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.

Memorial Day Weekend

Alex's dad and stepmom came for a visit last weekend. Solomon even gave him a hug when he left!Just a cute facial expression...

I'm sure Solomon was saying, "Whasss tha...?" as he was pointing at the garage door. He IS ALWAYS saying that.

A little screaming contest between Solomon and daddy.

Alex reading a story to Solomon.

We are having a good Memorial Day weekend, despite the fact that Alex has had to work for most of it. We had a BBQ for some friends last night. My parents also had a garage sale on Thursday-Saturday. I made about $140 which was pretty good, considering I didn't have much in the sale!

Hello-Lo

Solomon has started to say "hello" a lot and sometimes it comes out hello-lo-lo... like a very quick echo sort of. He loves to greet everyone, especially in public places.. over and over again. I think some people aren't sure what to say after he's told them "Hiiii!" 50x. Anyway, his love for greeting and opening and closing doors is on the following video. I don't think he uses "Hello" in this one, but does say "see ya".

Raising a Reader picture

I forgot to add this before. It's so funny. Solomon is 2nd from the right. They have a program through his daycare and the YMCA called Raising a Reader. They send new books home with you each week to read to your child and you bring them back the following week. He "graduated" from this program this week. He's pictured with all of his classmates.

Friday is HERE!!

I was in Phoenix Sunday through Tuesday, so I feel like I've just been catching up the last few days with work and the rest of my life. I really missed Solomon and Alex, but I must admit it was nice to not have to pick up after anyone or feed anyone for a few days. The weather was hot during the day but perfect at night. I also got to hang out one night with my friend of KSN, Jason. That was so much fun. We always have such a good time chatting. Roy Williams was staying at our hotel with a bunch of friends. All of these people kept telling me they had spotted him as if I was supposed to be impressed. They forget I kicked him to the curb in my mind, the minute he left for UNC. We got our revenge last year, so I no longer dislike him, I'm just not in awe of him any longer.

Solomon has been so cute since I got back. He has continued to throw tantrums, but mostly in the evening when he's super tired, so that's okay.

We played around this morning. This is just a short little video of him in one of his new rompers from Grandma L. I think it's so cute. He's not really doing anything in particular but being his crazy self.

It was so weird last night... I woke up to a thunderstorm around 4am and looked outside and I SWEAR it looked like a news video of a hurricane. I was convinced we were in a tornado for a minute. I turned on the TV and it wasn't a tornado, just a thunderstorm, but they showed a windspeed of 60 mph at one of the weather lab check points right by our house. I guess that's why it looked so crazy outside.
I hope everyone has a fabulous Mother's Day. All the moms that I know of who read my blog are great moms, so you all deserve a nice day off. I told Alex that I just wanted the three of us to go pick out flowers/veggies for my garden and for him to watch Solomon while I plant it all. I like gardening, but it does take time.