These are the days...

Yesterday, I started back to work...Booo!!!! Summer went by TOO fast! So summer is over but the heat is still sticking around! Tanner hasn't been able to go out and play much lately because of the retched heat. I have been waiting until late evening to take him out to play and most of the time he is only wearing a diaper. If we lived somewhere else, I might make him wear clothes but #1 who is going to see him out here and #2 it is usually so hot! Yesterday, we went out about 6:30 and surprisingly, it was nice and breezy! So our afternoon play began with a our fingers in the dirt!

Then he heard an airplane so we looked "Up!" Note the nice "granny beads" on his neck!

Then we ventured to the backyard, where we climbed on the dog pen gate and yelled at the dogs.

Then he fell in the grass while mommy was chasing him!

And he thought it was Hysterical...even getting up and running and then purposely falling down again!

Then he crawled under the back gate to go find the "ssshhh" (fish) in the water trough!

Ooooo...he heard another airplane...I love the look on his face...so precious!

Then we took a walk down the driveway which didn't last long. He was quickly distracted by the gates. Sheer determination as he almost succeeds in completing his task...

Soon after this, we had to venture inside to change our "naatee"(nasty) diaper. These pictures record a typical afternoon around here. I know these days will pass too soon.

These are the days I want to remember....

FOREVER!!!

Ride 'Em

Tanner has started a new daycare called Feels Like Home. I have felt a lot better about him being there and he seems to be adjusting well. I know he will be moving up to the next class soon. I do have to say I am having a hard time dealing with the fact that he isn't a baby anymore and will soon be sleeping on a NAP MAT!!! I wanted to go ahead and have one ready so yesterday I started searching online...Ummmm HOLY CRAP! I never knew there were so many types and brands of nap mats. When we were little, it was the blue and red, thin as crap, kindermats. Call me high maintanance, but I just can't send a plastic mat for my baby to sleep on. So my options were to make covers for a kindermat or buy one already made. Since I waited until the last day of summer, I decided to just buy one pre-made. After literally spending most of the day yesterday looking and researching, I decided to buy a Wildkin brand mat called Ride 'Em. I am going to have my friend Lacey monogram Tanner's name on it whenever it comes in. I hope it is as cute as it looks and that the quality is good!
I am planning on finding some fabric and asking Tommy's grandmother to make Tanner another one! I hope she is up for it!

Toes in the water, Toes in the sand!

I have been wanting to take Tanner to Galveston for a while now. Tommy has been really busy with work so I decided to see if a few of my girlfriends wanted to meet up. Jo and I were the first to arrive, so we stayed at the hotel until Courtney and Jessica got there. Once they arrived...both late :-) ....it was 5 o'clock. Tanner usually eats between 5:30-6:30 so that didn't leave too much time to play. We decided to go to the Strand to check out some of the shops. I hadn't been there since Hurricane Ike. I have to say that they have done a really good job cleaning up. You could still see the water line on some of the buildings...left purposely. After walking around for just a little bit, we got REALLY hot so we decided it was time to eat. We went to a place that was near the Strand and ate. It was YUMMY!! We watched some people try to navigate a row/sail boat around. They didn't look like they really knew what they were doing! It was great entertainment!

By the time we were through it was 7...too early to go back to the hotel for the night, but too late to really do much. As we were driving down the Seawall, we decided to go get Tanner's swimsuit and a towel and let him play on the beach for a little while. I was really surprised at how "nice"(for Galveston) the beaches were. They have brought in a lot of sand and there was NO seaweed, but the water is ugly! But Hey, it is a beach and it is close! Here is my little munchkin and I before we went down to the water!
So Jo and Jessica spotted a guy in a Speedo sitting on the beach. So guess who took our picture...hahaha!!! At least he put on his shorts before snapping this shot! The lighting was terrible but it's all I have!

He LOVED the water and the sand between his toes! He had the best time running into the waves and picking up the sand to throw it! I loved watching him experience something new! I can't wait to take him again!

One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Galveston, other than the beach, was to go to Moody Gardens and take him to Palm Beach! It was SOOO cute! The main area has a swimming pool that gradually gets deeper and just like the beach it was surrounded by sand. They also had a splash pad in one area...Tanner really liked it! The third main area had a water "playground" that had slides. Tanner LOVED it all...well for a while!

We didn't get to stay as long as I wanted to because Tanner had other plans. He was getting really grouchy...maybe b/c I wouldn't let him play with other kids toys. I had brought him his own but those weren't good enough for him! So we had to pack up early and head back home!

All in all, it was a great trip! I hope next time Tommy can go with us and we can enjoy a little family time together!

Happenings around here...

I thought with summer, I would find more time to actually keep up with my blog. Boy, was I wrong. Summer has gotten away from me!!! I am so sad that we only have a few weeks left...boo hoo!

Here are a few things that have been happening in the lives of the Pabens:

-Tanner started at a new preschool today. I am really sad that it is already that time again. I only took him for a few hours because I want to slowly get him used to it. They said he did pretty well but he was upset when I got there because it was about nap time. While he was there for a few hours, I got A LOT done around the house! It is amazing how much you can get done when you don't have a 1 year old to chase around and keep out of things!

-I called AT&T to change our phone plan. So I talked to "Bill" who spoke with a very heavy Indian accent. I explained to him that I wanted to know my options for phone plans. He repeatedly told me, "I will be happy to help you because I want you to be a very happy customer," spoken in his heavy accent. So he told me that he would have to transfer me to another department, even though the #2 phone option I chose was "plans and services." And yes, he transferred me alright...to a LAW FIRM!! Seriously?? The lady that answered the phone sounded really confused when I started telling her that I wanted to know my options for phone plans!!! "Umm, ma'am, this is a law firm. I can't help you with that." I think "Bill" needs a new job!! haha at least I got a good laugh about it!

-As forgetful as I have been, it does not surprise me that I let my teaching certificate expire. YIKES!! Every 5 years in the state of Texas, you have to pay to be re certified...DUMB!!! So since I didn't apply on time, I just have to pay $10 more to get it renewed. So I went online about 2 weeks ago and followed all the prompts to renew. It got to the screen where you type all your credit card information in and submitted my payment. Instead of it showing a receipt, the website informed me that my session had been "timed out." So I logged back in and started to type it all in again. But I checked my email and there was a receipt of payment. I thought, "Okay, I guess its fine." So fast forward two weeks, and I go to check the status and it only says applied and gives me the option to pay. What?? So I SEARCH the website for a number to call and finally get in touch with someone who can help me. She informs me that their system is new and has some glitches but it shows that I haven't paid. So I have to go check my bank statement which shows that they payment cleared the bank. I had to fax them a copy of my bank statement so that they could manually input the data. Ummm, all I can say is they best hurry! School starts in a few weeks!!! What a nightmare!

-I was in the kitchen fixing dinner last night and Tanner was in the living room. As I peered around the corner to check on him, I found him standing on the coffee table. He was on the edge bouncing up and down and peering at the couch. Before I could stop him, he jumped from the coffee table to the couch!!! Wow...the things I have to look forward too! He isn't even 1 1/2 years yet and is already being a dare devil!

-New windows are going in on Thursday! I am SOOO ready to have these old ones replaced! It is going to do so much for the house and hopefully we will see a drastic change in our electric bill!!
They say it should reduce it by 20-30%...BRING IT!!!

-I found out today that I will be teaching 6th grade math again next year! What a relief that is...I am glad that I don't have to quit my job! And we are getting a new teaching tool called a SMARTboard! They are REALLY neat!!

So there you go...few things going on in the last few days with us! We live a pretty uneventful life right now...hopefully, we will liven up pretty soon!

Happy Birthday, America!

The Fourth of July kind of snuck up on me this year. We don't ever really have any major plans but this year we really didn't! We spent most of the day at the casa...me trying to clean the new floors and Tommy was mowing the yard with the little munchkin! To our surprise the weather was actually nice...after DAYS of rain, the sun was shining and it was beautiful!

After lunch we decided to take advantage of the pool, and went for a swim at Tom and Dianne's! I love THEM having a pool! Tanner LOVES it too! He has NO fear of the water which is good and bad! He jumps in, gets his face wet, and refuses to wear floaties or sit in a float! Here is a picture of the water baby...
Tommy was able to go swimming with us too. Munchkin wouldn't let go of that ball...I only wish you could see his little face! He was having a grand ole' time!

Tanner wouldn't look at the camera and my hair was ridiculous but here is a family picture...there aren't very many of these so you take what you can get! Dianne graciously took the camera and snapped away! On a side note, I have these dumb "baby hairs" (as seen here)around my face that popped up after I had Tanner. They are SLOWLY growing out but I told Tommy it looks like "White Trash" hair. Yikes! I think they are a pretty common but boy I am ready for these things to grow out! But until they do, I will have terrible ponytail hair! Anyone else have this issue??

After swimming for a while, we headed up to the church for their 4th of July celebration. It started at 5, but Tanner was napping. So we headed to Sonic for a drink...FYI: "Sparkling" Lemonade = Disgusting!!!! Then I snapped a few pictures of the cute chapel in front of our church. I was a little disappointed that the flag was wrapped around the pole. Oh well...here is one of the shots.

After Tanner woke up, he didn't stop. The boy could wear the energizer bunny out! We chased him all around. Luckily, they had these play toys near our "camp" that kept him busy for a while. Once he got tired of that, he wondered around...everywhere! Tommy was a sport and chased him the majority of the night so I could socialize with the girls from our SS class!

The night ended with a fireworks show from the Katy Mills Mall parking lot. People gather at our church on Fourth of July so they decided to just make it a community outreach this year. They sold food and had jump houses for the kids. It was a fantastic night! Here is a not so great photo of the fireworks as we were leaving. We left early so we would miss the traffic! Fireworks are NOT an easy subject for an amature to photograph!!

Happy Birthday, America! I am PROUD to be an American!

Gettin' things done!

I have promised myself that I will NEVER again let my "To-Do" list get as long as it is. I always think of things to do and then put them off "until the summer." Well, summer is now here and I have a ton of things that I want to tackle. Having Tanner running around doesn't make my tasks any easier so I am slowly getting stuff done!

Our house was remodeled (mostly) before we moved in but I was not around to make any of the decisions. Probably a smart move on Tommy's behalf! I am the most indecisive person alive! But there are a few things that still need to be done!

A few things on my to-do list:

*organize the garage--check!

*redo flowerbeds--half way check! One more bed to go!

* get new tile laid in the kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room, and mudroom...( the people that did the remodeling screwed up the floors BAD! They were supposed to be stained concrete but they obviously didn't know what they were doing!) The tile guy is coming to measure tonight and hopefully will be laying tile within the next week!

*new windows! I am biting the bullet and getting we are getting new windows put it. It is going to cost a pretty penny but it will be worth it! Right now, our windows are 60 year old single pane windows that might as well be paper! Let's just say electric bill is outrageous for our little house!

*paint the front door....looking at RED!!

* fix the wall in the laundry room from where our water heater busted a pipe....LONG TIME AGO!!! I will post pictures when it is done...let's just say it's going to be CUTE! Nothing like anything else in my house!

*redo decor in bedroom....yeah, well I think that is going to have to wait for now... :-(

* work on T's scrapbook and get caught up!


Geez, I could keep going on that list but these are a few of the things that are keeping me busy this summer! I am so ready to have it all done! Tommy is going to be ready for me to go back to work so that I will quit spending money! In my defense, I am not a shopper and do NOT spend money usually! However, I once heard that a woman's house is an extension of her and it is so true. I knew there was a reason that I was so crazy if my house was a mess! I guess that explains a lot....my house is always a mess!

Bumps and Bruises

Oh my...If Tanner lives through childhood, it will be a miracle. The kid is ALL boy. I am wondering how many times we will visit the ER and when I will be on a first name basis with Poison Control. I have a feeling it won't be long!!!!

It has been an adventure having him at home with me everyday. I have enjoyed my time with him but it's been stressful due to his ability to climb on ANYTHING and fearlessness! You turn around for ONE minute and he is into something is not supposed to! The other day we were at home and I was busy trying to clean up around the house. Before 9, he had already fallen off the couch and face planted on the hardwood floors, climbed up and was standing on the dining room table, got into the diaper cream (which I decided that he didn't ingest much!!) and bumped his head on the stool when climbing up to see what I was doing.

Then later in the day he was climbing(once again) on a dining room chair and it fell on top of him. I tried to put an ice pack on his eye but you can see how that went... Don't worry...I took it away from him before he could bite a hole in it and eat the insides!

So here is a picture of his bruised face...poor little guy looks like we beat him!

Oh yeah, Saturday was an adventure too. His new pleasure is YELLING "Mama" from any room he is in. As soon as I walk in there to see what is wrong, he just looks at me and continues to play with whatever he was playing with. The other morning I was looking up something on the computer and he was in his room playing. I hear, "Mama....mama.....mama.....mama!" Since he does this all the time now, I didn't rush in his room to see what he needed...I took my time! So as I walk in his room, I followed his little voice and found him in his closet. He was STUCK in there and couldn't get out! I found it pretty hysterical and Tanner got a premature lesson on "The Boy Who Cried Wolf!"