Randomness & Netflix

Here is a 'captain obvious' statement: being a parent is tiring. Duh, right? How about being a working parent. Not only do we have our daily jobs to think about, but when our kids are in daycare, we automatically have guilt for not being there ourselves. If you don't, you're lucky. It is normally dubbed "mom guilt", but I am sure dads have it, too.

After your put in your time at work for the day, you get your kid from daycare, come home and give them some playtime while you get dinner ready. It is normally a quick evening before it's time for a bath and then bed. If you have chores to do, things are even more tight and this is only applicable for a "normal" day, all bets are off if you have something planned for the evening that takes you away from your routine. Completing my nightly routine with my kid normally puts him in bed around 8pm or so. At least that is the goal. Then, I have to finish whatever is left on my to-do list before I retreat to the couch or my bed (whichever is calling louder!) to decompress before it's time to call it a night.  I am lucky that I get July off each year, so I had a bit of free time during the month and I was able to sleep in a bit and take a nap here and there as my energy level dictated without feeling like I was missing too much.

Jason and I don't go to the movies and we rarely go 'out' even. We don't even watch too much t.v., but it is definitely one of our favorite past times. We have a few shows that we have watched for years together and really enjoy. But, we really only have time for a few shows during the year. We save movies for summer time or during holiday hiatus.

This year, we only had a few movies we were really interested in watching, so soon after my vacation started- we were caught up. We decided to finally take advantage of our free month of Netflix and open our account. I must say that I have mixed reviews; not everything I thought would be available is there and they don't have too many newer releases, you still have to use the mail option for those. But, we did get a basic package, so, that being said, there are some shows that we were really interested in catching up on since we missed the boat in real time.

I jumped on Parenthood, myself, and have been able to make my way through 3 seasons (or close to it). I have one more season already available to me and then once the current season begins, the last season will be released.

Jason and I jumped on The Walking Dead. We LOVE that show. Cannot understand what stopped us from jumping in years ago when it began. However, last night we watched the final episode of Season 3 (what is currently available). Now, we have to wait for the next season to start so the 4th season is released. I am SO ready already. Such a good show.

I like that I have other options on there too, in addition to movies and series, there are also kid shows that if I run out of stuff on the dvr to keep Jaxon occupied during rainy days or in the evening when it's time to slow down and get ready for bed, I have that to fall back on.

I think our next venture is going to be 'Orange is the new Black' and then maybe 'Dexter'. We aren't sure when we are going to start those...we still have the rest of 'The Originals' on the dvr and we're a tad backed up on a new show called "The Last Ship". Hey, if this is our entertainment, cheaper than a lot of other options, we're fine with that! :)

xoxo- Ladylewy

Official "Nursery " transformation to Big Boy Room....

Jaxon has been out of a crib since the second time he climbed out, shortly after turning 18 months old. He is tall and was born taller than I expected (for my height), so I knew that keeping my baby in a crib for several years wouldn't be an option. We removed the front rail from his crib right after it become apparent that it no longer served its purpose and had become a safety hazard, instead.

Knowing that he was currently in a front rail-less bed that would seen need to become a big boy bed, I started thinking.Jaxon is still at an age where I get to chose (for the most part) the decoration in his room. I understand that his interests should be represented, but I still get to put my mark on it. As a mom, you really only get to dictate the style and interests of your children for the first several years, the nursery of course and the transition to "big kid" room before they really have a desire to see what they want in their room, to have their choices represented. I really do feel like this entire childhood deal is on fast forward. I found myself searching for a big kid room ideas back a couple months ago, and since Jaxon's 2nd birthday was fast approaching, I realized that it would probably be an ideal time to make the transition.

Because Jaxon's loves Cars and Mickey Mouse, the options for decor were easily narrowed down. I searched, with the help of my mom and sister for several weeks. I really wasn't that thrilled with any of the options in the patterns available. Let me tell you, boys are a hard beast to buy for. Clothes options are limited and bedding/room decor doesn't seem to be at the top of any designer's list. I don't really see that problem with girls, though I don't have one yet, so my assessment may be off-base.

After a bid of vacillating over the few options that I did have,  I decided that I really wanted to focus on Cars. There seemed to be more patterns available out there for decoration and the colors in the patterns were more broad. The final decision came when I received a text from my mom. She and my sister were shopping in Dublin and came across a Cars bed and a matching sheet/blanket set. Perfect. This set had varying blues, red, white and a smattering of a few other kills for depth. It was, by far, the best option I had seen. I jumped on it. Granted, this was back in April and I had no intention of making the transition until after Jaxon turned two. So, they brought home their finds and they sat in our garage hidden away from Mr. J until the time came.

Fast forward to July. I am off work and tackling various projects around the house. Jaxon's Big Boy room was high on the list, but something was preventing me from actually making the leak. I am still not sure what. Maybe the fact that his crib was finally be removed from his room and he official was a "big boy"?  I am still not sure what the hold up was. But, my sister came to help and once we pulled out the box that contained the pieces of Jaxon's new bed, Jaxon was thrilled. I think he knew what that meant.

He jumped in and helped- and I don't mean the toddler version where he was really in our way - he actually handed us tools and parts when we asked and truly was interested in what was taking place.

Here is a shot of the bed in his room.

I will add more pictures later of all the finishing touches (my mom made curtains and a diaper changing pad cover). We still need to change out the lamp and the switch plate for the light. But other than those minor additions, he has an awesome, vibrant Big Boy Room. :)

xoxo- LadyLewy

Family time with my boy & man is priceless

The best laid plans never seem to work out; but, you just have to roll with the punches.

I had 5 weeks off during summer and since Jason has every Tuesday and Wednesday off, I had all these ideas of things we were going to do during those weekly family “weekends”. Well, due to Jason’s career in sales, I have to remember that often times he works more hours than scheduled to make things happen. That is okay and I accept it. Jason ended up being on call or working several of his scheduled days off during July. I sucked it up and went on to plan B . Jason made bonus, so I cannot complain (although I did a LOT when it was actually happening, LOL…sorry babe).

Some of the highlights of the month was a day on the boat, a quick trip to Lake Tahoe,  a day at the park, a day at Nut Tree with friends, and a day in the City and at Bay Area Discovery Museum.

Watching Jaxon exploring and learning things on his own is more fun than I ever imagined. Jason and I soak up these moments in absolute awe.

I am really bad at taking pictures lately- I have been just enjoying the moment, but then I realize later, I would love to look back on the moment, too. It’s an internal struggle that I am trying to overcome- I’m hoping to remember to just have my phone attached to my hand so I can snap that picture in the moment while enjoying it all the same…

Here are some shots of our various adventures.

Lake Tahoe 

 On the carousel at the Nut Tree

Park time

Discovery Museum

I have cherished my time with my boy and my hubby. I enjoy it so much. I am excited, also, because Jason's schedule has changed and now his days off are rotating and he gets one weekend off per month! So ready for more family time and to create more lasting memories! Maybe I will remember my camera more often ;)

xoxo- Lady Lewy

A shower for a baby boy!

The Lewy Family, as a whole, is growing. My B&SIL, Ryan and Victoria, are adding a BOY to the crew! Yay!!

Back in May, my MIL Carol (Jason’s stepmom) contacted me and asked me if I would help her plan my the baby shower. Victoria is having a boy and her last baby was a girl – so, we don’t sprinkle, we shower! J I was thrilled. I immediately started a private Pinterest board to fill with ideas and get my creative juices flowing. I was in the midst of my crazy time at work (spans from late March through Memorial weekend), so quick little jaunts on Pinterest was all I had time for right then, and then I had to focus on Jaxon’s 2^nd birthday party first, so the planning would have to wait. But, the ideas would not!

After Jaxon’s party was done and I was finally off work, Carol and I met and settled on a “Little Gentleman” theme. Mustaches and bow ties and baby blue hues. I was excited. Carol put together a lot of DIY touches and a nice menu of yummys and munchies. I had a blast making the Diaper motorcycle and the onesie clothesline. I also got the idea for loufa favors from Pinterest: from my shower to yours…I got adorable loufa’s and made the little tags to add to the string. I made pigs in a blanket and individual ranch and veggie cups.

I think everything came together beautifully and the little man was totally spoiled. He will be arriving by scheduled c-section, so I will get to meet my chunky little nephew on September 4^th. So excited for another little boy in the family!

Here are some pictures of the DIY touches that I added to the party….

 

…and here are some of the touches that my MIL added. I think everything was just adorable! (And yummy!)

xoxo - Lady Lewy

Independence Day & Tyler's U.S. Coast Guard Celebration

My cousin, Tyler, graduated high school in June and joined the U.S. Coast Guard. His swear in date and leave date was right after 4^th of July, so we combined my grandparent’s annual 4^th of July BBQ with a “bon voyage” celebration for him. My assignment: a banner and I already had planned to make cupcakes for the party.

I went with the typical red white and blue colors to incorporate both aspects: the holiday at hand and the patriotism for the military. I knew that I wanted something related to his branch, but wasn’t sure how best to incorporate that aspect. After checking out Pinterest and finding basically nothing except an anchor, I chose to center my verbiage on that picture.  Anchors Away Tyler. I altered the red and blue colors for the base piece and cut white circles to paste on top of each. I really think the banner turned out great. Unfortunately the placement create a lighting issue for a picture, so bear with me….

For the cupcakes, I had already purchased a red, white and blue confetti style cupcake kit. Since Tyler’s mom had already ordered a cake, I only made 2 dozen cupcakes. I frosted them with white cream cheese and red sprinkles. I wrote one letter on each cupcake and spelled out “ Congrats Tyler, C.G. Bound”. They turned out festive and, of course, were yummy!

As tradition has dictated for the past 29 years (only missed maybe 3 or 4 times over the years due to travel), we headed down to Fairfield for the 4^th of July parade. Unfortunately, it was poorly laid out this year and so very boring L! Far too many gaps and really didn’t captivate the attention of the little kids too well. Jaxon did great for a bit and then he got bored so we headed home. We got some lunch and I put him down for a nap. Once he woke up, we headed to the grandparents. The party was well attended, as usual and we had a really nice time. We headed home late in the evening and got Jaxon to bed, skipping the fireworks again. Although, our neighborhood sure put on a show! Unfortunately, well into the early hours. I pulled Jaxon in our bed around 1130pm after he had been woken up several times and then he slept better. But the “show” didn’t stop til around 130 or 2am.

Here are a couple shots I took that day...I failed with the camera...

Overall, it was a great, family filled day. My cousin headed off to his swearing in ceremony that following Monday and is currently in the throes of basic training, joining a long line of military members in my family. I am one proud lady!

Hope everyone had a fantastic 4^th of July (I do realize it was more than a month ago…)

Xoxo -Lady Lewy

A long vacation, back to reality

5 Weeks. Five long, solid weeks.

I have been on vacation, from everything. I had a fun, relaxing time. Some days we had a packed schedule, some days we did nothing. It was great.

On that note, I also had no computer available (I have a tablet and WiFi keyboard, but sometimes the real thing is just more comfortable....)

That being said, I have a lot of updates for July, so look for some posts over the next couple of weeks to catch up.

Hope everyone enjoyed their July!

xoxo- Ladylewy