Seven Quick Takes - It's Almost Saturday Edition

1. The baby has been sick.

2. He napped pretty much all day today, bless his little heart.

3. We are all still tired from the joy of last night. A teething, hungry baby does not equal a happy, sleeping baby.

4. I can't get into the Olympics much this year. I just...can't. I even DVR'ed some of it and no. I just can't. So all the Olympics coverage is languishing on the DVR along with about a bazillion episodes of American Idol.

5. I gave up all french fries and fast food for lent. It is SO CONVENIENT when the lenten season falls around the time I am trying to be healthier.

6. Although I heard that Filet o Fish commercial is back on. You know? The one with the singing fish? Oh my gosh, that song gets stuck in my head and will not get out. And it's probably stuck in your head now too. (Give me back that filet of fish! Give me that fish!) Can't you hear it right now too? It just stays there and will never ever leave. GAH!

7. I cleaned the kitchen and the bathroom while the boys napped this evening. My god, I might pass out from my glamorous lifestyle.

I am tired because...

I've gone to the gym every night this week. Our new fancy pants gym offers lots of classes and I am taking full advantage of them because it is new! and fun! and fancy! Monday night was Latin Fusion. Tuesday night was Cycle (AKA Spinning, as the rest of the world knows it). And tonight was Latin Fusion again (this time with a different instructor). Tomorrow? Yoga!

So that is where I have been. Making a fool of myself in Latin dance classes. And trying not to DIE in cycle class. It's taken a lot out of me. And I shower at night and so by the time I am ready to blog, I am also ready for bed. And bed always wins. ALWAYS.

And I am TOTALLY ordering a heart rate monitor tonight because I am hard core like that. (Or because I am pretty sure my heart rate is going THROUGH THE ROOF and I'm not burning fat, but precious, precious energy.)

But I'm having fun and DUDE, it is so nice to have an hour break where I get to be an adult. No worrying about a small child! (Who is teething! For real! You can SEE the tooth breaking through those precious little gums of his. You can even FEEL it too.) It's heavenly. If you considering heavenly to be sweating like a pig with a really red face while trying to remember to breathe. And strangely enough, I do.

Valentine's Weekend

We haven't really romanced it up this weekend. That's the downside of having a kid and NOT having a baby-sitter. Today, we joined a gym (Y'all, it is super fancy. They have big water slides outside AND inside.), went to David's Bridal, and Half Price Books. We ate dinner at a burger place in a barn. And we came home and I did laundry and washed dishes. RO.MAN.TIC. And tomorrow? We're going to church. And dinner somewhere. And I'm planning on cleaning the bathroom. OH YEAH. Nothing says "I love you" like scrubbing a toilet.

To be fair, we did bake brownies and drink wine tonight. We made No Pudge Fudge Brownies and they are really good. You just combine the mix and a cup and a half of low fat (or non-fat) vanilla yogurt. I was a little worried they would suck, but they are actually quite tasty. And not too bad for you!


This little goober was a major charmer today. I think everyone at the gym fell in love with him. He did really great considering he had to wait an hour to eat. Our tour was very long and very involved. And then we were shuffled into a closed-door office with a sales rep and it felt EXACTLY like buying a car. She said we could put him on the floor because she had nothing breakable in the office. So we wound up putting him down at one point when he got restless. And what did he do? He made a beeline for her chair and promptly tried to pull up on her. Which involved touching her butt. So that was not embarrassing. AT ALL.

I hope y'all have a great Valentine's this year. I know mine will be extraordinary because I have TWO valentine's this year.

Seven Quick Takes - 12/11/10

1. Yesterday, Alex and I had the following conversation on IM:
Cora: taylor lautner turned 18 today
whew

Alex: thank goodness

This is why our relationship works, y'all.

2. We watched Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” last night. I am not the biggest MJ fan around, so I was surprised that I knew most of the songs in the movie. The whole production looked pretty cool and I liked getting to see the behind the scenes look at how the concert was put together. It was also pretty sad too. *insert wise, sentimental statement about deceased pop icon here*

3. I had coffee this morning and by the time I met Alex for lunch I was all shaky and loopy. Might need to get a weaker brew next time.

4. I went to HEB today to buy bananas and baby food. I left with bananas, baby food, finger paint, bubbles, an outlet cover, and strawberries. I have a problem. I had to go to Costco next and I made myself walk straight to the formula and then right to the check out lane. WHO KNOWS what I could have bought in bulk while I was there. Maybe three more pounds of salsa? A dozen more apples? A 48 pack of paper towels? The possibilities are endless!

5. The baby fell asleep on the way home from Costco. I can’t tell you how many times this has happened, but I was really trying hard to get him home in time to nap in bed. I was shocked he fell asleep because he was in a coat and didn’t have a paci. So I spent an hour parked in front of our apartment playing on my phone. I used to do this all the time at home, but it didn’t seem to matter because we had our house with a driveway. Now I am sitting in a parking lot with people all around. I wonder what they think when they keep seeing me hanging out in my car every afternoon?

6. The bugs have not gone away. I found a spider AND a roach in our bathroom yesterday morning. AT THE SAME TIME. Fortunately, Alex hadn’t left yet and he took care of them while I distracted the baby in the living room. I was actually so tired that it didn’t even bother all that much. But in even BETTER news, Alex is totally on board with getting a cat (eventually – the pet deposit at this apartment is PRICEY). Hooray! I am ridiculously excited about our future little schmoopy fur pants to snuggle wuggle with!

7. My goodness, this is the most boring 7 Quick Takes EVER. And I just realized that I all I wrote about what stuff that happened yesterday. I am an epic blogger, y’all. EPIC.

Boy

He knows how to turn lights on and off. We stand by the light switch in the bathroom while he plays with them. On and off. On and off.

He laughs when I kiss his belly. It's a big, funny belly laugh. It's hilarious when I throw a ball in the air and catch it. He thinks it's the funniest thing in the entire world. He laughs and laughs and laughs.

He is fascinated by computers. I can't use the laptop without him banging on the keyboard and bending the screen back. If I go to the desk, then he climbs on the CPU.

He loves to give kisses. He climbed up to my shoulder yesterday just to give me a kiss. If I kiss his cheek, he returns the favor. Sometimes. Sometimes he's too busy looking at lights and people and shiny, shiny things to give me a kiss. It's okay. I wait.

He tries to keep rhythm when I sing. I pat my legs to the beat and he tries to keep up. Sometimes I clap and he grins and claps along. Not quite on beat, but he loves it. And when we sing "BINGO?" With the clapping? IT BLOWS HIS MIND.

He's my sweet little boy.

Cruisin' World from Cora on Vimeo.

Discovery Health is bad for my health

So! I've discovered new things to obsess over on the TeeVee. I cannot turn away from all those crazy pregnancy shows on Discovery Health. Last night, I watched the Duggars welcome baby Josie (twice!), I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant, and I'm Pregnant and 55. And I would have kept going except I could barely keep my eyes open by the time the Duggars came on AGAIN.

Did y'all know that women can get pregnant at 55 and 57? And deliver perfectly healthy babies? And that those very same women might consider getting pregnant AGAIN? My mind, it was BLOWN. I mean, I KNEW older women could get pregnant, but to watch it? It's just insane. The one lady was 55 and her husband was 64. So he will be 80 when their baby turns 16. And she'll be 71. Dude. I thought MY parents were old.

Also? Also, also? I still cannot get over how a woman doesn't know she is pregnant. This episode made more sense (She had had an IVF treatment and miscarried. Not to mention she was FIFTY-SEVEN.) at how it could happen. But still. Still! I felt like a completely different person when I was pregnant. And the belly! How do you miss the belly? Again, it was understandable this episode because this woman thought she had ovarian cancer and had lost 20+ pounds. And she was FIFTY-SEVEN YEARS OLD. But most women? Women who are of child bearing age? How they miss the signs of pregnancy BOGGLE MY MIND.

So needless to say all of these shows are now programmed to my DVR and I may or may not have read the Duggars' wikipedia page this afternoon. Because I am so amazed they can even remember all of their kids' names, much less RAISE them. And to be fair, their kids seem pretty happy and are incredibly well behaved. But still. That many children under one roof sounds like a big ball of no fun to me. Which is why I have one child and am happy with that. Maybe for FOREVER. And how am I supposed to pay attention to that child when there are 57 year old women getting pregnant? AND their teasing an episode where a paralyzed woman is pregnant with twins. TWINS! OMG!

Monday Blues

Oh man, we have had a morning.

Jack and I are pretty laid back and flexible in how we spend our days. But some things are non-negotiable. Like nap time. Nap time is SACRED. He needs the rest and I need the break, and frankly, I'm not sure which one us needs it more. But today? Today, HE WOULD NOT NAP. Normally, he goes down two hours after he gets up for the day. When we hit Hour Four of anti-sleep, I tearfully called Alex in an effort to keep from losing my mind. And this was AFTER I tearfully begged the baby to sleep because I was getting frustrated. (He just looked at me and was all, "Da?") And wouldn't you know it? Jack fell asleep MINUTES after I called Alex. I think babies just KNOW when you're ready to toss them out the window. (We're on the ground floor, so it wouldn't hurt. Much.)

I've been feeling a little blah lately. I think it's just the normal coming down experience from all the excitement of moving and settling in. We're adjusting to our new life and not much is happening right now. So having tough morning that included a lot of whining and crying and not-sleeping was a little much. Not to mention it's Monday. Who has the emotional fortitude to deal with a fussy baby on a Monday morning?

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In happier news, THE SAINTS WON THE SUPER BOWL. Y'all, I never, ever, ever in a million trillion years would have thought that would happen. I have been a Saints fan my entire life. They were the one and only professional team in Louisiana when I was a kid and everyone, EVERYONE cheered for the Saints. Even my grandmother would watch their games. And trust me, she is not a big football fan. But they were our team, even when they were flat out TERRIBLE. And they were always terrible, you know? Always! So for them to even make it to the playoffs was a big deal. But to go the whole way? Win the big game? It's AMAZING. I'm so proud of them. I'm so proud of New Orleans. I love that wacked out city with all of it's strange traditions. It's always felt like home to me. I love the architecture, the atmosphere, the accents. All of it. And now they have a championship winning football team. It's a dream come true. (Plus, Drew Brees' son is ADORABLE. Check out the last picture of this story. It doesn't get much cuter than that, y'all.)

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I debated about linking to this, so I am providing a disclaimer. If you would like to cry, and I'm talking ugly cry territory, then click here. I sobbed and sobbed when I read it...which, now that I think about it, probably wasn't the best idea for this morning. But! It's happy too. (A word of warning, it automatically plays music, so if you're at work, turn your speakers off.) And it WILL make you cry, so be prepared for some mascara running, ladies.

Seven Quick Takes - 2/5/10

1. I was going to post yesterday and I couldn’t think of anything to talk about. There’s just…not much going on. I was at my parent’s last week and my sister-in-law was here this week. So today is my first full day alone with Jack in almost two weeks. And dude, it was SO NICE having someone around to talk to.

2. Is anyone else watching Project Runway? This is my first year watching and so far I like it, despite my desperate lack of fashion sense. I'm glad I finally jumped on the bandwagon because it's one of those shows I always wanted to watch, but I had missed for random reasons. And I think Anna is adorable. Also, for some reason, I keep rooting for Mila even though she is a big old jerk.

3. I want to go to here. I am definitely not the biggest Harry Potter geek, but I do love it. And it just looks SO.COOL. I think I'm a big enough fan that I'd appreciate it.

4. It's supposed to be sunny today and I'm very excited. Maybe we'll leave the house today.

5. Like I said, not much going on here.

6. I have trouble watching House Hunters. The people on this episode are looking for a 200,000 VACATION home in COSTA RICA. They already live in a mansion in Florida. But they need their 2nd home to relax in. And it makes me so flipping JEALOUS. I want a vacation home in Costa Rica. So my thoughts throughout pretty much every episode are, "Want, want, want! Can't have, can't have, can't have! Jealous, jealous, jealous! Bad, bad, bad!"

7. I'm always looking for new recipes and this site has had some great ideas. I get an e-mail from them everyday. Some of the recipes are a little too fancy for us, but some of them sound great. We haven't tired any of them yet, but I like that each recipes lists every single thing you might need and gives you a timetable from the time you walk in the door to when you set the table.

10 Months

Jack turned 10 months old today. I took pictures, but our card reader is broken. So I can't get the pictures on here, which is a bummer. But I promise he's cute. Just imagine the cutest little red headed baby ever and there you go. That's him.

This past month has been a huge one for Jack. He has learned how to pull up, cruise, crawl (in that order...he cruised first), give high fives, clap, and wave. He went from being a non-mobile, talking baby to a very mobile, gesturing baby. It boggles my mind that in less than four weeks, he managed to become a different little boy.

We still have no teeth. STILL. WHEN ARE THE TEETH GOING TO COME? I swear he ACTS like he's teething with the drooling and occasional night time fussiness. But no. NO TEETH. I'm assuming he'll get those some time before kindergarten. Maybe.

He is also proving to be a somewhat picky eater. He does NOT like table food. He pretty much rejects anything that isn't pureed. I've tried two different brands and flavors of puffs and he hates them both. I also tried some yogurt melts and again, GROSS. He will eat pureed bananas, but mash one up and give it to him? RE.JECT. He doesn't seem to be a fan of mashed potatoes or cheese yet, either. He DID eat some toast for the first time last weekend so maybe we are on to something there. He also doesn't like juice. JUICE! What kid doesn't like juice? I thought they all looooved and became addicted to it, begging for it like fiends. Of course, he might not like the juice because he doesn't like sippy cups. I was using the juice as an incentive to hold his own cup, but so far, no dice. He would rather you hold the bottle and/or cup, thank you very much. I've only bought 3 kinds of cups so far. Maybe I should try a few more? (Alex is rolling eyes right this VERY SECOND.)

Jack makes all kinds of noises now. I think he might say "Hi" occasionally, but it's not consistent yet. He still says "Ma Ma" and we sometimes get "Da Da" too. Most of it is just crazy fun little words that he makes up. He started making the "na na na" sound this month and he usually says that when he's upset or frustrated.

This month has been a lot of fun. He is more excited and interested in his toys now. And we get to interact more when we play. He really loves his blender and busy table. He likes knocking down blocks (both soft and good old fashioned plastic) that we stack. We got him a bead roller coaster at Ikea and he REALLY likes that as well. The busy ball popper has fallen out of favor though. It kind of freaks him out now.

Jack really seemed to fall in love with books this month. His favorite is Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs! by Sandra Boynton. We're big Boynton fans around here (Thanks Shannon!) and we read a lot of her stuff everyday. He also likes The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We sing Where is Thumpkin, Old McDonald, BINGO, Skinnamarink, and the ABC's pretty much every day. I also sang I Know an Old Lady a few times, but dude, I never realized how MORBID that song is. Sheesh.

This month has been so crazy. He has learned how to do SO MUCH. I feel like he's more like a little boy instead of a baby now. And I am LOATHE to use the "t" word because he is a BABY UNTIL HE IS 1 YEAR OLD, but dude. He doesn't seem like such a baby anymore. But today, he was super affectionate and gave me lots of kisses. We napped together and he laughed when I teased him and he crawled to find me when I walked away. He is obssessed with my laptop and tries to grab my food (to not eat) when I eat. He lights up when I walk in the room. He's still my sweet little baby boy even though he's such a big boy in the double digit months.

Oh wait! I found a not so great picture that I took with my point and shoot. I apologize for the bad lighting. But he was trying to pull up on my jeans (a new favorite past time!) and that is the camera I had on me.

I love him.

Random Monday (Mostly Baby) Stuff

- I was without a reliable internet connection on Friday, so I missed 7 Quick Takes. Booo! I love random blogging. So here I am, making up for it today.

- We joined Costco yesterday. It had to happen, people. I'll get to that more in a minute. But let me just say that it is EXACTLY like Sam's Club. They are eerily similar. However, they have a lot more organic foods and I am pumped that I can now buy organic IN BULK. And they have EXCELLENT salsa. Which we know own 3 pounds of. Hooray for salsa in bulk!

- The reason we joined Costco is for the diapers. Because, get this, Pampers SCREWED US OVER. We have been loyal Pampers customers for the entirety of Jack's life. And then they CHANGED the Cruisers. CHANGED THEM. The Cruisers were absolutely, positively 100% THE BEST DIAPER EVER. And now they are crappy and leak and give rashes and BLAH. And Pampers at NO POINT ever stated they were changing the design. Instead, they put the new Cruisers in the old box and put the new Cruisers in a different box, upped the price, and only distribute them to Target. So I am officially DONE WITH PAMPERS. Which means I have to find a new diaper. And the Internet told me that Costco's Kirkland brand were awesome. I haven't used them yet, but I will let you know how they work.)

- Jack can now stand on his own for a whole 5 seconds. He ambled over to the end table this morning and grabbed my chapstick (because why play with the million zillion toys we have?) and then stood there triumphantly before gently sitting back down. Gaaaaahhhhh. It's like he's turning into a TODDLER or something.

- In other news, guess who needs to pick up some outlet covers today?