Better than Fine

2012-01-30T20:57:00.000-08:00

I know it's taken me almost 2 weeks, but here she is.

Blog name to be determined.

8 lbs 6 oz
19 inches

Controversial hair color. Is it red? No really, IS IT!?

She is adorable and we love, love, love her. Welcome to the world, little girl.

The Final Countdown

2012-01-19T07:46:00.001-08:00

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday, so a shortened entry today will have to do.

I'M HAVING A BABY TODAY, OMG.

That's really what I've mostly been thinking about these past few hours. Also: HOW AM I SO THIRSTY ALREADY, I STILL HAVE 6 HOURS TO GO, OMG.

So yes, C Section is scheduled for this afternoon and I had to stop eating and drinking at 7 am. I got up at 6:15 and ate a very large breakfast and drank as much water as I could, but it doesn't matter because I want to drink all the water NOW. And I've still got 5 hours to go, as of this writing. I can't remember if they gave me water or ice chips in recovery last time. Will they give me something in recovery? I hope so, because the nice anesthesia lady who called me last night said I'd be in there for 2 hours.

I took some extra time with Jack this morning and cuddled him a little more than normal. We took pictures since today is his last day of being an only child. He is...oblivious. We sent him to school so he'd have a pretty normal day before everything goes kablooey.

My friends and family, you know, Y'ALL, have been wonderful and amazing and supportive and I've been so happy to get all of your e-mails and texts and facebook messages and comments. It's been really helping me keep my spirits up and take the focus off of FREAKING OUT over the surgery and the baby.

So that's it. We made it to today. I occasionally thought this day may never come during the past 9 months. But it's here. Let's do this.

Panic

2012-01-02T21:57:00.001-08:00

I know I've mentioned before that I had a really terrible experience with post partum depression and anxiety after Jack was born. The depression wasn't anything new...I've been mega depressed before, so while it is not fun or pretty or easy, I can usually slog through it because I've been there before. But the anxiety was something altogether new. I had never had a panic attack before, never even knew what exactly they were, and was COMPLETELY unprepared for them. It took an embarrassing long amount of time for me to figure out what was going on (I was pretty much convinced I was dying.) and they really didn't start to abate until I got back on anti-depressants, this time with an extra dose of anti-anxiety meds thrown in for good measure.

I chose to get off of the anti-depressants again this pregnancy because I'm dumb. I really should have just stayed on them, but it's hard for me to go against what my doctor recommends even if that doctor is a total jerk face who lied to me and was clearly unconcerned about my well being. (I've since switched doctors and my current OB was, surprise!, totally okay with me getting back on anti-depressants if I needed it.)

So unsurprisingly, my anxiety level during this pregnancy has been kind of high. Things haven't been TOO bad (I haven't cried everyday! I voluntarily leave the house!) And I think it's been better because 1) we planned this pregnancy and 2) I am now aware that babies and toddlers can be fun and lovely and wonderful and not life-ruiners. But that's not to say this has been easy. Oh no, it's been a battle. I'm not completely even keel and have been on edge for most of the past 8 months. (Just ask my husband what a joy I've been!) The difference this time is that I knew to look for this and have been better able to fight it...with varying degrees of success.

Last night, I had a pretty sweet panic attack that came out of the blue. Definitely the worst one of this pregnancy. I'm not even certain what caused it and I think that's one reason why I had such a hard time with it. Usually I can feel the panic creeping in and am able to fight it off with prayer and deep breathing and positive thoughts and distractions and whatever else. But this hit me like a ton of bricks and I was panicking before I even really knew what was happening. I shouldn't be surprised since I've noticed my anxiety level rising as my due date draws closer. (I am DREADING having another C Section and the subsequent recovery. Not to mention the normal fears of having a new life for which you are responsible.) I wound up in our bedroom rocking and trying to focus and calm down and breathe, breathe, BREATHE while Alex and Jack were rough housing on our bed. Alex knew something was up and I was trying to calmly tell him what was going on without freaking out and scaring Jack. I didn't do a good enough job because Jack noticed something was wrong. He got a very serious look on his face and walked over me intently. Then he said, "Don't worry, Mama."

And oh man, you guys, it was the SWEETEST THING IN THE ENTIRE WORLD AND MY HEART EXPLODED IN A BAZILLION PIECES. I gave him a hug and he ran off to play and he was completely oblivious to me once again. At first I blew it off because what does he know? He's 2! But then I got to thinking that he's right. I shouldn't worry. Things are going to be okay. And maybe God was using him to speak to me. I felt this weird sense of comfort as I kept focusing on his little innocent face telling me not to worry. It still took a while for everything to settle back to normal, but I can definitely say that him telling me not worry was the turning point.

I have no good way to wrap up this story and there's really no point, unless you want to take away that the best way to stop a panic attack is to get an adorable 2 year old to tell you not to worry. But I've thought about it again and again today as I entered super-mega-OMG-we'rehavingababyin2weeks-wemustbuythingsandcleanthehouseNOW!!!!!!!!! mode.

And I thought you'd like to know. He thinks I'm going to be okay. I think so too.

Seven Quick Takes

2011-12-30T11:10:00.001-08:00

1. Potty training is going much better today. Yesterday was awful again (Alex got peed on 3 times just while I was at the doctor), but we started to see a little progress last night. And then Jack woke up this morning telling us he had to go. We have had an accident-free morning and I'm hopeful that we've turned the corner. It's certainly been nice not having to clean up pee all day today.

2. The 3 day potty training method sort of worked, but I'm not sure it was the best method for us. We kind of had to force him to go, which is very much against what the book says. We also discovered that the reward system has very little impact on Jack...he could care less about sticker charts or jelly beans, and that's the BIG thing in the book. I'm still glad I bought the book because it did have some good tips in it, but we definitely had to do things differently than her prescribed method in order to see any results.

3. The book did recommend getting a Baby Bjorn potty chair and I second that recommendation. We already had a cheap one that I bought at Toys R Us a long time and it's kind of terrible. It doesn't stay together and the pee goes into the bottom part, so you have to take it apart every time to clean it and dump out the top and bottom and it's just a headache. The Baby Bjorn is SUPER easy to clean up and is much sturdier. We were a little worried at first because Jack doesn't like to sit on it...but it turns out he doesn't like sitting on the either one of them, so the Baby Bjorn wins.

4. So as I mentioned the other day, I'm 36 weeks pregnant now. Which means we are at the point of no return. I am having this baby if I go into labor. So far, there is no indication that that is going to happen, but I always feel a slight panic when I reach this point in pregnancy because it all becomes very real, very fast. We could have a new baby today! It's an actual possibility! Maybe I should pack a hospital bag! And now I have extra things to worry about like, who's going to watch our child that's already out of the womb? I wake up worrying about this around 3 am every morning. It makes for a very restful night's sleep.

5. I got a Fitbit for Christmas and I'm really enjoying it so far. I really wish there was some option to let it know that I'm massively pregnant and not just a big, lazy couch potato, though. It's also been interesting tracking my sleep, because lo, I am inefficient at sleep these days. I think I'll like it even more after I've recovered from having the baby and able to exercise regularly again. Right now, I log in and laugh at how short I fall at all of my activity goals everyday.

6. You know what show I'm really into right now? Storage Wars. My sister-in-law watched it while she was here over Thanksgiving and now I'm totally addicted. We will DVR it and then watch 3 or 4 episodes in a row because I always want to know what they're going to find next. We've also started watching Storage Wars: Texas which has the added benefit of being in places we actually know. The first episode took place at a storage facility that Alex has been to. And they also went to the Cavender boots in Plano that we drive by often.

7. I think I'm going to take a nap now. I've been taking full advantage of Alex being home this week because I know my nap times will be short to non-existent here in a few weeks. Good night!

Blergh

2011-12-28T18:43:00.000-08:00

So how was your Christmas? Ours was fine. I had a really rough time of it this year. I've been missing my grandmother A LOT and it just didn't "feel" like Christmas since we weren't in Louisiana. (Plus, I am just TIRED and BIG and ready to be done with this pregnancy.) Despite my difficulties this month, Christmas Day went better than I thought it would. My parents drove us (slightly) less crazy than usual and Jack handled everything pretty well. I think he definitely had a good Christmas and that was the most important thing to me.

But that's not why I'm posting. We decided that a good time to potty train was this week. It made sense BEFORE we did it because we're 3 weeks from the new baby and Alex is off of work. We're doing the 3 Day Potty Training method and as of right now, I hate it. We finished Day 2 today and it has been AWFUL. Like, really, really, really awful. I don't want to go into detail because I'd like for Jack to not resent me when he's a grown up for posting about his potty training experience on the internet. But oh man, do I need a vacation.

I have to leave Alex alone with him tomorrow morning for a good 2 hours or so for my 36 week (!) check up and I'm kind of desperately hoping it will click while I'm gone and when I come home, he'll magically understand how to go in the potty.

HAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I know! Let's hope we survive the rest of the week, shall we?

Advent

2011-12-02T18:49:00.000-08:00

Hey! So it's been...6 months. What have I not told you? We bought a house. We moved to Dallas. Oh, and I got pregnant. Scheduled C Section on January 17th, so we're a mere 6 weeks away from becoming a family of four. Surprise! I could probably say more about this, but who cares? Let's talk about Christmas!

So I'm doing an advent calendar this year with Jack. I didn't bother with one last year because he was only 20-ish months old and I didn't think he'd get the concept. Honestly, I wasn't so sure he'd get the concept this year either, but I figured I should start NOW in order to set the tradition. It should be good practice for next year when he'll be 3.5 and hopefully really into Christmas.

And since this was just a practice one, I didn't go all out. I used yarn I already had. I bought Christmas cards from the dollar bin in Target and got some stickers and cheap markers. As you can tell from the photo above, there's also only 9 envelopes. This is because the blasted thing will not stay UP. Alex and I have had to hang that string up a bazillion times. It's beyond annoying. I think I've finally got it secured enough with 3 of those little sticky patch things on each side (Again, we already had these laying around the house. I was going to use push pins but, surprise! We can't find them.) I have since added bows to cover up the ugly patch stuff, but haven't tried adding any more envelopes. I also didn't want to string anything lower because I was afraid Jack would just rip it all down. Also? Let's be honest, he doesn't care. AT ALL.

Here's my list of activities. You'll notice that we have "Read a new Christmas book!" several times because I bought 5 of them from the Scholastic order form at his school and have been saving them. I tried to use those on school days when he'd already have a bunch of stuff going on. I also cheated and used his Christmas program and party for school as activities even though those were going to happen anyway.

1 Read a new Christmas book!
2 Color in a new Christmas coloring book
3 Read a new Christmas book!
4 Visit Santa
5 Make an ornament
6 Read a new Christmas book!
7 Shop for a gift for cousin Abby
8 Go to the Christmas program at school
9 Buy a toy and drop it off for Toys for Tots
10 Go to a Christmas concert
11 Go see the Christmas trains
12 Make a Christmas decoration
13 Read a new Christmas book!
14 Make a Christmas card
15 Go to the Christmas party at school
16 Watch a Christmas movie
17 Bake and decorate sugar cookies
18 Read the Christmas story from your Bible
19 Make a gingerbread house
20 Read a new Christmas book!
21 Make an ornament
22 Go on a car ride to look at Christmas lights
23 Drink hot chocolate and eat a candy cane
24 Open one gift tonight
25 Merry Christmas!!!

I'm probably going to change up the order on some of these, depending on how the day is going and if we need to mix stuff up. I have yet to procure a Christmas movie, so feel free to suggest something a 2.5 year old boy who can't even finish the movie Cars and hates Toy Story might enjoy.

So how has it gone so far? Okay. Day 1 was a total bust. He was tired and grumpy by the time we got to open the envelope and he refused to unwrap the book (this one). He wasn't interested in reading it AT ALL and flipped through it quickly. I'm hoping he'll be more interested in it as the month goes on. Day 2 (today) went a lot better. He has REALLY been into coloring lately, so I was hoping a new coloring book would be exciting. And it was! Thanks dollar bin at Target!

Father's Day

2011-06-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

Alex is an incredible father.

He gets up with Jack in the mornings. He puts him to bed. He gets up with him in the middle of the night (yes, still). He takes Jack to the pool every other day. He wrestles and tickles and chases. He makes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches all the time. He changes diapers and clothes and gives baths. Whenever Jack is being cute, Alex always turns to me and says, "I love him."

Jack adores him. He always smiles and giggles and yells, "Dada!" when he sees him. They're buddies. It's so cute to see how much they love each other and how they always hang out.

I love you honey. Thank you for being such a great dad.

It'd be really great if I had a picture of them to put here but I can't find a decent one of them from recently and the ones we took today are okay but Jack was not cooperating, so just trust me that they're cute and red headed together.

Books! Again!

2011-05-10T10:42:00.001-07:00

Nothing gives me more of a thrill than a fresh pile of books I'm excited to read. As I mentioned on Sunday, Alex got me an Amazon gift card for Mother's Day and I have already spent it. I got Tina Fey's Bossypants, which was the first book I thought of when I opened the card. It's a little pricey since it's so new, so I figured that's a good use of gift money. I also got Heaven is For Real, which I had heard of recently. It's about a 4 year old boy's experience in heaven while he was having emergency surgery. I don't know about you, but I've ALWAYS been fascinated by those "dead for a minute/got to see heaven" kind of stories.

I also sucked it up and paid my (huge) library fine today because Jack was OBSESSED with Ten Black Dots this morning. I have no idea what got his attention about this book, maybe his current fascination with counting? But it became obvious we weren't going to leave the library without either 1) the book or 2) a fit. I decided to suck up my pride and pay the ridiculously huge fine and let him take the book home. What kind of mom would I be if I denied him a book just because I'm a cheapskate? So I paid the fine, renewed my library card (which had, uh, expired), and checked the book out.

After he went down for his nap, I went BACK to the library by myself (the joys of having your spouse work from home!) and got three books for me. Life of Pi, Tinkers, and Dead in the Family. I got Life of Pi thanks to a blog post shared by Mrs. G that mentioned it as one of their top 10 books ever. I grabbed Tinkers because it's a Pulizter Prize winner and supposedly beautifully written (and horrible depressing). And Dead in the Family? Well, it's Sookie. What can I say?

Oh! I almost forgot. I found A Thousand Splendid Suns at Half Price Books on Mother's Day for 6 bucks. So that's on my To Read list as well. What's on yours?

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T18:37:00.000-07:00

I hope y'all had a great Mother's Day and/or treated your mother to a great day. Alex and Jack gave me an Amazon gift card and a certificate good for guilt free Starbucks and Kindle time for Momma. What, what? Starbucks better watch out cause this Momma is coming for a skinny vanilla latte and a comfy chair!

My mom was here this weekend, so it was nice to spend the day with her. What was not so nice is that she's sick and I had to clean up her puke last night. I feel like we've come full circle in our relationship, now.

I'd show you some pictures but I think they're still on the camera and Alex is putting Jack to bed and that trumps getting pictures off the card. For now, I'll leave you with a picture of why I got to celebrate today.

Random Monday

2011-04-11T07:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple of things I meant to share on Friday and then, uh, didn't.

- Have you heard Adele's latest CD, 21? It's AMAZING. If you haven't heard her "Someone Like You," here's a video of her singing it live. She sounds so flipping amazing live, it is RIDICULOUS. I'd give my left arm to sing like that, yo.

- And speaking of singing live, you've seen Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon's "Friday" right? Right? I'm sure you have. But I bet you could use a pick me up right this second, so here it is:

Alex and I have watched this HUNDREDS of times now. HUNDREDS. We randomly sing it throughout the day and Jack will even sing "Friday! Friday!" It's just so fun and about 1000 times better than the original. (If you don't know the back story behind this version or if you've never heard Rebecca Black's Friday, let me know! It's way funnier once you know the whole story behind the video.)

- I'm in a book reading rut. I have tried to read Upton Sinclair's Oil! for years now and it's just not happening. I read about half of Room the other night and I can't get up the motivation to read the second half. I even got our book club book last week and can't seem to get the energy up to read it. I need some book reading motivation, stat.

- I've managed to mess my shins up quite spectacularly. They constantly hurt, so I've been using an exercise bike at our apartment complex's workout facility. It's quite possibly the most boring work out ever. I'm wondering if it's time for new shoes? And how much longer I have to ride the bike? Because I miss running and I really miss running outside. We even bought a jogging stroller! And we've used it once because I couldn't even finish the inaugural run with it. I feel like a running wuss.

Two!

2011-04-03T12:05:00.000-07:00

Zero

One

Two

Happy Birthday, sweet boy. I love you more than you can even imagine.

Seven Quick Takes - April Fools Edition

2011-04-01T05:38:00.000-07:00

1. I'm not gonna lie, I'm not a fan of April Fool's Day. Probably because I'm gullible. Please, be nice to me!

2. I've started a beginner runner training program in the hopes of increasing my speed. I walked/jogged outside the last two days since the weather has been so nice. I tried a new trail yesterday and it was WAY more hilly than I was expecting. And now my shins are KILLING me. KILLING. ME. Like, I thought they were going to snap in half yesterday. Treadmills make you soft, man.

3. Speaking of shin splints, Alex informed me yesterday that he's only gotten them ONCE in his life. Once! I've gotten shin splints my ENTIRE life. (I over pronate like a mug, yo.) I can't imagine an exercise life shin splint free. It must be awesome. And a lot less painful!

4. My mom is making me a memory quilt from some of my grandmother's old clothes. She's been working on it for a few weeks and I'm really excited to see it. I'll be sure to post pictures when I get it.

5. Allow me to complain for a second. So we cloth diaper up in this house, but the 2 that Jack uses overnight are starting to stink. They're by the same company, a Swaddlebees and a Blueberry, and their website was USELESS about making the smell go away. (Their solution? You're probably using too much detergent. Or maybe too little. I dunno.) So I tried stripping them yesterday and I don't think it worked. It's really annoying because our other diapers, Fuzzibunz, won't make it all night. And I don't want to drop the cash for disposable overnight diapers.

6. Jack hates it when I sing to the songs on TV. He'll turn to me and go, "Mama? No." They grow up so fast!

7. Birthday 2.0 preparation is well under way. I ran out of wrapping paper yesterday, which is dangerous because that means I need to go to Target again and that means I'll probably find something else that Jack "needs" for his birthday. I have no birthday self control!

Big Guy

2011-03-28T08:22:00.000-07:00

Jack is going to be 2 on Sunday. TWO! It doesn't seem even possible that my sweet baby boy is going to be two entire years old, and yet here we are. Presents have been ordered. Cupcakes are being contemplated. (I'm thinking Funfetti.) And plans are being made. We're not doing a big party because we just don't know enough people around here to call it a party. My parents are coming in town and we're going to go somewhere fun (Maybe Tinytown?) and let him play and run and eat cupcakes and open presents. I'm bringing (more) cupcakes to Parents' Day Out the next day so he gets to celebrate with his friends there as well. Two days of birthday fun! I bought a Birthday Boy shirt a few months ago and it's hanging in his closet, raring to go. We're all ready.

Except I'm kind of not.

Two years is no longer a baby. Granted, one year old isn't technically a baby either, but I figured I could fake it one more year. He was still wobbly on his feet and so squishy with his baby fat. He was still my sweet little baby, gosh darnit. But I can't really say that anymore. He's my sweet little BOY now. And he's great. Don't get me wrong. He is so much fun. He yells and talks and laughs and claps and marches and kicks and spins in circles. And he always wants me to do it with him. We draw with chalk and stack blocks and play choo choo trains and blow bubbles. He likes to sing songs and play with stickers and tear apart play doh. I don't see how it's possible for him to get more fun or cute or likable.

But, oh, my heart aches when I think of what a little baby he used to be. How time has gone by so very quickly. I can't hold him anymore. He doesn't need me to hold a bottle or give him a paci or hand him a toy or carry him around. He can do that all on his own, thank you very much. He has no time for cuddles when there is so! much! to! do! And I love that he's so big and strong and excited. I'm so thrilled to see him discover the world. But can't we wait on that a little bit longer?

We can't wait. I know. He's a big boy NOW. He's growing up NOW. Right before my eyes. And it's been such a privilege, such an honor to get to know this boy. I can't wait to see the man he grows up to be.

The shirt doesn't lie. He's a big guy.

Books!

2011-03-08T17:42:00.000-08:00

My goal is to read 52 books this year. So far I've read 15, which hardly seems fair since over half of those are Charlaine Harris books. But Sookie counts, man. Sookie counts.

In fact, I didn't read a book that wasn't about vampires or parenting until last week.

There's not much to say about all of the vampire books, is there? You either like them or you don't. I happen to like them. Well, most of them. Some of them aren't so great, especially Dead and Gone which was simply atrocious. But I'm committed to the Sook and I'll read the next few and hope they keep getting better.

Same thing with the Blue Bloods series. I will keep reading them until they get so bad I can't stand them anymore. This last one was wildly uneven, but it was a million times better than the one BEFORE that, which I suspect was actually written by a robot.

I've read two (non-vampire) YA books so far. Al Capone Does My Shirts and Speak. Spoiler for the Book Club - I really liked Al Capone. Really cute and really fun to read. I just finished Speak today and I'm still processing it. It was fine but I'm not sure I liked it. At least, not yet. I still need to think about it.

The three parentings books I've read are The Happiest Toddler on the Block, Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood, and Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline. I'm not linking to those because they are boring and I doubt you will care. I really didn't like The Happiest Toddler on the Block, but the other two were pretty great. They both had overlapping ideas that I think will serve me well as I bumble my way through parenting an almost 2 year old.

The main reason I wanted to post was to tell you about The Kite Runner. It was FANTASTIC. Far and away my favorite book I read this year. And definitely one of my favorite books ever. We're talking top 5 favorite right here. While I was reading it, I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. The story is dark and it can be really difficult to read because it's so incredibly sad, but unlike other sad books (*cough* Little Bee *cough*), I didn't want to bleach my brain and forget all about it. I wanted to know more about Afganistan. I wanted to spend more times with the characters. I was heartbroken at some of the tragedy in the book and cried at least 3 times. The story has stuck with me and I keep going back to it. Hosseini's style is really simple and clean. He's not as much of a minimalist as say, Hemingway or McCarthy, but there's not a whole lot of flowery language here. It's straightforward and just plain GOOD. I bought it on a whim for one dollar at Half Price Books because we've had the movie in our Netflix Instant Queue for months now, just waiting to be watched. And it was BEYOND worth it. The best dollar I have spent in maybe ever. The fact that Hosseini can get a little white girl in Texas invested and empathic with a bunch of male Afghani Muslims is a testament to his writing abilities. I cannot recommend this book enough.

I've got a few books lined up that should last me through the end of March. I'm always open for suggestions. What are y'all reading?

Bad Mood Friday

2011-02-18T12:54:00.000-08:00

I am in a terrible mood today. I've spent most of the day trying to come up with 7 quick takes but they were just coming off of as whiny and complaining. I was going for funny and I am pretty sure they fell far from that goal.

Here's hoping tomorrow is better day.

Sickly Valentine

2011-02-14T16:39:00.000-08:00

Jack woke up with a 102.5 degree fever this morning. We weren't all that surprised because he spent all day yesterday with a fever. He was super fussy and all around miserable. I kept him home from Parents' Day Out (obvs) and took him to the doctor this afternoon. The verdict? Mystery disease. It's a virus of some sort. But who knows? Just keep pumping him full of Motrin and liquids and wait. I can't tell you how frustrated I was with this diagnosis. I was SURE it was strep or maybe another ear infection, but no. Nothing easily identifiable. And he is really, incredibly miserable and I just feel so bad that I can't fix it. Poor kid.

Needless to say, Alex and I had to nix our plans for a (not at all) romantic lunch date. Which would normally not be that big of a deal but I haven't eaten in a restaurant in 3 weeks, which is an ETERNITY for me and I was really, really, REALLY looking forward to EATING at a RESTAURANT with a WAITER. Someone was going to serve me and then take the plates away and I wasn't going to worry about any of it and I was even planning on ordering tea. TEA! Yes, this is the exciting kind of life I lead.

So we got take out Chinese and Icees for dinner. Jack is finally in bed, Alex is out getting some groceries and I'm blogging while watching season 1 of Bones on Netflix. Not very romantic. But that's okay.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Seven Quick Takes - IT SNOWED Edition

2011-02-04T10:22:00.000-08:00

1. It snowed here in San Antonio last night. It wasn't much. What people up north would call a "dusting." But it might as well be a snowpocalypse here. Schools closed. Alex's work closed. All of our neighbors were outside taking pictures of their cars. It was adorable.

2. Here's a picture of our cars "covered" in snow. It could be closer but I wasn't going to put on actual shoes or anything and leave the apartment.

3. What is NOT adorable is that this "inclement" weather meant UPS wasn't running today which meant the delivery I was expecting didn't arrive. Argh.

4. Jack has been sick all week with a double ear infection. He's feeling much better now but he and I have been DYING to get out of the house. We ventured into the (legitimately freezing) cold weather yesterday only to find we were the only people at Gymboree. Neither one of us cared because WE LEFT THE HOUSE, HOORAY!

5. I can't get over how cheap it is to make your own household cleaners. I made a vinegar and water concoction this week. And I've got some baking soda just waiting to be used. And all of it cost less than 3 bucks. Sweetness.

6. I'm also thinking about using baking soda to make my own shampoo. I've been thinking about trying this for a while now but I keep chickening out and buying more shampoo. I'm not sure what my hold up is because we'd save a TON of money on toiletries if we'd stop using shampoo. (Well, if I stopped using shampoo. Alex has informed me that he won't be going down that particular hippy road with me.)

7. We are thinking of the braving the roads this evening so I can use the Half Price Books 20% off coupon. Cheap Books > Treacherous Roads

Seven Quick Takes - 1/28/11

2011-01-28T13:24:00.000-08:00

1. My current favorite cheesy pop song is Bruno Mars' "Grenade." The video is so cheesy and overwrought! I LOVE IT.

2. Jack and I went on a playdate to a place called Mini Town this morning. It was a really neat place with a mini school, HEB (grocery store), living room, disco, salon, and a movie theater. They also had a train, a bouncy house, a giant sand box, and a small playground outside. And what did my kid want to do the entire time? Watch Wonder Pets in the movie theater. What are the chances that they would be playing WONDER PETS today? They are EVERYWHERE I GO. Back off, Ming Ming!

3. The movie theater had little kid-sized movie theater seats. I wanted to take one home with me. For some reason, everything is so much cuter when it's tiny. Why is that?

4. I've had 3 cups of coffee today. I'm drinking the 3rd one right now at 3:30. (I had a hankering for iced coffee.) I will regret this SO MUCH when I try to go to bed tonight.

5. I have succumbed to the ways of FlyLady. While I think her site is still horribly ugly and organized, she DOES have some good tips for getting your house organized and clean. I even bought a microfiber dusting glove at Target this week. (For ONE SINGLE DOLLAR whereas FlyLady wants TEN WHOLE ENTIRE DOLLARS for one on her site.) Plus, anything that promotes keeping a journal with lists has got my love.

6. I haven't scrapbooked a blessed thing this week, but I DID read 3 books. So yay! But they were all silly vampire books. So yay? My friend asked me today if I had read the parenting book I bought on Wednesday and I was all, "Uh priorities!? Vampires come FIRST."

7. We set up Jack's tent for him this week. And he wants NOTHING to do with it. I've tried to get him to go in with me twice. Alex even tried to scrunch himself in there to encourage Jack. We put Cubby in there. And...Jack got close enough to grab Cubby and then SHOT OUT of it like the tent was going to EAT him or something. Baby steps, I guess?

Award!

2011-01-26T17:47:00.001-08:00

I fully intended to post this on Monday. But somehow it's Wednesday now? Not sure how that happened. The passage of time, I guess?

Anyway, Ashley nominated me for this Stylish Blogger Award. Hooray! Thank you, Ashley!

Here are the rules for the acceptance of the award:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you the award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Award 15 other bloggers.
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award.

I'm not gonna lie to you. I don't know 15 people (personally) who blog. (I'm also one of those people who broke chain letters in elementary school.) But! Here are 7 things you may not know about me...

1. When I was in the 5th grade, I thought it was cool to say "Oh mylanta!" because DJ Tanner used to say that on Full House. I also once tried to answer the phone at my grandmother's house with, "Talk to me" because Uncle Jesse did. The person on the other end of the phone had NO idea what to say and I hung up because I was so embarrassed. So! Lesson learned there...no catch phrases from Full House!

2. I like werewolves better than vampires. You probably didn't know this because I just discovered this myself last night. I'm currently reading the 3rd Sookie Stackhouse novel and it is light on the vampire action and I am enjoying it SO MUCH MORE than the first two novels. I also preferred Jacob to Edward in Twilight, so I suppose I like my sexy beasts warm and hairy and not cold and undead. Come to think of it, I'm also a big Remus Lupin fan as well.

3. I sang Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" to Jack ALL THE TIME when he was a tiny baby. Even though it only occasionally calmed him down, I kept going back to it because it calmed ME down.

4. My first cup of coffee was at Cafe du Monde in the Esplanade Mall in Kenner, LA. I drank it with a straw because that's how my dad has to drink all of his drinks too.

5. I got my first pedicure when I was 29 years old. And it was only because it was my first Mother's Day gift from Reid. Which I waited to use until September of that year because we were going on our delayed Honeymoon cruise. It's because I don't like feet AT ALL. And I really don't like people touching my feet. But man, that pedicure was amazing and I have been hooked ever since.

6. I didn't know the awesomeness of cheese until I moved out on my own. My mom doesn't like cheese so we never had it in the house. It was never on sandwiches or burgers or anything else, for that matter. But now I know. Cheese is gooooood. And I appreciate it more since I didn't discover it until I was an adult.

7. I would really like some muffins right now.

I nominate Mrs. G, Christy, Jenny, Lana, and Mel. We cruised together and now we must blog together.

Wipe Out

2011-01-23T12:08:00.000-08:00

I mentioned on Friday that I've ordered over 300 prints of Jack in the past month. I also bought 100 sheets of 4 x 6 photo paper yesterday at Staples. (Which I scored for $8.49 and they came with a $8.50 rebate. What what!?) It's all in an effort to complete Jack's baby book, put pictures in the two brag books I got for my baby shower back in February 2009, and maybe, just maybe scrapbook his first year of life. (In other news, I also decided to order my wedding album! From September 2007! Making my photographer dig through 300+ discs to find OUR wedding pictures!)

Since I'm not very smart, I ordered a random smattering of pictures from all throughout Jack's first year of life and then promptly mixed them all together. So now I have to go back and put them in order. Which is a lot harder than you might think. I fired up this here blog to see if it could help me with the order and lo and behold, I SUCKED at blogging when Jack was first born. In fact, I didn't post a single solitary thing in May 2009. And there are all of 4 posts in April. (He was born on April 3rd.) I never finished posting his birth story. I never explained the story of my incision bursting. I posted two pictures of him before he turned 2 months old. It's bad.

I felt guilty when I was away from Jack doing school stuff and then felt even MORE guilty when I was with him and couldn't comfort him. I would let anybody else hold him because I felt so disconnected and resentful of him. And I was embarrassed and scared and tired and confused. I needed help and had no idea what to do to get that help. I knew I SHOULDN'T be feeling those things but I didn't know how to NOT feel them. Ya know? No matter how hard I tried to convince myself otherwise, I always went back to those same dark places. It was like I was in a hole and couldn't get myself out of it. (Not a very good analogy, I know, but it's the closest I can come to describing it.)

Honestly, I've blocked a lot of it out because...well...who wants to remember that? But looking through these pictures and seeing my bloated, tired self reminded me of it all. And then the silence on my blog is very telling. I generally don't post when things aren't going well and there's a REALLY BIG HOLE at that time in the blog.

I wish I could go back in time and change it. If I could, I would go back and ENJOY the tiny child. I would take better care of him. I'd take better care of ME. God knows I would be a better wife. Why Alex didn't just let me pack up and leave, I do not know. It's weird because those few months were a giant ball of suck and I am so, so, so glad they're over. But at the same time, I wish I could go back in time so I could fix it.

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. I don't have a nice, neat way of wrapping it all up. Because more often than not, depression doesn't have a happy, neat ending. I'm certainly not depressed now. And I do pretty well dealing with anxiety. But Jack is also 21 months old. And I'm just now ready to go back and document his first year of life. And I guess, more than anything, I wish I could go back and tell my lumpy, mascara stained self that it's gonna be alright.

Also, that iPhone was a REALLY good investment.

Seven Quick Takes

2011-01-21T08:15:00.000-08:00

1. In my never ending quest to find awesome beverage containers, I asked for a Tervis Tumbler for Christmas. And I am happy to report that it is AWESOME. I highly recommend them. They keep your drink cold, don't sweat, and are super cute!

2. I am trying my hand at scrapbooking. My mom got me an album w/ stickers and paper last year for Christmas (as in 2009 Christmas) and I am just now trying to do something with it. So far...not good. I have no artistic vision. Or talent.

3. I've ordered over 300 pictures of Jack in the last month. Going overboard is my middle name.

4. Did I mention that I got a Keurig for Christmas? I can't remember. I don't think I did. So! Hey! I got a Keurig for Christmas! And I LOVE it! It's so nice to have my coffee ready in such a short amount of time. My one and only complaint is that my favorite travel mug doesn't fit under it.

5. I haven't read a single book yet this year. I am in a TV watching/crafting phase currently. But I need to step up my game in order to beat my record book count from last year. I've got 3 on my Kindle waiting to be read and Amazon gift cards just waiting to be spent. And yet I have no motivation.

6. Oh my gosh, I can't come up with 7 things. I can't even come up with 6 things. I barely came up with 5 things. My life is boring. Particularly the life parts that I choose to post about.

7. I do not miss snow days. AT ALL.

Craft Time!

2011-01-19T10:14:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what came over me a few weeks ago, but I decided I wanted to be crafty. Mrs. G shared a post on Google Reader about Do It Yourself Valentine's Wreath. And I promptly fell in love with this yarn wreath. I decided I wanted to make one for Valentine's Day. With my mom's help, I got all the supplies at Michael's.

I wound up only using the craft glue on the flowers and then bought a hot glue gun to actually attach the flowers to the wreath.

It took me a while to get the hang of wrapping the yarn around the wreath, but it wasn't too difficult. Except for the fact that I kept hitting myself into the face with the yarn. Here it is about half way through.

I used coffee cans and a salad plate as my template for the circles.

Here's one of the pink circles.

I cut out all of the circles and then made the weird crinkly edges to them.

I totally only made one of the flowers. My mom made the rest of them because I am a wuss.

Finished!!!

Here is it hanging on our door this morning.

Close up of the flowers.

Overall this was a SUPER easy craft and pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself.

Sadness

2011-01-04T11:22:00.000-08:00

Oh man, I hope everyone's holidays were a million zillion times better than mine.

My beloved grandmother passed away on the 28th and I'm just so darn sad.

I feel like I should be posting pictures of Christmas morning and talking about our holiday festivities. But it was pretty somber this year and I just don't have it in me to upload pictures. But I promise Jack had a lovely Christmas and received many wonderful gifts.

My grandmother's funeral was on New Year's Eve, so we didn't really celebrate that night.

Jack and I had spent the last two weeks at my parents' house and we finally came home on Sunday. Somehow it is already Tuesday and I've only left the house once. I know I need to sack up and get back in the real world but I've given myself a pass on not being in fighting form yet. I alway struggle a little after the holidays, not to mention I always need at least a day of doing nothing before I can recover from a big road trip. So combining that with the loss of a loved one means I'm allowed to move a little slowly now, right? And I'm actually being somewhat productive today (Laundry! Picking up! Unpacking!), so it's not all doom and gloom around here.

But I'm still really, really sad.

Photo Overload

2010-12-16T18:07:00.000-08:00

Tonight, we went to see Santa.

Let's remember how last year went.

Lovely, right? We went to the mall after the Jingle Bell Run. He smiled. We bought the CD with the photos so we could print as many copies as we wanted. I used this picture in our Christmas card last year.

So how do you think this year went?

Yep.

He was fine and dandy until we walked up to Santa and then it was a full on MELTDOWN. We showed our concern for him by laughing hysterically. (Parents of the year!) Fortunately, we went to Bass Pro Shops, as you can tell from the logo in the corner, and they offer you a print FOR FREE. So we took our awesomely free awesome picture and skeedaddled. Better luck next year, Santa!

Let's look at some more flattering picture of my child, shall we? I mentioned last week that we were doing a photo shoot with my friend. And it was AWESOME. Jack wasn't in the best mood ever, but I was pretty sure we got a few good shots. I was supposed to get 15-ish edited pictures as part of the deal. Well. She just couldn't decide and gave me 58. Boo yah! Do not worry, I will not force you to look at all 58. I only uploaded 8 for you to see. But man, I love, love, love them. Snapfish was running a deal for 50% off their photobooks this week, so I took advantage of it since I had some beautiful shots of my beautiful baby. Enjoy!

Book Reviews, pt. 2

2010-12-12T07:26:00.000-08:00

More! Books!

Little Bee by Chris Cleave - I had heard that this was really sad before I even picked it up and I figured I could handle it. A sad book can be a good book, ya know? But I feel as though sad isn't the right descriptor for this book. Devastating, maybe. Depressing, definitely. It's not just sad. It's morbid and sorrowful and not uplifting in any way, shape, or form. I can't recommend it in good conscious. It is definitely well written and the plot is very tight. But my goodness, this book HAUNTED me for days and days afterwards and all I wanted was for it to get OUT of my brain.

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion - This book, on the other hand, is incredibly sad but also incredibly amazing. It's a non fiction book chronicling the author's survival of the first year after her husband death. It's so well written and honest, like a guide to her grief. I am hesitant to recommend it because it IS incredibly sad. About halfway through the book, I woke up Alex crying and whimpering, "I'm so glad you're not dead!" But while it IS sad, it is also serves as such a great reminder to keep your loved ones close. To appreciate them. To talk to them. To make good memories with them. Because you don't know how much longer you have with them.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - I was a little hesitant to read this book once I found out it was set in a circus. I'm not sure why since I haven't been to a circus since I was, I don't know, 6? But my fear of clowns knows no bounds and circus = clowns in my head. So imagine my joy when I realized there are no clowns in this book. There is, however, an elephant. And since I'm partial to elephants, that helped a lot. I liked this book quite a bit. It was sweet and romantic. (Also, I kept picturing Robert Pattinson as the dude since he's playing him in the movie adaptation. Which is a bummer...I like to make up the character's face in my head.)

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding - I don't know. I didn't really have much of an opinion on it. I started reading this in 2008 and never finished it. But I was determined to finally finish it this year. And I did....that's about it. I guess I didn't care because I'd already seen the movie and I knew what happened? Or maybe because the whole thing feels really dated now. Maybe it's because I'm not single anymore. It is funny and it's a fun, quick read read. But...eh. Whatever. I can't work up enough excitement to write more about it.

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler - Hoo boy. What can I say about this book? I wanted to like it. I really did. I felt like I SHOULD like it. But...I didn't. I felt like I was plowing through a school assignment with this one. It's quick and easy to read, so that's nice. But the language and characterization are SO dated. I had a hard time with the overt racism towards African Americans AND Jewish people, not to mention the REALLY sexist view of women. It was just so weird because none of the characters were really developed. I had trouble envisioning the world and the action. Not a fan. But I feel bad NOT recommending it since it's Raymond Chandler. So...yeah.

Book Reviews, pt. 1

2010-12-11T10:07:00.000-08:00

So! Let's talk about books! I thought I'd do a series of posts on the ones I've read this year. I always like to see what people have read and why, so I'm hoping some of you enjoy these kind of posts as well. I will be very general on my opinions, so you can read this without fear of spoilers. Also, I've actually kept up the list of books I've read on the sidebar. So if you want individual links to Amazon for any books I talk about, there's a handy guide right there. So helpful, I am!

I've read 41 books this year. I was really proud of that number until I read a post on NPR yesterday by a guy who has read 104 books this year. 104! My word. He must not have small children. And not like television. And get paid to read books. (He does get paid to read books, actually.) He also picked Freedom as his favorite book of the year and I HEARTILY disagree with that assessment, but we'll get to that another time.

Let's start with the series books, shall we?

Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz - This is a 5 book (so far) series of Young Adult vampire novels. They're entertaining, easy to read, and a nice distraction. But! They aren't particularly well written and the latest book in the series was a disappointment. There is a 6th book coming out at the end of this year which I've already pre-ordered for my Kindle. I'm interested to see if de la Cruz gets back on track with the plot in that one. However, if you enjoy silly vampire books, then I highly recommend these. It's a different take on the mythos of vampires, so it's a nice change of pace. Incidentally, that last book was the one Alex read when he was supposed to be reading The Hunger Games. Speaking of which....

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins - I believe I've mentioned these, oh a million times on this here blog. I love them. LOVE. THEM. They're well written, easy to read, extremely entertaining, and so, so, so well plotted. They're intense but not too stressful. Now, some people have criticized the third book, Mockingjay, for not ending the series well. Personally, I was pleased with the ending, but some parts of it were a let down. (It wasn't as crazy town as Breaking Dawn, but not as satisfying as The Deathly Hallows either.) With that said, do not let a potential bummer in the third book stop you from reading The Hunger Games. It's an excellent book all on its own.

The Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson - See? I'm capable of reading non YA books as well! Probably everyone you know has read these books, and with good reason. They're fairly well written, interesting, and entertaining. It can be a little confusing at first because of all the Swedish names and locations. I found myself just making up my own pronunciations in order to get through the words I had no idea how to say. I also had a hard time getting into the first novel because there's a looooooooong exposition about some boring business fraud type thing. So don't let that stop you. Once you get past that, the mystery and intrigue really kicks in and it's hard to put the book down. They also eat a lot of sandwiches and drink a lot of coffee in these books. Like, it's INSANE. Lisbeth and Mikael exist on coffee and sandwiches alone. If you've read the first book, I highly recommend this parody video about the books. It mentions the coffee and sandwich thing too. But, uh, anyway, back to the actual books. I really enjoyed them and wish Larsson was still around to write more books about these characters. I found myself really invested in their welfare by the end of the first book and was sad to see them go in the last book.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan - There are 5 books in this series. I just read them over the Thanksgiving in Ohio family extravaganza. And they are great! They're written for the 5th to 9th grade set, so they're extremely easy to read and so much fun. Riordan does a really good job of getting the tone and voice right for the 12 year old characters. I enjoyed all the Greek mythology references, although I realized I had forgotten quite a bit from my English major nerd days. Again, I was sad to see these characters go when I finished the last books. Riordan has published the first book in a new series set in the same world, but with the focus on different characters. I have that book on my "to read" list because I loved these books so much. And! Some of the main characters from this series are in those books so I'm hoping I'll get my Percy Jackson fix from them. On a side note, Alex and I watched the movie, "The Lightning Thief" last week and it was HORRIBLE. Such a disappointment. So if you saw the movie, don't judge the books by it. The books are much, much, much better.

7 Quick Takes - 12/10/10

2010-12-10T06:55:00.000-08:00

1. Living in a tiny apartment has its challenges. Particularly during Christmas time. Our tree BARELY fits in our "dining" area. I wrapped a bunch of presents last night and it was like a game of Tetris trying to fit them under the tree.

2. I am obsessed with Peppermint Mochas this time of year. My wallet, however, is not so pleased. So imagine my joy when I found that Coffeemate makes a Peppermint Mocha creamer! But be ye warned, buy the liquid and not powdered version. I don't care how much more it costs. It's WORTH it. Don't make my same mistake, dear reader!

3. I am having trouble sleeping lately. I'm attributing it to Christmas insomnia. I get all excited with presents and travel plans and decorations and then my mind will not turn off. At the rate I'm going, I'll be staying up all night by Saturday.

4. I'm taking Jack to get some professional pictures today. I have a friend who is a photographer on the side and she has her hands on a fancy professional camera and lens this weekend. I'm hoping to get a good shot for our Christmas card. I'm excited to share the results with you!

5. If you're looking for some free Christmas music, Amazon is doing 25 Days of Free again this year. And if you look around the site, they have a TON of free Holiday music samplers.

6. Jack got up at 5:15 this morning. Which means he went down for a nap at 10 am. That's going to make our photo session at 4 go really well!

7. Have you been watching The Sing Off? I really enjoyed both episodes last week. I'm sad that the kids from Kettering Fairmont were eliminated since I drove by their school every day when I lived in our old house. But there's still lots of good groups left and it's just such a fun show. You should check it out!

Christmas Deals

2010-12-08T20:37:00.000-08:00

I just started typing one of the most boring posts of all time. And as I kept going, I realized it sounded stupid and lame and BLAH, WHO CARES ABOUT THE DETAILS.

So here is the short version:

I did a lot of Christmas shopping today.

Here are some good deals I found.

I got this nativity set for 25 bucks at Toys R Us. Which is the cheapest I have EVER seen it.

I also got a good deal at Toys R Us on this basketball hoop, which Santa will be bringing for Jack. (Seriously, I got it for cheaper than it is on AMAZON.) Curiously, it was cheaper at the smaller store I went to first, than at the GIANT Babies R Us/Toys R Us mega store I visited later in the day.

The best deal of the day was the Little People Racin' Ramps Garage. It was 40 bucks at Toys R Us and I had never seen it for less than 30 anywhere before. (It's currently 44.98 on Amazon.) I scored it at Target for 24 dollars! OH. YEAH. I was so excited I told the check out lady about it. She...didn't really care.

I also got 9 piece bath toy set for 5 bucks at Big Lots. Which doesn't sound like much, but considering bath toys are ridiculously expensive and it's IMPOSSIBLE to find a simple, floating BOAT for a BATHTUB for less than TWENTY DOLLARS, I was pretty excited. And Big Lots was my THIRD stop after failed attempts at the 99 cent store AND The Dollar Tree. I was SEEING boats everywhere by the time I got to Big Lots. Like, how hard is it to make a cheap bath toy for a stocking stuffer, people?

(And for those of you who might have a Wonder Pets fan in your family, Big Lots had a Fly Boat with Tuck for 10 bucks. I realize that sentence made NO sense to you if you've never watched The Wonder Pets before. And for that, my friend, you should be thankful. For those pets will HAUNT YOUR DREAMS.)

And I found a cute Christmas-y sweater for Santa pictures for a whopping 4.50 at Once Upon a Child.

As I told Alex in a breathless e-mail, I am a Christmas Shopping Ninja.

See? Boring! But exciting for me because I love a good deal. And I really wanted to share. Thank you.

You should watch this because it's pretty cool:

North Point's iBand from North Point Web on Vimeo.

Endurance

2010-12-06T10:38:00.000-08:00

In general, I try not to blog about my family because they don't read this website. It seems unfair to post about someone and then not have the courtesy to let them know they're being talked about on the internet. But I have some thoughts that I need to get out. I promise to keep them general and you can promise not tell tell on me. Cool?

I have a family member who is not doing well. She seems to be giving up and I don't know how to deal with it. I'm feeling a wide array of emotions. Anger, sadness, and guilt, to name a few. What do you do when someone stops wanting to live? My initial reaction is to think that person is selfish. But then I think that maybe I am being the selfish one. After all, she's lived a long life. Her husband, mother, father, and most of her siblings have all died. Her oldest son is gone too. She buried a still born baby over 60 years ago. She's lost plenty of people in her life. Maybe she's just tired. Maybe she's ready to move on.

But man, I am NOT ready for her to leave. I have a son. I want more babies. I want her to know them. I want them to remember her. I consider it a great honor that I got to know my great grandfather who lived to be 102. She'll be 90 next year, so by my count, we've got a good 12 years left, ya know? And maybe when I'm 42 I can deal with her death better. But not now. Not now.

I feel guilty that I've let her down. I'm not delusional enough to think her life revolves around me, but maybe if I hadn't left. Maybe if I lived closer. Maybe if I had visited more. Maybe if I brought Jack to see her more often. Maybe she'd fight harder. Maybe she'd want to TRY to get better.

Maybe, maybe, maybe. I don't know how to talk to her about it. I don't know if I can. She's always been a fighter. This new "I don't want to" attitude is really throwing me off.

I need her to stay. I need her to stick around.

Please?

Seven Quick Takes - 12/3/10

2010-12-03T07:34:00.000-08:00

1. Wait, it's been 2 1/2 weeks since I've blogged. What happened? Ah yes, that's right. A funeral, a baptism, Thanksgiving and an early Christmas. You know, the usual. And all of that happened in Ohio. Far far away from Texas.

2. Today, Jack turns 20 months old. I'm not really sure how that's possible since I gave birth to him just a few days ago. Seriously. 20 months! We're barreling into 2 years at a ridiculously fast rate.

3. I can't be the only person who hates Natalie Portman, right? These previews and commercials for Black Swan are driving me CRAZY. Go. Away. Natalie.

4. I wore a t-shirt and flip flops yesterday. I know a lot of people in the south resent the lack of cold weather and "real winter" during December, but I am not one of them. I really, really, really like not needing a winter coat. Really.

5. I am concerned about what to get Jack for Christmas. I have spent HOURS scouring the internet looking for gifts. I now have a giant spreadsheet FILLED with links to various toys. And I...don't feel any better prepared. It just means I have a ton of links to confuse me even more. Ack!

6. I seem to have lost my Kindle charger. And my Kindle is out of battery. Help!

7. I've been sitting here, staring at the screen for at least an hour trying to think of a 7th item. And I've got nothing. Nothing! I leave for 2 weeks and I can't even think of a 7th quick take. Loser.

Sworn Musical Enemies

2010-11-16T08:46:00.000-08:00

We have SiriusXM in one of our cars and it has spoiled me. I always know what artist is singing what song, which is something that drives me crazy with old, normal radio. I always want to know who is singing what. ALWAYS. I'm sure Alex just loves the way I always ask him whose singing on the radio.

This morning, I heard a new-to-me song that...well...it sucked. I checked to see who was singing and saw that it was Sean Kingston. AAAAUUUUGGGGHHHHHH! I IMMEDIATELY changed the station because I couldn't believe I'd let his voice into my car for as long as I had. You see, he is one of my sworn musical enemies.

I have many sworn musical enemies because I am a freak show when it comes to music. There are some artists that I irrationally hate. There's no rhyme or reason to it. I just can't stand certain artists to the point that they are enemy. Sometimes, it's just one song that puts them on this list. Here are a few:

John Mayer - He is, without a doubt, musical enemy #1. I have never even slightly liked one of his songs. I think they all blow. Plus, he is a total d-bag in real life. I can't understand his appeal AT ALL. I refuse to listen to any of his songs EVER.

Sean Kingston - It was that suicidal song, man. HATE. It makes ME suicidal. I've never liked any other song he's done since.

Colbie Cailait - I'm not really sure why I dislike her so. I didn't like the Bubbly song. And it's grown from there. And so far, nothing else she's done has made me like her.

Plain White T's - Oh my word, Hey There Delilah. It's like musical sauerkraut. Disgusting. (And yes, I know some of you really like that song, ahem Christy, but I just can't do it!) I heard their new song recently and yep, still can't stand 'em.

Two artists who used to be on this list and are now on the, 'I don't like them, but I tolerate a few of their songs now. BEGRUDGINGLY.' list.

Katy Perry - I've eased up slightly on my Katy Perry hate since California Gurls was pretty catchy and it had Snoop Dogg. (Although, ENOUGH with the stupid spelling ALREADY. You are a GROWN WOMAN, Katy. Not a moronic 12 year old.) And the Glee version of Teenage Dream is AMAZING. I actually don't like her version at all, but something about those a capella voices make that song extremely appealing.

Coldplay - This is one of those super popular things that I just don't get. I'm not a fan of Chris Martin's voice and I think most of their songs sound whiny. But man, do I love me some Violet Hill. Probably one of my favorite songs ever. It was, of course, not a very big hit for them, but it was enough to take them off of my sworn musical enemies list. (A list I'm sure they're THRILLED to be off of.)

What about you, dear readers? Any artist that bugs you for no good reason?

7 Quick Takes - Monday Edition!

2010-11-15T14:50:00.000-08:00

1. I saw ANOTHER Alaska license plate today! I realize they are probably here because of the bazillion military bases in San Antonio, but Alaska! Seriously! That is so very far away!

2. Here's a picture of me from last Sunday in my new cardigan. I've worn it several times this week, so I can say it was a good investment. (Note: This was before All The Vomit.)

3. So we're leaving earlier than expected for Thanksgiving because we have to attend a family funeral. This means we're going to be in Ohio for two solid weeks. TWO WEEKS. I have this feeling that people are going to ask, "Did you guys move...back?"

4. I'm very nervous that I don't have enough warm clothes for Jack. I know this is going to shock you, but there's a pretty big temperature difference between south Texas and central Ohio. But I'm hesitant to buy a coat for him when he's not going to wear it very much. But at the same time, I don't want him to, ya know, FREEZE. I forsee many trips to baby re-sale shops in the next two weeks.

5. I've been trying to readjust my typing style and stop putting two spaces after a period. You guys, it's basically impossible. I've been typing since I was ten. (My mom taught me early because she used to be a typing teacher and COULD NOT STAND it when I used to look at the keys to type on our old word processor.) Twenty years of habit is very difficult to break. I'm constantly going back and deleting the extra space. I miss it!

6. Something my mom never taught me to use was excessive use of the caps lock key. That one I've learned all on my own. But! My old laptop is breaking down and the keyboard just can't handle it. I have to SLAM my finger on the caps lock key for it to work. It kinda hurts. Between that and my constant backspacing after EVERY sentence, posting is getting painful.

7. I started this post hours ago and still can't think of a good item for number 7. In that time, I dropped off Alex's suit at the dry cleaners and then went to pick up (yet another) prescription for Jack. And, of course, our insurance didn't cover Jack's medicine, so I came home empty handed. Which is depressing since he needs something for this cough that he's got going on. And yes, I know that was just as boring as it sounds, but I've had this window open for HOURS now and I just can't take any more staring at this screen. There are grilled cheese sandwiches that need to be eaten.

Total Eclipse of the Heart

2010-11-14T16:57:00.000-08:00

Well, I was going to embed this, but it's been disabled for this video. So, please, click here and enjoy the Literal Video Version of Total Eclipse of the Heart. It never fails to make me laugh. And I think we can all use a laugh today.

Idiocy, thy name is Cora

2010-11-13T19:05:00.000-08:00

So! Guess who is a big stupid head? Go on! Guess!

If you said, "Cora!" then you're right! And infinitely smarter than I am!

So tonight, Alex, Jack and I went to the Olive Garden to eat dinner because we are nothing if not suckers for good carbs. And what better excuse to eat carbs than a half marathon. Am I right? The place was super crowded with other racers and I noticed some people were already wearing the t-shirt. I was surprised that they already had them, but I figured they were those over achiever types who like to check in to things early. I used to be that person until I became a mother. Now I just show up and hope things work out. (See: this morning when we breezed into Gymboree for a make up class and I had NO IDEA if we were at the right class until I got a good look at the sign in sheet.)

I started looking up information for where we needed to go in the morning while we were at the restaurant but my phone is super slow and Jack wasn't exactly being helpful, what with the walking away and insistence on sitting on the cold ground outside. So I gave up and figured I'd take care of everything once we got home.

We came home, after a quick trip to HEB to pick up milk and bananas for a good pre-race breakfast tomorrow morning, and for some reason that still remains a mystery to me, I cleaned the bathroom. Don't ask me why, but I thought I'd throw in that little tidbit to show that I'm growing as a person.

After the bathroom met my (admittedly, low) standards of clean, I got online to figure out all the race day stuff. There was a confirmation sheet that I needed to print, so I went ahead and printed that up and started looking at the different options for parking and drop off.

I grabbed the paper off of the printer and saw this:

NO RACE NUMBER PICK-UP ON RACE DAY

Yes, that's right. No race number pick-up on Race Day. Which is TOMORROW.

I FREAKED out and started clicking on links and going through the FAQ and sure enough, I was supposed to have already picked up my race packet. I needed to do it yesterday or today by 5 pm. I'm screwed.

I can't run the race, y'all. I CAN'T RUN THE RACE.

I can't find anything, anywhere that'll let me somehow magically pick up the race packet tomorrow. The FAQ's basically say, "Sorry! Hope you planned accordingly!"

I...can't believe it. Like, seriously? Months of training down the tube. (Not to mention the 90 dollar registration fee.) A life long goal. Done. Over. All gone. Gone! Because I didn't get the memo about the registration pick up.

According to the website, I should have gotten an e-mail about the race, which I most assuredly did not. And with the sickness from this week and the bad news of Friday, the LAST thing on my mind was checking into the race. It didn't even occur to me to look up registration info today because all along, I've assumed I could pick up my number tomorrow morning.

I am an idiot.

Sad

2010-11-12T07:04:00.000-08:00

I just got some devastating news and really don't feel like posting anything, much less a fluffy, random post. I know this month is shaping up to be a month of cop out posts what with the sickness and all, but dude. I just can't post more than this today.

Half Marathon Update

2010-11-11T11:16:00.000-08:00

So. About that half marathon.

Here's the thing. I'm still sick. I'm not throwing up or anything like that, but I'm still existing on saltines and chicken soup. Any time I try to throw in something else, I get nauseous. And sometimes, even my blessed saltines make me feel like crap. I can only drink Sprite without feeling worse. Gatorade is NOT an option and I'm okay if I sip water. I'm also still having...other gastrointestinal issues that I won't go into detail about. But I'm sure you can guess what often goes along with vomiting. Right?

It's not awful or anything, just really, really, really annoying. I think I'll be feeling better and then I do too much and BAM! I'm back on the couch regretting whatever it is I just tried.

So running? Not on my list of things to do.

And the half marathon? Is in 3 days.

I'm really disappointed. There is NO WAY I'm going to be able to run it. NO WAY. Granted, I was never going to smoke it or anything, but this? This isn't how I planned for it all to go down. I feel like a failure. Every time I think about the race, I get that awful "I've got a test that I haven't studied for" feeling. I am trying not to cry while I type this stupid entry. I was going to post about this last night, but couldn't bring myself to do it, so I posted about a baby monkey on a pig instead. (Baby monkey! Woo! Woo!) (Which, in all fairness, is way cuter and more entertaining than me (virtually) crying on your shoulder about my FAILURE.)

So I'm going to try and walk it. I'm hoping, hoping, hoping I'll be feeling well enough to walk without needing to take some *ahem* unpleasant bathroom breaks. If I'm feeling well enough, I'd love to try and jog a mile or two, but I honestly don't know how I'm going to feel on Sunday. (I assumed I'd be feeling fine today and that hasn't happened yet.)

I know it's not the end of the world. I know there will be other races. I know this is no big deal. But it's not shaping up on how I thought it would. And I'm disappointed more than I can describe. I feel like I'm letting myself down. And I feel like I'm letting YOU down since I've been forcing you to read about it for so long.

I'm sorry.

2010-11-10T17:08:00.001-08:00

Some days you have stuff to say.

And some days you just have to post a video of a baby monkey riding on a pig. (Baby monkey!)

Misguided Reader

2010-11-09T07:51:00.000-08:00

So far, no one has vomited today. Success! Jack and I still feel icky, so we're going to spend the day in our pajamas, eat pedialyte popsicles, and watch the Wonder Pets. (I realize I'm tempting fate my blogging about NOT vomiting, as Jack and I both puked after posting the last two days.)

Anyway, let's talk about something not as gross, shall we?

Earlier this year, I read The Hunger Games and would NOT shut up about it. Unfortunately, I knew no one in real life who had read it so I begged Alex to read it so I'd have someone to talk to about the book.

It should come as no shock to you that he never read the book.

I did, however, convince some friends to read it and they loved it as much as I did. I had so much fun on the cruise talking to them about the book, especially because they both finished it while we were on the boat. When I got home, I asked Alex once again to read the book because I was convinced he would love it. I'm not really sure why it was so important to me that he read the book as well, but it's something I haven't been able to let go.

(A part of me still thinks I can turn my husband into a reader.)

(Ha!)

(And also, HA!)

He promised to read it on the plane to and from his guys' weekend this past week. So I gave him my Kindle and sent him on his merry way.

Friday night, I texted him and asked if he started reading it. He said he was 30% through and it was pretty good. I was really excited that he was enjoying the book and figured he'd finish it early this week. And then...I'm not sure what? We'd sip tea and discuss the finer plot points? I don't know. Point is: I wanted him to finish the book already.

Last night, he told me he was 71% through the book and that it was "really starting to pick up." I looked at him funny because things don't really "pick up" in The Hunger Games. It's a pretty intense book from start to finish. And THEN he said something that had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the plot of The Hunger Games. In fact, what he said was a plot point of a YA vampire novel.

Me: You aren't reading The Hunger Games.

Him: Yes, I am!

Me: There are NO VAMPIRES in The Hunger Games.

Him: There aren't? Are you sure?

Me: You've been reading Misguided Angel, which is the fifth book in a silly vampire series.

Him: (taking the Kindle out) Oh.

Y'all, he read the wrong book. He read the WRONG book. HE READ THE WRONG BOOK.

I have spent months (MONTHS!) trying to get him to read this freaking book and he finally sits down and reads a BLUE BLOODS NOVEL instead.

And do you know what he said when we figured this out? "Thank goodness because it was NOT very good. I read Mrs. G's post today about it and was like...really? This isn't all that great."

OY.

Better but...

2010-11-08T18:45:00.001-08:00

So I'm feeling much better today.

My kid? Not so much. He's puked twice now and I am PRAYING that he doesn't have what I did. Which is why you're getting lame-o blog post numero dos right now.

I'm sorry. I hope I can write about something non-vomit related tomorrow.

Misery

2010-11-07T18:05:00.000-08:00

So sick. Typing this from bed. On my phone. Please say the puking is over.

The Winner

2010-11-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

I know! I'm surprised too. I went to the store today, determined to buy the gray cardigan. The current votes were 3-2 in favor of the gray.

But then I tried the black one on again, so I could show my mom. And well...I had my doubts. The black one really is more flattering. And it's a tad bit dressier. And when it came down to it, I just LIKED it better.

So I decided that I should probably buy something that I liked. Even though it's not as versatile. I might totally regret this decision, but ah well. At least I have one cute cardigan, right? Plus, I am planning on using Phil's advice and stalking the gray one until it goes on super sale and get it too.

I'll try to remember to take a picture of me wearing it tomorrow so you can see how it looks with something cute.

Thanks for y'all's help! I should ALWAYS consult the internet on my clothing purchases!

7 Quick Takes - 11/5/10

2010-11-05T13:20:00.000-07:00

1. My parents are here and Alex is out of town, so I'm using his computer. (My mom is borrowing my laptop.) It feels so weird and wrong to be sitting at a desk and using a normal keyboard.

2. We went to the zoo today. And we saw both a rhinoceros and an elephant pee. I could have gone MY ENTIRE LIFE without seeing that. It was a little traumatic. Hopefully wee little Jack won't be scarred for life.

3. In the last two weeks, I have seen a car with an Alaska license plate and one with a Hawaii plate. Isn't that bizarre? Also? How much does it cost to ship your car from Hawaii? Because I just ordered a copy of Jack's birth certificate and it was obnoxiously expensive. I can't imagine shipping a CAR.

4. With my parents here, we've been eating out a lot. So far we've had fried catfish and burgers from Five Guys. Clogged arteries, ahoy!

5. And my mom bought me an Icee today. I've been an on Icee ban in order to be healither (more on this in a bit), but I did get one a few weeks ago as a little post-cruise pick me up. Other than that, I've been Icee free for months. But my mom offered and I caved. After all, who doesn't want a free Dr. Pepper Icee?

6. So. This health thing. It's really frustrating. I haven't mentioned it much lately, probably because I could write a full post on it, but I haven't lost ANY WEIGHT. Despite the fact that I have been consistently working out and eating well for MONTHS. I mean, I could be eating EVEN healthier, but I've been pretty darn good. And nothing. NOTHING. I wanted to punch myself in the face the ENTIRE cruise because all the other girls were all so cute and skinny and I looked like a swollen marshmallow.

7. Thanks for the votes on the great Cardigan Debate of 2010. I think I'm going to go with the gray one. I'm taking my mom to Kohl's tomorrow to make the final decision. I'll be sure to let y'all know which one I purchase. I am sure you're all losing sleep over it and I promise the wait will be over tomorrow!

Back to the Past

2010-11-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

First: My parents will be arriving here in about an hour and the house is already clean. I'm not sure how that happened. I guess I'm becoming more responsible?

Anyway.

Today's big trending hashtag on Twitter was #tweetyour16yearoldself.

A lot of them were funny. And it seemed like most people wanted to warn their younger selves away from making dumb mistakes. It took me a while to come up with something, but I eventually posted this:

You're really skinny, enjoy it. Put on some make up. OH, and it's best just to avoid the boys until you're 26.

Because, dude, I was quite skinny and had NO IDEA. I had no concept of how to dress myself, either. I also didn't wear make up AT ALL until I was well into my 20's. And sometimes I wish I had had more fun being pretty when I was younger. Or at least put some mascara on. I look back and think, what was I trying to accomplish? I guess I always felt like I was dressing up and someone would call me out for not being pretty enough for cute clothes or make up. And I KNOW I was terrified of being noticed. So I dressed in baggy clothes and stayed away from make up. Silly, silly, silly me.

I threw in the last sentence as a future life warning. Boys were a non-issue for me at sixteen, and this wasn't #tweetyour22yearoldself, but I figure if 16 year old me got that memo, then 22 year old me might not be such an idiot. I figure it couldn't hurt.

I thought about adding in that DC Talk is not the end all be all of music. And that getting those straight A's and that seal on your diploma? So not worth it. Take the half day your senior year instead!

What about you? Any advice you'd give your 16 year old self?

Help Me Buy a Cardigan

2010-11-03T08:06:00.000-07:00

Internet! I need your help!

First of all, it is finally cold enough in Texas to wear sweaters. I suppose it was bound to happen at some point, so here we are. Sweater weather...at least in the morning. I actually didn't wear one yesterday because living in Ohio for seven years has hardened my exterior to the point that I don't feel cold until it is AT LEAST 40 degrees. It's...kind of awesome, actually.

Anyway. While I have a plethora of coats and hoodies, my cardigan collection is lacking. As in, I own maybe 2? 3 at the most. And I only like one of them. AND they are brown, which is fine and dandy, except brown doesn't go with everything.

Which means I am in need of a black or gray cardigan. I was originally set on getting a black one, but then I got to thinking that gray would be better because I could wear the gray with my black sweaters/t-shirts and not clash too much. I was hoping to find a dark gray cardi that would be dressy enough I could throw it on over some of my short sleeve dresses and wear it to church without looking like a moron.

I found myself at Kohl's this morning. (Yes, I FOUND myself there. Definitely didn't drive there with a purpose or anything.) I love Kohl's because all you have to do is wait and things will go on sale and then they will give you a coupon for even MORE off. I found two candidates that I think will work, but I can't decide which one. This is where you come in. I need some opinions on which one is better! I have to choose only one, so the answer "both" is not an option. (As much as I'd like it to be.)

First up, we have a black, open front cardigan from Apt. 9.

Cute, right? It's on sale for 25 bucks and is the style I was looking for. Here is a picture of me actually wearing it. (Please forgive my unwashed appearance, complete with day old, smudged mascara under my eyes.)

(I also just realized I look REALLY fat in this picture. When will I learn to stop pulling my chin into my neck? I don't really feel like cropping my face out of this picture, so believe when I say I don't weigh 300 pounds.)

Anyway, the cardigan is actually black, even though it looks navy blue in the picture.

Next up, we have this gray sweater from Elle. It's on sale for 30 bucks.

Again, open front. But this one is much longer in the back and has a little bit more complicated front. Here I am modeling it in the store:

Blurry, but you get the point.

I feel as though the gray looks more flattering in the pictures, but I think that's because I didn't have it pulled over mah boobs, which are large-ish. (TMI! Welcome male readers that are not my husband!) In real life, I felt as though the black was a bit more flattering. HOWEVER, the gray one looked just fine and it might be more versatile? If the gray one had been darker, then I think I would just go for it. But it's lighter shade (and higher price...5 whole dollars!) are giving me pause.

So what do you think? Gray or black? Help a sister out!

Doughnuts!

2010-11-02T13:55:00.000-07:00

So. I went to bed at 6:30 last night. Mostly because I just couldn't stay awake anymore. I was so exhausted, that Alex laughed at me when I claimed I was only gong to lay down "for a little bit."

I got up at 5 am this morning. And I was INCREDIBLY productive from 5 to 8 am. Like, AMAZINGLY productive. Maybe this is what I need to do every night? Get a ton of sleep and then do a lot in the wee hours of the morning when my two boys are still sleeping? Maybe. But I doubt it'll happen.

Of course, I'm really tired right now at 4 pm, so my current goal is to try and make it until AT LEAST 8 pm this evening. Progress!

In other news, I brought doughnuts to my MOPS group this morning. (I wasn't being NICE or anything, by the way. It was my table's turn to provide breakfast for the whole group.) I went to Shipley's Donuts for 2 dozen doughnuts and my word, they are DELICIOUS. The problem is that only 18 were eaten at the meeting. Which means I took 6 home. Which means there are only 4 left. Because I ate not one, but TWO (2!) for lunch. I have no self control people. NONE.

Also, I managed to not do a single housework-related chore the entire time the baby napped. Which was for THREE HOURS. I am the least successful housewife OF ALL TIME.

NaBloPoMo is here!

2010-11-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

It's November 1st, which means it's time for NaBloPoMo again! Frankly, I can barely believe that it's November ALREADY, but the calendar tells me it is so and the calendar does not lie.

So prepare yourselves for the very best in mediocre blogging for the next 30 days. Woo! Hoo!

7 Quick Takes - I Miss the Caribbean Edition

2010-10-29T11:11:00.000-07:00

1. I went on a 4 day cruise to Cozumel last week with some of my very best friends/most awesome people in the world. I wish I was still on this ship right now.

2. Alex and I went to Cozumel last year on our anniversary cruise, so I actually knew what to expect this time. We decided to just go to a free beach for a few hours in the afternoon and it was beautiful. I never ever wanted to leave.

3. We did some shopping in Cozumel as well. We docked at a different pier from last time, so I got to see some different shops and some pretty tourist-y areas that we missed last time.

4. Also, we ate A LOT. I don't have many food pictures to share, probably because I was too excited to start DEVOURING the food the second it was placed in front of me. But it was all so good and it was so nice not to have worry about the dishes or cleaning up afterwards. I also probably gained 5 pounds, but let's not talk about that, shall we?

5. Before said trip, I purchased the most amazing travel mug of all time. It's a Contigo Stainless Steel mug. I purchased it at Costco, which is why I'm linking to those particular tops, but it is AMAZING. It keeps my beverages hot long beyond the promised 4 hours. And it DOES NOT LEAK. I accidentally knocked it over the other day and nothing spilled out. I highly, highly, highly recommend them.

6. In all the cruise hub bub, I forgot about getting Jack's costume in time for the Parents' Day Out celebration on Wednesday. So I spent several hours Tuesday night going from big-box-store to big-box-store, trying to find a costume. I eventually found the perfect costume at the 2nd Target I went to, a half an hour before they closed. Way to go loser Mom! (Also, I haven't bought any candy yet either. Nor have I taken my child to a pumpkin patch. I suck!)

7. Jack looked really cute in his costume.

Parent's Day Out and Sweating it Out

2010-09-16T09:59:00.000-07:00

This was Jack's first week at Parent's Day Out. It's Monday and Wednesdays from 9-2. That is 10 full hours spent away from me. I fully admit that I had a FULL ON FREAK OUT last weekend. I completely regretted my decision to enroll him and basically drove Alex bonkers with my fretting. I sent out texts about my fears. I cried. I paced nervously. I panicked that my son was going to hate me for the rest of his life.

It was FINE.

Kid didn't even cry. Granted, I sneaked away so he wouldn't see me leave and have his very own FULL ON FREAK OUT, but still. He was happily playing when I left and happily snacking when I picked him up. His teachers told me he only got teary when it was nap time. Which I totally expected because he is used sleeping in a big boy bed, while a parent reads to him and lays down with him while he drifts into dreamland.

Which...yes, let's talk about that, shall we?

My kid is a hustler. Straight up.

He slept in a crib at Parent's Day Out. A CRIB. Homeboy hasn't slept in a crib since he was 2, maybe 3, months old. He hated his crib. HATED IT. He would fall asleep in our arms and instantly awake the second he hit the mattress. And then he would scream bloody murder. He acted like I was ripping him apart, limb by limb, if I put him in the crib so I could do things like, I don't know, go to the bathroom. (Oh, how long for those halcyon immobile days when I could pee without a small person standing next to me, hitting me in the back with the toilet seat.) We co-slept mostly out of laziness because it was SO MUCH EASIER to sleep with him than fight the crib fight. We moved him to a big boy bed very early because we were desperate (desperate!) for him to sleep in his own room and the crib was NOT. AN. OPTION.

We were hustled. HUSTLED. That child has napped two days this week with STRANGERS in a CRIB. If I were one to use such phrases, I would offer a great big WTF to this. Because seriously? SERIOUSLY? My own child has been playing me for a full year now. I had no idea crib sleeping was even an option for him anymore. Do you know how much easier that would have been? GAH.

Also, I have joined the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group at our church and it's been great fun to meet new moms and we even had a MOPS-wide play date this week. It was at this indoor playground place with lots of slides and bouncy houses and other child-friendly items. Jack had a really great time and I got to talk to lots of different moms. The only problem was that I was sweating like I was at the gym. Seriously. I had to go to the bathroom to TOWEL OFF. The owners apparently turn the air conditioning off at night to save on costs, so when we arrived at 10 am that morning, they had only just turned the AC on. And oh my word, it was so embarrassing. My forehead was glistening, I had sweat stains on my arm pits, my back had a line of sweat, even my CHEST was sweating. MY CHEST. I looked like I had just run 3 miles, not just sent my son down a slide 3 times. I wanted to leave, but Jack was having a great time, so I stayed for him. To everyone's credit, they still talked to me even though I was covered in a layer of sweat from head to toe. I'm just afraid they're going to remember me as "that sweaty girl in the Saints shirt" instead of, you know, MY NAME.

Seven Quick Takes - 8/27/10

2010-08-27T05:27:00.000-07:00

1. So I got up and went to the gym at 5:30 this morning. I know I won't shut up about it, but I just can't get over it. And if you know me, then you know that is a HUGE deal. I am not a morning person AT ALL. (My friends from college are groaning and snickering all at the same time.) So for me to get up that early for the express purpose of EXERCISING? Well, the world might stop spinning.

2. I went to a spin class where the instructor announced, "I just have to embarrass Frank here, but tomorrow is his 75th birthday." And then! Then! At the end of class, he asked Frank (I have no idea if that is his name or not.) if he was going to ride tomorrow for his birthday, because he remembered when he rode 70 miles to celebrate his 70th birthday. What! What? I cannot do that now and I am THIRTY. This man is my new hero.

3. We found a Parent's Day Out program for Jack! I am so excited for him to start "school." I know a lot of moms get all misty at the thought of their baby starting school, but not me! I am PUMPED that he gets to spend time with kids his age and learn how to socialize without Momma holding his hand. Plus, I think the break will help me be a better parent.

4. I took Jack to the gym with me yesterday and he actually survived in the day care the entire time! They called me to come get him right at the end of my run, so I finished up and hustled down there. I assumed they called me because he was having a melt down, but nope, he had just pooped. I've never been so happy to hear he had pooped in his life.

5. I am in the market for a cute, potentially chunky, long necklace. And I need it to look good with a dark purple tank with ruffles along the top. I'm going to check out Kohl's today because I would also like it to be cheap. I'm a little nervous because I am not very good at accessorizing. I might wind up looking like a moron.

6. My kid loves Super WHY. My inner book nerd is so proud.

7. Have I mentioned that I got a new flat iron for my birthday? Because I did. And it is AWESOME. Life changing, even. I picked this one based on its good reviews on Amazon. And I am happy to report that is well worth the money. (It was cheaper at Wal-Mart, where my parents bought it.) I don't even have to dry my hair at night anymore. I can just let it air dry and get all weird and frizzy and the next morning, the flat iron makes it ALL GO AWAY. It is AMAZING.

7 Quick Takes - 8/20/10

2010-08-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

1. When I got home from play group this morning, I noticed that I had huge wet spots on my abdomen. Like...directly under my bra. Underboob sweat. SEXY.

2. Maybe that's why nobody talked to me very much?

3. I'm currently reading The Passage. It's...a little disturbing. And kind of depressing. I mean, I'm enjoying it and am planning on finishing it. But I can't honestly say that I will recommend it to anyone. It's like The Road meets Alien, so if that's your thing, then this is the book for you.

4. I am planning on taking a break from The Passage to read Mockingjay next week because it finally, finally, finally comes out on Tuesday. I've already pre-ordered it to be delivered to my phone the day it comes out, so I can begin reading it IMMEDIATELY. And yes, I am doing a nerd dance as I type this.

5. I am now on Week 8 of my 10K training. However, I am ditching the 10K training on Monday to begin half marathon training. Oh yeah, baby, I am DOING IT.

6. I had Sesame Street on this morning to help distract Jack while I got everything ready to go to play group. He managed to find the remote and changed the channel to ESPN. I guess he likes football better than Abby Cadabby. Alex is very proud.

7. Jack thinks he can swim. I took him to the pool earlier this week and he kept trying to break away from me. I had brought a covered floatie for him to ride in, but, of course, he got tired of it after a while. I took him out and was letting him play in the water while I held him, but I guess I'm no fun because he kept trying to dive away. It was frustrating, to say the least. But at least he's not scared of water like his momma?

First Haircut

2010-08-14T15:56:00.000-07:00

So! Jack's hair. It was long. Very, very, very long. He was regularly mistaken for a girl. My parents would not SHUT UP about how he needed a hair cut. It was starting to get straggly. His bangs were in his eyes. It was time. So I decided I wanted the first hair cut to be a part of my big birthday celebration. Alex resisted at first, because he wanted the day to be about me, but I insisted since it was such a convenient time to get it done.

Of course, we took plenty of pictures before we left.
Self portrait of mother and child.

I think he looks so cute in this picture, even though the window is GROSS.

Shaggy!

We went to a place called Sharkey's that is close to our gym. They had TV's in front of every station, and as you can see, Jack got to sit in the red car from the movie, Cars. I have no idea what that car's name is, but I know Owen Wilson voiced the character and always said, "Ka chow! Ka chow!" They also had a Sesame Street DVD playing for Jack to help calm him.

It didn't help much.

A merciful Elmo break.

He REALLY, REALLY, REALLY hated the clippers.

At this point, I feel as though I should point out that I did NOT cry. Jack was so stressed, that I went into full on Mommy comfort mode. So I didn't have time to think about what a momentous occasion it was or how he was becoming a little boy before my very eyes. Instead, I just kept trying to distract him from the nice lady with the scissors.

He still looked upset even after it was all over with. He, of course, then threw a fit when we took him OUT of the car. Toddlers! So unreasonable!

Side view!

Finally smiling now that he got to chase a balloon around for a little while.

As you can see, he looks COMPLETELY different. We keep joking that he looks like a little banker. Alex kept asking him for investment advice. He definitely looks more like a little boy and less like a baby now. Which hurts my heart in about a million zillion different ways. He's only 16 months old! He is still MAH BAYBEE!!!! And yet, there he is getting hair cuts and talking about investments with his friend at Wal-Mart.

I'm handling it pretty well though. I miss his old hair a lot. I loved the curls and the hobo look. I think it'll be a while before we're ready to cut his hair again. I keep telling myself that he has to be a lot cooler now, so it was really a good thing. That reasoning doesn't work, but it's a nice thought.

The good news is that he's not totally grown up yet. If he were, I couldn't take pantsless pictures like this and post them on the internet.
And he's still my baby because I still eat his thighs. I mean, LOOK AT THEM. How can you resist? Nom nom nom nom.

7 Quick Takes - I'M STILL ALIVE edition

2010-08-13T11:45:00.001-07:00

1. I'm still here! I'm sorry! I've been busy!

2. I was at my parents' house last week, which is a black hole of communication and technology. There is no internet. There is no cell phone reception. There is no cable. They don't even have a land line phone. It was frustrating, to say the least. But hey! I read a lot!

3. I know you've all been wondering how my running is going. I'm on Week 7 of my 10K training. I'm still really, really, really, really slow. But I keep going! I've just about convinced myself that I'm going to do the half marathon in November, even if I have to walk half of it.

4. Alex and I went to the gym together last night. We haven't done that yet because we are both weenies when it comes to leaving Jack at the child care center. I got stuck with the dirty job of actually LEAVING him there and he was none too pleased, but he wasn't crying, so we bolted. You know where this is going right? Guess whose workout was cut short due to a crying child? But! He totally only wanted me and refused to go to Alex. Favored parent status confirmed!

5. We also got Jack's hair cut on Wednesday, which also happened to be my 30th birthday. I have a post started on the awesomeness of my birthday and hopefully I'll get to finish it this weekend. The hair cut part? Well...not so awesome. It deserves a post of its own, but you have been warned! Weepy, my baby is all grown up post is in queue.

6. You'd think I'd be OVERFLOWING with things to talk about since I haven't blogged in a month. You'd be wrong.

7. I ran into a die hard Cubs fan today at Wal-Mart. (I was wearing my (new!) Cubs shirt. It's not like he just walked up to me and asked if I was a Cubs fan.) Y'all, Cubs fans are EVERYWHERE. And they are all the same. They are all so hopeful that their team is going to get to the World Series someday. Bless their little hearts.

Seven Quick Takes - 7/16/10

2010-07-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

1. We've been attending a local, gigantic church for a few months now. We haven't really met anyone yet, mostly because the place is so massive. So in a fit of, 'I need to get more involved!' guilt, I decided to volunteer for VBS next week. And y'all, I had to fill out three pages of paperwork, including a BACKGROUND CHECK, and provide a copy of my driver's license. It's the most extensive work I've ever had to do just to volunteer to help kids with glue or serve cookies or whatever job I've been assigned. And Jack and I have to be at the church at 8 am everyday. Ha! Ha! Haaaaaaaaaaaa!

2. I'm sure y'all are dying to know the latest in the continuing adventures of hippie living. I am allergic to certain natural deodorants. Oh yes, you read that right. NATURAL deodorant. As far as I can tell, I'm not allergic to them all, but I am MOST DEFINITELY allergic to Tom's of Maine Long Lasting Deodorant. I think it's the zinc ricinoleate that did me in. I'll spare you the details, but know that an itchy, red rash on your underarms is NOT desirable. Did I mention the itchy part? Because ITCHY, ITCHY, ITCHY.

3. As a result of the rash, I've been trying to wear as little deodorant as possible to allow my poor, wretched armpits time to heal. As you can imagine, I am a DELIGHT to be around! I smell so fresh and wonderful in the 100 degree heat! What a wonderful time of the year to have a deodorant aversion!

4. I am incapable of spelling deodorant correctly. I put an "e" where the second "o" is. I have misspelled it EVERY SINGLE TIME I've written it in this post.

5. I parented solo for 3-ish days this week. And I am proud to report that it was not nearly as difficult as I thought it was going to be. Honestly, I was dreading it. Obviously I spend everyday alone with Jack, but I won't lie and say that I don't countdown the hours until Alex gets home. I need the break, ya know? Especially when it comes to bedtime, but if there is one thing that I absolutely loathe about parenting, it is BEDTIME. HATE. IT. But we survived! And Alex is back and I can now tell you about it without worrying that someone was going to come kill me in the night!

6. Wednesday morning, Jack and I were leaving the apartment to head to Gymboree when I realized that my car was uh, not there. I was like...NO WAY, SOMEONE STOLE MY CAR. And then I noticed it under the covered parking near our apartment. I never park there because you 1) have to pay for the privilege and 2) get towed if you don't. So I never ever ever park there. And yet, there was my car. I couldn't remember exactly where I had left the car, but I knew it had been directly in front of our place. Nothing was missing and everything seemed okay. Plus, Jack and I had been double locked in our apartment since 10:30-ish the previous morning. So there was no way someone had somehow gotten our spare keys. Alex and I think they started to tow my car because they missed our resident sticker and then realized and had to put it back. Why they didn't try to put the car back in its original space, I have no idea. But let me tell you, if you want to have a nice little freak out and question your mental capacity, have someone move your car without your knowledge. That'll do it!

7. I can't spell privilege either. There's no "d!" I can't handle it!

Ack!

2010-07-07T20:13:00.000-07:00

So my baby turned 15 months old over the weekend. I have a big old list of stuff he is doing these days that I will post later. (Or never. Whichever.)

We had his well baby visit today, except that HA HA, he's not well at all. We took him in knowing he wasn't feeling awesome and surprise, surprise! He has strep throat. PARENTS OF THE YEAR, Y'ALL. We had NO IDEA he was that sick. NONE. The least the kid could do is ACT sick. But nooo...he just acts tired and we just had a big road trip, so we contributed it to that. So we bring him into the office and we're all...yeah, he's not quite himself, ya know?

And then the nurse is like...he has a fever.

And the doctor is like...his throat is really red.

And the strep test is like...POSITIVE.

So he's sick. For the first time ever. It's almost a relief to finally get this over with. Don't get me wrong, I've really enjoyed him NOT being sick, but I knew it was going to happen at some point, and I was really dreading it. But so far, so good. He was super extra snuggly this morning and went down for his nap with no protest, so I can't really complain, so really, him being sick has been AWESOME for me. But I felt just AWFUL when they told me had strep. Poor little baby! I got that ALL THE TIME when I was a kid and it sucks. And I had no idea! I am an idiot!

I picked up his antibiotics tonight and about 30 minutes after his first dose, he was HEALED COMPLETELY. Suddenly, he was no longer tired or snuggly or mopey. He wanted to run! And play! And throw things! I'm not sure what was in those 3.5 mm of white stuff, but it was MAGIC, y'all. MAGIC. And we've got 10 more days of it. Hooray?

Seven Quick Takes - 7/2/10

2010-07-02T09:55:00.000-07:00

1. Thank you for all the kind comments from Wednesday's post. Y'all are the best. I'm glad I have such nice friends/readers.

2. Many, many, many congratulations to my brother and sister-in-law who delivered a beautiful baby girl yesterday morning. I'm so excited to be an aunt!

3. Have I ever mentioned that there is a trainer at my gym who looks EXACTLY like my ex-boyfriend? It freaks me out EVERY TIME I see him. The resemblance is UNCANNY and in my head, this guy's name is totally the same as my ex. I hope I never have to interact with him because I'd probably accidentally call him that.

4. We watched Top Chef last night. And dude, this season's cheftestants are not very nice. I don't really like any of them at all. I miss Kevin from last season.

5. I went dress shopping yesterday for a shower that I'm going to this weekend.
Cute, eh?

6. Jack pooped in the tub this morning. So that tells you the kind of day we're having. Plus, he woke up around 1 this morning and was up for hours. I'm so tired and Alex is so tired and we have an 8+ hour drive ahead of us today. Caffeine IV stat!

7. So. Elmo's World. It's a little weird, isn't it? I really dislike Mr. Noodle. He is creepy. And Mr. Noodle's brother, Mr. Noodle? I can't look at him without thinking of his death scene in The Green Mile. Right now, Elmo is talking to a bicycle and a helmet. It's bizarre. And I don't think caffeine will help me make any sense of it.

Down

2010-06-30T13:25:00.001-07:00

Somedays, I just can't do it. The kitchen is a wreck. The bathroom is disgusting. Baskets of (clean) clothes are piled up. Toys and books are scattered across every room. Our shoes (How do we own so many shoes?) are strategically placed for everyone to trip over regularly. The trash needs to be taken out. The mail hasn't been checked in over a week. I yell at the baby. I yell at my husband. I pay more attention to my computer than my child. I fail at being a good friend. I fail at making new friends. I wonder who I am beyond Jack's mom and Alex's wife. I vaguely remember there was a time when I had hobbies and interests of my own, but I don't know what they were or how to even access that part of my brain. Instead, I sit on the couch and cry and eat a few cookies. Also, I am very, very, very fat.

I know I should end this post with the positives. Point out that the baby snuggled up to me earlier and we laid there and read books while he rested his head on the crook of my arm. Or that my husband doesn't really care that the house is a wreck and insists that if it DOES bother him, he can clean it up himself. Or that my friends are awesome and forgiving and really great at e-mailing. Or that I have a (legal) copy of photoshop just waiting for me to play with it. And a stack of books beckoning me to read them.

But I can't. I don't want to. I just feel like a big fat failure today and everything I touch is ruined. I want to hide under the covers and sleep for a thousand years.

Seven Quick Takes - 6/25/10

2010-06-25T10:31:00.000-07:00

1. The baby voluntarily went down for a nap today. An EARLY nap, no less. I really don't know what to do with myself.

2. I've completed week one of my 10K training. Today starts Week 2 and frankly, I am TERRIFIED. Pretty sure I'm going to die right there on the treadmill for all the world (read: my fellow gym goers) to see.

3. We went to Bass Pro Shop last night. I am not a fan Bass Pro Shop, BUT my husband is and he rarely gets to go to a store that only HE wants to visit. He went to look at guns and I was left in charge of the baby. He and I wandered around until we saw the best thing ever. Shoes! I had NO IDEA they had such a large shoe section. I told Alex that if he wanted me to go to Bass Pro earlier, all he had to do was mention the shoes.

4. I bought some brown Reef flip flops at Bass Pro.
I love them.

5. I found a blue doll stroller at Babies R Us yesterday. I've been wanting to get Jack a doll stroller for a while now, because he loves to push his OWN stroller around. So far, it has been a hit and it warms my heart to see him pushing his sock monkey around the apartment.

6. Jack and I colored today for the first time. I got him those funny little round toddler crayons. He doesn't quite get the concept yet. When he was tired of those, he grabbed a block and started rubbing it all over the paper. He seemed really confused about why nothing was happening to the paper. His face was the essence of "What the?"

7. I've been trying to use up the stuff we have at home before going out and buying more. (Novel concept, I know!) So I busted out some old Burt's Bees soap that I had been given a while ago. Everything seemed fine and dandy until I actually USED it the other day. It had an unmistakable smell. The smell of a MAN. I got out of the shower and told Alex that he was free to use the soap because I didn't want to walk around with a musky scent. So if you see me sometime soon and I smell a little...masculine. Be kind. I'm just trying to be economical!

Seven Quick Takes - 6/18/10

2010-06-18T11:41:00.001-07:00

1. I love Netflix. We've successfully watched all of "How I Met Your Mother." So our next project is tackling "Veronica Mars." So far, I'm really enjoying it. Kristen Bell is so cute and likable.

2. In my never ending quest to be a hippie, I've decided to no longer use regular face wash. I am using my own homemade concoction of Extra Virgin Olive oil and Castor oil. Don't worry, I didn't make this up. It's called the Oil Cleansing Method and real people actually use this stuff regularly. I've only done it for two days, but I can already tell a difference. I've had three obnoxious zits on my cheek for at least a month now and this morning, I noticed that they were already smaller.

3. I attended my first Moms at Play small group at church. I was nervous that I would either 1) Make a fool out of myself or 2) Not get to talk because Jack would be too busy getting into things. Neither one of those happened and we both had a great time. Hooray for fellow moms!

4. I started training for a 10K last night. I downloaded this app and survived the first workout. I am grossly out of shape, especially when it comes to running. But I know I can at least do a 5K and I am DETERMINED to get my running stamina back.

5. I drove to Louisiana and back last weekend for a wedding shower. (The shower was lots of fun and had the best food EVER.) I enjoyed the solo time driving as well. In case you were wondering, I have 73 songs by Glee and it takes over 4 hours to listen to all of the songs in a row. Impressive or terrifying? You be the judge!

6. I've been doing a lot of reading yesterday. If you take a peek at my sidebar, you'll see I updated the "Reading" section with books that I have read this year. I'm planning on doing a more in depth book review post in the future, but all of the books I have read this year have been pretty good, except for "The Red Tent," which made me want to punch myself in the face by the end.

7. I'm thinking about signing up for this. The half. Not the whole. Am I crazy? I kind of want to hyperventilate just thinking about it.

Here and There

2010-06-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

The other night, Alex turned to me and said, "Are you ever going to blog again?"

I guess I've been gone a while.

Jack and I were out of town for almost 3 straight weeks. And it's taken me a while to get back into the groove of things. And this week, we are implementing the great nap switch of 2010 and frankly, I don't know what to do with all the free time I have in the afternoon. Because only one nap a day is AWESOME. We eat breakfast and watch Sesame Street and get ready and then run our errands for the day. Then we eat lunch and Jack sleeps for 3-ish hours. THREE HOURS. In fact, we're working on Hour #4 as I type this.

So here's some random notes on things I haven't blogged about, but meant to. (The awesomeness of that sentence is overwhelming, I know.)

- We took Jack to the zoo for the first time while we were in Ohio. I think he liked it. He was more interested in walking around than looking at the animals, but he did notice them, at least. And he saw his very first manatee, which warmed my heart. He fell asleep about half way through, so Alex, my sis-in-law, and I enjoyed the rest of the zoo while pushing a sleeping toddler around.

- Jack is a champion flyer. His ears don't bother him at all and he even got to sit in his very own seat on our two flights home. I kind of want to give him a medal.

- I got my hair cut. Very short! It's just below my chin. I have a picture...somewhere. On my phone perhaps? I'll...probably never get to posting that, so why lie? But it's the shortest it has been in a very, very long time and I'm still getting used to it. However, it's finally blonde again and I don't look like I'm going for the two-toned hair look. Hooray!

- I did not work out AT ALL while we were out of town and consequently gained some weight. Weight that I had worked very hard to take off. And that has got to be one of the most frustrating things in the entire world. Alex has been 7 kinds of motivated to work out this week, but I just haven't been feeling it. I finally sucked it up and did Jillian's Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism workout today. And I am actually typing this post from the grave because that stupid DVD KILLED me.

- It's as hot as hades down here. (Shocking, I know. Super hot in south Texas in June? You don't say!) So we've been hitting the pool quite a bit. Jack loves the pool. Loooooooooooooooves it. He is definitely his father's child as I only like the pool if I can sit in a chair with a cold drink and a book. But I go in the water anyway, because he really likes it and I really like him. I haven't attempted the pool trip solo yet, but I'm sure that will happen as I get desperate for things to tire that little ball of energy out.

- Glee! Glee! Oh man, Glee. I love that show. I've watched the season finale four or five times now. And the Journey medley even MORE times. I am so sad there aren't any new episodes until September-ish. Even though it is sometimes wildly inconsistent, I still can't get enough of it.

Seven Quick Takes - I haven't slept edition

2010-05-14T05:07:00.001-07:00

1. Jack and I are going out of town for a few days. I can never sleep the night before a trip because I am so nervous about what I still have to do and what I might forget. I can't shut my brain off. Which is why I'm posting this early in the morning. Because I've been up all night! What else left do I have to do but blog?

2. Alex and I watched Whip It and Up In the Air last night. I really liked both of them, although they were REALLY different. Whip It was A LOT of fun and I highly recommend it if you're looking for something light hearted and funny.

3. Jack is afraid of Gymbo the clown. I'm not really surprised by this. After all, everyone knows that clowns eat people.

4. I really don't have a lot to talk about, but I didn't want to go away for a while and have a post about my flabby stomach be at the top of the page. That seems pretty unappealing.

5. Can we talk about how disappointed American Idol is this season? Because it sucks. BIG TIME. I can't even muster the energy to care anymore. I mean, I'm still rooting for Crystal Bowersox to win it, but I don't even watch the show any more. I just delete it off the DVR, sight unseen. Which is really sad, because Casey James is coming to San Antonio today and I could go see him and be a part of the Idol machine. But I just don't care enough to go.

6. I'm finally starting to feel sleepy. Good thing it's 7:30 and Jack will be up soon.

7. I wonder if the coffee will just make itself? If I just lay here and stare longingly at the kitchen and think caffeinated thoughts, then maybe it'll do it on it's own? I think that should work right. After all, ds;lfkajds;cfl zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sap and Crap

2010-05-11T17:38:00.000-07:00

I mentioned yesterday that Jack is sleeping in a big boy bed now. I also mentioned that Alex and I are thrilled with this new development. I also kind of lied. Don't get me wrong, I REALLY like the freedom to read in bed again. (Bedtime reading! How I have missed you!) But I also miss the little guy. A whole, whole bunch, actually. I didn't realize how much I checked on him during the night. So last night, I started getting worried that he hadn't cried. WORRIED. That he HAD NOT CRIED. How dumb is that? I was sane enough not to go in there because at least I remembered that a sleeping baby is a happy baby.

So imagine my relief (RELIEF!), when he cried about a half hour later. He sounded like he was getting more and more upset, so I went in to check on him. I found his paci for him and he laid down. I could have left, but you know I didn't. I stayed. STAYED. All night! Totally slept in there and stole glances at him and just relished having his little body next to me.

Honestly, if you had told me when I was pregnant that I was going to be this big of a sap about my kid, I would have called you a liar.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

On the other hand, if you had told me when I was pregnant that my one year postpartum stomach was going to be some kind of strange, lopsided, stretch marked, doughy mess, I would have gone, 'I KNOW! I HATE MY LIFE!' and dissolved into uncontrollable tears.

So yeah. My stomach. I want to talk about my stomach. I realize this is strange and I generally don't talk about my body, particularly on my BLOG, but here's the thing, y'all. My stomach is controlling my life. It's taken over everything. I can't even think about myself without thinking about how much I HATE MY STOMACH, OMG.

Here's the thing. I have lost all the baby weight. I am okay (ish) with the rest of my body. I'm not going to be flaunting my body anytime soon, but I don't feel a need to hide in a turtleneck and long skirt.

Except for my stomach.

It's just so wrong. So, so, so, so, so wrong. Not at all what it used to be. Now it's true, I never had an enviable stomach. It has never been flat and has always been the first place I gain weight. When I got pregnant, my stomach BALLOONED. And obviously it kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger to accommodate the 9 lb 9 oz godzilla baby in my stomach.

But it's been 13 months since I gave birth. And my stomach is not back to where it used to be. It's still too big. And too mushy. And have I mentioned that it's lopsided? Because it's lopsided. My C section scar healed weird. And I don't know why, maybe because part of it exploded two weeks after it happened? All I know is that one side of my stomach, the good side, is more normal looking. But the OTHER side. It's gross. I won't go into the details, but it hangs out and weird and I look like I have a beer belly. And it's not just skin or whatever in there. There's all this nasty scar tissue hanging out in there. None of my old pants fit correctly. Most of my old shirts are too tight in the stomach. And well, I have no idea how to make that go away.

BUT IT IS DRIVING ME CRAZY.

(And I'm refusing to get lipo until I'm for sure done having kids.)

(And I am so totally not kidding about that.)

I spend an inordinate amount of time looking at my stomach and trying to hide it. I'm always worried if it's sticking out. I'm embarrassed to go out. I hate going to the gym in anything that is even slightly tight. I work out obsessively. And it's really not getting any better. It SUCKS.

And I need to stop letting it control me. I need to stop obsessing about it. I know I need to stop talking about it because Alex cannot enjoy hearing me talk about my stomach ALL THE TIME.

So that's why I'm putting it out here. It's no longer a secret. I hate my stomach. Sometimes it looks like I have mom jeans on. I cry occasionally when I remember what I used to look like. I think it's disgusting and I loathe it.

And now you know. And now my stomach knows. It's been put on notice. It doesn't have power over me anymore. I'm more than this. I'm going to stop worrying about this one part of me and focus on all of me. So, shut up, self, and MOVE ON.

Mother's Day and that kid I talk about a lot

2010-05-10T13:21:00.001-07:00

I was sick this weekend so that put a damper on Alex's grand Mother's Day celebration plans. We were supposed to eat brunch at my favorite local place and then go clothes shopping for me. Wherever I wanted! Spend whatever I wanted! So fun! (Fun for me only. It is definitely a sacrifice for Alex as he has to wrangle a squirmy one year old who DOES NOT WANT TO SIT! NO, NO, NO!)

Instead, I was woken up by said squirmy one year old busting into our bedroom around 10. Alex was washing the dishes and Jack wandered away. The door to our bedroom doesn't latch properly, so he knows that if he can hit it hard enough, he can get in. And since I had been bed ridden since Friday afternoon, he knew EXACTLY where I was. Alex apologized for the decidedly non exciting way to wake up, but it was okay. I mean, it WAS Mother's Day and who better to wake me up than the reason I am a mother?

Anyways, I didn't feel like eating much or doing much, but I did get a smoothie (A rare treat since Smoothie King things you should pay 7 bucks for a smoothie. Uh, no.) and a trip to the library to pick up the latest book in the latest dumb YA series I'm reading. I stayed in bed for most of the rest of the day and finished that book. (And now I am DYING for the next one to come out and it's not until October. October!) I started feeling better right at the end of the day and Alex got me Rudy's for dinner. Alex also did all the parenting stuff all weekend and kept the house cleaned and did the dishes. I was so glad he was able to do everything. It made the crappy weekend a little bit better. So really, all in all, it was a great Mother's Day considering I felt like crap for most of it.

So far, my Mother's Days haven't been too traditional. Last year, we were traveling 8+ hours from Memphis and this year I was sick. Maybe next year we'll have a more normal day? Somehow, I doubt that.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

In other news, I really need to stop calling Jack a baby. Why, you ask? Well! I will be happy to tell you!

1. He sleeps in a big boy bed (sorta). Jack hated his crib. HATED it. I mean HATE, HATE, HATE, HAAAAATED it. With the fiery passion of a thousand suns hated it. It was a lost cause to try and get him to even sit in it for longer than 5 seconds because he started wailing the second you lifted him over the rails. So we converted his crib to a toddler bed last week. And while he still isn't IN LOVE with it (maybe it's the mattress?), he LOOOOOOOOVES the freedom of getting in and out of the bed himself. And we LOOOOOOOOOOOVE the freedom of having our bedroom back to ourselves. We have a complicated system of a twin mattress, my pregnancy pillow (Snoogle!), plus more pillows and blankets on the floor to keep him from rolling onto the floor and hurting himself. He often winds up falling asleep on the twin mattress, but WHATEVER. He's in his room and in a bed that is NOT MINE.

2. He no longer uses any bottles. None. Nada. All gone. He actually transitioned REALLY well to the sippy cup. He probably would have dropped them on his birthday without even noticing. But I was nervous about it and kept putting it off. But then we went cold turkey this past week and of course, he had no problems with it. So I felt like a moron for not doing it earlier. I seriously don't even think he misses the bottles. He still likes his milk heated, but whatever. Hooray for no more bottle washing! (Also, he STILL will not use a cup with a hard spout. He will only use these. And I just read a bunch of negative reviews of them and now feel oddly defensive. Because seriously, those are THE ONLY ONES he will use. And believe me, we have A LOT OF SIPPY CUPS.)

3. He says "Uh-oh!" He just started this today. Mostly because I was singing it around the house and he started repeating me. But it's so totally the cutest thing in the entire world. I don't think that counts as his first word though. I mean, he doesn't say it when he's supposed to. And it's UH-OH. Not something cute and awesome like BALL or DOG or THANK YOU (my first word) or something. So we're still waiting on that milestone. However, I'll take "uh-oh" for now.

At Home

2010-04-29T08:24:00.000-07:00

For reasons unknown, Alex scheduled a 7 am drop off for our car this morning. Well, I know why he scheduled our car to be repaired. The air conditioner is all...wonky. I mean, it's working just fine, except it only blows on your feet. Which is okay for the people in the front seat, I suppose, but it's righteously hot in the back and hey guess what? We have a baby in the back seat. And we live in San Antonio, where it's only going to get hotter and the baby's sweet, sweaty little red cheeks KILL ME DEAD.

So! We need to get the car fixed. And Alex decided that 7 am was an acceptable drop off time. A decision that we both questioned MULTIPLE times after he made the appointment. We questioned that time even more when we woke up at 6:30 this morning. See, we're pretty lax about mornings around here. We let the baby wake us up and he very rarely gets up before 7. Most days he wakes up around 7:30. So we are usually blissfully unaware that 7 am exists outside of our REM cycles.

Alex got up first and showered and moved the car seat to our other car and basically was a responsible parent. I snoozed with the baby until I couldn't put it off any longer. I had already informed Alex that Jack and I would be going in our pajamas because why get dressed if you don't have to? I put a bra on, brushed my teeth and asked Alex again, WHY WERE WE UP SO EARLY? Clearly, staying at home has made me a big morning wuss.

While we were driving to the dealership, I couldn't help but remember what it was like to actually have to get up and get ready and LEAVE THE HOUSE in the mornings. It has been a very, very long time since I've done that and this morning confirmed that I do not miss it. No, not one bit. Sure, I'd like to have more adult interaction, but would I like it at the expense of getting up early and SHOWERING and god help me, putting make up on? And leaving my baby at home or at daycare or wherever all day? Nope. No thanks.

I was never a very good employee. I woke up every morning dreading the work day. I drove to work trying to minimize the feelings of anxiety that enveloped me. And y'all, I really, really, really HATE mornings. And I also hate being yelled at and most of my jobs required a lot of yelling. I was miserable A LOT. After we dropped off the car and were headed to Starbucks for some much needed coffee, I told Alex that I didn't know how he gets up and does it every morning. His response? "Well, you just haven't found the right job yet."

Me: Yes I have.

Because you know what? I HAVE found the right job. This, right here, this staying at home thing. It's my job. And I love it. I like staying at home with a little person who is stuffing his face with bananas as I type this. I like changing diapers and doing nap times and doling out snacks. I like finding new activities and dragging the stroller out and visiting parks. I like taking care of the house. Y'all, I ENJOY KEEPING THE HOUSE CLEAN.

No one is more surprised by this development than me. This past weekend, my friend told me she couldn't stay at home. It just wasn't for her. And for a long time, I thought this too. I was VERY worried when it looked like I'd be staying home full time. I didn't think I was cut out for it. I wanted to go back to work. Pretty badly, actually. I cried a lot about the stress of finding a job and figuring out where my career was headed. And then, somehow, somewhere, a switch flipped. I don't know when the changed occurred. Or what exactly changed my mind. It was gradual and unexpected, but so very welcome.

I live in yoga pants and spend my days picking up after a one year old who doesn't really appreciate a dang thing I do. I read the same book 537 times a day. I pick up the same toys every single day. I sing the same songs ALL THE TIME, WE REALLY NEED SOME NEW SONGS AROUND HERE. I cut up bananas and waffles and cheese and warm up milk every single day. And I wouldn't trade it for the world.

We've moved onto cheese while typing this blog entry. Yummy! And messy!

Lunge!

2010-04-22T13:15:00.001-07:00

I am not an athletic person. P.E. was my LEAST favorite class in school. I would dread it the entire day. ESPECIALLY if it was volleyball time, because I would get hit in the head with the ball WITHOUT fail every class. I also had a tendency to let the ball go through my arms whenever I tried to hit it. More often than not, I left gym class in tears. I remember I tried to kick the soccer ball one time and accidentally kicked one of the super popular boys in the shins. That went over well. Or there was the time my teacher wouldn't let you sit down until you successfully served a tennis ball into the opposite side of the court. I went through 20+ tennis balls. I can't hit, run, throw, or kick. You don't want me on your team for anything because I will only be an obstacle to you winning. It's a fact.

That being said, I really like working out in groups. I don't fear my athletic inabilities as much because we're all working together and not competing. I can look like an idiot and it's okay. I've been taking advantage of classes at our gym and going to Zumba and Cycle classes. They make the hour go by a lot faster and I like having fun while I work out. I recently joined one of them TEAM groups that focuses on different things. There's Team Weight Loss, Team Fitness, and Team Boot Camp. I joined Team Weight Loss because, well, I need to lose weight. Plus, I got four weeks free.

So I started last week and I'm by far the thinnest person in the class. And I feel stupidly self conscious about it. But fact is, I am totes overweight right now and the scale has not budged for the LAST SIX MONTHS, no matter how hard I work out or how I change my eating habits. So I needed SOMETHING to help me kick start my weight loss. Plus, Team Fitness SCARES me. They do walking lunges down the middle of the gym while doing bicep curls and shoulder presses with ridiculously heavy weights.

So last night our team had to do walking lunges while holding 5 pound weights. We just had to hold the weights, THANK GOODNESS, but we had to bring our knee all the way to the carpet. And get this: I was the best at it! The best! This is the first time EVER that I was the best at anything physical/athletic in a group in my ENTIRE LIFE. They kept making me go first because I was the fastest. One of the girls told me that I should be in Team Fitness and I was like...uh, no. I'm DYING here. Like, FOR REAL, my heart rate was through the roof. But still, it felt really great to be the best at something athletic for once.

So I still can't hit, kick, catch, or run. But I can lunge with the best of 'em, baby!

Seven Quick Takes - 4/16/10

2010-04-16T01:25:00.000-07:00

1. We did our taxes fairly early this year. So early that I had a momentary panic this week when I realized taxes were due. I got really nervous and was all, "How were we going to get them done so quickly?" And then I remembered. We, uh, already got our refund. DUH.

2. I'm back on Facebook. I got everything accomplished around the house that I wanted, so I decided to get back on the wagon last week. I'm working hard on severely limiting my time on it and so far, so good. I probably should block it for the next week while I prepare for our guests that are coming next week. I have no self control! Just ask the scale!

3. Jack's favorite thing to do is walk everywhere. Anywhere and everywhere. His new thing is to walk up to me, grab my hand, and take a tour of our apartment. He grabs my hand with such resolve, like "It's time! Let's go!." I narrate the walk (Now we're in the kitchen! Here's the bathroom! There's the bed!) and we explore our little home. He really loves to walk into a room, spin, and walk right back out. If only I was that easily entertained. Also, it is just the cutest thing EVER.

4. I spent an inordinate amount of time at two different Costcos tonight. They had these cute Adidas cross trainers on sale for super cheap. I found a pair I liked but not in the perfect color combination, so we headed out to a different store. That one had NO cute cross trainers, so we back to the original Costco. I then proceeded to buy the WRONG SIZE shoe. (Yes, I AM that special. Or stupid. Whichever you want to go with.) So then I had to GO BACK IN and exchange them, only to find that they no longer had the pair in my size. What a lovely waste of time. And now I just wasted your time with the story. I could have just said, "I went to the store and didn't buy shoes. The end."

5. In cheesy pop song news, I cannot get Adam Lambert's "Whataya Want From Me" out of my head. (Also? He looks super hot in the video.) Alex keeps singing the new Jason Derulo song, which I think is hilarious because he MERCILESSLY mocked me for being obsessed with "Whatcha Say." We regularly enjoy battling it out over which lame pop song is less lame.

6. In book news, I read Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking this month as part of the Book Lushes book club. I am in the minority, I think, because I really, really enjoyed it. It's not an easy read, though. I want to recommend it to everyone, but also don't want to depress anyone either. I realize that doesn't make much sense. So talk to me about it before you read it, ok? (I am also going out of order and reading March's book now because Alex accidentally had it shipped to our old house. Woops!)

7. Glee! Glee is back! Did y'all watch? Man, I love me some Sue Sylvester. I missed her so, so, so much. And Brittany! That show makes me so happy.

Also, Easter

2010-04-07T19:54:00.001-07:00

Easter Sunday was the day after Jack's birthday. He was two weeks old last Easter and we did...nothing. My mom managed to find a pre-packaged Easter Basket and brought it home Sunday afternoon. My mother-in-law dropped by with a stuffed bunny. And that was it. Alex and I were just too out of it to even THINK about it. I'd totally show you pictures from that first Easter, but guess what? Alex moved the locations of our pictures for the 3,935,258th time and I can't find them anywhere. (Gee, that's not annoying AT ALL, honey.)

Anyway, here's this year's basket. A basket that I actually put together. Good job me! Much better than last year's gift of...life? (Although I TOTALLY failed as the Easter Bunny and forgot to put the basket out the night before. So I had to put it together in the living room while Alex distracted Jack with his breakfast.)

We were running late that morning (Surprise!), so I was the only one around when Jack saw the basket for the first time. He had no idea what to think, until he figured out that those little colored things were kind of like balls. Balls that you can throw! And if you throw them hard enough, stuff comes out of them! (I filled them with organic crackers because I am the lamest Easter Bunny EVER.) (I really thought they were sweet when I bought them.) (I let him eat them off the floor because I felt bad they weren't candy.)

I was obsessed with finding bunny ears this year. I have NO idea why, but I just thought it'd be really cute. I had rejected some $1 bunny ears from Target a few weeks before Easter and then kicked myself when they were never to be seen again. Old Navy had some for five bucks, which seemed a little pricey, considering I didn't think Alex would even let me get them on Jack. But then! My mom insisted on going to Joann's during her visit and lo, their Easter stuff was 50% off. AND she bought them too. Hooray for grandmas!

Jack? Was not so pleased.

Doesn't he look exhausted here? He was waaaaaay off his schedule at this point. (The pajamas were a birthday gift from my grandmother. Alex thinks they're...loud. But great-grandma trumps dad in this case.)

We gave Jack a quick bath before church and got him dressed. Such a handsome little man!

We had time after church to get some cute pictures of him really exploring his basket. And again with the ears. Alex liked them, much to my surprise. And Jack tolerated them for quite a while because he was so distracted with the toys.

Here he is checking out the puzzle. (It's a Melissa and Doug one that I scored on the cheap at TJ Maxx. Oh yeah!)

And here he is with last year's basket. This is the only marker we've used to show much he has grown in his first year. He's almost as big as the basket now.

And thus concludes Easter 2010. Maybe next year the Easter Bunny will get his or her act together and bring chocolate in the basket. MAYBE.

Birthday Party!

2010-04-06T18:40:00.000-07:00

So, this birthday thing happened.

We didn't go overboard with decorations or a theme because our guests were grandparents only. So the theme was just, uh, "birthday."

By the time we were ready to party, Jack was a little tired. We tried to get a smiling picture, but it wasn't happening. He still looked cute in his Birthday Shirt.

My mom made Jack this adorable First Birthday quilt. (You can see it draped over the Anywhere Chair in the earlier pictures.) Each of the four corners had significance. One had a little red headed boy. One had a train. Another had a bird because Jack used to sound like a baby bird when he got excited. And one has a teddy bear in honor of Cubby, Jack's one true love and best friend. He's on the only stuff animal that he tolerates. The whole thing is really adorable and special and I think he'll love it when he gets old enough to understand the concept of a quilt. Here's a close up of the center square.

Alex and I got Jack an Anywhere Chair. He doesn't quite get it. Why would you sit when you can stand? And then walk? And then fall? And then stand back up? And walk some more?

My parents also got him this helicopter which he LOVES. We took him to the store to help pick out what he wanted and he wouldn't let this go, so it won. He figured out the pull toy aspect of it really quickly. Plus it has buttons. Which are AWESOME.

My mother-in-law didn't get in until super late the night before, but we couldn't wait to have the party because my parents had to leave early on Jack's actual birthday. All of that is to say I don't have any pictures of him playing with this push toy, but believe me when I say that it is a HIT. He walks everywhere with it, squealing in glee. He also loves to ram it into the desk and the wall and the couch. Watch out if you're anywhere in his path of destruction.

After we opened presents, it was time for cake! I went with six cupcakes (one for each guest) because let's be honest, none of us really needs a whole lot of extra cake.

As you can tell, Jack was REALLY EXCITED by it. Or something.

We stripped him down to eat his first taste of full on sugar. And he really wasn't sure at first.

He got the hang of out it pretty quickly. We took probably 50-ish pictures and a 6 minute video of him eating that cupcake. I'll spare you all that and just show you that he was okay with it in the end.

After all that excitement, it was time for my parents to leave. So I forced everyone to take group pictures. I was especially excited to get this shot because we have exactly two pictures of the three of us together. (And the first one didn't happen until Jack was at least 3 months old.) So here we are, our happy little family.

I mentioned the other day that I was feeling blue about Jack turning one. I was really surprised by how difficult it was for me to accept the fact that he was a year old. I'm sure my sadness was a combination of things - my family leaving, Alex's long work hours (he didn't get home until 1:30 AM last night. AM!), plus the realization that my baby is no longer officially a baby. But it all hit me and I just sat and cried, thinking about the last year. He went from a smooshy newborn to a little boy in such a short time. And I hope I haven't failed him. I hope he had a good first. A GREAT first year. Those first three months were really terrible. Really, really terrible. I was struggling so much with the post partum depression and anxiety, that I was barely available to him or Alex. Alex and I fought way more than we normally do. And I really hate that. Really, really, really hate it. I feel like I was robbed of some of the most precious moments of my life. And I cried about that too.

But we made it. He's here. I'm here. He's all over the place. And I'm going everywhere he goes. I won't let anything stand in my way.

Still Here

2010-04-04T22:21:00.001-07:00

We are all alive and well. My parents were here last week, my baby turned a year old, today was Easter and my mother-in-law is here until tomorrow evening. I have a million things to post but I am so tired. And unexpectedly blue about my little baby turning a year old. I hope to have more thoughts (and pictures!) soon, but I just can't do it right now. So I'll leave with a picture of possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen.

I want to eat this bunny. Nom nom nom.

Playing Catch Up

2010-03-24T22:17:00.000-07:00

- This week has been a gym FAIL. I'm going to do my best to AT LEAST make it to yoga tomorrow night. We'll see. Sometimes life gets in the way, eh?

- We finally, finally, FINALLY watched (500) Days of Summer even though we've had the DVD for weeks now from Netflix. And gosh darnit, if I didn't absolutely love it. It was funny and sweet and sad and so darn real. I highly recommend it. And if you're also a Friday Night Lights fan? Then it ends on SUCH a happy note.

- I have been threatening to make smoothies at home for weeks now and finally dug the blender out from its corner in our teensy kitchen. It was pretty delicious and I started making grand plans of making the baby his own smoothies! And Alex and I could have smoothies all the time! And let's Google smoothie recipes! And then what did I do? Spilled it all over the carpet and everything else in the nearby vicinity. So hooray for getting a carpet cleaner because you live in an apartment with light carpet and you spilled a dark purple smoothie everywhere!

- (The stain is looking at me right now. And it is LAUGHING.)

- I have been off of Facebook for what? Two weeks now? And it is STILL my third most visited site. Sheesh. I really DID have a problem.

- I am madly in love with Lady GaGa's "Telephone." Not so much the video. I am the first to admit that I don't "get" her. In fact, she kind of grosses me out sometimes. (Okay, a lot of times. It's just too much. Put some pants on! And leave your hair alone! And flip flops are AWESOME. Wear them, lady!) But the song? Oh, the song. It's just pure pop goodness. And it's all about shaking your booty on the dance floor and that is a sentiment I can fully support at all times. And it has Beyonce and she is fierce, (but NOT Sasha Fierce, yo). I downloaded it a few weekends ago on the way to Dallas and when I got home, I synced my iPhone and the song had 27 plays in the last 48-ish hours. That is commitment, y'all.

- **I had a really large paragraph written here and then I just deleted it. Am paranoid and sensitive about writing about parenting-related things.**

- Parenting! It makes you want to drink. Oy VEY.

- In other news, there is a dentist office that we often pass on our way home that has the world's worst dentist sign. It reads (and I quote)

Dentistry is not expensive.
Negligence is...

Seriously? SERIOUSLY? Do they really think they're going to draw people in by calling them negligent idiots? Who thought that was a good idea? I'm not a marketing expert, but I'm their target audience and I am calling that a marketing FAIL. And why end it with an ellipses? That is POOR GRAMMAR. So not only are they jerkfaces, but they also suck at grammar! I think I'll take my neglected mouth (and money) to the dentist across the street who has a surfboard on his sign. That is WAY more appealing.

Milestone Tuesday

2010-03-16T14:28:00.001-07:00

As I type this, Jack is playing in his high chair with a bunch of puffs. Even if he's starving, he can't seem to help himself from spreading them around the tray over and over again.

So we've had a big day in the baby is becoming a toddler saga.

**I just had to take a break and give him some yogurt melts.**

1. He made his first sign. I was feeding him a banana and kept making the "more" sign in the hopes that he might get it. And then he did. "More!" "More!" said his adorable little hands. It's the first time he's ever signed anything despite the fact that I've been signing "milk" and "all done" to him since he was 6 months old. But he learned "more" today, a sign I have only haphazardly been showing him.

2. He took several steps on his own today. I was in the kitchen making him a bottle and watching him in the living room. I showed him the bottle and he let go of the ottoman and walked over to the chair. Granted, they were really close and it was maybe all of 3 steps, but still. He has since repeated this phenomenon multiple times. Always three steps. He stands for a little while, then step, step, step, and then down on the ground or reaching for something to hold on to.

He's becoming such a big boy. And he keeps growing up even though I often tell him to JUST STOP GROWING AND STAY A BABY FOREVER AND EVER.

**While typing all that, I also had to get him his sippy cup. Which he has conquered! Finally! Although he just tosses it on the floor when he's done with it and that drives.me.crazy.**

**And I better hit publish now because the bottomless pit needs! more! food! Forgive me for grammar errors and misspellings, Internet!**

Facebook Out

2010-03-14T17:57:00.000-07:00

So I deactivated my Facebook account.

I'm not exactly sure why, either. I think it had something to do with the fact that a few people I know have recently done this and my immediate thought was, "Oh, I could never do that." And then I was like, "Really? Seriously? You can't live without Facebook? Lame, Magee. Lame!"

So Monday, I decided to pull the plug on a blog that I have been reading for years now. (And that is something I never, ever do. But I was tired of this person and ready to take a break.) And I thought, "Why not ignore Facebook for a while too?" And I came so close to not deactivating it and again, I was like, "Really? It's FACEBOOK. Not oxygen."

I was pretty addicted to it, you see. It was, BY FAR, my most visited website and basically served as the gateway drug to internet time sucking. And we're having (lots!) of visitors next month and our apartment is just sad. Things still in complete disarray and just cluttered and crappy. And I was growing weary of it and getting a little panicky that I couldn't get it together in time for the onslaught of parents for Jack's first birthday in three weeks. (OH.MY.GOD. THREE WEEKS UNTIL MY BABY IS A YEAR OLD.) So I decided to pull the plug and see what happened. I was expecting to feel all liberated and free and uh, other synonyms for that.

But, um, no. I miss it. I don't feel free or anything. But I am TOTALLY more productive. Like, a hundred million times more productive. It's AMAZING. Our closet is clean and organized. Our paperwork is organized. My planner is full. Laundry is done (albeit not folded). I like the productivity.

But I still miss Facebook.

Seven Quick Takes - I'm Really Back Edition

2010-03-12T12:23:00.001-08:00

1. We're not going out of town this weekend, so I have time to blog. It's kind of a strange experience, this blogging thing. I've missed you!

2. Jack has learned how to stand up WITHOUT pulling up. He falls down before he can take a step, but it's still bizarre to look over and see him standing. Like a PERSON or something. Alex claims he has seen him take a few unassisted steps, but much like Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster, it is unconfirmed. Therefore, those steps do not count and we do not have a walker on our hands.

3. It's already hot here. I'm very concerned that my seven years of Ohio living have left me a hot weather wussy. It's only getting up to around 80 and I'm panicking about finding shorts and tank tops. What am I going to do when it gets to be around 100? MELT, probably. (Happily melt, I might add. I don't want that sound like I'm complaining. Because I'm not.)

4. We took Jack to the pool for the first time this week. He was VERY unsure at the beginning. He held onto my shoulder for dear life when I tried to set him down the first time. He warmed up to it eventually and I think the trip was an overall success. We may just have another water loving red head on our hands.

5. I started the great closet switch out yesterday. There does not seem to be a need for sweaters any time soon, so I figured I might as well start getting out our summer-y clothes. For two people who wear the same 3 shirts over and over again, Alex and I sure do own a lot of clothes.

6. I don't want to speak too soon, but it looks like I am going to get some free, private swim lessons this summer. We have some "bucks" at our gym that you can redeem for various services. And one of them is swimming lessons. I was originally going to use them on some personal training, but I think the swim lessons would be more valuable. I am terrified just THINKING about it.

7. No seriously, I am feeling extremely panicky now. Deep water that people will expect me to float in? I can't hold on to something? Anything? I kind of want to puke just thinking about it. I feel like I owe it to Jack to learn how to swim, but gah. Why didn't my parents give me swim lessons when I was a kid? WHY???????

11 Months

2010-03-09T09:31:00.000-08:00

So a certain little person turned 11 months old last week. I have pictures, uh, somewhere? I'm a TERRIBLE mommy blogger, I know.

This past month was full of breakthroughs for Jack. It's funny. It kind of feels like he hit a bunch of milestones the first three months of his life and then he just hung out until 9 months. And then BAM! Lots of stuff.

This past month, Jack decided that eating on his own was AWESOME. I had been working on finger foods with him since he was 8 months old and he was NOT. INTERESTED. Puffs? Gross! Yogurt melts? Disgusting! And don't even THINK about offering me gross table foods like mashed potatoes. YUCK. I was kind of flabbergasted that our child would not like eating. Because, let's face it, Alex and I like to eat. A lot. (And it shows!) And then one day last month, Jack looked at the yogurt melts that I offered him and decided, hey! I can pick that up! And put it in my mouth! NOM NOM NOM. I didn't do anything differently, he just GOT it. And now? He is unstoppable. He will try anything and everything. He will gladly pick anything up to eat it, even if it isn't edible. And when I try to put something like cheese or a piece of toast in his mouth, he often puts his hand out so he can grab it and put it in his mouth. I have no idea what changed. Just one day, that little brain of his was like, dude, EATING IS SO COOL.

Jack also got two teeth this month. TWO! They are both on the bottom and it is so adorable. Teething wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be, but it was still no fun. He got quite the runny nose during it and that was worse than any complaining he ever did. Those two little chompers are hanging out, mashing up food, and making me die from the cuteness daily now. I will have to try and get a picture of them to show you. Because who knew baby teeth could be so cute?

We also learned this month that Jack is VERY vocal. After hanging out with other babies a few weeks ago, Alex and I realized what a talker he is. We are fairly isolated from other babies, so we had NO IDEA that his constant jabbering wasn't the norm. Not that I'm surprised by the talk-talk-talking. Alex is not known for being, uh, silent.

Jack and I are adjusting to San Antonio really well. He still HATES to be left alone, so I am still chickening out of going to the gym during the day. But he and I enjoy running errands everyday. We read lots of books and sing lots of songs. He still likes playing with his train and table and blender. He is getting really good at putting objects in baskets and boxes and buckets. And he can take them out too. My favorite is when he puts something nonsensical in his toys. Like the remote in his blocks bucket or the bulb syringe (AKA the snot sucker) in his blender. He has really gotten into throwing thing lately and I am pretty sure we have Alex to thank for that. (Alex: "We're playing catch! With his...paci.") Yeah, thanks for that one, honey.

I feel like Jack hasn't grown as much physically this past month. He is so mobile now and I think he's burning lots and lots of calories despite his constant eating. So he can still wear some 9 month clothes, even though they are getting to be a little too high water for my tastes. 12 month clothes are a little big, but the shirts look better on him and I just roll up his jeans. He's still in size 4 diapers and we switched to using Huggies' overnights because wow, that kid is well hydrated.

He only takes about 3 bottles a day now and next month we are off formula. I can't hardly believe it. I mean, I will be THRILLED to stop paying for Similac because it is the equivalent of liquid gold. But really? Only four more weeks of formula? And then my baby is a baby no longer? How'd that happen? Where'd he go?

I know I say this every month, but it's still true.

I love him.

Babies!

2010-03-02T20:50:00.000-08:00

Yikes. It's March? Already? How did that happen?

Alex turned 30 this weekend, so we headed up to Dallas to hang out with someone other than ourselves. We got to hang out with Mel and Beckett, the Crows, and the Griswolds. We had a great time catching up and holding lots of different babies. Alex got to sleep in, which is the GREATEST PRESENT EVER to a new parent. We ate pizza and carrot cake and eclair cake and some kind of magic bars. The Griswolds are the most fantastic hosts in the world and if you ever get a chance to stay at their house, you should. You feel so welcome and loved and FULL. So very, very full. There was also bacon involved. BACON!

We also went to Ikea. So, you know, it was the perfect weekend.

Here are a few pictures from our little Babypalooza.

Jack spent most of the weekend like this:
I am overstimulated! And freaking out! I will not sleep! AT ALL!

What? Did someone say BACON? Ooooh! Shiny!

Reagan was all, "Whatever boys."

I like this one because it looks like Reagan just told a joke and Jack is CRACKING UP. Even then, Reagan is keeping it cool and my child is all I'M REALLY, REALLY STIMULATED RIGHT NOW. HANGING OUT WITH BABIES IS LIKE DRINKING A RED BULL!!!!1!!!1

Beckett is mastering crawling. And also thinking about attacking the camera.

He made it to the camera! I love this picture of him. I don't know what it is, but I guess it just captures how unassuming and in your face babies are. Also? So adorable!

A rare moment of calm.

They're friends!

The boys got along really well all weekend. Jack kept trying to touch Beckett at Ikea and I was like...HE LIKES HIM! HE LIKES HIM! MY BABY IS SOCIAL! And Alex was all, "Uh, I think he's trying to take Beckett's paci." So, whatever, maybe they didn't become FRIENDS, per se, but they definitely played well together and this could be the BEGINNING of a beautiful friendship.

It was kind of surreal to have our babies playing together this weekend. I met these girls (women? Women sounds so...mature? Old? Not us?) over 10 years ago and here we are all old and thirty and married and bringing our babies over to hang out. I never would have imagined this is how it would turn out when I first started Ouachita. Back when a naiive, 18-year-old me roomed with her friend junior high and met the girl with the long hair at the first WOW group. But here we are, watching our kids playing together.

And it's better than I could have ever imagined.

Seven Quick Takes - It's Almost Saturday Edition

2010-02-19T21:46:00.000-08:00

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...

2010-02-17T21:01:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-13T20:54:00.001-08:00

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

2010-02-12T15:17:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-11T17:34:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-10T21:41:00.001-08:00

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

2010-02-08T10:47:00.000-08:00

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?

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

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.)

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

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

2010-02-05T08:42:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-03T22:19:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-01T09:18:00.000-08:00

- 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?

A Baby Heavy Post

2010-01-26T20:44:00.000-08:00

I'm visiting my parents for the week, so there's not much to talk about. Unless you want to discuss my child, because lo, I am spending A LOT of time with my child. Not that I don't spend a lot of time with my child every other day of my life, but when I visit my parents, I actually do MORE work because they can't help out as much as Alex can. So it's all Jack, all the time 'round these parts.

So here's my question, who said my child could go grow up so fast? He is cruising like a rock star and I'm terrified that he'll be walking very soon. I was all set to officially announce that we had skipped crawling altogether, but then he started doing this weird...thing. I hesitate to call it a crawl because it seems so unnatural. But he does this odd little crab walk where he drags a leg and scoots along to get to his destination. Picture a peg legged pirate walking. Now convert that to a crawl and you've got what Jack considers an acceptable method of locomotion. Except he exerts quite a bit of energy doing that and has to stop and sit down for a break after a few seconds. Then he carries on to his next stop on his tour of destruction. (Are those wires? An electric plug? Some sort of electrical device I'm not supposed to play with? Let me at 'em!)

I suppose we're not helping ourselves with this growing up thing seeing as how we bought a new car seat this weekend. It was really obvious that Jack had come to HATE the infant car seat. I felt guilty buckling him in there and he was pretty cramped. Granted, he still had an inch and a half-ish left to grow, but it just LOOKED uncomfortable. Fortunately for us, Babies R Us was having a big sale on Earth's Best this past weekend and we decided to try out a few car seats while we were there. And unfortunately for us, they had a Graco My Ride 65 on sale and we were sucked in. So what originally began as a trip to spend 10 bucks on baby food ended with spending 100+ on a car seat and baby food and uh, bibs and a food mat and new pj's. But! It was worth it because he seems to like his new seat quite a bit. And he sleeps really well in it too, which, as we all know, is AWESOME.

Jack has this new habit of wanting to sleep ON me. This is very, very new considering he would sleep well on his own, even as a newborn. We are definitely going through a clingy, needy, MAMA MAMA! phase right now, so maybe this is a part of it. It's precious and endearing that he wants ME, ME, ME all the time, but by the same token, Mama needs a break, yo. And I can't sleep with him on me. So I lay awake and try not to move too much while I watch him breathe. Which is nice for a little while, until I get restless and want to be comfortable and sleep ON MY OWN. Tonight, he would ONLY fall asleep if he was touching me. And he pressed his chubby body against me and pushed his red hair against my cheek while I melted into a puddle of sap. I couldn't help but think how amazing this moment is and how amazing HE is. My sweet baby boy who can wave bye bye and clap and pirate crawl. And soon he won't want to hug me or kiss me or cuddle me. He'll sigh and roll his eyes and say, "Mo-om!" But for now, he feels comfortable and safe enough with me that he can fall asleep on my shoulder (and my stomach and my leg). So I laid there and listened to him quietly snore. And I whispered in his ear, "I love you, sweet baby."

Seven Quick Takes - 1/22/10

2010-01-22T11:18:00.000-08:00

1. We got cable today! I am so excited to have the Tee Vee back. And of course, NOTHING is on right now. A million, bazillion channels and I have Law and Order: Criminal Intent reruns on. But dude, I have MISSED the DVR. It's like welcoming a old friend back into your home.

2. I bought Jack a pair of sunglasses yesterday. It's just so darn sunny here! Like...ALWAYS. So I thought he needed some cool shades of his own. Here he is modeling a pair at the store.

3. Yesterday, I went to a fancy, healthy grocery store that is INCREDIBLY close to our house. And I nearly passed out from the prices. I want to go organic and get rid of hydrogenated oils and preservatives and artificial flavors, I really, really do. But DANG, YO. That stuff is EXPENSIVE. I bought two boxes of cereal, two frozen meals, and a 6 pack of root beer. And the only thing that wasn't on sale was the root beer. And the cereal? Not even organic! It's a kid's cereal too. But I gotta admit, it's VERY tasty. If not very healthy.

4. Speaking of going organic and such, I watched Food Inc. earlier this week and holy canoli, y'all. I knew very, very little about the food industry before I watched that movie. I still know very little, but at least I have a better understanding of what all that grass-fed, no anti-biotic business is all about. Also, I know a lot about soy beans too. It was a definite eye opener and a very interesting movie. Even if we don't make any big changes to our eating habits, I like knowing where my food comes from, you know?

5. My child is officially old enough to be annoying. He waited until I was settled down with my breakfast this morning to come over and stand right next to me and SMACK HIS LIPS. Smack, smack, smack! Stop eating and give me the rest of that bottle I SOUNDLY rejected a few minutes ago. Smack, smack, smack! He was happily playing away until he saw I had food and then BAM! I'm all up in your face, mom! (And really, he had JUST eaten. Yogurt and a bottle. I promise I wasn't starving him.)

6. So. Bugs. I forgot that the south had so many bugs. Especially here where it gets cold for maybe 2 weeks out of the year. (Seriously...it's in the upper 70's here. I am wearing t-shirts and flip flops. Jack is wearing t-shirts and no socks. I saw people wearing SHORTS this week.) So the bugs don't get a chance to die in the cold, which is sad. Because I have to call upon Alex to kill them with whatever is handy, instead. I guess that's the price you pay for warmth year round.

7. And because you haven't seen him in a while. Here's my own personal Jack in the Box. Look at what a big boy he is!

San Antonio, You're Alright

2010-01-18T21:02:00.001-08:00

So...we're here! Surprise! I know I've been MIA for a few weeks here. Sorry about that. I didn't realize it had been so long and I am just not a good enough blogger to try and post from my phone.

So, hey there internet! What's up? I'm in Texas! So far, things are going well. It was in the high 60's today and I wore flip flops. The sky was blue and it was super sunny. In other words, I am in heaven.

We've been here for a little over a week. It took us three days to get here, which isn't too bad except that we had planned for a two day trip. But the state of Kentucky was not willing to let us quickly and easily pass through its hallowed interstates. We spent hours in a traffic jam. We had to stop multiple times to clean off windshields and de-ice windshield wipers. Some doohickey on our moving van broke and we lost not one, but TWO tanks of diesel on the interstate. (Goodbye $100! It was nice knowing you!) So we then spent hours in a gas station parking lot, waiting for someone to come fix the van. By the time we got to Tennessee, I was giddy with relief. I don't have any hard feelings towards Kentucky, but it sure felt like the entire state was conspiring against us last week. It took us 11 or so hours to get to our first stop. It should have only taken 7. Oy.

The next two days were pretty much uneventful. We stopped at Ouachita so I could show Alex and Jack my alma mater. I bought a sweatshirt and then cried sad, salty tears because it is SO. DIFFERENT. and I am SO. OLD. It felt like a different campus in many respects and I suppose that makes sense since it's been, oh, 10 years since I went there, but STILL. My memories are all I have left of what it looked like back in the day. Which means that I am old and will shrivel up and die SOON. After I had a panic over my new found elderly status, we headed to Dallas and spent the night at the Griswold's house where they showered us with pizza and ice cream and attention. It was, BY FAR, the highlight of our trip. I am pretty sure my brother-in-law didn't want to leave. Once we made it to our tiny, empty apartment, it felt so...unwelcoming.

My brother-in-law flew out on Tuesday, leaving Alex, Jack and I all alone in a new city. So far, we've enjoyed it. Mainly because we are eating out all the time and there is some seriously good food in this city. Mexican! Barbecue! Burgers! Nom Nom Nom!

Jack has been a trooper through everything. He became an expert on going from laying to sitting while I was sick with The Mono and then learned how to pull up the night before we were supposed to leave. So he's hitting all kinds of big milestones in the middle of a huge life change. Which is why I am pretty sure he is refusing to go to sleep. I am also suspicious that he might actually be teething (For real this time! There is a lot of drool! There is fussiness! It might be happening! Maybe!), which could be contributing to the problem as well. But overall, I could not ask for a sweeter, easier kid. He is a CHARMER and we can't go anywhere without people talking to us. He always smiles and squeals at the attention and it is the most adorable thing in the entire world. He ALSO learned how to give a high five this week. And friends, if you haven't seen a 9 month old give a high five, then you haven't lived. It is CU-UTE.

And that is all. We are not all the way unpacked because WHERE DOES ALL THE STUFF GO!? And we don't have cable or DirecTV. We just got the internet on Friday. So we are slowly but surely working into a normal routine. I like it so far. Here's hoping that sticks, eh?

Monnnnnnoooooooooooo

2010-01-04T13:40:00.000-08:00

So! I didn't sleep AT ALL last night. And it wasn't because I had slept all day and fulfilled my sleep quota for 24 hours. Nope. I napped for a few hours and then I just.couldn't.sleep. I was in too much pain and my mouth was really dry and I am so freaking tired of MOUTH BREATHING, OMG.

I called the doctor this morning and they were able to get me in pretty early. Alex didn't feel comfortable with me driving, so we took a family trip to the doctor. Except half of the family stayed in the car and one third of the family napped.

And guess what? I don't have the pig flu. Or the regular flu. Nor do I have the strep throat. But it could be the MONO. Oh ho yes! MO.NO. That would be just lovely, wouldn't it? I doubt it is, but my doctor took my blood (The actual doctor...he couldn't find a nurse to take my blood. I was so nervous when he walked in with the needles and vials. I wanted to ask, "When was the last time you drew blood?" But I didn't because I didn't want to make him mad and/or nervous before he stuck me with a needle. But he did a great job! Way to go doc!) and will call me tomorrow with the test results. But seriously? It's not the flu? We ALL thought it was the flu. Since he wasn't exactly sure what was wrong with me, they gave me a steroid shot and sent me home with a Z pack prescription in the hopes that it would make me feel better. Because I was, in my doctor's words, "really, really yucky."

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

And seriously, I am not sure what was in that shot, but it must have been unicorns and rainbows and puppies and baby smiles because I am feeling TREMENDOUSLY better this afternoon. Like, I feel like a human again. A HUMAN! I have a feeling once I go to sleep tonight, I will GO TO SLEEEEEP.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

In other news, my child officially weighs 20 pounds. TWENTY POUNDS! Bless his little solid self. He's also 28 1/4 inches long and has a ginormous head of 18 1/4 inches. I'm still really hesitant to hang out with him since I might have FREAKIN' MONO and I'd like to avoid giving my child a virus that could last for months. But I did give in and held him a few times today and put my cheek on his head and kissed the air, so it was sort of like kissing him and I can't wait until I can be normal around him again, heissocuteIcan'tstandit, OMG. Also, he did great at the doctor's office and even SMILED at the nurse who gave him his shots. Which makes him a better person than me, because I most certainly did NOT smile at the nurse who gave me my shot this morning. (This is all second hand as I didn't go to the appointment for fear of infecting all small children with The Sickness. Hooray for good dads!)

(And uh, still no pictures. 9 month shots = sleeping baby, on the real, yo)

groan

2010-01-03T21:45:00.000-08:00

Yes, the baby turned nine months old today.

We didn't get any pictures of him though. I am sick. I am pretty sure it is the flippin' pig flu. I have all the symptoms and I am planning on visiting my doctor tomorrow and begging for a Tamiflu prescription. I have only puked once though, so...hooray?

And yeah, this is the worse timing EVER since we are supposed to move on THURSDAY. And Alex picked up the truck today and had to take care of the baby all by himself. My mother and brother in laws came over to help pack, load, and watch the child. I laid in bed all day and was miserable. I am so annoyed that I didn't qualify for the H1N1 vax when we got Jack's because I was too old. Because this seriously SUCKS.

I am so stressed out and I miss my baby so, so, so much. I just sat here and looked at a bunch of PICTURES of him because I am that big of a dork. (Also? Alex and I went out for New Year's Eve and we spent most of the time talking about and looking at pictures of the baby. We're such goobers.) Alex has been a trooper since he has had to do all of the parenting stuff and moving stuff for the last day and a half. I feel terrible for leaving him stranded, but having a sick baby would be much worse.

I hope I feel better soon.

2009 Year in Review

2009-12-30T15:27:00.000-08:00

Well, 2009 you've been a roller coaster. Like, probably the biggest roller coaster EVER. So let's review you, shall we?

(You can find last year's here.)

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
I gave birth. I am pretty sure that wins. It was seriously horrendous and I can honestly say that I am TERRIFIED to ever do that again. In happier news, I also became a parent, which was new and crazy and insane. It was rough at first but things are going way better now. I also ran a 5K. Hooray for reaching physical goals!

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
According to last year’s post, I resolved to eat healthier, get back in shape, and learn to be a rockin’ parent. I totally accomplished all three! I made HUGE strides in my eating habits this year, although I am not eating healthy currently. I am resolving to continue that trend once we get to Tejas. I am in okay shape right now (okay is 1000% better than the shape I was in this time last year) and am going to keep going with that into 2010. (I’m running a 5K for New Year’s Eve!) I am setting a goal of becoming a distance runner in 2010. I want to run a half marathon in November. And while I don’t know if I’m a rockin’ parent, I know I am totally learning how to be more patient, generous, loving, and fun. I love that little kid and I want to be the best mommy for him.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
That’d be a yes. Me, for one. I’m pretty close to myself. Three dear friends from college gave birth this year (two boys and a girl) and a good friend here in Dayton had a sweet little girl in August.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Alex’s aunt passed away in May. My dear friend’s mother also passed away in November. I hate cancer with the passion of a thousand suns.

5. What countries did you visit?
Mexico! Alex and I cruised there for our long awaited honeymoon. We went to Cozymel and Calica. I looooooooooved it. We visited a private beach in Calica and it was absolutely amazing. White sand. Blue water. It was so relaxing and gorgeous. Cozymel was nice too, but the beach was super crowded and rocky, so it wasn’t as enjoyable, but we still had fun.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
A church that I feel comfortable in. I miss community.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
April 3rd. Jack’s birthday. I will never forget that experience for as long as I live. It was really, really, really hard, yo. I know it’s supposed to be the happiest day of my life, but I’m just going to go ahead and keep it real here and say that it was NOT the happiest day of my life. I didn’t experience the instant love that many parents speak of. My love for Jack was slow growing and while not instant, it’s been real and powerful and overwhelming. So even though it completely sucked at the time, that day changed the course of my life forever.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I know, I know, broken record here, but GIVING BIRTH. My word, that really was difficult. You know? And it’s just so crazy that I successfully gestated a human life and successfully delivered it. That is INSANE. I’m also really proud of finishing my graduate program and getting my degree this year. And any other year, running the 5K would have been The Big Deal, but it pales in comparison to birthing a child and graduating from grad school.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Last year, I said it was not enjoying my pregnancy. This year, my answer is similar because I didn’t enjoy the first few weeks of Jack’s life. AT ALL. I was insanely miserable with severe depression and anxiety. I didn’t spend enough time with him and I just didn’t ENJOY him. And I am so thankful Alex was here and took copious pictures and videos so I can go back and look at this squishy little newborn on my computer screen any time I want.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I landed in the hospital a few times after my surgery. I had fluid in my lungs and then my C section scar got infected. It really sucked.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
The Civic. We really didn’t buy a ton of stuff this year. It was mostly baby-related.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Alex. My mom. The nurses from this story made me cry.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Tiger Woods. I’m sure there are more, but he came to mind first. Sorry, Tiger!

14. Where did most of your money go?
Baby! Baby! Baaaaayyyyybbbbeeeeee!!!!!!!!

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My sweet baby boy. (Shocking! I know!) And I don’t know if it counts for three “really’s” but I am pretty pumped about moving.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
“Right Round” by Flo Rida. I. KNOW. But I have listened to that song a whole, whole lot this year. So I am pretty sure I will hear that song and think of Dayton in 2009 for the rest of my life.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: 
a) happier or sadder? Happier! Hooray!
b) thinner or fatter? Thinner! Thinner! Thinner!!!!!!!!!
c) richer or poorer? Richer! (WAY. TO. GO. 2009!)

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Laughing. Traveling. Connecting.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Crying. (As per usual.) Also, I could have done with less panic attacks.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
In Louisiana. With my family. Again. It was fun to spend Jack’s first Christmas with my parents since they were so clearly geeked about it. They went a bit overboard in the present department. We spent only a few days there because we had been in San Antonio the week before trying to find somewhere to live.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
Well, yes. I had a kid, remember?

22. What was your favorite TV program?
Friday Night Lights is still my favorite. That show is just SO. GOOD. I also fell hard for Glee.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Who would honestly answer this question? Also: Nope.

24. What was the best book you read?
The Help by Kathryn Stockett. By far. It was absolutely AMAZING.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Ha! I have no idea. Considering the #1 most played song on my iTunes is a song by Flo Rida, I am not the person to talk to about “musical discoveries.”

26. What did you want and get?
I guess I wanted a new car? We certainly got one. A move to the south. I've been wanting that one for a while.

27. What did you want and not get?
A school counseling job. But hey! I’m okay.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
That’s a tough one. I saw several good movies this year. Star Trek. Up. The Blind Side. Star Trek was probably my favorite though. What can I say? I’m a big geek.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Alex, Jack and I went out to eat at my favorite brunch place. Then we drove down to Cincinnati and went to the Newport Aquarium. We ate dinner and bought a giant brownie to eat afterwards. My parents sent me flowers and Alex got me the Vera Bradley clutch I had been wanting. He also dressed Jack in LSU stuff for my birthday. It was a pretty sweet way to celebrate turning 29.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I’m really not sure. This is such a hard question. I guess if all of our family members were alive and easily within driving distance. Or, you know, winning the lottery.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Mostly it was…”Is this as big as a tent? Good! It should fit!”

32. What kept you sane?
Alex. Music. Xanax. Therapy. The Internet.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Craig Ferguson. I watched a lot of Craig when Jack was very young and I wasn’t sleeping. At all.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Hmmmmm….probably the health care reform. Though I admit my interest in politics was a little…shallow this year.

35. Who did you miss?
Everyone I missed last year. My family and friends.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
I am pretty sure this sounds cheesy, but it's true. I have to say my son is the best new person I have met ever.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
Ask for help when you need it. And by God, it is OKAY to not feel happy when everyone else is telling you that you should be. Listen to yourself and do what you NEED to do to be okay. You’re living your life, not someone else’s.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
'Cause we belong together now, yeah
Forever united here somehow, yeah
You got a piece of me
And honestly,
My life (my life) would suck (would suck) without you
- Kelly Clarkson, y'all

Merry Christmas...late

2009-12-28T10:07:00.000-08:00

Hope you got a ton of hats and an alphabet toy for Christmas, too.

^&*(%#

2009-12-18T20:51:00.000-08:00

OH MY GOSH, YOU GUYS. I have SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO much to talk about and I can't! Because I don't have the internet! Argh! And I don't have the werewithal to tap, tap, tap out a decent blog post on my phone. But seriously, SO MUCH HAPPENNING. SO MUCH STRESS. I am so tired and I never, ever, ever want to look at another rental property EVER. Just...aaaagggghhhh! I miss you and your blogs and I can't wait till we get to hang out again. Maybe next week? If my parents' internet comes back?

And what should we do? The fancy pants apartment that is slightly out of budget or the kinda ok townhouse well within our budget? BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW. Aaaaaaggggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

Also! People in Texas will touch your child if he has red hair! Like, rub his belly. And hair. And feet.

And there are cats! Everywhere! Want to know where your cat runs off to? The answer is Texas! I probably saw your cat this past week and you didn't even know it.

I have to go. I am using the "business center" at our hotel (translation: two computers and two printers in a very small, very warm room) to print up one of the 2,735,831 applications that are necessary to rent! in! this! state! And I have to go fill out more. And someone just walked in and I feel awkward blogging with a stranger.

TEXAS!

Seven Quick Takes - Pack Rat Edition - 12/11/09

2009-12-11T08:40:00.000-08:00

1. Being a pack rat is both a blessing and a curse. We have filled up bags and bags and bags with trash and give away stuff. (In addition to the multiple boxes with stuff to give away that are sitting around waiting to be actually GIVEN AWAY.) I am flabbergasted at the amount of USELESS JUNK we owned. Most of it is mine because I am a collector of stuff. As I've stated before, I'm a sentimental sap and will keep the dumbest things because of the memories attached to them. HOWEVER, the good part is that you find some real gems every once in a while. Here's some of the best stuff I found.

2. A letter written on 12-31-99. (And OMG that is almost 10 years ago.) A letter written by me. TO MY FUTURE HUSBAND. I am pretty sure I was sitting around feeling sorry for myself that I had no one to kiss on New Year's Eve, so that's what prompted it. It's one page, front and back, handwritten. And it's so adorable, y'all. I mention Y2K! I talk about how I want to be a good wife. I go on and on about how I love him already. How precious is that? Oh, sweet, little 19-year-old me. You had SO MUCH to learn. (And yes, I let Alex read it since it was actually written FOR HIM. And he didn't make fun of me either.)

3. A note from Christy that she wrote in order to avoid doing her chemistry homework. I scanned it and e-mailed it to her today and we've determined it was sophomore year, probably in the early '00's. (Which yeah...ALMOST 10 YEARS AGO.) It is excellent as well. My favorite part is where she talks about WCW, which is Waffle Cone Wednesday. Our local TCBY offered waffle cones for a mere DOLLAR on Wednesdays and we went pretty much EVERY SINGLE WEDNESDAY. Man, those were good times.

4. My original Nintendo controllers, Duck Hunt gun, and the Super Mario Brothers/Duck Hunt game. NOTE: I do not have the ACTUAL NINTENDO. It (very sadly) broke years ago. Which means these things are COMPLETELY USELESS. But as Alex said, "There is NO WAY we are throwing any of that out."

5. Now this doesn't really count as stuff or junk since it's a picture. But I also found my bangs from the early 90's:
I am assuming this is from Junior High? There's no date on the picture, but I am pretty sure it's not freshman year of high school and I got braces my sophomore year. So it's probably 8th grade. Maybe 7th. But man, that headband and that shirt. A sleeveless mock turtleneck, y'all! That is just AWESOME. And THANK GOODNESS it cuts off at the waist. Who knows what atrocious pants I was wearing. Although...I do distinctly remember that watch and for some reason, I kind of miss it.

6. My high school graduation announcement, my medal I wore when I graduated college (Yes, a medal. I have no idea why you got a medal and not ropes or cords or whatever.) and a myriad of cards, notes, and pictures from high school and college. It was kind of neat getting to show everything to Alex since he was not around OVER TEN YEARS AGO, OMG.

7. And finally, a picture of me from kindergarten:
Which yes, I was pretty cute and look WAY BETTER here than in the previous junior high picture. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, it is proof that my son looks likes me. We have the same cheeks! And chin! And bless his little heart, we have the same exact BAGS UNDER OUR EYES. Sorry kiddo.
Not the best picture for comparison purposes, but you can see the resemblance, right? Right??

Three Miles and More

2009-12-07T16:17:00.001-08:00

I ran 3 miles today! THREE. ENTIRE. MILES. I have never ever in the history of my entire life even come close to running that much at one time. I didn't stop or walk or puke or anything! What's so funny is that I was all excited to post this and then I read Linda ran seven miles. Ha! That makes my three miles seem...not so impressive. But she is in AMAZING shape, so I don't feel too bad. Plus, she's training to run a half marathon (in New Orleans!) in February, so, yeah, different goals there. So, we'll just stick to my happy dance of three miles! Three miles!

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

I have the best in-laws on the planet. I know you think yours are nice and I'm sure they are, but I have to say that mine really are the best. My mother-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law AND her boyfriend came over yesterday and PACKED. They cleared out our bookshelves, took care of most of the office, and started on the kitchen. It's amazing. Granted our house looks sad and kind of empty now, but it's a good empty! A "We're moving!" empty. My mother-in-law is coming this weekend to help pack up the kitchen as well. And THANK GOD. Alex and I are TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE packers. We seriously need all the help we can get.

Example of terrible packing by Alex: He told them to pack up all of our pots and pans. Yes. ALL OF THEM. So we can't cook anything unless we can do it in the microwave or the toaster oven. GRRRREEAATTT. Funny story: I commented to Alex about this. I was all, "Why would they pack all of our pots and pans?" And he was all, "I don't know." Then I said something AGAIN because we needed to boil some stuff for the baby. And he paused and finally said, "I told them to do it."

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

Another part of our terrible packing abilities include the inability to judge how many boxes we will need. Alex made a Home Depot run for boxes and when he got home, it was obvious we were going to need more boxes. A LOT MORE. So I decided to make the next run because, well, I wanted to get out of the house. I didn't bother trying to look okay when I went out, either. I didn't shower, didn't put on make up or, uh, a bra. I was looking pretty rough is what I'm trying to get at here. But I didn't really care because who goes to Home Depot on Sunday morning?

MY EX-BOYFRIEND, THAT'S WHO.

OH EM GEE, YOU GUYS.

I have not seen him since 2003 sometime. Maaaaaybe 2004. Maybe. I'm not really sure. And there is a very, very good reason for that because things did not end well. Not well at all. And there was just a horrible period there where I was just a psychotic bitch. (I mean, there's just no other word for it.) It was just...bad. Bad, bad, bad. The whole thing. Bad. Baaaaaaaaaaaad.

You know, I'm not one of those people who says they have no regrets. There are plenty of times I have acted like an idiot and I wish I could go back in time and fix those things. And some things, I'd like to completely erase. Just wipe that whole slate clean. And that whole...situation would be NUMBER ONE on said list.

ANYWAY, I've always wondered what I would do if I ever ran into him around town and I did not disappoint. I seriously looked down and MOVED OVER. IN TERROR. I was checking out at the time, so there wasn't a good place to duck, or I would have done that. And who knows what the guy checking me out thought when I suddenly went mute and cowered by the wall of gift cards. And I didn't NEED to move over. There was PLENTY of room for both of them (he was with his dad) to walk pass me. Oh yes. THEY WALKED PAST ME. (They came in the exit doors right by the check out counters.) AND they TOTALLY ignored me. So he either 1) didn't see me or 2) didn't recognize me. So...yay? I guess? You'd think I would have held my head high and smiled or waved or something. Let bygones be bygones. It was a loooooooong time ago, right? But no. I HID like a fool. GAH.

(I mean, I guess it's okay because I looked like CRAP and everyone knows that you are supposed to look SUPER MEGA HOT whenever you run into any ex, whether the break up was amicable or not. So all's well that end's well? Right? Sure? Uh-huh? I guess?)

OH, WHATEVER. Ex-boyfriend-run-in FAIL.

Eight Months

2009-12-06T14:53:00.000-08:00

On Friday, this little kid turned 8 months old. Hooray!

He still has no teeth. (When will the teeth come? Why can't we blame the fussiness on the teeth? Why does he chew on our fingers IF HE'S NOT TEETHING!?) He still is not crawling. (But he WILL get on his belly and then whine and whine and whine until SOMEONE will come and pick him up. 'I don't care that you put that toy just out of my reach! PICK ME UP, WOMAN!') BUT he now says Mama. And babbles constantly. And will grab anything and everything, so nothing is safe on the table or on the store shelf or anywhere else, really. And he will try to drink from a straw when Momma puts some in the straw and puts it in his mouth. And he TOTALLY LOVES Peek a Boo. And he give kisses, OMGSOSWEETSQUEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

We had a pretty big month again this past month. We flew for the second time and Jack is now a PRO at flying. Which is awesome because we'll be flying again next week. But Daddy gets to go with us next time, so I can just give him the baby when he poops through an outfit. He still does not get the sippy cup completely, but we're working on drinking water. We FINALLY got a high chair, so we've made meal time a pretty big deal. There's been no home food making this month because of traveling and holidaying and moving. So he's gotten the joy of trying all kinds of combinations of food that Momma never would have made on her own. He still eats like a champ and has yet to meet a food he doesn't like. The only thing he wholly rejects is the Naturally Preferred Green Beans and Rice. Which is pretty weird because he loooooooooooves Gerber's Green Beans. So I'm not sure what Kroger adds in with their Green Beans and Rice combo, but it is NOT approved of at the Sand Palace. Sweet potatoes are still gooooooood.

We had to switch up to size 4 diapers this month because over of the course of 2 days, Jack peed through three outfits and pooped through two. And well, Mama can't handle that. Even though I don't think he weighs enough to technically wear size 4's. And I don't like it because it makes him seem so...big. He's pretty much exclusively wearing 9 month clothes now, which is kind of unacceptable because WHO SAID he was allowed to grow up so fast? We have no idea how much he weighs or how tall he is because we are lazy and make the doctor's office tell us. But we do know that he gets cuter EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.

We switched to the 2-3-4 nap schedule this past month as well. FINALLY. I thought we were going to be going down for naps every 2 hours for the rest of our lives. But the 2-3-4 seems to be working nicely and he's taking longer naps, which is AWESOME. I really enjoy getting a good 2-3 hour stretch of free time to eat and shower and clean. And he is much happier when he sleeps for longer than 45 minutes at a time.

We're really having a lot of fun together, me and Jack. He gets so excited when he seems me or Alex. He screams with delight and sounds like a baby bird. He still does his little jig of happiness when we come close to him with a bottle. He cranes his head around to see me when I'm out of view. He begs for bites of our food even though he knows he can't have any. He loves playing with his new talking book and his stacking rings and his choo choo train and his chime ball. Everything still goes in his mouth. He's finally learned to love bath time. He smiles pretty much all the time. He's my precious baby boy who is entertained more thoroughly by a straw than anything else. He's a flirt and a charmer but he hates it when people laugh loudly. Sometimes, he'll laugh out loud and then cry immediately. He can be a complicated, confusing little puzzle. But he sleeps best when I'm near and holds my hand when he's tired. He's a joy and so dang happy ALL. THE. TIME.

I love him.

Seven Quick Takes - 12/4/09

2009-12-04T10:45:00.001-08:00

1. So I said I'd write about Jack's 7th month of life yesterday, completely forgetting that it was Thursday. We'll do that tomorrow, for reals. Because I am just BURSTING with things to tell y'all.

2. I won something! Boo Mama did a giveaway this week for Bon Bon Charms for the new Sweet Petite Charms. And I won! I am SO EXCITED. You can see what they look like here. I am trying to decide if I want just Jack's first name or his first AND middle name on the charm. I have been wanting a personalized necklace like this for a while and so I'm THRILLED to be getting this for free, yo. I'll be sure to post pictures once I receive the finished product.

3. Fitness update: I haven't done the Shred since I injured myself a week or so ago. It's still really painful when I exercise and hurts every time I put shoes on. I've been wearing an ankle brace pretty much non stop the last few days and I believe it's helped tremendously. I want to shred again for this next week to help me prepare for the 5K I'm running next Saturday. And by god, I am going to RUN it THE ENTIRE TIME. I am pretty sure I can achieve this goal because I can now run 2 miles. WITHOUT STOPPING. Yes! Me! The most nonathletic person in the entire universe!

4. Alex just told me that we are all booked and ready to head to San Antonio week after next. Because you know what else is helpful to do when you're moving? Going out of town for two weeks. VERY, VERY HELPFUL. Jack and I are going to apartment hunt while Alex begins work at his new office for a week. Then we're going to drive four and half hours and meet my parents where Jack and I will hop in their car and head down to spend the week of Christmas with them while Alex keeps on trucking at the new office. We'll fly back up here two days after Christmas and spend the next two weeks FREAKING OUT before we move down to Texas for good. Come on, you know you're jealous of that schedule.

5. If you're a big fan of The Office, then you might find these two articles about the awfulness of this season very interesting. I pretty much agree with both of them. My disappointment with the show started back when they had Pam flunk out of art school. I felt like that was VERY uncharacteristic of Pam and really undermined the whole "art is my dream" plotline they had going for the first three seasons. And now co-manager Jim is REALLY sucking the life out of the most fun relationship on that show. I miss fun Jim! I miss fun Pam! I miss happiness!

6. Amazon is giving away one free Christmas song from December 1st through the 25th. Also, if you hunt around their site, you can find a SLEW of free Christmas songs on there. I have downloaded a good 15 or so free Christmas songs this past week, which is, you know, AWESOME.

7. Way back during the Christmas of 2007, I forced Alex to buy a precious Boyd's Bear ornament that had two moose holding a snowflake that said, "Our First Christmas 2007." It was ridiculously expensive and kind of dumb, but I love moose and I love Alex and I wanted to commemorate our first Christmas as a married couple. We then promptly lost it. I think it might have accidentally got thrown out during a overzealous car cleaning spree. But whatever it was...the ornament was lost. I was just sick over it. SICK, y'all. I looked for it last year and still couldn't find it and resigned myself to the fact that the ornament was gone forever. It was STILL bugging me this year, so Alex got on the old internets and hunted around for that ornament. He spent a copious amount of time on the phone with a strange lady somewhere in Pennsylvania earlier this week. And then yesterday? Santa came early in the form of the FedEx man. I married a good man, y'all.

Postponed

2009-12-03T15:00:00.000-08:00

Today is my sweet baby boy's 8 month "birthday." I'll write about his past month of life tomorrow and (hopefully!) will include pictures.

Right now, I need to sit down, cry, and feel sorry for myself. Once I get over that, I think everything will be fine. But sometimes you just have to freak out before everything will get better. If you'd like to offer someone to punch in the face a la Pam in The Office, that'd be cool too. (Although she DID say it didn't make her feel better.) (And uh, no, I didn't just find out that my dithering boss is having an affair with my mom and then broke her heart.)

It's house stuff. Not important stuff like family or friends or health. Everyone is doing well. We have all the important things in life. We just don't have a big pot of money that we swim in, something I have always wanted ever since I first started watching Ducktales back in the day. So it's not big deal. Just crappy, stressful stuff. Our realtor told us that the three most stressful things in life are 1) getting a new job, 2) having a small child, and 3) moving. Good thing we're doing all three at the same time during the holidays!

Anyway, we'll be fine. And this has wound up being way more wordy than it needed to be. But I was afraid if I just posted the first two paragraphs y'all would get all worried that someone was dying or something. And it's nothing like that. So! All of that is to say that I'm super stressed out right now and am planning on writing a proper, happy post about my child tomorrow. I could have said that in one sentence. But I didn't.

I need chocolate.

Things I Have Learned While Packing

2009-12-02T21:30:00.001-08:00

1. I am never ever ever EVER allowed to purchase another notebook, journal, card, envelope, pen, pencil, note card, sticky note, or piece of paper. OH MY GOSH, you guys. I have, like, a ZILLION pieces of stationary and such. And why? I never send cards. I always THINK I will, but then I don't. And how many partially filled journals can one girl own? I have filled up two not-very-small plastic drawers full of office supplies. Anybody need any writing utensils or paper products? Because I'm your girl.

2. I really SHOULD send more cards because I love getting them. I have kept every card anybody has ever given me. Yes, even yours! I just can't get rid of them. Which leads me to quite the conundrum. What do I DO with them? I cannot bear to throw them away. They makes me so happy and it's so nice to go back and read them when I'm having a bad day...but where do they go? And am I the only person who does this? I know I'm a sentimental old sap, but I can't be the only one who feels the need to KEEP all these things, right?

3. I don't read nearly as much poetry as I used to. GRANTED, a lot of those random sonnets I found were from either 1) college or 2) the aftermath of a particularly traumatic break up (or two), but still. Where is the poetry in my life? It has LEFT ME ENTIRELY. The closest I come to reading poems are Sandra Boynton books. BECAUSE THEY RHYME.

4. It kind of weirds me out how one's life can be packed up and put into little plastic containers. I feel like the sum of my existence is just sitting here. And what will people will think of it once I'm gone? Will Jack want to keep these pictures and prayers and posts? Will they be meaningless to him? Is this all my legacy is? A few kind words from friends and random pictures?

5. Dude, I REALLY hate packing.

Uh, no.

2009-12-01T12:34:00.000-08:00

I am pretty sure this is not a joke.

Guys, let me go ahead and tell you now that a SURPRISE PAP SMEAR is NOT what the woman in your life wants for Christmas. I don't care how close you are to that woman. Your wife will kill you. Possibly make you sleep on the couch FOR ALL ETERNITY. Your mom will be baffled and offended. Your sister will be squicked out. Your friends will disown you. DON'T DO IT.

And how creepy is it that he's like...give her the gift that SANTA can't give. What? First of all, a pap smear is not a GIFT. It is a necessary evil. Second of all, if SANTA can't give that gift, then NEITHER CAN YOU. I am pretty sure Santa could indeed deliver a gift certificate good for one (1) free pap smear! But Santa is NOT STUPID. Is he implying that Santa cannot perform the pap smear? Because, guess what, NEITHER CAN YOU, BUDDY. Just...no. NO!

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for women getting checked out and taking care of themselves, but not as Christmas gifts. If Alex gave me a pap smear for Christmas, I can GUARANTEE you that he'd be getting a prostate exam for his birthday. GUARANTEE.

**I found this at NPR's pop culture blog.

Done!

2009-11-30T18:34:00.001-08:00

NaBloPoMo is done for this year. I can't believe it's already November 30th. I got an e-mail about the badges today and I was like...why is she sending this e-mail early? And then I realized tomorrow is December 1st. Wooops.

It's been a good month. A crazy month. An exciting month. I'm glad I got to share it with y'all. I'm looking forward to December and celebrating Jack's first Christmas. And I'm really excited about what the new year has to bring. We're embarking on a new adventure at the Sand Palace.

But for now? Now we pack.