Another Week, Another Post

I took a couple pictures of Solomon this morning. It wasn't as hot as it has been, so first he "helped" me by sweeping the patio off a bit. After running around non-stop for about an hour... he stopped for a quick rest on the chair. I think he looks like such a big boy in this photo.

Kandi's friend, Stephanie, painted all of the leaves below on Zoe's room ceiling at their new house. How cool is Tinkerbelle below? I think it looks great and I know that when I was Zoe's age, I would have LOVED it!

The video below just makes me realize how much can happen in one year of a child's life. Even nine months ago, when we first got the swingset, Solomon couldn't have attempted to get up the stairs of the slide, now he's a pro. I didn't get it on this take, but ususally, he says, "Yea!!" when he reaches the bottom. Very cute.
This week our new car finally came in! Yippee! It's been fun to drive it around. Alex was pretty sad to give up the Impala a.k.a., Halle Barry (sp?), which we sold the same day, coincidentally. He loved her, but it really was time. Her new owner is very excited to have her, so she's in good hands. He lives nearby, so we may even get to see her from time to time. I am only half joking b/c I thought Alex might cry when she drove away. Flaws and all, he really liked that car.
We love having the backyard fenced in. Solomon plays outside almost everyday now. He doesn't mind the heat. Nothing slows the kiddo down until it's time for bed. He's been saying new words everyday. It's so funny to hear it. Today, I was reading a book about flowers and the word "grow" is in it several times. He kept repeating "gow", "gow." His favorite food is fruit, so he's all about saying "fru." It is really nice to at least sometimes know what he wants. He seems to get excited when I get it too.
We went to our favorite Indian restaurant for dinner on Friday night, Maharajah. It didn't disappoint, although it was hotter than hell. I think the guy likes to save money by not running the A/C. Brutal... especially when eating spicy food.
On another note, (I know my thoughts are very disorganized) we cleaned out our garage all day yesterday while my parents were kind enough to take care of Solomon. It is so organized. I LOVE organization, so I am IN LOVE with the garage again. In fact, I've walked outside to admire it several times already. New shelving, a toolbox. It's wonderful. We can actually find stuff again.
I went with some of my book club members tonight to see "My Sisters Keeper", as we had read that in book club a few years ago. I think I cried about 75% of the movie. They changed the ending from the book, which annoyed us, but it really was still good. If you need a tearjerker, this will do the trick. If you have a child and you do not cry during this movie, you are made of wood or something. The thought of having a kiddo that sick.. ugh.. I hate the thought.
Anyway, good weekend full of accomplishments and fun.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day dads, grandpas and others! I made Alex a special breakfast this morning after he slept in a bit. Of course, he had worked at the bar until 2:30am, so it wasn't really sleeping in. Then, he worked on one of the magazines for most of the rest of the day. The good news for me with that is that he was at home while Solomon napped so I got all kinds of errands run that have been stacking up. This evening, we went to eat at Red Robin with my parents and Kandi, Jimmy and Zoe. No, it's maybe not the most fatherly place in the world, but the kids love it, so it makes it easier on all of us. Solomon was pigging out on his pizza, so it made for a calm meal for me. My mom thought it would be fun for the kids to get in the photo booth, so we made my dad hold Solomon and Zoe. The pics are funny I think. Zoe is hamming it up, while Solomon seems slightly annoyed throughout! Of course, he just wants to run around and not be held. Solly was sweet and even gave Alex a hug tonight. I think he was pretty tired, so that's when he always gets snuggly. I hope everyone had a good Father's Day!

Fences and Cars

Zach and Solomon are best buds. We have been so busy over the past few weeks. Alex's brother (Zach) and brother-in-law, Stephen, came in last weekend to help us put up our new fence. Grandma Thomas and Aunt Susan were also on hand to help take care of Solomon. It was great. We are almost finished with the fence. I'll post some photos soon. They helped us set all of the posts and runners. My dad put up the gate and Alex is now about half way finished with the slats. I can't wait for it to be finished. Then, the dog can run free and so can Solomon! My sister gave us Zoe's sandbox. I think Solomon is going to like that a lot too!
Below is a photo of Solomon and Uncle Zach/Ray hanging out on the couch. Below is Solomon and Alex's new thing they like to do. Alex says "I don't know" and Solomon repeats. He really into animal sounds and seems to be saying a new word everyday. My friend Sara, takes care of Solomon on Tuesdays and Thursdays this summer. She and her daughter, Claire, taught Solomon to make a hiss sound like their cat sometimes makes and he really likes to make a coyote sound as well.

In other exciting news, we bought a new car this week! Thank God. It was so needed. We are trying to sell the Impala, so we've placed a few ads online and in the newspaper starting this week. Hopefully, it moves!

Erin's Bday & Family Time.. Oh Yeah & Our Anniversary

Yesterday, May 31st was our 6th Anniversary. It hardly seems like much, considering my parents just celebrated their 40th in January. However, it's cool to me. We didn't do all that much to specifically celebrate, but we were together a lot all weekend, so that was nice for a change! We recently upgraded to a king size bed, so Alex bought me/us the new comforter that we wanted. I think it will look great.

Saturday, we were going to look at cars in KC, as we aren't all too keen on the dealership that has our target car, here in Wichita. However, we decided to surprise Alex's mom with a visit instead. She hasn't seen Solomon since before her knee surgery, so she was due. They are trying to sell her house so Alex's sister, brother, and their spouses were at his mom's house painting. We helped a small amount and basically said "hi".

Then, we skipped off to Lawrence for Erin's big B-day. Erin is perhaps one of the few that fully understands and embraces the art of self-promotion when it comes to one's birthday. She and I not only understand this, but are shameless about it. Therefore, I had to make it to her BBQ/celebration on Saturday. There were tons o' kids there, including our little Solomon. He did get a lot of "his hair is sooo cute" compliments but absolutely ZERO "your child is so well-behaved" comments. That is because he was quite the little nightmare. He has definitely hit the "MINE" and "NO" stage so he's completely possessive of everything and not too fun at times around others. Of course, my child that is usually a good eater, always chooses group occasions to eat almost nothing, which then means he will have a meltdown for sure. So, we just felt like those parents that I always looked down upon for being such bad disciplinarians, prior to having children. He was hitting people/mostly getting them wet with the bubble wand, pulling the beer keg tap (wasting beer) (this got a lot of laughs and jokes about him just wanting a glass of beer), chewing up the Styrofoam rockets, etc... My favorite was when he decided (probably not a conscientious decision) to blow out his pants and put his hand down them. Basically we had to wet wipe and scour his entire body after that.... LOVELY. :) Alex and I were constantly trying to pawn him off on the other! Despite all of that, we had a really good time. Solomon did have his calm moments.. thank God! I even came back later after everyone had left to talk to Erin. I really enjoyed seeing everyone else and their kiddos. It's so crazy that everyone has kids now, but it really makes it fun, albeit exhausting for sure! Erin's little girl, Cleo, has the prettiest eyes I've ever seen I think. She's so sweet.

Sunday, we hung out with Alex's brother and family and drove home. His dad also stopped in for a bit. Solomon was in such a good mood after his nap that he was chatting/babbling up a storm. I got a bit of it on video. It's pretty funny.

Random funny(to me) picture. Solomon likes to put all of the refrigerator magnets in the area between the fridge and the wall next to it. So odd, but better than when he just chucks them across the room! :) Please disregard the layers of dirt surrounding the floor and fridge.