Wood and Iron

Yesterday (the 22nd) was our 6 year wedding anniversary. I think this may have been the best anniversary yet.

We dropped Reagan off at my in-laws on Saturday afternoon...around 2pm. Reagan stayed the rest of the day, the entire night, up until Sunday at 6pm! This was the first time that he spent a night away from his home WITHOUT us. He did great!

David and I try to give each other gifts that go with the anniversary themes--this year the modern and traditional gifts are wood and iron. I'm not sure which is which, though. It doesn't matter for us.

David's gift to me is (drum roll): THIS!!!!!! Ok, not all of that. But we got the love seat, a chair, and ottoman, and a side table! I'm off to go and get an outdoor rug in just a few minutes!

This is what our patio looks like right now.

My gift will be a HUGE improvement, and I just can not wait for it to be delivered next week!

After we shopped for furniture, we came home to get ready to go downtown for a sprint cycling race. It was so much fun to watch! The cyclist were just going around one city block, and they did so in just over 1 minute. They were flying! It was interesting to watch.

We then changed clothes to go here. We had a great time. We got there pretty late, so the restaurant wasn't busy AT ALL. And we each tried 3 different wines, and we each had an amazing dinner. And we each had dessert!!! It was wonderful.

We stayed at our own house even though the kiddo wasn't here. I'm glad we did. It was so strange to be in our home without Reagan. It was like pre-Reagan time. Very weird.

On Sunday morning we went here for brunch, and then we spent 3 hours or so looking at neighborhoods, touring model homes, and deciding where we want to live.

I did give David a gift, too. I got us a gift certificate to a driving range so we can whack some golf balls with "woods and irons". We'll do that in a couple of weeks.

I think the best part of this weekend was just spending time together doing things we used to do before we had our super kiddo.

Actually, the best part of the weekend was picking Reagan up last night. We did miss him!

I Would Have Gone to Petco Instead of Having a Baby

Does anyone else out there who is raising a preschooler feel like they are in fact living with a parrot?

My kid repeats EVERYTHING that he hears. Immediately after he hears it. Whether it is said by one of his parents, one of his family members, or a complete stranger. A complete stranger standing yards away from us.

So not only does he repeat things like Polly the Parrot, but he must also have dog ears since he repeats things overheard from way over somewhere else.

It drives me insane. INSANE, I tell you.

(If I were speaking this outloud, you would have heard in a small sweet voice "Insane, I tell you!")

Pretty Close to the Tree

Two years ago at Christmas I received the strangest gift from my husband. So strange that I thought "after 16 years, this man has no idea who I am". He gave me cookie cutters, a rolling pin, and a cookie sheet. I don't think I have EVER made cookies like this. Not even as a child. My mom knew what she was doing when we didn't bake cookies together.

Today I tackled a cookie making project with my son who was dying to have ghost cookies and bat cookies. (That in itself is a whole different story.)

I tackled the project, but I was the one that was found on the bottom of the heap in the end. Under a huge pile of flour. I didn't know I had flour in my house. But I do...two bags worth! Who knew??

I was excited and even had Reagan put on shorts so that I could take pictures for the blog! Our first cooking partnership! How fun!!

Not quite.

I did buy a mix that I needed to add softened(???) butter and an egg. We did that, but I guess my butter wasn't soft enough because that sucker was hard to stir! So then I just plopped some of the dough onto my foil lined counter top. I was smart enough to know to add some of that just found flour to the foil, but apparently you need more than just a sprinkle. Dough was stuck to everything~~the foil, the rolling pin, my hands, my nose, the counter tops. Everything but Reagan since I wouldn't let him get near it in fear that he might create a mess!

Once 1/2 the bag of flour had been used, I rolled out the dough and had Reagan cut the shapes that he had chosen from our 101 cookie cutters. And those cookie cutters are never going back into that container.

I guess all of that flour wasn't enough because then the cookie dough would NOT transfer from the foil to the cookie sheet. I had to use a fork for help. So our cookies look pathetic. After about 20 minutes of this, we finally had about 10 cookies ready to be taken out of the oven.

But I was NOT ready to decorate them. They are on hold right now while Reagan naps and I recover.

I had enough dough left over to make twice as many cookies. Yeah, that dough is now in the trash OR attached to that rolling pin. That contained mess in the kitchen sink took up my entire kitchen island, the counter near the oven, and my floor a few minutes ago.

Reagan and I did share an airplane cookie. It was horrible. The airplane is also in the trash. So I'm recuperating with this instead:

The poor kid put on shorts for no reason. I had no time, nor no clean fingers, to get a picture of him pressing down a cookie cutter.

Before I Lose These Forever

I blog to journal about our family. And to keep a sort of record of Reagan while he is growing up. This post is for me to look back on in 20 years and say, "Oh! I remember that! I'm so glad I wrote that down."

1. I am going to admit that I think my kid may be smart. I am very reluctant to say that he is smart, because I really don't know exactly what 3 1/2 year olds can do. Maybe when he is 8 I can say "yes, he's smart" or "no, he isn't" because I do know what 8 year olds are capable of doing--that's my job.

So here's the story. Reagan has several stories memorized. That is no big because I know that lots of kids memorize stories that are read to them. David and I especially giggle when Reagan corrects us if we mess up while reading a story. The other day he was reciting (while sitting on the potty!!!!) part of Pirate Pete ~~ "Gold put the twinkle in Pirate Pete's eye, the shine in his hook, and the sparkle in his smile." But then he said, "Watch this!" And said, "Bold but the binkle in Birate Bete's by, the bine in his book, and the barkle in his bile!"

How cool is that? Don't you think it takes some brain cells to not only recite a line in a book but also change the first letter of the main words to the same letter?? And he'll do it with normal sentences with different letters~~like all m's or all s's! He started doing this after Grandmother bought him Runny Babbit. And now he likes to call all things and people their "runny babbit" name. (Example: silly book is billy sook)


2. Reagan's friends seem to have been saying "I love you" to their parents for a long time. Years even. And I was always a bit sad that Reagan didn't say it. I just thought that it was his personality...which is way off from mine where I NEED to be told that. Yep, I'm needy.

Several months ago Reagan started to tell us that he loves us. Mostly at bedtime. And then it started to be any time and all the time! I am THRILLED!! And now our conversations are something like this:

Me: I love you.
Reagan: I love you, too.
M: Ah, thank you. I do love you.
R: I do love you, too.
M: I do love you, three.
R: I do love you, three. (lots of giggles)
M: I do love you, four.
R: I do love you, four.
M: I do love you, one hundred.
R: I do love you, one hundred.
M: I do love you, a quadrillion million.
R: (laughing) That isn't a word! I do love you, a quadrillion million.


3. Reagan is a bit obsessive lately about favorite colors. His is yellow. Mine is green. David's is red. Everything is about "Is that your favorite color, Mommy?" while pointing at something, anything, green. "Yes." This goes on for a couple of minutes. And it happens about 1,372 times a day.


4. This almost deserves it's own post. Because I find it to be one of the best things that David has ever said to me.

I was talking to David about Reagan's personality, and how I don't think I can describe it. We talked about shy, outgoing, silly. All kinds of adjectives, but I still don't think I could write down the description to his personality. And I was telling him that one of my friends says her son #1 has her personality and son #2 has her husband's personality. And David said, "Reagan has your personality." Wow! That is such a huge compliment. David thinks that Reagan gets his silliness and ability to giggle at all things from me. Maybe he does, and I hope that I am perceived the way I see Reagan. Just fun and loving and able to not be too serious about all things.

(And needy. Ok, that isn't so positive.)

On the same note, and something else I want to document, I really enjoy the nights that it is my turn to put Reagan to bed. We'll read a book in bed, say our prayers, charge the stars (ok, long story to that one), and then we'll cuddle. And sometimes while cuddling we both look into each other's eyes and just get the full-out giggles!!!! We start laughing at nothing. At each other. And we can't stop.

I love it.