Saturday, September 10, 2011

Day 253


September 10th, 2010
September 10th, 2011

What a day! I was able to sleep in this morning, which was nice since I was up until midnight working on school stuff. Steve and Gus had their breakfast together and then I had something when I came down. It was then time for Gus's nap, so we came up and Steve and Gus showered and then I put Gus down while Steve took Chuck Dio for an oil change.

When Steve got back, I had already fed Gus lunch and we were ready to go. We headed to the Roast Grill in Raleigh. We saw it on Man Vs Food on the Travel Channel and there was a Living Social deal earlier this summer, so I had a $20 voucher for us to use. 

It was an interesting place. VERY small, but had a definite charm to it and was run by an old married couple. He bitched about needing more chili and she ignored him and then when it was time for him to go get it (because she never did) she bitched at him for leaving to get more chili. It was rather amusing.

There was a HUGE wait for food. It's not the kind of place to go for a quick bite to eat. We sat at the counter and waited at least 30 minutes before someone even got our drink order. And do not, no matter what you do, give your food order to the lady... she ONLY does drinks! LOL

We had two hotdogs "fully loaded" (chili, onions, and mustard) and then Steve had one with slaw. Gus had a plain dog and he loved it! We both had a Coke (in a glass bottle) and walked out not owing anything. They gave Gus two Tootsie Rolls before we left and it was cute. Here are pictures:
On our way there... Gus loves the water bottle!


It's so tiny!

The old man and his wife that run the joint
Trying to patiently wait for our food...


The grill. It's somewhat gross and looks like it hasn't been cleaned in YEARS but the dogs were delicious so I won't complain!


Standing room only... and be vocal to get your order placed... otherwise you'll be waiting even longer if you're not at the counter!

8 oz Coke  :-)

Ready for lunch!

Eating his very first hotdog! He loved it!

My dogs

Steve LOVED it!  :D
Steve's "all the way" with slaw

The "Wall of Fame"

There's a Man Vs. Food banner and then Adam's picture with 17 dogs next to it. The current champ is at 24 dogs!! INCREDIBLE! I had two and was STUFFED!!

The line outside waiting to get in!!

They only have Coke and Diet Coke. They do NOT serve ketchup. In fact, their menu consists of plain hotdogs or chili dogs. They have slaw, mustard and onions. THAT'S IT and they only take CASH!!

Hee hee... "hot weiners" made me laugh

After our lunch we headed to Cary Towne Center (the mall) for some shopping. We went to Belk and Steve got several outfits for work and they're amazing! We saved over $400 today on deals!! Now that's what I call a successful shopping trip!!

Steve and Gus

Waiting to check out

I experienced my first taste of being utterly embarrassed by my child at a store. Gus threw an all-out TANTRUM while we were at Belk. He did NOT want to be in the stroller anymore and wanted to be held... which I tried, but he's in the "I ONLY WANT DADDY" phase and Steve was busy trying on clothes and trying to focus on what he wanted to buy. It was a complete disaster.

Thankfully, everyone in the store took pity on us and gave us polite smiles and sweet comments instead of calling CPS on us for ignoring the screaming banshee. UGH. At least Steve was with me and got to experience the joy of toddler-hood. Serioulsy, 90% of the time Gus is amazing... incredible even. But when he doesn't get what he wants... he unleashes his wrath and holy smokes!! We can't give in, otherwise he'll think he can keep doing this shit and eventually will get his way. He's testing US... and today we stood firm and I'm proud of us.  :-)   But damn was it hard!!

We headed to Wal-Mart for grocery shopping on the way home and while heading in, two appache helicopters flew overhead. Here's a picture:


Of course Gus threw another tantrum at Wal-Mart (this time it's because he was tired)... so we rushed out. We forgot catfood and litter (must-have items) so we hit the other Wal-Mart. Steve ran in, and here's what I captured in the back seat:

TOTALLY coming unglued because Steve went into Wal-Mart

 


 We got home and I put Gus down for a MUCH-NEEDED nap. He slept for two hours. We had breakfast for dinner (eggs, toast and bacon) and Steve cooked. It was delicious. 

When Gus finally got up, he was in a much better mood. Here are some sweet pictures of him and Steve together:




I LOVE this!!



Tomorrow we're not going anywhere. It'll be a great day for Steve because DirecTV has a free NFL Pass trial so he'll get to watch the Bengals game. Yes my friends, it's football season again. 

I'm going to finish Block 2 of my Anatomy class tonight and then tomorrow I start Mastering Medical Language. I have until the 15th to get that one done. See you tomorrow!

Friday, September 09, 2011

Day 252


September 9th, 2010


September 9th, 2011

I cannot believe that Gus was able to go down the stairs FORWARD FACING unassisted today!!! He's doing so many amazing things these days. I feel like I blink and he's doing something new and incredible!! It brings so much joy to my heart!!

Here's pictures of him coming down the stairs this morning:


Of course the flash went off on my phone and he got super excited


Gus got a GREAT night's sleep last night. He slept for more than 12 hours and didn't wake at all. He woke up this morning and was in his crib singing and talking. Music to my ears!

We had breakfast and played for a few minutes and then we had to leave for Lacey's house. We had a playdate with the triplets and Grace. It was a wonderful morning!!

On the way to Lacey's, Katie called me and invited us to the Little Gym on Tuesday for "bring a friend to class day." She's been taking Emma for a while and Emma loves it. Emma and Oliver were actually in the same class, and when we were at Marbles last month, Melanie (Oliver's mom) was telling me about how much Oliver loves it and that Gus would probably love it too. So we're going to go with Katie and Emma and hopefully it'll be something that Gus enjoys! I figure he will... it's climbing and tumbling which is RIGHT up his alley!!

Here are some pictures from this morning:
Right up in my grill

Lacey and Hadley

G2

Plotting something...

Slamming the sippy (lol)

Grace

This made me laugh

Ready for a snack!



Reagen (Gus's favorite)

They looked like seagulls attacking for food

Having a snack

Manuel Labor made an appearance

Gus and Reagen

Gus was exhausted when we left around noon. He was fighting sleep so hard!! We got home and had lunch and then I put him to bed. He slept for two and a half hours.

I worked on my courses. Last night, I recalculated my hours for my classes and determined that I am NOT behind at all! I'll actually finish the first part of my program a day early!! I have until November 23rd to have everything done and I'm slated to be done on the 22nd. It makes me happy to know that I'm on-track!! I have to do 4-5 hours per day to stay on-track... but I think I can do it. Anything that I don't do during the week, I can do during the weekend. Saturdays are my busy day because I can stay up super late and work and then sleep in on Sunday.

Anyway, Gus got up and we stayed up here and played until Steve got home.


A devilish look in his eye as he's playing with Steve's computer...








I decided to try and put together the chair we got at Ikea... but I didn't have a hammer up here so I couldn't complete it. Gus decided that he could do it for me:





After Steve got home we headed to Fiesta Mexicana for dinner. It wasn't the best ever. We decided to try a booster seat since Gus is constantly trying to climb out of a high-chair. However... Steve didn't think it was a good move, so he went back into the high-chair and Steve wrestled him all during dinner. Finally, it was too much and he let him out and had to deal with him on the seat next to him without the booster.

Yes, that's Gus's foot next to Steve's hand

We stopped at Sonic for dessert and then came home and put Gus to bed. I'm going to work on my program... I'm hoping to finish block 2 of Anatomy tonight. :)

We've got a busy weekend of doing nothing but relaxing and enjoying our time together as a family. We'll watch some movies and catch up on the DVRd shows that we haven't had time to watch!!

Here are a few pictures of Gus from last year:
I vividly remember taking this picture!!

Such a ham-bone!!

See you tomorrow!