Under the Weather During Beautiful Weather

It's me who has been under the weather--Nick is just fine. I've been sick the last couple of days--since Monday, really, although I made it at work until Tuesday afternoon. It was some sort of horrible stomach or flu bug that finally ran its course. I suppose I picked really good days to be sick, though. The weather was amazing, and I was able to spend a few hours outside with Nick enjoying it. I do believe the fresh air helped me to feel better, although I needed to lie down again after only about 30 minutes outdoors. Check out the tree in the background--I love all of the white blooms.

It's funny, but I think he somehow knew I was sick. Nicholas was really well behaved (for a toddler). When I was lying on the couch Tuesday afternoon, wracked with chills and trying to watch him play, he didn't throw a tantrum. Instead, he played with his toys and brought me books to read to him. Then he snuggled with me on the couch. Nick was pretty good all week, actually, and he didn't wreak too much havoc while I was recuperating. It's funny how that happens--I noticed it with my students at school, too, on Tuesday. I told them I wasn't feeling well, and they didn't give me any trouble and were extra nice. That's one of the reasons I like children. 

 

With the weather here in the 80s, Nick kept announcing "outside!" and pointing towards the door. He wanted to play outside, and I could only stall him for so long. Not that I really wanted to; I was perfectly comfortable sitting in the grass watching him poke things with sticks and run around. My spring flowers are looking really good so far. The tulips and irises (I think they're irises) are blooming, with more buds still to come, and the peonies are just starting to come up. Below you can see Nick giving you the tour. He's learned to say "Pretty," and he keeps pointing at trees and flowers and announcing just that.

I just love perennials. They're nearly impossible to kill, come back no matter what, require very little work, and they can make my house look amazing even if I have no idea what I'm doing. The year I was pregnant with Nick I literally did not touch one thing outside, and I still got compliments on my "gardening" skills. Not too bad.

I love that Nick was able to wear shorts today. I'm also rather proud of the outfits I found him this year. I think I've learned my lessons about buying children's clothing. Now I buy everything online, and most of it is lightly used. I really like the clothes from Gymboree, but I sure can't afford to shop there. So instead I buy the outfits from other people's kids who have grown out of them. This little outfit consists of an ant motif with "work, work, work" on the front. The hat matches, as do the socks and the cargo shorts. I have another onesie that goes with the ensemble, which is called "Botanical Babies," and cost me less than $15, with shipping. I believe that's a wood chip in one hand and half of a plastic Easter egg in the other.

An Extremely Productive Day

I woke up this morning worried that I hadn't even started my Christmas shopping. Now that I have a son, weeks of wandering the malls looking for the perfect gift just isn't possible. I have more than 20 people to buy for, and no time. So I decided to shop online. It was awesome. I actually came in under budget for the people I wanted to buy for. When I go to the store, I tend to wander around aimlessly, hoping that an idea will pop into my head. Often, I'll get frustrated and tired and spend more than I intended just because I can't find anything good in my price range. I think I might do a lot more shopping online from now on.
The best part of shopping online is that I could stop every five minutes or so and play with Nick. Lately one of our favorite things to do is the shape sorter. He's just now getting how to fit in the shapes, and he loves when I clap after he puts the shape in correctly. See how he can put in the triangle? He had to try every hole, but he figured it out. Not sure exactly what that means, but I like to think it implies MENSA material. ;)
Back to my online shopping story: In just a few hours this morning, while playing on the floor with Nick and during his nap, I went online and knocked out 80% of my Christmas shopping, for less than I usually spend. I was able to pull up multiple windows to compare prices, use the shopping cart functions to see exactly what my totals were, and look up coupon codes to save even more money. For challenging people, I could type in the things that they are interested in and see what popped up. I'm really proud of myself because of all the money I saved. I feel like I got some good stuff, too, not just last minute "I'm tired and this is okay" presents. I hit Kohl's, Amazon, JCPenny, Bath and Body Works, Ebay, a magazine site, and Babies R Us. I do enjoy shopping, and in a way I miss it, but my time is worth so much more now. I'd rather be playing with Nick and watching how enthralled he is by things like balloons. We did actually end up going shopping today, anyway. For Christmas, I bought Greg (well, and myself) a new mattress. He's been having excruciating back and neck pain, and our chiropractor said that a new mattress would help. Our old mattress was mine from right after I got out of college. I believe I got it second hand for a little over $100, and it was a cheap mattress then. We've been adding those foamy pads, one on top of the other, for years. It was time for a new one. We got a nice Sealy with a pillowtop, and boy was there a sale. The mattress was originally $1,399, but it was marked down to $799 and then the nice people at Penny's let me use a 15% off coupon PLUS a 10% off coupon for opening an account. I can't wait until it's delivered.

Check out Nick's supercute Gymboree outfit. It was a birthday gift from his Grandma Toni, and I love the little animals on the front. I love Gymboree clothes, and one of my time-wasting hobbies is trolling Ebay looking for good condition used Gymboree clothes in the next size up. Yes, I do need a life. But at least my child is well-dressed.

We went to Mimi's Cafe for lunch, and I realized something about french fries. They are like crack to little kids. Nick is usually happy to eat anything, but as soon as he saw my french fries, he wouldn't touch any other food. He repeatedly tried to escape his highchair to get to my fries. Yes, I gave him some, but that's pretty much all he'd eat. He was happy as a clam with a fry in his mouth, but when Nicholas was done, he'd start trying to climb onto the table for more. I believe his entire meal consisted of milk, french fries, and three kinds of dessert mousse. Sigh. Anyhow, it was such a productive day. I can't believe how much I got accomplished.

Finally, I'll end with the above video. This was Nick playing with his car toy. You can hear the cute "Slow down, little fella." Then he pushes the highchair and tries to stand on his head, grinning at the camera. I thought it was cute, and exactly represents his personality.

Update: So this week (Sunday through Saturday) I ended up doing 5 30-minute elliptical workouts and two 30-minute Pilates Bodyband workouts. Not bad, considering how busy I've been. Productive and getting in better shape, too.