Mother's Day #2...

This was my 2nd mother's day and it was just as special as the first, in different ways.  I got almost a whole weekend out of it, but it really started a few weeks ago at a Girls' Night Out.  Some of my girlfriends and I got together at a paint-your-own-pottery place and I made this:

It was quite a challenge to get Deacon's little handprint on it (probably the last year I'll be able to get it on a mug this size), but I think it turned out okay, and I'm SO pleased with how the mug came out!  What a treasure this is to me!  And I reckon I'll be drinking out of this for the next 20 years or so...  :)

So then this weekend rolled around.  Saturday we went to the beach together and it was a GORGEOUS day!  The perfect day to go to the beach -- it wasn't too breezy at the beach, it wasn't too hot.  Seriously, I could've stayed all day long!  But after about an hour we headed home for lunch and naps.

 

 

Well, my boys napped while I went to get a pedicure!  We have a new place right up the road that I wanted to try and I left there a very satisfied customer.  :)  Aaahh, it was so relaxing!  My poor feet were in desperate need of some TLC and the sweet lady at the salon did not disappoint.  She painted my toes with a beautiful color of pinkish-purple and then added a pretty design (she painted it by hand):

Sunday morning, we got up and got ready for church as usual but I found this on the table for me:

After church, we picked up sushi for lunch (that was a big hit last year!) and then took naps all around.  Sunday evening, we ended up at a place in Surf City for dinner -- Mainsail Restaurant.  It's not a new restaurant, but one we've never eaten at before.  It was a great atmosphere with great service, and the food was wonderful!

I loved spending lots of quality time with my boys this past weekend -- they are my most favorite in the whole world!  Being Deacon's mama is the absolute best job I've ever had.  He is my heart, truly, and I'm so humbled and blessed beyond measure that God would choose me to raise this most special little boy.

18 mos old...

SO.HARD.TO.BELIEVE. we have a child who is a year and a half old.

I took Deacon to his 18 month well-check last week and he did great, of course.  The doctor said he was right on track for doing, saying, eating everything an 18 month old should be doing, saying or eating.  He's such a busy-body that it was pretty difficult to hold a conversation with the doctor, but she's a mom, too, so I guess she understood that I WAS listening, even if my attention was on making sure my son didn't flip off the table.

So his stats at this point haven't changed much in the last 3 months:

Weight = 23 lbs, 11 oz (21%)

Height = 31 inches (21%)

He's progressing on his own chart exactly as he has been doing (no huge jumps or lags) so the doctor says he looks great.  And no shots this time, yay!  He'll get his next booster shot at his 2 year appt, and then nothing more for a couple years, I think.

His vocabulary has ramped up a little bit, though he still speaks lots of Japanese, if you ask me.  :)  He can now say/sign or sound the following:

eat (and he does the sign, too)
more (just the sign)
please (just the sign -- which looks a lot like "bath", too :)
ba (bath)
mama
da (daddy)
shh (shoe)
cah (car)
cruh (truck -- it's weird but he looks right at a truck when he says it)
chh-chh (choo-choo train)
chh (cheese)
night-night
nap
nack (snack)
hot (as in "the food is hot" or "the oven is hot")
up
no
uh-oh
whoa
yay
apple
nana (banana)
wa (water)
Deacon (oh, my word -- it is the cutest thing!)

new toys & new tricks...

Jeff and I had the opportunity to go to NYC in mid April.  Jeff needed to head up there for work, so I decided to tag along with him.  Jeff's mom came down to stay with Deacon for our little getaway.  He's at the age now where he's too young and too old at the same time -- too young to listen, and too old to sit still.  :)

So we decided maybe we'd better leave him home this time.  We sure missed him, though!

We knew he was in good hands with his Grandma Sherry.  I think she had a ball with him all to herself.  :)  One of the things she told us before she got here is that she wanted to get him some kind of toy that he could play with outside.  Now that we have the backyard fenced in, he does need some things he can play with out there.

She settled on a little push lawnmower that (supposedly) blows bubbles as you push.  You know the one -- we had them when WE were kids...

A guy needs the right equipment for his yard, right?

Hard at work...seriously.

Pretty sure he got the whole yard.  :)

Thanks, Grandma Sherry!

In other news, Deacon has a new trick:

We have a monkey on our hands, for sure!  He will climb on anything -- couches, chairs, coffee table, upside down laundry basket, his push-behind racecar, his toy tool bench (found him on that today!) and yes, his picnic table outside.

We're gonna need good insurance on this one.  :)