Cursed

This summer has just been the pits. I think it's cursed.  first off, just the rain, it hasnt even felt like summer. its been wet and sad the entire time. one of our guys got in a car accident, then someone stole all his tools out of his car. There has not been a ton of work so we had to send some guys away, then our co mangers split causing riley, jency, and ty to have to move; which created some costly issues for us. Clint's ac went out and then his clutch died, so kalob bought a lift and tools to fix it tomorrow and guess what! someone broke into our rental car and stole it last night. You wanna know why? Because they are working in Camden which is the #1 violent crime city in America. they also stole a whole box of equipment. nice huh. It's the only city kalob said " we are not working there. No way" (obviously he doesn't get a choice. ) AND then, he says " fine, but we will not be staying out there at night. Don't expect installs to go in after 9".  Guess what time it is right now. 1:39 am and he is just driving to an install. Who wants  a security system installed at 2 in the morning!  We just cannot win! 

I'm glad it was a busy Saturday for us, and kalob is going to be justifiably exhausted tonight when he finally gets home. He did more jobs today than he has all the other days of the week combined. I really hope the second half of summer gets better for us. just so many things we have no control over has happened to us. It's really hard to stay positive. but I know there's an ebb and flow about life. It can't always be the best ever. but my fingers are crossed its smooth from here on out. 

P.s. after I finished this draft, we opened our mail, and found kalob got a speeding ticket in DC. and it's 30 days late(though we didn't know about it til now)so the penalty cost was doubled . It's from a intersection camera, and doesn't show his face.  I need some goodness in my life!  Here he is! 

Random life

Kalob and I have been married for 7 years now! he made this gorgeous bouquet of flowers for me, all on his own. 

he ordered in my favorite food and we just hung out at home. I was so happy to see him after 8 days away. I think he was more excited to see Lincoln than me though :) 

Lincoln was Very happy to be reunited with his dog cousins! Especially dexter.

 Lincoln, kalob, Clint, and Riley all got hair cuts. I only have linc and Riley's pictured because they were the most drastic. 

It has been exactly two years since his last haircut. He is donating four awesomely luscious ponytails. four lil girls should be very pleased. And my baby Lincoln had his first haircut!! I totally cried while cutting it. he looked like a whole new baby, so grown up. Before and after! 

He really is the sweetest.

kellen and Magen came for a whirlwind visit! they are crazy travelers. riding buses through the night, flying, rent a car, biking, backpacking... They really did it all. We went to DC with them for the umpteenth time and yet still saw new things! You could spend a week there and not see everything. this time I made it up to Lincoln(last time I was pregnant and wouldn't go up the steps!), we saw the American history museum, air and space museum again, the American art museum, the sculpture garden, walked to the American Indian museum but it closed on us, ate a food truck gyro in front of the "million bones" demonstration, and relaxed in the garden right outside the capital building. 

This is the meme guy, on ice skates. It just kinda tickled me. 

Lincoln was signed up for swim class and had to buy this wonderful leotard hm hm, wetsuit. But unfortunately because of the possibility of us moving to Tennessee, we had to cancel class. but his suit will be cherished. he really likes wearing it, even though he gets really sweaty.  

 Lincoln is obsessed with stickers. our poor ottoman is covered in them, our clothes, our feet, everywhere. I'll leave you with this last picture. To all the harry potter fans, it reminded me of lord voldemort, but happy of course.  

Makin new friends

Our office has made a split at the moment. some are still here(us) and the other half is in Knoxville, Tennessee! you gotta go where the money is! I wish I was a more easy going person, but I am such a worry wart. needless to say, I wasn't the happiest camper, but we will make do with the situation, and who knows, we might all end up in Knoxville by the end of the summer. so now that our buddies Ezra and becca will be leavin to Tennessee , I've decided I need to make a friend. I'm sure you've all heard of her. Abbey....Downton Abbey. the desperate housewives and I might hang out too. 

No car! No people! just me and linc, chillin. he keeps me busy, I'm sure it'll be fine. Target is close, and they've got anything I could possibly need, right?  I should probably buy another pair of sweatpants though, only getting ready on Sundays from now on! 

Kim's wedding!

The whole reason behind my voyage to California recently was because my cousin Kim was getting married. I was the bridesmaid. 

This was before the ceremony. I was told I looked really pale standing up there next to the maid of honor who got a professional spray tan, but oh well. I had two coats of self tanning spray , and still get told that! I'm a ghost! 

These were my boots before and after I dyed them myself! bright orange and not often worn, and now dark brown! I was pretty proud of myself. Hopefully ill wear them more now! it was cute, each girl and flower girls wore boots, all different styles. 

Right before! 

The wedding was really beautiful. The groom was an hour late, but Kim would tell you he was worth the wait. 

it was really hard for me not to have kalob with me. I felt out of place with no one to turn to or squeeze hands with. 

Due to a mishap with my wedding ring, i couldn't wear it the day of the wedding. During a slow song, an intoxicated man asked me to dance. I told him yes, but that I was married. He said I was "misleading without a ring on!" He then went on to tell me he wanted my phone number but that he was an honorable man. it's been a long time since I have been anywhere out of my house without my baby or my man, so being hit on at a wedding was very out of the norm and I'm sure I was extremely awkward. As the night went on, the more drinks that guy consumed. The last song of the evening was that  Pour Some Sugar On Me song. I was sitting with the maid of honor at a table and he kept dancing right in front of me. He leans over and says " do you know what this song is about? Do you know what they are pouring sugar on?" it was very uncomfortable at this point. but he seemed to hit it off with the maid of honors mom! so he didn't strike out completely. It made me so happy to be married! man, I wish kalob had been there. 

While I was busy doing weddings tasks all week, Lincoln was able to spend hours a day with his grandma. it was such a blessing. it's so hard to get anything done with him in tow. he was also teething 3 molars and had a cold. I felt bad dropping him off, with him acting so grumpy. I hated leaving him, but I sure loved picking him up! it's the best feeling in the world when they can't wait to get in your arms. he was so happy to see me. it made me love being a stay at home mom even more. Not having to worry about what is he doing? Is he safe? Is he being good? it gave me a taste of what having him in daycare would be like, and I'm glad we don't have to do that.  

here he is jumping in a bounce house on memorial day

and here he was giving me great snuggles. We went to the airport to go home and our flight had been delayed, leaving us stuck in Bakersfield another whole night. I was very disappointed. it meant I would be flying home on our 7 year anniversary. it turned out just fine in the end. Lincoln was amazing on the flights home. Had we left a day earlier who knows, maybe he would have screamed the whole time! it all happens for a reason. we are so happy to be back together again. 

How to fly with a toddler.

Lincoln and I flew to California for my cousins wedding. Traveling with a 15 month old seemed so over whelming and I didn't know if I was up for it. being extremely prepared was the only thing I could do. you just never know how a toddler is going to behave. 

Here he is deciding some toys to bring on the plane, and enjoying a snack at the same time. Chipmunk cheeks! 

I put some cut up straw on a shoe lace and he just pushes them back and forth. I read lots of blogs for ideas for activities on the plane. These are the things that actually worked.

• books, books, and more books. Pop ups and flap books are his favorite. I put them away a couple days in advance so they were exciting reads. 

•travel magnadoodle

•iPad in the fisherprice apptivity case. Only thing I didn't like, was you need a key or coin to open the back, so you can turn the iPad on and off or adjust the sound. we got wireless headphones to go with it. And Lots of baby apps and videos. 

• during take off and landing, you can't have any electronics out. I got one of those see through boxes with the pins that you can imprint in, such as your face or hands, it's a science-ish toy. he liked the noise it made, pushing all the pins in, as well as its intended use. It was a surprising hit. 

•food. Eating in the plane takes up time! treats he didn't normally get like m'n'ms were great. Orange tic tacs too. And eating them one at a time kills the minutes too. we had 8 hours of travel, so whatever worked!! 

• stickers. Lincoln had never had a sticker book before. He went crazy for it. Though he hasn't learned to peel them himself yet, he enjoyed it. the one I bought was blank animals where he could create the face,legs, tails, and accessories with the stickers. 

• a stuffed animal for cuddling. I had bought that plush puppy leash, and he kissed and loved on it. As well as napped with it on the plane. 

• small photo album of our family. for pointing at daddy. 

 

things that I brought, that ended up wasting space, were a puppet- he loves it normally, but lost interest quickly. a car- I chose a small one, thinking he might like to use it on the tray. But he also threw it on the ground, and digging for a small toy under the seat isn't very fun. Also I brought a little car seat dangler that vibrates. He's a little old for it, but enjoys that he can now pull the rip chord himself, but he lost interest. 

 Something that I thought about and almost brought was play-doe. he's never used it before and probably would eat it so I changed my mind, but I've heard some kids spend lots of quiet time with it. 

 Some random things he also enjoyed were looking at everything in the pocket in front of the seat. 2 magazines- we'd point out animals, people, toys, planes whatever was on the page really. safety card- said where's the daddy? Where's the baby? So on. the barf bag- made a quick puppet, and it's always fun to put things in and take things out. Going to the airplane bathroom- I always avoid this. It was my first time in one, but seeing as I ran to my second gate and was the last person on the plane before they shut the doors(!), I had to use it. It just broke up the monotony of sitting still, and a fresh diaper makes a baby happier. drinking the complimentary beverage- I drank the ginger ale, he enjoyed the ice. then turn it over and it's a teeny drum. 

 well I hope that's helpful to anyone traveling with a toddler!! 

Fun day! Museum number 2

I am behind in blogging. It always seems that way. We went to California last week, which will be a post of its own. it took a couple days to get back in the timezone and groove of New Jersey again, but we are back into it! 

today we had a blast with Ezra, Becca, and Andrea at a children's museum. I can't remember what it was called. 

Lincoln is saying Oooh, watching beach balls fly up from a fan. 

Steering the boat.

 Here linc and Ezra are both playing a giant light bright. Lincoln was obsessed with it. He went back to it 3 times. he was grunting , feverishly pushing the pegs in like it was his full time job. He wanted to be master of the light bright wall.

Cruisin! 

Searching for dinosaur bones. the top picture was him looking at the turtles. I've never wanted a fishtank before, but linc really loved seeing the fish, lizards, and turtles. 

 Lincoln is kinda tiny, but he's pretty pushy! he makes his way through all the other kids to get where he wants, and he isn't the best sharer right now either:/ but all I can do is teach him. and to teach him, he has to have the experience. 

He had his swim evaluation this week and will be starting mom and tot swim class every Monday til the end of summer! I don't love the idea of getting in my swim suit, especially with all this hurricane weather recently, but water safety and feeling comfortable in water is important. Might as well start him young. 

my beautiful terror baby is unloading his diaper cart all over the couch right now, better go take care of it!