Fantastic Friday

I've been attempting to write this blog for two days but life has gotten in the way! Argh! First off, I must share that Nate is full on crawling and pulling up. He's incredibly quick and has gotten himself into a few hairy situations and altercations (mainly with the dining room table and the kitchen cabinets). Overall, though, he's pretty tough and is very anxious to play with Greg and James. He follows them around and laughs and laughs at the "chase" around the house. He is not deterred at all by falling down - he just rolls over and pulls himself up again. It's awesome. I think he's going to be a real "roll with the punches" sort of boy - just the kind we need around here. Yea for Nate! Plus, he continues to sleep terribly but it doesn't bother his daytime mood. He almost ALWAYS is smiling, so I instantly forgive him when he wakes up at night. :) Actually, last night was okay - he went to bed late (9 pm) but he slept until 5 a.m. I'll take it. Next time I just need to go to bed before midnight!!

Anyway, the point of this post: I wanted to share our fantastic and fun and busy Friday. We only had plans in the afternoon at JW Tumbles (a new gym place owned by friends of mine from college). So in the morning, I decided that Nate deserved a really good, long, morning nap. And he took advantage of being un-disturbed and slept for two hours. So nice for him. James and I went out back and played baseball (in our jammies and sneakers!) for an hour, then played on the swings. The weather was gorgeous! Then we came in for lunch/snack. Then after lunch (since Nate was up), I decided we'd go for a walk up to Giant to look at their plants. I want to plant some annuals out front this week, if possible, pre-baptism weekend. So we set off with snacks, hats, water, sunglasses, etc. Got up there only to realize (duh!) that I couldn't possibly walk home with a flat of plants on the double stroller. Before I could get us back on the road, James saw the Starbucks and asked for a vanilla milk. Crap. It wasn’t a big deal but I didn’t have any cash, so I headed into Giant and got a bottle of wine so I could get cash back. Hey, it was Friday!

Got to Starbucks and remembered I had a gift card. Couldn't find it. Good thing I had the cash (although I could have charged $1.60, but that always seems...silly, in a way). Anyway, got his milk and we started walking home with that, the wine, a new book, and a margarita mix. :) Nate fell asleep on the way home in the stroller, so, James and I stayed outside and played while Nate napped. We tried to play hopscotch but I could barely remember how to play. James had a blast just throwing the chalk and hopping up and down the board, so I considered that a success.

When Nate woke up, we went in for a late lunch (for him, mainly) and James played on the deck and out where I could see him. We got new deck furniture last week so he also played spinning around on the chairs. :)

We headed out to JW Tumbles at 3:15 for our private playgroup at 3:35. It was very fun but very hot, something was up with their A/C system (also, it was warmer than it had been for a while). So around 4:45 we headed out with friends and headed into Harris Teeter to cool off and get snacks. I was convinced to try a $4 12-inch sub for dinner (great deal idea from Lauren) and then we headed home. Got home and I could tell Nate was just zonked. So, I decided to let him take a short cat nap (on me) while James played around and watched a show. Greg was late coming home from work so James and I split the turkey sub. He ate a 6 inch sub! I'm amazed at his appetite sometimes.

Anyway, Greg got home, we got James to bed and then Nate to bed (sort of late) and then had some wine and watched "Milk". All in all, a busy but very fun Friday.

This week I'm looking ahead to baptism weekend prep - family in town, etc. So I've broken down cleaning and shopping by day so I'm not overwhelmed. Today I took the initiative (when Nate was napping and Greg and James were out at the barber shop) to dust and clean the downstairs (I'm also hosting rehearsal here tomorrow night). So that was good. I still have to wash the guest room sheets, get the bed set up for Greg's uncle, clean the kitchen and upstairs bath, and vacuum -- but those last few things are last minute Friday to do's. We're still trying to figure out our meal out on Saturday, we'll see what happens. But all the food and plans for Sunday should go okay: ham sandwiches, crock pot mac & cheese, veggie platter, fruit tray (Mom), cheese platter, shrimp cocktail, olives, and for dessert, a beautiful specialty cake (peanut-free). So sort of a nibbly meal but filling (it's at 1:45/2:00 p.m. so I guess is technically "linner"). I'm excited. Nate has two baptismal outfits, James has a new shirt to wear with his sweater vest, Greg's suit is cleaned, and I have a new blouse to wear with my black skirt. So, I think we're set. Just excited about it but also ready to have the stress over with. The following weekend we have family photos with my family and a get together with my college friends. And the following weekend we are now going to Pawley's Island for a wedding. Yikes!! Busy busy!!!