Water & Smarts

I've been looking for some outdoor toys for Brogan for a while now. I really want to get him some sort of playhouse/jungle-gym/slide type thingy but I've also wanted to get him a sandbox/water table. I found a water table on Toys R Us' website that was on sale so today over lunch, I headed out there to get one! I cannot wait for him to see it!



I also got a $10 plastic pool for our big dog, Bella. She's outside all the time now and since she's so dark in color, she gets hot very quickly. I think she's just going to love it!

I'm also considering signing B up for swim lessons! Our community center pool offers a Parent/Tot class and I think this would be perfect for us! Hopefully I can get him signed up for 1, or maybe 2, sessions this summer. He's just love it!

We had our 2nd PAT meeting last night and it went great! Our teacher, Cheri, is so impressed with Brogan and it just warms this mama's heart. She gave us some activities to try to expand his vocabulary and I just bet by our next appointment, he'll just blow her out of the water! This program is amazing and I'm so glad we got involved. One of my best friends is a PAT teacher for a different school district here in town which is nice because we're able to ask her questions as well. And she gives Brogan lots of fun things from her school! We like to say our son is a genius (what parent doesn't??) but he truly is so smart for his age. We are very blessed!

Lately...

...I've been slacking on getting pictures uploaded. But here are some recent pictures of what we've been up to lately!


After bath one night last week Brogan didn't want to take his 'hat' off aka his hooded towel.




Brogan's girlfiend Kenadie came over to visit last Thursday! It's hard to believe they are 4 months apart! Brogan looks like a 4 year old compared to her...



Any time we're in the garage, Brogan insists on riding the lawn mower...he LOVES to drive it. Tommy let Brogan mow with him last week when it was cooler outside and B LOVED every second of it! Especially when they went 'FAST!'.





Brogan discovered the mud puddle in our driveway on Saturday morning. I turned away for a quick second and when I turned around I saw this:




Instead of getting mad and quickly getting him cleaned up, I ran inside to get the camera! He loved it so much and I just couldn't get upset at his sweet face! He did get a bath afterwards and the clothes went straight in to the washer!










Such a little stud muffin'!



Watching Daddy hammer aka 'bang bang'! :)



Lately, he's been climbing up in this chair to read his books. It's too stinkin' adorable! And he's been obsessed with putting on his sandles!

Swim Suit Time of Year

I was browsing the internet with my credit card in hand and came across Old Navy's amazing swim suit sale! I've been needing some new suits and thought this was definitely a sign! So I got 2....






I soooooo hope they fit! I wish I could be that 'MILF' in a bikini but I'm saving the retinas of innocent people and sticking with the tankinis! When I get these pretties in the mail, I'll update on how they fit!

Seussical: The Musical

Well, I failed at getting pictures of Brogan at his first theatre experience. Bad mother, I know. My excuse is this: we didn't make it to the end of the show. But I will say my little bean did so good! He loved the upbeat songs and the bright colors and dancing. It almost brought tears to my eyes to watch him LOVE it! That or it could've been the intense pain I had shooting through my low back. You see, they were having a few technical difficulties at the beginning so I spent about 15 minutes chasing my sweet 20 month old. I bent down to scoop him up and I felt some serious pain! I tried to walk it off and not think about it...but as we sat in the seats, the pain got worse. Brogan started to get fussy about 45 minutes in to the show (I was oober surprised he made it that long) so we went ahead and left. The show itself was adorable and we're actually seeing it, in full, tonight. Tommy and I are volunteering so we get to see the show for free! I can't wait! I left a surprise in the green room for the cast and crew! I'll try to get a picture to night and post it...but we all know that I've been slacking on the 'taking pictures when I say I will' front. Oops! Oh well, such is life.

We're supposed to be going skydiving...scratch that, TOMMY is supposed to be skydiving tomorrow. But the weather doesn't look promising. SUCK. Oh well. We have another date night tomorrow night! I can't wait. So at least we have SOMETHING to look forward to tomorrow that won't get canceled!

Have a super great weekend!

Another First

Brogan is going to his first ever musical! Seussical: The Musical! Some of our best friends are in the cast and I'm also friends with the director. She's allowing me to take Brogan to their last rehearsal tonight so we don't have to worry about paying for his ticket and then him screaming and wanting to leave. I'm PRAYING he doesn't do this tonight! It's a bright and colorful show full of music and hardly any talking so I think he'll do just fine. I'm taking my camera and hope to get some good pictures of him with some of the cast. His 2nd birthday party is going to be Dr. Seuss themed so I can use the photos for that! Tommy and I are going to see the show again on Friday night as we are hosting for the show (aka: seating people) and I might be taking my niece to their last performance. I'm super excited to see this show! I've heard great things about it and who doesn't love Dr. Seuss!

I'll try to post pictures of Brogan's first theatre experience! I guess if he doesn't like it, then he must not be our son....TEASING!

My Sissy's Baby Shower

Last Saturday, my cousin Lisa and I threw my sister a baby shower! She's expecting their first baby (a sweet little lady, Sloan Elizabeth) in August! We went with a Lady Bug theme since Sloan's bedding has lady bugs on it. I think we did a great job, if I do say so myself. Shannon was thrilled with everything! We had the shower at my mom's house, since she has more room. Lisa and I were in charge of everything, except for the food. My mom made 2 breakfast casseroles; one was a french toast casserole that was to DIE FOR and the second was some sort of egg, ham, peppers, etc. that was equally as delicious. I ordered cupcakes from my sweet friend Kristina (she made B's birthday cupcakes, our wedding cake, etc.) and they turned out perfect! We had 4 different flavors: yellow cake w/chocolate ganache filling, chocolate cake w/raspberry filling, red velvet w/cream cheese filling, and pink champagne cake w/cheesecake filling. Go ahead and wipe the drool from your mouth. Kristina also put lady bugs, flowers, and polka dots on the tops of the cupcakes! And she threw in a large cupcake for the Mommy To Be! Shannon loved it! We played a couple games. First was Bingo but instead of calling it Bingo, we called it 'Sloan'. Each guest had a blank 'Sloan' card and had to fill in the blanks with baby items, chosen from a list we printed off. Then Shannon (and my sweet niece Ava) drew out the items from a bowl and the first 2 people to get a 'Sloan' got prizes! It was fun and it definitely 'educated' my sister on stuff she'll need! The second game wasn't really a game but it was still fun. While Shannon opened her gifts, we set a timer for 4 minutes. Whoever gave Shannon the gift she was opening when the timer went off, got a prize. Some of our prizes were gifts for the guest but some (and most) were gifts for Shannon and Sloan. We had 'party favors' for the guests as they left; lady bug chapstick -- thanks Avon! -- and Lucky Charm marshmallow treats. The thing that Shannon has mostly been craving has been Lucky Charms so my cousin Lisa made them in to treats, like rice krispy treats. She even went thru the whole box of cereal and picked out the marshmallows before making the treats and then she put them on top after they were done! That's love right there...hehe!

Here are some pictures from the shower! Enjoy!

My sister collects Boyd's Bear figurines and my mom got Sloan her first one!


Opening gifts!


Doesn't this little outfit scream 'Diva'!?! My best friend got it for Sloan with Aunt Lindsey in mind :)


The cupcake table





Cute, sissy. Very cute. :)


Playing 'Sloan'



My beautiful niece, Maddie


All the gifts! This little girl is not going to be spoiled at all!






The decor










My mom, Shannon, and Shannon's MIL, Peggy


The hostesess and the Mommy to Be







Now, we wait for little miss to make her arrival! I cannot wait to snuggle that sweet girl!

A Mother's Declaration

My boss got this email today and read it to me. It's amazing and I think every mother should read this! Happy (early) Mother's Day to you all!



A Mother's Declarations
What I Can and Cannot Do for You.

I gave you life, but cannot live it for you.
I can teach you things, but I cannot make you learn.
I can give you directions, but I cannot be there to lead you.
I can allow you freedom, but I cannot account for it.
I can take you to church, but I cannot make you believe.
I can teach you right from wrong, but I cannot always decide for you.
I can buy you beautiful clothes, but I cannot make you beautiful inside.

I can offer you advice, but I cannot accept it for you.
I can give you love, but I cannot force it upon you.
I can teach you to share, but I cannot make you unselfish.
I can teach you respect, but I cannot force you to show honor.
I can advise you about friends, but I cannot choose them for you.
I can advise you about sex, but I cannot keep you pure.
I can tell you the facts of life, but I cannot build your reputation.
I can tell you about drink, but I cannot say 'no' for you.

I can warn you about drugs, but I cannot prevent you from using them.
I can tell you about lofty goals, but I cannot achieve them for you.
I can teach you about kindness, but I cannot force you to be gracious.
I can warn you about sins, but I cannot make you moral.
I can love you as a child, but I cannot place you in God's family.
I can pray for you, but I cannot make you walk with God.
I can teach you about Jesus, but I cannot make Jesus your Lord.
I can tell you how to live, but I cannot give you eternal life.

Written by Anne Geddes

How amazing was that?!?

It's Over...

2 months ago, you would've heard the stress in my voice and the yearning for this show (RENT) to be over. But now, I want nothing more than to have just one more weekend. I have quickly become attached to RENT and everything it stands for. I have made some amazing, life long friendships and these people have become more than friends; they are my family. Every night on stage, I had the opportunity to tell a story. A true story. And every night, it brought me to tears. For those of you who didn't get the chance to see this show, I will tell you that I completely broke down on stage. It was so hard not to. I've never felt so passionately about a role as I did with 'Mimi'. I also felt passionate about every single person on stage with me. Like I said, we are family. So when someone 'died' or broke down, we all felt it. As I said in a previous post, I'm not one who takes compliments well and to hear people tell me I brought them to tears or that they were sobbing, just blew my mind. How can I do that? But I'm glad this cast was able to move people. This show isn't just about a drag queen, a stripper, or a rocker with AIDS. It has a much deeper meaning. I have never had such a hard time walking away from a show or a cast before. Sunday, during our matinee, we gave our freaking all! We didn't worry about blowing our voices out or saving energy for the next weekend. The last performance was specifically dedicated to anyone and everyone effect by/with AIDS. That plus the fact that it was our last show, made us all overly emotional. Curtain call was an absolute tear fest! I couldn't stop crying. I'm tearing up just typing this. I wish I could express all the emotions I felt while on stage. By the end of the night, I was always physically AND emotionally drained. Do you know how exhausting it is to go thru 'physical with drawls' on stage? It might not sound like much, but man oh man...it was tough. One of my bestestest friends came to see the show on Sunday. He's a HUGE theatre 'geek' (love you Ivory!) and takes it very serious. I knew he'd tell me the absolute truth on what he thought of the show. He had to compose himself after the show because he was a 'hot tranny mess' as another friend put it....lol! Our little joke. Anyway, I was all cried out when he got to me but we hugged for the longest time and I just knew he was proud of me. And that meant the world to me. We talked and he had lots of things, great things, to say. I don't even know where to begin on that. He said it was the hardest on him to watch me cringe and wrentch my body on the table during the scene in which I 'die' and that he just kept thinking 'Lindsey, stop it! Just get up!'. Him and another close friend of mine were sobbing at this point in the show. After all that was said and done, the cast took one more group photo on the set. Now, if ya'll really know me, you know I like to look my 'best' in pictures. Well, by the end of the show, my makeup is HORRIBLE (on purpose) and with all the tears that were cried that day, I looked like a hot mess. I guess the picture will just capture what I really 'felt' at the end of this show :) It was definitely hard to have to clean up our dressing room and see it empty. And it's still so weird to think that we don't have another weekend to do this show. Everyone in the cast who is on Facebook has had sad, sappy status updates that just breaks my heart. My hubbie's status from last night was about how the set was already torn down and in pieces on the floor. That broke my heart. Some of you may be thinking I just need to get over it and move on; it's just a freaking community theatre production. But seriously, this show was and is meant to touch peoples lives. It's a TRUE STORY about REAL people living out something that is REAL. People die everyday from AIDS/HIV.

It's taken me 2 days to write this much. I don't know if it makes sense; I don't know if I repeated stuff. I don't want to go back and read it because I don't want to get sad. I'm also starting to get sick...I'm so physically and emotionally drained that I think I'm shutting down. But at least I have my evenings to relax and get caught up!

Thank you to everyone who came to see the show!