Playgroup with cousins!

Since the weather has been soo nice, my sister and I decided it would be fun to do a weekly playgroup. Life gets sooo busy and even though Abby lives only 15 minutes away, we barely ever see each other. This last week we decided to get the baby pool out and put Grant and Grace in it. Grace LOVED it, but Grant was scared of Grace playing and splashing everywhere. Then we put them in Grace's barbie jeep and they drove around for like 10 minutes. It was funny because Grant looked like he was going to fall asleep while they were driving. Then mom and Grace played hop-scotch. Overall we had a GREAT time and Grant was exhausted and went right to sleep when we got home. We also made a disaster of Abby's house with all the toys and everything. So thanks Abby for letting us come over and have fun!

Things I love!

I looooove this bedding for Grant when he moves to a big boy bed. I love the brown with the red and blue. So unexpected! And if I had a girl, I would haaave to have this bedding! Sooo pretty!
These are both Serena and Lily Children's Bedding designs and you can find them at Oneofakindkid.com. They have a lot of other designs and they're a little pricey, but not that much more from Potterybarn's prices.

Are we becoming "Those parents"...

So tonight we decided to go out to eat at Applebees. It was supposed to be fun and relaxing and a time to get out of the house. Well it was everything but that. Grant, whom I love dearly and would not change a thing about, decided that he was going to throw a tantrum about EVERYTHING!! I have no idea what he wanted to the entire time and he just kept making a scene yelling and screaming and basically throwing a tantrum. All around us were college kids on dates or newly married couples and I just couldn't help but think how I used to look at parents whose children acted this way in public. So I guess what I'm saying or rather asking myself is, "Am I becoming those parents?" You know the parents you see that look like they don't know what their doing and they give their kid anything just to please them? I do find it much easier just to give your kid what their yelling for just to save a scene and not have to deal with it. I mean at home I try to teach him not to do that or we will have to go to timeout, but what do you do when your out in public?

I guess what I'm trying to get out of this post is how do you deal with the typical one year old who can't verbalize what they want and if they don't get what they want they throw a tantrum? Grant is constantly throwing tantrums when we change his clothes, his diaper, put him in the highchair to eat, put his bib on, put his shoes on (or at least the ones he doesn't want to wear), get his haircut, see the doctor, put him in his car seat, and the list goes on and on. Is anyone else experiencing this new act of independence and rebellion with their child? Please assure me this is normal and that it's just a stage? I can get through it if its just a stage!

Now don't get me wrong. Grant is a very happy baby, sleeps through the night, and takes 2 great long naps, is very social, and is happy 80% of the time. He's wonderful. I see him progressing his verbal, mental, and social skills all the time. Like the other day, I was thinking to myself that I have never seen Grant actually "share" a toy with another baby. Well I swear that same day we were playing with his cousin, Tyler, and Grant actually handed Tyler his ball that he was playing with. Huge for us! So please tell me this is normal and that this will all be over someday:) Too much to ask for?

Home Sweet Home...

We are home from our vacation, but I'm still in vacation mode. Sorry I haven't blogged with pictures before now, but we have been busy de-vacationing from our vacation:) Here are some pictures of us on the beach, dressed up for a night on the town, and the fun we had in FL. Everyday we woke up, got ready, and headed for the beach. The first day I used sunscreen like everyone I know advised me. I was proud of myself until I got home that day with little sun exposure. I was sure that I would use the sunscreen (15) and that I would tan and not burn. Well I got notthin. So the next day, I decided that I only go to the beach once a year so it's my only chance to get some sun. So I wore nothing. That night I was definitely paying for that decision. I was completely in pain. But not to worry, I felt a little better after taking some ibuprofen:)

The next day we decided to stay indoors and to go shopping. Since we live in Idaho, we have a VERY limited number of stores to shop. So we went a little crazy, but I am completely done with our summer wardrobes! We went to the outlet malls and racked up there and I made my way over to Banana Republic that was having a great sale. All and all I'm very happy with our purchases. Later that day we decided to go to the beach for sunset which was very relaxing and nice. I ended up reading a book that occupied most of my time, but now I feel I have a fun hobbie. If your a book reader, Mary Higgins Clark is VERY addicting.

The beachs there were beautiful and we had sunny days everyday we were there. We found a spot on Captiva off of Sanibel Island. There were not many people on this particular beach. Everyday we were there we saw dolphins swimming nearby and lots of wildlife. The ocean was also very calm during the earlier part of the day, so it was fun to sit in the ocean with a big armchair float. Every couple needs a vacation like this! Check out our disneyworld trip in the below post!

Disney World...

This day was a lot of fun for us. When we got to FL we didn't even consider going to a theme park or anything like that. Then one night we decided to see how far Disney World was from Ft. Myers. It was only like 2 hrs. So we decided to dedicate a day to going there. I mean why not? How often are you in FL and have the opportunity to go to Disney World. We decided to go to only Magic Kingdom because Geoffery's never been before and you really get the feeling of Disney in the Magic Kingdom. We had soo much fun riding all the rides. We rode them all from the kiddy rides to the roller coasters. Then for lunch, we went to this buffet and got to take lots of pictures of all the Winnie the Pooh characters. It was such a fun day, but really long. We got up at 5am, got ready, and drove for two hours to get there. Then after a full day of waiting in lines, trying to get through large crowds, and trying to withstand the heat we had to drive another 2 hrs to get home. The whole time we were there, we kept discussing how much more tired we would have been if Grant were with us. I don't think we'll go back with him until he's at least 4 or 5 yrs old. I would like for him to remember when he goes when he gets older and some of the rides (even the kiddy ones) could be a little scary for a 2 or 3 yr old. I think we'll also try to go in the early fall when its a little cooler and less crowds. I think you could get cheaper hotels during that time as well. It was an expensive day, but for some reason when your on vacation you don't consider that as a problem! Luckily we're getting the stimulus checks soon!