The Wind is Full of Tricks...

...today, it almost blew me far away! Just a little excerpt from a poem that my step-sister used to say when she was little and it has stuck with me all this time. The poem fits what we did on Saturday, so I had to throw it in the blog. Grandpa and Grandma got Joshua a membership to the Children's Museum for his birthday and Saturday we went and used it. It just so happened to be the first day of a new exhibit, "Air Fair". They had wind tunnels, sailboat races and all sorts of other activities that has to do with wind. Joshua had such a great time playing with all the different activities. His favorite was the sailboat station! He would race both sailboats and say, "go, Go, GO!" He also enjoyed the permanent stations at ACM like the toddler ranch and the Spanish heritage center. It was a perfect day to go to the museum, because even though it was gorgeous outside, it was bitter cold and windy. So the weather made it a perfect day to use our membership. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for the membership, it will definitely be put to good use! Pics posted below of the fun:

You know, Joshua will always follow the music...

He "strummed" on this guitar for 10 mins. He loved the music and the instruments!

A Fancy Nancy Weekend!

Saturday we left bright and early to head to Dallas to help Maddie celebrate her 3rd birthday! Maddie loves Fancy Nancy books and everything about Fancy Nancy, so it only seemed fitting for her to have a Fancy Nancy party! Before we joined the festivities we stopped by my good friend, Kristy's house to have quick visit. We haven't seen her since October, so it was nice to say hello and be able to "chit chat" and let the boys play. After our quick visit with Kristy it was on to the next stop, FANCY NANCY! Maddie was super cute in her Fancy Nancy attire complete with pearls, striped tights, tutu and a crown of course. Brittney did a fabulous job with the theme of this party. The kids decorated cookies, got their face painted and even got to take a hit at a pinata(which every kid in that place loved). Maddie had a really sweet birthday party and received a lot of fun, cherish able gifts. Everyone at the party had a fabulous time!!! After the party came to an end, and everyone left to go home, Dan, Jeff, Brittney, all 3 kiddos and I went and had dinner and then came back and we put the kids to bed and then we got down to business, Wii business that is! We played Wii Fit Plus and hung out. Dan and I had a great time hanging out with them. We woke up early this morning to go and have breakfast with Dan's mom and step dad. We were able to visit with them and Aunt Lisa and Kaden even stopped by for a visit. We left around lunch time to head back to Austin. It was a great visit and we were able to spend time with a lot of people we love. It was for sure a FANCY, NANCY WEEKEND!!!

Aubrey enjoying herself!

Presents, Presents, Presents!!


Fancy, Nancy Sisters!!

Joshua didn't start out being the happiest kid at the party...

but then he soon got out of his funk and started busting a move!

Birthday girl taking a swing at the pinata!

busted pinata outcome...

Joshua enjoying his decorated cookie!

Joshua and Maddie sharing popcorn and thoughts about the party(literally, they were in their own world, chatting away to each other and eating popcorn, so cute!)

For those that do not know(because I didn't really know): Fancy Nancy is a series of books about a little girl with a fabulous imagination and apparently she is very popular among the young girls. I was able to read some of the books that Maddie had and I must say that if I had a little girl, this is definitely something I would be reading to her. So cute and sweet!

Today It's Your Birthday....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABE!

Today, is Dan's birthday! I am so blessed to have spent 5 birthdays with him thus far. He is the best husband and father anyone could ask for! He is one of the most exceptional men I know! I hope you have a wonderful, blessed day! Tonight, we will be celebrating with steak and cheesecake and presents! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAN! We love you!

TRY ME!

It seems for the past 4 or 5 days Joshua has worn an invisible sign that reads, "TRY ME!" To be honest it has been the most challenging few days in the 2 years that Joshua has been around. Yes, I am aware of the 2am feedings and the other trials that we have encountered, but nothing has yet to trump these past few days. It is like a totally different kid has been given to us. He is definitely trying our patience and his attitude is down right mean! I have never seen nor have I ever heard Joshua scream and cry so much. He has been throwing the KING of all tantrums. I mean full on kicking, hitting, teeth gritting, tantrums. Anything we tell him to do, he says, "No, k?" Like he is telling me, you get it mommy, that is a NO! We have tried Time out, taking toys away, no book or songs at bedtime, etc. and nothing is working. Joshua has not felt well for a few days, and I would like to contribute his attitude to that, but I don't think that is 100% the case. I think the independent, opinionated, invincible Joshua has made his debut and wants to stick around for awhile. I really wish my sweet, happy, little Joshy would come back, because I am exhausted! I thought poor Dan was going to fall over last night. He fought a long battle last night with Joshua and Joshua almost won( I said almost!) We will not give in to him when we know it is right. Yes, we choose our battles, but some battles need to be stood firm on. It was so bad last night, that Dan and I had to eat in shifts. We didn't get to sit down as a family, because Joshua was freaking out so bad. These are trying times in the Feldman household. I know this too shall pass and there are many, many battles ahead, but for now we are taking it one battle at a time and this battle has over stayed its welcome! I have posted a few pics of Joshua in his "trying" stage ...

This is his new thing. We ask him to get down and he shakes his head and says "No,K?"

This is what he does when he is done listening to you or listening at all, yep he puts his fingers in his ears!!

What came after this was pure and total meltdown mode! He was squeezing his legs to hold on to the bike. We are still working on sharing!

A Saturday Well Spent!

On Saturday, we took a little road trip to Burleson to attend a family wedding shower for my youngest cousin, Summer and her fiance Ryan. I have mentioned before, and I will mention it again, I love, absolutely love spending time with my family. We have so much fun when we all get together. It was just a small family gathering but it was nice and Summer and Ryan racked up the gifts. One of the more interesting things about this wedding shower was that most of the great-grandchildren were able to attend. We were missing a few but it was still totally different than the first Jack and Jill shower that was thrown at my aunt's house a few years ago. There were little pumpkins everywhere you turned. They had so much fun trying to help Summer open up the gifts. They were not quite understanding that the presents were not for them, but hey they were all under 3, so Summer was gracious enough to let them help open the gifts. After the shower we all went to eat at this fabulous Mexican food restaurant. We took up 2 tables...lol(that is not uncommon whenever we go somewhere). After our feast of Mexican food we all pretty much parted ways to go home. We finally got home around 945 last night. It was so much fun! My family is so loving and so much fun to be around. I could hang with them 24/7 almost. When we all left to go our separate ways we all said see you on March 13th for the wedding. I have posted some pictures below from the shower. Congratulations Summer and Ryan!!!!

Is this not the cutest sign: My cousin Storey made it! The couple is pretty cute as well...ha!

Joshua would not get off this tricycle!

Opening gifts

Check out these cute little munchkins, 1 month apart

and these precious princesses!

Cupcake Time, the older girls called it a "Tea Party"

Here are all the grand mommas and their grand kiddos

Our little family! Joshua pretty much held this face the whole time we were there!

PS: Like the sign above. Storey has done several for our family and tons for friends and other customers. To see more click on her blog link "Cooks love kisses" that is located on the right of my page and then on her page click on "LoveStorey Creations"

REALITY CHECK

Warning: This post is about me needing to get something off my chest, and it might be a bit depressing, and a bit raw, so proceed with caution!

So, for the past few days I have been really struggling within myself with different emotions. I have been throwing the biggest pity party for myself, I am talking huge! The usual pity party stuff, like finances, needing to loose weight, not having my house the way I want it, having to go to work, etc. I have just been moping in my own sorrows and self pity that is until I went on face book and read something that has really made me stop and start thinking. Can we say REALITY CHECK! I read on facebook today about a woman that I knew of in high school that has stage IV colon cancer and the doctor has done everything that they can do, so now they are just trying to make her comfortable. This woman is my age and has 2 young kids and a husband. She is still staying positive and strong throughout this whole horrible process. Then there is the news about all the thousands and thousands of people in Haiti that are missing or dead or have lost everything. And all the numerous other things that are going on around the world. With all this being said, I can't help but to think my life is REALLY not that bad! I am married to a wonderful man, I have a beautiful son, and I have a house, I have water, I have electricity, I have a job, I get to brush my hair whenever I want to, heck I get to type this blog on my very own computer. Even though all this can get a little crazy and frustrating at times, it is the life that GOD has given me and it is a blessing to be living it. Things can change in a blink of an eye with out any notice and while we are not supposed to question why things are, as humans it is hard not to. I am not saying that we should not feel sorry for ourselves or get upset about certain situations that we are in, I am just saying that maybe we need to step back and do a reality check on our lives. I have no doubt that today I was supposed to read the story of my acquaintance in high school. God is tricky like that...lol! He knows exactly what we need and when we need it. Apparently, today, God was OK Alicia enough! So, with all that being said and off my chest, I challenge you to stop the next time you think you have it seriously bad to look around you and do a REALITY CHECK! I know my REALITY CHECK was today! Please pray for the woman and her family during this time and for the people of Haiti and anything you feel needs prayer! There isn't anything too great or too small that God can't handle. Also praise God for all the blessings that you have in your life as well. Sorry if this blog was a bit raw and depressing I just needed to get it off my chest. I have posted a few pics below to help lighten the mood after this reading! MY LIFE IS AWESOME! I REALLY DON'T HAVE IT BAD AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!

Lalalala...Joshua's World!

Anybody that has a toddler, gets my title! That Elmo sure is a popular little guy! Speaking of little guy, Joshua has been making some changes in his little 2 yr old world. Here are some things that he has been up to lately. He can count to ten, but always seems to skip the number 7 , he can do the motions to the wheels on the bus(which I tried to upload tonight, but for some reason it didn't work), he loves to play "this little piggy" with his toes and yours and can fill in the last word of each statement; for example, "this little piggy went to _______he says maket(market), etc. He also is more vocal and is trying to put sentences together, like today he said "no potty". He is not using sentences alot yet, mostly just one word when he wants something. He is the oldest kid in his class now, because his friend, Greyson moved to the next class since he was a little older. Joshua doesn't mind being the oldest because he was born to be a leader and that is just what he does. His teachers say that he is very good about showing the new kids around the class and helping them with centers and various other projects. What a sweet little boy he is! We are still working on potty training, which I know will not happen over night, but I wish it would(haha)! He tells us after he has gone, so we are trying to figure out how to get him to tell us before he goes. For now we just ask him and he tells us "no". The other day, the potty training went something like this: once on the carpet, once while he was trying to stand on his head and then again right after he stood up from sitting on the potty! Nice, right? Oh well, we will keep working on it, no one ever went to Kindergarten in diapers, right? Some of Joshua's favorite things now are Elmo, cars, his CD player(ALOT), 0-gurt(gogurt,squeezable yogurt), helping with task around the house, tomato soup, limes, and blocks! He still loves music, "pets"(wonder pets), blankies, and fruit. Some new changes that have taken place with Joshua is that he has started pulling the covers over his head at night and when he takes his nap. Dan and I have not quite figured out why he does this. He has always slept in complete darkness, we have never put a night light in his room, so I don't know if he is starting to be afraid of the dark or what it is, but I will pull them off before we go to bed and then the next morning they will be right back over his head. Strange, but maybe it helps him sleep better. Another thing is that he likes to help tie shoes. Dan tells kind of a story when putting on his shoes and Joshua is always saying "under" when you go under and "pull" when you need to pull them tight. Of course, then Joshua goes and gets his shoes and wants to try and "tie" them, this becomes a problem when you are in a hurry. He is such a independent little guy. I am amazed how fast he is catching on to everything around him and how sometimes, he can imitate or say something after hearing or seeing it for the first time. AMAZING!! It is starting to get easier and easier to communicate with Joshua as well, which I am so thankful for. If he wants something, he will go to where it is and point and try to say what it is he wants. He is trying really hard and is progressing really well with his vocabulary and labeling. Joshua's world changes everyday, sometimes it is whining and frustrating, sometimes its all smiles and giggles, and sometimes it is just down right crazy, but he loves it and we love it and all we want is for him to be happy and I think we are all happy and Dan and I are so thankful that we get to be apart of Joshua's World!!!

Get your Horns Up! Joshua says: "ook orns"!

Bring on 2010!

So we went to pick up Joshua on Thursday from my mom and Joel's(which he had a fabulous time like he always does) and then we headed to my Dad and Jan's to help ring in the new year! My dad lives on a couple of acres so there is alot to do and see. So, this is a 2 year old boys dream, he can run and play and get dirty without alot of "No's" being told to him. Joshua loved it here, he was able to feed the geese, chat with the horses, draw in the dirt and much, much more. We popped fireworks and wrote our names with sparklers. Joshua loved the sparklers, but the fireworks not so much)except from when he was watching them from inside the house. We had a really great visit with grandpa Don and Leelee! It was a great way to start off 2010. Come to think of it, we got to end the year 2009 out on the farm in Cainan away from everything and start off the new year away from everything as well, sounds pretty great to me! Below are some pictures from this weekend..ENJOY!

Joshua "writing" his name in the dirt

Watching the fireworks from inside

Terrified of the fireworks

Sparklers Rock!

Joshua, the duck whisper!

Joshua and Mocha saying "Hi!"

Grandpa showing Joshua how to feed the ducks

CHECK BELOW FOR ANOTHER NEW POST....Happy 2010!