Bad Blogging Momma

Hello! Anyone out there? Does anyone even read this anymore? I have seriously neglected this blog. There's so much going on in addition to toddler chasing, it's crazy. As many of you might know, I am currently training for my first half-marathon which will be the Rock and Roll Half in Savannah on November 3rd. {want to follow my running-blog? go here!} It's about 10 weeks away and I am running everywhere... well, every part of me seems to be running these days, not just my body, but my mind and life.

I haven't been updating shutterfly as often, mainly due to me taking phone pics all the time and well, every time I take out the camera, Liam wants to grab it and press the shutter button multiple times. It's cute and all, but it gets excessive and plus I haven't paid for the camera in full yet!! LOL

I do want to make note of some notable things that have happened since the last update:

So proud of his poop

1. Liam can poop in the potty now!! Woohoo! He had the first #2 in the potty a few months back, but after that first time, something freaked him out and he refused to go. He can totally control his urges, but some times he'd just rather go in a pullup. But today, he did 3 poops in pullups. :( The last time, he put on a pull up all by himself and went. I moved the pullups to the top of the closet where he can't reach and therefore can't drop a deuce in them and will force him to use the toilet! This past week he did AWESOME (up until today) and we made sure to reward him every time he went. I hope he can get back to the potty soon. I was so proud of him when he went. A gross/funny thing is that when he goes, he does not like using the awesome Cars potty seat that goes over the big seat. He prefers to sit on the edge of the seat (with the seat raised up)... ugh... so uncomfortable to me!! And I have to make sure it's disinfected all the time...

2. We decided to downsize our SUV to a smaller model. We got a BRAND NEW 2013 Mazda CX-5. It's our first brand new car. It's got awesome features and gets excellent gas mileage (this was the most important to us - now we can buy REGULAR gas - woohoo!!!). Plus its not that much smaller than our old car (a turbocharged Mazda CX-7), the width may be a bit more narrow and the trunk space isn't as roomy, but it's still plenty of room for our two 80+ lb. goldens to fit back there! Our car payment is pretty much the same as the old one! We LOOOOOOOVE it! The only downside is that we wanted leather, but for this model (the middle), it wasn't an option (lame!) and it's not as zippy as the CX-7 - but we will take better MPGs over zip!

3. I am FINALLY certified in infant and adult CPR. Liam's daycare opened up the class to parents, as they were re-certifying their staff. I really should have taken this course before Liam was born, but Joel had just gotten certified from work, so I didn't bother. But even since then, the guidelines have changed and I know the most current procedures in performing CPR! Let's just hope I never have to use it. It's a very useful skill especially for parents of young children.

4. Liam had his first week-long vacation WITHOUT us!! Late last month, my parents traveled down to FL to visit my sister and asked if they could kidnap him for the week. We (gladly) agreed and proceeded to have a kidless week vacation for ourselves!! Woohoo! It was fun, but I did miss Liam. We Skyped a couple times and talked to him on the phone... it seemed like he didn't miss me at all!! :( When he got back, it seemed like he grew a foot taller!!!

Baby Emeline

5. There have been a few new additions to the next generation: Shonna had her SECOND baby girl, Emeline, on August 4! I was fortunate to visit them for a week shortly after she was born to help out a little. I had forgotten how tiny newborn babies are!!! I had a wonderful time and I'm glad I was able to be there and meet little Emie!! My girl Stacie had her TWINS on July 24 - a boy - Everett, and a girl - Aurora!! I am so happy for her and her family... these babies are so adorable and I can't wait to plan a visit out to CA to see them all!!! And Bonnie had her second baby girl, Faith on May 23! She's already 3 months old!! How fast time flies!!!

6. We took a trip last month to visit one of Joel's friends from high school. He and his family currently live (he's in the Army) in Yorktown - a place in between Newport News and Virginia Beach, VA. It was about an 8 hour drive and Liam behaved for the majority of the car rides to and back. Woohoo! He also quickly attached himself to pretty much every member of their family, which made it awesome for Joel and I because we didn't have to worry about him or deal with him as much as I anticipated on our vacation! We had a great time and hope they can visit us down here soon!

At the beach

I think that's about it in a nutshell. We don't have much planned for September (that I really know of), but we would like to take Liam to either the Jacksonville Zoo, Charleston Aquarium or the Atlanta Aquarium. I'd like to do Atlanta, but we'd probably need a few more days than just the weekend. We are just thinking of ideas for a quick weekend excursion. Oh! I did take Liam to the beach on Hilton Head Island (SC) my myself last weekend. It was awesome and we both had a great time, other than afterwards not being able to find good ice cream!! (Ice Cream Shop only accepted cash - which I never carry, so I decided to settle on some gas station ice cream bars... but the damn freezer didn't work and we ended up eating half melted popsicles! grrrrr)

See you in another 2-3 months!! LOL