back from the Grand Canyon... still trooping along...

I have returned from my Grand Canyon trip and am doing well… it was definitely an adventure. But I survived. Nothing much going on right now and nothing interesting to report… I’m just trying to “regroup” after my traveling expedition… I'm not too stressed out just yet. We'll see how things go in the days/weeks to follow...

busy weeks = stressed out Melissa... can she handle it?

I am going to be busy for awhile, and for those of you who know me, you know that I don’t particularly enjoy having a full schedule (and that is putting it lightly). I crave my down-time and desperately need time in which there is nothing going on. Those days are wonderful and I love them. Unfortunately, there won’t be many of those days in the weeks ahead (although the days will be fun and I will enjoy them, I will miss my “down-time days” which serve to re-energize me and keep me sane).

So what is going on for the next few weeks?... Here’s my schedule:

• May 21st-29th… Rafting in the Grand Canyon
• June 6th-9th… Dwell Conference in Los Angeles
• June 13th… Me and my husband’s 5th Wedding Anniversary!
• June 15th… Father’s day
• June 16th-19th… Trip to Jacksonville, Arkansas with Hayden to visit family and friends
• June 23rd-27th… Vacation Bible School (I am a leader)

So, words to describe this period in my life would be hectic, active, and eventful… which in turn tend to make me stressed, tired, and agitated… so, my husband is looking forward to this time… yay for Randy!... hopefully, I will be able to successfully utilize my “awesome” coping mechanisms and survive the next few weeks with little to no negative effects. I’m not betting on it though.

black eye... day three.

Well, Hayden's black eye is healing; however, it looks worse now than it did a few days ago... I took some pictures of him this morning that I thought I would share... it looks like he is wearing dark purple eyeshadow... beautiful!

hayden's first 'black eye'

Hayden got his first 'black eye' yesterday... we were over at my parents' condo and he slipped and hit his head/eye on the edge of a marble step... oops! When he first did it, it swelled up so big... it was crazy (and a little scary, although Hayden cared less about the incident after about 10 seconds)! Now it doesn't look that bad, aside from the bruising... which really is pretty minimal; however, I still feel this injury is worth noting as his official "First Black Eye"... Here are some pictures:

mother's day, Anson lot, and upcoming "vacation"

To begin with, let me say that I had a very nice Mother’s Day… Hayden was pleasant for the vast majority of the day, and that made the whole day a winner! First off, I received my Mother's Day gifts which included a Mother’s day video that Randy made me, a gift certificate for a manicure/pedicure, and a CD that Randy made me… then we went to “early service” at church, ate lunch with my parents, Hayden came home and took a nap, then we went to Randy’s mom’s for dinner, and finally we returned home and Hayden went to bed (well, eventually he went to bed... he really wasn't "feeling" bedtime last night)… at the end of the day though, I would say it was definitely a good Mother's Day!

I also wanted to let everyone know that we did get the lot! They counter-offered and we accepted it… so needless to say, we have land… it’s on Anson Street in Fayetteville which is on Mount Sequoyah (off of Ruth which is off of Rockwood)… very exciting!

And lastly, I thought I would mention that I am going on a “vacation” in a week… I say “vacation” because it is a 6-day rafting/camping trip at the ‘Grand Canyon’ and I am not much for outdoor-activities… we are leaving next Wednesday (the 21st of May) and are returning the following Thursday (May 29th)… the “we” includes Randy, myself, my sister (Mary), my sister’s boyfriend (Clark), my dad (Ted), my dad’s brother (Paul), and my cousin (Ashley: Paul’s daughter) as well as quite a few other people… my mom as well as my MIL are watching Hayden… I am sure I will miss him, but at least I know he is in great hands. This trip will be an interesting adventure, to say the least. We have a meeting this evening to discuss the trip… I am nervous about this trip and quite apprehensive, but it is for my dad (it is his 50th birthday present) and I would do almost anything for him.

some pictures from Mother's Day.

Here are some pictures from Mother's Day.

me and Hayden.

me and Randy.

the fam... me, Randy, and Hayden. (I realize I look completely ridiculous. When I take pictures with Hayden I tend to "over-smile" because I am trying to get Hayden to be happy and smile which leaves me looking like an idiot!)

me and my mommy.

Randy, Hayden, and Randy's brother, Jason... observe Hayden giving the ball to his Uncle Jason... very sweet!

Randy and his mommy.

Randy's brother, Jason, and their mom.

My Mother's Day Gift: A Video...

I will write some stuff later but I wanted to share the video Randy made me for Mother's Day:

yet another day of random ramblings...

I have more random ramblings today… I think that a lot of my life these days is composed of random ramblings (maybe life always is)… anywho, here are the ramblings of today:

• Hayden got a haircut yesterday. It was a disaster (not the actual haircut, just the experience). Hayden cried the whole time… very unpleasant to say the least. This was not his first haircut… it was probably his 6th or 7th, and he has had his haircut at this particular location before (and although he was rather squirmy during all of those appointments, he did not cry or scream)… so, I was quite surprised at this sudden change in behavior. My thanks goes out to Allison (the hairstylist) for putting up with his theatrics… and I apologize to all of those individuals at Studio 8 (the hair salon) yesterday from 4:30 pm – 5:00 pm. I am sure it was not what you were expecting when you went in for your cut, color, or styling (to say the least).
• Today was a big day for our family! We put in an offer on a piece of property where we are hoping to build our “dream home” one day… it is on Anson Street in Fayetteville. We should hear back by tomorrow at noon whether or not our offer was accepted… wish us luck!
• I am now a member of the ‘Junior League of Northwest Arkansas’… at first, I thought of this organization as an elitist group of rich women (not very open-minded of me...naughty Melissa)… and although some of the women might fit into that narrow-minded description, certainly not all of them do (and I certainly don’t!)… so why did I join? For three main reasons (1) because I want to get more involved in volunteering (2) because I want to have some semblance of a life outside of the home and my life as a “mommy”, and (3) because I want to meet other women and increase my level of socialization with them. Hopefully, this will prove to be a great experience.

random ramblings.

• Random Rambling #1: I get up every morning early. Very early. Around 5:45 am. I do this so I can walk on my treadmill and have a little "me time" before Hayden gets up for the day. To many this may seem outrageous but it works for me. Anywho... so generally I get done walking on the treadmill at around 6:37 am, and Hayden gets up at 7 am (sometimes 7:15 am... which is "late"). Unfortunately, Hayden rises to the light. And the light has been coming earlier and earlier... hence, Hayden has been getting up earlier and earlier. For the past week, he has been getting up between 6:30 and 6:45 am... no good. My "morning me time" is gone. I do not want to get up any earlier... so I suppose this is yet another "sacrifice" I will have to make. Goodbye "morning me time"...

• Random Rambling #2: My husband and I have been discussing when is the right time to have another baby... I had always thought that I wanted to have two kids and have them two years apart. Since having Hayden, I have changed my mind (not about the number of kids I want, but about the "age gap"). I do not feel that I could handle having another child right now. Hayden is a handful to say the least, and although I love him to death, 'Baby #2' will have to wait... but how long? This is a really tough question... and you never know how long it will really be (meaning that just because you start trying to get pregnant, doesn't mean you automatically become pregnant...it could take months or even years before that miracle actually occurs). So, after some discussion I think we have decided that we will start trying in about 2 years... so for all of those interested and wondering when 'Randy and Melissa' might be having 'Baby #2', it definitely won't be happening anytime soon... unless of course we get a big surprise (and that is not likely!).

an afternoon with Hayden.

So yesterday Hayden and I had a fun afternoon... we went to the mall and played at the play area. Here he is waving... this is at the top of a slide that is inside a "tree"... wonderful!

Then he calmed down a bit and serenely relaxed inside a blue "donut-like" thing:

Then, he regained some energy and played with the turtle that he really likes to ride (unfortunately I wasn't able to get any good pictures of him riding the turtle...):

Notice the boy jumping in the background... it looks quite freaky! He was a sweet little boy and kept looking at the pictures I was taking... I guess he liked them.

So then we left the mall and returned home (after a brief Walmart outing)... Hayden then played in the yard some... here he is playing with a stick on the ground.

Then as I was laying on the ground he "attacked me":

Well, he really didn't "attack me", he just got on top of me and tried to "eat me"...very cute! Anywho... that was our afternoon. Well, two hours of our afternoon... Hope you enjoyed checking it out!