A working mom's morning

Yesterday a co-worker sent me a forward about an older women that was so scatter brained that she tried to one chore, but kept remembering others as she was doing them, and kept jumping from task to task to task. It reminded me of myself. So this morning while getting ready to go to work and drop Vince off at school, I thought of that email so when I got to work I emailed my co-workers to tell them about my morning.. here it is...

"The morning started good… Vince finished his breathing treatment (allergies) and was eating pancakes while watching Barney. I made oatmeal for me and was eating it on the couch. Then I heard in the distance a big truck and thought I better get the recycling out now because they come early. So I put down my oatmeal, went to the garage and opened the doors to check, saw it had not been taken out, and went inside to get it.

On my way in, I saw an empty bag and thought I need to bring it to work because I had some pictures, etc I wanted. So I start loading that bag up with things. I then remembered I had to bring my co-workers bday present in (very late) so I went to the laundry room to get it and remembered I hadn’t folded the laundry the night before (made a mental note to get to that if I had time). I thought of the email my co-worker sent the day before, laughed to myself, and remembered the recycling… then took it out.

When I was out there I checked the mail from the previous day and started going through it inside. After I was finished I went to check on Vince. On my way there I put away the syrup and butter from Vince's pankcakes and saw a subway sandwich in the fridge. I patted myself on the back for asking my husband to get me the sandwich special last night so I could have for lunch… then remembered I hadn’t packed Vince’s lunch for school today. I haven’t been to the grocery store in 2 weeks due to a family emergency… I'm thankful for frozen nuggets and canned peaches.

I packed both our lunches and put things back in the fridge and saw old food that I wanted to throw out. (Luckily David took out the rest of the trash this morning.) I put the old food in a plastic bag then took it to the curb. I brought the recycling bin back in empty and remembered my co-worker's present again and went to get a gift bag. On my way to the living room I passed the fridge and remembered I hadn’t given Vince his antibiotics. I put it on the counter so I didn’t forget to give it to him.

I then packed the car with both lunches, Vince’s diaper bag, my purse, my bag and my co-worker's present. I came back inside to give Vince his medicine. He refused the medicine and I tried to explain to him I didn’t have time for this as we were already 10 minutes late. He didn’t understand so I made him a sippy cup of milk and put the medicine in there. I picked him up ready to leave only to realize he didn’t have shorts or shoes on. I grabbed some shorts from the dryer, put on his shoes, and went out the door.

He was asking for his trains as I strapped him in the car and I negotiated with him that he could watch a DVD in the car if I didn’t have to get the trains. I went back inside to grab the keys, saw some deodorant in my “cubby hole” by the door and remembered I hadn’t put any on so I did (that’s why it’s there for times like this - TMI?).

In the car I remembered I never finished my oatmeal and didn’t get to folding the laundry. But that’s okay if those are the only things I forgot :) "

First Dentist Visit

A couple months ago Vince went for his first dentist visit at Pace Pediatric Dentistry . The whole visit took only 30 minutes from entrance to exit. Dr. Pace specializes in 2 and 3 year olds and makes the actual visit very quick because she knows the attention spans of little ones is non-existent. She even took this picture of us (and just sent it to me today, so a little delayed, but glad I have it). She said she prefer's children to come in with their parents when they are around 7 months old, more for the parents to get information. I learned a lot about what causes cavities and how to take care of Vince's teeth and am overall pleased with the appointment. Can you tell which one of us is pleased and which one doesn't really know what's going on?? She didn't give him a chance to think!

First Ranger Game

I prematurely took Vince to his first baseball game... well, maybe not prematurely, but under the wrong circumstances. It was a department outing for my company so we could bring family and friends. I thought it was a perfect excuse to spend extra time with my baby whlie showing him a sport we don't normally watch.. because he knows soccer, football, basketball, but baseball, not so much. There were a couple key problems to my flawless plan:

1) I was going alone. No David to help me carry Vince to and from the parking lots, and he wanted to be carried!

2) The game was at 1pm. This is prime naptime for Vince. I mistakely thought he would take a nap on the drive in. We drove for a long time and no nap!!

So we went to the game... and at first he was pretty calm bc he was tired... then he fell asleep basically standing up between my legs. I positioned him better for a good nap... then got a couple good pics to remember our first time at the ball park...

He woke up after a bit.. was pretty cranky... then said he wanted to go to mommy's house. So we left in the 7th inning (turns out the game went to 12!).. and I carried him all the way to the car!!! that was hard.

And he had the most fun in the parking lot because we parked in front of a bunch of trains. We sang train songs while we heard trains in the distance. He always thinks he hears trains.. but these were really trains..

So although the trip didn't go as planned... I did get to watch the game while he was asleep and he did learn a little about baseball... all in all a good time was had :)

Mother's Day 2010

I spend Mother's day in Laredo with my son, mother, and grandmother... a lot of our extended family came for lunch at my grandma's house... nothing better than yummy fajitas and family. I failed to get a picture with my mom, but here is Vince/me, then us with Memi, my grandma.. I didn't catch her looking at the camera or smiling, but at least Vince is (can't ask for too much eh?)

We flew home later that night. Vince is an expert travler. He does well on the plane now that he's a little older and can play with toys / listen to books read / watch movies on my ipod :). Once we were home he headed straight to his vast train collection... he's been quite the Engineer lately (funny fact - both David and I started college as an Engineering major - it's probably in the genes). We have tracks coming out of our ears... but he found a way to use every single one of them. Looks almost like a crop circle configuration huh?!

His new "CHEESE" face...

Rides & Skates!

SATURDAY

When I was growing up... there was a kiddie park we used to go to in San Antonio. I hardly remember it but have pictures that show how much fun I had (which I tried to locate for this post but couldn't).

Anyways, this weekend I got to take Vince to a park just like the kiddie park in Carrolton. Sandy Lake Park. I met a college friend there with her son who's a little younger than Vince.

Vince had a grand old time. There was a train that wrapped around the complex that he couldn't get enough of.

Oh, and the cars he loved... he's a good driver and went round and round!!

The boat was alright too.. except he wanted to keep dipping his hands in the water & he wanted to drive his friends wheel too!

The fishes were the best... well for me... he really didn't like them... they went round and round AND up and down... I knew they were a little advanced for him, but he wanted to try. The whole ride he looked uncomfortable... in a little fish, going up and down... I don't know why, but it cracked me up how stoic he was. But in the picture he is happy, BEFORE the ride..

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SUNDAY

Today we went to my cousin's, son's, birthday party at a skating ring. I had no idea going in that Vince was actually going to want to skate!! But he did! He kept asking and asking to skate, so we finally asked what size skates they had and it turns out they had his size (and even a couple sizes smaller than him!!)

So, my 2 year, 3 month old little boy was in skates today. Who knew he would be reaching these kind of milestones this early. Not me. My little baby is becoming a kiddo. Check him out. Mostly he wanted to walk in them, but it's a start...

1st McDonald's Party

I was excited for Vince this past weekend as he attended his first McDonald's birthday parties for one of his classmates. He loves McDonald's... not because of the fries or the burgers or nuggets... but because of the playplace!

To make it more exciting... the party was Thomas the Train themed... Vince had such a wonderful time... until.....

it was present opening time (see his mad gaze above?)... and the birthday boy started getting Thomas presents... Vince thought that he should have all things Thomas... so after he got very mad that he wasn't taking the presents home... it was time to go.....

SMILE FOR THE CAMERA V!!!

Daddy's school

When all our WHOLE family was in town for Easter, we visited David's school. It's a pretty neat state of the art career-driven High School in Las Colinas. I got this good shot when we were walking up to the auditorium....

The different career paths the school focuses on are medical, dental, visual arts, engineering, culinary, and of course legal. They have a mock court room where students learn the legal basics... and where you can take cool pictures... some of us took turns looking like a judge with a gavel (which I'll spare you having to look at those pictures)... but here are my two nephews posing with Vince behind the bench...

Then we headed over to the dental labs where we told the kids not to touch anything... this is how they interpret that... right after this picture, Vince went over there and pressed a button to recline his cousin... how nice of him...

Then we took a tour of the state of the art kitchen... this is only a little piece of it. The high school kids learn how to cook here and even cater events for Irving ISD and for the Chamber of Commerce... wish they had a school like this when I was growing up.. maybe I would know how to cook!!

Here we are all admiring the television studio they have... the students learn how to work the cameras, lighting, sound boards, and even broadcast the daily announcements... again, where was this school when I was growing up??

Vince and the boys had a really great time running from room to room... they are all on stage int he Executive Conference room here... In addition to school meetings, businesses hold meetings here and some are actually catered by the students!

We all enjoyed the view of the nearby Four Season's Golf Course... maybe David can watch some of the Byron Nelson from this vantage point...

Lastly, although I didn't take a picture of the actual school... here is a drawing on the wall that one of the teachers from the school did... it's a great sketch! In the end, my whole family loved the school and we were happy that we were able to take a tour. The students and the teachers are all wonderful. I am glad David works in such a great, innovative environment everyday.