Day 127

Today is Birth Mother's Day. I sent Gus's birth mom (C) a nice card and a letter... I hope she liked it. 

Today was a long day and it's still going at 11:45pm. I'm trying to get a DVD together for Gus's birthday party on Saturday. I know how little time I'll have during the week, so I'm trying to get as much of it done tonight and tomorrow so that it's one less thing to worry about. We've got to get the house ready, and I think I have a final count for the party. There (should) be 14 kids and 18 adults. It's a lot of people and I am stressing about the food, but Steve said not to worry about it. We're going tomorrow to get everything that we need.

Gus was in a silly mood all day. Here are some fun pictures from lunch:

He took two naps today and both were about two hours long. I'm hoping that doesn't mean that tomorrow morning will come sooner than it needs to. 

I'm excited and so thankful to celebrate my very first Mother's Day tomorrow. I've always dreamed of being a mom, and for the longest time, it seemed like something that would NEVER happen. Gus is so very special to me, and I'll be celebrating him tomorrow. 

Here are some pictures from dinner:

Yep-- that's my crazy boy!!!

See you tomorrow!

>^..^<

Day 126

After being gone all day yesterday, I decided that it'd be nice to just stay home today and do nothing. I think Gus was happy with this decision. He woke up and was a bit cranky, but I assume it's from being hungry. I took him down and gave him breakfast. Today he had 1/4 of a whole wheat bagel and some yogurt.

He was in a pretty good mood after having breakfast, so we went into the living room and played all morning until around 11, and then it was time for a nap.

 After an hour and a half long nap, we had lunch. I made myself a taco salad and Gus had some slices of ham, some juice, some diced apples, and a container of applesauce. He ate all of it.

Then I watched some of my DVRd shows while Gus played. We played until around 4 and then I put him down for his afternoon nap. Steve got home around 5:30 and then we met Wendy for dinner at Michaelangelo's.

Gus did a great job at dinner. He had some pizza, some ham, some cucumber, and some bread. He also drank a lot of water.

After dinner we walked down to Andy's for dessert. On the way, I saw a nail place and went inside to get my eyebrows waxed. I have been needing to get them done for a long time, but with Gus, it's about impossible. So it was nice to go in and do it and then I walked down and met everyone at Andy's. On the way back to the car, we put Gus down so he could walk. Steve took some great pictures and a few videos as well.

 

Gus's footprints after walking in a puddle

 

My baby boy walking with Kaitlyn, Wendy and Ashley

It's hard to believe that he's almost a year old. My my my.  Anyway, on the way home I gave Gus a few bites of my shake and he liked it.  :)   Then we took a family picture, headed inside and put him to bed. I'm off too... I am tired!!!

 

Chocolate face

 

Quick family picture

Nite!!

>^..^<

Day 125

Sorry that I am posting this today (May 6th) for yesterday. When we got home from the zoo, I was too tired to do much of anything. I'll recap the day for you.

We got up around 7ish and I took a shower while Gus played in his room. Then I went on my computer for a few minutes and while I was on there, Gus decided to get his frog towel and play with it. It was really funny.

We went downstairs and had a nice big breakfast. He had a whole banana, an entire container of yogurt, and then a whole cereal bar. 

Kristen and Grace arrived around 9 and we packed up and got on the road to head to the zoo. We got to the zoo around 11ish and the weather was PERFECT. It wasn't too chilly, but there was a definite chill in the air.We were comfortable with long-sleeves.

 

Grace and Gus in the parking lot ready to head into the zoo

 

On the bridge heading into Africa

We decided to change the kiddos first and then head off and see the animals. We took a path that I hadn't taken on my last visit, so I was interested to see if there was anything different. We saw the giraffes first, but they were really far away so I didn't really get any good pictures of them. Then we went around the corner and saw the wild pigs and they were mating (hehehee). I tried to get a good picture but couldn't. Then we saw the lion. When I went in March, I couldn't see it... but this time I could!

I'm so glad that I have a telephoto lens... it makes it so easy to capture pictures of the animals!! I think she was a beautiful cat and reminded me of my own kitties.  >^..^<

 

Enjoying some puffs while we saw the animals

 

Best friends

 

After seeing the lion, we headed over to see the chimpanzees. I didn't see them last time, so it was neat to go in and see them. The glass was really dirty, so it was hard to get a good picture, but I think I did okay.

 

One of the new baby chimpanzees!

As we were heading out, I took a picture of G2 with the monkey statue:

We went to Lemur Island but we couldn't see any of the lemurs. So then we walked over and saw the gorillas. They weren't as playful and out in the open this time, like they were last time.

We headed to the junction for lunch. Kristen and I each had a cheeseburger and then we got the kids a cheese pizza to share. It was cut into 1/4s and we figured 1/2 for each kid. We also got them some peaches to share. I could not believe how much food Gus ate. He had about 3/4 of the pizza and had about four slices of the peaches. He must have been a starvin' marvin!!

After lunch we headed to the pavilion to see the albino alligators and the baboons. I got a lot of really great pictures of them.

 

There were also African Hornbills (a bird). They were SO LOUD and behind this fencing. I was able to get pictures of the two birds and you cannot tell they were behind a fence at all. :)  I'm really proud of how awesome these ones turned out.

 

We exited the pavilion and went to see the Grassland but there wasn't much to see. So instead, we headed over to see the giraffes and ostriches. The giraffes were still pretty far away, but the ostriches were really close.

We headed over to the see elephants and they were kind of far off too (bummer). I was able to take some of the BEST pictures of Gus (and Grace) that I've ever taken. They look like professional pictures. I had the absolute most perfect lighting and took all of them without the flash.

 

My favorite picture of Gus 

 

 

Grace's finger in his mouth

I couldn't get over how amazing they looked!! We walked over to see the giraffes one last time, and I said to Kristen, "The only thing that could make the day more perfect would be if the giraffes were down here and the zebra were out too..." well... they were SO CLOSE!!! It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day!

We headed into the gift shop and we got the kids matching zoo hats (they're so cute) and then we changed the and headed out. We took a picture at the gate and then a nice lady took one of the four of us.

 

Trying to get some water from my water bottle (hehehe)

On the way home I stopped for gas and then we got something to drink. I don't know what it is about spending the day outside, but on the way home I always feel SUPER tired. The kids didn't nap at ALL during the day, so as soon as they got into the car, they both passed out. LOL

We got home around 6:30 and said our goodbyes. I made tacos for dinner in honor of Cinco de Mayo.

We put Gus to bed and I was too tired to do anything but go to bed. 

>^..^<