Life Lately

Forgive this discombobulated post of random happenings around here lately.  And by lately I mean over a month and a half.  I know, I know.  It's been awhile since regular posting!

Hayes went to his first friend birthday party.  His older, wiser friend Porter turned two in February.  It was probably the cutest party I've ever seen.  My friend Beth is SUPER creative and with Porter's love of dogs, the doggie theme was quite appropriate.  See more pics of the puppy bash here.  It was appropriate that this was Hayes's first party to attend because I've been BFF with Porter's mommy since first grade!  Hayes enjoyed helping himself to some of Porter's cake.  Can't wait for these two to be big buds!  We love you Port Port!  You're going to be the best big brother very soon!

Our sweet boys with their mommies!

This kid LOVES bath time.  The other night at the dinner table the hubby and I were talking and I said "I'm not going to give him a bath tonight.  He just had one last night."  (you know the conversation: "Does he REALLY need a bath tonight"  Then it's time for the sniff test!)  Hayes said "bath, bath, bath" and proceeded to have a minor tantrum until I decided to let the kid have a bath!  That night was also the first time he said "bath," so we were pretty impressed! We're definitely going to have to start spelling words now!

In addition to bath time, Hayes loves to be outside.  And it being March in Tennessee, the weather around here is quite unpredictable!  So needless to say, we take full advantage of pretty days around here!  We took a blanket and our snack outside and play play played on Friday.

We even love being outside when it's not so warm!  Love this picture of my silly boy!

Saturday was another beautiful day, so we headed to the park.  Hayes enjoyed his second time on the swings!  He cracked us up with how he was leaning forward.  We didn't leave him like that too long because it looked a little painful!

We are enjoying all of the many firsts with our sweet boy.  And I couldn't be more excited to be going to the beach with my two favorite guys for Spring Break in just 3 1/2 days!!!  More on that later.  Happy Wednesday to you all!

Quiet Little Valentine's Day

This year I couldn't be more excited for a quiet little Valentine's Day (night) at home with my 2 loves.  The hubby is making me dinner tonight (ummm, can you say Best.Gift.Ever?!  He certainly knows my love language!  No flowers...food!) which we'll enjoy as soon as the wee babe is asleep.  I've got a little something up my sleeves for him as well (not saying yet JUST IN CASE he happens to read my blog today).  We don't really get too into the gift-giving and commercialism of the day.  For me it's all about showing the ones you love how much you care.  And getting to wear pink and red.  Love that color combo.  

The hubby and I are so thankful this year that we are blessed to be the parents of our precious boy.  

So how are you celebrating?  Quiet dinner in like us or a night out on the town with your hot date?  Whatever your plans, have a lovey day!  I am so thankful for YOU, my sweet readers!  Happy day of L-O-V-E!

Mommy Guilt

This mama is having a hard time balancing teaching, mommying, maintaing our house and blogging!  Most of the time I feel like a chicken with my head cut off.  At times I feel the weight of the pressure of trying to do it all. I'm very Type A and try to do my best at whatever I'm doing.  But trying to do my best at teaching, mommying, house cleaning, and blogging (you can tell which one of those easily takes the backseat! I'll try to be better!) usually ends up with me feeling like I'm not doing any of them 100% (heck, sometimes it feels like I'm not even at 50%!). 

For you moms out there that work, hats off to you (and hats off to those of you that don't too!  But this post is specifically about my struggle being a working mommy!).   I'm still trying to find a good balance.  Most of the time I feel like a bad teacher and a bad mom.  I'm trying to do all of these things and I'm not doing any of them well!  A lot of the time that I do get to spend with Hayes when I get home from work (which luckily, since I'm a teacher, is early), he is in a bad mood from being tired from being at school all day.  From about 4:00-6:00 I run around sometimes literally standing on my head to keep him entertained.  He has been EXTRA tired lately and has been going to bed around 6:00-6:30.  So that's not a lot of time together.  But I LOVE my time with Hayes in the afternoon.  The best part of my day is picking him up from school.  When I get there the kids are sitting in their tiny chairs at a tiny table about to have snack.  It's too stinking cute!

And since I've been MIA on the blog lately (and to boost the mood of this broody post!), I feel like you MUST see some of the latest cuteness going on around here!

Best.Hat.Ever.  Nothing else needed to say about that...

Ummm, how old is this kid?  Someone please stop him from growing!

Close-up of his adorable self!  And getting a mini afro.  Mommy's loving it!

Nap time with Mommy while Daddy worked on a Saturday.  Shhh. Don't tell him that Mommy spoils Hayes sometimes.

My beautiful sleeping baby!

And I had to share this one because the hubby and I totally think he looks like he's a Backstreet Boy in this picture (insert more current boy band for you younger people reading this!).  Big boy rockin' his first pair of Toms.

So that's what's been going on around here lately.  Just trying to find a proper balance in life.  How do you mommies do it?  I feel like we're FINALLY getting in a routine, but I'd love your advice!

A Birthday and a New Look!

Hello, strangers!  I know, long time no hear from, right?  I've got a post scheduled explaining my absence (no big news here, just mommy having trouble working full-time and being mommy!), but for today we'll keep it light.

Yesterday was my birthday and I must say, the best one yet because our little man was here to celebrate with me!  Last year I wanted nothing more than to see our little guy's face for the first time.  And this year I have the best gift of all: he's home!

The fun started Tuesday night when the hubby brought home soup from one of my favorite restaurants and the most beautiful green roses.  Green is my favorite color, so he definitely gets thoughtful points!  I jokingly asked what he was doing because it wasn't even my birthday yet!  He reminded me that I insisted on having "birthday week."  I kept referring to it as such around here.  But hey, why not draw out the celebration!

I woke up yesterday to a happy happy Hayes and then headed to work (much to my dismay because we were supposed to get some "bad" weather here in TN.  Notice I say "bad" because those of you up north just laugh when everything shuts down here in TN with a slight dusting of snow!).  It ended up being a great day though because my sweet students and awesome co-workers were too kind to me!  The hubby, Hayes, and I took it easy tonight at home (Hayes has been exhausted lately and goes to bed at 6:00!). This weekend the hubby and I have BIG plans to go to dinner and a movie to celebrate JUST THE TWO OF US.  This is big news because we haven't been on a date since we brought Hayes home in June!  Crazy, right?!  We did go to my best friend's wedding and rehearsal dinner-which I considered a date, but that's been it for almost 7 months!

I did manage to get one picture to document the big 2-8!  Excuse the tired looking mommy at night after a long day of work!

And notice the new look on the blog?  A big thanks to Jana Gordon again from the etsy shop Little Web Writing Hood.  She did the original design for me and I recently emailed her asking for a little color scheme update.  Love what she did with it!

What about you, Wayman Family Nesters (if you're still out there reading!)?  Any of you have a hot date like I do or have big plans this weekend?

Hayes's Wheels on the Bus Party (Part 2)

As promised yesterday, here are more pictures from Hayes's Wheels on the Bus birthday party.  Click here if you missed it! 

 

Thanks to my awesome sis for being our photographer for the day. Love you Aunt Rachie!

 

 

The sweet birthday boy!

 

 

 

He was so excited when his big cousins arrived!  I love how he's looking at Jack in this picture!

 

 

 

Both graddads!

 

 

 

 

Uncle Al!

 

 

 

 Gigi



 

 

 

Hayes with Aunt Rachie!

 

 

 

 

Hayes and "J."

 

 

 

Mommy and Aunt Andrea.

 

 

Great-grandmothers!

 

 

 

It was one crowded house! 

 

 

 

Singing to the birthday boy.

 

 

 

He was unsure about the cake until I gave him a bite of icing.  Then he dug in.  I'll have to post the video later.  It was pretty awesome!

 

 

Mommy and Daddy with the cake monster!

 

 

Big cousins are great for helping open presents!

 

 

Holding the toy Mommy and Daddy bought in Ethiopia.  We bought him gifts to give for several birthdays.  He loves making noise with his zebra toy!

 



Great-granparents.

 



He fell asleep shortly after opening his presents.  It didn't bother him that we had a house full of people.  This birthday boy was TIRED!

 



We were sad to be missing Uncle John and Aunt Ellen who couldn't make it, but we had a great day!  We are blessed with a large family who love and care about our precious boy!  We had a great day celebrating our Ethiopian angel!

Hayes's Wheels on the Bus Party (Part 1)

We planned Hayes's party for this past Saturday even though his birthday was last Friday.  It was nice not having a party the next day to worry about and being able to enjoy his actual birthday!  I didn't plan it that way on purpose, but it definitely worked out!  I'll probably do that again in the future!

Here are a few pictures from his special day! In order to spare you a barrage of pictures in 1 post, I decided to split it up into 2 posts.  Today's pictures will be of the decor and tomorrow I'll post the family shots.

 I love a good theme, so I went with the "Wheels on the Bus" since that's his favorite song right now.

I had fun decorating our dining room shelves to go with the theme.  And since I'm a teacher, it wasn't too hard to get my hands on most of this stuff!

Close-up of the shelves.  I made the "Happy Birthday" apple banner and taped letters on a large serving dish to make a clock.

The food also went along with the theme: carrots, celery sticks, apple slices, oranges, grilled cheese and PB&J, and pretzels.  Of course, we ate off lunch trays (courtesy of the fabulous lunch ladies at my school!).

Close-up of the adorable (and delicious!) cake and cupcakes made by my WONDERFUL sister!

I found the perfect cupcake toppers from Johnna of Mama Matryoshka on etsy. 

Cartons of milk, juice boxes, and water to drink.

The birthday boy's seat!

Party favors for the little guests.

Mommy and Daddy with the birthday boy!

Birthday boy wearing his cute school bus tee from Nicole of lil' threadz clothing on etsy.  

I can't even believe he's one!  We had such a fun day celebrating our little man!  Stay tuned for more pictures tomorrow!

It Was a Happy Happy Day

As I mentioned in Friday's post, it was our sweet Hayes's 1st birthday.  The hubby and I thoroughly enjoyed spending the day with our son.

Nothing says "Happy Birthday" like a shirt with a monkey wearing sunglasses and a tie!

(And oops!  Our documenting of our day didn't start until the 3rd stop.  Bad mommy!)

The day started in a not-so-fun-way at the doctor's office for our 1-year checkup.  Well, just the shot part was't fun.  

Then, we headed to Bread & Company to have a yummy lunch together.  Hayes chowed down on applesauce, bread, and tomato basil soup (this kid will eat just about anything!).

Next, we went to Phillip's Toy Mart to pick up a birthday gift for the man of the day.  We let him carry it around the store, but don't worry...I still wrapped it up and officially gave it to him later that night.  He still seemed surprised to me!

After our little trip to the toy store we headed home so Hayes could take a much-needed nap.  We hung around the house until time for dinner.

For dinner I thought it would be fun to take him to eat Ethiopian food since he's never had it.  A couple of months ago, I bought an Amazon deal for $15 for $30 worth of food at Mesob, a local Ethiopian restaurant.  As we sat down and took in the music and atmosphere, I immediately started to tear up.  It reminded me so much of our time in Addis Ababa.  I miss our son's birth country often and this overwhelming feeling of homesickness came over me.  It was fun to reminisce on our time in Ethiopia over dinner.

We ordered Doro Wat, Beef Tibs, and Lentils, which we scooped up with injera, their flat spongy bread.  If you've never had Ethiopian food, I highly recommend it.  Everything was delicious and Hayes agreed!  I was so glad that he enjoyed his native food!  Our waitress was so sweet-she even brought him a piece of birthday cake!

During dinner several Ethiopians came over to say hi to Hayes and talk with us.  It was fun to share some of our story with them.  One man said "It's wonderful what you are doing, taking a child from poverty and giving him a loving home.  We appreciate you."   We told him how lucky we feel to have such a sweet, loving son and how much we love the country of Ethiopia.

When we got home, I put him in his traditional outfit that we got while we were in Ethiopia.   Then he opened his present from us-a car.  We have 2 more things for him at his party next week!

It felt so good to have a connection to his roots, even if it was such a small thing as going to dinner.  One of our favorite things about the Ethiopian culture is how warm and welcoming the people are.  All in all it was a happy happy day!