A package from Grandmom!

It was a good mail day for Teddy today. While he was napping, I saw the mailman pull up outside our door. He had already made his rounds so I was puzzled as to why he would stop out front. Upon hearing the outside door open and a box dropped out in the vestibule I peeked out the door to investigate. There sat a box from my mom. :) Always fun to open a box that comes unexpected!! Inside were some trucks and books she picked up during one her many visits, I'm sure, to a downtown secondhand store. After Teddy woke from his nap, I waited a few moments until he was fully awake and then asked him if he would like to look at the box Grandmom sent. He casually nodded yes. I sat the box on the floor next to him and saw the realization cross his face as he saw the contents. He couldn't get the trucks out fast enough and promptly lined them up.


After he played with those for a little while, that when the interest in the books took place and he'd come peruse them for a moment or two before heading back to the trucks. As previously mentioned, he has a one track mind. Anything with wheels...

Looking forward to putting that puzzle together too!! Thanks Mom!!!

We went to the farm!

Over the river, around the corner and just up the road a bit is the Howell Living History Farm. It's run by Mercer county in Jersey. (www.howellfarm.org) It's a real old-time working farm that has only one powered piece of equipment-a tractor with a wagon attached for the Halloween hayrides, everything else is horse/oxen powered. It's a good, free, fun thing to do on a nice afternoon. They do demonstrations like haying, honey collecting, field planting, blacksmithing, etc. We have been a few times, but not since last fall. I took a friend and her two children over on Saturday and we had a great time! We saw pigs...


And sheep...

And a bull...

And oxen and, of course...

Farmer Teddy!

Here he is practicing his shepherding techniques.

This is how he tests the strength of a bench.

And he tried calling the cows home.


They were doing free horsedrawn hayrides, so we hopped on a wagon to explore the frontier. We 'bocked' at the chickens and got chased by a couple of rabid geese. We saw the pregnant cow, who should have her baby in the next month so we'll go back to see the calf. We pumped water from the well. But, the most exciting thing for Teddy was seeing that tractor. He has a one track mind with anything mechanical and protested (haha) loudly when it was time to leave. It was also the first time he was not put into the stroller for all that walking, so needless to say, it was a quiet ride home...can't wait to go back!!!

First trip to Rita's.

Teddy and I had a first experience today, together. I had never been to Rita's Water Ice and consequently, haha, neither had Teddy!!! It was a warm day and I got the itch to make a white pizza. So, I got Teddy in the stroller and walked up to the local pizza joint to get some of their dough. They sell it by the pound, it beats out the frozen supermarket dough, and well, I stink at making my own. LOL. On a whim, we walked a little further and stood in line outside of Rita's. The one girl behind the glass was slower than molasses in winter and we waited about 10 minutes, with only 3 people in front of us. Teddy was very patient, thankfully, and thoroughly enjoyed the reward. As you can see...

He sat straight up in his stroller on the way back and kept saying "yummy, cherry" over and over. I don't even think one single car, truck, bicycle, or motorcycle caught his attention. I think I will make it a once a week date for us over the summer. I didn't even mind the mess he made, things like this need to be enjoyed.




And when there is still "stuff" in the cup, but it's all melted, a straw works best (sorry, not the best quality pic here)...

AI shocker!!

WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT???

I truly thought Adam Lambert had it in the bag. I am still sitting here in shock!!! I like them both, but it is clear that Adam had the stage presence of a seasoned vet, born to do it. WOW!!! I'm sure I am not the only one totally blown away by the results.

8 years.

Today marks eight years of being married. In so many ways it has gone unbelievably fast. We have been through an incredible amount of stress, happiness, ups and downs; just like any other couple I'm sure. The difference between ours and a lot of other relationships is through all of the bad situations has not torn us apart, it has only made us stronger. We agree to disagree on a lot of subjects, we embrace each other's flaws and we do not fight. If there is something we don't see eye to eye on, we walk away until we are both level headed to discuss it like big people. Oh, we might bicker, we may like each other all of the time but there is always love and respect for one another. We banter like no other couple I know and outsiders might see it as fighting, but we can read each other and we know when enough is enough. There is just enough spice to keep laughter between us. What is life without laughter? Without some spice? Seems to me like it would be pretty dull.

I love my husband, I respect him like no other. He is a hard worker, doesn't really know how to fail at a job-whatever it may be. He comes in from a hard day at work and still finds time and energy to let Teddy crawl into his lap and plays music for him. He knows how to bring a smile to my face, he knows my weaknesses and yet doesn't point them out. He knows my most dark secrets and loves me still.

We met on a Greyhound bus--a bus, for Pete's sake!! It was nearly 15 years ago. I was so scared of another relationship and this one grew so quiet and so quickly, it left me breathless. His love still does to this day.

09/23/07...4:43 a.m.

This is an entry I made on a different site I used to blog on. I came across it and thought I would enter here as well. I'm glad Teddy has smoothed out his sleeping issues some. It's still not perfect, but he does at least sleep through the night on his own, in his own bed. It just took awhile to get there. This took place when Teddy was 8 months old and yes, this is exactly how the situation that morning went.

The stand off begins. Mommy vs. Teddy.

Mommy--100 and some odd lbs. with 36 yrs. experience of stubbornness, 8+ mos. knowing what's best for baby (sleep), and a strong desire to snuggle longer under the covers. Has been known to concede her stance under certain circumstances.

Teddy--approx. 22 lbs, a lightweight in size and experience, but another generation born under a long line of stubborn men, 8+ mos. of generally getting what he wants and is known to loudly protest when he doesn't. Has been known to fight to the bitter end, whether it means winning or not.

It is still dark, with no sun on the horizon. A quiet Teddy stands up in his crib, wide awake and makes just enough noise to stir Mommy awake. She removes him from his crib and arranges him next to her in bed, patting his back, and tried to convince him to go back to sleep. Teddy has had enough, although he yawns at consistent intervals and rubs his eyes. He quietly talks to his hands, Mommy quietly shushes him and tries to sing his favorite to go to sleep with. Tries is the operative word as the sleep almost overcomes her. Teddy rolls over and sits up and talks a little louder. And then, he sees something in the dark--a cat walking into the bedroom. He crawls down to the bottom of the bed for further investigation. Mommy grabs him and brings him back to her. Teddy begins to protest. It's a battle of the wills now, forget who's sleepier than the other. It goes back and forth, the winner is anyone's guess now.

The round lasts 45 minutes, when Mommy grumpily concedes and gets out of bed. Teddy wins this round and is rewarded with a warm bottle.

An hour and half later, Teddy falls back to sleep and victory is Mommy's...

for 45 minutes.

There is no rest for the weary.

Mother's Day.

This used to be the day I would dread with every fiber of my being. I used to hate being a woman because I felt like I failed at it miserably. After all, as a woman, I was created to be able to bear children. A part of me felt like a failure as a wife as well because I had not given my husband a child. However, that has changed and I have been unbelievably blessed. I look at my beautiful, handsome, incredibly intelligent son (yes, I am partial) and I cannot deny there is a God, who heard my many prayers and answered them. I know He hears countless others' prayers for what I have been given and I hope He answers each and every one of them in the same manner He did me. I pray for every Mother without a child, for peace that your time will come and if it doesn't, for whatever reason that may be, that you are granted comfort. For every Mother that has lost a child, without having one placed in your arms, I pray you will find refuge from your pain. For every Mother who has a child or children, may you know and understand, they should not be taken for granted. Love them, support them, teach them, hold them tightly every moment you get.

There is a big part of me that is now grateful for my infertility. I am able to appreciate Teddy that much more. I know this day is not all about me, for without him, I wouldn't have anything to celebrate today. I am a Mama!!!

Teddy and his trike.

We got him his tricycle for Easter. He knows how to pedal it, but chooses to scoot on it more often than not. I have tried to encourage him to put his feet on the pedals and go, his usual response is "No Mama!!!" (Please pardon the landscaping, it's still early spring and well, I don't think they try very hard for grass around here due to the amount of kids running around)

Yep, he's my cupcake!

Teddy doesn't get to indulge in these kinds of sweets very often. But, ever since I mentioned Auntie Garnet's birthday (which was Saturday), he has asked me to have cupcakes. So, we spent a few minutes in the kitchen earlier and made some. Yes, he helped. He really enjoys being in the kitchen with me and I hope that stays with him, I'm really looking forward to teaching him the basics of cooking.

Our feral cat problem.

We do not have a feral cat program in the county where we live. These pictures were taken from my kitchen window (nice view, huh? LOL) and this is probably only half the cats that migrate around the complex. We do have a maintenance man who is kind of like the pied piper of the group and when he feeds them, he walks all the way to the back of the parking lot with a bag of food and has at least dozen cats follow him. I'd like to get a picture of that one day, just to post here. It's a little comical to watch, but the cats continue to have litters and I wonder what the complex will be like in just a couple of years. I would say 99% of these cats will not let a human near them. It really is a shame and I know there is a trap, fix, and release program in the city, but it would take forever to trap all of these cats, especially since it's so hard to even get within feet of them.