Almost 3...Going on 13

My son... My almost three-year-old, sweet, baby boy mocked me today.

I was running around the house fussing at him because he was goofing around instead of eating his gumbo like he *should* have been eating it. He then proceeds to MOCK me. Yep. He balled up his tiny little fists and pretended to cry and rub his eyes saying, "Waah waah waah waah!" with that devilish grin on his face. It was basically the Gunner equivalent of calling me a whiney little bitch.

Really?

Woooow

It has been nearly an entire year since I've updated my blog, so I thought it needed a fresh new layout and name. A simple name that can tell the story of my life in just a few words. So I chose "Of Motherhood & Mayhem."

Gunner will turn three in February. That is so hard for me to believe! It feels like he was born yesterday. Today I took Gunner to eat and play at Chic-Fil-A, and he loved it so much that I had to inquire about their birthday packages. And that's when it hit me. My little boy is going to be three years old! Holy Cow!

I'm off to spruce this site up a bit, but I leave you with pictures of our latest happenings. :)

 

{ Painting Pumpkins }

 

{ Zoo Boo 2013 }

 

{ Pumpkin Patch 2013 }

 

{ Komen Race for the Cure 2013 }

Giving Thanks

As Thanksgiving comes to a close, I've been reflecting on everything in my life that I have to be thankful for. I am thankful to have a roof over my head and food on the table. I am thankful for the clothes I wear and our overall good health despite the problems my husband and son have had this year. It is through these things that I realize how truly rich and fortunate we are. No, we don't live in a million dollar home. Yes, we have to pinch pennies and cut corners financially. But despite these "first world problems," we have truly been blessed. I am especially thankful for the wonderful husband I've been given who stands by my side through thick and thin and my precious little boy who brings so much joy to my life.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We feasted on ham, turkey, broccoli casserole, dirty rice, rolls, salad, and potato salad, and it was delicious! Holiday food is the ultimate comfort food. It also helps that we had amazing families to spend the Thanksgiving holidays with - on Thanksgiving day and this past weekend  spending time with the in-laws.

I managed to snap some pictures of my little man on Thanksgiving day! I hope you all had a wonderful day with your families as well!

Love the Holidays!

The holidays are officially upon us! I love everything about it... the hustle and bustle, Christmas music, the weather, and the atmosphere in the air! I am officially off of work and school for the holidays and couldn't be happier. I have already baked two pumpkin pies, cupcakes, and completed 95% of my Christmas shopping list. I cannot wait for the local radio station to begin playing Christmas music! Maybe we will even get some snow this year :)

My poor little Gunner is recovering from a long period of being sick. He developed strep throat over a month ago, and we just couldn't beat it down even though we used four different antibiotics! While on the final antibiotic he contracted a stomach virus so it was tough trying to keep down the antibiotics along with fever reducer and liquids. Yesterday, Gunner had a follow up doctor appointment with a new set of problems: a weird, dry rash on his stomach and upper arms as well as loose stools. I was worried the strep hadn't completely gone away, but the strep test was negative, the rash was diagnosed as eczema, and the loose stools were attributed to teething. I definitely have a lot to be thankful for as my little boy is now running around like a maniac and obviously feeling much better.

This evening we are driving to Broaddus, Texas to visit my mother-in-law and sister-in-laws. I know they are excited to see Gunner, especially since we weren't able to visit the weekend before Halloween because he had strep throat. I'm looking forward to the peace and quiet that comes along with our visit to Texas. There's something to be said about occasionally not being at home where you feel you have to be cleaning, cooking, or doing something at all times!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Nostalgia

Where does the time go? I feel like it was only yesterday I brought Gunner home from the hospital. He is growing so fast and has become such a sweet little person. I miss being able to sit and hold him like I used to. He is too busy now for that sort of thing! I was browsing through my iPod photo gallery and came across random pictures I've taken since the day be was born! I downloaded a picture editing app on my iPod called Camera + and tweaked a few pictures of him. A lot of them turned out great! Here are a few:

The Terrible Ones!

I've always heard other parents mention the "Terrible 2's" stage that their toddlers have gone through, but they somehow failed to mention the "Terrible 1's." Gunner has been having temper tantrum after temper tantrum, and he seems to have this mental checklist of things he shouldn't do and does them. Right. After. The. Other.

First he runs to the curtains in the living room and pulls on them (once it actually resulted in the curtains coming down), then he will grab Eric's computer headset and beat it on the floor, then he crawls into the kitchen and dumps out all the dog food and water, then he grabs Kleenex from the tissue box, scatters them about, and then finally tries to pull down all the decorative items on every table in the house. Repeat this over and over again, and we have a typical day in the Jordan house. He has also been pickier about his food, he only wants yogurt, bread, milk, and green beans, and he will flat out refuse his sippy cups - He throws them at me! Not to mention the constant crying and clinginess! I am really hoping this is just a phase because I may end up needing to be committed to an insane asylum! Not really, but it is pretty stressful to deal with. I'm sure the huge bump on the right side of his lower gums sure isn't helping.

And people are seriously wondering why I don't want anymore kids? I love my little Gunner to death, but sheesh!

Meh.

It's official. I am withdrawing Gunner from daycare at the recommendation of the pediatrician since he has been catching every single bug, virus, and disease under the sun. Thankfully that doesn't involve me having to quit my job entirely. I have someone substituting for me until August or September when the new school year begins. At that time I will be able to enroll Gunner since they accept one year olds. I enjoy spending time with Gunner, and I am very thankful to be in a position to be able to stay home with him a little longer, but I also have the "What in the world am I going to do for seven months?" feeling. I guess I need to start doing research to see if there are any Mother's groups in Central Louisiana. I don't want to be confined every single day like I was before!

I foresee many a trip to the zoo in my future. Luckily he will actually be able to enjoy it if we do go. It was really hard going anywhere when he was younger!

I'm off to reheat some of that Crock Pot BBQ Pulled Pork for supper tonight! I hope everyone has a good night!

So Disappointed!

I called ETS to schedule my Praxis II exam, and they can't get me in until January 28. That means I will have to begin the certification program this summer or fall instead of in spring like I wanted! Oh well, I guess that's how it goes! I will go ahead and take the Praxis anyways... That will be one less thing on my to-do list when summer or fall arrive. I'm still disappointed though!

Gunner has another tooth coming through. Oh boy! When I picked him up from daycare, he greeted me with a huge grin, and I could see a small, white dot poking from beneath his gums. Unfortunately it hasn't completely broken the surface so I'm sure we have some fun nights ahead of us! He has already woken up three times since going to sleep at 7:30. I hope this passes quickly so I can get my happy-go-lucky baby back!

I think I'm going to try to go to sleep now... I am praying that Gunner is out for the count!

Am I Crazy?

My life has been a blur here recently! It has consisted of flying out the door to bring Gunner to daycare, flying to work, flying to pick up Gunner after work, playing with or feeding Gunner until Eric gets home, giving Gunner a bath, and putting Gunner to bed. Then my "me" time consists of writing lesson plans for the next week (or day if I'm too lazy to plan them out a week in advance), drinking a much needed alcoholic beverage (don't judge, I usually drink just one drink), and crash so I can do it all over again in the morning. I'll be honest. I wouldn't have my life any other way... But I think I've completely lost my marbles. I'm getting my Teaching Certificate so I can teach in the public school system. This means taking one or two classes a semester; Fortunately I have a few Education classes under my belt that will transfer to our local community college. My current to-do list consists of studying for, taking, and passing the Praxis II; I took the first Praxis exam already and passed. I'm so nervous, but I know I can do it. All this piled on top of owning a event rental and design business!? Bring it on!

On another note, Gunner is on more antibiotics for possible remains of an ear infection. I just know that he is going to end up needing tubes. He has had a total of 3 ear infections so far, two of them being back-to-back. The fluid in both of his ears isn't draining like it should. Bleeehh.

Sorry I haven't been blogging as much as I should! If you would like to follow my life while you're on the go (and see adorable pictures of my little man as he grows up), follow me on the app Instagram (I know the iPhone or iPod has this app, not too sure about the droid) - username @Primadonnax

Days Like These

Days like today make me feel so alive! Me, Eric, Gunner, my Mother-in-Law, and my Sisters-in-Law walked the Komen Race for the Cure. The weather was beautiful, and I was glad to get out of the house and actually do something fun for a change. After the race, we came home, napped a bit, then went to the fair. We had a ton of fun looking at the animals! Gunner was smiling and laughing at each one. He had such a great time this weekend! I know he won't remember anything, but I'm glad that he seemed to enjoy it. I want him to experience all the joys that life has to offer!

Well, I'm off to relax a bit before going to sleep. Hope everyone has a great night!

Whoa

So yeah, it has been a really long time since I have blogged. Yikes! I do have a good excuse though. When Gunner hit 6 months, I started looking for a part-time job and am now officially teaching a wonderful group of two-year-olds at a local church's day school program. We are still doing the event decor rental business and are building our inventory quite nicely. All we need is a storage building for our supplies, and we are in business :) So needless to say, I've been quite busy!

Looking at the current layout, I'm realizing how much my little man has grown! He was probably about 4-months-old in this picture; He is now nearly 8-months-old! I can hardly believe it! He has the sweetest little personality in the world, but he does have a bit of a fiesty temper. He now throws tantrums if we don't give him something that he happens to want to play with. It's cute now, but when he gets older... Eeeehhh not so cute. He has 4 teeth already, and I'm almost 200% sure he has more coming in as he has been rather cranky the past several weeks. The changes in the weather causing his snotty nose and persistent cough probably aren't helping either!

I am literally foaming at the mouth for fall to arrive. This Louisiana heat is just way too much for me. The weather teases me with cool temperatures every morning, but by the afternoon, it's a typical summer day in Louisiana!

Well, I'm off to bed now, but I will do my best to write more often. It's a great outlet for me, and I have no idea why I stopped for a while! Hope everyone has a fantastic night!

Busy Busy

Here recently I've actually been kind of busy (yay!) ... I've been trying out all kind of new from-scratch recipes (homemade tortillas, homemade bread, homemade blueberry muffins - all of which have all been a success). I've also been catching up on that dreaded thing called laundry... UGH! If I had the money to hire someone to come over just to do laundry, I would do it in a heartbeat! I don't mind loading and unloading clothes into the washer and dryer, it's just the folding and putting away that gets really annoying. Especially having to do it repeatedly!

Today I had to pack up more of Gunner's clothes, and pull out the 6-9 month clothing because my chunkers is getting so big! He is so tall for a 4-month-old! At our doctor's appointment yesterday, we weighed in at 16.6 pounds and 26 inches tall. He's growing up so fast; it kind of makes me sad.

My mom called me today and told me that she and my dad will be looking at small portable buildings to hold the supplies for our business! We are opening a business that specializes in event rental decor (tablecloths, chair covers, vases for centerpieces, and more) as well as custom decor (handmade favors, custom centerpieces, etc.) for events in the Central Louisiana area. We are trying to build our inventory as quickly as we can for the grand opening! We are sooooo close, so keep an eye out for a blog post saying we are officially open for business!

On that note, How much would you be willing to pay for event decor (wedding, birthday, or otherwise)?

Help! I'm Running Out Of Stuff To Clean!

The past few days have been a blur of monotony. I wake up at 7AM, feed Gunner, make breakfast, take a nap with Gunner, feed Gunner, go for a walk, go for a drive, come home, Gunner takes a nap, clean the house while Gunner sleeps, feed Gunner, eat lunch, play with Gunner, start supper, wait for Eric to get home, feed Gunner, eat supper, give Gunner a bath, clean up the kitchen, feed Gunner one more time, put Gunner to bed, and play around on the computer or watch movies. I really need something new to jazz up our routine needless to say. I enjoy spending time with my little fellow, but I get so bored once he falls asleep. I stay relatively busy, but I'm becoming even more compulsive about cleaning than I was before.

I'm trying to think of things to do while not spending tons of money. I'm considering getting my head start on Christmas this year by getting all the materials to make the gifts. EVERYONE is getting handmade items this year. GOOD handmade items of course. The years before Gunner, we blew anything and everything on Christmas gifts. Unfortunately, this year will be a little different. On the other hand, I love to create things and would love to find my inner creative goddess once again. I feel like I lost it once real life happened. Nothing like having a baby to help find it again!

I Am Going...

To clobber an old woman in the head! I am so sick of hearing my neighbor across the street whine about my cat being in her yard. I understand, to a certain degree. And she does work hard on her garden, I won't deny that. She just can't understand why we can't keep our cat in the house 24/7. We let him outside every once in a while as I refuse to put a litter box in the house again. We got rid of it about a month before Gunner was in the picture and it's not coming back. Funny thing is, Garfield isn't the only cat allowed to wander around the neighborhood. I've seen two cats in her yard before, a gray cat as well as a black and white cat - and they loitered for a good while. So why must I get rid of my cat? It's apparently not going to solve her problems! My husband, Eric, told her that we were doing what we could, ie. Doing our best to keep an eye on him when we do let him outside which is difficult with an infant, and trying to figure out a temporary place for him until we move outside the city (I use the term city very loosely - We aren't throwing our cat into traffic). Eric even told her that we do not have any room in our house for a litter box, which we don't because we live in a tiny 800 square foot home. Gunner's room was the former litter box room, and we just don't have the room anymore. He also said that we wouldn't put a litter box in the house because of the baby to which she responded, "What about my flowers? I'm sick and old and work hard on my garden" Lady, compared to my little man, I could care less about your stupid flowers (no offense to flowers which are lovely). We are doing what we can, end of story.

Speaking of my little man, we had a rough day today. He just refused to nap and was a total fussbudget all day long! I hope tomorrow is a better day...

Before I log off for the day, I would like to plug a very plug-worthy photography site whose owner also happens to be from the wonderful state of Louisiana like yours truly :) Elizabeth of http://eyeingmemories.blogspot.com/ has such stunning work! Check out her awesome site and photography!

How the time does fly!

It seems like only yesterday my little man came into this world. He will be 4-months-old soon ... Today I started bawling at the thought of my little guy growing up. I want to freeze him at this age so I can always snuggle him and see his face light up when I enter the room. There is always the negative nancy in me saying this won't last forever. Soon I'll be the bane of his existance, a background noise always telling him what he can and can't do. It almost makes me sad. But for now, I will enjoy my little enjoy my little fellow and not worry what tomorrow will bring. He will always be my precious little man! ♥

Strange...

What is this feeling of getting things accomplished? I barely know what it feels like anymore. Gunner has been asleep for 2.5 hours now, and I have done some laundry, made a menu for the next two weeks, washed all the dishes (including bottles), straightened the house, made our bed, AND managed to bathe, dress up, and do my hair! Like I said, very strange. Hopefully he will be more smiley when he wakes up. When he woke up around 9am, he was a little more difficult to put down for his next nap. Once he has been up for over 2 hours, he starts getting rather fussy.

I'm so ready for Eric to get home. While I am glad he is working hard to support us, things get rather lonely at times since the only one I talk to is Gunner, who of course, can't talk back yet. I'm waiting for one of his days off so I can go ask around town to plead with some boutique owners about putting lead boxes so I can get some new clients. My business cards will be in (relatively) soon too! Woo-hoo!

Well, I guess I will go ahead and take advantage of the time Gunner is sleeping and sweep/mop the floor. FUN. Loads and loads of fun.

Luvable Friends 16-Piece Deluxe Layette Set, 0-6 Months, Blue

Photo Session with Gunner!

Today was an absolutely beautiful day! After doing a bit of cleaning, laundry, eating lunch with my mom, and paying a few bills, I decided to have a little photo session with Gunner. He has been changing so much, and I want to document as much of it as I can. Here is a sampling of what I have taken. I'll post the rest later!

"Mommy, leave me alone!"

Just Chillin'

A creative approach of the one before.

This one is entitled "Fist Pumpin'" This is also my personal favorite :)