Let's go to the beach...

Sorry it's taken me so long to get this post up, but every time I have tried to log into blogger for the past week, it has had some sort of error and won't show me the editing tools necessary to edit a post.  Thus, half of my pictures either didn't upload, or uploaded upside-down or sideways.  Needless to say, I'm frustrated. 

Regardless, we spent a week in Myrtle Beach with my parents, brother and his gf, and it was absolutely wonderful.  It was a week of relaxation (well as much relaxing as can be done with a water-crazed toddler in tow), indulgence (we ate WAY too much and drank just enough), and laughter.  Thank you to my parents for being so incredibly generous - from the hotel, to the meals, to the endless grandparent duties - we are so grateful and can't wait for all of our upcoming lake house adventures to come! 

I'll let the pictures that did upload (albeit crappy iphone pics) speak for themselves. Apologies that they are out of order...I lost my patience with blogger. I promise a second post full of high quality pics from Todd's camera because he finally uploaded them to my laptop last night.  Woo hoo!

All of our luggage.  And when I say "our" I mean my parents and the three of us.  Two regular luggage carts, and two shopping carts (one not pictured) - stacked to the very top.  We do NOT travel lightly in our family...

Date night! We went to Miyabi Japanese Steak House and celebrated our 3 year anniversary a few weeks early.  The food was incredible, but even more so it was wonderful to sit and talk with my sweet hubby and realize how much we have grown as both a couple, and in love, in the past three years.

While we were on our date, little man went to dinner with Gramma & Boss.  They ended up (by accident) in a 5 star, white table cloth restaurant, that lacked in children's menu choices, and was not thrilled by an 18 month old's screaming.  But apparently they had a great time (which might be tough to tell by his face in this picture)

Early morning snuggles with Gramma while watching Dora.  We were all well-versed in Dora songs by mid-week.  Pro's by week's end.

Practicing his putt with Boss man. 

Gleefully jumping waves with Daddy!

Mommy & Gramma enjoyed a few beach cocktails...yum!

Snacking in the sand after a lengthy beach nap.  Moments later, mom handed Nick a metal spoon from our hotel room meant for digging.  Poor guy has been working so hard on mastering the use of a spoon, that he dug right into the sand and put a huge heap in his mouth.  The results were not pleasant.

This nap at the beach lasted nearly 3 hours.  Why I didn't nap at the same time is beyond me.

This was one of his many/daily pool naps.  Loves propping that little foot up.

Loving the lazy river with Daddy.

Wish this one hadn't turned sideways -- it fully captures the pure bliss he experienced by getting to spend an entire week with his favorite people, doing his favorite thing (playing in the water).

His very own cigar shop!  No, he was not allowed to go inside.

It may look like he was putting his genius to work and sculpting a sand-turtle, but in reality he was destroying mommy's hard work.

A beach-loving toddler's version of heaven.

And a toddler-loving mommy's version of heaven.

Can't get enough of this face.

Can't get enough of these boys.

And definitely can't wait for our next beach trip!

Sweet Summer Time

As summer has taken off at lightening speed, my poor little blog has suffered.  Seems the busier we get, the more content I have for this little blog, and the less time and motivation I have to actually consolidate it all into meaningful posts.  We've been working our butts off (literally) trying to slim down for the summer.  It's a long, tough process, but I feel better than I have in a LONG time, and my clothes are finally starting to fit without a muffin-top.  Woo hoo!  We've also been spending a lot of time on the road and visiting with loved ones.  Where have we been lately?  Well...

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Wedding in Michigan:

Two weekends ago we loaded up the car with our suitcases full of clothes, pack n' play, stroller, a tub full of snacks, and our newly purchased car DVD player, and made the 12 hour trek up to Battle Creek, MI.  In all honesty, the drive up was basically cake.  Considering I wasn't driving and was able to doze off whenever necessary.  Todd probably has different views.  (But let me just say, that DVD player is a God-send.  I'll gladly listen to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Dora the Explorer on repeat over a cranky, screaming toddler.) We got up around 2:00am Friday morning and were on the road by 3:00am.  We packed the car the night before but planned to put any last minute items in the car in the morning and then grab Nick from his state of slumber right as we were headed out the door, plopping him in the car seat in his jammies and hoping he would pass right back out - or not even wake at all.  Fat chance.  He stayed awake for over an hour after departing our neighborhood.  But luckily for us, he didn't make a peep.  Mostly I think he thought it was all a dream.

We pulled into Battle Creek around 3:00pm in the afternoon on Friday, checked into our hotel, and from there it was a whirlwind of catching up with long lost Kalinosky family members.  We saw so many of Todd's aunts, uncles, and cousins - and most importantly got to spend time with his Dad and Step mom, who hadn't seen Nick since he was just 3 weeks old!  We grabbed pizza and chatted and then all went to our respective lodging locations and crashed for the night.  On Saturday we spent the day over at Todd's Uncle Mark's house, where a large chunk of his family were staying, and just laughed and talked and laughed some more.  That evening we went to Todd's cousins wedding (the main reason we went to MI in the first place), and let me just say -- if you thought there were a lot of Kalinosky's at our wedding...you have no idea.  Approximately two-thirds of the 200 guests at this wedding were Kalinosky's.  And I loved every single one of them, and every single second we all spent together.  It made me so appreciative to have married into such a loud, exciting, crazy, loving, understanding, and welcoming family.  Every single person hugged me like they had known me all their lives and hadn't seen me in years...when in reality, I was just meeting about 85% of them for the first time.  And boy did they love Nick!  Nick particularly took to Todd's female cousins - which we couldn't blame him for, because they were all gorgeous.  We stayed at the wedding dancing and having a blast until nearly 11pm...which is late for us old folk, and WAY late for our wee one.  But Nick was a champ, and spent the majority of the evening running around in his pj's, handing out kisses, and only getting slightly cranky.

Sunday morning we said our goodbyes -- we were all super sad to have to say good-bye to the Kalinosky clan and hit the road back to VA, but we've made plenty of plans to see everybody soon and hopefully get some of them to come stay with us!  In case there was any doubt before, I absolutely LOVE being a Kalinosky :)

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The Storm of the Year - Also Known As: Mom & Dad Bought a Lake House!:

This past Friday night, after gorging ourselves on Domino's pizza as a reward for the dieting and exercising we've been keeping up with, Todd and I settled into the couch to watch a movie.  True to form, I started to fall asleep mid-movie (in my defense, I'd already seen this one), so I started to play around on my phone to try and stay awake.  As I was scrolling through facebook, I noticed that more than half of my friends were posting about the "big storm rolling in" with "potential for quarter sized hail" and "80+ mph winds".  All was still quiet in our area - no rain, no wind, nada.  But being the worry-wart that I am, I told Todd we needed to take down the deck umbrella just to be safe.  No sooner had we gotten the umbrella inside and the plants all pushed up by the house, than the winds picked up.  And storm, it did.  Holy hell.  And then, as predicted, the power went out.  Of course instead of retreating to the basement like normal folks, we sat in the office upstairs watching the tree in our front yard, praying it wouldn't fall over - either into the house, or on top of the cars.  We didn't want to wake up Nick since he was sleeping so peacefully through it all.  Finally around 11:30pm the storm calmed down.  Rain continued to trickle and the thunder and lightening continued to crash, but the winds died down enough that I figured we could retreat to our bedroom.  I was certain the power would come on in the middle of the night while we slept.  But alas, no dice.

Around 1:30am, Nick woke up crying.  Obviously he was hot as hell -- we all were.  So instead of stripping him down to his diaper, we pulled him into bed with us.  Three hot, sweaty, cranky, miserable people in one queen bed.  Awesome.  By 3:30am, after Nick had successfully kicked me in the head, arm, ribs, and mouth, I scooped him up and said "you're going back to your bed".  Which actually pleased him.  We all slept until about 7:30am, got up, quickly pulled together our bathing suits and towels, and escaped to my new favorite place on earth...

My parent's lake house!!!

That's right.  We are now lake house people!!!  My parents have been thinking about purchasing a lake house for a while now.  This year they got serious about it, started researching places, found a location they absolutely loved (a gated community with 5 beaches, a huge swimming pool, clubhouse & golf course, on-site restaurant, boating and fishing lake, tennis courts, huge playground, etc. etc.), found a realtor, and started researching properties.  And when they came upon this one, they fell in love.  It was beautiful, beach-y, vacation-y, and just perfect.  And even better, it's only about a 2 hour drive from home.  Amazing!

My parents were already down at the lake house because they just closed this past week (lucky them - they missed the storm altogether) so my brother and his girlfriend (can I just tell you how much I love her?  Seriously, she is hilarious AND adorable), Todd, Nick and I all joined them to spend the day hanging out in the lake, getting some sun, and just relaxing.  I got a call on my cell phone around 3:30pm that our power had been restored at home, but at that point we were having such a great time that we had all decided we would just spend the night at the lake.

So that evening we had a big lasagna dinner, quite a few bud lights, a rousing game of Scattergories, and a million and one laughs before we all passed out for the evening.  It was such a relaxed, easy, comfortable, and all around awesome time.  All of us talked about how we couldn't wait to come back and how lucky we are to have this place not just for the rest of the summer, but for all the summers to come!  On Sunday before we packed up and headed home, the 7 of us just sat on the front porch, drinking coffee, talking, laughing more (we laugh a LOT), and enjoying the last bit of our mini weekend vacation.  How fortunate we all are that we can make any weekend a vacation now!  I'm so grateful to my parents for opening up their second home to us all and allowing us to be just as much a part of this exciting new development.

We were all a bit sad to leave each other on Sunday morning...but no worries because soon we'll all be reunited in Myrtle beach!  More fun, sun, pool, beach, beers, laughs, and relaxation!  And even better, Todd's Dad and Step mom are going to be joining us for the first night of vacation!  If there's one thing I like more than a Henson get-together, or more than a Kalinosky reunion, it's having the two families in the same place! 

So much to look forward to and to be thankful for - particularly all the wonderful people in our lives.  We're so blessed to come from such loving, wonderful families, and I can't wait to spend extra time with some of my absolute favorite people on earth.

Ahhh, sweet, sweet summer time.

Forward facing

After 15 months, we finally turned Nick's car seat forward facing.  I know the recommendation is now to wait until 2 years old to turn the car seat around, but Nick was starting to get super cranky every time we got in the car.  Not to mention every other toddler we knew in Nick's age range were already forward-facing and loving it.  And who are we to not keep up with the Jones'?  Throw in the fact that we've got a couple of really long vacation road trips coming up this summer, and this mama was not keen on the idea of having to keep unbuckling her seat belt and hoisting herself over the middle console into the back seat, every time Nick dropped his cup, needed a snack, wanted his pacifier, threw his book on the floor, needed some reassurance that mom and dad were in fact still in the car...etc. etc. All of which led us to the ultimate decision to turn him around.

And let me just say, little man is much happier.  Granted he still does his fair share of fussing in the car.  But I'm chalking that up to the fact that it's currently 90+ degrees in VA and every time we get in the car it's hot...combined with the fact that he's a curious and extremely mobile toddler who wants absolutely nothing to do with being confined and strapped into a seat when he could be off exploring.

But our biggest concern of all was that turning his car seat around would give him so much to look at that it would completely void out all possibilities of the great "car nap".  You know the one -- when your toddler has been running around like a chicken with its head cut off all day, fussed his way through lunch because he was so overtired that eating chicken nuggets was just TOO tasking, and powered through his nap time so hard that all he wants to do is smack you in the face if you even try to give him any "it's ok, you're just tired, lay your head on mommy's shoulder" type of encouragement.  And then you get in the car to go somewhere and 5.3 seconds later, kid is passed out cold.  THAT kind of nap.

But no sooner had we turned his seat around, and strapped him in for his maiden forward-facing voyage, than homeboy passed out. 

And ever since, he's been making sure to get in plenty of car naps every time he's in there for more than 10 minutes at a time.

His neck can't possibly be comfortable like that...can it?

Here's hoping he spends the majority of our long summer road trips passed out like this.  It would certainly make a long car ride easier than a toddler screaming for more goldfish and having mommy read "Ding Dong, Elmo's Here" for the 9 millionth time.  Because come on, reading in the car makes me carsick.  And that's not fun for anyone.

iPhone photos

Lately it seems like I only pull out my iPhone to take pics when Nick is watering the plants.  Seriously.  He LOVES to water the plants.  Mostly he's just hopeful that he's going to end up getting sprayed with the water hose, but he also enjoys watering the plants with the watering can, and aside from the fact that he is a little rough (read: shoves the whole can into the plant, often resulting in dirt getting everywhere), he seems to understand what he's doing.  He also really enjoys ripping off pieces of basil and handing them to me.  I think he's seen me go out and cut basil for dinner far too many times.  What can I say, I love me some fresh herbs!

T-shirt from Grandpa K in GA (a big time Packers fan).

Needing a little help from daddy...

...because the watering can weighs about as much as me!

Is anybody even watching me?

Oh, you are mom?!  Then I'll smile!

I also seem to take a lot of pics of Nick wearing his new Michigan hat, or going for rides in our jogging stroller.  Here's a cute one of him mid-morning on Saturday as we geared up for a very long, and VERY hot, walk/jog.  We probably only went about 2-2.5 miles, but I jogged as much as I possibly could, he napped for about 70% of it, and we both were sweaty messes when we got home.

Nick's other latest interest is bringing mommy & daddy our shoes (which we leave a couple pairs of by the front door).  After our run on Saturday, Todd ran outside barefoot quickly to fill the bird feeders.  Nick was apparently distraught that Daddy wasn't wearing shoes, so he tried to offer up a pair.

But Mommy had to politely ask him to stop banging on the door with Daddy's shoe.  Surprisingly, Nick listened and stopped!

This past Sunday was a rough day.  Nick didn't feel well all day, so he spent most of the day napping.  And anytime we attempted to put him down, he cried.  It was sad. 

He even spent most of the evening crying out for us as well.  While you can't see the tears, I have photographic evidence that he was anti-sleep on Sunday evening.  Poor guy.

Turns out, he's in a "Daddy Phase" and was crying out partially because he didn't feel well, and partially because he missed Daddy.  Looks like Mommy's off the hook for bedtime routine for a while, because last night was Daddy's first time putting Nick to bed, and Nick went down without so much as a peep, for the first time in about 3 or 4 nights.  Daddy to the rescue! What would we do without him?!

Current State of The Toddler

I feel like I have so much I want to blog about and yet no way to express it all in words all at the same time.  So many wonderful things have been happening -- and many of them I will blog about, when the time is right.  (NO, I'm not pregnant!)  I'm overwhelmed and excited about all the things this summer has in store for us.  And I love the pure excitement that is every single day with a toddler.  Everything is a new discovery.  Every second that ticks by is one we can't get back, so we're doing our best to soak in every moment.  But as blissful as life with a toddler can be, sometimes it can be just plain old exhausting. 

As we exit the baby stage and enter the "I'm determined to do it myself" phase, the giggles and smiles are on par with the tantrums and tears.  Nick can go from zero to pissed in about .5 seconds.  Put him down for a minute to do anything necessary (hell, just to go to the bathroom), and he's ticked.  Homeboy wants to be held ALL.THE.TIME. these days.  Last night Todd and I came to the conclusion that he wants to be held so he can see all the "exciting" things we're doing up high, on the counters or table.  You know, like cooking dinner.  Or cloroxing the latest mess.  But try and hold him on your own accord, when he's not interested, and he squirms and writhes his way out of your arms faster than a snake. 

Nick has perfected the "spaghetti arms" where he practically makes his arms pop out of socket and his whole body goes limp so that you are unable to pick him up.  My favorite is when he does this in the morning.  When we're already running late.  And I have to get him out of the crib, diaper changed, dressed, face washed, teeth brushed, shoes on, and into the car without him noticing the dogs leash hanging by the front door, or lord-have-mercy we're gonna have another meltdown about the fact that we're not currently walking the dog.

Speaking of (was I?) changing his diaper, that is an activity all in itself.  Not only does he think it's OH SO hilarious to kick his legs like a mule - nearly popping me in the face every time - but he also has found his penis.  YUP.  I said it.  Can someone please explain to me how boys are just born with "hmmm, you should touch this body part!" ingrained in their brains?  No sooner than his arms started working, he was able to grab his main man-part.  At first it was sort of funny.  Now?  We spend most of our time trying to deflect the penis grab mid-diaper change, because we've become uber germ-a-phobic when it comes to things like pee-pee on the hands, or heaven for bid, pink-eye caused by rogue poo particles.

And oh the pee-pee.  I'm pretty sure Nick is bordering on ready to potty train (ha, who am I kidding) because he is infatuated with the toilet.  He loves to open the bathroom door, surprise me as I'm peeing (he's actually kissed my knee while sitting on the toilet once...that was both sweet and weird at the same time), peer into the toilet, listen as it's flushed, and watch Daddy pee.  Like the time Todd was peeing and Nick pulled open the door (which was not fully shut), and literally stuck his hand into the pee stream.  Pee went everywhere.  It was gross.  And freaking hilarious.

But heaven forbid we laugh at anything Nick does, because he currently takes any laughter by mommy and daddy as a sign that he should continue to do whatever naughty thing he is doing.  Like rubbing food all over his head and face.  Or grabbing hold of Whinnie to "go for a ride".  Or sticking the broom in the dog's water bowl.  Or pretending to go in for a kiss and then biting me out of excitement.  The first time, it's all funny.  But then it's not funny.  And we don't want him to do it again.  And by that point, we've already blown it by cracking up at the first instance and now he thinks it's vital to repeat said bad behavior as often as possible.

Good gracious, it's tough to be little.  Poor little man just wants to help most of the time, but can't quite figure out what that entails exactly.  The other night he had a complete and total meltdown while Todd was swiffering the bathroom floor.  Nick wanted to push around the swiffer, but couldn't grasp the concept that the swiffer was not for use on the carpet.  And as soon as I took him out of the room, away from the swiffer situation, he started crying...like huge tears, full red-faced, angry sobbing.  Just pitiful.  It took a lot of hugs, sips of water, and a bubble bath to forget about the swiffer incident.  And that's just for me.  But replace the word "water" with "wine".

But just as quickly as our defiant toddler can turn into The Hulk, he can also turn on the charm and melt us into a puddle of mush with one quick, dimpled, toothy, smile.  Just last night, after being scolded for biting my knee unprompted, as he climbed the stairs at an alarmingly rapid rate (with daddy hot on his heels), he stopped mid-stairway, stuck his little face through the banister rails, and planted a kiss right on my lips.  My heart ached, it was so cute.

He's independent, loud, naughty, sneaky, loving, adorable, charming, sweet-as-pie, and all around hilarious.  At 16 months old, he's already giving us a run for our money.  I'm just hopeful that the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde act slows down a bit, because if not, Lord help us with the terrible twos.  Regardless, I wouldn't trade a single, perfect second of our toddler.  Tantrums and all. ;)

Whatcha gonna do with all that junk

Stolen from Mrs. Gish, I thought it would be fun to reveal what's in MY purse at this exact moment:

1. Almost empty water bottle.  Ever since my last dermatologist appointment, where the nurse told me I should always carry a water bottle with me at all times (because hydration is the #1 key to beautiful skin), I've tried to follow her advice.

2. Sunglasses.

3. iPod shuffle.  I mostly carry this to have headphones with me in case of emergency.

4. Wallet.

5. Cosmetics bag.  The only thing in this is tampons.

6. Lady bug mirror.  This fell out of the cosmetics bag.

7. Pink & Green pen from Race For The Cure.

8. Copy of Nick's vaccination record.  Meant to give this to the babysitter.  A month ago.

9.  My beloved Erin Condren planner.  I big time heart this thing.

10.  Chapstick.  Which is hard to tell from the aerial shot, because I had it standing up.

11.  Green costume jewelry necklace that belonged to my Gramma.

12.  RMA Limo driver business card.  You know, for those times when I need a limo ASAP.  Kidding - it's from work.

13.  Ticket stub from when we saw The Avengers in IMAX 3D (amazing).

14.  Work keys & car keys.

15.  Expired Chick-fil-a and McDonald's coupons.  Fatty.

16. Info pamphlet from Massage Envy, acquired at my last massage.

Not pictured: The ridiculous amount of crumpled receipts and papers that I've jotted quick work notes or phone numbers on.  They're not pictured because they have all gone straight into the trash.  (As have the expired coupons since taking this picture).

Thanks for the idea, Sarah -- this helped me clean out my purse!

Jogger

So I'm on week 3 of couch to 5k, and feeling totally inspired.  While I still hate (as in LOATHE) running, I do enjoy a good power walk.  And couch to 5k - dare I say it - has made me feel motivated to jog on my own free will.  NOT RUN.  Please do not get running and jogging confused.  Because in my world, they are totally separate things.  I jog (I believe the 'j' is silent) at my own pace...which is slightly that above a fast walk.  Seriously, the old ladies that walk our entire neighborhood every day at 7:00am could out-walk my jog.  Regardless, this new found motivation has inspired me to go on more outdoor walks, when I have more free time.  (Otherwise my old, decrepit, highly overpriced Craig's List treadmill must suffice for nightly walk-jogs). 

So it's no surprise - seeing as once I get an idea in my head, I must pursue it THAT EXACT MINUTE - that as soon as I was bit by the exercise bug, that I had to (like HAAAAD TO) have a jogging stroller ASAP.  And considering this past Saturday was Race For the Cure, I had to have said jogging stroller before the race.  I mean, I couldn't be the only four-wheeled stroller on the Mall.  So, back to Craig's List I went.  And this time, I hit the mommy jackpot. 

I came across a nearly perfect condition little jogger listed for $60.  Being sold by a cute stay-at-home mommy who was looking to get a double jogger, and had to unload her single jogger ASAP.  Much to Todd's embarrassment, I emailed her and asked if she'd take $40 for it.  Todd about crapped his pants and told me that was super insulting to offer so low. But she came back and said "I could go $50" - so that night we headed to Woodbridge, and came home with my newest prize possession.

And let me tell you, even better than me being in love with it; better than the fact that it rolls on any terrain; better than it's spectacular shocks; better than the front locking wheel that can be fixed or swivel; EVEN better than the fact that the tires still have the little rubber nubbies on them - as if they were never rolled on concrete...is the fact that Nick loves it.  He can sit up in it, lay back and nap, store all of his drinks and snacks, and pull down the great big sun-shade to block out the light when needed.  And there's a huge storage basket underneath that held the diaper bag, cooler tote, every one's jackets, Nick's blanket, and several water bottles (we won't get into that one, family!!) during the race on Saturday.

Last night Nick and I went out for a quick walk-jog through the neighborhood before dinner, and it was still just as awesome as the first use.  I can't believe how obsessed I am with a stroller, but this jogger might just be my favorite piece of baby equipment to date.  I'm looking forward to it's Burke Lake initiation - hopefully this week.  Who knows...maybe this will even inspire me to actually sign up for a real 5k!  Ha, just kidding.  One can dream, though.

For anyone curious - the stroller is an InStep Safari.  And while it does fold in half, it manages to take up the better part of our trunk space.  Guess we'll all be naked in Myrtle because if it comes down to the jogger or clothes, I'm choosing the jogger.  I love it that much.