Family Fun Weekend

Brian and I on our wedding day June 28th, 2008. The beginning of the our life together  ♥

The Mortons had a fun-filled weekend!  We really tackled some of the things on our Summer Activities List.  It started off when Dominic and I went to his first puppet show, which was at the Roswell Cultural Center, on Friday morning.  That place was so nice, and I really hope that the city of Dunwoody takes note and builds something similar around here.  Dominic enjoyed the puppet show, but it lasted a few minutes too long for his short attention span.  He loved the puppets and all of the other kids around the auditorium.  The funniest thing was how Dominic danced to the music in the show.  It was so cute.  We might wait till the end of the summer to return, but we’ll definitely go back next summer!  I would love to also find a smaller puppet show for Dominic to see in the meantime.  

Family shot at Amicalola Falls 

On Saturday, Brian, Dominic, and I took a day trip up to Amicalola Falls to celebrate Brian’s and my 3^rd wedding anniversary (which is actually today).  On the one hand, I can't believe that we have married for 3 years.  We’ve been together for 7 ½ years, so that’s probably why it seems like more (in a good way) plus so much has happened in those 3 years – buying a house, having a baby, and now getting ready to have another baby.  On the other hand it seems like we just had our wedding a few months ago.  Either way, it's been the best 3 years of my life, and I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband and father to my children (still getting used to saying children - plural).  Anyway, Brian and I debated about bringing Dominic on the picnic with us, and eventually decided that he would love to go up there, run around, and be outside.  Plus considering that I'm pregnant we weren't going to be doing anything that we couldn't do without Dominic there.  We used a real picnic basket, one that we received fittingly as a wedding shower gift, and we all 3 had a great time on our picnic.  The weather was actually pretty perfect - not too hot and thankfully the rain held out until later in the evening.  Tonight for our actual anniversary, Brian and I are going out to a nice dinner to celebrate minus the toddler, so we’re really excited about that!  Dinners without Dominic are a different experience these days.  They are so much more relaxing and calmer.  

The 3.5 of us at the Aquarium.  Dominic was obviously more interested in the fish! 

My favorite 1 year old and me 

The boys were excited to be at the Aquarium!

Our family (thanks, Dominic for making the picture a happy one)

On Sunday morning, we continued our family weekend and took Dominic on his first trip to the Aquarium.  Brian and I were attempting to go when there weren’t big crowds but on a weekend so he wouldn't have to take off work, which basically contradict each other, but I figured going on a Sunday morning while most people are at church would be the best time.  That turned out to be a good plan.  Anyway, Dominic loved the Aquarium!  He was extremely interested in the fish but his favorite animals were the penguins.  I would say that Dominic seemed to like the aquarium even more than the zoo, which is a lot.  And I just loved seeing Dominic so fascinated and of course how could I not love getting to spend time with my boys? J

Dominic Morton: Couch Commando

I finally used one of the AMEX gift cards that Dominic received as a birthday present to buy him a chair for the family room.  Such a true boy, he can now be a couch commando. J  On the same trip to Home Goods, I got him several new books since Brian and I are getting a little tired of reading the current ones, and a Jack-in-the-Box, which Dominic loves.  He knows how to wind it but his little hand gets tired after a few turns so we end up usually helping him.  Dominic also smiles whenever we are playing with his new toy.  Definitely a great buy!

The monkey with his monkey jack-in-the-box

Dominic’s behavior has been so much better the last several days.  He’s only had a couple of tantrums and did so well on our day trips thankfully.  This has really helped my sanity be regained.  The first molar popped through and now I can feel a second one about to come through so I'm sure the tantrums will return.  Luckily, until then Dominic is much more back to himself (thank God) and is making laugh more than want to pull my hair out again.  He started a funny thing this week – spinning around in a circle until he’s so dizzy he falls down on the floor, all while laughing and making me laugh (see the video below).  Since then I've been doing Ring-Around-the-Rosie with him, and he loves it. 

Dominic continues to be a mischievous, little boy.  He somehow figured out how to unlock the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs.  I don't know if I'm more proud or scared.  The other night Brian and I had to start looking around the house for Dominic because he had found a way to get behind the TV and TV stand in our family room and hide quietly there.  He is still very obsessed with balls – bouncing, throwing, and rolling around on them.  I’m afraid that he’s a little bit OCD already because he has started lining up the shape blocks. 

OCD

Dominic seems to be understanding what we're saying much more now than he was even a week or two ago.  He's finally waving when he hears the words hi and bye, putting him on the end of the range of normal for grasping that concept.  When I say Pat-a-Cake he automatically starts clapping.  His language is coming along slowly, but that's a boy for you, I've read.  He has started calling my mom her grandma name, "Nana" recently, which she of course loves.  

We’re still working on getting Dominic’s naps back to where they were before he got sick several weeks ago.  Right now we’re consistently at 2 hours, but my goal is to get him back to 3 hour naps…if that’s even possible.  We’ve also adjusted his bedtime so it’s around 8:30 now.  He’s been waking up really early – we think because of the early summer daylight – so we figured why not try putting him down early and give him the opportunity for more sleep.  I think the more sleep he has been getting has helped his behavior and tantrums lately…or maybe his molar breaking through assisted with that.  Who knows!

Such a happy boy! :) 

A couple of weeks ago, I’m not sure if I was bored or just overly ambitious, but I decided that I would volunteer to be on not one but too committees.  I first volunteered to join the Dunwoody MOMS Club board in the position of Playgroup Coordinator.  I have to attend monthly evening meetings (aka time to get out of the house) and basically direct new club members to playgroups.  I think most of my job will be done via email, so I feel like it’s not too much to take on, but who knows once the baby gets here.  Then I decided that as Brian exited our neighborhood association’s president position that I would be vice-president.  Meetings are pretty infrequent, and let’s be honest…what does the VP actually do anyway, right?  I have a bad feeling that I’ll end up being pretty stressed out around December, but we’ll see what happens.  I’m the type of person who likes to be involved in things, but I just hope I didn’t choose the wrong time – considering I’m going to have a baby soon on top of chasing a toddler around – to figure out how to be “involved” while being a full-time mom. 

Pregnancy update: I’m 17 weeks along now.  I can’t believe how quickly this pregnancy is going by.  I only have 3 weeks left of being able to lie on my back.  I’m continuing to get bigger by the day and trips to the grocery store are becoming battles between my pregnancy cravings – usually for sweets – and what little willpower I have.  I need to get some new maternity clothes because all of the ones I bought when I was pregnant with Dominic were winter clothes because he was born two months later in the year, and I wasn’t showing this soon.  Another pregnancy symptom I’m suffering from at the moment is pregnancy brain.  I don’t remember (no pun intended) it being this bad with Dominic, but I’m incredibly forgetful lately.  It’s horrible.  I completely forget what people have said to me and even things I have done.  The worst was when I realized this morning that I completely forgot to go to a meeting I was supposed to attend for the MOMS Club last night.  I’ve never been like this before, so it’s very scary to feel like you're losing your mind.

The highlight of my week so far was yesterday when I felt Baby #2 moving for the first time!!   I was working on this blog when it happened.  At first I had to question whether or not it was just gas but it’s definitely the baby moving and he has barely stopped since.  I can’t wait till Brian and Dominic can feel him move through my stomach too…and then see him move!   So many fun things to look forward to!