Toddler Tuesday

 Discovery Green started doing a Toddler Tuesday where they have a different activity each Tuesday for Toddlers to enjoy.  Corbin and I decided to try it out this week.  We went with a couple of our friends and we all had a wonderful time!  Corbin is a rambunctous 2 year, and kept running around like a wild man, but he was having fun.  The activity was hosted by the Houston Dynamos, and they had this big thing to kick a soccer ball into, and they had their mascot their and then they even gave away a couple of sets of tickets.  I don't win stuff ever, but my girlfriend and her son did win a set.  So we were excited for them!  Im sure his daddy was super excited to hear about it!

Here is a picture of Corbin kicking the ball into the goal.  He had lots of fun playing around.  I have been horrible about bringing my camera with me lately and I will blame it on pregnancy hormones because I tell myself I am going to bring it, but I keep just forgetting it.  I have a terrible memory, and my pregnancy does not help it at all.  So these are from my iphone again.  And i didnt get near as many as I would have liked.  Corbin and his buddy ran around playing for a while and Corbin just had a blast.

Then, Corbin spotted the mascot!  It is the fox, and I can't think of his name for the life of me.  Corbin was in love though.  He loves all animals, mascots or not!  He cracks me up.  He must have gone up to the mascot 10 times, to hug him, high five him, give him thumbs up, take my phone and get a picture, and so on.  The mascot grew quite fond of him.  In this picture you can see how excited Corbin was to be held by him.

Then after Corbin really grew on him, the mascot picked him up and took off with him.  I followed of course, though Corbin could have cared less if I was there or not.  He was in hog heaven!!  Then he got a little special treatment.  See below, the mascot holding Corbin and letting him pick up the ball to put it in each of the holes.  Notice all the other kids hoping they were next.  However, they were not.  Corbin was the only one that the mascot did this with.  Corbin felt super special for sure, and I was so happy for him.  It was adorable. 

Side note** Corbin has a way with people.  Last night at our nephews baseball game Corbin spotted a pretty lady in the crowd who had peanuts and he went and sat next to her.  Of course, he managed to get himself some.  Then a little while later the same lady had M&M's so there Corbin went again.  He curled up next to her and asked super nice "M&M please"... She asked me if it was okay, and I said sure.  Then he told her "Thank you"... I didn't hear him say it, so I called over to him and asked him if he was being polite, and the lady turned to me and said that he had incredible manners.  I thought it was so sweet.  She was in love with Corbin, just like the mascot was. 

Okay, so back to Tuesday.  Clynt works downtown only a few blocks from Discovery Green, so we went to pick him up and went and had lunch!  Corbin loved getting to see his daddy and I loved it too.  Plus we all like eating downtown.  It was great.

Then Corbin fell asleep on the way home (which was 1.5 earlier than normal)... He napped for 4 hours and I had to wake him up for our next trip that day, the environmental fair.  Corbin had a great time there also with his Uncle Michael and Grandma and Grandpa and then daddy made a suprise appearance also.  Corbin's favorite part were the animals of course.  Then we went to dinner with everyone.  Then home we went.  This momma was tired!  

It was a very successful day... toddler tuesday!  

Horseback riding

This weekend we went out to my in-laws place.  They have a few horses, 4-wheelers, a Gator (the vehicle thing), and 30 acres for playing on.  I am a city girl, but I do like to ride horses.  In the summers growing up we would go ride on our grandma's horses and during the year we would get lessons, along with all of our many sports that we played.  So, I do love horses.  And if you know Clynt, you know that he LOVES horses too.  He has riden since he was in high school and is very good on a horse and absolutely adores them and all animals.  So, it comes to no suprise that our little guy LOVES them too.  I always said that I wasn't going to let him ride till he was a little older, even though he asks all the time, because I thought it was dangerous.

But, Clynt had different plans, and I try my hardest to let Clynt be a daddy to his little boy and give him his say on a lot of those things.  Clynt's mom and step-dad bought a saddle for Corbin size, and Clynt created a little rigged seat belt, and I said okay.  I want for Corbin to have fun, and Clynt promised to stay near him while Pam led the horse in a round pen.  So, it all seemed pretty safe.  So there he went.  My BABY on an animal a thousand times his weight!  But you can count on me to have a camera in hand for this event.  So here are a few:

He had so much fun!  I was so happy that he was happy and his daddy and both Grandma and Grandpa were happy too.  It was adorable.  I Heart my little man so much!

Strawberries!

Yesterday Corbin and I took a trip down to Frobergs for some strawberry picking.  We met some of our good friends there and Corbin was so ready to see his buddy.   Corbin was into the picking for a little while and then he took his shoes off and went buck wild.  The child was in heaven having all the room to run, and running is what he did.  He ran up and down the rows.  It drove me a little bit crazy, not because I don't want him to have a good time, but because I am pregnant and it was hot.  At least I didn't have to chase him down too much.  He was just in his own world.   But, hey, what more can you expect of a 2 year old boy?!   I would have better pictures, however, as we were leaving the house, Corbin was making me late while debating what shoes he was going to wear (or would be allowed to wear).  While rushing to get out the door (since I HATE being late!), I managed to forget my camera.  So the pictures that I got are from my phone.  Not the best quality, but you get the point.

We then got a few veggies and some sausage at the smokehouse their and we had a picnic.  Well- our friends and I had a picnic and Corbin went back to being his manic self.  I love that he is ALL boy and is able to have fun anywhere, but sometimes it would be nice to have him sit well.  We still use high chairs at restaurants because if not, I would not get to eat.  And he does fine when contained, but outdoors for picnics make for a fun outing. ha.

We came home and the boy went down for a nap and this tired, FAT momma went to jam making.  It went much smoother this year than it did last year.  I did a double batch in order to make a lot for giving out, plus Clynt LOVES jam!  Here is a picture of all the jam (minus 2 jars).

Yum, Yummo!  After that day, I was exhausted and ready to sleep!   Hope you had a good one!

Family Fun Weekend

Our weekend was wonderful.  It was filled with family fun, and even a date night for Clynt and I!  As I blogged about yesterday, we went as a family to the rodeo carnival Friday morning.  We all had a blast.  We then came home and I got a nap while Corbin was napping also.  Clynt went out and did some stuff on his truck.  When Corbin and I got up from our naps, we took Corbin over to my dad's house and he and Michael got to play while Clynt and I left to go to Alan Jackson.

The concert was perfect!  We had a blast.  We met my sister and he fiance there and we did a little shopping and ate dinner, then sat and watched the rodeo and concert.  It was perfect.  We had bought all the tickets as a birthday present for my sister, and I am super glad that we did.  We really did have a wonderful time.  We ended up not getting back to our car until midnight, and no we did not stop and in the carnival or anything, it just took forever to get through the line at Park and Ride, and on top of that, our seats were on the complete opposite side of the stadium.

So we got home, went to bed, and then got up the next morning.  The next morning, we were having our carpets cleaned, so we got up and cleaned and moved furniture (well, Clynt moved furniture), and we vacuumed.  Then I went to spend the rest of the morning and with my little guy at my dad's house.  We then headed to the store to pick up some food and then came home to a clean smelling house.  When Corbin went down for a nap, spring cleaning started.  Clynt worked in the yard and I worked in the house dustin, cleaning, and getting the house in order.  At least our downstairs, the upstairs is a wreck because we are moving furniture and everything around preparing for Garrett.

We then had company over for dinner.  Clynt calls me a social butterfly because I will just randomly ask people that we see often for their number and have them over for dinner.  So we had a couple from our church, whose daughter is in Corbin's class, over.  We had a wonderful visit and a great dinner.  Though, I was making monterey chicken and decided to have Clynt throw the chicken on the grill to keep some of the stuff out of the kitchen and he burnt the chicken.  It was salvageable with a little extra cheese, bacon, onions, and tomotoes though.  But as I tried to salvage it, the bread burnt in the oven.  So that was a bit embarrasing! lol.  All in all it turned out great! The kids had a BLAST playing both inside and out.  Their little girl has bleach blonde hair and Corbin is a HUGE fan of blondes!  =_)  He kept saying "Girl, come slide with me!"... It was adorable!

After they left, it was time for bed.  The next morning was church, and then some more cleaning and organizing and more of Clynt working on his truck.  At 5, our CARE group met at our house.  We had a new couple join us and they were super sweet.  It was great, as always.

Then, it was bed time!  Clynt is gradually marking stuff off his to-do list.  The swingset roof should be done today, and will only need to be stained.  His truck is getting there also.

Hopefully next week, we will be able to start painting Corbin's new room, and then Clynt will be able to start the bed.  We are moving right along, and I am starting to nest.  All the stuff that I need to do is having to wait until Clynt does his work upstairs.  Once Corbin's room is painting and the stuff in attics is moved out of guest closets, then I can start unpacking baby clothes, and moving Corbin's stuff to his new room.  Soon enough!

Okay, I kind of rambled today.  I have a lot on my mind. =)

Rodeo Time

On Friday, we decided to take Corbin to the rodeo carnival.  My sister, dad, and little brother joined us also.  The boys had a complete blast.  Corbin is a little cowboy at heart and LOVES all the animals.  The petting zoo was great!  Corbin LOVED feeding the animals and thought it was funny when the animals would follow him around trying to get more food.  It was adorable.  He then went on the pony rides.  He was absolutely in love with that.  Though towards the end, you he definitely got frustrated because the horse was not moving as fast as he would have liked.  Soon enough, son, soon enough! =)

We then got to enjoy all the rides.  Corbin is 35in tall and the minimun height is 36in, so Corbin got to wear his boots which put him right where he needed to be.  So he got to enjoy the rides.  Clynt loved that Michael was with us and could ride with Corbin on some of the rides, so he didn't have to do all of them.  They had so much fun.  On one activity it was a big obstacle course that went up to a big slide.  Clynt went to go with him, and the guy said no grown men were allowed.  He told us that mom (ME) would have to go.  To which, I replied that I am almost 7 months pregnant, and so I couldn't ride.  Rachel ended up having to take him up.  Thanks Aunt Rachel!!  Then, of course the big slide.  Corbin had to go down it several times.  Which is not a cheap thing, because they charge per ride!  lol.

The whole experience was perfect, and anything that makes my little man's face light up like that is totally worth the lines and the money!  But we did go early on a Friday, so the lines were not horrible.  It was so much fun.

Here are some of the pictures that I took.  Anything that I did with Corbin did not get pictures,  I really  need to get Clynt better at the camera! =)

 This is Corbin's frustrated face since the horse wouldn't move like he wanted him too:

Anyways, we had so much fun!  I will blog about the rest of our weekend soon.  It was wonderful!

I'm a busy momma!

I get told all the time to slow down and to relax.  And trust, I totally understand where people are coming from.  However, when I work, I work to my best ability, and being a mom and a housewife is now my job!  So, I try my hardest to make sure that Corbin is happy with my work and that Clynt is too. =)  We do stay busy with activities for Corbin.  Trust me, we don't go to all the places that we go for my personal benefit but it is good for Corbin.  Corbin has fun, he is around other kids, and I am there to mae sure he is acting right. =)   Plus, a lot of the stuff we do is free, like the park, the library, playdates, and so on.  Some stuff is not, but I am good at couponing for those things.  Imagine the excitement you get as a mom and you drive by the library and your barely 2 year old son says, "Library, mommy!"  To me, that is priceless and I would not change it for the world.  Nor would I change watching him get dirty as all get out playing in water and sand at the park since it just rained the day before.  He is a 2 year old boy and these are all memories that I will have for the rest of my life.

I know things are going to change a little when Garrett gets here, while he is a newborn, but we are making preparations for that now, with getting a Children's Museum membership, figuring out schedules for places like Jumpin Jungle, and Storytime.  All things that we will do indoors because I know that I can't have my littlest guy out in the heat of the summer.  Plus, the lack of sleep on my end, Im sure will lead to many boring days.  However, even when we are home, Corbin is having a good time.  We do little art projects, and we play outside on the gigantic playground that we bought him a while back.  Then their are always movie days.  Whatever the case is,  I want to know that Corbin enjoys life, I mean, that's what we all want, right?!

In the afternoons we are always home, because Corbin gets a nap, and so do I.  That is also the time that I clean and start dinner in order to do my job for Clynt.  No, my house is not always spotless, and yes there are almost always toys out of order, but I do try.  The house is never a complete wreck, and with a 2 year old, I call that a success.  Corbin helps me clean up his toys to the best of a 2 years old's ability and that's all I can ask for.

Anyways, I am loving my last couple of months with just Corbin to love on, and I am super excited to have 2 kiddos to love on.   I love going and doing things and experiencing things with Corbin, and I know I will with Garrett also. That's my life and I would not have it any other way! =)

Relaxation!

This weekend was filled with some much needed relaxation, some cleaning, organizing, planning, and loving on my boys.  It was the first weekend in months that we have actually spent most of it at home.  On Saturday morning, we woke up and I fixed breakfast, and we just chilled.  We ended up going to Kohl's, Ulta, and Home Depot to pick up a few things that we needed.  Clynt is building up quite the list of to-dos which I will let you know about in a minute.  After our few errands, we went and watched my little brother Michael play his first baseball game.  Corbin had a load of fun and would sit on the bleachers with Michael and kept secretly bringing him stuff to play with.  Then he would put on Michael's batting helmet, grab and bat and say he was ready to hit, and start to walk on the field.  Needless to say, this momma was tired from keeping him behind the fence the whole time.  But it was super cute.  I can't wait till Corbin can join some sports, he asks ALL the time and I have to tell him he is too littler =(

After that, my family came over and we got some pizza and Clynt and Matt worked on his truck, the boys played a little while before Corbin's nap, and the rest of us just hung out and visited.  The rest of the day was spent at home chillin.  Dinner was panninis and mac and cheese all homeade and they were yummy! The next morning was church and then we went to my dad's for the boys to play and us to work on taxes and visit and eat lunch.  After all that, we were home.  Clynt worked on the yard, while I did laundry, cleaning kitchen, and cooking dinner.  It was a nice afternoon.

After dinner, Clynt and I sat and discussed his to-do list.  Here it goes:

1) Finish fixing his truck.  He has figured out what is wrong, and now is ordering the parts and ideally next weekend, we will have a running F250. =)
2) Put a roof on the swingset and finish staining it.  We used up a gallon of stain and it didnt finish it a couple months ago, and then Clynt decided he wanted a wooden roof instead of the tarp thing, so we put off staining until he put up the roof so that it can all be done at one time.  He bought the supplies this weekend, so maybe next weekend we will have a roof =)
3) Paint Corbin's new "big boy" room.  We drew out our design last night, and now we get to start working on it.  The first step is getting the walls done and buying a new dresser for him, and then we can at least put him in their with the toddler bed, until the next item on this list is done.
4) Build Corbin's new monster truck bed.  If you didnt see the picture on FB a few weeks ago, this is what our inspiration is.  Although, you can scratch the skulls, and we are going to put a firebird in it's place (and one of the wall to carry it through).

(Dont you think any little boy would just LOVE this??!)

5) Help me move more stuff around upstairs to make sure everything is ready for Garrett's arrival. 

So, Clynt is busy and I am trying to help where I can, and take care of Corbin in order for Clynt to have the time to take care of things.  

Anyways, this weekend was nice, and I feel so refreshed and prepared, and a bit or organized for the upcoming weeks, and I think Clynt does too. I'd call it a success! =)

More Vacation Pictures

Okay, here are a few more pictures from our vacation.  I posted all of them to Facebook too, if you want to go take a looksie! =)

These are at the M&M Factory!  Can you tell how excited he was?!?!

These are at the Secret Garden's.  It was such perfect weather for all the outdoor activities.  

The only picture from the whole vacation of us all together, and I had it on manual so the settings were not right for my Grandma to take the picture =(

Here is calling to the dolphins "Come play with me!!" It was adorable!

These are at the Springs Preserves.  He LOVED the reptiles! 

These are at Red Rock Canyon.  Can you tell that they kept getting higher and higher?!?!

Can you see them WAY up there?!  I was nervous at this point! 

Okay, that was just some of them for all the blog readers without facebook! =)

Vacation

Okay, so I have definitely been slacking on the blog front the past couple of weeks.  We were in Las Vegas for 5 days visiting my grandma and taking Corbin to see everything there (well..... not EVERYTHING).  We had an absolute blast!  I havent uploaded all the pictures from my camera yet (tho, I didnt take very many), but I do have the pictures that I took from my phone when I would forget my camera in my car.    I will post them in a second, first I will tell you about everything we did!

We got there, and just relaxed for a little while, and then we started hitting up the malls.  Then we relaxed the rest of that night also.  The next day we went to the strip.  We went to the M&M factory and Corbin lit up like a kid in a candy store (maybe becasue he was a kid in a candy store).  It is 4 floors of M&M stuff, and an entire wall of every kind and color of M&M that you can find!  It was so amazing to watch my little guy get so excited over it.  I loved watching his face.  I have those picture on my camera, so I will post them later. =)  Then we went to the Secret Garden's which is where Sigfried and Roy's Tigers and stuff were.  We got to watch dolphins eat, and 2 baby Tigers being bottle fed, and a few other amazing animals also. Corbin also loved this.  It was so cool!   Then it was past nap time, so we let Corbin nap and we relaxed.   The next day we did a little bit more shopping, and then we went to the Mini Grand Prix, and let Corbin play.  Clynt and Corbin rode Go-Carts several times, and then their were several small rides for Corbin also.  He had soooo much fun there too.   After that we went to the Spings Preserve which is like an Environmental Education grounds, their were playgrounds, lots of animals, museum type stuff, bird shows and so on.  Corbin loved it too.  It was a very interesting place to visit.  Then, yet again it was nap and relax time. =)  The next day we headed to Red Rock Canyon and Corbin and Daddy got to climb rocks and mountains.  Had we let Corbin, he would have been to the top of the mountain with the actual mountain climbers, but we contained him a little.  Yet again, these pictures are in my camera so you will have to wait to see them!  After that we all needed to nap.  That night GiGi watched Corbin and Clynt and I went to the strip and watched "O" by Cirque Du Solei.  It was an absolutely incredible show!  We were both SOOOO glad that we went.  We then caught the midnight water show outside the Bellagio, and drove the strip to just look at the lights (which Clynt had never really seen).  We played a few slots and headed home.  We were TIRED!  The Final day we were there Clynt wanted to go back to the Grand Prix.  Since it was NASCAR weekend in Vegas, they had a NASCAR there for people to look at, and the manager was quite fond of our little boy, that he let Corbin get into the car and we got some cute pictures!  Corbin was in Heaven and his daddy was so proud! lol.  We also went back down to the strip to get a few t-shirts for the boys.  Very cute.  Our plane left at 6 that day, so we went back home to nap and pack.

It was an incredibly fun Family Vacation.  I couldn't have asked for a better time (other than to get to stay a few more days!).

Okay, here are a few pictures that I had on my phone:

Corbin excited to be in the NASCAR! =)

Focusing on driving.  As I type this, he is looking at the picture saying, I was driving! 

Riding the go-carts, Corbin wanted to be in a blue one every time, so Clynt would strategically place himself in line. haha.

Riding in the little airplane.  He LOVED that ride.  Clynt...... not so much!

Corbin's favorite slide ever. Clynt about killed himself walking up the stairs a million times. 

The ceiling at "O".  It was amazing and a clown came down from it. 

From our seats, before the show.  It was amazing to be in the balcony because we go to see the water they were diving into perfect.  AMAZING show!!

Waiting to get into the show!

My Virgin Pina Colada to have in hand while walking around the casino. =)

I will try to load our other pictures while Corbin is snoozing this afternoon.  We are still getting accustomed to the time change, so Im not really sure when that will be.  I think we are going to MOPS this morning, and relaxing at home the rest of the day. Maybe park time will be in order this afternoon. We miss being on vacation sooooo much, but it is nice to be home.  Im in my last week of the second trimester, and Garrett is going like a week.  We have a doctor Appt next week and then it's every other week for a while.  Life is going great!