Playing Catch-up

i feel like i am. constantly. playing. catch-up.  i've been slacking off on blogging & i guess this is my sort of 'stream of consciousness excuses' aka... this is life.

it seems like ever since our summer hit (yes, i realize summer doesn't officially start until the 21st, however, it's warm & sunny, & kids are out of school. to me, this has always equaled summer) i've hit a blogging low.  perhaps it's the heat, sucking the life out of me? or the biking that we've been trying to do at least three times a week? or possibly, it's the way we sometimes live life like we're in transit... constantly waiting for that next change (this is not meant to be puzzling or secretive, it's just us waiting on some news to find out what, if any, changes will be occurring this year). add to this our at least twice monthly trips to Iowa for baseball & boating & you may have anyone worn out.

...oh but did i mention... we've been invaded by a terrorist.  he's small, but he's loud.  he's happy, but he's stubborn.  he's adorable, but he is tricky & conniving.  and into everything.  this, ladies & gentlemen, is the sometimes frightening reality of a real life toddler.  at 17 months, this kid is climbing on everything (think up the desk chair, onto the lower level of a roll top desk, up to the top of it, & halfway up the printer, before the huz stopped him), he's emptying every drawer, fighting us on anytime we want to constrict him in a car seat, a stroller, even a wagon.  he's screeching for his food or his toys or whatever is currently in mind.  he imagines most objects to be baseball bats & he's ready to hit a homer.  he wants the same book read to him repeatedly & frankly, this mama is tired of elmo's missing little black puppy.  but, read we do, because he's sweet when he asks me & climbs into my lap.

we also talk. a lot. i started keeping track last week for 2 days, of all the words b says. i got to 38.  last weekend while we were at my in-laws, during dinner, we started talking.  mike has started pointing at himself & asking b who he is... b responds with "dada", same with me "mama" & when pointing at b, he says "b!" ... we asked him who each person at the table was & he correctly identified each person, even differentiating between his grandma & his great grandma- same with grandpa & great grandpa. this kid never ceases to amaze me.  he may be a mini terrorist in our house, but he can correctly name off 9 people, so i guess we'll take it.

in other news, we (the huz & i) have started the 30 day shred & have been adamant about biking at least 3x a week (weather permitting, of course).  i'm always shocked at how much workout is packed into the 20 minutes of the shred, & gosh darn it, if i don't have shredded abs when we're done with all this work, i'm going to be pissed. (i'm joking. sort of.) i broke my personal record yesterday & biked 26 miles, literally mostly uphill & into wind, 13 without a break & then 13 more after a short playground break for b.  we even endured a 5 minute rainstorm, where we hid under a tree.

as for future excuses, they are as follows (literally this is what's on our calendar):
although unsure of our exact plans for the next two weekends (each involves a birthday -mine & a father's day & will either be spent at home/in the city or in iowa, with family) we will be headed to iowa for the last weekend in june for a baseball tournament; in chicagoland for the 4th with friends visiting; in iowa for a wedding thing (aka shower & or bachelor/bachelorette party) & 3 birthday things; in iowa for a wedding thing; in iowa for this biking thing called ragbrai (ever heard of it? look it up here); in iowa for a wedding; in iowa for a wedding thing; in iowa for a wedding thing; at home; at home; at home; in iowa for a wedding. chances of us maintaining those three at home weekends, when there's potential to be boating in iowa.... slim to none.

and that folks, is life.