Big Boy Bed

After this I knew we couldn't risk it becoming an every night activity. Justin and I discussed a few options but it seemed like turning Madman's crib into a "big boy bed" was the only thing we could do. I know a lot of people think he is too young but I guess I figure a 1 1/2 foot fall to the floor is MUCH better than a 4+ foot fall.

SO we went ahead (with help from Grandpa and Rick) and went from a crib to a toddler bed.......

*sigh..................

Maddox was asleep when I put him in it last night but he did really well. I heard him stirring this morning and when I peaked around the corner it was clear he wasn't quite sure what had happened to his bed. He now has figured out how to get in and out rather smoothly which is both good and bad. Nap time was interesting to say the least but we made it through.

Wish us luck on our new adventures at bed time!

*** I tried to upload photos but for some reason it wouldn't work. I will try again later....***

Weekend Without Daddy

This weekend Justin went way up North for some male bonding over a frozen lake......

Somehow I don't see how this is fun.....

He along with JB headed out fishing and it sounds like they had a great time doing so. They left at 2:45 am Friday morning and were on the lake by noon. (if not earlier) It sounds like they had success so I am happy for that. JR got home around 6:45 tonight and the pics were great though he doesn't want me to share any....

Maddox and I enjoyed our time but the weekend went by SO fast. My parents came up yesterday to do some cabinet shopping so we tagged along. As the afternoon proceeded we ended up taking an impromptu drive to the cities for a quick trip through IKEA. I had only been there one other time so it was fun to take a look around. The day ended with some great finds and big success for my parents I believe.

Today Madman and I just chilled.... we watched Mickey and read lots of books. He was unbelievably cuddly (never happens!) but also pretty mischievous. I am worn out! I guess we all can say we had a pretty great weekend. =)

The Escape Artist

So Maddox has decided that his crib is no longer a place he would like to spend time. He has master the art of crawling out of it and has done so more than once. Last weekend was the first "real" escape that lead to a total freak out by Mama Bear.

I put him down for a nap and I laid down on the couch for a few minutes of shut eye. As I was drifting off I kind of saw Bear head for Maddox's room but thought nothing of it.

I shoulda known something was up!

About a minute later this little blonde head was bobbing into the living room followed by Bear.

TROUBLE!

MADDOX HAD CRAWLED OUT OF HIS CRIB!

The stinker must have figured out how to slide down without makin a sounds 'cuz I heard nothing... I knew this was coming but I assumed it would be a little while before we really had to worry.

No such luck.

Here is a quick snippet of Madman showing us his skills.

I guess we will be either moving to a toddler bed sooner than expected or, tying him down.... HA! To say the least, it makes bed time pretty interesting.

Friday 5's: 1/28/11

1. If you had $1,000 to donate to a charity, which would you choose?

I would choose something to do with children. Possibly the Backpack program here. I know it does great things and all kids should be able to know they will have something to eat when they are hungry.

OR

I would give money to an agency that works with abused children. After working with a few abused children in past jobs, I know how important that work is and I would hate to see it be cut. Unfortunately $1000 wouldn't go far but it would help!

2. Snow days: Do you welcome them happily or are they a pain in your butt?

I LOVE them. The clean-up, not so much!

3. What talent did you wish you had and why?

I wish I could do something that would make me lots of money!

4. Are you a news, politics or celebrity gossip junkie?

Celebrity Gossip Junkie. I can't help it I am addicted!

5. What is your favorite "cocktail"? (Are you a beer person, a kiddie cocktail junkie, or perhaps your more the "Cosmo" kind?! Anything flies...doesn't hafta be alcoholic!)

Margaritas!!! I LOVE them. Just about any kind will work. :) If they aren't readily available I am all about Michelob Golden Light. YUM. Of course, cocktails are always better when there are friends involved.

Green Bay All the Way!

For those of you who MAY not know, Maddox and I are HUGE Green Bay Packer fans. (much to the disgust of our loving father/husband!) Yesterday was a rather large day of celebration in our house.

With the random outbursts of the song "The Bears Still Suck" and other chants it was quite the day at the Hunecke house.

I had to do laundry to maintain SOME composure during the game. I was way too nervous for my own good! The Superbowl should be pretty exciting.

Maddox Valentines 2011

Many Memories Heart Valentine's Day Card

Modern greeting cards and party invitations by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Friday 5's- 1/21/11

1. Where did you meet your spouse and did you instantly know it was love?

You could say JR and I met "officially" in kindergarten or 1st grade. We can't agree on which year FOR SURE! My first real memory of him was in 2nd grade when I told him we were birthday twins and we would always celebrate together (little did I know!).

Can't say I instantly knew I loved him cuz at 7-8 I am not sure you know that kind of thing. After we started dating, it didn't take long to know he was the one. :) He just made it easy.

He snuck a rose to Niagara Falls in his suitcase for our 1 month anniversary for goodness sakes, I guess I should have known then!

2. What is your favorite room in your house?

Probably our family room. It has photos of our families and friends, the comfy furniture, and is the most commonly used room by our whole family

3. Can you wiggle your ears?

No

4. What is your evening ritual?

Justin's working: I get home either make a meal or get Madman something to eat, play with Madman/Bear, get him a bath, ready for bed, and then it is "my time" where I blog/watch "my" shows/ household chores- ya know the usual!

Justin not working: I get home, we eat, run errands (sometimes), and then do some of the above or just relax/play with Maddox till it is bed time.

Both, pretty uneventful!

5. How many hours of sleep do you need to function?

Typically I am good on 6. If I know I can have 6 solid hours of sleep I can function rather well.  I have definitely made it work on 4-5 but 6-8 is preferable

Snow Days

Thank you to MLK Day, I enjoyed a nice day off. Justin and I have been wanting to get Maddox out and REALLY take him sledding so we finally jumped on the nice weather.
Maddox loved the snow. I think he would've stayed outside all afternoon if it would have been nicer. We had a great time, even if Justin was tired of dragging Madman up the hill time after time. (I stayed at the bottom for optimal photo angles!) So glad he liked it.

Just about to fall down. Who knew walking in snow was so difficult?

Look Mom, I am pushing a giant snowball.

whatdya mean I can't swim in this stuff?

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

 

Visitors

Thursday night my parents stopped by on their way through town. Maddox was being a pistol by the end of the meal but we somehow still were able to snap a quick (cute!) picture. Thanks for stopping by guys!

New Beginnings

I heard an interesting tid bit on the radio yesterday. Apparently there was a study done and it takes the majority of new moms 18 months before they feel good about themselves again. They said it wasn't just physically, but emotionally. I can totally see it! It is hard work to try and bounce back (physically) and I think my "self worth" kind of took a backseat. Not in a bad way but as you mommies know, our babies come first!

I started Weight Watchers (WW) in November just to try and work on losing some weight and I finally feel like I am getting somewhere... I was recognized today for losing 5% of my body weight (yay me!) today at our meeting and it really felt great. Our group leader asked me how I felt I could honestly say, I feel SO much better emotionally. My mind is clearer and I feel like I have a little better grip on things which has been amazing. (I am down another hole in my belt too which feels great!)


I never really said anything before because 1. I feel like I am always saying I am going to lose weight and never getting anywhere..... 2. I needed to keep myself accountable. Hopefully this will do the trick! I can't say it has all been coming up roses because a few weeks after I started the program, WW switched to a new one and it took me a good 3 weeks to get on board. I am slowly getting there but it is work. I hope this means 2011 will continue to be a positive year for me/ us.

Ball Boy

Maddox loves balls, ANYTHING that has to do with balls will keep him entertained for quite some time. For Christmas he got a ball pit and LOVES it.

Pushing balls through the holes in the side. He figured it out so fast I was amazed



Peek-a-boo Mommy!



We don't wanna get out, I can read books right here!.

Our Son, Spider Man

Our son is not afraid of ANYTHING. He could probably scale walls if he tried......

Yesterday I was in the kitchen changing out the dishwasher and I heard a little ruckus. I came around the corner to this...  

and this.... 

and this..................

The little fart figured out that he can climb across his highchair (duh MOM!) and was

up on the table, proud as could be. He truly has NO fear.

Changes....

Sunday night before I left April told me she would be moving out and into a house closer to campus and with a friend. She wanted to get moved in before school started this week so she and Justin got busy and she is now settled into her new place.

When I got home Saturday morning, Justin had the house totally clean and organized! Because of April's move, our spare room in the basement was opened up again and Justin got our stuff put back in. It was so nice to come home to a clean house and all the laundry caught up. Made for a semi relaxing weekend for myself. Oh, and GO PACK GO! :)

Jamaican Vacation

Upon arriving in Montego Bay, Jamaica we grabbed our luggage, went through customs, and loaded a bus to our resort. Everyone was really excited for the fun to begin! As we drove through towards the resort this is what we saw....



Our first impression of the island....

Quite the difference between the left side where all of the resorts were and the right side there we shanty houses like this.  

Santa greeted us as we

 arrived on our resort

That first night we got settled in our rooms, grabbed a quick bite to eat and then started mapping out our week.

  

This was my room, it was beautiful and the
best part was the amazing balcony



My own Mini Bar.... Unfortunately since I was working I wasn't able to take advantage of it.

 

Our path to the ocean from our rooms. It was SO beautiful and the water was so inviting.

 

On Wednesday we headed to Bob Marley's childhood home and final resting place. On our way there we were lucky enough to take a ride through the mountains. It was super scary because not only were we driving on the "wrong" side of the road we were also bobbing and weaving around pot holes, avoiding oncoming traffic,and dodging crazy people that were walking along the road. Our driver kept telling me to calm down but for some reason I just couldn't relax... (can't imagine why!) The roads were SO narrow!

He showed us the workings of a sugar cane farm and explained how it all worked. We saw fields that were close to harvest, recently harvested, and those that needed to be harvested. The vegetation was just amazing there. I was amazed by all of the green that surrounded us.

I am not sure what I expected but for some reason everything was different from my mind's eye.

We also saw lots of different mining crews that were diggin up the "red dirt" or bauxite that Jamaica is famous for. Apparently it is used to make aluminum and is a huge export business for the island. They call the dirt something funny (which of course I don't remember) and it basically means it stains everything. There were giant holes ALL over the hills that were several feet deep and several feet wide. It was really interesting learning about those two things....

an example of one of these holes. It wasn't being used anymore and had been semi filled with limestone.

Captain Crazy and me in Bob's childhood bedroom.
Apparently that is his bed he slept in when
growing up.

Finally after about 2 hours in the car,  we made it to the Bob Marley "tour" where we were met by our very eccentric tour leader. THIS was quite an experience! We walked into a bar/ restaurant where the majority of people were smoking big ol' blunts and getting their drink on. Now with a group like mine, this wasn't the most comfortable experience for me.

Captain Crazy was our guides name and it definitely fit him. He was feeling good during our tour and made sure that everyone knew it was ok to be feeling as good as he was. So awkward!

There were also people all around the fences of the property trying to get us to by their "special" stuff. It was really sad actually......

On the flip side they only wanted $10 for the "good"stuff.  

They had what looked like marshmellow roasting sticks with seed packets full of the "special" stuff. Though it was interesting to hear about Bob Marley, I am not sure the 2 hour ride was really worth the hour long tour.

View from the lift

On Thursday we got up pretty early and headed to Ochos Rios which was about an hour and a half away from our resort. Our first stop was to "Mystic Mountain" where we rode a ski lift to the top of the mountain. We saw a large cruise ship come in to the harbor and SO many beautiful things. I took tons of photos but it doesn't do it justice. It was really a sight to see.

Afterwards we headed to Dunns River Falls which is a very popular activity when in Jamaica. They are waterfalls you can actually climb and they are beautiful. It was a lot of fun to check out but unfortunately I didn't get to climb them. Only one of my group members would even get in the water so it wasn't really worth the struggle of trying to get them excited. I did get in and do a little swimming and messing around to see how it would be but that was as far as I got. Hopefully I can go back again someday with my hubby and we can do it together.


I am standing on one of the docks along the falls. It was so pretty and looked like lots of fun!

Our last night on the island our group enjoyed a nice dinner and a little bit of a comedy show before we called it a night. I think everyone was a little sad to go to bed as we knew we would get up and head north the next day. It had been in the 80's most of our time there so it was gorgeous!

Our Group with the Jamaican flag

To be honest, I really have shied away from buying much for souvenirs when I go with LEEP groups because I don't really need anything from those places. I do come home with something usually, but it typically ends up being for someone else. This trip however, I got myself something! TWO things actually!

I saw the statue on the left  the first day I was there. It is a mom, dad, and child all intertwined and beautiful if you ask me. It just struck a chord and I had to have it. The only problem I had was, I wanted a bigger one! So, it was my mission to find one that was bigger than 6 inches tall but, unfortunately, there weren't any around.

It worked though because after I found that one, I  found the other one! I LOVE that one too. I don't know why they were something I HAD to have but I did..... I love them. They made the perfect addiction to our living room decor and I am glad I got them.

I would say that our trip to Jamaica was one that is full of memories. There are many more stories I have of my trip but this post has already gone longer than I planned. I hope I get to go back someday because I saw so many things I want to do/try but didn't get the opportunity. If nothing else, the break from winter weather was WELL worth it!

Family Christmas- Part 3 & 4

Part 3

Over New Year's Eve weekend the 4 of us road tripped South for Justin's family Christmases. Our first stop was to Jess and Mitch's place to ring in the new year. We had a night full of friendly competition and celebration.

Saturday morning we headed to Justin's dad's place for that part of our celebration. We had a great meal and was very nice to just relax and be together. When it was time to open presents the kids dug in and got some great things. It was so much fun being together.

Brode-man opening the gift from us!



Everybody checkin' out what they were opening



What is it Daddy?

Part 4

That afternoon we headed over to Justin's mom's house for our celebration with her. It was a really relaxing afternoon and another great meal! (I love Jo's chili!) We all chatted about our holidays and then started opening presents. Everyone got so many nice things and it was an amazing day. Sooo glad we got to spend some quality time with our families!!!

Mitch and Justin relaxing before everyone arrived to eat and open presents



Aunt Jess, Madman and Jenna having a good time!



Aunt Jess helping Maddox open his presents.



If Maddox could have, he would have crawled up and down the stairs ALL DAY LONG. 
We were all getting tired  of chasing him up and down, up and down, up and down. What a stinker!



Grandma Jo and her grand kids Christmas 2010

We hope your family had a wonderful Christmas holiday!

Jamaica is.......

Beautiful

and I can't wait to share photos with you when I get home. This group was different than most so it has been interesting. The people are SO nice here it is amazing. :) The weather has been phenomenal and the Caribbean Sea is gorgeous.

On the flip side, I have really been missing my boys.... I can't just pick up the phone (Darn you Verizon!) and chat if I need to which is frustrating. Probably more so because I am the only staff on this trip..... Tomorrow we are off to check out more scenery and ride a ski lift up a mountain. Afterwards we are hitting up Dunns River Falls which I hear are amazing. Should be fun!

Have a great week!