Dinos and Snakes!

Today, after working ourselves ragged in the yard, we went to Chase's 4th birthday party at Sandy Creek Nature Center.  Hardin clung to me like crazy for about 3 minutes, and then he was GONE. 

He plopped himself right next to Jackson and touched every creepy little crawler except for the gigantic live cockroach.  Thank Heavens.  He was in the mix with older kids but he held his own. 

After the live show, we went outside to dig for dinosaur fossils.  Every time a kid found one they ran to the group leader to show him what they discovered.  Hardin never found anything cool, but he proclaimed LOOK!  I found some sand! every few scoops.  He was proud.

We finished up with dinner at Five Star Day since we were in Athens.  While we were walking around downtown, one little two-and-a-half year old hand in each of ours, we talked about how different life was before Hardin.  The streets that once felt like home still hold many of my most favorite memories, but no longer have the draw that they used to.  I'm not sure who is more surprised that day has come, me or Jason. 

No love, but no tears bunny trip.

For three years straight now I've said I was going to plan ahead and have spring pictures taken with a real bunny.  For three years straight I have failed. 

Our old club had bunny pictures with one of the cart guys in a terrible bunny suit to save me, but no such luck this year.  When I mentioned the mall to Jason he was not excited.  I told him it was at Nordstrom, and he perked up a little thinking it would be nice like the Santa at Phipps.  It's really in the Nordstrom lobby, and was far from nice, but it worked.

We went Wednesday morning to avoid lines.  Hardin wasn't about to sit in his lap at first, but was okay to sit beside him.  He warmed up long enough for a quick lap picture with the promise of a train ride if he smiled.  Lord knows we were going to be riding that train anyway, so I might as well use it for a bribe. 

We also owe a big thanks to Cat and my sweet friend Julie for saving the Easter pictures outfit.  Never had I planned on dressing him during freezing temperatures, and although I thought about slapping a Jon Jon under a big coat, I compromised.  We had Cawley's white pants and Boss' beautiful Strasburg vest. 

I put the vest on him for his class party the next day too.  Hardin's class had a little party and egg hunt Thursday.  Although it was a little crazy planning around it at the end of the month, I am SO very thankful for my career that allows me to make my own schedule so that I can be there for things like that.  He may not remember, but I sure will. 

Looking forward to a weekend of yard work, a birthday party, and celebrating Easter!



 

Watching the train pass from bunny's lap!

Mama's boy.

My mom bought H this little outfit and I've been meaning to take a picture of him in it for her.  She loves the little sweater vest. 

I cheshire grinned when I uploaded this one.  His hands are MINE.  I've driven folks crazy all my life drumming my index and middle fingers against the side of my thumb.  It wasn't until I lived with Faith for 4 years straight that I started to break the habit with her help.  During my first year closing loans I gave it up for good because I know it made others uncomfortable to see my nervous tic.  I rarely, if at all, do it anymore, but it looks like H is continuing the tradition. 

Oh, and Ellie and Big Boi met their maker today.  With three McWhorters and two little fish they never really stood a chance.  When Hardin noticed he said HEY!  Where are my fishies?!?!  I quickly told him they were somewhere else and I'd buy him a blue fish next.  He said okay! and ran away to play. 

A fish named elephant.

Recently, Chick-fil-a gave out a series of books about Franklin the turtle in their kids meals.  Hardin's favorite is Fwanklin Gets a Pet. Every time  he pats his chest and says Hardo wants a fish, too. Jason and I have been telling him soon, and today was the perfect rainy day.

I'm 110% sure the only reason Jason came along was to make sure I came home with A bowl and A fish.  He knows my tendency to get up-sold.  Little does he know the last thing I want to do is clean an aquarium or worry about keeping expensive fish alive, so we were on the same page with this purchase. 

Hardin loved seeing the big tanks but couldn't be happier with his little buddies.  We decided to get two since they were a whopping thirty-three cents each.  The bowl came with everything else you need for $8.44.  I splurged on the winking starfish, but these still may be the cheapest pets in the history of man kind. 

When I asked Hardin what he was going to name his fish he quickly replied Ellie-pant.  Jason asked the same thing and he said Big Boy Hah-din.  He's on board with our shortened versions:  Ellie & Big Boi.  Ellie has the white belly. 

Say a little prayer for them, they will need it to survive the three of us.  And we did add more water, but it wasn't ready yet when I took the pictures. 

Cheek to cheek.

I had a long long LONG day. It started with continuing legal ed at the Cobb Galleria before 8am, and then sneaking out an hour into it to get to my office for 8 closings. With a bunch of other unpleasant junk in between.

J had a late meeting also, so I picked H up at moms since he was there for cleaning lady day.

He always wants to play "pictures" on my phone. That involves making faces in the camera so he can see.

We made maybe one or two faces, and then he just smushed his little face to mine. Not to look, not to joke. Right after this I quit the silly face and just stood there as he nuzzled me with so much strength. He turned around and wrapped his sweet little arms around me and just held on. Like he knew that's exactly what I needed. I know between my mom, grandmother and aunt he does not lack for loving at her house, so it felt so extra special for him to grip me so tightly. Hug me so intently.

I never doubt for a second that the tiny humans pick up on every ounce of us, especially the bad. I enjoy the fact that Jason and I are generally laid back and easy at home, but I also love that my little guy can pick up when mama is a little off. It's hard to teach empathy, so I love seeing little signs of it naturally.

The Liebrawie

Jason took Hardin to the library for the first time today.  It was successful-ish, but he called me when he left astonished that they don't have a kids section blocked off from the serious people.  You can hear the kids EVERYWHERE, he told me, as if I didn't spend three years of my life cursing kids in the library when I rarely made the time to go.  There's not a person in there that doesn't know Hardin checked out a book on Space-shups! 

Even though he may have left slightly embarrassed, I still think he deserves a big huge BEST DAD IN THE WORLD coffee cup for even attempting that trip with our boy.  He had to promise him the monkey store (Sweet Monkey's frozen yogurt), to drag his book crazed self out of there. 

This was our conversation about the library before bed tonight.  Hardin's bedtime videos are usually strictly reserved for Mimi (and occasionally my brother), but this one I had to keep for myself too.  We miss Mimi terribly, and sending little thirty second snippets of our day a few nights a week has bridged a gap like I never would have thought.  Now days Hardin doesn't even hesitate at the end of my filming to say "night night Mimi, love you." 

Spring is in the air!

Friday night all of the Parkview gals came over for our monthly gals night, and to celebrate Cort's baby boy on the way.  Our little monthly tradition really does a mama good.  And now that all of the announcements have been made, I can talk about how crazy it is that by the end of the year our little group of 7 girls will be TWENTY with all of the new additions on the way.  CRAZY. 

 

After sleeping late on Saturday, we spent the rest of the weekend outside.  Saturday Hardin and I drug Jason to the swing set store just too look.  I'd already done the research and knew I wanted this particular set, and Daddy didn't last 20 minutes before giving me the nod of approval.  While he talked shop with the owner about accessories and installation, Hardin and I tested out all of the play sets.  They graciously offered to squeeze in our installation next week, but Jason and I being the kind folks we are insisted they not rush (read: give us a couple of weeks to clear out our wooded area to make room!).  We've got our work cut out for us this weekend but it will be well worth it if Hardin loves it one tenth of how much he did at the store.  It will also make my mother's life a LOT easier this summer.  The kid gets down right wild if he's not allowed to get out doors and wear his crazy self out. 

Sunday, daddy golfed and we met my sister and Austin at the park.  Our quick trip lasted over two and a half hours.  The boys were having a ball, albeit not with each other, and we couldn't think of a reason to drag them back inside.  Hardin found a little two year old girl to follow around who had her very own dinosaur ball, and Austin played freeze tag with the big kids forever. 

I just spent five minutes trying to remember what we did after naps but it's lost on me after the chaos of today.  I value every minute of my weekends.  The time with my boys, the naps, my DVR, the baths... the wine.  But man, sometimes Mondays are just hell bent on making me think I don't value them enough.  Making me stop and sigh with gratitude of the two days of peace preceding them.  This Monday was no exception.  Whew. 

OH!  And my big boy was climbing all over everything!  I was so happy to see him work past his hesitation from the big fall.  I think it just took a little cousin envy to make him forget his fear and follow the leader.

Sunday highs and lows.

Sunday while Jason golfed, Hardin and I drove out to a little caboose in downtown Auburn.  I've been wanting to take him forever, but wanted to wait for him to be old enough to handle the commotion of a real train as it is near a very busy track.  I'm glad we waited, because although we prepped for it on the way there, it still caught him a little off guard.  Then he was in total awe (picture above).

The rest of the time he ran wild and I tried to snap a few pictures.  I think I spent more time online watching a youtube video on how to change a crazy camera setting than actually taking pictures, but we both had fun. 

After about 15 minutes he was ready for a real park.  We took our picnic lunch to Little Mulberry and laid in the sun while we dined on cold chicken, dry cheese and bananas.  Then Hardin played HARD for a solid hour.  He was so busy trying to keep up with the big kids I was exhausted from chasing him. 

Long naps followed while we both tried to find the hour we lost.  When daddy came home we cooked a disgusting gluten free dinner.  While the meals were disappointing, the company and weather were not!

Plant the seeds.

I have a feeling the sweet little seeds we are planting through reading will be much more productive than our Dollar Tree herb garden, but mama needs to do something other than read every now and again.  The kid would sit around and let us read all day to him if we would.  And it feels like we do sometimes.

We both try our hardest not to ever let on that we are sick of reading the same book for the 90th time, that week, and hopefully we are succeeding.  Fortunately, Hardin discovers a few "new" books to be obsessed with every couple of weeks or so.  Unfortunately, the subject matter never really gains too much parental interest.

We are always shocked by how quickly he can memorize a book.  After the first reading, he's got the rhymes down, and after the second he generally has the main words and illustrations down pat.  He "reads" along and gives books his own name.  Sometimes they are accurate, like The Wocket in My Pocket.  Others would send a stranger on a wild goose chase.  The ABC book (Dr. Seuss' Alphabet book) vs. the letters book (ABCs of golf).  The Bear Book is not a book at all, it's an old insert from a leap pad that he loves.  The Firetruck Book (a foam transportation book that has one tiny mention of a Firetruck) vs. the Fireman book (the book that talks about Fireman Joe).  Bless Me (Good Night, God Bless), Night Night book (Good Night Moon), etc.  It's hard to keep them all straight. 

Hardin liked the idea of planting our herb garden but it didn't last long.  The pouring and watering were great, but the dirty hands were not his thing.  If anything actually grows out of that Dollar Tree box I'll be VERY surprised. 

A bit of relief.

A couple of weeks ago, when I came home from work mom asked me if Hardin had been talking about snakes or lizards.  I told her no and asked why. 

She said when he woke up from his after school nap he asked her Gigi did you see that scaaaaarrryy lizard?  Did you see his tongue?  Did you touch him, Gigi? Did you see him?  Hardin did.

He mumbled some more about lizards and snakes, and it just rubbed my southern Christian mother the wrong way.  She was worried that he was having nightmares, or crazy thoughts. 

Well, I literally laughed out loud today when I opened up the February pictures posted to his little class web site.  Evidently they had a few guest in the class room that really made an impression on our boy.

I can't lie, I was a little relieved as well.  I also can't help but laugh at Mr. Ants-in-his-pants.  I know it took every ounce of self control he could muster to stand still, much less sit. 

A Fantastic Find

I took Friday off work to hang out with Hardin since my mom was out of town.  He was getting a little stir crazy due to the cold keeping us in all week, so I googled kids museums in our county and came across a place I had only been for work events.  The Environmental & Heritage Center right next to my office.  It claimed to have a kids hands on area in the museum and a peanuts exhibit for the month.  I figured we'd give it a whirl, at the very least he could run up and down some new halls.

We were overwhelmed in a great way when we discovered the hands on water room.  I was impressed and excited to find every little thing to play with, so I know Hardin had a ball! The Peanuts exhibit was cute and had an area to plant seeds and pull up veggies.  It was also less than 10 bucks for both of us and we had the place to ourselves, a real bonus.  I'm sure this will be a regular for us now,   Jason's excited to take him somewhere new on cold daddy day care days. 

We also tried a new kids hair place near my office while we were in the area.  She cut more than I wanted, but overall it was a success.