Family Vacation and New House News!

Well our family vacation was a hit!  Lawson did fantastic and had an absolute blast in Mexico and mommy and daddy finally got to catch up on some much needed rest from our crazy busy everyday schedule while the grandparents looked after the wild Lawdog.  

I honestly don't know where my mom found all the energy to go to the pool with that little toddler everyday.  I think she must have gone done that water slide 1,000 times with him!  He didn't stop the whole time we were there, unless he was napping on the lazy river, which was hilarious.  

I think we have decided the only way we can go on vacation is if one of our sets of grandparents goes with, that is key!  Cause let's be honest, vacation with a toddler without some type of reliable babysitters, ain't a vacation, that's just more of what we do on a daily basis.  Seriously, my vacation consisted of laying in bed in our air-conditioned hotel room and then going out to dinner. 

It. Was. Amazing.

Now onto reality back in LA.  We bought a house.  Yes, I know we were supposed to slow down and not have another project, but it just kind of happened.  Lawson needed a backyard, the houses in our current neighborhood were selling for ridiculously more than we bought them for and we found the perfect lot of only like 5 lots left in the neighborhood that we (okay, that I) had been eyeing for over the past 2 years :/  So, we bought a house... and we are sooo excited!

Take a look at some of the photos during construction, its crazy to see how far it has come in the past couple of months.  I can't believe in just ONE month, we are going to be living in that beautiful thing.  I will keep you posted on the progress as we start to get closer to moving day :)

Lawson with "Grandmother" (so formal, mom!)

Lawson with Grandaddy Craig

Lawson moving boulders in our backyard

view from the backyard

and so it begins

stucco going up

cool rock wall and roof going on

getting the yard prepped

driveway going in

our living room

our kitchen (but we are changing the cabinets to white!)

Lawson checking out the place

hallway for days

Lawson checking out our enclosed patio

Lawson getting ready to get into trouble

Lawson getting into trouble

daddy testing out the soaker tub that he can actually fit into, hooray!

Lawson at 17 Months!

Lawson has reached a new level of cuteness lately, both in his looks and personality.  This week he got his first big boy styled hair cut and I have never been so sensitive or emotional about a haircut in my life!  It made me feel as though he had completely grown up on me, where did my little baby boy go? 

He is a total full on toddler now that loves to get into everything (see images below, lol!).  His favorite things to do now are read books, eat lollypops, go to the beach and the park, get into all the cabinets and take everything out of them, bake with mommy and take naps with daddy.  He is turning into such a ham and constantly cracking Prescott and I up.  

We are all getting very excited for our first real summer vacation since Lawson has been born and are just counting down the days.  It will also be the first time that I will have left the new bakery to go on a full week vacation out of the country, so I am a little nervous about that, but know that everything will be fine.  I have a great team there and just have to let go and trust in them, which is hard for such a controlling and involved business owner as myself!  

I have to say, I have never had so much fun packing though and not for myself but for Lawson.  The boy toddler clothes I found have truly exceeded all my expectations.  I am obsessed with each one of his outfits :)

Lawson at 16 Months

Well, we think Lawson has entered into the world of terrible twos a little early!  He is a total wild rebel not to be reckoned with.  His new favorite word is no and it is really the only actual word that he uses anymore (besides his favorite phrase "be happy").  The funniest part is that he loves to tell himself no as his is doing something that he knows I am going to say no to, smart boy!

Lawson's new favorite things to do are to climb up onto everything, take out every possible chord/pot/pan/dvd basically any item in a cabinet that isn't child locked and string it everywhere around the house and throw fits when he doesn't get what he wants or is told no (see photos below!).  

The bakery has been at an all-time high, as far as orders go and it has been crazy trying to keep up with both Lawson and the bakery, but we are managing to do both and luckily I have a great team of people around me to help make everything work out :)  

Lawson has learned where his belly button is and continues to understand more and more of what we are saying.  He now follows orders (if he so pleases) and will put his diaper in the trash by himself, take his dirty laundry and put it in the hamper and even close the refrigerator door for me at times.  It is pretty crazy and funny to see him learn how to do these simple mundane tasks.

Overall, all is good, just a bit stressful at the moment and I am looking forward to things getting a little easier soon!

Lawson at 15 Months!

Our busy boy just keeps on growing (and eating)!  I mean this boy can eat.  It's crazy.  Prescott and I literally think he eats more than we do, but he also doesn't stop moving, so it makes sense.  Something has to fuel that busy, growing boy!  

Today was an exciting day, he got his first molar.  Total surprise!  He was acting a bit fussier than usual and next thing I knew, there was a big old molar popping out of his gums.  I couldn't believe it! I have lots of these first time mom moments, I think.  Where he will do something new, something as small as go to the bathroom door when we ask if he is ready to brush his teeth or learn how to climb onto the couch for the first time by himself, and I will be in utter shock and disbelief that our 15 month old son just did that.  

Lawson is constantly surprising me every day with something new. He gets smarter and funnier with each passing moment.  I have to say these past few months have definitely been a totally different experience than being the mother of a newborn.  They say parenting is the hardest yet most rewarding job and I can definitely say I could relate more to the "hardest" part than "rewarding" part during that first year.  You are giving so much of yourself to this new little creature that you really haven't had enough time to fully get to know each other yet and it is darn right stressful and well HARD. But, after that year hump, you start to really start to get a glimpse at that rewarding side of things :)

Like when your son learns how to give you his first kiss or runs up to you and hugs you or starts to cuddle with you and not for milk but because he loves you and wants to show you that.  That is when it becomes more rewarding and you start to think to yourself, ah, this is more like what I thought parenting was going to be like.  Now let's not take this too far, it is still a super tough job and Lawson continues to be a huge handful, but for me it has become increasingly easier and more enjoyable.  

Everyone's experience is different, some people love that infant baby stage, but I definitely love this toddler stage where our son is becoming more and more like a true person than a newborn baby.  I can't wait to see what the next few months have in store :)