Happy Easter!

Monks woke up Sunday morning and I loved his little face when he walked in the living room and saw his goodies and baskets. The one wrapped in cellophane was from Tio and Tia Nett and it had candy and a little German shepherd dog in it. He calls it “dog”. We tried to make him see it is a dog like Apollo but that just confused him I think because he would go to the kitchen window and point and say Apollo and then point at his dog and say dog, like guys this is NOT Apollo. He also had his “goodie” bucket with markers, bendable bunnies, some Easter cars in eggs, a bunny on a skateboard, a bath book, bubbles, and a Hot Wheel. His Cars basket had eggs in it filled with Smoothie jelly beans and Sweet Tart jelly beans. Once he saw that Cars basket, he was so excited it was a car and he started grabbing the eggs out of it, although he calls them balls. His face lit up when he shook it and he had to find out what was in it! Nothing else mattered once he ate some jelly beans. Out of all his stuff, he just wanted to sit with a handful of jelly beans and eat them. And we let him. J



Eating celery with peanut butter while we cooked.




Hey guys, its too hard to dip celery in peanut butter, I will just scoop it up with my hand and eat it.




Tia Nett's basket put to good use.



Everyone came over after church to eat together. We had roast with carrots, Gigi’s potato salad, homemade mac and cheese, salad (although that went untouched lol) and all the leftovers from the night before which included burgers, chicken, bacon wrapped jalapenos, asparagus and dips. It was a great meal and then it was naptime! Everyone left and we all laid down. I woke up about 4 to a huge rainstorm and then I heard the scariest noise! It was hailing and it was unreal! I thought our windows would break. I don’t know how Monks and Devin slept. The hail varied in size from golf ball to nearly softball in some areas. So many people had broken windows and damage to their cars. We had about four different occurrences, each one worse than the one before over a couple of hours. Monks woke up about halfway through the storm and we watched it all out the front door. He kept repeating water, water and would tell Apollo to shhhh when he whined in his box in the kitchen. His eyes would get big as he watched the hail. Crazy weather for our Easter Sunday.  

 

Grillin & Chillin

Saturday we slept in and Devin did not have class since it was Easter weekend! I was so excited. I miss Saturdays as a family L We went grocery shopping and bought way too many yummy things to eat. Devin decided he wanted to grill that night and so I texted everyone to come over! As we left Wal-Mart, he saw the little plastic pools and decided Monks needed one. It had been in the high 90’s and so I told him to get the biggest one so I could fit in there with him. He needs adult supervision right?? We got home mid afternoon and after Monks nap, I got him ready to go outside. His pool was all ready to go for him and the grill had been started. I put on his hat thinking it would be a battle to keep it on, Gigi was the only one good at distracting him and making him wear it, so I was shocked when he kept it on the whole time and would even point at it and say my hat without touching it. He loved that hat! My boy is growing up. I set him in the pool and since it had only been full for about an hour, it was still cold and he whined at first but then started splashing. Crazy Apollo could not stay away and kept coming to drink some of the pool water which made Monks laugh hysterically. We did have fun dumping water on Apollo’s back. I went in to start on some sides for our dinner and I hear Aikman just laughing and splashing so loud. I heard Devin too. I went back out and that dog was in his pool with him! He had grassy paws and was trying to lay down in it. I yelled at him and he ran out. I then made Devin clean out the grass with a net. You leave the boys alone and look what you get. J Too funny. We had so much fun playing in the water and sitting by the grill. We also, as part of Monk’s Easter present, bought him a small table from Sam’s. He is in love with that thing and will eat some meals at it or just play and play with toys on it. Devin brought it outside for him to sit at and he had a blast.



Loves his chalk!




The Wet Bandit




Our yummy dinner being prepared!




Best Face Ever. I love this guy I tell ya!



Yeah so I just noticed I have no pics of him in the pool, those were taken with my phone. My bad.

Easter Bunny!

Good Friday I took off and we spent the day together as a family, just the three of us. We woke up, ate breakfast and headed to the mall for our pictures with the Easter Bunny! Of course once we get there, it is on break, but that gave us time to look at Payless and walk around some. The Bunny was also walking in the mall and Monks got to see him before he got up there and started pointing and asking what is that? What is that? So we told him who he was and when you ask Monks what the bunny says he says hop, hop, hop. Seriously what sound does a bunny make?? That was the best I could teach him. Anyway, the bunny went back to his seat and a line was forming so we went to get our place. In line Aikman was so excited and it made me so happy. He would say bunny or point or laugh and say hop hop and even told this little sweet boy in front of us hi several times. It was finally our turn. We walked up there and Devin picked up Aikman and went to set him on the bunny’s lap and when the bunny reached for him his laughter and smile stopped and he began to scream! I mean scream and started crying even! I was in shock. He held so tight to Devin and the sweetest yet saddest thing was he was yelling for me. All I heard between cries was momma, momma, momma. My poor boy! Devin tried to calm him and even was touching the bunny himself to show him it was okay but it was not happening this time. They took four different shots and in one Monks had the most scared look on his face and poor Devin’s shirt was being pulled so tightly by Aikman. He was holding on for dear life. I will never forget that experience and I have a feeling neither will Monks. He still looks sweet to me. Sorry for the crappy scan lol I am not very good with technology.

After our traumatic experience, we had lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings and then went shopping. We hit up a few stores in the mall, Academy, Sam’s and Target. The afternoon ended with a snow cone (blue colada with cream is pure heaven) and Monks falling asleep in the car on the way home. It was a long day full of terror, excitement, laughs and great food.

Coming Soon!

I know its been nearly a week but I was off with my sweet boy so have alot of catching up to do at work right now! I will get you updated on our wonderful weekend with Daddy, our super fun Easter and our week together at home and all the fun things we did! I have so many stories and photos to share! Stay tuned!

No Bubble Baths for Monks

Last night in the bath I decided to add some bubbles to his water. It has really been months since I have done it. Apparently it’s not a good idea. I started to pour some grape smelling princess bubbles I had (yes they were mine) and as soon as they started appearing, Monks starting scooting to the back of the tub with the most disgusted look on his face. I said it was okay they were just bubbles and fun to play in. He was all the way against the back of the tub by now and said no, no bubbles. I was in shock he disliked them so much but proud he said bubbles so well! I reassured him once again and made the mistake of putting some on him. He held his arms out and whined like it hurt him and said no momma no. I really was kind of laughing. The more I put on him and tried to blow to make it fun, the more he disliked them. He then reached for me to pick him up and said momma while still whining. He wanted out of there! I rinsed him off with one of his beach pails we play with and apologized and let him know he was okay and we tried to splash them around to dilute them. He still stayed near the back of the tub. As mean as it may sound, I can’t help but smile when I think of how grossed out he was from them. I wish I had it on video. He was so cute. We will stick with a normal bath tonight.

Sweetest. Face. Ever.

How precious does my boy look? Do you not love that face? Look at that cheesy smile! Makes me wanna kiss and hug him for hours and never stop. I love bathtime. 

Pizza Rolls!

Last night for dinner, I made Monks some pizza rolls, half an avocado and grapes. Make fun of my meal but his food groups were covered lol I made him ten pizza rolls, thinking he would eat about 4 or 5 and then I could just put the rest in the fridge. He ate all his avocado, about 20 grapes, and all the rolls he had on his plate. I then went to take his plate as he had started to play with the outside of one pizza roll and he asked for more. I then got him the rest and he ate all of them! He left the outsides on about 2 and a half but that was it. He was also funny because he would squeeze the pizza roll and then it would bust in one corner and he would suck the filling out and then eat the outside. Craziness. He was a mess when he was done and I had to get out the camera.



Yummy Pizza Roll Hand




He looks like he is growling at me



Check Up For Olivia

Monday morning at work my doctor’s office called and said my doctor had an emergency come up and would not be in Tuesday for my appointment so she asked me to move it up a day. I called Devin right then and said um, pick me up in twenty minutes, our appointment has changed! It was a great start to the week knowing we would hear our baby girl. I was proud of myself, I did not gain any weight! I by no means am trying to lose being pregnant, I just try to make better decisions food wise at times and do what is best for her. I have also been walking on breaks at work with two girls. I just want the best for my girl. J She found Olivia’s heartbeat right away and it was strong and steady. I love that sound! She measured me and we are measuring two weeks ahead, just like I did with Monks and he was nearly 9 pounds so hopefully she will be big and healthy like her brother was. I also got my lab paperwork to have my glucose test done. I have to be between 26 & 28 weeks and we are almost 26 so I will try to go next week when I am off with Monks. It was a great visit!

Busy Busy Weekend

So this past week was crazy! Between preparing all week for the garage sale, Devin having to go to the emergency room Friday night and recovering all weekend, the sale Saturday, a very sleepy monkey Saturday afternoon, I was exhausted, physically and emotionally. Devin is fine, just had bronchitis that was really bad and then it turned worse and he had to go to the ER for sprained ribs and get shots and meds to basically knock him out all weekend. Our sale went great, we had sooo much stuff and I was pleased. I was very torn between selling some items, it’s only been two months and it was hard to see strangers going through Gigi’s things, but overall I felt I did good. Plus, Monks was adorable and I was worried about Devin still so my mind was all over the place at times. Thanks to Tio, Tia, Pete, Phil, Big Tio and Tia Nett for all the hard work that was put in to make it a success! Nothing is ever possible without all of you!

Maybe I Should Not Call Him Monkey.......

The other night it was bath time and I said monks you ready for your bath? So we took off our clothes and put them in the basket in the room and I went to get his towel from the dryer. I then came back down the hall (it took me like twenty seconds) and I went in his room to get him. He was not in there. I looked back toward the living room thinking I had passed him or something and then I heard him. I looked in the bathroom and that wild boy had climbed in the tub by himself and I said Aikman Allen! And he jumped a little and I said no sir, you do not get in without mommy. He climbed over the edge by himself! His legs are just long enough to straddle it and get over apparently. Goodness! He was still in his diaper too. We then took it off, I started his water and then I put him in. He is growing too fast! I never would have thought he could get in by himself. That’s my monkey for you!

The-Joe

Monks has a new name for Tio apparently. One time he called him Joe-Gi but now he always calls him the-joe! I don’t know what it is. I say Tio and he will say the-joe! (He has said Tio several times so I know he can pronounce it) It took me about 10 minutes just to get him inside when we went over the other day because he had to stop and point and touch the-joe’s car. He would tell me “Es the-joe’s car” or ask me “who’s that car” and I would say Tio’s and he would say again es the-joe’s car. Maybe he is trying to correct me lol It is just so funny. He even calls him that to his face. When we left yesterday to go home from their house, I told him to tell Tio and Tia bye and give them a hug. He went to Tia first and kissed and hugged her and then went to the-joe and hugged him and went to kiss him but Tio was talking so Monks had his mouth wide open and was trying to move closer to give him that kiss. He looked so cute.

I'm Cleaning Out My Closet

Sunday we cleaned out what will be Olivia’s room. Her closet was packed full of stuff and junk and more stuff mixed with some more junk. We were going through some Rubbermaid tubs and I found my graduation cap. We put it on Monks and how precious does he look?? Little future valedictorian there! He makes me laugh because he hates hats, like baseball caps and cute floppy beach hats but will wear a sombrero or a graduation cap and keep it on and go about his business. Craziness.

Devin also had some toy cop sets up in the closet. He bought them back in 2002 when we lived in our apartment and kept them in their boxes. There was a 6 pack of law enforcement hot wheels, a large set of SWAT vehicles with little SWAT men, and a huge play set with cars, helicopters, police, a K-9 unit, guns and small accessories. He was so excited to give them to Monks! (I think we both forgot we had them to be honest) I wish I had it on video. Monks face just lit up and he started saying cars cars cars and pointing! As Devin opened the hot wheels I told Aikman what do you say but before I even finished that sentence he said peas peas. He was so excited! Once he had those he sat down and started rolling them around and Devin said look Monks, got something else and he brought out the large SWAT set. He had to use his knife to open it and as he has this huge box in his lap Aikman goes and squeezes between him and the box and sits in Devin’s lap with his hands on his knees like okay, I am ready. It was hilarious. Devin just made his day. We are waiting to give him the largest set, some pieces are small so maybe for his birthday he will be ready. He played with those new cars for about 2 hours straight and that is no exaggeration. He plays so cute and had his cars in a line and the police by the helicopter. The helicopter had to stay on its “pad”, the white lid to a box Devin turned upside down for him. He would push your hand away if you tried to move it and give you a car instead. He was all about the cars. He wanted down from his highchair to play with cars. He wanted them in his bath and in his bed at night.  I did not let him but once he was all clean and dressed for bed he sat down to play once more. In the morning when I woke him up, first thing he did was wipe his eyes and then point to his cars and ask for one. Too cute.

Daddy & Monks

Saturday Monks was not feeling well. I just prayed and prayed he was not getting another ear or throat infection. He would not eat, he fought his sleep and he threw up twice when I tried to give him Motrin. He was burning up and I was surprised when I took his temperature that it only showed 100.1. I thought it would be much higher. It took me several attempts to finally get him to sleep, he would only sleep if I rocked him and once he was finally out, I laid him in bed and had to pat his butt as he wiggled and moaned. He was out. Devin got out of class a few hours early and so we started sorting our stuff for the garage sale. Monks barely slept over an hour and was up. Devin got him and he helped us in our room but his eyes looked so sad and were dark under. I know he was exhausted but would not sleep. We were in our room and he was sitting on the bed but would randomly cry and want to be held. I was sitting on the bed folding clothes and he came and got in my lap and wanted to be held. We were at a weird angle so I laid back on the bed and put my feet against the wall. He was laying on my chest and Olivia J I was using my feet to push against the wall and rock him. He was holding me so tight and was so sweet. Devin whispered that his eyes were closing and just as he fell asleep of course, my back was hurting and Olivia was not comfy being laid on, so I asked Devin to rock him. Devin got in the same position I had been in and Monks laid on him. He fought it at first and whined (Daddy is not as soft as Mommy J) but once he found his spot he was quiet and I turned the light off and we had cartoons on. I sat on the floor to go through drawers and after about ten minutes I heard a heavy breathing from Monks and snoring from Devin. I looked up and both were out. I wanted to get my camera so bad but I knew the flash would wake them. It was the sweetest sight ever. My big baby holding my little baby, both sleeping peacefully. I got a small blanket and draped it on Monks as he was only in a diaper and they slept for two and a half hours! I went in to check on them often and they would be in a different position but still holding onto one another. I love them. I adore them. When they woke up, they both were refreshed and Monks seemed fine the rest of the day. Did not eat as much for dinner as he usually does, but still ate so I was happy.

Wonderful Dinner

Last night we had dinner at Tio & Tia’s house! It was nice to go back over there to eat. Tia made some pasta with chicken and red peppers, squash and zucchini all mixed with three types of alfredo sauce. It was so good. Monks and I made a salad and Pete and Phil brought some garlic cheese bread with apple pie and ice cream for dessert. Aikman ate his pasta dish and some tomatoes and we gave him some strawberries. We were all stuffed. Monks was not feeling the pie, he sucked on a piece of apple and then gave it back to me, but he sure did love his ice cream and strawberries. He even ate it with a spoon like a big boy!



Eating Ice Cream. Sorry for the action shot!



Look at that sticky hand!

A Monkey's Embrace

When we got to the sitters the other day Monks saw one of his little girl friends. He ran up to her and said hi and she waved at him and said hi back. They then hugged the sweetest, tightest hug I have ever seen! Mrs. Jennifer said they are little partners in crime. She said they do everything together and are the best of friends. After their embrace and my heart and her mom’s heart melting, he came back to me, patted my thigh and smiled and looked at me like okay, love you, see you, and then walked back to her and they hugged once more and then they both sat at the breakfast table together. Can he be any cuter?? They were so sweet together.

Craziness! (I feel Like I Use That Word Alot)

Yesterday evening I was sitting on the couch and watching Extra and Monks wandered into the kitchen. He will go sit on an ice chest under the window and play with his cars on the ledge and talk to/watch Apollo outside. I figured he was doing that because I could hear his cars rolling. After about 5 minutes, I walked in there to see what he was doing and found this:

Really Monks? He barely fits under there! He was just chilling under a kitchen chair playing. I said monkey what are you doing and he just smiled at me. He wanted to play and stayed under there for about ten more minutes. He also had a mint wrapper he was playing with (thank you daddy for leaving that on the end table) and he would lay it on the ground and drive around it or over it and hear it crunch. When he came back in the living room, we played on the ottoman together with his cars and he had that crazy wrapper once again and would smooth it out and do the same thing. I am glad trash can entertain my son. We then had a feet fight. He sat on the ottoman and I sat on the couch and we put our bare feet together and would wiggle our toes and push back and forth against each other. This entertained both of us for quite a while. We also made several animal sounds together. He knows quite a few now!! I love my evenings with him when we do silly things. He makes me laugh so hard.

Fat Lip

I got off at three yesterday to help Devin prepare for a big test of his he was nervous about. I left work and went to get Monks from the sitter. When I got there she said he had an accident today. He was outside on the patio on a bike and she said Aikman, mommy’s here and he looked and then ran inside. I immediately thought omg, what happened and he ran to me and I picked him up and she said that while he was laying on his mat during nap time he banged his head/face on the ground and it busted his lip. His top lip was a little fatter than normal but not crazy and you could see the little dried blood spot. He also had a spot on his bottom lip but I am not sure if it just rubbed on there or if he cut it too. My poor boy!!! I had to of course kiss him all over and he just laughed. She said he barely cried and that it did not bleed much. That was his first busted lip and as bad as it may sound, I am glad I missed it.

Busy Night

Tuesday night Monks and I spent the evening with Tio and Tia. They came over about 6 and we went to Academy so Tio could exchange some shoes. Monks asked what’s that to just about every shoe and sock we came into contact with. I love when he asks questions. We then went to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings. That is like my all time favorite place. Devin and I got engaged there, I ate there several times before an appointment when I was pregnant with Monks, he likes to eat there now, and Olivia has already had her share of it so far. It is like a second home to the Andersons! I ordered Monks a kids meal with 4 boneless wings in a sweet BBQ sauce, mandarin oranges and some orange juice. Their wings are big so he ate nearly two and was full. He did eat all his fruit though. He was such a good boy sitting in his booster seat. He wanted down towards the end of our meal, we were just waiting on Devin’s food to go since he was in class, so Tia took him out to the car and picked Tio and I up right in front. We then headed over to Lowe’s so they could buy their bathroom stuff for their remodel! Monks and I had fun opening and closing refrigerators and stoves. He had his cup of juice and I thought it leaked on him, one whole side of his shorts had this spot so I checked him and it was his diaper! I had just checked it at Wild Wings. My poor boy. We made a trip to the bathroom  and I had to change him and put on some new shorts. Luckily my spare clothes matched the shirt he already had on. He looked giant laying on that changing table! Gosh, he is growing quick. He had to sit on one of the “cars” as he calls them when we left. It was actually a riding lawn mower.  

Monkeys Love To Play Outside

Saturday morning I woke up to a kiss from my sweet monkey! He was sitting in bed with me (at 7:04 am I might add) and Devin was standing by the bed. Devin said we made breakfast. Devin has class on Saturdays and he has to leave about 7:35 so that was a nice surprise. I got up and we went to eat. We had eggs, biscuits, sausage, bacon and hasbrowns. It was yummy! Monks went right to his highchair and showed me his new car and puzzle Daddy had bought him. His car is just a little hot wheel but the puzzle is a police car and once you get all the pieces in, the siren goes off. Pretty neat huh? I am sure you can imagine how much Monks loves it. We did have plans to go to a petting zoo/farm type place with a friend and her girls but I was so tired and dozing on and off that I decided we would skip it. Monks played all morning and then at 11:45 I put him down for his nap since he had gotten up so early. He woke up at 4:15! Talk about a sleepy boy!! Goodness! I also took a nap in between there so it was nice. Devin got out of class about 2 hours early and he came home and we got ready to take Pete to work and then spend some time together. We went to Target and only spent $13.56. That is a record for us there y’all! Monks got some super cute egg shaped chalk from the $1 bins. I correct him each time but it never fails. He always calls eggs balls. He points and says oh balls or that’s balls! So in his eyes he got balls that happen to color. Craziness. After Target we went and ate at Burger King and played in a play place for the first time ever! We were the only family in there which is why I let him go in the first place. He was very cautious at first and would only go up the next level when Devin was with him. Sorry, mommy did not fit. Once he had the hang of it, he went to level 2 on his own but never higher. I like to watch him when he is exploring something new. His face is too sweet. We then decided we would play at a park, but one at a school so it would not be too crowded. We went to one elementary school and he played and played. He loved following Devin around on the playground and we kept laughing because out of two playgrounds he would wander to a bench and be amazed by it and then walked to the building and was looking in the windows asking what everything was and we would then call him back to play and he would come running. He loves the slides, especially when Devin can go next to him. We will def be making a trip back there and I will take my camera. I tried to crawl through a tunnel and seriously did not fit. My back was pressed so far against the top and my stomach was dragging on the bottom of it. Not a cute sight. I also went down some slides but when your hips literally are the width of the slide, you don’t go too fast and God forbid there be a curve in it, you don’t move. Too sad. We then went to another park at a different school with swings. It had a fence around the playground and it had a gate so I liked that. We were there over an hour. They had a basketball court and there were three balls lying around. Devin started shooting hoops and I sat on the court and watched and we told Aikman to shoot some. He would throw the ball about two feet in the air and clap and yell. I tried to shoot from sitting down and Monks really came closer than I did. Anyone notice how athletic I am?? Devin tried to teach Monks to dribble and it was so sweet to watch because he did not know how to let it bounce and do it, he would just set the ball there and pat it repeatedly with both hands. My little genius! We left as it started getting dark and went home to take a much needed bath. It was well worth it. J He fell right to sleep.



Climbing at Burger King




Rock climbing after Daddy



GUESS WHAT?!?!

So before I update for the weekend, I have FINALLY been given permission to share this. MONKS & OLIVIA ARE GOING TO HAVE A COUSIN!!! DEVIN AND I WILL HAVE A NIECE OR A NEPHEW!!! I am so excited!!! Do you have any idea how hard it has been to NOT share this with everyone??? Okay, I don’t have a huge mouth, but I can admit I have a big mouth and it has been pure torture! J Especially for something as wonderful as this! Tia is due November 12 which puts her at 8 weeks. I can’t tell you how exciting it has been and is going to be knowing we are pregnant together. Our family could not be happier. It breaks my heart Gigi is not here, she would seriously be going crazy right now! She went from 1 grandbaby to 3 in a few months! Come Christmastime, we will have three kids to celebrate with! AHHHH! That blows my mind. Anyway, congrats again Tio and Tia! I can’t wait to be an aunt! Omg, I need to start thinking of what I will go by. Decisions, decisions……