One Little Monkey Jumping on the Bed...

"There's a Fire"

 Playing pretend fire fighter is still a huge thing in our daily routine. Greyson is still very much in to his fire trucks, rescue vehicles, rescue hoses, etc. He goes around saying "There's a fire" and then rushes off to "fight it". Pretty cute. =)

I took the opportunity to take a few pictures of him in his "turnout gear" (you have to call it by what it actually is).

Pretty adorable little Fire Fighter!

San Francisco, We loved you!

I've totally been neglecting this little blog. I have so many pictures flagged in iPhoto and I just haven't gotten around to getting them in order. Well, I finally got on the ball with our San Francisco trip pictures.

We went back in December and met Andy and Sianna there. We had a blast! I don't think I've ever ate so much in my whole life! We mainly ate and took in the sites. They introduced us to public transportation and we really used it. We had used the subway in New York once, but you can say we are public transportation virgins no more after this trip. 

 Chiefs vs. Raiders.... Probably the worst game ever to watch. It was pretty boring, but I loved being able to see an away game. 

 Alcatraz - Luke and I toured this by ourselves and we really loved it. 

 This is a little bakery/cafe that Sianna had been to before and wanted to go back to. I need a coffee cup like that at home!

 Our hotel was a bit interesting, but this was our view once we got outside. The street cars came by all the time - pretty neat. =)

 Waiting in line for the quaint little breakfast place. IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT. Hands down the best breakfast that I've ever had!

 This might have been taken after a few too many drinks at a Piano bar. =)

These were all over Alcatraz. I just love them. Someone told us they are called "hen and chicks" and I really want some for our yard. 

At last...no sickness!

Greyson has had a pretty terrible last month and a half.

It goes like this:

Week 1 and 2: Flu hit hard. Fever. Runny nose (ALL DAY LONG), body aches and sore throat.

Week 3: Scary medical issue (call to Urgent Care and follow-up with Dr.) requiring him to be on stool softeners for 8 weeks.

Week 4: He fell up the stairs and had to be taken to Urgent Care to get stitches.

Week 5: Woke up on Monday (day to get stitches removed) with 102 fever. Ran fever for two days. On the third day, threw up (and peed pants at same time) all over kitchen table and floor.

I think we might be back to normal. 

 We squeezed in a "date night". He wanted pizza so we headed to Sam's. 

 Daddy dressed him...?

 Dinner at Blu Sesame.

Stitches...

Building a car at Home Depot.

** So, a funny thing about the stitches. Greyson did great through most of it. He was such a trooper on the way to Urgent Care. Did awesome while we waited 2 1/2 hours to get them in. Let the Dr. look at them, but when the Dr. went to numb them it went downhill from there. They didn't get numb the first try, so the Dr. had to shoot medicine in to the actual open wound. IT WENT DOWNHILL FAST! Greyson was screaming while three of us were holding him down. It broke my heart. He cried and screamed throughout the whole process. He only got two stitches and the Dr. felt bad for how bad those two looked. When you have a kid doing everything in his power to get out of being held down, you just get what you get. I think the nurse got kicked in the face. By the end of it, Greyson was dripping in sweat (seriously - it looked like he just got out of the bath) and he had a sprinkle of dots outside of his eyes. We asked about this and the Dr. said this happens when kids hold their breath.

This is the funny part....

Luke went to get the car. I'm holding Greyson as we are walking out and he hugs me and says, "Mommy, I did pretty good in there, didn't I?"

I bust out laughing (like hard). I told him he did do pretty good, but inside I am just dying laughing. I mean, we just walked out of the room where he had been screaming and crying for the last 15 min. =)

February Reading : Completed

I finished eight books this month. A few of them I really enjoyed. Here they are...

 Malika (who the book is about), was almost like a daughter to the king of Morocco. Her father was executed in 1972 for attempting to assassinate the king. For the next two decades, Malika and her family are imprisoned. This is the story of her life. I found this book captivating. Her story and outcome are just unbelievable. 

I picked this book up at the Goodwill for less than a dollar. It was ok, but not great. I think it went in to way more detail than I'm interested in. Maybe, I'm not stylish enough and that's the problem. lol.

I started this book before Christmas and I just now finished. It took me forever. I loved learning more about the Secret Service and I found most of it super interesting. It's written like a textbook and is super dry. Overall, I enjoyed it, but it was a hard read. 

I follow their blog and love how they DIY everything in their home. The book was fun and very much them. I took a few ideas and will work on them around the house. Overall, I really liked the book and I'm glad I bought it.

This book was about Greg Mortenson and his life passion of building schools (especially for girls) in the Pakistan and Afghanistan. I found this book extremely interesting and I really enjoyed every bit of it.

This book has lots of travel tips and is a super easy read. I enjoyed it and I bookmarked quite a few things for future reference.

I read two historical romances and listed them below. Neither one was particularly good. 

Year to Date:

1. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
2. All But My Life by Gerda Weissmann Klein
3. Nurture Shock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
4. An Unlikely Countess by Jo Beverly
5. One Man's Love by Karen Ranney
6. Stolen Lives Twenty Years in a Desert Jail  by Malika Oufkir and Michele Fitoussi
7. What to Wear for the Rest of your Life by Kim Johnson Gross
8. The Secret Service The Hidden History of an Enigmatic Agency by Philip H. Melanson and Peter Stevens
9. Young House Love by Sherry & John Petersik
10. Three Cups of Tea  by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
11. The Smart Traveler's Passport  by Nina Willdorf and the readers of Budget Travel
12. Say You Love Me by Johanna Lindsey
13. Savage Hope by Cassie Edwards

*All photos from Barnes and Noble.

Brush Your Teeth

Greyson says some funny things. We remember some of them and forget others. Lately, one of the funniest (in my opinion - probably not Luke's) goes like this...

Greyson: Climbs in to our bed and goes to Luke for a cuddle. As he cuddles with Luke, he sniffs and pushes Luke away. Then he says, "Daddy, you NEED to brush your teeth." 

Seriously, it's hilarious (to me). lol. This morning (Valentines Day), Greyson goes to give Luke a hug and tell him Happy Valentines Day. While he is hugging him, he says " Daddy, brush your teeth!".

Just a little funny thing...

**On another note, we now have a swimmer. Greyson officially swam three feet by himself without any floatation devices. Fun stuff. =)

January Reading Goals :: Completed

I finished five books over January. Three of the five were books that had some meaning and the other two were historical romances. 

My thoughts:

This was a good read. I got a bit bored and thought there was a little too much writing for the book idea. That being said, I have taken a few of the ideas in the book and have implemented them in my life. Overall, I really did like it. 

I really liked this book. I love reading about war (any of them) and the people that were intimately involved in them. She was a holocaust survivor and her story was very sad. To be honest, I couldn't put it down. 

Luke and I had some great talks during this book. So, I give it a high rating. It was a bit dry with lots of scientific evidence/research, but some of the thoughts and ideas were very interesting.

The other two books I read were:
An Unlikely Countess by Jo Beverly (didn't like)
One Man's Love by Karen Ranney (just ok)

Year to Date:

1. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
2. All But My Life by Gerda Weissmann Klein
3. Nurture Shock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
4. An Unlikely Countess by Jo Beverly
5. One Man's Love by Karen Ranney