So Spoiled!

On Thursday, I had a long day, and was exhausted, complained about everything and was pretty ornery that evening. Most of my emotional stuff was fueled by pregnancy hormones (meaning blown out of proportion), but that's beside the point. Anyway, Matt handled the situation very well. Unknown to me, he went into the bathroom, cleaned it, gathered a couple candles, a portable CD player, bubble bath, etc. Then he gently took me by the hand into the bathroom, and instructed me to take a nice long relaxing candlelight bubble bath while he took care of Darren and cleaned the house. Being ornery, I wasn't convinced that's what I wanted, but I have to confess that after I got in the tub, I changed my mind (of course). Gradually, my mood changed, I relaxed, and my thoughts turned to gratitude for having such a patient and thoughtful husband. He never got upset with me, or even showed that he was annoyed (though he must have been). Instead, he pampered me, and took care of everything that needed to be done that night with a great big smile on his face! I felt very spoiled and undeserving of the great love and tenderness he showed me that night. I am so lucky to be married to such a wonderful man! I love you, Matt!

Nap?!?!

Normally, Darren is really easy to put down for naps and bedtime. Today was definitely the exception though! I had just read him a story, and laid him down, tucked him in, kissed him, etc., and left his room and closed the door. I could hear him wiggling around a little bit and talking quietly, which happens sometimes for a few minutes before he actually falls asleep, so I didn't think much of it. Anyway, about 5 minutes later, Matt unexpectedly came home from work to grab a couple of things. Just as we start conversing, we hear a big CRASH! come from Darren's room, and then silence! Matt is closest to Darren's room at this point, so he runs over to the door to check and make sure everything's okay. He opens the door, I hear Darren say, "Oh No!" and Matt tells me to go grab the camera. By this point, I know there are no injuries, but my curiosity is definitely peaked! When I get to Darren's room with the camera, I see Darren sitting on top of the brand new dresser we just bought for the baby, with a broken picture on the floor (hence the crash we heard)! It's a fairly tall dresser for a kid his size- Darren can't even reach the top drawer! So, it scares me that he can climb up on top of it! I'm really glad that the dresser is very sturdy though. Anyway, we quickly got him down from the dresser, and picked up the picture, and then put him down for his nap...again! After a couple minutes of complaining, he did finally go to sleep! Thank goodness!

MMMMM! Cookie dough!

Last night, Matt decided he was going to make cookies. Of course, Darren wanted to help - more like help eat them! Anyway, Matt told him if he went and sat down, he could lick the beater. So, Darren plopped himself down right on the kitchen floor with his back against the wall, and went to town! The look on his face cracks me up, and check out the white knuckle grip he has on that beater! He was not about to give it up! He learns quick, and knows what's good! Just for the record, he took his pants and sock off all by himself, and wasn't about to let us put them back on.

Styrofoam!

We just got a new dresser for the baby, and Darren was having a great time breaking apart and playing in the styrofoam it was packaged in! He didn't even touch the cardboard. Thank goodness for vacuums! It was fun to watch!

Pioneer Park!

This last weekend, a local park up here (Pioneer Park) had a special day for little kids, and so I took Darren! We had a great time! Darren got to climb inside of a real fire truck, get his face painted like a puppy, see the animals at the petting zoo, ride a carousel for the first time, and play on a playground! It was a very full afternoon! Here are some of the pictures I took...

Darren getting his face painted for the first time ever! He actually held fairly still too!

Cute little puppy dog face!
The whole paint job!
Petting a goat.
He loved the baby goat! He started out petting the bunnies with his wrist.
Then he did it normal.
The bunnies were his favorite! He didn't want to leave their pen!
First time on a carousel!
He loved it! Going round and round, and up and down!
Cute boy!
The swings are fun!
Typical Darren.... trying to eat rocks!
All tuckered out! He was so tired by the end of the day, he was sound asleep before we even got out of Fairbanks!

I uh You!

Darren melted my heart today! He was just playing with his little cars and trucks (an all the time occurace!), and I was sitting on the couch going over some new music I'm learning. Then, totally out of the blue, he comes over, climbs up into my lap, wraps his little arms around my neck, gives me a big squeeze, and says, "I Uh You!" which means I love you in Darren language (he's still working on his consonants)! Then he gave me a kiss, got down off my lap, and went back to playing! This was the first time he's ever said "I love you" to anyone without first being prompted! I loved it! So, the whole thing really didn't even take a whole minute, but it totally made my day! It's one of those great rewards of motherhood! Anyway, I thought it was super cute, and just had to share!

Pregnant Belly

K, so this is probably about the only time you'll get to see pictures of me with a pregnant belly. I usually refuse to have my picture taken while pregnant - it's just so NOT attractive! Why I'm posting them on our blog, I don't know... it must be pregnancy insanity. In these pictures, I'm 1 day shy of 32 weeks, so I still have a little while. Ugh!