Another Snow Day(s)

So we got another snow day or days as the snow/ice is still everywhere today. Friday morning the sleet woke my little man up at 5am hitting his window. Then we got a call from Chris's school that they were closed. I was not that crazy about having a snow day on my day off but it turned out nice just having a low key day with the Chris and Nash. All day yesterday we didn't get out because it didn't sound fun to get out with sleet/ice/snow mixture coming down pretty hard at times. So this morning there was a nice layer of snow on top of the sleet and ice so I thought I would take Nash out to explore.
And explore he did. This boy walked all the way down our street, up hills, around corners, in people's yard, and trying to go up this monster hill by our house that even as we watched a few minutes earlier a car was not successful at.

The creek was pretty frozen and with snow in it.

The monster hill I was speaking of.

I am not going to lie. I was a nervous wreck the whole time because he had no fear. He was walking fairly quickly (close to a run for him) and exploring everywhere. He only fell down in the frozen cruchy grass but handled that well.

"I got this mom."

Nash and Sadie running around out back (Sadie loved the snow and went out a million times yesterday and like to stayed out in it)

Wordless Wednesday- Fun in the Ball Pit

I want 2009 back.

2010 has not been kind to our family and it has kept going bad so I thought I would blog about it. What else can I do about it?
So, early on in January we find out that Chris's grandfather was not expected to make it much longer. He has been slowly going down hill for a while now. We weren't really surprised to hear this news but were very much so saddened about the reality that his time was near. He passed away in the middle of the month. There is no way for me to do this man justice on this blog on how great of a person he was but just to let you know he was a wonderful Christian man who impacted everyone he met and will be very much missed by his family and everyone that knew him.
So, last Tuesday was Pawpaw's funeral. It was sad day but also a happy day in that his service very much honored his memory and it was very evident what kind of man he was and how much he was loved. Then that Thursday I get word that my step-dad collapsed at work, had a low pulse, and low blood pressure. I left work headed to the hospital and we find out that he had a heart attack. He is young, early fifties. Heart disease runs in his family. We get the low down on what is going on with him and that basically he will need two stints put in. So, that happened today.
You know what else happened today? His mom, my grandmother who recently got remarried, was admitted to the hospital with chest pain. Turns out she had a heart attack too. I mean really? seriously? is this happening?
Also, the procedure that my step-dad had today didn't go as planned and long story short in the future he will have to have a open heart surgery to correct part of the problem. As you can tell I am still kind of in shock about the whole thing. (all of it). It hasn't had time to really set in. Don't know if blogging about it is the best idea but I am getting it out, sort of.
I have a peace about it. I know that God is my source of strength and I have been calling on him a lot lately. I realize more so how precious life is and how wonderful it is to have supportive family and friends. I know that I wouldn't be able to have the peace I have without God but also hoping that we don't have any more bad news for a while. I am hoping that this year improves and maybe it just will be a bad January and not a bad 2010.

play dates

I have been absent from the blog lately. We've had other sad family things going on. I thought I would post for now about the fun things going on though. Nash has had a couple of fun play dates. Today we met up with Amy and her son Lane calling it a play date and just going to the park but it turned into a photo shoot (which was really our plan anyways). Here are a couple of outtakes from the day.
This would be Nash as "Linus" dragging his blankie around with his paci as it was about time to go and he was getting tired. I don't mind the blankie so much but got to get that boy less dependent on the paci. He has been using it so much lately he is developing a paci rash. (not a proud mommy moment)

This is by far my favorite picture yet. I was below the window playing peek a boo with the boys while Amy was snapping pictures and we got this jewel. Much more pics to come from the photo shoot. If you are interested in Amy taking pics for you check out her blog at http://www.amyaukesphotography.blogspot.com/.

These two were from Friday. We met up with our usual Friday play date with Kat and Nate. The skating rink had this indoor thing where the kids could bring their ride on toys and ride on the rink with them. It was utter madness. Kids running everywhere, stealing each others ride on things (Nash and Nate were no exception), Nate trying to run out the door, Nash venturing off a lot further from mommy than he ever has before. Complete with lunch at the great chic fil a. All in all, a lot of fun.

(case in point, Nash with Nate's toy)

I have no idea where his turtle was at this point. I saw several kids riding it while we were there. I was just glad to get one sort of decent picture of these two wild boys together. They have become fast friends.

Mother's Day Out

So, I went to check out the Mother's Day Out Nash is going to go to next school year today. I posted about this before but basically it is the Mother's Day Out that the church associated with Chris's school has. I am happy, sad, excited, and nervous all at the same time but all together I feel pretty good about it. I feel good about it for several reasons. I have always thought that two was a good age to put him in some sort of learning environment. Chris is basically right across the parking lot away from it. My work is maybe 3 minutes away. There are good people running it who have been there a long time. Nash's teacher next year is very nice. She has been there a long time and I have heard nothing but good things about her. Also, Nash will really only be there from about 8-2 with a two hour nap in there so it's not like he will be here a real long time each day. My mom and mother-in-law will be picking him up for me and still have some time with him which helps me out a lot but they also are glad to still be getting some time with him after keeping him for me for so long. They have structured days and little lessons and themes that they do each day. Nash is so smart already that I think he will really do good with that. He also has been really enjoying children's church so that makes me think that he will like this as well. They also work on potty training in that class. We are going to introducing it to Nash really soon (as soon as his Elmo potty arrives) so maybe we will have a head start on it, if nothing else we will be getting him used to the idea.
I am sad and nervous because he has never been watched by people other than family. I am sad that he will be such a big boy with his backpack and lunch box going to "school" everyday. I hope he likes it and does well. I am also a little nervous about him getting sick more from being around a bunch of kids.
I have worked in daycares all through college. I don't have anything really bad against them. I've seen the good and bad from them. The bad that I don't like is having to leave your kid with complete strangers for very long hours at at time. I remember thinking I probably see these kids more than their parents when they would drop them off at 6 something and pick them up close to 6. There were always teachers in and out. There were some real positives too. Kids learned a lot. They learned social skills and age appropriate lessons. They got into a routine. They got attached to their teachers. There were some really good and caring teachers. I would like to think I was one of them in my day care days.
So the registration is filled out. The check is written. Nash is first on the list for the four days a week. (I will hopefully still have my Fridays with him if nothing changes at work). We still got until August so maybe that is enough time to prepare myself that my little boy is getting to be a big boy!

HAIR ISSUES!

I have big time hair issues. I think it more or less started after I had Nash but seems to have gotten worse. I know hormone changes change your hair but this is pitiful. I have never really loved my hair but I haven't had these problems. My main problem is that when my hair get past my shoulders it gets unmanageable. By that I mean that it is super soft and limp. I can't even use conditioner or it would be way too oily. It seems to do okay right after I get it cut about shoulder length with layers in it for a few weeks then it is all down hill. Also it is wavy in areas, mainly right above my neck. I straighten and straighten and still most of the time have lump back there. Also as of late it has been pretty staticy. I want to just shave my head and get a wig! Okay maybe that is too drastic.
I need a fix. I haven't tried much at this point because quite frankly I don't know what to try. My friend Kat started washing her hair with a combo of baking soda and water. I read about it. It made sense. I did it and my hair was good for a couple of days and then got oily and felt soapy. I played with the combo of baking soda and water to try to make it better but have kind of given up on that.
Since I do have some curl or wave to my hair in certain areas. I have tried doing it curly by crunching it and putting product in it. That did not work well because it did good in some areas but not in others and all in all did not look very good to me.
I have thought about putting some dye in my hair. I have done "low lites" before and liked it. So that is an idea. I figured it would make my hair not as oily with dye in it.
When people cut or mess with my hair they always make comments on how I got great healthy thick hair but what's the point when you can't do anything with it. If you have any suggestions, I am all ears.

Snow Day!!!

Our snow day started bright and early when Chris got a call from his school that they were closed at 5 something this morning. Nash woke up early. Chris went to Shipley's to get doughnuts. Nash enjoyed his doughnut holes this morning. I didn't find out until close to 7 that my work was closed but was pretty sure it would be.

Nash and I got out early before there were four wheelers and everything else out to look at the snow. He liked walking around in it and could tell there was something different about it but didn't really try to play in it. He got cold so we did not stay out too long. The sidewalk and streets are covered but the grass isn't. You can't tell in the pictures but it was snowing when we went out.

I thought the house looked pretty with snow on the roof.

Nash standing at the end of our street.