Vacation

Well more of a “staycation”…

For awhile now, I have known that Aedan’s sitter was going to be on out of town for the first week of August. I made sure not to plan on seeing clients for the week since I would need to be home with Aedan.

As the time came closer, I decided I should just take the week off for a staycation of sorts. It has been a busy summer and a very busy last month when it comes to work. I thought this would be a good chance to take a break before the school year starts up again.

Once I decided to take the week off, Jon decided he could take the week off also. He has lots of vacation time this year and has not touched it at all.

We are both excited to have the time off! We went out to breakfast this morning and were talking about how nice it is that we don’t have to work tomorrow.

We have some fun things planned for the week, including heading down to New Braunfels for a few days to hang out with Jon’s parents and spending some time with my sister and parents later in the week.

I know this week off is going to fly by but for now I am going to relax and enjoy the fact that we are on vacation staycation.

-Lauren-

Bringing the Bouncy Chair Back

Yesterday, when I picked Aedan up at the sitter’s house, she opened the door and said I had to come see where he was hanging out. I walked across the room and found him lounging in a bouncy seat. Yes, my 25lb 16 month old hanging out in a seat made for a little baby. He looked ridiculous! I wish I had had my phone with me and had a picture of it. The bouncy seat was practically laying flat with him in it. The sitter said he kept going over and getting in all morning. Silly boy!

When we got home I told Jon about it and he decided to go get Aedan’s old bouncy seat out of the garage. When Aedan woke up from his nap, he was pretty excited and decided he needed to have snack in his “new chair”.

He has grown up a lot!!

He spend the afternoon crawling in and out of the seat and bouncing on it like it was a trampoline.

-Lauren-

Spending Diet–Update

So we have been at this little spending diet for 13 days (only 2 days to go). I have to be honest, we have cheated a time or two three. BUT I have not been to Target once in the last 13 days, which is pretty huge. I tend to get bored during the day and just go to Target. I usually never leave empty handed so while I don’t spend too much at each trip, the total adds up quickly.

So where have we cheated?

Well last Wednesday Jon found out he was going to have to go to LA to help with a Dell commercial over the weekend (it’s not for TV, but he totally got to be in it! If we get a copy of the commercial, I’ll post it!). So on Thursday night we decided to get veggie burgers from P.Terrys. BUT I had taken our jar of coins to the grocery store and got cash so we used that money (I will also be using some of that cash when I go to girl’s night tonight, yay for margaritas and girl chat!!). So it was kind of cheating and kind of not, right?

Then I totally found the perfect jacket online at Old Navy and it was on sale (no doubt due to the warm hot front that seems to be everywhere). I have been looking for a jacket like this for awhile now and I just knew it would be sold out if I waited to buy it. So I cashed in our Discover points for an Old Navy gift card and ordered it. It came yesterday and I love it. Too bad it is going to be like 4 months before it will actually be cold enough for me to wear it!

 

 

Cheat number three is all on Jon, but it was for me so I am not complaining. I was a little jealous that he got to go to LA for the weekend and I had to stay home. He did have to work, but he had all day Saturday to explore and he kept telling me about all the stores and restaurants he could walk to from his hotel. Lame. So I had mentioned awhile back that I wanted to get this wallet from Vera Bradley. It is just like my beloved fossil wallet that I used for years (I even bought a second one and used that for a long time, but sadly the zippers broke on both of them). Well when Jon got back on Sunday, he causally left a shopping back on the table. It was from a bookstore so I figured he had picked up a book for his trip back. But it was the wallet I have been wanting! I was super surprised. :)

And I guess I should admit I have used my business credit card at Starbucks a couple of times over the last two week when I was working or doing interviews. BUT since that is work, I don’t think it counts. :)

Now with only 2 days left, we are already planning another spending diet for the last part of August and who knows maybe I will hold off on going to Target for a whole month.

-Lauren-

The Many Faces of Aedan

On Friday Aedan and I stayed home all day. It was really nice to not have anywhere to go, especially since it was 105 outside! We spent the day playing, cuddling and taking it easy. I played with my camera and got these funny shots.

This first one is the reaction I got when he noticed I was taking his picture. He gives me this look a lot; whenever he is trying to tell me something really important. Can we say extrovert! Goodness!

This next one is the look I got when I told him to “say cheese” and modeled a fake smile. Nice right?

Haha! Apparently this is what I look like when I fake smile.

-Lauren-

Instagram

I jumped on the Instagram bandwagon. It makes taking pictures with my iphone so fun!

Check out this little guy’s new trick. Good grief!

-Lauren-

Snack Time

I took these pictures awhile ago with my new camera. I’ve been slacking on getting the pictures onto my computer lately. First I couldn’t find the cord I needed. Then Jon changed the way we are storing/backing up all of our documents and pictures and I couldn’t get Lightroom to recognize where all the pictures were.. Jon finally fixed that for me, so now I should be good to go. :)

Anyway. Aedan usually have a snack after his afternoon nap. Sometimes he eats at the table, sometimes outside and sometimes I give him his snack in a snack cup and let him pick were he eats (his favorite). Most of the time he takes his drink and snack and sits on the tile in our entry way. After a few minutes he gets up and attempts to share his snack with his best friend…

Hiro didn’t mind at all, he has decided that veggie straws are pretty good too.

-Lauren-

p.s. these pictures are really grainy. I had my iso up high because it was cloudy outside and dark inside, Aedan moves fast and I am still exploring with my new camera. :)

Spending Diet

Jon and I have decided to try a little spending diet. We started yesterday and for the next two weeks we are only spending money on gas and groceries. Nothing else (well nothing other than our bills of course). I don’t think it will be too hard except it means no shopping here for me…

Target is my weakness. It also means no eating out, which is something we tend to do a lot on the weekends. Today we went to Costco and the grocery store to stock up. Jon made some homemade black bean burgers for dinner and they were delicious. So far so good. :)

I think this two week spending diet will be good for us. It will force us to find other things to do on the weekends besides shopping or eating out and stop me from going to Target when I really don’t need a thing.

We decided we would see how it goes and maybe even try to do it for the whole month of September (We have a mini vacation planned for August so we know we will be eating out and such then).

On a completely different topic, I watched this documentary yesterday. It was really good and totally made me want to go buy a juicer and try it for myself. BUT that would defeat the whole spending diet so I changed my mind. Plus we don’t eat very much meat in the first place. I probably cook chicken maybe once a week/two weeks and I don’t cook red meat at all. I do think I am going to try and make one of these smoothies tomorrow. I’ll let you know what I think. Definitely check out the movie too!

-Lauren-

He’s Got Some Moves

Since pretty much forever, Aedan has loved music. He was swaying to music before he could sit up or crawl. Now that he is older he loves to dance.

Check out his latest moves…

Haha! I think he is ready for ACL!

-Lauren-

Quick Update

Yeesh, where did the week, er and weekend go? How has it already been a week since my last post!
When we got back from our weekend in Plano last Monday, my throat started hurting. I figured it was just allergies or the cold that Jon and Aedan have had over the last week.
Then when I woke up Tuesday morning and still had a score throat I was a little bummed. It is never fun to be sick, but being sick when it is over 100 degrees outside just seems wrong.
As I was cleaning up breakfast I noticed a small red blister on my palm. Then about and hour later, I noticed a couple more. Ugh. Stupid hand food mouth disease.
Tuesday afternoon, Aedan had his 15 month check up (he is 24 lbs. (50%) and 32 in. tall (95%)). I asked the Dr. to confirm my suspicion about what I had. She did and when she looked in my throat she said it looked like it had turned into strep. Awesome. She was nice enough to give me a prescription.
Needless to day, all last week Aedan and I pretty much chilled at home. I have no idea where I caught it. Aedan never got it and none of the kids at the sitter’s house have had it. None of my clients have had it either, that I know of. Sigh.
By Thursday my throat felt much better but I still had blisters on my hands and feet. Jon was a little freaked out and wouldn’t even let me unload the dishwasher. He also kept saying I had the hoof mouth disease. Lame.
Thankfully, by the weekend I was pretty much all better and Jon and Aedan never got sick. We still took it easy this weekend and pretty much hung around the house or ran errands.
Oh and we finished Son’s of Anarchy – loved the season 3 finally!! We have to wait until November for season 4, but not to worry, I have a new obsession – Prison Break. Love it!
-Lauren-

Happy 4th of July!

I hope you all had a great long weekend! We definitely did!

Friday morning we loaded up the car and headed to my parents house in Plano. Aedan did so great in the car. He slept for about 45 minutes but he has had a bad cough for the last few days so that woke him up. But he was in a great mood and had fun reading books, eating snacks and pointing out the window.

We made it just in time for lunch and soon after Aedan crashed for his afternoon nap. Jon had to get some work done so while he worked (so great that he works from home and thus can work from anywhere), my mom and I went grocery shopping. Her grocery store has a Starbucks inside and I told her I would be in trouble if I shopped there every week. I am obsessed with their iced white chocolate mochas. When we got home, Aedan was up so we took him to Costco, which he loved. :)

Friday night Jon and I made Indian food for dinner. It was a big hit! We just hung out and watched a movie for the rest of the night.

Saturday after Aedan’s morning nap, we all (Jon, Aedan, my sister and parents and I) headed to the pool. It is the pool my sister an I both worked at through high school/college. My sister still works there a few days a week and still knows everyone on staff, which means we all got in for free. Love it!

Aedan wasn’t such a fan of the baby pool because it was super crowed and there was lots of splashing. As soon as the main pool opened up, we headed over there and he had a much better time. We all had a blast going down the slide and playing water volleyball.

That afternoon while Aedan and Jon took long naps, my mom and sister and I did a little shopping. I sometimes forget how much better the shopping in the Dallas area is compared to Austin. Sigh.

Saturday night we had delicious homemade fish tacos and mango salsa. After dinner we went out for some frozen yogurt (another thing I am obsessed with right now). We were out past Aedan’s bedtime and it was getting late so my Dad and Jon were supposed to take Aedan back home while my mom and sister and I did a little more shopping. BUT I got this picture in a text while we were headed home. Apparently they made a detour at Cabela’s and Aedan did a little shopping of his own. I’m not sure why, but that ore made it home with him. Sheesh.

Sunday we had a low key morning of playing at the park, taking naps and relaxing. That afternoon we headed over to my parent’s friends house for our annual get together. This group has been getting together every forth of July for 30 years! How fun is that! We had fun catching up and enjoying good food. Unfortunately it was another late night and Aedan was done around 8pm so we headed home. I heard we missed a great game of catch phrase and gestures. haha.

This morning we headed back home (Aedan did great on the trip this time too!) and all crashed as soon as we got here. We had such a great weekend, it was great to spend time with family and friends!

-Lauren-