Kelly in NC

While taking a shower tonight:
Grayson: “Mama, Mama, I pee pee in the shower!” (very excited)
Me: “oh, ok- well next time let’s try to pee pee in the potty.”
Grayson: “No mama! I pee pee in the shower…like Daddy!” (obviously proud of himself.)
Me: “TIMMMMM!!! GET IN HERE NOW!”

Ummm, really? On almost a daily basis I seriously wonder how my child would turn out if Tim had to raise him on his own. Am I the only one who wonders about things like this? Am I the only person whose husband is just an over grown kid???

The last 2 weeks have been a blur. Here’s a recap:

~Over Labor Day weekend, we went up to West Viginia with our friends Carri, Dave, Becky, and Kirk. We stayed in a cabin near Summerville Lake and the New River and gorged ourselves on delicious food. We did a bit of hiking (about 4 miles), a teeny bit of swimming (it took forever to find a good swimming hole), and otherwise just relaxed and enjoyed the company of good friends. Click onthe picture above for photos from the weekend.
It wasn’t the most restful weekend. Grayson stayed in our room and woke each morning at about 6:30…that does not = much sleep if you do not go to bed until 12:00 or later. Tim or I would take him out side for a walk each morning and try to come up with activities to entertain him until everyone else woke up. Of course I am sure that they did not get much rest either considering it is difficult to keep a 2 year old silent- even when outside. Sometime going away for the weekend is more tiring than it is restful!
~ I had my first school assembly for the year on Wednesday. As always, it was a TON of work- but lots of fun. And this year, I was even able to recruit some of the school’s new employees to assist with the set up. Yipee! Our guest speaker was from the US White Water Center and I think that all my middle school students enjoyed attending the assembly. Now I have to start thinking about next month!
~Tim turned 32 on Wednesday. I started out his special day with a yummy cream cheese danish and a cinamon roll from a local bakery. For dinner, Grayson and I took him out for pizza! The real celebration was on Sunday. Renee was kind enough to offer up her brand new pool to host a party! So of course we said yes! We invited the family over and grilled out hamburgers and hotdogs. Now that was a relaxing day! I wish I could convince Tim to build us a pool! Here are photos from yesterday.

Ok, so aparently, I am back to only posting once a week. With the final preperations of the new house underway, I am struggling to find the time to write about all of my daily happenings.
~As for the house, we passed our electrical and mechanical inspections and are waiting to get the other two (plumbing and fireplace) inspections completed. The kitchen backsplash, fireplace surround, door hardware, driveways/sidewalks, closet shelving, and staircase trim are complete. Today they will start the finishing process of the hardwood floors and will hang our front door. I get so excited everytime I walk into the house. It looks almost ready to move in!
~We are waiting to get back the results of the Grayson’s last Cryptosporidium test. We sent it in on Thursday and should get the results anyday. I am hoping that it is gone and I can quit being so crazy with the peroxide. On the same note, Grayson also caught Hand, Foot, and Mouth virus at daycare last week. Tim was especially happy since he had to babysit Grayson all weekend. Since Grayson caught the virus they were required to stay home, just the two of them the entire time. Small house + Tim= Insanity. poor thing!
~In my last post, I mentioned that Tim had not been feeling well for almost a month. After numerous office visits and blood test, he was finally diagnosed as having Mono. That’s just awesome since Mono is very contagious and since he had it for almost a month undiagnosed, I am pretty sure my chances of catching it are great. As of right now, I am feeling ok. Between Tim and Grayson I am considering wearing a SARs mask around here!
~This weekend I went on my Girls Weekend to Helen Georgia. I finally get to mark Oktoberfest off my list of “Life To Dos”. I had an awesome time and couldn’t have picked a better group to spend the weekend with. We had a great mix of hard-core partiers and laid back drinkers. I laughed alot and made lots of great memories. I am already thinking about Girls Weekend 2008. ANy suggestions on where to go?

~ Tim turned 31. We celebrated his birthday at his brother’s house with BBQ, watching the race, and of course birthday cake. You can see a few photos from the day by clicking on the picture above.
~Grayson has been sick most of the week with a cold. I finally took him to the doctor yesterday and found out that not only does he have a cold (that has now settled into his ears and chest) but he also has 6 teeth coming in at once. One of the back molars is even coved in a nasty, purple bruise. No wonder has has been so irritable. The dr. prescribed an antibiotic for the ears/ chest and also suggested using Tylenol Meltaways and Triamimic Thin Strips, since Grayson is now refusing to use the medicine suringe. I bought the two suggested products and LOVE them. I recommend them for anyone who might have a similar problem with forcing medicine down thier child’s throat. If only the antibiotic could be administed in this way.
~The contract on our current home fell through. The couple who were going to buy our home had to back out becuase they couldn’t get approved for a mortgage. The husband unexpectadly lost his job, and so now we are stuck trying to sell our house again. I am very disappointed since that means there will be more showings.
~Grayson has finally started saying “MaMa” and actually referring to me. Starting the middle of this week, he finally put it together. Now I get to hear him constantly saying my name as he tries to get my attention or show me something! It’s like music to my ears!
~Tim’s younger brother Joe and his wife Amy are expecting a baby in March! We can’t wait to meet the new addition to the family and are so excited for them. I am betting that it will be a girl! Congrats Joe and Amy!
~The kitchen and master cabinets are finally installed in the new house. You can see photos of those by clicking on the picture at the top of this post. I love the cabinets and can’t wait to see the granite countertops. The countertops were recently templated and should be installed sometime in the next two weeks. This week painting will begin and the well will be drilled. Only 52 more days and hopefully it will be finished!
~Last but not least, I think that I might have to give up drinking red wine. Two times in the last two weeks, I have somehow drank more than I realized and woke up with a terrible headache. Am I the only one that red wine effects this way? I guess I need to stick to the old faithful..beer! Wich by the way I have a new favorite: Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat. Delicious!

No, I am not talking just about the prime number, or the lowest number that is impossible to score with two darts, or for that matter the flight that crashed over Scotland in 1988. (That would be Pan-Am Flight #103 for those who are interested.) Instead I am referring to the record that was set in Charlotte today. 103 degrees. Man is it hot. Due to the heat,Grayson has found the best way to remain cool in our house:

Yes, he is sitting on the air conditioning vent. Too funny! You see, Grayson inherited what I like to refer to as “The Sweat Gene”. FYI-this is from my husband’s family. Both Tim and a few of his siblings (who will remain nameless- you know who you are) have hyper-sensitive sweat glands. Within only a moment of eating something hot or walking into air that is higher than 79 degrees, Tim will get a bead of sweat along his brow. If he continues in those conditions, his body will continue to sweat until he is a disgusting, wet mess. Now of course most of you reading this are thinking- “Yuck! How disgusting. How can you be married to someone who is so sweaty?” But since I just shared all the information with you, I must also tell you that Tim is one of the cleanest people I know; taking multiple showers thought the day, changing shirts frequently, etc. Anyhow, I guess about 2 months ago, I discovered that Grayson had inherited this trait, poor kid. We were out at the new house and had only been outside a few moments when I looked at his face and saw beads of sweat accross his upper lip. Within less than a two minutes, I swear! Anyhow, poor Grayson has inherited the sweat gene and he is surely not appreciating this heat wave.
Speaking of the house, I guess that it has been a while since I have posted a photo of that. Check this one out:

This photo was taken on Monday. The windows are in, the siding is going up, insulation is finished, and sheetrock hanging will start tomorrow. If you look really hard, you can almost see the color (green) I selected for the house. I painted a test square on the garage. The kitchen cabinets should be in on the 24th of this month, so Tim is busting his a** to have the house ready by then.
The past few weeks, since I returned to work, have been very difficult on Tim. I honestly do feel sorry for him. He works over 12 hours a day between his job and managing our house. Many times in the past few weeks, he has only gotten to see Grayson first thing in the morning. As you might imagine, working those long hours does not make him the easiest person to deal with. I just try to keep in perspective that I only have 2 and half more months before the house will be finished and I will have my old husband back…hopefully. Pray that my marriage will make it that long. (Ok that was just a joke…if anything it is our marriage that is keeping Tim sane through this process!) I guess I finally understand all those comments about, “If your marriage can make it though building a house, it can make it through anything.” Of course I heard the same thing about child birth.
Lastly, I have had lots of good news in the past month that I have not had the opportunity to share. First, one of my very best friends, Carri got engaged. I have been waiting on the engagement FOREVER since this marriage will officially tie her to NC! Yipee! That means we will live near each other until we grow old and die…hopefully! (I also really like her fiance- especially since he is Tim’s “hobby twin”.) Second, my in-laws have put a contract on a house that will only be 10 minutes from our new house! They have talked about moving here for over a year and it looks like it will finally be a reality. To make this news even better, my MIL told me that their new yard will be big enough for a pool! Splish-splash, here I come! Third, Tim’s best friend Carter also got engaged. Tim was asked to be the best man and I was lucky enough to be sitting next to him when he got the call and see him get all teary-eyed. (It isn’t everyday you can make my husband feel emotional.)
So there you have it. Lots of information that I have wanted to share, but haven’t had the time.

Last night as I was watching the Matth Hughes UFC fight, I mentioned that if I had to choose a UFC boyfriend, I would choose Matt Hughes. Then some movie promo came on for Matt Damon and I casually mentioned that I loved Matt D. and that he was my actor boyfriend. At that comment, my friend Carri says “Well, isn’t that funny, since they both kind of resemble Tim.” So what do you think? Does Tim look like my 2 Matt boyfriends or what? (Also, please do not tell the Matts but my other celebrity boyfriends include: Carl Edwards (NASCAR #99) and Matthew Machonahey.) Do any of you have celebrity boyfriends?? And what celebrity does your significant other resemble?

Wow, so much to share, but I just do not seem to have the time these days! With my adaptation to this whole “working mom” thing, I am sad to admit that I just do not have the time I need to update this site more regularly. So I am sorry to those that I disappoint. But hey, let’s be honest…there only seem to be about 5 or 6 of you checking this thing out anyways…and most of you are too busy to update yours too!
Enough of that.,…so what’s been going on lately? Let’s start with Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Grayson began eating baby food. I had a hair appointment and Tim was in charge, so since we got the “go ahead” at Grayson’s last dr appointment, Tim decided that Wednesday should be the night he start eating at the table. Rice cereal was the food of choice…and Grayson did seem to enjoy the change. I think he spit out more than he swallowed, but hey! It was very entertaining to watch…and he has gotten alot better since. (FYI- We started apple sauce yesterday and he LOVES that too!)
Now for Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, I underwent laser-eye surgery to correct my near sightedness. I swear that LASIK is an absolute miracle. Within 10 minutes, the dr had corrected the vision in both of my eyes and my vision was 85% better. By the next day I was able to see 20/20 in one eye and 20/30 in the other. The best part was that I was given orders to go to bed as soon as I got home that afternoon. This put Tim in charge of Grayson for the WHOLE night. Ok…well, for most of the night! I did still get up to nurse him, as I absolutely HATE pumping and did not want to do that with my eyes closed! Friday, I worked from home and had my follow up appointment. My advice to anyone considering doing it: JUST DO IT! IT IS ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT!
Saturday: My mom and sister Jennifer came up from Florida to visit for the weekend. My mom hasn’t seem Grayson since he was born, so I was very excited for her to arrive.

He has changed so much in the past 4 months…I could go on and on about that, but just read my last blog entry and you’ll be all caught up! So on Saturday, mom and Jennifer finally made it. Renee’, Kellynn, and Ella came over for the afternoon. It was fun just hanging out with my sisters and mom.
On Sunday, Tim turned thirty. That’s right the big 3-0. Now, he hasn’t been very concerned about this big day, that is except for a few wrinkles he noticed around his eyes earlier this week (FYI-They have been there all along, he just hasn’t taken the time to notice them.) I had planned a fiesta to celebrate his birthday and so on Sunday afternoon we had a houseful of friends and family. It was awesome having everyone over…but alot of work too. I was exhausted when everyone finally left that night.
On Monday, I rested. My mom and Jennifer left. I cleaned dishes and then Grayson and I even took a 2 hour nap together in the recliner. The rest of the day was a blur, but the best part was that Grayson decided to sleep through the night again…FINALLY! It has been about 2 weeks, since he did this last, so I was most excited! Tonight he went to bed at 8:30 (which is why I have the time to write this post) and I am crossing my fingers that he sleeps through the night again. I love that baby to pieces…but I love him even more when I get uninterrupted sleep!
So there you have it. Lots to share….
I’ll try to not let it take a week to update next time!

Tim,
It is hard for me to believe that 5 yers have passed since the day we said “I do”. Not a day has gone by that I haven’t felt thankful for having you in my life. As my friend, husband…and most recently as the father to our son. I feel so lucky to be married to someone that I trust so completely, to someone who makes me feel so good about myself. You have made the last five years of my life amazing. I love spending time with you….from our adventure vacations, to simply hanging out on our couch, I treasure each moment. There is no other person in the world tha I would rather be with.
I appreciate all the ways you let me know how dedicated you are to our marriage. You never complain about my insistance on “dinner” time together. You let me in on all of the details of your day and you continue to make me feel like the most important person in your life. You find so many ways to me me feel special and to let me know that our marriage is a priority to you. I hope that I make you feel the same way, beacuse you truly are my whole world. I love you more today than on the day I married you…and I had no idea that that would be possible.
Happy Anniversary!
Always,
Kelly

Well, Tim returned from his vacation on Friday night. I couldn’t believe how excited I was to see him. I guess distance does make the heart grow fonder! And to prove how sweet and thoughtful he was, he even brought me home a present…now imagine that…a present. I definitely felt like the luckiest wife in the world.

Now of course this “honeymoon” feeling didn’t last too long… just until Sunday night. Here is what happened: Tim finished moving the telephone and cable wires into our guest bedroom a couple of weeks ago. So last night I decided to officially move the desk and computer out of the nursery and into the guest room. Well, Tim came in the house just as I was beginning the task, came up stairs and asked what I was doing. Apparently he did not approve of this idea and proceeded to tell me (in his “not so pleasant” voice) how much he disapproved. As is my way of handling him when he gets an attitude, I politely asked him to leave me alone. He of course proceeded on and on until I was near tears and only then, when I said “Tim this is the last time I am going to ask you to leave me alone before I get really upset!” did he finally stomp downstairs and stop complaining. Now mind you, usually it makes him angrier when I start to “cry” about something, so I do have to commend him for turning around and walking away. So now I have updated my top 10 list below. Check it out!

So Tim is out of town this week on a “boys” snowboarding trip. He has really been looking forward to going…and truthfully so have I! Here are the top 10 reasons why I am glad that he is out of town:
1. I can sleep in the very center of the bed with 7 pillows, 2 blankets, and a sheet without hearing any complaints.
2. I can put anything I want anywhere on the bathroom counter without hearing that my things are in “his space”.
3. I can make and devour meals that do not follow the 3 rule!
4. I am not woken up 3 times in one night being told that I am snoring. (It’s due to the pregnancy, I swear!)
5. I can leave my shoes lying all over the house!
6. I can nap after work.
7. I can surf the internet and “blog” without interruption.
8. I can take long, hot showers and not have to hear about how “hot” I have made the entire house!
9. I can turn the lights on when I get up in the morning and get dressed in the bedroom (instead of scurrying into the bathroom in an attempt to not wake him up).
10. I can talk on the phone for as long as I want! I can move furniture aournd my house without question.

1. The heater isn’t working properly and I need him to fix it!
2. The dog keeps following me around and I need a distraction!
3. There isn’t anyone lying in bed next to me when I want to share how much the baby is moving!
4. I do not have any boring wood working dilemmas to listen to in order to make my dinner pass quickly!
5. I have to go to the birthing class all by myself tonight.
6. I don’ have anyone to listen to me complain about my day.
7. It just doesn’t feel right without him here.
8. The floor really needs to be swept…and it is HIS job!
9. I want to start working on the cubbies for the nursery, but I can’t do it without him!
10. Because I love him immensely and hate when he’s gone for more than 2 days!

FYI-He’ll be home on Friday, so I am pretty sure that I’ll make it! I hope he had fun!

So what would you rather do? Show your significant other how much you love her and how grateful you are for her carrying your evil spawn or watch NASCAR? Read below for my husbands answer to this question!

About 2 weeks ago, Tim came up with this very thoughtful idea of taking me away for my birthday weekend. As is his style, he brought up the subject; got me all excited about it, and then dropped the ball. Instead of crying about it (which I might have secretly wanted to do…due to the hormones in my body as a result of the “spawn” mentioned above), I just told him in a calm (not tearful) voice that I was disappointed and that he would have been better off not to mention it to me at all. Now of course he would comment something along the lines of: “See how things get turned around? I was just thinking about doing something nice and now I’m the bad guy.” Bad guy? No…but a disappointment…well, maybe on that particular day.

Beginning this week, Tim has been trying to “secretly” plan a trip for this weekend. Now by secret, I should tell you that Tim is not very good about keeping secrets. He says things like “Were you planning to do something this weekend?” or “I’ve got to use the computer tonight and don’t come up here to see what I’m doing.” Well, anyone with a little intuition (me) would know what he was talking about, but being the great wife I am, I just played along, as if I had no clue.

Then last night, he mentions that he has been looking for a cabin to rent for the weekend, but that everything is booked up. Could this be because it is the weekend before Valentine’s Day and he has waited until 4 days before he wanted to go to even start looking for a reservation? Perhaps. But then, he happened to mention one other little fact. Not only was this the weekend before Valentine’s Day, it is also the weekend of the first NASCAR race of the season. No, cabins in NC do not get booked because there is a NASCAR race, but a true NASCAR fan might try to find a reason to stay near a TV in order to watch the race.

So to answer the question asked earlier: What would you rather do, go away for the weekend or watch NASCAR? I guess the answer is watching the race. Lucky me!