Baby Birds

Baby birds are cute, fluffy, and a pain in my butt. I have two separate issues going on right now with baby birds. Birds built a beautifully intricate nest by our front light near the front door. They put the nest right on top of the motion detector. We first noticed it when we arrived home from Florida. A big clue was the increasing amount of bird poop on the front stoop. Well, that bird poop has rapidly turned into a PILE of poop! I don't mind so much because we hardly ever use our front door. There are two parent birds and at least 3 baby birds hanging out in the tiny nest. I really doesn't bother me except when I know I'm going to be getting a package. I'm afraid that the delivery person will scare the birds and one might fall out. Thankfully I realized yesterday that the babies know to duck and hide when anyone approaches. So I'm feeling more confident about those birds.

However, the past few days in the back yard there has been another issue. There are two parent birds that keep dive bombing my dogs. I know that they are probably trying to protect something. The first day it happened I looked all around and found nothing. My dogs found nothing also. Yesterday while Ryan and I were eating lunch I spotted the baby bird on the ground hopping around. It was capable of climbing a few feet up into a tree so I had hope that maybe this situation would take care of itself. I locked the dogs in and gave it time. Hours later I went to check and didn't see the bird. I was about to go in, when I spotted it along my fence line. I made a feeble attempt (with gloves of course) to see if the bird would let me place it in a tree. This bird isn't stupid, and it ran away. The parents are very protective of it, so they're at least still around. A half hour later, it was back up a few feet of a tree. It was getting dark so I knew my dogs would have no interest in wandering the yard, and it would be safe from us for the night. This morning I walked all around and didn't see anything. The parent birds are still around. When Sammy (the pug) went out the parent bird almost attacked him. Poor Sammy ran to hide and I called him in. He was scared and thought he had done something wrong. I went out again to look and saw the baby bird is getting closer to the deck and is on the ground. Grrrrreat...grrrr. I have the gate to my yard open hoping it will go away. I've done everything I can for this bird. I really need this situation to resolve itself and hopefully in a good way for the birdie.

Now do you understand why I'm not so happy with all the baby birds around here?

***UPDATE: Although reluctant to help at first, Pat was the hero of the day. He got the baby bird back up into a tree with the parents. I know that many will say you shouldn't touch a baby bird, but we did it with gloves. The way I figure it anyway is that the choice was: give it a chance in a tree with its parents or let my dogs eat it. I chose to give it a chance. Hopefully this probably is done for today and yay! for Pat!

Desperate Times Call For...

Desperate times call for desperate mothers. As I've said the weather this past week or so isn't the greatest for spending too much time outside. Yesterday Ryan and I had a pool and water table day, but his cheeks grew red very quickly from the heat. Today is a similar kind of day. I just couldn't bring myself to change Ryan into his bathing suit and slather him with sunblock for such a short amount of time outside. I wanted to think of something new and fun to do with Ryan indoors, but wasn't coming up with much. I decided we could have a pool day indoors--in the tub. Believe it or not, Ryan has never been in the master bedroom's giant soaking tub. I figured this would be a perfect time to try it. I gathered up a handful of the bath toys and began filling the tub. I added a little bubble bath to make it extra fun. I got in the tub and placed Ryan standing in there too. It was instantly clear that he did not like this tub. I'm not sure if it was the bubbles or the depth of the tub or both. He stood there and cried. I was soaking and had been ready to enjoy more than 20 seconds in the tub, so I tried to convince him it was fun. After a minute or two, he realized he had all his bath toys to play with and bubbles really were cool. He was still a little unsure of the curves of the tub, but I held onto him when I needed to. We enjoyed a good soak in the tub, and I think it was enough of an adventure for a boring summer afternoon.

Burnt

Yesterday Pat had a long day out in the field in full gear. Unfortunately for him, the heat, humidity, and sun were a brutal combination. When he called on his way home he was talking about how hot and tired he was. Then the conversation went like this:

Pat: I have one rule for tonight.

Michelle: Oh and what is that?

Pat: You can't say anything about sunblock.

Michelle: You got a sunburn didn't you? You didn't wear sunblock?

Pat: Yeah, but don't say anything, okay?

Michelle: Pat, I don't say it to annoy you. I love you and don't want you to end up with skin cancer. I only say it because I care.

He sure enough got burnt. His face was so red, well where his helmet strap and goggles weren't protecting him that is. It was almost comical looking because of all the various lines left from the gear. While we were out picking up fruit at Walmart I made sure to get him some SPF 70 for faces that says it helps repair sun damage too. I wish he would start listening to me about sunblock.

I can't even tell...

I can't even tell you how excited I am for the weekend to get here. When I say I can't tell, I mean that both literally and figuratively. Pat and I have made some plans for the weekend that will be both relaxing and a little stressful. We'll be busy, but it is so worth it because it is just what we need. One of the reasons I cannot say more about it is the same reason I don't post too much on Facebook. Do you really want everyone knowing what you are doing at all times? I sometimes find people are paying too much attention to everyone's Facebook status, and the idea of people tracking my life that much kind of creeps me out. I'm sure if I talk to you between now and then I'll mention what we are up to this weekend. It will be nice to get out of the repetitive rut that I've fallen into. It will be quite fun for Ryan too. If we could only fast forward through this week (especially because it's still really hot here).

Weather

I am not loving the weather down here in TN lately. It's been so stinking hot. Everyday has been in the 90's with the heat index over 100. I can deal with hot weather, although reluctantly, as I lived in Oklahoma for almost 3.5 years. Unfortunately, here in TN we have humidity along with the hot temperatures. Some people love hot summer weather; I'm just not one of them. The heat and sun makes it hard to find things to do with Ryan during the day. Oh how I long for autumn...or a move back to the Northeast.

And I cannot believe it is Monday again. The weekend flew by too fast. Here we go again I guess...

Father's Day Weekend

Just a quick update on stuff me. I'm now 25 weeks along and they are leaving my due date as October 2. I think I'll deliver him a little bit later than that though. Sean's heartbeat sounded great. They told me the ultrasound looked fine. We're waiting on my surgery report from Ft. Sill (which is a separate story of governmental employee ineptitude, but I digress.) Until we get that report, it's unclear whether I'll have Sean via c-section of VBAC. I still have to talk to a few doctors about that anyway. Sean is getting so strong that Pat and I can watch his kicks move my belly at night. Overall things are going great.

It's Father's Day weekend. I know that Father's Day isn't really until Sunday, but we decided to make a weekend out of it. I baked Pat a chocolate cake with peanut butter filling yesterday. It came out pretty well, and is very decadent as Pat says. Today I gave him his other gift card to Home Depot because I know he wants to make a shopping trip there today. I only have a little something for tomorrow, but I think that will be enough to make it special too.

Now let me just take a moment to say what a great father Pat is. Ryan is always so happy when Pat is around. The laughter that is heard when they are together is music to my ears. Pat can be both stern and gentle, he guides Ryan and teaches him, and most of all he loves him with all his heart. I could not ask for a better father to my children, and they are so lucky to have Pat as their daddy.

I just wanted to add in a little photo of Ryan from this morning.

GPS Shopping Trip

This weekend Pat and I decided to use his new GPS to go to a mall we've never been to down in Nashville. It was a really fun trip. We did a lot of shopping. But most importantly Pat was really impressed with his GPS, and that made me feel good since it was my gift to him. The mall we went to was a much more upscale mall than the one we normally go to. (Just to put this into perspective there is a Tiffany & Co. inside this mall.) Many of the stores here I was not going to venture into, especially with my sometimes loud child, but there were a few stores that I was dying to go to. I was so excited to go to Sephora. I know I've mentioned before how I absolutely love this store. I picked up two products that I'd been waiting to get my hands on. Maybe I'll review them sometime later. While I was browsing Sephora, Pat had stopped at a watch kiosk because he needed a new watch for PT/work. I met up with him there and told him sometime I needed to get a cute little sporty watch. The prices were VERY reasonable, so Pat convinced me to get one since he was too. It didn't take much convincing because I love watches. Pat picked out this purple sporty one for me, and I'm very happy. (I still wonder if he picked purple to match the ring he gave me for the anniversary.)

While Pat was finishing up with the watches, I went into the hallmark store. Back when I was pregnant with Ryan, a friend of mine gave me an ultrasound photo frame. Ryan's u/s is on my dresser, and I look at it each night before bed. I really wanted to find another frame so that I could put Sean's photo up with Ryan's. I was quite lucky, because they only had one there. It is a very cute off white frame with cream matting and says, "Baby to Bee" with a picture of a little bumble bee. I thought it was perfect, so now I can look at both my boys' photos before I fall asleep. (I couldn't find a photo online of this, so use your imagination.)

We didn't really have any other stores to go into here so we decided to head out. While we were in the car Pat asked if we could make a trip over to our favorite mall in Nashville. I decided that Ryan was up for it, so we switched our destination on the GPS. The GPS once again proved itself invaluable.

We were letting Ryan walk a bit through the mall when Ryan spotted the carousel. He made a bee line straight for it. He watched and watched as it went around and would often point at it. It was such a cute sight to see; he had his little face pressed between the bars of the railing to watch the horses go. I asked Pat if he wanted to take him on, and Pat said not today. I don't know why Pat didn't take Ryan on, but we continued on our trip around the mall. I, however, felt very guilty and bad that Ryan didn't get to ride, so I made the decision that we'd stop in Build-a-Bear. We let Ryan pick out which animal he'd like. He was distracted by all the things to see and touch, but when we showed him the bear, he replied "Bear?" in his sweet little voice. That made the decision. He built a curly haired bear, and quite appropriately named him "Bear". Ryan sleeps with Bear in his crib and each time he gets up he wants to bring Bear with him. His interest in Bear usually only lasts about 2 minutes after he wakes up though, but it's super cute.

After building a bear, we went on to buy an outfit for Sean. Since they were on sale, Pat wanted to get two. Pat picked out the "Daddy's All Star" baseball sleeper. And we both agreed on the little lion sleeper to come home from the hospital in. The lion sleeper seems like the right outfit to come home in for a couple reasons to me. Ryan came home in the same sleeper only it was blue with dogs. Also, I don't know why, but a lion just seems right for Sean. It feels surreal to buy clothes that small though. I know that Ryan was once that tiny, but I almost don't believe it.

Many Faces of Ryan

Ryan was being a goofball while I was fixing the two of us dinner. I grabbed my camera and caught some of his many faces.

Anniversary Dinner

We had our anniversary dinner last night. Back when we lived in Oklahoma, we spent a couple anniversary nights at Outback steakhouse. There wasn't too much to choose from in Lawton at the time. Since we had a gift card already, we figured that would be an appropriate way to enjoy dinner last night. The food was pretty good, and it was nice to spend the time with my boys--even if Ryan likes to try to talk to the restaurant as a whole and give people who come to say hi the evil eye. :D

We came home and took a quick family photo that I used to update the side of my blog.

After we put a very tired Ryan to bed, Pat and I enjoyed some cake. The cake was SO good if I do say so myself. It tasted like a combination of yellow cake and pound cake, and I baked it from scratch. I made yellow cake and served it with strawberry ice cream to reminisce about our wedding cake which was a Strawberry Grand Marnier cake. Pat and I sat at the table and really got to talk and laugh for the first time in a while (because he usually works so late). It really was a nice night.

We finished the night watching some Entourage in bed. We only made it through one episode before we were both tired and ready to fall asleep. So we went to bed around 9:30 p.m. I guess we're getting old, but at least we're growing old together and happy.

Before I forget, back for my birthday Pat gave me two sets of earrings and a beautiful topaz necklace. He also had an amethyst stone he wanted to set in a ring. I asked him to do it for our anniversary. He gave me that ring last night. It is beautiful and big. He also gave me a Waterford crystal ring holder, which is perfect for me because I tend to take my rings off a lot.

Here are a few photos of the gifts he got me:

Happy 5 Year Anniversary to Us

Today is our 5 year wedding anniversary.  I can't believe it's been 5 years already.  I keep looking at my wedding rings today and remembering everything about our wedding and when he placed them on my finger.  It's almost as if they are shining a little bit extra today.  

Our only plan is going out to dinner the three of us.  I made a special cake last night for us to have today too.  It was my first attempt using my cake decorating tools.  I learned which tools I like and which ones are crap.  I didn't have enough frosting, but I made it work.  It isn't the best, but it's all I could do while Ryan was whining for his dinner.

I gave Pat his gifts this morning.  I got him a GPS for the car, which he is excited to try out.  I also gave him a $100 gift card to Home Depot, so I know we'll be headed there this weekend.  

I'll hopefully post again tomorrow to say how dinner went.  

No More

Just after Pat arrived home a few months ago, I posted about getting a new car. (Here is the link; the pic doesn't work anymore, but the post is still there.)  I've really found an appreciation for my car.  Sometimes I wonder if we really needed the "big" car, but I definitely got the answer before our trip to FL last month.  Even though we were flying down, our circus had to get to the airport (and kennel). Included in our journey was me and Pat, Ryan and his car seat, THREE dogs, two suitcases, three containers of dog food, three dog pillows, two carry on bags, and a stroller. Somehow we easily managed this in my car.  

So why am I raving about my car again?  Because I'm actually posting with excitement to share that today, I paid off our car loan.  Yay!  I know Pat is about as excited as I am about this.  No more loan payments :)  I figure this is a slightly early anniversary gift to the both of us.   

Splash Park

(I hate that blogger puts the photos up in reverse order.  Does anyone know how to make it not do that?)  Anyways, this first photo is of a cool treat after an afternoon at the splash park.  

Yesterday we took Ryan to the Splash Park on post.  It was such a new and exciting experience for him.  He was a little bit scared, but warmed up quite a bit.  We'll definitely be going back many times this summer.  

(note to self though:  bring bigger camera lens next time)

New Playgrounds

We went looking for a new playground to play at this afternoon.  We found one in a quiet neighborhood.  I like that it was away from the road way.  However, I think playgrounds make my anxiety worse.  I'm so nervous of Ryan getting hurt, and I'm not talking about a scrap on the knee or the like.  I hate that the stairs on the playgrounds are made of metal and that there are several high openings where kids can fall from.  Ryan definitely doesn't grasp the concept that he'll take a bad fall if he exits the playground through one of those openings.  I definitely find bringing him to the playground is a two person job.  Pat is a lot less worried than I am so that is good to balance me out.  Even with me being a worry wart, Ryan had a good time at this new playground.  

Photo Friday

D is for Ryan's guilty pleasures--Donuts and Dora.  Occasionally, Pat will pick up a few donuts (or munchkins) on his way home from combatives.  Ryan really enjoys his donut days.  

Ryan also enjoys a little bit of Dora (and Diego too).  

This is just a photo of Ryan playing in his pool with his new swim shirt on.  You can even see Bailey off the deck in the background.  (that hardly ever happens, as Bailey doesn't like grass)

Water and Sun

A while back I posted about how I know I should drink lots of water a day, but find myself unable to.  I had almost even convinced myself that water wasn't all that important.  In an attempt to make this water consumption easier, I found a perfect bottle to carry around filled with water.  I found that when drinking from a plastic refillable travel bottle with a spout, I'm able to drink a lot more water without noticing.  I highly recommend this tactic to those struggling to drink their water.  

Coincidentally, last night on TV I caught part of a show on food network that was exploring the effects of the amount of water we drink on our skin's health.  According to this show, to find out how much you should drink a day you take your body weight and divide by two.  That is equal to the amount of ounces of water you should drink per day.  They followed identical twins while one drank the recommended amount of water and one drank half of the recommendation.  A dermatologist examined them at the beginning and the end.  While they both started out with healthy and similar skin, the one that drank less water lost her glow and more scientifically, her skin tested to be somewhat dehydrated.  Dehydrated skin shows more wrinkles and fine lines.  So that is just another reason to keep drinking your water.  

(Just a side note though, there is research out there that says drinking when thirsty and eating well will provide enough fluid.  That said, I personally know that I need to up my water consumption and could benefit from more.)  

Speaking of skin health though, I also have been thinking about skin and sun.  I remember the days when I longed for a tan.  Now as part of a routine I use a daily moisturizer with SPF30.  I spray and rub Ryan down before we go out to play.  We got him a little SPF swim shirt.  (It matches his bathing suit perfectly too!)  I am a bit of a slacker when it comes to protecting the rest of my body from the sun though, unless I'll be out long.  I just think the idea of skin cancer is so scary.  Not to mention I'd love to avoid skin damage that makes me look older.  I wish I had realized what a great thing sunblock was before I hit my mid 20s.  If you have a favorite sunblock, I'd love to hear what it is.       

As my product recommendation, I really like Olay Complete SPF 30 Defense Daily UV Moisturizer (I use the one for sensitive skin).  It leaves my skin so soft and it isn't greasy at all.  

Busy Days, but Yummy too!

This whole weekend seemed to fly by.  I won't go into details of Friday night, but I'll say that I was the designated driver that was less than happy with her hubby.  Use your imagination ;)  

Saturday and Sunday, I'm not sure where the days went.  I know we played in the pool and ran some errands. Pat mowed the lawn, and that is just another reason I love having him home from deployments. Best of all, I got to go grocery shopping all alone.  It was so nice to be able to take my time and go back down aisles when I realized I forgot something.  I cannot even remember the other things we did.  We always seem so busy, but don't seem to get much done at the same time.  

Today Pat's unit had off.  This is a very rare thing.  It was actually to make up for a 3 day in which they were in the field.  I felt like we really needed today because the weekend was such a blur it was like it didn't even happen.  I got my haircut today.  I'm not sure how it looks.  I'll have to see how it is after I wash it myself and do it.  That is the thing, curly hair is hard to judge until you see how it is when you do it.  Either way I needed my ends cut off, and it feels better already.  I may not be cute, but at least I'm happy.  

Ryan had his 18 month well-baby visit today.  Pat got to see how the pediatrician's office is run. Thankfully he validated my opinion that it isn't the best quality care there.  

Ryan's stats were:

Height:  32.5"

Weight:  25lb 12 oz.  

He's following his own growth curve very well, and seems to be hovering right around the 50th percentile for both.    

For dinner tonight we're having turkey and homemade apple stuffing.  I even managed to whip up a little homemade gravy from my Mom's recipe.  I think her gravy is the best thing I've ever tasted.  I tried to explain to Pat tonight how it is like liquid gold.  I still haven't won him over to the gravy eating side, but believe me I will.  

Here are a few photos of the feast (photos of gravy and stuffing).  Hopefully sometime in the future I'll post my apple stuffing recipe.