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Friday, November 30, 2007

Those darn teeth!

For the past month it seems like, my child has been dealing with teething issues. Or atleast I think he is. I have hated to use this statement, "He's teething", as an excuse for his grumpiness, because honestly, you really don't know. I mean the kid can sit there and drool and chew at his fingers all day, but is he really "teething"?

Last week while we were visiting hubby's relatives in Houston, I could have swore I felt a second tooth on the bottom coming through. Then, the next day it was just a little bump. Was I feeling things or did this tooth decide to go back in?

I still have yet to actually capture of picture of his two front teeth, one top and one bottom on the same side. I think it's the cutest thing that he didn't get both top or both bottom. No, my child is weird and gets one top and one bottom.

My mother has said repeatedly that he will have all four front teeth in by the time he is a year old. Which happens to be in 15 days by the way!! Where the hell has this year gone?!? The other thing she is forecasting is that he will be walking by his first birthday as well. I'm not too sure about that. But then again this is the same kid who went from crawling to standing in about 2 weeks, so you never know.

The other thing that is suppose to be happening as well is the change from formula to whole milk. I'm not too sure I really want to do this change just yet. Not that I want to keep spending $15 per week for Enfamil, but I know the formula has more calcium and other vital nutrients compared to whole milk. I know I have to do this change over the course of a few weeks anyway because the difference in taste and texture, but other than that I'm clueless. And then I have to get rid of the bottles and the pacifier?!?

My hubby asked me yesterday, "Why are you so insistent on him staying a baby?" Hello!? Because he is my baby and I'm his mother! Ask any other mother out there and I'm sure they will say the exact same thing. I'm this person who 2 years ago didn't even want to think about having a child, and yet now I cry even as I look at his baby pictures. I'm not sure who to blame this on... my child or my husband?

Anyways, needless to say I'm looking forward to his one year milestone, but at the same time I'm not looking forward to all the changes that are going to happen. But then again, haven't things been changing on an almost every other day basis for the past year and a half (including the pregnancy of course)?? I don't handle change well - and I married a military man? What was I thinking?

Well, I have to go find something small to do. It seems my child who always takes a nap from 1-3 pm wants to talk in his crib and has been doing so for the past hour now. Not sure if this means he doesn't want to take a nap at all or if he'll be falling asleep within the next 15 minutes. Have a great weekend!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

I know what I want! (Part II)

Okay, yesterday I forgot to include something. This will totally tell you how much I am addicted to my child's world. When I was posting yesterday's complaints about how the whole invitation thing is going, all I could think about was The Backyardigans episode of the Volcano Sisters. I've included a little blip for you. Hope you get a good laugh!

Backyardigans and the Volcano Sisters



The part that you don't hear, is this dialogue:

Tasha: We want something.
Uniqua: And if we don't get what we want,
Tasha: we'll push this red button and
Volcano Sisters: Huka pele! (singing) We know what we want / We know what we don't want / So get us what we want.
Austin/Pablo/Tyrone: (singing) We'll get you what you want!

I am totally a volcano sister! Anyways, last night when hubby came home with his copies of the invitation, of course they were not shiny (damn him for mentioning shiny!). So, we decided to try photo paper. Duh! Why didn't I think of that before?? Now I'll get shiny! I'll let you know how they turn out!

Tootles!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

I know what I want!

"I know what I want and I want it right now!"

For the past 4 days, I have been trying to put together my son's first birthday party invitations. My mother, who has been reading blogs right along with my aunt and I, read "Jason. For the Love of God." when she mentioned Purple Stork for all of her card needs including her holidays cards. My mother decided to put a birthday invitation/announcement for Little Man A's first birthday. Her idea? I've been taking pictures of A on his month anniversary with the same little bear each month since he has been born (I had received it as a gift from one of my wonderful friends in Texas!). I have months 1 through 11 displayed in frames in our living room. I read this idea while I was still pregnant and knew I had to do it. Here's his latest pic:



Well, I won't display his announcement... no, it didn't turn out to be an invitation because we would have had to order 35 of them. You'll have to check back on December 14th! But, I will tell you that it turned out incredible! And just as That Chick over there said, they are extremely personable! I received atleast 10 different compliments when I was sending the pictures to them, they were so patient while we changed from an invitation to an announcement, and made sure every last detail was perfect! And when I finally received the package, there were small candy canes on top of the order, the box was filled with purple crepe paper, and there were an additional 2 small wallet size versions of my announcement! Now I get to carry it around in my purse and show everyone!

So, since this turned out to be an announcement, rather than an invitation, I was back to making my own invitation. I didn't want any store bought version. Since we are having a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme for his party, it had to be Mickey Mouse ears! I played around with my powerpoint version on our mac and decided on the perfect font, colors, and text. Then, to save on black ink why not print it on black cardstock? Because my stupid printer wouldn't pick up the cardstock! So, then we're back to printing on white cardstock with white or yellow fonts. We have an inkjet so I could see all the lines from the printing.

My husband and his brilliant ideas (really, sometimes they are pretty good) mentioned that he has this awesome $8000 printer at work and he'll try to copy the invitation onto black cardstock. So, we're back to yellow font. That barely showed up on the black cardstock. Next day, I send him back to work with white cardstock to print the invitation on this $8000 printer with white and yellow font. He calls me and asks if I want it to be shiny. Shiny? Sure! This way I wouldn't have to mark over the font with a puffy pen to make the font "pop" off the page even more. Right? Wrong! Apparently, when he printed it with regular, plain printer paper it was shiny. With my cardstock? Not so much!

There are twelve squares total on the announcement, one for each month obviously. The twelveth square on the announcement was left blank so I could include a diecut of Mickey mouse ears. Of course, the small punch that I have is way too small, so I'm back to powerpoint making my own version of Mickey Mouse ears (for all of you that are curious, it's a simple 2:1 ratio). Now, I have to cut each one out and glue them to the announcement. The Mickey Mouse font cartridge from Cri-cut diecut machine would be really handy right about now (hint hint).

Then on top of that, when I put RSVP... hello?? No phone number! Jeez!

Damn it! I really wanted these out 3-4 weeks prior, especially because Christmas is just after his birthday and I know people will be busy. All this for 5 stupid invitations to my son's first birthday party that he won't even remember! Why do we try so hard? Well, atleast the announcements look beautiful! Thanks Mom!

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Kids Say the Darnest Things

Courtesy of Parents magazine:

"I was quizzing my 6-year-old son, John, one day and was impressed by his knowledge of the presidents featured on our currency. He responded correctly that George Washington was on a dollar bill and Abraham Lincoln was on the five-dollar bill. But when I asked him who was on the 20-dollar bill, he replied, "Michael Jackson!"

"My 4-year-old daughter, Abigail, woke up one morning and informed me that she had had a dream about me. When I asked her what it was about, she responded, "Don't you remember, Mommy? You were there!"

"My 2-year-old son, Keean, and I were shopping recently when we passed a toy store. I stopped his stroller to let him gaze into the window. He was mesmerized by all the toys, and he couldn't stop staring at the stuffed animals, puzzles, and games. When I asked him what he saw, he replied in his sweetest, most hopeful voice, "Presents!"

"My 2-year-old, Tristan, likes to play games online, but he often gets impatient when the website takes a few moments to appear on the computer screen. When this happens, my husband tells him to be patient because it's loading. Recently, he wanted to try to peeing in the potty. As he stood there, I asked him if had peed yet. He replied, "No, not yet. It's still loading."

"My 4-year-old daughter, Bailey, and 1-year-old son, Christopher, had shared a room, so when we moved to a larger house, my daughter was thrilled to get her own room. Shortly after our move, I found out I was pregnant with another girl. When we told Bailey that she'd be sharing her room again she was upset, but a little later she ran up to me and announced, "Mom, just save your receipt and we can trade for a boy!"

"One night, I realized that my 4-year-old son, Tyler, might be watching too much TV. I told him, "How about a bath and then a snack?" He looked me in the eye and slowly replied, "Deal- or no deal?"

Monday, November 26, 2007

Happy Post-Thanksgiving

Well, our trip to Houston was not as bad as I had expected it be, especially with all my fears. Hubby was worried about pre-Thanksgiving traffic so we left the house at 5am for our 8am flight. Needless to say, there was NOBODY on the road. However, it did take us awhile to find a parking spot, unload everything, and then attempt to walk to the shuttle station carrying a 23 pound child with one arm. Not very easy!

We arrived at our gate about 45 minutes before boarding, but this gave Little Man A a chance to move around and go through daddy's wallet!
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Then on the flight, Little Man A fell right to sleep... probably because he had been up for 3 hours straight! Unfortunately, he only slept for 45 minutes because hubby had his leg propped up and when he fell asleep it kept falling down and would therefore wake up Little Man A. We were able to keep him occupied for the remaining 2 hours with books, some Cheerios, and with him flirting with the ladies on the plane.
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About 10 minutes before we landed, he fell asleep again, but this time there was no waking him! We gathered our carry-ons and made our way to baggage claim, all while he was dead to the world on my shoulder. It wasn't until we got outside in the 80 degree weather of Houston and I tried to take my jacket off that he woke up.
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The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We tried to get Little Man A to take another nap so he would atleast be civil later at dinner in a restaurant, but he didn't know where he was, wasn't in his own bed, and could see mommy and daddy on the other side of the hotel room. He finally took a short nap, but long enough to get him to be happy at dinner (he loved eating Mexican rice!).

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I was a little worried about Thanksgiving since hubby's family had made reservations at a hotel rather than making dinner at home. It actually turned out to be a very nice buffet style meal, and we were able to spend time afterwards at hubby's aunt's house for dessert. Little Man A loved played with his older cousins, and they absolutely adored him!
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The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful.
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The plane ride home was the same as the first one, Little Man A did very well, but was just really tired. When we finally got home Saturday night, he was asleep by 7:15pm and didn't wake up until 7:20am the next morning.

As for my fears, yeah, they were a bit overboard. But atleast I was expecting the worst and the best actually happened. Little Man A actually did very well on both flights (thank goodness we had direct flights though), our car seat made it there and back in one piece (although the deluxe bag with wheels that I purchased for it came home with a few holes on the bottom because hubby thought there were four wheels instead of two on the bottom), and Little Man A was a big hit with the great-grandparents and cousins! And the big highlight for me was that I got to go to Sonic!
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Little Man A also has a third and fourth tooth popping through the top and bottom (he should have 4 teeth by the time he turns one next month!) and he figured out how to grind the two teeth he already has!! He also has started to point to everything, which is so damn cute.

So, I hope every else had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Now, we have to prepare ourselves for Christmas and a 1-year birthday party!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Fears, Anyone? Anyone? Anyone?

Okay, so we're getting ready to go to Houston tomorrow to visit hubby's family. Not only have we paid an arm and a leg to get there for Thanksgiving, we have to pay to put the dog in a kennel and unfortunately have to spend money for a hotel as well. Then, nobody in the family wants to cook for Thanksgiving, so we are going out for brunch. Yep, no Thanksgiving dinner this year, folks. Thankfully, someone will be picking us up from the airport, but right now I have no idea how we are getting back on Saturday.

On top of all that confusion, I have other fears while flying. It's not that I don't like to fly, I just get worried, especially now with all these changes/restrictions. My top fear is that my 11 month old son will be crying the entire way. Thankfully, it's a straight shot there, but his nap times fall right in the middle of when we are flying. Yes, it could happen that he does fall asleep across our legs (since we didn't pay for a seat for him - how could I afford that anyway), but I somehow doubt it.

Then, we have to take our big Britax car seat for him. My second fear is that the airline is going to break it in some way shape or form. We did purchase a large bag/cover for it to protect it, but you know those people who handle the bags... they don't care.

Lastly, I watch my son like a hawk. When I see him even go near his ear, I'm asking myself "Did he really pull at his ear? Or did he just touch it? Could he have an ear infection?" Especially while flying, I'm scared that he's going to get one even if he doesn't have one already. Or worse, catch a cold and spread it to us.

My hubby says I worry too much. I say I worry for the both of us since he doesn't seem to be worried at all, or atleast doesn't show it. Maybe I should go back on Zoloft....

Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone. I'll tell you about the adventure when I return!

Monday, November 19, 2007

Having a bad day?

Some people just wake up "on the wrong side of the bed". Maybe they had a bad dream, maybe there was this blinding light on your bedside table (aka my alarm clock) just staring at you as you rolled over, or maybe you woke up every other hour for some unknown reason. Whatever the reason may be, maybe, just maybe sometimes, you just wake up in a bad mood.

This was the case of Little Man A on Friday. First he woke up at 5:30am screaming to be let out of his cage (as AmyBow would say). When I went in to give him his pacifier to try and get him to go back to sleep, I found that his diaper had leaked (damn diapers!) and he was completely soaked around the mid-section. I changed his diaper and his clothes, then of course he wanted to play. Oh no, you don't. Put him back to bed with his pacifier hoping he would go back to sleep. It took him a few minutes, with a little whining of course, but he did.

At 6:45am, he decided I'm up for the day. Fine! I usually try to start my day around 7am, but A doesn't know how to read the clock just yet. I get dressed, take him into the kitchen and place him on the floor while I get his bottle ready. As soon as his bottom hits the floor, he starts wailing and tries climbing back up my leg. I try to walk across the floor from one side of the kitchen to the other, but he has a death grip on my pants. I finally pick him back up, but then he lunges forward because he sees something on the counter that he wants. A 23 pound child should not lunge forward like that, but apparently he has super powers or either that he knows that Mommy will catch him, so no need to worry, right.

I finally give him his bottle but of course, he's hungry for more. I try to get breakfast ready while he's following my every footstep in the kitchen. Needless to say, I'm ready to go back to bed myself after breakfast is finally over, but instead we go downstairs in our living room to play a little before our first nap. He barely makes it to 8:30am before he's just miserable all over again.

We go upstairs, barely able to read one book before he lays down for his nap. He goes right to sleep, right? Oh no, he decides to throw over his pacifier and his lovey and stand in his crib crying and screaming for mommy to come save them! I finally come in, recover his precious items and lay him back down, but by this point he doesn't even want to take a nap anymore. He cries for another couple minutes, then finally gets to sleep. Unfortunately, he only sleeps for another 30 minutes and starts the crying all over again.

For the rest of the day, it seems no matter what I do he just won't stay in a good mood. Some people would say, "Oh, maybe he's teething." Granted, yes, he has gotten in his first teeth, but seriously, maybe he's just in a bad mood. I know they say it takes more energy to be in a bad mood rather than a good one. Well, it definitely takes the energy out of me as well.

Thankfully, we had some wonderful company over the weekend, my aunt and uncle, and A was a dream all weekend long. Of course when that happens people wonder what magic drug I give my child to make him so happy all the time. Or they simply ask, "Does he ever stop smiling?" Just stay with me for a week and you'll see. This child isn't all a dream, but then what fun would that be? What would I really have to laugh at in a few years?

So, let's hope that when we visit my hubby's family in Houston for Thanksgiving this week that he's a smily little guy like always. As long as he gets his naps, I'm sure he'll be fine. I hope.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

A few of Little Man A's favorite things

As a continuation from yesterday, I decided to add this for my son:

Food: Cheese and crackers, cookies, cheerios, and graham crackers!

Fruit: apples, bananas, pears, oh and....okay he likes them all. Add a little cinnamon and he's all over it .... or it's all over him.
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Veggies: Not so much, but he tolerates sweet potatoes and squash.

Color: If I had to guess, yellow. He loves to watch the school buses go by and he can spot a yellow car across the parking lot.

Books: Put Me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire
Tails by Matthew Van Fleet
Oh, the Thinks you can Think by Dr. Suess

Tv show: Michey Mouse Playhouse
The Backyardigans (their song and dances really catch his eye!)
The Wonder Pets (save the animals!)
Go, Diego, Go! (hmm, I wonder why?)
It's a Big, big World (loves the sloth)

Song: "If You're happy and you know it"
"Elmo's Song"
"Old McDonald" (especially when Mom "moos" like a cow!)

Animal: Monkey! And don't forget Maggie the Cocker Spaniel!

People: Mom and Dad by far, but Grandpa and Gramma are a really close second!

Friday, November 16, 2007

A few of my favorite things

A challenge for today is to list our favorite things. So here goes:

Color: Purple

Fruit: Pineapple

Food: Pizza (who doesn't love this, but have you tried my dad's?? Granted he needs to chop the garlic a little finer or just use a garlic press like I keep telling him, but hey that will help put hair on your chest. Right, Dad?)

Veggie: Broccoli and mushrooms

Ice cream: Mint tingaling (similar to mint chocolate chip but with crunchy chocolate cookie pieces instead of chocolate chips- I think it's a northeastern thing)

Season: Fall - I love watching the colors change

Number: 21

Books: Dear God, Are you there? It's me, Margaret. by Judy Blume
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
The Green Mile by Stephen King
The Five people you meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

Comedian: Robin Williams - who doesn't love the Polish walkman joke (granted I know he was on TONS of drugs at that time, but hey it's funny)
Bill Engvall (every time I see the part about dork fish I fall over laughing)

Hobby: Scrapbooking. Although if you had asked me 10 years ago it would have been horseback riding and skiing.

Animals: Sumatran Tiger, Bald Eagle, Humpback whale, Black Rhinoceros, Three-toed sloth

Favorite City I've lived in: By far San Antonio, Texas!

Actor: Will Smith

Actress: Julia Roberts

Tv shows:Grey's Anatomy, Desparate Housewives, Private Practive, Divine Design

Broadway Show: Phantom of the Opera (okay, granted this is the only one I've seen)

Other Shows: Not sure what category this would fit under, but I am a Cirque du Soleil addict. My favorite show so far (haven't been out to Las Vegas yet so this might change) is Alegria.

People: My parents, my hubby, and of course Little Man A!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Funny Moment of the Day

When I first started this blog, I said it was all for me. I would document little bits of our lives so I could possibly scrapbook them later for my son. Okay, after documenting this moment I've decided it's more my mom, "Gramma". This is for her because she can't be here to see all the small events of our day.

So yesterday afternoon for our snack, I decided to pull out the Sun Chips. They have a limited flavor of Cinnamon. My son and I love cinnamon, probably because all I could stomach for my first trimester was cinnamon sugar toast. I've given him these chips before and he's done really well with them in small pieces. Just as I was walking away from him to get his juice out of the frig, he starts to choke. Ok, this isn't the funny part. He's really choking and coughing to get the pieces out and I come back with the juice to try and make him take a sip. He just wants out of his chair and into my arms, so I pick him up. He slowly starts to calm down. I still have to convince him to take a sip of juice.... he keeps pushing it back to me for me to take a drink, which I do a couple times to show him it's okay.

Once he's calmed down, I see if he wants to have a piece of his graham cracker... he loves graham crackers. He's happy now in mom's arms so he opens his mouth and takes it. I promise the funny part is coming.

After a few seconds of chewing, he sneezes.... all over my shoulder.... graham crackers. Yes, this is what being a mother is all about. Never do I walk out of the house completely clean. I'm sure I have tried milk somewhere on my outfit. But just then, I see a glimmer in my son's eyes as he reaches for the pieces of graham crackers that he just sneezed onto my shoulder. Yes, he ate a piece of sneezed out graham cracker that lays on my shoulder.

I love this kid so much it's sickening.

Sorry, no photo. :)

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Things I've done right

1. Read to him
Since he was 1 day old, we have been reading to him. I would read him magazines while he lay on under his entertainment pad, books throughout the day, and especially at night. It seemed to help calm him. Now, that's the first thing he goes for once he's out of bed.
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2. Sing to him
I have SIRIUS satellite radio on all day long. And although the songs end up terrorizing me in my head all day long, I know he enjoys it. He even dances with the music.

3. Talk to him
I thought it was stupid to talk to your stomach while you were pregnant. I didn't want anyone while I was driving thinking I was crazy. It wasn't until the end, when I was poking at my stomach, pleading for him to come out, that I started talking to him. Now, I don't care who sees me talking to him. I tell him what color cars are driving by, that the leaves are changing colors and why. I think he likes it, and I like talking to him too - even if he does answer in baby babble.

4. Play with him
I love chasing him around the living room chanting "I'm gonna get you!" He screams and tries to take off as fast as he can. Sometimes his legs go faster than his arms and he topples over onto his face. But he's still laughing, and I love to make him laugh. It's my energy for the day.
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5. Give him a schedule
When I found out I was pregnant, I was terrified. More because I didn't know what to do with a child. Yeah, you hold them and feed them, but then what? My next door neighbor introduced me to a book, "Becoming Baby Wise". Some reviews are totally against this book because if parents follow this book to the "T' they could potentially dehydrate their child (it stresses feeding them every 2-3 hours, no snacking). But seriously, who doesn't answer to their child when they are hungry?! And besides, no child follows a book to the letter. What I did get out of this book was to put your child on a schedule. They thrive on it, they rely on it what things are chaotic. And you know, some adults do too! Now, I know when my child will be hungry, tired, and just plain cranky.

6. Teach him my love of animals
He absolutely adores our dog, Maggie. The cats are okay with him, which he adores from a distance, but they'd rather not play. Monkeys! Giraffes! Lions! He loves them all.
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7. Make him sleep
I've always wanted to have people tell me I have a happy baby and you know what - they do! And I think the number one reason is that I knew he had to sleep. I kept telling him that sleep is NOT overrated. And when he sleeps 2 hours twice a day for his naps and then 11 hours at night, I'm happy too! (A word to wise - you can't actually MAKE them sleep.)

8. Love him
This was the biggest thing I was afraid of while I was pregnant. What if I didn't love this being inside me? What if he didn't love me either? Then what would I do? And then, I held him. It was pure love (I'm sure it was also because of the excessive amount of petocin in my bloodstream from being induced). I wouldn't change a thing... in fact, maybe I'll do it again. (That's a MAYBE, Gramma!)
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Tuesday, November 13, 2007

All diapers are not created equal

Before my son was born, I thought a diaper is a diaper. Right? Wrong!

By the time he was born, I had collected a sample of every brand name diaper to try out on him. More to make sure he wasn't allergic to them as well as seeing how they fit the big bugger (remember he was 9 pounds 4 ounces). I tried Huggies, Pampers, Luvs, generic brands of every store. You name it, I tried it! I ended up using Huggies for everyday use and Pampers Ultra-Dry (I thought Cruisers were too bulky to begin with) for night time - I wanted to make sure it could hold 8-10 hours worth of pee. I know, I'm wierd.

It wasn't until recently, that my son would wake up with a soaked outfit in the morning that I needed to check out other alternatives. I gave Luvs another try. Seems that they have "Redesigned" and "NEW & Improved" diapers actually hold up to the challenge of overnight diapers. And guess what? Seems they took a lot of their "new" designs from Pampers. Now if you're not a parent you won't appreciate this next statement, but they have a fresh smell and they aren't bulky. And guess what? They're cheaper! A box at Target has been marked down to an everyday price of $15.99 versus $19.99 for a box of Pampers. And if you collect coupons like I do (every penny counts) and watch for them to be on sale - even better!

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So, maybe some things do need a second try.

And Gramma - no more sacred diaper at night!

By the way, I give a boat load of credit to parents who use re-usable diapers. Eww!

Monday, November 12, 2007

Ouchy!

I received this email today about stressing to your children about not running with sharp objects. Mommy and Daddy are NOT kidding when they say "NEVER run with sharp objects!" Well, you won't believe these pictures...

See, this is what happens when you run with a fork!

I bet the kid switches to a spoon!!! This is so sad.

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Show your kids, show your neighbors kids, show your enemies' kids!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Calgon, Take me Away

So my son has recently learned that he if stands up behind me, especially while I'm cooking in the kitchen, I'll pick him up. Now mind you, while I'm cooking in the kitchen is not the best time for my son to be doing this, especially when I have hot things sitting on the stove and I'm trying to go from one end of the kitchen to the other.

I'm a schedule nut with my child. This is a good thing and can be a very bad thing at the same time. Good because I know when he's going to be hungry and most importantly, when he's going to be tired. Bad because if I miss a beat by 5 minutes or so, he let's me know. I usually start dinner around 5:30pm because my husband gets home at 6pm. Yeah, I know I don't HAVE to have dinner on the table when he gets home. I like to... I like for him to be able to spend as much time with Little Man A as he possibly can. My having dinner ready lets him spend at least an hour with him before Little Man A goes to bed at 7:30pm.

So back to the kitchen. The other night I'm starting dinner and trying to get Little Man A fed at the same time. He's fine for a few minutes out in the family room which is next to the kitchen, but then he's bored and wants Mom. I try my darndest to find other things for him to play with like a big plastic spoon or plastic measuring cups but he keeps coming back to me. At this point he's also opened all of the kitchen cabinets that yet to have locks on them (they have locks on them now) and have managed to pull out the garbage can which is on a slide in one of the bottom cabinets as well. Not only that, he's found about 10 purple plastic bowls and has them splayed out on the floor as well.

So I'm trying to cook dinner while Little Man A's trying to pull my pants down while standing behind me crying louder and louder. I can barely walk across the kitchen floor without tripping over a damn purple bowl or a plastic spoon.

As soon as my husband walks through the door, it's "Take him before I kill me" look. I plop Little Man A in front of my husband and just blurt out, "You have no idea what's been going on for the past 5 minutes." He replies, "You don't know what kind of day I've had either." I simply turn around and finish cooking dinner.

By the way, dinner was good .... and so was the wine! And from now on, Little Man A is going in the play yard while mom cooks dinner.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Let's Say thanks

Something cool that Xerox is doing.

If you go to this web site, http://www.letssaythanks.com/ you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq. You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to some member of the armed services.

How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! This is a great site.

Please send a card. It is FREE and it only takes a second.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our guys and gals over there need to know we are behind them ...

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Baby clothes

Okay, just so you know this blog will probably be more about my almost 11 month old son (where have the last 11 months gone by the way!?). So I apologize in advance if this is of no interest to you, but this is my site and I can talk about anything I want. He was born weighing 9 pounds, 4 ounces and measuring 21 inches long. And my own mother said he wasn't going to be more than 8-1/2 pounds. I don't know where he was hiding inside me, but apparently I have a cavern in my belly that was very comfortable for him since he was forced out a week late. At his last doctor's appt a couple weeks ago, he weighed 22-1/2 pounds and measured 31-1/2 inches long. He gained a pound and grew an inch in one month! That's a big boy!!

Needless to say, I'm going through his clothes like wildfires. He's already wearing 18 month clothes, especially his pajamas since he is so long. And his feet?! He's already wearing (not that I'm making him wear them all the time, just when we go outside since it's getting colder outside) a size 5 shoe!!

So my question is this: Why don't baby clothing companies make pre-shrunk clothes?

Do they not realize that one inch means an entire month worth of wearing?? Now, mind you I try my darndest to get the most use out of the clothes, but like my mother keeps telling me, that's never going to happen.

I have shrunk so many clothes by putting them in the dryer, that I have decided none of his clothes except socks (which I probably should do also since his feet are so damn big) go into the dryer. I line dry everything. So if you come over and you see baby clothes all over the house, you know I just did laundry. I hang them in the bathrooms, over the side of chairs, and over the side of his play yard. I should probably buy a clothes line for inside our laundry room area, but that room isn't finished and so that would just be adding more chaos to an already chaotic environment.

And so, when I go shopping for clothes, I'm not going to spend $20 for a onesie that he's only going to wear 3 times. Instead I go to Wal-mart, or thrift shops, or better yet bug my husband's aunt for more hand me downs. And then, after he's out grown them, I pass them onto a friend who has a 9 month old and she gets to use them as well.

Who knows, maybe I'll start my own baby clothes line.

Friday, November 9, 2007

Here I Go

So, I've decided to join the rest of the millions who already have a blog. Why did I start one? Well, I guess it just happened to get more appealing once my aunt and uncle started their's and then my own mother talked about one as well. Then, it occurred to me...maybe this would be easier than sitting down and jotting down my thoughts on a piece of paper. I mean, I do type faster than I can write... sometimes. I also started thinking about how I could use these thoughts later in my scrapbooks. I'm already so far behind in scrapbooking my child's first year of life, let's see if this makes it any simpler. And I definitely need simpler now.

A little about me. I'm a thirty-one year old mother who never thought that word would describe me. I mean, I've had animals my entire life, so I guess I could be called a mother of sorts, but never of another human being who totally depended on me and not to mention learned everything from me... and my husband of course. Since I was 16 years old, I never wanted to have children. Just the thought of something growing inside me... kind of freaked me out. Not to mention it had to come out somehow... and drugs are a girls best friend when it comes to having a child the size of a watermelon (literally) fit through a hole the size of a lemon. So it wasn't until my husband went to Iraq, talked with his comrades about their families, and started thinking. Thinking can sometimes be so dangerous. In my case, it was. About 4 months after he came home, he had convinced me and even made me realize how "honored" I would be to have his child. Exactly one year later, I was pregnant. We call him our "Cruise baby". I'm sure you can figure it out.

I'm an Army wife. And sometimes, I think "This is not what I signed up for when I married him." Especially when he comes home and talks about going to a combat zone as a way to get out of debt. But other times I think about all the different places we could go and all the different people we get to meet along the way. And let me tell you, we have met some great friends along the way. We could have a chance to go to Germany or Hawaii for 2 to 3 years. We could have a chance to show our son the world while my husband gets paid to do it. Nice.

I'm an avid scrapbooker. Or atleast I used to be until my son was born last December. I was first introduced by my good friend from Texas while I worked at Michaels (in limbo job- longest year of my entire life!). My last album I put together was about my pregnancy. It was the best way for me to be able to face something I totally feared. I'm totally obsessed with organization, so needless to say, my scrapbooking room needs to be organized before I can think about getting started with another album. But now that an entire year has passed, I need to get started again. No more excuses.

I'm an amateur photographer. Or atleast my son probably thinks so. I've taken so many pictures of this child you would of thought I couldn't wait to have a child on my own. I hope I don't damage his vision.

I'm a lover of animals, hence the biology degree, the many jobs at zoo facilities in Texas, the numerous animals along the way, and the previous vet tech positions. It's been an entire year since I've actually used my education, or atleast gotten paid for it. I kind of miss it, but other times I wouldn't trade being a mother of my son for another job (especially a physically strenuous job like the zoo).

So, here I go. Here's to a simpler life. Here's to getting new projects started. Here's to finding a even balance in my life. Here's to my son.