close to one of the moms who was smoking and Lucy started to cough. She couldn't stop and I should have been getting so upset with the girl for letting Lu breath her second hand smoke, but instead I thought to myself 'good job Lucy. Way to make her feel bad for her bad habbits!' That is mean of me...I am just so happy I am not addicted to anything that could hurt my child in any way.
Another thing happened at the play ground the other day. One of the moms of a two-year-old boy (young, single, got fired for a DUI and lives with her mom) made me realize one of my new biggest pet peeves. Her son is two right...she talks to him like he is two weeks old. I am not kidding. I could understand his words more than I could hers. I don't mind baby talk to babies, they say the higher pitches are actually good to use on infants. I totally did this with Lucy all the time. But when a child is learning to talk, teach him the correct way to say things and stop treating them like babies. I don't know how I can understand her little boy as well as I can to be honest!
I am not trying to make this a negative post, but I just have some things that have bugged me this week. Such as how some people should just keep their mouths shut. That would include me too! I shouldn't judge these mom's for getting pregnant and having a baby on their own as teenagers, I don't know their situation at all! I also shouldn't judge them for smoking or using annoying baby voices to their kids who can talk in full sentences. Well today I babysat a couple of kids. When the mother came back to pick them up she made a comment about how I still gave Lucy a bottle. It wasn't mean, but it was very unnecessary. She acted as if she were so shocked, like nobody should ever give their 19-month-old a bottle. Then she found out I still warmed them up for her...her eyes got big and she laughed and said "that is so funny that you do that." BIG DEAL!!!! I feel there are a lot worse things in life than giving my kid a bottle. Yes, I should probably start 'thinking' about weaning her off, but seriously, it's not a big deal. Not only is it not a big deal, but it is absolutely none of her business. We all have different parenting styles. We all make decisions on when to do what (stop breast feeding, stop the bottle, pacifier, potty training, etc,.). Every child is so different and it isn't our place to judge.
I am done. Those were the things I needed to get off my chest. Now I just need to wait for my hubby to get home so I can go to sleep :)
Too bad the Blazers are down by so much!

I'm Back

So usually when someone doesn't blog for a substantial period of time it means there is a new baby cooking in the oven. I'm sorry to say that isn't the reason at all. In fact, I don't have a good reason for not blogging for two months. I feel so out of the loop because not only have I not blogged on my own, but I have only viewed ONE blog in the past two months as well. Well Tyler looked at one the other day and I did look at that one too with him. Anyway, I have been getting nagged at from every level possible that I need to post more pictures of Lulu.. Problem is, I haven't really taken that many pictures either. Tyler decided he likes the camera and takes it while he travels. And my little camera I keep in my purse ran out of battery and I haven't charged it yet. Lame I know! Here's the thing. I have actually been quite productive lately. I have gotten really organized and kind of left everything I used to do behind. This isn't really a good thing on all levels, but sometimes turning on my computer seems like a waste of time. When it is on I have to check my email, updated blogs, baby articles and of course any Yahoo news articles that catch my eye. Then I like to look at sales at my favorite stores, my bank accounts, new recipes, good books and the list goes on and on. I am simply more productive when my computer is off.

But I am going to try to have a more balanced life and have moderation in all things. In that attempt I will try to blog on a more regular basis without getting caught up in everything else on the Internet.

MARCH UPDATE

So it seems a lot happened in March. It started out with our friends Eric and Tamera coming out for a job interview at LHFP. While they were here Tyler and I had a few firsts. We went to the Portland City Grill (way overrated!) and to Voodoo doughnut. Okay that place is WEIRD! You pull up to this huge bush shaped as a person with spears stabbed into it like a voodoo doll. Then you walk in and start to understand just how liberal that place is. It was fun/interesting, but was a once in a lifetime experience for us. I knew there were some odd named doughnuts, but when they start looking like parts of the male body and you have two very immature boys with you who insist on buying those particular doughnuts and then taking pictures out front with them-I start to get a little embarrassed. But I do have a confession, they were pretty good!

With the Battles we also took a day trip to the coast. We went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory, a beautiful lighthouse and then drove up the coast to Cannon Beach and ate at a great little place called JP's. It was a little more chilly than expected so Lucy ended up having to wear my extra sweatshirt I packed which resulted in a major nose dive into the pavement. Lulu scraped up her face pretty bad. It made me so sad to see my baby cry and to know it was my fault!

Other things that happened in March were Tyler continued to EXCEL at his job and the area he manages was number one in the company for the month. I am so proud of him. I rearranged our apartment to make it look bigger. I am now sitting in my bedroom to type this instead of our front room. Let's see, I made three binders in an effort to get more organized. I get a lot of magazines and I cut things that I like out of them. So I made a house binder where I have things I like for our future house, I have a parenting binder where there is everything from development articles and fun snacks to things to do on a rainy day. That is my favorite binder I made. The last one I made took the most effort because I had to sew the sheet protectors and measure them like crazy, but I made a coupon binder. My mom showed me how and I spent two days making it happen. I am proud of this one, now I just need to use the coupons I cut out, I am so bad at remembering that!

My best friend Chelsea from High School was in town and we got together. She is thinking about moving here after she finishes up her masters in Alabama and I couldn't be more excited! We dropped by our friend Diane's house too to see her new little baby who is absolutely adorable. The following week I ran into another high school friend, Mandy, at Costco. We ran into each other again at the gym and were able to meet each others husbands this time. It is weird seeing all these old friends but so much fun too!

In March we spent most weekends with my brother and sister-in-law Jon and Amanda playing games. I like board games and they have a ton of them. So I learned how to play three new games: Race for the Galaxy, Pandemic and Dominion. They sound weird but we have so much fun playing them along side Amanda's new ice cream maker:)

Lets see...I got a gym pass, decided I still like working out and then Lucy decided she was scared to death of the Kids Club after only 5 or 6 visits. I need to fix this somehow because I am determined to get into shape this time! I even got a personal trainer and then decided I HATE having someone tell me what to do and push me harder than I want. So I skipped out on my last session and will never have one of those again. He was good, but I like doing things on my own even if it does take longer to get the results I want. I now feel for those people on the Biggest Loser!

Lucy also had her first Chuck E Cheeses experience and decided she loves it there (almost as much as Tyler).
Okay I know I have done a ton more but this is getting long and I can't remember everything at the moment. But hopefully I will get into blogging on a more regular basis so I don't have to write a book to catch up.

Until then...