I Could Write a Book

I should be working right now, but I am actually waiting for a file to download so I can complete a client order, and with our impossibly slow internet speeds, it may take a while. So I thought, while I wait, I would tell you a story. 

A few weeks ago I was in Houston on business and that night I was a little bored. I started posting movie lines on my Facebook page, to see if anyone could recognize them.

Apparently I am pretty old, and have weird taste in movies. But that is a story for another day...

So a couple of my friends hit on some of the lines I was quoting. The thread took off with others quoting their favorite scenes from my favorite movie, When Harry Met Sally. One friend (hi Kelley!) quoted the scene with Sally and Harry in the diner when Sally is telling her story of days of the week underpants. In case you are not familiar with the genius that is this movie, here is the scene...

Sally Albright: Well, if you must know, it was because he was very jealous, and I had these days of the week underpants.
Harry Burns: Ehhhh. I'm sorry. I need the judges ruling on this. "Days of the weeks underpants"?
Sally Albright: Yes. They had the days of the week on them, and I thought they were sort of funny. And then one day Sheldon says to me, "You never wear Sunday." It was all suspicious. Where was Sunday? Where had I left Sunday? And I told him, and he didn't believe me.
Harry Burns: What?
Sally Albright: They don't make Sunday.
Harry Burns: Why not?
Sally Albright: Because of God.

 I love this scene! It's hilarious! I also love it because, I too, once had days of the week underpants.

And I didn't have Sunday either.

I was a kid, and I loved those stupid things.  They were so special to me; I remember getting excited when they were clean and I could wear them again.  However, at some point, Wednesday went missing.

What happened to Wednesday?? Where was Wednesday? Where had I left it? It was all suspicious.

Wednesday was missing for what seemed like an eternity. I remember it as a few weeks at least, but my memory could be incorrect. Anyway, one day my dad came home from work with a really funny story to tell. As it goes, he was talking to a coworker, and he casually stuck his hand in his pocket. He noticed that it felt like there was something in there, so he pulled out the unexpected object.  In his hand, right in front of his puzzled coworker was

Wednesday.

Can you imagine being an adult and pulling a pair of little girl's unders out of your pocket. Um, yeah. Dad was not amused, I am sure.

I love that memory.

Until,
D :)

Fall to Pieces

I was going to blog today.

I was going to blog about how much baking I did last week and all the ingredients I went through - 16 pans (give or take) of cinnamon rolls uses up a lot of butter (about 5 pounds), flour (about 10 pounds) and sugar (about 5 pounds).  It was fun though and I am having so much fun handing out pans to friends and family. I love cooking for people!


I was going to blog about my parent's visit and how great it was. There was good food and presents and fun with a gingerbread house. 

 But then...

 This morning happened.

We got up to find that Kiddo had vomited some time in the night, and had slept that way for quite a while. His tummy has been "off" all day.

 Oh dear.

 And Port has a fever and possibly a tummy ache - but he can't tell me for sure what is wrong.

 And I have been feeling quite a bit queasy myself today.  My head feels like it's filled with jello.

And then...Hubby went for a bike ride and stopped on the way home to do some last minute shopping, and returned to his car to find that his bike had been stolen.  And if you recall, our car was *just* broken into a few weeks ago and his cell phone, a small radio and 2 light stands and umbrellas were stolen then.

 I am trying to piece together what is left of my holiday spirit, but I am finding it difficult to hold it all together.

 I see small, beautiful moments and lovely places in all the chaos.

 But in all I am pretty bummed and not feeling like I should.

 I need better glue.

 Or I may end up looking like this on Christmas Day.

What gets you in the holiday spirit?

Until,
D

Random Rules

This post started out as something really great in my head, but somewhere between the driveway where I was thinking about it and the computer, I lost the story.  So, it is now just random thoughts. I apologize for my lack of writing skills today...

On the way home from the grocery store today, I happened to look over into the retention basin at the entrance to our neighborhood. Sitting in the grass was a basket ball.  I assumed it belonged to someone in one of the nearby houses, but I wondered how long it would sit there before someone walked or drove by and stopped to pick it up.

It was a pretty nice basketball.

I have always been someone who subscribes to the thought that if something isn't mine, I don't mess with it.  The "finders, keepers" philosophy has never been something I could wrap my head around. I empathized with the "losers, weepers" team.  It sucks to lose something, and wouldn't it be nice if the other side of that rhyme was "finders, givers back?"

What am I talking about??

Anyway, it made me think about how, when I was in high school, my dad bought a basketball goal for the driveway.

I don't play sports. I am an only child.

um

So, I didn't really understand why he bought the basket ball goal.  I don't remember ever asking for one. But, I guess it was kind of a cool thing to have. My friends and I wasted a lot of time shooting hoops.  It kept us outside a lot, so maybe that was the motivation.

Heck, for all I know, he was trying to find a way to attract some boys to me or something.

I never dated in high school. At least not until senior year.

He actually dug a hole on the side of the driveway and secured the goal post in the ground with concrete.  I bet it's still there. That sucker wasn't going anywhere.

But the most important rule for the basketball goal was that the ball had to be put away when we were done.  I wouldn't even dream of leaving it out in the yard or sitting in the drive way.  It had to go on the rack in the garage.

I had always been taught to leave things the way I found them.  If I walked into a room and the light was off, I made sure to turn the light off when I left. If the door was closed when I got there, it was closed on my way out. It seemed like common sense, really.  It is probably also the reason I find myself straightening shelves in the supermarket...

Anyway, there is a house next to the retention basin that has a basketball goal in the back yard. I suppose the ball belongs to them. May parents would have had a fit if I had left the ball outside of the yard like that.

Random.

Until,
D :)

Wrinkle In Time

Even though we have 2 professional photographers in the family (myself and Hubby), several very good hobbyists and various picture taking fanatics, it is very rare that anyone ever takes a picture of me. And when they do it is often terribly unflattering or embarrassing.

So most of the time I am forced to take pictures of myself. This task really leaves me the only option of producing the dreaded "myspace photo".

You know the one...

Hold the camera at arms length, point it at your face, strike a pose and hope for the best.

Yeah, so try that with a 4-5 pound camera/lens combo a few times and you can see how uncomfortable and annoying it can be.

Anyway, I was on a kick a while back with doing daily self portraits, but after about 15 I lost interest. It was just too difficult to get a decent one without a remote. There is only so much you can do from 2 1/2 feet away.

But every now and then I need to take one; in recognition of my birthday or a new hair color - such as the one I took last Thursday.
Not a bad shot - and I of course love my hair.

But unfortunately, the things I do see in this photo are kind of depressing.

I see my age creeping up on me.

Now, I know I am not that old yet, but I am definitely no spring chicken. It's just that my face is really starting to show it now. My once smooth skin has wrinkled in way more areas than I notice on a daily mirror inspection. If I zoom in to that image above the results are a bit frightening.

I know not everyone is going to get that close to me of course, but since I don't carry around a hand mirror and check my reflection in every possible light situation, I can only assume that sometimes (and probably more often than not) the "face" I am putting forward is probably somewhere close to the mid point or lower on the good skin day/bad skin day scale. The wrinkles, the dryness, the imperfections can not be hidden by good lighting and Photoshop fixes in my daily life (oh how I wish I could keep a clone tool in my make-up bag!).

So, I am left with a decision. Face my face and embrace it and learn to love my wrinkles, or fight like heck to delay the aging process for as long as possible.

I remember sitting on a restaurant patio one sunny afternoon in Phoenix, Arizona. A family was seated at the table next to us - mom, dad and a few kids. The kids were probably elementary and middle school aged, and the parents probably close to the age I am now. The mom was striking - long blond hair and beautiful features; her skin a rich, deep Arizona tan. She was extremely wrinkled on her face and arms, no doubt from years of sunning and outdoor living. And I recall mentioning to Hubby how pretty she was, despite the wrinkles, and how I hoped that if I were to wrinkle that way that I could make it look as good as she did.

My mom never really seemed to age much until recently. She held on to her smooth skin and youthful looks well into my college years. Even now she still doesn't look her age. I look at pictures of her from when she was my age and I think she looks a lot younger than I do now. And at that time my dad was a 3 pack a day, in the house/car/office smoker. So she was exposed to skin damaging chemicals all day and night. She still looked amazing.

I wonder if aging is all relative. I wonder if the reality is, it has nothing to do with genes or skin care or healthy lifestyle. I wonder if it is all in the way you carry yourself. Perhaps it is all in the attitude you take and you soul, your inner most being, whether aging is a graceful or disgraceful process.

The woman in the restaurant was happy; smiling, confident, joyful. She loved her life and it was evident in the way she talked and smiled and carried herself. It was obvious in the way the wrinkles had formed on her face. They were laugh lines and eye crinkles from lots of smiling and laughing. They were from happy days and a good life.

I don't know what kind of wrinkles I have. I hope they are from laughing at and with my children. I hope they are from the beaming smiles the kids bring to my face when I see them. I pray that I can one day wear them confidently and boldly show the world the good life I've had by wearing it on my skin.

But for now I look at the images and lament the wasted youth I once had. The smooth skin, the flat tummy and the natural blond hair are all gone. I rebel against the natural aging and darkening of my hair by transforming it to colors it was never meant to be. And I like it that way. But sometimes I wish I had appreciated my youth while I had it. And I hope that I can appreciate my middle age and my old age as they come.

I look at the pictures and I try to learn these lessons.

But I can't see past the imperfections just yet.

Until,
D :)

Good Day

I woke up way too early this morning to the sound of Kiddo talking. Loudly. Way too early. Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk....who the heck was he talking too?? After about 30 minutes of trying to tune him out I staggered into the kitchen to find him on the floor with his arms wrapped around the dog's neck and he was just telling her all sorts of interesting stuff.

geeze.

I asked him to please be quiet because Mommy and Port were still trying to sleep - he grumbled and fussed a bit and I staggered back to bed. A few minutes of sleep later and I hear Port crying in his room. Figuring I wasn't going to get any more sleep I got him up and we played for a few minutes quietly in my bed. Once Kiddo discovered us it was too loud for me to endure without coffee so I herded the wee ones to the kitchen.

I asked Kiddo if he knew what day it was; of course he said no. I told him it was my birthday.

Kiddo: "It is? So it's March? We can flip up my calendar!!!"
Me:"Oh yes, we can flip up your calendar. So aren't you glad it's Mommy's birthday?"
Kiddo: "yes, let's go flip it! I want to see Eve!"

So we go flip the calendar and I ask him "so what else should you do on Mommy's birthday?"
Kiddo: "I don't know"
Me: "Don't you want to wish Mommy a happy birthday?"
Kiddo: "yeah."
~pause~ ~pause~ ~pause~
Me: "you can say it now if you want."
Kiddo: "happy birthday Mommy"

[like pulling teeth I tell ya!]

So the day started out pretty nice; the kids played well together, Port was being super cute and walking a lot. People called and emailed and wrote on my Facebook wall - it was all good.

I even got a call from one of my old high school friends; we share a birthday, and it was such a pleasant shock and surprise to hear his voice after oh, gosh, I think it's been about 10 years??? It was great talking to him again!

While Port was taking a "nap" (re: screaming in the crib) I managed my yearly birthday photos.

I like the second one, but the background was pretty ugly so I tried a texture on it. I am not very good with textures!

Anyway, I decided that it might be ok to venture out into the world - my fear of something bad happening was still there, but I figured a trip to Sonic would be ok.

Warning - this story is about to get dreadfully scary. I apologize in advance for the frightening things I am about to tell you. If you do not want to read of my tragedy, please click over to the next blog.

I'll give you a moment to ready yourself.

...

...

...


I KNEW the day was going to be horrible. I just knew it.

I got us all dressed and ready to go, and just before we left I remembered that I had left my auto insurance card mixed in all the paperwork from the van registration. If there was any day that I might get pulled over, this would be it; so I was glad I had remembered to get the insurance card. Crisis averted, I drove over to the Sonic nearest to me.

It took some time to figure out what we wanted, and while I was waiting for Kiddo to decide I glanced around the parking lot. It seemed pretty empty for the lunch rush, but I figured maybe we were a little early or something. Finally Kiddo made up his mind and I pushed the red button. After what seemed like forever, the order taker asked me for my order. After rattling off everything we wanted, there was a long pause.

"uh, ma'am? I'm so sorry but...

our soda machine is not working. Can I get you a water or an Iced Tea?"

*blink* *blink*

wwaaaahHHH!!?!

NOOOOOOOOO!!!!

OH the horrors!!!!!!
...
...
...

Sorry, I needed a moment. It still gives me shivers to think about it.

I canceled our order and drove away. {sadness}

THANKFULLY - there are about 5 Sonics within a 5 mile radius.

HOORAY for development!!!

I headed to the next nearest Sonic, but on my way I discovered something terrible!

When Hubby had put on my new TX license plates, he forgot to affix the registration sticker to the windshield!!!!

eeeek!!

I did a power slide across 2 lanes of road to make a right turn back toward my house and called Hubby to fuss at him.

[ok, so I didn't really power slide. Is it even possible to do that in a big ol' van?]

[and yes, I did call Hubby to fuss - wouldn't you?]

I drove back to the house and found the sticker and put it on the windshield. Yet another crisis averted, we headed out again to the Sonic.

{Mercy this is exhausting.}

Lunch was great - we even scored an extra stick of string cheese (free!) for Port because the server forgot to put Kiddo's in the bag. Everyone was happy and full and we made a quick stop in Target for some booty cream for little Port. He had poopied the night before and slept in the dirty diaper {I KNOW! I felt SO bad!!} so he had a terribly burned bottom that morning.

Target was fairly uneventful and we made it home safely. After the Sonic fiasco and the sticker near tragedy I decided it best we stay in for the rest of the afternoon.

Hubby got home from work early, just as I was getting Port down for a much needed afternoon nap (around 4ish; we still haven't worked out regular nap times). We decided to let him sleep for an hour and then head to dinner early. Now that we have done this sleep training thing, dinner has to happen before 7:30 or our schedule gets completely thrown off.

Thanks to a timely gift card from my parents (thanks again Mom and Dad) we dined at Olive Garden. The food was great as usual (except the bread sticks were a bit overdone) and the service, as usual, sucked. When we walked in there was no wait - thank goodness - but at first they tried to seat us at their overflow tables right in the middle of the isle. We've had to endure those tables twice before, and with empty tables in other sections I was not about to sit there on my birthday. I asked the hostess if we could be seated somewhere else, and so she took us to a bigger table in a different section.

Our server was bad, bad, bad. We couldn't hear her when she spoke. She forgot things we asked for more than once, she had no personality whatsoever. When she would bring something, she would just dump it in the middle of the table. When she cleared our plates she didn't ask if we wanted dessert or anything. (and the reality was, I wanted to order a couple of desserts and get them to go because I hadn't made a cake for myself) The manager brought us the check while I was looking at the dessert menu! They are promoting some feedback survey so the manager brings all the checks to the table and explains the survey. After going through his spiel, he then asked me if I was interested in dessert. By then I was just annoyed and Port was extremely antsy - I think I mumbled something and he said to "let him know". Hubby and I both had taken turns walking Port around the restaurant so I was no longer in the mood to wait for anything else. I was very annoyed that the server didn't even ask us if we wanted anything else, so I scrapped the idea of dessert and paid the check.

I decided to stop at the HEB on the way home and pick up one of their yummy cream cakes (one of my PMS TOTM features way back in the day) as my birthday dessert and so we stopped at the one on the way home (the same one I went to the other day - ugh). I left the boys in the car (the big one too - don't go calling CPS on me) and ran in to pick one up right quick.

Now, HEB always has Cream Cakes. And they always have Chocolate.

Well, not always I guess.

*sigh*

I settled on a Pina Colada version and we took it home. It was ok, but not exactly what I was looking for.

So my day was horrible, tragic, disaster-ific....yeah no it was great really! I was so blessed by all the warm well wishes, the phone calls (I may never get the sound of my inlaws serenading me out of my head) the emails and sweet notes, the IMs and the wall postings. Never have so many people remembered (thank you Facebook reminders!) and never have I heard from so many people on one day. And the minor catastrophes, er, uh, annoyances were nothing in the overall day. They just made it that much more interesting.

Interesting I can handle. ;-)

Until,
D :)

Lost and Found

Things the baby may have eaten in the past week:

the sponge part of a make up applicator

crayons

dust bunnies

string

pieces of the kitchen floor (home remodeling sucks)

What I KNOW the baby ate: (if you have to ask me how I know, you probably don't really want to know that bad)

See those little disks? Tiddly Winks. 3 of them. Where they should have never been. One is still missing.

Oh yeah. I am the best parent eh-vah!

Though, I have to say, I wasn't even home when the feast occurred. So technically I could blame it on someone else. But, I am the one who has to clean them. Ick. Moving on...

I took a picture of Port's fat lip last night with our point-n-shoot camera. It is posted in the post from yesterday. The swelling is almost gone today, though it does still bleed a little every now and then. Anyway, I was uploading all the images from the camera and came across a bunch of shots from Kiddo. He is a budding photographer you know. I thought I would share his "vision".

Of course, there are images of Cars. I would be worried if there weren't.
And then there is Hubby. Interactive Parenting at it's finest...
a little closer...shew! No ear hair! Yay!
One of Kiddo's favorite Christmas presents. Most. Annoying. Game. Ever! But, he has learned about healthy food vs. not healthy food, so I guess it is worth the annoyance.
Another Hubby shot. (these are in no particular order by the way)
Hubby changing the channel on the TV. Port about to steal the other remote. His favorite pastime - aside from eating random objects he finds on the floor...
Big Daddy at Christmas.
Kiddo drawing of Wall-E and Eve.
Kiddo drawing of Spiderman vs. Venom. Spiderman is on the right.
Decorating cookies for Santa at Christmas. I think I took this one. Kiddo is not that talented to be able to eat sprinkles and take his own picture. (did you notice that this is not actually Kiddo, but black Spiderman?? hee hee)
Port in the dog water. This was a good parenting day too!
He's just so dang cute!
I'm holding Port in this one.
Pretty sure I took this one too - My Boys!
Kiddo drawing of all his Super Suits hanging in a closet. I believe this is the Incredibles Collection.
Rocket (from the Little Einsteins) vs. Big Jet
So, I hope you enjoyed this little display. I have one final picture for you. It's not very good (again with the p-n-s camera) but I wanted to get a picture of my new 'do. I'm not sure if the color is going to look right either; my lap top is in desperate need of a monitor calibration. My hair is kind of a brassy blond - trying to get the brassy part out, but it's gonna take some time. Anyway, here it is:

Waddaya think? I really LOVE it.

Until,
D :)

The 12 Days of Christmas

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a great Holiday Season!

We have had a great Christmas so far. Our Christmases tend to go on for days - starting usually with my parents a few days before and ending with Hubby's fam for the week after. The inlaws and Hubby's sis and her Hubby are in town for a few days. We've had merriment and presents galore and are still in the middle of lots of good family time.

Christmas with my parents was wonderful! As usual, they spoiled the kids rotten. Our living room has been taken over by toys and clothes and stuff. I tried to clean things up a bit last night, but gave up after realizing I spent 30 minutes just pushing things around the room! We'll have to find a place for everything later I guess. Our own core family Christmas on Christmas morning we nice and low key. Santa brought Kiddo the Cars video game for the Xbox that he desperately wanted. He has been in Xbox nirvana ever since. Port is thrilled with his little singing mirror thingy - that goodness for good deals on Amazon. Santa did good despite the economic downturn. I guess all it takes is one good gift to make the day special. We did discover some sadness today though - Hubby got a new camera (we both needed to upgrade and I have been saving my session money for one for quite some time) for Christmas and so he was playing with it Christmas morning. I was dealing with Port and Kiddo and so Hubby was the official picture taker - his new camera has video capability; he thought he was video-ing the whole thing, but it turns out he wasn't. We don't have any pictures of Christmas morning. *sigh* It's pretty sad when a couple of photographers can't get one Christmas picture. Oh well. We may have to recreate Christmas morning so I at least have one of Port on his first Christmas.

Hubby's family will be here for the better part of the week, so hopefully I can get some images of everyone while they are here. Hopefully my parents got some pictures of the kids opening presents as well.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!
Until,
D :)

Rock You Like a Hurricane

I'm going to start this early today so that I can get a post in. It may take me all day to do it - but it will get done. My goal is to post every day this week! Think I can do it? We shall see...

So we had an exciting weekend. Hurricane Ike was coming this way and we spent all Friday putting our ducks in a row - calling friends and family and making sure everyone had a place to stay if they needed it. The Austin area expected heavy rain and strong wind, but we didn't really do much to prepare for anything except picking up the yard and the driveway. They needed it anyway.

So the storm came, and while it devastated the coast and Houston, our little house saw nothing more than a gentle breeze and nary a drop of rain. It was a beautiful weekend. And in all that beauty, it was difficult to understand, even grasp what our friends and family in Houston had gone through - much less what they are still going through.

It is a beautiful day today. A cold front came in last night and dropped our temps overnight to the high 50's. By the time I got up it was 65 out and now at almost noon it is an enchanting 70 degrees out. Fall is in the air - and though I am sure it is only a tease, I am enjoying every minute of it. That holiday excitement is stirring deep in my bones, it is giving me a renewed sense of happiness.

It is amazing what a decent night's sleep can do for you. Port and I have had a rough, rough week. He rarely napped, and if I did manage to get him down it was for no longer than 30 minutes at a time. He would not let me set him down for anything, and night time was even worse. We decided to try him in the crib at night, thinking that perhaps the extra room and comfort might help his sleep. The first couple of nights were awful. We tried placing him on his tummy, propped to one side, everything it seemed, and nothing really helped. I ended up with him on the couch a couple of times. The third night I realized that I was getting up for every little squeak he made, and most of the time by the time I stumbled over to the crib (in our room) he was already back asleep. So I started trying to just listen when he squeaked and wait for it to either die down or escalate. More often than not he would just go back to sleep.

Last night I was so worried as we prepared for bed. Our air conditioner has been on the fritz all weekend and we had turned it off last afternoon to give it a rest and enjoy the cool breezes coming in. By 9:00 though, it was getting a bit uncomfortable and we were close to time to put the kids to bed. Port does not sleep well when he is hot, and I was dreading being up all night with him once again. I dressed him as lightly as possible, took out his blanket and hoped for the best.

And he slept for 6 1/2 hours.

ahhhhhhhhhhh!

I had trouble getting him to settle back down when he woke up at 5:30, so he ended up in bed with us, but that is ok. That 6+ hours uninterrupted was pure heaven.

So today we are a/c free, windows and doors open enjoying the day. Man, I wish it would stay like this.

It's like Arizona in the winter... ;)

So now we are faced with what to do about the air conditioner. We have been nursing it for a few years now - just praying it would hold out "until next fall" when we could fix or replace it. We still don't have the money to replace it, but we do have some options now.

One, our credit card debt is low enough that charging a new a/c unit wouldn't wreck us financially. I hate to do that of course, but it may be our best option. Two, we just received a really, really nice gift from my parents, and while we would love to keep it, selling it would probably pay for a new air conditioner.

Oh the complexities of life. I hate living paycheck to paycheck.

Until,
D :)

ETA: This really has nothing to do with the post, and I am not really a Scorpions fan (I mean, up until today I thought the song was "Rockin'" Like a Hurricane...), but I am always intrigued by rock concert performances with professional orchestras. This is Scorpions with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. I love, love watching these "serious classical musicians" rocking out with this awesome concert performance. Enjoy!

Celebration

Hey there Kiddo, Happy Birthday!


You turned 4 years old today!


It's late now, you've been asleep for a while and Mommy is up taking care of some things before she goes to bed. But I wanted to post my birthday wishes to you on my blog, so that you'll know that this day is so very special to me.


I love you so much. I know right now it seems like my focus is elsewhere, mainly on your baby brother, but I want you to know that my heart still follows your every move. I am watching you grow and mature and try to figure out this strange world we live in. I know things can be confusing at times, and at times it is so hard for you to express your thoughts about things - but I do care and I am concerned for your feelings at all times.



You are such a big boy now, both in size and mentality. You take care of yourself so much more than I want you to, but because of your baby brother there isn't enough time for me to do all the things I want to be able to do for you. I am so proud of you for being able to do so much.



I miss our connection, that intense bond that kept us practically inseparable for 3 1/2 years. Sometimes I forget how loving you can be, and then you will say something to me like you did today.



Kiddo: "I sure do like you Mommy"
Me: "Well I sure do like you too Buddy"

Kiddo: "Let's kiss"


When we were all three laying on the floor today, I rested my head on your little chest. And instead of the push away I was expecting, you sighed and stroked my hair and said "Mommy you're so cute". It melted my heart. When I picked up my head to move you pulled me back down again.



Someday soon when Port is a little less dependant on me, things will be much easier for us. Right now it is just so hard to do much of anything and I know you get bored and frustrated with me. It will get better.



And right around the time we get this all figured out, you will be off to school and things will change again. Such is life.



You blow me away my Love, with your talents and abilities. You are quite the artist; taking after your Daddy and drawing things that amaze me on a daily basis. I want to keep all of your artwork, but the sheer volume of it could just about push us right out of the house!




Your memory is amazing. It seems like every day you tell me something in detail that happened to us 6 months to a year ago. I wish I had that ability.



Your capacity to learn is unending. You soak up knowledge like a sponge. I wish I had the time to teach you myself.



So today I tried to make it a fun day for you. We went to the sprinkler park with some of your friends. All of the Mom's group showed up, and we had lots of fun with them. You terrorized a couple of kids there, but overall I think you had fun. We went for ice cream and cheese sticks at Sonic afterwards. Then we went to the grocery store to pick out what you wanted for supper. You chose hot dogs, corn, mac-n-cheese and apple sauce. However, your 4 year old attitude came through when you refused to eat come supper time. Eventually you ate the things you chose, but not without some frustration from Mommy and Daddy. I made cupcakes for dessert.





We had your actual birthday party last Saturday in Houston. Mommy was asked to sing at her old church in Huntsville on that Sunday, so we moved your party to Grammy and Happy's house the day before. It was really cool because all of your Houston friends came. Aunt Addy and Uncle Wes came too and we all had a great time. You got some awesome presents, including the Cars computer you've been asking me for for months (even though you didn't know one even existed). You also got some Spiderman and Batman action figures and a way cool Cars backpack with a sleeping bag. I can't wait for you and Daddy to go camping. G&H gave you some much needed clothes and a way cool RC Truck and Aunt A & Uncle W gave you an awesome turtle that lights up your room with real constellations. They also gave you some light up bath ducks that are really neat. Miss Shannan gave you a pair of C's shoes he had outgrown, and you now call them your sports shoes. Every time you put them on you have to go get a basketball or football and kick it around the house. And speaking of C - you got into a couple of squabbles with him at your party. There was some rock flinging and some pushing over the Cars computer - you are getting big enough now that you don't just take it anymore; you two are pretty equally matched.

Nana and Big Daddy are coming out this week and the birthday celebration will continue for a couple more days. You are such a lucky little boy to have such a loving and caring family.



There is so much more I can say about you - how bright you are and how loving. You are emotional and moody as well; I guess you got that form me. I'll say your stubbornness came from Daddy. ;)

But just know sweet boy that we love you. I thank God every day for bringing you to me. I pray that I can be the best Mommy I can be for you. I hope you know that I only want the very best for you. You changed my life, and every day that we get to spend together is the very best day.

I hope you had a wonderful birthday.
Love,
Mommy

Smile

Today Port is 7 weeks old. 7 weeks! It is going by so quickly. I just look at him and marvel at how big he is getting, and how I am already forgetting. Forgetting how he looked first born, forgetting his birth experience, forgetting those first little squeaky cries and grunting noises. His cries have changed now; they've become more defined. They say something more than just "I need you!".


My parents were here from Monday till today. They tried to go back home yesterday, but only made it about a half a block from my house when their car broke down. Thankfully it was only a minor problem, but it still required an overnight stay in the dealership and another hotel night for my folks. Their visit was nice, and the kids are now both thoroughly spoiled by their attention. Ah the deprogramming I will have to do!


Port has slept for 7.5 hours two nights in a row now! I don't know if it is all the excitement from the visitors or what, but it sure is nice. I am certain he had a growth spurt last week. His smaller onesies no longer fit and I desperately need to dive into the next storage bucket of clothes for some bigger sizes. My milk supply is slowly getting up there - I am trying to pump every 2-3 hours to build it some. That is proving difficult now that my folks are gone though - as the ready hands are no longer here to comfort the kids if one needs something. My last pump session found me disconnecting 4 times before it was done, just to give Port back his pacifier or adjust him on his resting pillow.


He has lost the majority of his hair now. Only a scraggly black tail of soft, downy hair remains. Someone commented to me the other day that he looks like Billy Ray Cyrus. Gracious. He has also developed a love for chewing on my knuckles. Teething? Perhaps.


As for me, I am doing alright. Having people around for the past couple of days has helped some. I am pretty sure I broke my toe on Monday night. I accidentally kicked a box of photography lights in my hallway and messed up my last two toes on my left foot. It smarted like no other toe stubbing has. When I got up the next morning, it still hurt really bad and the base of my pinkie toe was purple and swollen. It hurt all day, and then that night I stubbed it again on the bouncy seat. This time I heard a crack and the pain completely stopped. Yup, I think I broke it. *sigh*


At least I don't have to go to the doctor about it.


I am looking forward to the next few weeks. I have several photo shoots lined up and am excited to get back on the horse! It will be so much fun to hang out with some new people and photograph their youngin's. I can't wait!


Here is another smiling pic from the other day. My mom was holding him and making him smile. Those are her hands in the pic. I was sitting over her shoulder...

Oh yes! I've been meaning to send you all over to my friend's blog - she has some really great shots of Port up that she took a couple of weeks ago. I just love them! [triple linky love for you Mollie! lol!]

Until,

D :)

New Dawn

Happy New Year!!

I hope you all had a wonderful evening last night - Hubby and I; man we are such party animals! We stayed home, ate lots of bad-for-us snacky type food, watched a couple of episodes of Alias (we finally broke down and rented it - hallelujah!), tuned in the last 15 minutes of the Carson Daly New Year's Eve show, kissed a quick one at midnight and then went to bed at 12:15.

I just love getting older! I didn't even have the energy to bust out the 3 year old bottle of sparkling cider in the fridge! Lol!



Sorry I've been absent lately. We had family in town for a whole week, and Hubby has been off work all this time as well. It's been pleasantly busy around here, but I have to say I am looking forward to tomorrow's promise of normalcy (and the trash man, but that's a whole different story! How much trash can one family produce in two weeks???).

Kiddo has been on a family/holiday detox for a day now, and I think it is going pretty well. However, he is still wishing everyone Merry Christmas! Hubby left a while ago for a bike ride, and Kiddo stood at the window and said "bye Daddy, see you soon, Merry Christmas!". He's so cute!


Other Kiddo speak moments - when out looking at Christmas lights with my parents, we drove down a street that had almost all the houses decorated. I pointed out a manger scene to Kiddo and he says in the most solemn voice "The One True Word of God".

??????? You could cut through the silence in the car with a knife! ha ha!


Of course, he's not always so stoic. A couple of days ago I also overheard him from his car seat say "Cars! Cars is brought to you today by contributions from viewers like you! Thank you!". Hmmm, too much public television perhaps?

So today I am trying to push through the inevitable decompression that comes after a joyous holiday and all the anticipation and excitement that it entails. I am teetering on being depressed, or just tired, or something. There is definitely a let down going on here.

In trying to get back on track, I am slowly tossing out all the remaining goodies from my marathon baking adventures of last week. I can't seem to part with the Neiman Marcus cookies or the German Chocolate Cupcakes just yet, but everything else is gone. The brownies got finished off this morning, the pumpkin spice cake was devoured mid week last week and the fudge is just going by way of the trash can I think (once the garbage men get here tomorrow - did I mention we needed a pick up already! ack!).

I have also been cultivating the most wonderful desires to purge the things in this house. Call it nesting, call it insanity, sanity, whatever - things are about to start moving out. Think Goodwill would want some 35 year old cookbooks?? How about used pillows or maybe the contents of my junk drawer? No? Hmm, well maybe the garbage men will take those things. (oops, I mentioned them again, didn't I?)



Baby Port is going to have a rough week once I stop his hourly fix of sugar laden goodies. I think I gained about 5 pounds last week, and it was not the result of his ever growing body in my uterus. It is the result of my ever growing back side! Ugh! Hopefully I am on the right track today though; I had a wonderful salad for lunch today with lots of goodies that were left over from the holiday festivities (I'm talking the good stuff people!). I added some left over raw broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and some shrimp that was left from last night. YUM! It was a nice change from chicken and tuna and avocado.

As I type, I am listening to this...It was a stocking stuffer and I am pretty impressed (though her hair is kind of scary, but don't let that deter you from the music)! I actually used to be a huge fan of hers, but got kind of turned off after seeing some interviews a few years back. For some reason she got kind of cheesy to me and so I haven't been interested in a while. But, after hearing a couple of songs off this album, I thought I'd toss it on my xmas wish list just for the fun of it. It is a pretty nicely done album. I think I may have a couple of new favorites! (though I think I can do without track 11. ick) I wonder if I can still sing her stuff. I could while in college (and my voice was in good shape) but I'm not so sure about now. I guess I need to upload this to my mp3 and start practicing.

And speaking of Kiddo speak (weren't we talking about that earlier?) I was cleaning off my little point and shoot camera for Hubby when I came across this. Please forgive the poor quality - it was shot spur of the moment with a point and shoot camera and low batteries. He just cracked me up! (oh yes, and the floor is a mess because he was coloring with markers and paint and stickers and all kids of interesting things - so please forgive that too!) I've never posted a video before, so I hope this works...

Hopefully I can start posting video more often now as I received this for Christmas!

It is so cute and easy to use! I lurve it!!

So, I guess that is something for you to look forward to - right? Kinda like me and the garbage man...

Until,

D :)

Holiday

Hello Everyone!

We are still in the middle of a week with the family, and having lots of fun. Kiddo is getting so spoiled by being able to see G&H and Uncle W & Aunt A at a moment's notice - I am afraid he thinks they all moved in right down the street. I don't know what I am going to do with him when they all go home this weekend!

Kiddo is starting to get into his Christmas gifts a bit more. I am afraid I really set him up for a disappointing Christmas this year because I told everyone to go for more educational gifts. So he got lots of cool things from the Leap Frog line and books and puzzles and a few games as well. I think he was still looking for toys that he could instantly play with while he was opening his gifts. But instead he kept opening item after item of things he didn't recognize. But, he is getting into his things a bit more now; I guess it will just take some time. I haven't been able to part him with his Nemo Leapster game for more than a few minutes at a time in the past couple of days. Thank you Grammy and Aunt Ginger!! :)

Overall we had a great Christmas. Spending time with both families was fun! And having a whole week with Hubby's side of the family right down the road has been interesting. It is nice to have them all so close - I hope that something like this becomes a more permanent arrangement in the future. I love living near family.

Grammy and Aunt A went with me to my perinatologist appointment yesterday. Neither had ever seen an ultrasound done live, so I think it was quite the treat for them (at least I hope so). Little Port is growing like a weed - as of a month ago he was measuring 5 days behind and now is measuring 10 days ahead! He weighs about 2 1/2 pounds, and from all angles and measurements looks "perfectly normal". I am just loving that phrase!! The doctor kept saying "normal, normal, normal" to everything and it was wonderful. He said that with someone with a history of complications like I have, that is a great word to be able to use. I agree. All of my blood work came back great, the 24 hour pee test was normal and everything looks good. He still wants to see me every 4-5 weeks or so, and then after 32 weeks wants me to come in weekly. Thankfully he still wants to see me - I was afraid that with all the "normal" going on he might change his mind.

The little man seems to be getting cheekier - and is starting to resemble his big brother I think. Kiddo was all cheek and forehead when he was born, so it is fun to see this one fill out a bit.

I am feeling good for the most part. I am tiring earlier these days, but I think a lot of it is because of all the goings on around here. My sleep is restless, due to intense dreams, heartburn that just won't quit, and multiple nightly wakings by either Kiddo or one of the animals. I have got to remember to put the cat out when we go to bed - she is driving me nuts!

My favorite breakfast right now is a scrambled egg with a slice of American cheese, piled on top of a big, steaming bowl of grits. What are grits, anyway??!? With Kiddo I usually had cheese toast or a bagel with peanut butter. When I was working and pg with Kiddo I made Sonic lots of money by stopping each morning for a large Dr. Pepper and a breakfast toaster sandwich. mmmmmmmm! Salt and caffeine, what a way to start a morning! Thankfully this time around I don't have that luxury. ...but it sure does sound good!

So I guess that's it for now. Tonight after his bath, Kiddo sang a song for the baby because "the baby is crying in Mommy's belly". AWWWWW!!!!!! It was really sweet. He's going to be such a good big brother.

Until,
D :)

Holly Jolly Christmas

Well, here it is Christmas eve morning. The cookies have been baked, the cupcakes are still waiting to be iced, but the pumpkin spice cake, the cinnamon rolls, the brownies, the Texas Trash and the fudge are all done. My hands look like they have been put through a meat grinder. All the washing, the drastic dropping in outside temperature and just general use have left them cut and scraped and red and chapped. I have cuts on almost every knuckle from scraping my hands under my kitchen cabinets, there is a deep cut on the inside of my left palm from the aluminum foil box, and my right thumb knuckle and most of the back of my right hand are healing from a very unfortunate altercation with my micro plane zester. Isn't baking fun?? How does Martha keep her hands so nice??


Tonight I am preparing dinner for my inlaws. The main dish will be wonderful yummy chicken parmesan bundles and I am serving a salad and PW's olive cheese bread on the side. I hope they like it. I just love cooking for people - it's too bad I am not better at it! lol!

I can't believe Christmas is here. It just happened so fast. Kiddo is of course enjoying all the family coming to visit. He cried for a while after my parents left yesterday, but all was well again when Grammy and Happy arrived. They stopped by briefly and then went to their lodging to unload the car. We met them later on at a restaurant for dinner. After dinner, we got back in the car and Kiddo was thinking we were going to follow them to their place. We told him that G&H were going "nite-nite" and that we would see them in the morning and surprisingly he was ok with that.

When we got back home, Kiddo told me it was time for a bath, and drug me into the bathroom. Now if you know the Kiddo at all, you know that bath time is always a struggle, and he never wants to go, even after much prompting, cohearsing and/or threatening. So for him to instigate bath time was quite strange. He got himself undressed, played for a few minutes and then was ready for his "scrubbin'". I bathed him, dried him off and he brushed his teeth for a minute and then let me brush them without the usual fuss.

Once that was done, he played with Hubby for a few minutes while I prepared his drink and shut down the house. I was expecting us all to hang out in my bedroom like we normally do, but instead Kiddo met me in the hallway and told me it was time to go to bed. He wouldn't even go in my room for a minute, so I put his jammies on him in the dark and then he piggy backed to my room to tell Daddy goodnight.

I was just amazed at his initiative. We laid down in his bed, said his prayer and I started in on my usual story (every night it is the same - Cars). While we were laying there in the dark, the cat came into Kiddo's room and jumped into the bed with us.

Now I don't often talk about the cat. She kind of keeps to herself and can't often be bothered with the humans in her life. She rarely ever needs anything more than feeding and watering, and spends most of her days outside or asleep in some out of the way spot in our house. However, lately she has been more present than usual - maybe due to the cold outside or the fact that she might not be feeling up to snuff, but whatever the case, she suddenly loves to sleep with the Kiddo on cold nights. Most of the time she will jump in his bed and curl up behind his legs and almost immediately go to sleep. Last night though, she jumped up and stepped in between Kiddo and I, putting herself in a prime spot to get some stroking from me while I told Kiddo his bed time story.

As I ran my hand along her fur she purred and kneaded my leg gently, making sure to retract her claws with each push. It was sweet, and I was reminded of how much I loved having cats as a child, and how they always brought me comfort when they were sweet and loving. After a few minutes, the cat got up, turned around and headed toward her usual spot behind Kiddo's legs.

But before she departed to space between Kiddo and I...

she farted.

Now, I can honestly say that in all my years of animal ownership, I have experienced my fair share of animal flatulence, but I cannot recall ever, ever hearing or witnessing a cat pass gas.

I was in shock for a moment, then went back to my story while the cat settled into the warmth of Kiddo's legs.

And then, it hit us.

You know what I am referring to - the dreaded Green Cloud.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I was trying so hard not to choke and tried so hard to keep on track with the story, but Lord Have Mercy my eyes were watering. Kiddo was laying there, happily sucking on his sippy-ed drink and listening. But I couldn't take it any more. I gagged slightly and whispered to him, "do you smell that?"

That was all it took. Poor Kiddo must have been lying there, desperately trying to think of words to express what he was experiencing and all it took was me breaking the ice.

He burst into the most hysterical laughter I've heard from him in a long while.

Remember when you were a kid and you had a sleepover, be it with friends or family, and someone gets tickled and everyone just can't stop laughing??

Yeah, we laughed for probably 20 minutes. We couldn't stop. Hubby finally came into the room to see what the hysterics were about. And in between gasps I tried to tell him the story. Soon he was laughing just as hard with us.

It took forever to get Kiddo settled back down, but eventually he went to sleep and I went back to my room.

Hubby and I laughed about it some more.

And when Kiddo got up this morning, the first thing he did was start to giggle and said "Mi-mi cat is stinky!"

Oh man, what a Christmas tale. ;)

Until,
D :)

What Child is This?

The baby got his first experience with hiccups last night. Poor thing - I don't think Kiddo had hiccups in utero until 30+ weeks. I felt so bad for him; you could tell it was a weird experience. He also heard the vacuum when I turned it on yesterday - he jumped and kicked me for a good five minutes while I vacuumed. I guess the ears are developing nicely!

I have been doing a little searching on baby names. I still don't know what we are going to call this poor kid. Kiddo had a couple of suggestions; Port and Keean (key-an). I'm not sure where he got those names, but I thought he was pretty creative. I have a list of my own going, though I have only made it up to the G's. Unfortunately, all the names I really, really like have been used by people I know. It sucks! I realize I could still use them, but we really want something uncommon and cool. Thankfully we still have some time yet.

But of course, even if we pick something, no one will know what it is until the baby is born. I just can't handle everyone's "opinions". ha ha!

My mother may not remember this conversation, but she actually named the Kiddo. When I was about mid pregnancy with him, she (and everyone else) had been bugging me unmercifully about names. One day she had asked me again, and I was so frustrated with the question that I decided to egg her on a bit.

I told her that I had been reading about a certain way of naming a baby where after the baby is born, a spiritual leader divines a name during a ceremony. I told her I thought that would be something we could do, since we were having trouble coming up with a name. She replied exasperated "Oh Dawn, if you do that you'll end up with some horrid name like Kiddo (obviously not his real name)". And that my friends, is how Kiddo got his name. Thank you Nana!

Anyway, this time there will not be discussion of names at all, so don't even ask me. Hubby and I are making a list, checking it twice, and hopefully will have it narrowed down to something we like in time for the baby to be born.

...or we can always just call him Port... ;)

Until,
D :)

Oh Come All Ye Faithful

Hee hee!

So November ends and I fall off the planet! Is that how it works?? Sorry folks, that was not my intention, but you know how life kinda gets in the way?? Well, yeah.

"Oh Come Let Us Adore Him..."

So lots of things have been going on here in the house of Fry. The Kiddo has made some awesome strides into boy-hood and I am so proud of him. He is officially now off of the Lactose free milk! We started the weaning process a little before Thanksgiving. While we were visiting the family, my mom had pre-purchased some lactose free milk so Kiddo drank that like a good little guest. Back at home though, we went back to regular ol' 2% lactose milk and haven't looked back. He seems to be tolerating it just fine, thank goodness. My grocery budget has been transformed! Steak for everybody!!!

Ok, so I get excited about little things, but saving $15-20 a month by not having to buy special milk is sooooo cool!

"Oh Come Let Us Adore Him..."

And the biggest news yet, Mr. Kiddo is officially diaper free!!! Can I get an AMEN!?! Last week we were having some pretty significant accidents during the day. In the heat of frustration (on my knees for the second time that day cleaning up a completely soaked floor and Kiddo) I asked Kiddo if I needed to put him back in "baby diapers". Of course, being the big boy that he is, he violently protested and vowed to not have any more accidents. I guess what I said took a few days to marinate in his little brain because a few nights later I was putting on his pull up before bed and he asked me in the most pitiful voice if he was a baby again. AWWWW!! I felt so bad! He thought I was punishing him by putting on the diaper - and I couldn't get him to understand that the pull up was for big boys so we decided right then and there to go cold turkey. He has been in underwear at night for 4 nights now and there have been no accidents!! Yippie!!

I do realize that the novelty will wear off soon and I will be changing pee soaked sheets in the middle of the night a few times but for right now I am celebrating, ok?

Actually he is really good about getting up in the middle of the night if he needs to go. Of course he runs in our room loudly announcing that he needs to go, but what's a night if there isn't a kid waking me about something, right?

Speaking of children waking me, why does my unborn babe choose to practice tap dancing at 3:00 in the morning???

"Oh Come Let Us Adore Him!..."

In sad Kiddo news, the holidays have officially spoiled my child rotten. Advertisers have successfully bored into his brain and reprogrammed him to be the most obnoxious, greedy child on earth. I think we may need to sign him up for toy ad detox when all this is done. We cannot go into ANY store right now without him begging, pleading, protesting loudly until we peruse the toy section (even at the grocery store for crying out loud!). And heaven forbid I don't purchase a newly released Cars diecast car for him to take home. Dang Disney! They keep releasing new Cars cars and my kid is about to drive me insane! He now has at least 6 different versions of Lightning McQueen and still wants the couple he doesn't have. (no worries, the little stinker will most likely get the rest of them in his stocking)

Today at Target I declared "no more!" and refused to even go to the toy section. Oh the tantrum that ensued. Oh the kicking! Oh the screaming! Oh the looks from strangers! What is it about Target that brings out his inner beast?!? We got out to the parking lot and he refused to get out of the shopping cart. I would lift him up and he would just go limp, locking his feet in the little leg holes in the seat. I finally, in all my pregnant glory, had to yank him out as quickly as I could so he couldn't get a foot hold. In the process he whacked my sunglasses with his head and of course screamed and cried some more. I put him in the car seat kicking and punching and he screamed the whole way home. I pulled in the driveway, put the car in park, turned and looked back at him. And I kid you not, he looked at me, closed his eyes and went to sleep! Turkey.

So as a reward for being such an awesome Mommy today I am sitting here doing one of my favorite things (blogging) and stuffing my face with mint chocolate M&Ms.

Happy holidays!
Until,
D :)

Daddy

Well, we've had a busy few days. As we were gearing up on Thursday for Hubby to leave on a motorcycle trip Friday, we found out that one of the guys that was supposed to go with him was in the hospital. Thankfully it is nothing serious, but the trip had to be put off for two weeks. Poor Hubby; he has been a mess. "Right now I'd be pulling into this town and setting up camp for the night. Right about now we'd be looking out over the ____ and riding the ____ trail." That's all I've heard all weekend. *sigh* I want this trip over already!

Friday I managed to take Kiddo to the park. There is this amazing rec center in a neighboring town that has the most wonderful play scape on it's property. Kiddo absolutely had a blast, and only the promise of seeing Happy and Grammy got him out of there. They were coming into town later that day. Note to self; it is a mistake to mention seeing G&H unless it is happening within the hour, even if it gets the Kiddo to do something you want. The crying and whining and constant questioning is never worth it! It was hot and humid and I was ready to go after about 5 minutes! But we had fun, climbing, jumping, exploring and swinging.

Kiddo had a blast "peeking" at me from behind the play scape! "Mommy I'm peeking!"

But the most fun came from the tire swing. *Artsy Fartsy Shot*

I simply cannot get over how much Kiddo looks like his Big Daddy (my dad) in the shot below. He really is a mini version of my dad. Speaking of; out of the blue the other night, I was getting him ushered into the shower and he turned to me and said "Mommy, Nana says....Now den!" :) :) I can't believe that after a month he still thinks about that. (inside story; Nana will get it ;) )

More to come!

Until,

D :)

I'll Be Seeing You Again

Hello my bloggy friends! It has been a busy weekend, and I am just now getting some quiet computer time to put down my thoughts. My parents left this morning (rather early I must say) and we had so much fun with them. Kiddo absolutely adored his Nana and Big Daddy (thank goodness) and he has been asking for them all day since they left.

Kiddo really took to my parents this time. It was such a relief because in the past he has been so slow to warm to them. Usually by the time they leave he is just starting to get affectionate and it makes for an awfully stressful visit. But this time, he was all a flutter when they came in the door, and instantly adhered to them in the quest to play with every toy he owns. My poor dad had a hard time getting down and back up again off the floor to play "trains" and "cars" and "robot". It was amusing though to see him interacting with Kiddo. It very much brought back memories of my own childhood. The first full day we attempted some shopping (in the pouring rain mind you) and I really thought Kiddo did well, considering how much we made him walk. The second day of shopping was harder, but only because we lost track of time and he was starving. Oh the fits that we witnessed; oh the agony of the Kiddo and those around him! It was not so much fun.

While we were out I was able to finally select some plants for a beginning vegetable garden. I now have 3 varieties of tomato, 2 colors of bell pepper and a butternut squash plant stretching out their achy roots into warm, moist, stinky dirt in large pots in my back yard. I'll keep you posted on my gardening adventures for sure. Kiddo certainly enjoys watering the leafy greens daily.

One of the great things about my parents visiting us is the food. I know, it's a strange thing to say, but the 'rents totally love eating out. I am more than happy to cook for them, but they usually insist we eat out at almost every given opportunity while they visit. Thankfully this time though, my mom didn't bother trying to wake us up at the crack-of-you-know-who to get us to go to breakfast (we REALLY appreciate that Mom, thank you!). Instead, one of the mornings they were here they brought us doughnuts!! Remember the blueberry cake doughnut fiasco of a day? Yeah, well I finally got to indulge in those delights along with some kolaches. (Hubby also indulged me on my birthday) YUM, YUM! While the parents were here we also got to check out a local Mexican food place and do a birthday crab legs celebration at Red Lobster. woo hoo! It takes so little to get me excited I swear.

So, in the next few days I will be detoxing from rich restaurant food with lots of salad greens and water. I already have a chicken thawing for the crock pot. We start round three of our family visit marathon on Thursday when Aunt A and Uncle W join G&H here in town. Poor little Kiddo, he isn't going to know what to do when the fam stops coming to see him for a while. Even today and yesterday he was expecting G&H to walk in at any moment. I guess he's getting used to seeing them pretty often.

I planted some bulbs in the front flower beds today. Our grass is coming in really well now. Maybe sometime in the near future it will actually look like someone cares for our poor little house.

So, I just needed to update you all. I know you've been anxiously waiting! ;) I apologize if this is a bit choppy - Kiddo is intermittently tantruming. Ahh to be 2 years old....

Until,
D :)

Let's Get Lost

Whew! I'm tired. Anyone else?


We've had an exciting week. G&H have been here and between visiting with them, my photo shoot and general day to day stuff, I am wiped out. I guess I really, really don't do much from day to day.


A day like yesterday is enough to knock me out for a couple of weeks. I did a photo shoot in the morning - we had 3 adults and 3 little ones all in on the fun. We chased ducks and squirrels and played in the bluebonnets. The kiddos were so good through it all; they put up with me in their way, in their face and running all around them. I am actually sore this morning from all the squatting and rolling around on the ground that I did. When I got home I picked up Kiddo from my neighbor's friend's house, where he played all morning with a couple of cuties just his age. They ran all over the place. We had a quick lunch and then Kiddo went back to the neighbor for more playtime while I worked on computer stuff and took a much needed shower. Then I joined Kiddo at the neighbors' until G&H picked us up for dinner. We had a nice time at The Oasis then drove around for a while looking at fancy houses in the area. When we got home we caught the elimination show for AI, and as soon as the grandparents took off I left to join some mommas for a much needed coffee at Starbucks. Shew! What a day!


Artsy-Fartsy shot of Kiddo walking out of the restaurant with his Happy




Kiddo had a blast visiting with G&H on Tuesday. They are working on clearing some property they bought out here and so they are in possession of Kiddo's new favorite obsession of the moment...

~~~~AHHHHH~~~~ THE TRACTOR!!


Of course I had to document the occasion... Oh no Happy, don't start it up, that's scary!

Let me just use my imagination...

And then I get "the look"...
Mommy, would you PLEASE stop taking pictures!!! I'm try-ing to drive a very complicated piece of machinery here. You are in the way -

Now start making some motor noises like everyone else.



The Kid absolutely LOVED it! He sat on that tractor for hours. Off and on all afternoon and evening; and when I finally pulled him off of it and took him home, he screamed and cried and fussed about it until he fell asleep that night and then all the next day as well. Now his request is no longer "Go see Grammy Happy?!" but "Go see Grammy Happy and TRACTOR?!? TRACTOR?!? TRACTOOOORRRRRR?!!!!!!"

So today the switcheroo begins. G&H are going home and Nana and Big Daddy are driving in for a few days. I've got to put the house in order and get things ready. I've got to get Kiddo out of G&H mode and into Nana & Big Daddy mode. That will take some doing because he doesn't see them near as often.


I will update you all on how that goes, but now I must leave you to take a shower and get some things done. I also need to start proofing the shoot I did yesterday. Have a good day!


Until,
D :)

ETA: sorry to those of you with bloglines type programs - Blogger is all freaked out today and I have edited this post a zillion times because of it! :(