Thomas

One of the best parts about being a parent of a toddler is that you can so use the fun things they are into as an excuse for your strange obsessions. For example, Garrett likes Thomas the Tank Engine. He's not obsessed like a few other little boys we know. But, he likes the trains. Even has a train table with many, many trains and accessories. Secretly, though, Kenny digs them. He makes the coolest tracks with dips and turns and bridges and tunnels. I am amazed and often wonder why he didn't go into engineering.







But I digress. The point isn't that Kenny probably digs the whole train thing as much if not more than Garrett. No problem. But I, on the other hand, have taken it to a whole new level. I have an inclination towards "shows". You know, the ones that come to town and somehow, someway bring to life cartoon characters? Uh-huh. Loved them as a kid. Probably because my mom ALWAYS took my brother and I to see them. So, I pass this one off to Mimi.

Very long story, I know, I know. But here is the connection. Thomas the Tank Engine "Live" was coming to town. Garrett likes Thomas. I like shows. Mimi taught me to like the shows. So, I coaxed Mimi into getting us tickets. She gladly obliged. Thanks Mimi.

We went and fun was had by all. Really fun times. Garrett sat so still and was in awe of the life-size trains. He suckered us into some fun souvenirs. And by suckered, I mean we asked him what he wanted and gladly handed the dough over to the man robbing us right before our very eyes. Hmm. One chance to do it up like this. Won't regret a moment.





PS....Two things:





1) Did anyone else go to this show and now cannot get that tune out of your head...."Dew-da-dew-da-dew-da-dew" ?????





2) I promise to blog one of these days about some serious stuff, the stuff on my mind and in my heart.....

Leaves and Rocks and Dirt, Oh My! (or, Our Day at the Zoo)

We've been counting down all week. Four days. Three days. Two Days. One day. Zoo day! Today was Zoo Day for the Wade's. We packed up and headed out to the Fort Worth Zoo. Printed the directions. Packed cold drinks and snacks. Lathered on the sunscreen. Left the house before nine so we could be there right when the gates opened at ten.

Oops, somehow forgot to check the special events calendar on their web-site. Apparently it was the "Zoo Run Run" today....some type of fundraiser run at the zoo grounds. Traffic was awful and it took forever to get in the gates because, oh yeah, everyone who ran the "Zoo Run Run" (isn't that kinda fun to say?) proceeded to tour the zoo, too. Hmm. Go figure.

On a brighter note, the weather was perfect. Not too hot and a bit breezy. As soon as we got in the gates Garrett decided that "I do not like animals. I do not want to see the animals." Hmm, again, go figure. But, we coaxed him into the many animal sights and slowly but surely he accepted the fact that they were real. Let me emphasize the word "accepted". He accepted that they were there but didn't really get a big kick out of them. I think the meerkats and elephants got the most enthusiasm from him.

"Is that a meerkat? It is like Wincy." (aka: our dog Winston)

"That is the big elephant. It has wrinkles just like me when I take a bath too long."

Garrett feeding a parakeet with a stick of birdseed.

I have a sneaking suspicion that this image is one I will treasure for a long while. Can't help but falling in love all over again when I see Kenny with his little boy.

Flamingos....this is for you, Mimi!

Earlier I said that Garrett was most excited by the Meerkats and the Elephants. Actually, he was MOST excited by the leaves and rocks and dirt. Yup. Garrett became most elated when he found piles of dirt and rocks he could play in and when he found 3 red leaves for Daddy. Highlight of his trip.

Coming in as a close runner-up to the leaves, rocks and dirt was the train ride. Again, a bit apprehensive. But once the train started rolling, Garrett squealed, "It is JUST like Thomas! But it is tan and yellow." I think the way his face lit up during the ride was the most priceless memory of our day at the zoo. Shear joy, I tell you. Happiness had by all.

On the train ride. Can you see the uncertainty on G's face?

Finally, here is a picture of our cutie wearing the newest addition to his hat collection. Could the kiddo ever have enough hats? I think not.

So... Zoo-trip 2007 is complete. I think we all ended up having a good time... though mom and dad are more tired than G-Man. That's ok... we'll rest when he naps. What's that? No nap? Oh well... :)

Is that her?

Eeesh. Oddest thing happened yesterday. Garrett and I had to run out to the neighborhood IKEA to return something. After the return had been made, we went up to the children's section where Garrett LOVES to plop down on each bed and pretend he is sleeping. After making the bedroom rounds, he proceeds to find the "vines like Diego" which are really streamers that you can hang from a doorway. Well, IKEA has a door with the streamers set up. Garrett will literally run back and forth through these "vines" as long as I let him.

As he's running through the vines he suddenly stops and gets this really serious look on his face. He is standing before a stinkin' cute little girl about his size with long brown hair and brown eyes. He turns to me and says:

G: Mommy, is that her?

M: What buddy?

G: Is that HER?

M: I don't know what you mean buddy.

G: Is that my new sister, Susie? (okay, he didn't say Susie. He used the name I have picked out for a girl)

Ugh. My heart melts and swells all at the same time.

You must understand that the topic of Garrett having more brothers or sisters is on-going in our home. Ongoing between Garrett and I because really, Daddy and I have already decided G-man is it. We really think/thought our family was complete. Occasionally we'll ask Garrett if he wants another sister (he has a sister, Jordyn) or brother to live at our house and the majority of the time he'll answer "NO!!". You see, he digs Jordyn because she doesn't live at our house. No problem that she visits. Just as long as she doesn't stay all the time. (No offense, Miss J....it's just a phase he's in). I mean, he'll even go so far as to make sure our playdates won't be coming home with us to be his brothers or sisters. He really doesn't want to share this good deal he has going on.

But yesterday he looked as if I had broken his heart when I told him that no, that was not his sister, which he called by the name I just adore but won't share (learned my lesson last time when everyone and their pet fish proceeded to tell me what they thought of the names we liked).

All of this evokes the age old battle of knowing how many kids are right for you and your spouse and your child? How do you know you won't look back and wish you'd done things differently? When you are more than overjoyed by the incredible blessing of your one and only and more than content with the one, how do you know that 2, 3 or 4 wouldn't feel the same way? Someone, anyone?

On the road again....

Okay, if you haven't caught onto my way of thinking just yet, I will spell it out once again: my husband is not only a great husband but a great dad. Period. End of story. He's so great that he rarely, if ever, asks for a break for himself. He comes home from work, immediately pitches in with the little one and household chores and then goes above and beyond each week and weekend to make sure I get time for some "mommy-breaks". So, this weekend, I decided to give him a major "daddy-break". Garrett and I packed up and went to visit my brother and extended family in Nacogdoches



After making the drive down to Nac alone with Garrett a month or so ago, I decided to invite ourselves along for a ride down to the big city with Mimi and Poppy. They graciously accepted. Grandparents. Anything for the grandchild. Gotta love that. Only thing worth mentioning on the trip down was our awesome find of some good ole Texas Bluebonnets.

"That one, right there"

Initially I was so bummed that I hadn't dressed the little man in cute, plain and oh-so-simple-get-my-picture made in clothes. (I am one of those moms who likes to coordinate and plan the outfit to be photographed in, for like, weeks. But no choice on this one. Actually, I think the purple shirt ended up looking okay with the color of the flowers. Please don't judge me. There could be worse things to obsess over, right?) Garrett was quite hesitant to even stand in the flowers although he really wanted to pick one. "I get that one. That one. Right there!" was what he was saying as we took this picture. After further explanation, he cheerfully chanted to everyone "We no pick boo-bonnets. They stay in the guh-ound." He was oh-so-proud that he knew that particular piece of information.

Jill, Garrett and Mimi

Once into town, we stopped by my aunt and uncle's house for a quick bite to eat. And then headed out to my brother, Kyle's, baseball game (hence the coordinating, purple, SFA shirts). He is a senior at SFA and will be graduating May 13th!! We are so proud of Uncle Kyle!! And we can't wait to have him back in Dallas so we can play more often!

Isn't he handsome, too? ;)

Nannie (my grandmother), Garrett and Mimi

Later that night Uncle Kyle, G-man and myself went to a local hot-spot....Auntie Pasta's....for dinner. It was so yummy but man is the pace so unlike Dallas'....slow, slow and slower. Isn't it sad that I am used to getting in and out of a restaurant, a real, sit-down restaurant, in less than an hour? The slower pace of little Nac would do us all some good!


No nappers in the car (except Mimi) on the way home today until we were about 20 minutes from the casa. Lovely. Ever woken up a sleeping child? Or should I say, a sleeping child named Garrett? Those initial moments are generally not his finest. Hence the meltdown.



On a brighter note, I walked into a clean house. Destroyed the non-clutter look within minutes. Oh well. We're home. Back to life as we know it.

How to Post a Comment

Hello all! First let me say thank you to those of you who have read my little blog. I know, I know, it is little. It doesn't have cool graphics or fun pictures or many links. Yet. I am working on it. I am not the queen of technology (although I live with the king and am hoping he'll catch me up to speed and make this little blog fun).

So many of you have e-mailed me back with your comments about the blog and/or the postings. I LOVE hearing from ya'll....but do me a favor, post a comment!! Apparently (per the technology king) "blogs live through comments". So, here's a simple "how to" :

1. At the end of the daily post (writing) there is a little link that will say # comments. Click on that.

2. Type your comment and submit if you already have a google account.

3. If you don't have a google account, it's SO simple! Just sign up under the comments area (you just create a user name and password & it's free).

4. If I didn't explain this correctly, then I'm so sorry. Again, not the queen of technology! But I know it's easy since I did it myself! :)

I look forward to reading your comments via the blog!! And, if you've got a little blog of your own, let me know!

That's it for today. Gonna go get some housework done, go ride some horses with MY dad and get my hair cut. Today promises to be a great day. I can't wait!

There's a Camel in Our House...

Well, apparently a camel snuck into our home and he isn't leaving. He drinks as much as he can but never seems to let it go (if you get my drift).

Potty Training Day One commenced yesterday and it appeared to be going well. Garrett was willing to wear big-boy underwear, sit on the potty every 20-30 minutes, etc. He even seemed quite proud of himself. But by 10:48 a.m. there was no action and no accidents.

That's when Garrett said, "Mommy, I need a diaper now." To which I replied, "Remember buddy, the diapers are going to the babies. You are a big boy and wear underwear and use the potty." No argument came. I was so proud of the both of us.

Then it happened. Accident number 1. No problem. We cleaned it up, we talked, we even found another pair of underwear to put on. This was going okay in my mind.

After nap (he woke up dry) Garrett had his snack, juice and proceeded with:

G: Mommy, whe-uh auh the diap-uhs?

J: Remember, buddy, we put the diapers away to give to the babies. You get to wear big-boy underwear now like Daddy.

G: Oh. Well. We get some mo-uh diap-uhs, Mommy. We get bigg-uh size diap-uhs for me and Daddy. We not wea-uh big-boy underwea-uh anymo-uh.

Which led to accident number two. No big deal. This is okay. This will take time. Right? Talked to a few pals, each one encouraged me to keep at it.

THREE HOURS LATER, the camel was still holding it. Accident happened. No biggie. Daddy comes home. Daddy takes over while I make dinner. Nothing happens. We eat dinner. Daddy proceeds to drown the camel with juices and milk. Nothing happens. Garrett begins to whine and almost cry out in pain as he does this most pitiful, pathetic hop/dance/waddle. He OBVIOUSLY needs to go. We get him ready for bed, put a pull-up on him and and he runs to the other room for relief.

Poor kiddo. He's not ready. He's afraid. But, aren't all kids like this, I think to myself? After Garrett goes to bed, I pull out the trusty collection of parenting books that I had sworn off about a year ago. All are rubbish. But now I'm desperate. Kenny gets on the Internet and finds some stuff on "the camel syndrome". Kenny begins to convince me that it's okay, he's just not ready.

(Might I just stop here for a minute and applaud my hubby. He's the best. Just jumps on in there with the best of them. Garrett is lucky. I am lucky. No doubt about it.)

I decided to wait it out until morning. Maybe the night will tell. The night will tell, you ask? Yes the night. We have this lovely little thermometer in Garrett's sleeping habits. If he is restless and talks/screams in his sleep or gets up a lot, we know he's under stress. And it happened. So many night wakings that I lost count. Poor kiddo. Bless his little heart. He's not ready.

So, we will wait. We will be patient with him. But boy do I feel like the worst mom in the world. Poor little guy tried to tell me. Bless MY little heart. So, I'll leave you with this happy heart picture...because that is how the boy is feeling now....he's got a very happy heart (and a diaper).

Garrett posing (we didn't tell him to do this...he's just a bit camera happy) in his newest hat (Veggie Tales) and his shirt from Jess.

Inclement Mommy Weather

Well, the intentions were good. More than good. They were great. Yet Potty Training Day One was postponed due to inclement Mommy weather. I woke up this morning with no voice. Zero. Nadda. Nil. Apparently that nice little sinus infection I had last week came back with an added bonus of laryngitis. Nice timing. Really nice.

For those of you who don't know me all that well, you might want to know that I am a bit "Type A" and when I get a plan, you better not get in my path. Well, okay, if you get in my path I will usually find a way around you. BUT -- there was no way to find a way around no voice for potty training directions to be given, praises to be shouted. Big, fat, bummer!

So, Garrett and I proceeded to run the only two errands we had this morning: a) signing up for preschool in the fall (and score, we landed a spot at our most coveted little Frisco establishment for those four feet and under...I've been on the waiting list and lottery system for this place since January 2006) and b) going to get G's allergy treatment -- this week was for calcium.

I must note that Garrett woke up in a fairly happy mood after zero night wakings - score for us- but soon became agitated with my lack of ability to chit-chat. Another in case you didn't know, our son could chit-chat with the best of them....a wall, a hat, the dog, his shoes, and so on. So the fact that no one was speaking back to him was probably devastating. We had several meltdowns. "Mommy, TALK! Mommy, please talk louder! Mommy, talk N-O-W!"

Okay, so a third errand popped up after the nice folks at my doctor's office agreed to call me in a prescription. (And if you are thinking, how did she talk to them, I didn't. I recruited #1 Hubby In Town to do the talking.) One more stop....Target Pharmacy for some much needed Mommy "nummy-nummy" (a.k.a. medicine). Which leads us to round two of Garrett desperately needing me to chit-chat about every product shelved at his little eye level. Poor little guy. Can't a brother catch a break?

Headed home after that, tried to find a healthy yet calcium free lunch for the little man and something, anything for Mommy. And then, lo and behold, my knight and shining armor came home!! Garrett and I both ran to the door and threw our arms around him! My sweet, sweet husband agreed to work from home this afternoon so that both Garrett and I could catch some zzz's. Lovely for me, huh? Isn't he just the greatest catch? I dare say, "Yes!!" Special thanks go out to DeeDee and Poppa for training him well!

Not much else....a visit to the park for Garrett and the old "Mommy ain't cooking so let's go to Wendy's" trick. Kenny and Garrett watering the plants, about to get ready for bath and bed, and then I'm off to TV-wonderland....Dancing with the Stars and the Bachelor. Or maybe we'll catch the DVR version of another not-so-hip but we-love-it show. I know, I know. Pitiful TV habits but what's a girl, a sick girl with no voice, to do on a Monday night? (I am secretly wishing I could catch up with some friends via the phone....actually I am having conversation withdrawals....note, best buddy has been out of town since Thursday...girl, we gotta catch up!)

So, I am praying these wonder drugs kick in and my voice will be up and running for the delayed start of Potty Training Day One. It's gotta happen tomorrow. Voice or no voice. Right?

So this is blogging???

So, I have finally decided to start a little blog to journal and share our family happenings. It seems that I find myself sending out a weekly e-mail with pictures of Mr. G -- so I thought it might be fun to do it all here instead! No more overloading anyone's e-mail account or bogging down those without kiddos with my mundane yet oh-so-fascinating to grandparents e-mails.

Another reason I thought this week just might be the week to start our blog is because Garrett and I are going into hibernation. Literally. Tomorrow marks the start for "Potty Training Week" and Garrett and I plan to stay home, not go anywhere and get this stuff down. Due to our hibernation, I know there are many grandparents going into mourning and I thought this little blog might provide a daily glimpse into the little man's happenings.

On that note, I will gladly accept anyone's potty training pointers, especially from the mommies of little boys! I think we are set. Underwear, lot's and lot's of underwear - check. Pull-ups for naps and nighttime - check. Stickers and sticker charts - check. Skittles - check. Gummies - check. Scented stamps - check. Special handsoap - check. Little potty and big potty seats - check. Carpet cleaning supplies - check. Potty picture books - check. Special juice boxes for ammunition - check. WHAT ELSE COULD THERE BE PEOPLE?

Switching gears altogether, today has been a special and fun "Mommy and Garrett" day! I woke up feeling under the weather and not looking forward to treking through mommy-hood on my own (Daddy was off to the Nascar races with all of the Wade men). But, after about an hour of laying on the couch and watching Diego and realizing that Mr. G had committed one of the ultimate "Daddy No-no's" (see picture) I dragged myself up and to the shower. After Garrett and I were both dressed, we headed out to our favorite eatery. You gotta love this place, people! You buy a shirt for the kiddo one time and every time after that when the kiddo wears the shirt, you get his meal for free! Garrett thinks it's the coolest thing ever. "We going to Witzy's, Mommy?!? I have chicken nuggets, french fries and ICE CREAM!!" Today Mr. G chose chocolate oreo ice cream on a cone. Delicious!



After our venture to Ritzy's, we headed over to our neighbor's house for a 2 yr. old birthday party. Garrett kept insisting, "No, it is MINE birthday party, Mommy." During the drive over to said birthday party, Garrett and I reviewed and listed and creatively came up with "nice words" and "nice hands" that he could use. You have to understand that Garrett and said Birthday Boy have this love-hate relationship going on. They both cannot wait to see one another and typically greet one another with a hug so huge that tumbles them both to the ground. But then it usually goes downhill from there. And I must say that it is usually my child dragging said Birthday Boy to the ground with his hitting, pushing and general tackling. So, you can understand my fear and apprehension as we approached said Birthday Boy's house. Deep breath in. I can do this. I will more than likely have to drag Mr. G home kicking and screaming for beating up all the others. But it will be okay. Because this HAS to be a phase. This HAS to be a normal, strong-willed, two year old thing.

I am happy to report that Garrett and said Birthday Boy got along FABULOUSLY! They hugged. They blew bubbles. They played on his awesome new backyard toy. They even danced to some music. People this is HUGE! Our times together with the boys typically lasts about 2 minutes and 30 seconds prior to the first brawl breaking out. It never did! (Now, that doesn't mean that my sweet, precious one didn't proceed to push or hit 3 other kids.) It was all a success to me!

After a nap together with some good "snuggle buggle" time, Garrett and I played a bit more of "Diego" and then headed off to "westeraunt" number two - Randy White's BBQ! It was like another date with my little man....we ordered, we sat, we ate, we got some more chocolate ice cream and then headed home with the windows rolled down jammin' to Blue's Clues music. (Yes, I know, it is pathetic to those of you without kiddos that I would actually jam to this music....you just watch and wait for your turn).





Once finally back at the casa, we played some more, Mr. G took his bath and waited anxiously for Daddy to arrive back home. Oops, must insert this story: Garrett proceeded to "shave" in the bath tub tonight like Daddy. He lathered up his sweet little cheeks with the cream and proudly shouted "I am like Daddy. I shave my whisk-uhs!" Gotta love it!





So, this is probably the world's longest and most boring post. I will try to keep it down next time. I just didn't want to leave any part of our precious day out. I worry that I will look back when Garrett is 12 and not be able to remember these precious days. Gotta get it on paper. Or a blog. Or somewhere.