Thank goodness the bumps are starting to go away…yeah Benedryl!! We actually had it on hand for our dog, Chase. Glad it was there. Taking it easy this evening anyway..don’t want to tempt fate.

So Bryan and Lorena come over to watch Tyler this evening which allows Chris and I to go to the gym and enjoy a nice, long workout. I run for 25 minutes and really push those last 5 minutes. I cool down for about 5 minutes on the treadmill and then go stretch. Yeah, I am feeling hot, but I pushed myself. Laydown to stretch my hamstrings and all of the sudden my body feels warm and then my face and hands start to itch like crazy. Then my arms start to itch..my whole body starts to itch.

Next thing you know, bumps start popping up all over my body. What the hell is going on here? So Chris and I cut the workout short and come home. I take a shower and pop some Benadryl. Still waiting for it to take affect cuz I am still itching!!!

Think I got a heat rash or something. I have overheated before, but it has never resulted in a rash. Probably shouldn’t sweat for a few days…..dammit! I tell ya, I am learning to laugh my ass off because crap like this always seems to happen to me. Yeah, it could be worse - my house isn’t underwater. Oh well, I did get a 25 minute run in, so I can’t complain. I got my calories burned today…bring on the Hagan Daz! :-p

Oh, well - just hope the red splotches on my face go away by tomorrow - I look kind of strange….. Wierd, wierd, wierd…..

That when my Mom came on Sunday to pick up my Dad, Tyler took one crawl forward? We put him on the floor in the nursery and he moved his hand and self forward. Then of course, he flattened to the floor, but it was definitely forward progress….

Having a highly productive week so far personally and a fairly productive on professionally. Kind of surreal to be at the gym and running errands when a few hours away people’s lives are underwater. The sad thing is that because the flood was not directly caused by the hurricane and most people do not have flood insurance, they will not get one penny for all of the damage to their homes and belongings. Thousands of people will lose everything. It is really, really sad.

I have been pretty obsessed with the activity watching CNN and all. I guess it will all where off, but it will be interesting to watch the progress. Wonder when the last time was that a whole city needed to be rebuilt?

On a lighter note..
Tyler pics are updated…. Click on his photo album above to see new pics. The new pics are all to the right side of his picture. Enjoy!

Having a great second wind this week and getting a lot done. Most exciting we are moving forward on our floor project getting estimates and selecting flooring. Unfortunately, the work probably won’t be done until November becuase of our scheduled and what this project will require. Because we are removing tile, the dust will be pretty crazy. We want Tyler away from the house until everything is done AND cleaned up. The work will take about 4 days. We will see - lots of excitement!!

Fall Always Flies By….
I don’t know why, but fall always seems to fly by. It is my favorite season, so I have to enjoy it while it is here. We have a lot planned and much to look forward to!! I cannot wait for the weather in Texas to cool down and the mosquitos to die down to see can be outside with Tyler a lot more. Hoping that he will decide he likes his bike trailer so we can do lots of riding!

Tyler Getting Cuter and Cuter Every Day
Tyler is getting funnier and so expressive! He is also definitely aware when you are not in the room and will let you know when he isn’t pleased about that…. He is babbling so much!! He will also scoot over to me and climb into my lap which I love!

In the Pool
Yesterday in the pool he was playing with a teething ring that floated. If he dropped it out of his hands, he would kick his legs and splash his hands in an effort to “swim” towards it so he could pick it up. It was so cool. He was also taking the ring and lifting it above the water and lowering it below the water…this absolutely fascinated him!! He will also open his mouth and put his face in the water… occasionally he will swallow some water. We try to keep him from doing that. He absolutely loves the pool and who knows - maybe he will swim before he walks….

It is so fun to watch him explore and interact with his world. It amazes me the things that he finds fascinating and capture his attention. Everyday things to me and like wonders of the world to him. It is fun to see the world through his eyes.

Still Waiting for the Teeth
He is getting two front teeth and the same time, but they haven’t erupted yet, but we are waiting and watching.

Well - he had his arm raised and open and closed his hand once or twice…. I think he might be close to waving hi!! He was waving to the reflection of him and his Daddy. Oh, and Chris and named the baby in the mirror RELYT (Tyler backwards)…..

I am the only one here at work today, so before I dive into what I need to get done, I thought I would share a couple of updates.

Ebay is Evil
That is because how easily you get sucked into it. My latest thing is trying to win an auciton of Mary Kay makeup samples. I thought it would be brilliant to get some samples for cheap and then figure out what really looks good on me before I buy it. I am trying to do a little Mommy makeover over here and for some reason new makeup gets me more motivated to actually wear it!! Waking up before the baby helps too!! Anyway, I missed out on a GREAT deal because I didn’t put in a high enough max bid… I think the hardest part is losing. You get so into the winning part, you fail to realize that you just ended up paying way more that you wanted to. Learning to tolerate losing is good… Learning to tolerate losing is good…. :-p

A Practical, Mommy Haircut
I have always prided myself on having some blingin’ hair. For what I pay for it, it should bling. Granted, I don’t always do my hairstyles justice. But the time has come to return to simplicity. I need a hairstyle that will last 3 months and take no time at all to fix. I just don’t have the time anymore and am not willing to return to the salon every 5 weeks at $60 a pop to keep me properly “quaffed”. I think I will also have to let the color go. Staying at home, we have to watch our budget. Of course, my natural hair color is pretty awful - dishwater blonde is what I have had it called…..lovely. We will see. Maybe I just downgrade to some cheaper highlights.

Tyler back in daycare
In two weeks, Tyler will return to Little Muchkins. The friend who was taking care of him really needs a break from it. The babies are entering a more difficult stage and it is so hard to try and meet the needs of two babies when one of them is yours. Little Muchkins has room for Tyler and it will be a great opportunity to see how his immunity is these days. He will be 10 months old and crawling, so I think he will have fun. The separation anxiety will suck, because it has kicked in - even at Susan’s. But usually after a minute he notices somethings else and is off and playing. I am a little aprehensive, but again he is older and that does make it a little easier. I still have projects that I need to complete at work that will take another 6 months, so I can’t quit yet and am not ready to.

Dad In Town
My Dad is hanging out with us for the weekend so my Mom can have a break. Being a caregiver is hard work and I think it is good for her to have some time off. They are so great about giving us a break from Tyler and I am so glad we can return the favor. I think she is going to the spa today to get a massage - go Mom! Dad is having fun. He had Tyler in giggle-fits yesterday. I appreciated it, because Tyler crashed right out when I went to nurse him to sleep.

Things are going good here. The new evening routine or pool, walk, bath, bed is a little frenetic, but I think it works good for Tyler. My house is a mess, but ya know, I will get to it. Going to do the FlyLady thing and instead of crisis cleaning will just start working it a room at a time. Getting quotes on our new floors and getting very excited about that. Need to get to work, so I will let you go.

Will try to get new Tyler pics up. Truth is, we haven’t taken any is a while. He is so mobile and squirmy now, it is hard to get a shot of him. We will get on it though - don’t want to dissapoint Tyler’s public! :-p

Tyler primarily explores his world through touch and taste. Sometimes he will first see the object he wants to explore and other times he will feel around. When he gets his hands on the object, he will pat it for a while and then may stroke it with his fingers. The final part of exploration is to pick up the object and put it in his mouth.

If he cannot pick up the object because say he is exploring the floor, he will go to it. Hence on occasion I have seen him sucking on Susan’s wall or on our very dirty tile floor. I heard the sucking sound yesterday and he was going to town on the floor. Gross! Some days our child seems more like a dog in that he does the strange things they do (or at least our dogs do)….licking walls and floors…

He has now taken to patting himself as if to say “Me Tyler”. It is pretty hilarious. He already pats Chris and I and when he does that we always say “Good Mommy or Daddy” depending on who is holding him! :-p

He LOVES cars. Whenever we are on our walks he will crane his neck as far as he can behind him to see the car go by. He is always whipping his head around to check something out and now that he is starting to get mobile will move his body to get to what he wants. In my arms in the glider he will twist his body to get to the nightstand and grab whatever he can.

I think he may be nearing his first real word.. “book”. The other day it seemed he was grabbing for some books on the nightstand and saying “bo”. We will see, could just be wishful thinking.

This is such a fun stage and I am really enjoying it. Tyler will be too once he figures out the crawling thing…he is getting close. Has gotten up on all fours a couple of times and can now get into a semi-crawl position and then “self-rescue” and get back to sitting. Nice for mommy so she doesn’t have to go and rescue Tyler every other minute!