Saturday, December 31, 2011

End of the Year Meme

Year six of this meme! Will I ever stop doing it? Eh, probably not.

The hubs and I are celebrating this New Year's so far by trying our damnest to get the kiddo to go to bed. I don't know what's up with that, but he's take at least an hour to go to bed ever since the time change. It's exhausting and so frustrating. So that's all so far. I think afterward, we're going to watch Princess Mononoke and play Lego Pirates of the Caribbean; that is, if I don't fall asleep way before then.

What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?
Started a program to get my teaching license for elementary school. Fun stuff right there.

Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I haven't bothered to make resolutions in a really long time. Mainly, I want to deliver a healthy baby and try not to kill my husband while I'm at it. (Because, you know, it's all the man's fault while you're pregnant.)

Did anyone close to you give birth?
Some Facebook friends, but no one close. It does seem like everyone's popping out babies right now.

Did anyone close to you die?
No, thank goodness.

What countries did you visit?
None. Boo.

What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
A second child? I dunno, that's about all I can think of.

What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
November 9th, which is the day I start counting this pregnancy. Middle October is big because that's the month we went to Miami.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting to drink alcohol as much as I wanted for four whole months! Also, I finished breastfeeding at 13 months, so I'm really excited that I did it for that long.

What was your biggest failure?
Eh, I dunno. Nothing really went wrong this year.

Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing major. I'm having some teeth issues because a couple of new fillings that replaced old fillings aren't healing up properly. I'm still pissed about it, and I need to see if I can get them fixed (again) during my second trimester.

What was the best thing you bought?
A 40" widescreen TV for the bedroom. It's awesome-sauce. 

Whose behavior merited celebration?
My brother, maybe. He finally got himself a girlfriend and she's a keeper. :)

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Politics in general. Sigh.

Where did most of your money go?
We kinda had one thing after another hit in 2011 in terms of money. It really sucked.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Getting pregnant again! Starting school again!

What song will always remind you of 2011?
Probably something one of Grayson's little toys play. Those jingles will always remind me of his babyhood.

Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder?
happier, always
b) thinner or fatter?
fatter and it's a bummer. I plan on going on Weight Watchers once I'm not breastfeeding baby #2 anymore.
c) richer or poorer?
about the same? But we're shoveling all of our extra money into hospital savings right now, so there's not a lot of cash hanging around to spend.

What do you wish you'd done more of?
I always say traveling, but we did take a big trip to Miami. I wish I had read more, but I did do a decent amount. I'm pretty happy with 2011 overall.

What do you wish you'd done less of?
Dealing with a cat. I'm so tired of living with an animal that hates my kid.

How will you be spending Christmas?
Like last year, we spent Christmas Eve with the in-laws and Christmas with my family.

Did you fall in love in 2011?
I've got two boys filling up my heart right now. I think I can find room for one more (boy or girl) in 2012, though. :)

What was your favorite TV program?
American Horror Story was full of glorious cracktastic awesome-ness. Adventure Time with Finn and Jake gave me hope that there might be something decent on TV for G when he's older. 

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I didn't much mind Simon, our cat, last year because he pretty much ignored baby-G. But he completely hates toddler-G, even though Grayson is very gentle and nice toward him. He tries to bite G whenever G attempts to gently pet him, and I this infuriates me so hard. I just don't know what to do about the situation since Simon is 11 and has to take constant thyroid medication. 

What was the best book you read?
I didn't read a ton, but I did get to rekindle my love of Bruce Coville's My Teacher is an Alien series. I also discovered George R. R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series and read all of those. People complain about them a lot, but they're very engaging. I'm currently reading the Girl with a Dragon Tattoo trilogy and liking it so far.

What was your greatest musical discovery?
Nothing new.

What did you want and get?
Pregnant, again!

What did you want and not get?
A new house. Looks like I won't get one until 2014 at the earliest. Sigh.

What was your favorite film of this year?
The last Harry Potter. Sniff, sniff!

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned the big 3-0. Insert very heavy sigh here. But I did have a fantastic one, especially because a bunch of friends and family surprised me at the same restaurant where Dave and I 1) first ate a meal together, and 2) had our rehearsal dinner. We also went bowling. I love me some bowling.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Moving into a new house. Not having any pets.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
Trying to dress my post-baby body was a bit difficult. My boobs went back down to a manageable size, but my middle didn't.

What kept you sane?
Knowing that everything in temporary and that I can always look toward the future.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I wrote this last year: Johnny Depp, as always. I want in his pants.
That statement hasn't changed.  

What political issue stirred you the most?
The upcoming 2012 election. I just can't vote for a homophobe, so all Republication nominees are out!

Who did you miss?
No one really. We did try to be more sociable this year, and we were at least fairly successful. 

Who was the best new person you met?
Made some online mama friends!

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011:
You can't go backwards. A person from college tried to stir up some kind of friendship between us this year, after two years of nothing, and it just didn't work, especially because she hadn't grown up at all. I don't have time for nonsense in my life anymore... and I think that's a sign that I'm finally - gasp - an adult.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

post-Christmas letdown


My apologies. It feels as though I haven't blogged in ages, though in reality it's only been about a week. The past week has felt like a month.

Christmas was fantastic and I'm so glad it's over. G got sick a couple days beforehand, as did my grandparents, and I spent some time trying not to freak out that no one was going to be able to hang out with anyone. But it all worked out in the end. The hubs and I haven't gotten sick yet, though I'm sitting here with a sore throat and wondering if that will last.

G is still dealing with that blasted cold. His runny nose has eased up a bit so he's able to sleep through the night again, but we're subjected to long crying bouts over nothing in particular. I'm worried there's something more wrong, like an ear infection, but I don't want to bother with a doc visit until early next week to see if this passes on it's own. It could also just be the fact that we're home again. We usually have to deal with a bit of whining and tantrumy attitude from him after being at my parents'. He spends a few days getting everything he wants with a little whining, and suddenly he thinks that's the way to behave all of the time. Of course, we've also been lax with him because he's been sick, so it's a bunch of things piled up.

I feel sorry for the little guy, especially because I haven't been as active in taking care of him as I would like. I've hit 7 weeks pregnant and the nausea has really hit hard the past couple of days. Today was the worst, but I did manage not to throw up. Yet. That combined with major allergies leaving me unable to breath through my nose unless I'm laying down, and crazy intense fatigue... all I want to do is lay in bed.

Speaking of which, I'm in bed right now. I think I'm gonna lay back down and watch the hubs play Skyrim a little longer before poking him for a neck massage.

I promise to post a better Christmas update later once I've edited some pics.

Monday, December 19, 2011

a spring day in December

A couple of days ago, we had a day when the temperature outside reached a very warm 65 degrees. The sun was out in full force, and a calm breeze kept the rays from making things too hot. Of course, the kiddo and I headed to one of our favorite parks where I just turned him loose.

I don't know if it was because we hadn't been to a park in well over a month, or if he was just in the mood, but he held my hand for a while as we walked from the car to the first bit of playground. He eyed the swings the whole time, and I let him lead us over there.



The kid does love to swing. He headed back over to them three more times. It's difficult to help an 18-month-old understand the concept of waiting your turn for a swing, but he did pretty good.

Being able to run around unhendered just blows his toddler mind.


This pose and face cracks me up.



Toddler butt!


There was this really cool artwork on the side of a building. He had to go poke at it.


The boy does love his sticks.




At this point, I needed a break from walking around. First trimester fatigue has hit me hard. So I sat down on a low wall and let him hand me pieces of sticks and rocks. I lined up the first few in a row, and then he got interested in putting them down himself.


I know we won't have a day like that again for a looong time, so I tried to soak up the sun and enjoy every moment. Christmas is in only a few days!

Friday, December 16, 2011

so I peed on a stick

Isn't this the faintest positive you've seen in your life?


I swear there's a second line in the above photo. I was 7 days past ovulation - I know that exactly since I was tempting, charting, and had gotten two positive OPKs. It was the faintest line possible, really just a shadow of a line.

That was in the afternoon of 7 DPO, so I took another test the next morning, at 8 DPO. It was a clearer line, but still very faint. Took another the morning of 9 DPO and finally, a very solid, not so faint anymore line!

Yup, definitely preggers.

I so knew it this time too. I volunteered at a kindergarten class the day before my first sorta positive (the picture of which is above). While there, one of the little girls asked if I had a baby in my tummy. I almost answered, "Yes!" before I caught myself. On the drive back home, I had an overwhelming feeling that I was pregnant. I had this same feeling with G before I tested positive too. I just knew.

I'm just thrilled I got my 11/11/11 wish!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

birthday + finals + surprise = chaos!

This past week has been cray-zee. Here's a recap.

Tuesday
I have (well, had, since it's now over) a Monday evening class that had a huge project due this past Monday. So I went a good portion of Tuesday working on it, basically whenever G was asleep.

Wednesday
It was my birthday. The big dreaded 3-0. Sigh. Dave was determined to recreate my Birthday Weekend Spectacular of 2007, and I'd say he got pretty darn close. Except for a ring and a proposal at the end - ha!

My husband cooked me a damn tasty meal of potatos au gratin, stuffed mushrooms, and chicken cordon bleu. Yummy!


And then I got this cake. I appreciated the 29th on there - har - but I was kinda amazed at the size of it. I think that's the smallest bday cake I've ever seen. But it was chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, so I wasn't complaining. :)


A bazillion people sang happy birthday to me. Like a lot of people, I get embarrassed to have so much focus on me, but I don't really mind the happy birthday song. (Unlike the hubs, who can be a bit fuddy-duddy about it, especially in public.) The highlight was that Blue Sky Riders sang for me over the phone! That's my father-in-law, my future step mother-in-law (whoa, weird title!), and Kenny Loggins (who's really really tall in person). How cool is that?

As part of the 2007 Birthday Weekend Spectacular, we then headed out to the Opryland Hotel. We couldn't find the trees outside, which is where he proposed to me, but we wandered around inside until G was stumbling and really started to zone out. We wore him out! But he refused to be carried, so we let him run all over the place.







If you're in the Nashville area, I highly recommend an evening out to the Opryland Hote. It's just gorgeous! I'm so happy they were able to rebuild after the floods last year. The mall still isn't fully open, though that's supposed to change in March.

Thursday
After my birthday, it was back to the grind of working on that project. So exhausting!

Friday
Since eating some pizza Tuesday afternoon, my right back gum had been hurting. Thursday evening, I thought it looked infected - so gross! So after giving a final from 8-10 this morning, I headed over to the dentist. He took an X-ray and told me that I might need a root canal because the tooth near that gum might be infected. Say whaaaa? I was terrified. He referred me to a specialist, so thankfully looked at it and told me it was definitely not the tooth. Likely, something I ate had irritated the gum. He cleaned it out - ouch! - gave me an antibiotic, and sent me on my way. I was so relieved!

I got home about 1:30, and I was just exhausted. I locked G and I up in his room, which is babysafe, and just passed out on the floor. Every few minutes, he'd come over and shove something in my face or climb over me, but I was able to snatch a few minutes here and there of a nap. I definitely felt much better after that.

Saturday
We spent the morning and some of the afternoon preparing for our Christmas party on Sunday. Then we headed out to dinner at Buca di Beppo, which is the restaurant where we had our third date and our rehearsal dinner. The hubs had been acting suspicious, so I was kinda suspecting something was up. I walked in the restaurant to find most of our friends and family waiting for us. I was not expecting that many people! Even Grayson was there, brought by my mother-in-law who I thought was babysitting back at home.

Of course, it was such a perfect set up for what was to come. Dave and I whispered about it a little and decided to go ahead and surprise everyone who had just surprised me. Dave stood up to give a toast, and said something about "the mother of his children." Now, of course, we only have G, our one child. A few of them picked up on the "children" and it took a little while for others. I loved seeing their faces as they finally realized what he had meant.

Yup, we're pregnant with baby #2!

A bunch of us went bowling afterward. We all bowled one game, then some of them left to head home. That left me, hubs, Jennifer, and Michael, two of my best friends. Michael had come all the way from Iowa to surprise me! The four of us, since we had already paid for two games, decided to double-bowl. Oh my gosh, we were exhausted by the end of it! We would have to bowl one side, then turn right around and bowl the other. We were home by 8:30, but it felt like midnight. My arms felt like jello and my butt hurt the next morning. Who bowls three games and comes away with a sore butt? Me, apparently.

Sunday
Party time! We prepped all day, then the party started at 3pm. Tasty good, good friends, and dirty Santa. Since Michael was still in town, we hung out that night before he left Monday morning.


Monday
Dave had a dentist appointment early in the morning, so I was on baby-duty for a bit longer than usual. When G went down for a nap, I finished up my project for class. That afternoon, we took G to his 18 month doc appointment. Afterward, it was a quick earlier dinner and then I headed off to my last class.

Tuesday
Totally crash day. After the craziness of the past week, I was ready to lay around and watch TV all day.

And that was my week! I have a couple more posts in the works, one about the pregnancy so far (yaaaay!), and one about G.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

a whirwind of a week

Gah, I still mean to post a couple times a week, even if NaBloPoMo is over - and thank goodness it is! I have a ton to talk about concerning this past week, but for now, here's a pic.


Yep, that's my kiddo down there at the bottom of that massive Christmas tree, running at us full force with a giant smile on his face. This was, hmm, Wednesday night, day three or so of the SEVEN DAYS OF CRAY-ZEE.

I promise I'll get up a week-long report later.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

a Christmas survey

Starting from my Livejournal days, I've just really loved surveys. If you don't <3 them, then you might wanna look elsewhere. :)

This Christmas survey comes from Matt and Kara Adopt.

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? Since egg nog is nasty (though the hubs disagrees), I choose you, hot chocolate.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrapped all the way. That's half the fun.
 
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? I love how the white lights glow, so white, definitely.
 
4. Do you hang mistletoe? We don't. My grandparents used to, though. It was cute.
 
5. When do you put your decorations up? As soon after Thanksgiving that I can!
 
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? My parents cook a Cuban meal for Christmas Eve. I haven't been 
able to eat it on Christmas Eve for a couple of years, but they always save me leftovers. Traditional Cuban pork, black beans and rice, yucca - so yummy!
 
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? I loved the year we went to Miami for Christmas. I was 16, I think. It was freaky to have Christmas when it was warm outside, but we had a blast. I loved getting the entire Cuban family together like that.
 
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? My brother and I just figured it out. I'm not sure how old we were. But my parents weren't very good about making sure Santa's handwriting didn't match their own... Luckily for us, Dave's pretty good at calligraphy, so I'm sure he can cook something up for G.
 
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Nope.
 
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? We have a fake tree, so we put that sucker up, then pile on the ornaments. We love a variety of all shapes and colors, especially those that mean something to us.
 
11. Snow! Love it or dread it? Love it! For G's first Christmas last week, we actually woke up to snow in Alabama. We weren't going to head down until the day of Christmas, but we ended up driving down late on Christmas Eve because people were so sure it was going to snow. Sure enough, it did!
 
12. Can you ice skate? Can I? Yes. Do I care to again anytime soon? Nope.
 
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Some stand out to be as a kid, such as our first gaming system (a Nintendo!) and my first bike.
 
14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Getting large amounts of family together.
 
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Something chocolate, but that's nothing different. I don't like a lot of traditional holiday desserts, I'm afraid.
 
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Waking up to open presents on Christmas Day and eating omelets afterward.
 
17. What tops your tree? A star. It always has to be a star!
 
18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? I'd be lying of I didn't receiving, but I get a huge rush from watching someone open a gift I gave them. As a mom, I especially love giving my kiddo gifts.
 
19. Candy canes: yuck or yum? Yum, but I have to be in the mood.
 
20. Favorite Christmas movie? I love a ton of them. There are actually very few I dislike.
 
21. Saddest Christmas song? Do I know any sad songs? I don't think so.
 
22. What is your favorite Christmas song? "All I Want for Christmas," "Carol of the Bells."

Monday, December 5, 2011

halfway to 2


Dear G,

I can't believe you are halfway to two years old. YWO. TWOoooo! The mind? It's boggled.

You honestly didn't change a whole lot between 17 and 18 months. You can pick out some new body parts - eyes, especially. You shake your butt when we ask where it is. ha! You love to dance, and usually your moves involve getting low to the ground with your butt sticking out. We just crack up at you all day long.

G, where's your nose?


Head?


Eyes? (He'll usually just squint them rather than poking himself in the eye, but still, funny.)


What about your butt?


Oh, I get it. You don't shake your butt on camera, huh?

Heh heh heh.

Anyway, you love giving kisses more and more, and you'll throw your arms around our legs and squeeze really hard. I know I say this over and over, but I really hope you're always this affectionate. Even as an adult. You'll make someone a very happy husband. :)

Sometimes it sounds like you're trying to say "banana" and "eyes," but it's difficult to tell since you don't say them often. We can tell that you understand a ton, though.

We're having a time keeping your little fingers off the Christmas tree, since you're so fascinated by it. I can't wait for Christmas, to watch you tear into your gifts. You love anything paper, so I'm sure you'll love ripping the wrapping paper. Gah, can't wait!

Love you so much, G!

~Mommy

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

I did it!

I made it a month of blogging every day! And I didn't go crazy!

NaBloPoMo is officially over by the end of today. I have to say that I'm more than a little excited that I don't have to blog every evening, when what I really want to do - after the babe goes to bed and I finish any homework and I work on some grading and lesson planning - is lay down with the hubs and watch some good ol' TV.

I love me some TV. It's the ultimate easy into nighttime transition for me. Plus, I get to watch all the adult stuff that I don't let the little one see. (No, not that adult, perv.)

How did my month go? Here's a recap of my 30 days:

1: introduction
2: my nasty halloween of everything-went-wrong
3: more pics of G the dragon
4: celebrating 17-months-old with nekkid pictures
5: the scary card from gramma
6: the day we took G to the emergency room aka the day I almost died from worry
7: CANDY!
8: 5 icky things
9: some person evaluates my kid's speech
10: yeeeaaahhhhhh!
11: I still hope I'll one day be a good mama
12: impatiently waiting for Christmas
13: a wish on 11/11/11
14: the hubs guest-blogs on being a working father!
15: a silly toddler laugh
16: the day spaghetti went everywhere
17: the kiddo poses
18: me when I was preggo (and huge)
19: a weird list of what I'm thankful for
20: teething makes me want to pull my hair out and LOVE ME
21: oh how I miss the ocean
22: a video of G as a newborn - more cuteness than I can handle
23: the eve of Thanksgiving and G with his great-grand'rents
24: happy thanksgiving!
25: a few recipes that we enjoy to try
26: stressing about money but looking toward Christmastime hope
27: when we painted our kitchen
28: the hubs guest-blogs on (hopefully) raising a future geek
29: the best baby kisses of my life

I'll of course still be blogging, but it'll dwindle back down to the usual twice a week levels. I've got a lot to post coming up as we head into the holidays.

Goodbye, NaBloPoMo! I sorta kinda mostly won't miss you.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

baby kisses

Grayson saw Santa today!!!!

I was way more excited than he was.

It went pretty much like last year. He didn't even look at Santa when Dave sat him on the man's lap. We danced around behind the photographer like idiots, G flashed a smile, a couple pictures were taken, and then we left.

Easy-peasy.

We hung around for a while to listen to the Christmas concert at my university. While we were waiting, I had G sitting on a ledge in front of me. He started playing with my hair. He would grab two fistfuls on either side of my face and hold them over my eyes. Peek-a-boo and hide-n-seek are two of his favorite games right now. I would say, "Where's Mommy?" and he would jerk his hands to reveal my face and cackle gleefully at the apparent joke.


He did this forever, probably ten minutes, which is forever in toddler time. Then, all of a sudden, he leaned forward and kissed me right on the lips, a quick and intentional peck.

It was an honest-to-God, closed-mouthed kiss.

So far, G's kisses were open mouthed and not very enthusiastic (and very rare). I was just stunned. So was Dave. I held my breath. G, with his little hands still fisted in my hair, leaned forward and kissed me again. If I could have melted in a puddle of mommy goo, I would have.

I turned my head to look at Dave, feeling tears behind my eyes. His expression was as delighted as mine.

A chubby hand reached up, pressed against my cheek, and turned my face back toward his. He leaned forward and kissed me a third time. No, mama, one more kiss!

I really did cry then. I was so touched. My kid is very affectionate and always has been. He loves hugs and cuddles, complains when we ask him to drink his milk alone because he'd rather drink it on our laps, and leans in for kisses all of the time. But these kisses were so random, so prompted by him, that they literally took my breath away.

I truly felt my son's love. I'll just never forget that moment.

Monday, November 28, 2011

guest post: future geek

The hubs guest-blogged for me again since I had class. Enjoy! - Alicia



It’s the hubs again, here to talk about all of our hopes and dreams for the future. Nothing important, right?

I have very few true hopes for my child. In general, I’ll be happy if he’s happy. Well… happy and productive. None of this “but I’m happy living in your basement and playing video games!” stuff. Other than that: doctor, dancer, weatherman, athlete, poet, actor, garbage man, factory worker… whatever. All good. Sure, we’d like him to avoid the more injury-prone pursuits, like football or car racing..


One thing I truly hope about my child (all my children, however many there may end up being) is that he is a geek.

Hello, my name is Dave, and I’m a geek.

Sure, these days being a “geek” is some new kind of cool. Like “hipsterism” and “emo” or something. I might be a little out of touch. You find them all over the TV with Big Bang Theory, Chuck, or Professional Wrestling. Though really, that’s all not really geek to me. Geekiness has nothing to do with intelligence (just ask my friends), but rather is defined by a great love of something(s) that seems silly or unsocial to others. Trekkies, Star Warsians, Harry Potterites (those are the right terms, right?)… all geeks.


To clarify, I’m a D&D geek. I would have accepted being called a Star Wars geek as well, before Lucas went and DESTROYED MY CHILDHOOD WITH THOSE GOD-AWFUL PREQUELS AND… AND JAR-JAR… AND…
…breathe… 
I’m ok now.


I hope that Grayson grows up with a love of a good story, whether that be through books, anime, movies, TV shows… wherever he can get it. To me, though, the best stories are those you get to be a part of. That’s what kept me playing for the last… 28 years. Great. Now I feel old. Thanks, blog.

I love to tell stories for my friends, and let them live them, change them, inject their own stories into them. It’s a true interaction that you can’t get from a movie or video game (though they try).

I bought Grayson his first set of dice last Christmas. I love the idea that he’ll always have a set of dice as old as he is. The first time Grayson left the house without us was when we started playing again nearly a year ago. It’s a big thing for me, and I love the fact that the wife was keen enough on it to try it out way back in the day, and we’ve played together ever since.

I spend time thinking about the kid-friendly adventures I can take him on. How to simplify the system so that he can learn it when he’s 7. I’m sure I’ll tear up the first time he asks me to run a session for him. I like to think that in 15 years he’ll sit at the adult table with us, and in 20 years he’ll come over a few times a month to play.


Is it wrong that my dream for him is that he share my hobby? Is that selfish? Sometimes I ask myself that, but in the long run it’s me wanting to share something with my child, something that has given me a lifetime of enjoyment and some of my best friends.

(And yes, blogging is just an excuse to paste my kid's head on random other pictures.)

-Dave

Sunday, November 27, 2011

begone, kitchen remodel!

We're painting our kitchen right now. It's the last phase of our slip of a remodel, which involved painting the walls and ceiling of our two-story living room, replacing our nasty kitchen countertops, and sprucing up the kitchen with some new hardware and backsplash.

The backsplash will now have to wait due to G's emergency room bill, but at least we're getting the painting done. The first coat went on tonight. The god-awful light yellow color is now officially GONE! Picture me dancing a jig right now.

Or not.

My father-in-law and his fiancee came over to watch the kiddo for us while we painted. At one point, G was getting fussy, so we turned on a Yo Gabba Gabba episode to keep him entertained. Immediately, he went into zombie baby mode, as YGG typically drains him of his ability to look away from the TV. The old folks? Yeah, they totally fell asleep on the couch. We peeped in to check on them, and there they both were with their heads thrown back, sleeping upright.

Maybe YGG has that effect on anyone over 3?

Keeping a toddler happy is hard work. It's no wonder I'm ready to crash at 8:30 every night. I can't imagine have two or more of those things running around the house at the same time. When do people of more than one child go to bed? 5pm?

Saturday, November 26, 2011

when life happens

Thanksgiving was fantastic. My mom was in full g-mama mode, running around with my kid all day, every day while I got to do a bit of lounging about the house. It was heaven.

Then we get home and check our mailbox, and bam, we're back to reality. A notice that our health insurance won't be covering yet another thing from G's emergency room visit. This time? $600 for his xrays. That's on top of the $200-300 we've already received.

Oh hi. Merry Christmas.

It's just one more big charge we've gotten slammed with in the past two months. I need life to seriously take a chill pill for a moment.

Our cat needed teeth pulled. $130 to figure that out. $230 to pull them. Oh, and maybe you should lower his thyroid meds since his levels are a little off. $40 to retest. Oops, now they're off in the other direction. Next month? Another $40 to retest.

I go to the dentist for a routine check up. Oh, by the way, your fillings are over 15 years old and need to be replaced. Bam, $880.

My car's thermometer goes bad. $120.

At this point, I'm just praying that nothing else goes wrong until next year. Come on, life, give us a break, okay?

We did set up our tree this evening while playing Christmas music - that at least calmed me down. And I snapped this pic to cheer me up.


We got these little salt n pepper shakers from Target a few weeks ago. I love them so hard. Every time I see them, I try to refocus my mind on the upcoming holidays. The money will take care of itself, and I need to give G the best Christmas possible by focusing on him and not on what's stressing me out.

Christmas is about love and family. And little cheek kisses. I love little cheek kisses.

Especially when they come from my little cheeky toddler.

Friday, November 25, 2011

just kill me now, m'kay?

I know I only have five blog entries to go, but I've got serious blogging fatigue. Five! I can make it five more entries, right? But with the holidays happening, and finals approaching, I'm about to lose my mind with trying to come up with new things to talk about of any kind of significance.

Gah, I've got to come up with something. It'd be so sad to bow out now when the finish line is in sight.

So, here are a few of my favorite recipes.

When I feel like not being lazy and actually making my own sauce, this crockpot recipe for shredded bbq pork is awesome. I usually make it with beef.

These wheat pancakes (without the blueberry) are awesome!

I was never a fan of meatloaf as a kid, but this Paula Dean recipe for bbq meatloaf turns out fantastic every time I make it.

These peanut butter buckeyes were nummy.

Oh man, this blog post is booorrring. I hope to post something with pictures in the few couple of days, but I make no promises for tomorrow as we're traveling back to Nashville that day.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

woo, turkey!

Happy Thanksgiving!

(from mine to yours)

And now I shall pass out with a belly full of turkey, dressing, pound cake, and ice cream.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

on the eve of Thanksgiving

We headed down to Florence, Alabama this morning, where my parents and most of my mom's family lives. These next three days will be eagerly packed with food and family - the best possible aspects of the holidays, in my opinion.

Of course, it'll be difficult for this Thanksgiving - or any Thanksgiving, for that matter - to surpass last year's family smorgasbord of craziness where my parents' house was filled to the top with family.

But still, it's the first step of the holidays, which makes me see twinkling lights in my head wherever I go or hum Christmas carols. I have a Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer CD waiting for me when we get back home. I'm going to play it on repeat as we decorate the house. And no, I won't feel sorry for my husband, one bit.

Today, we drove the 2 hours and 15 minutes to Flo-town. Our first stop was my grandparents' house to hang out for the rest of the day until my mom got off work. Having to work the day before Thanksgiving? A tragedy. (Though I suppose it's way worse to have to work on Thanksgiving or the dreaded day of death Black Friday after Thanksgiving.)

These are my mom's parents, the grandparents I spent most of my childhood living next to. I literally had the steps memorized that took me to their front porch from my front porch, and I could leap the distance in about 10 seconds. They really were my second parents growing up, and I'm so thrilled that G loves them as much as I do.


How cute are they, right?

Pa-Paw (or as I like to call him now - The Great Pa-Paw) has been dying to get G on his lawnmower - blades turned off, of course. He's driven every child and grandchild on the thing. I knew it wouldn't go over well, G having an aversion to loud noises and such. But we went with it.

I don't think G cried. But he certainly wanted off and fast. This is the best pic I took where he didn't have a oh HELL no face.


G is literally standing in what was my back yard as a kid. Our trailer is no longer there, but this still blows my mind.


G doesn't really like to hold hands unless he's unsure about a situation. But he held Pa-Paw's hand from here and back to the house. So stinkin' cute.




Tomorrow, Thanksgiving.

Saturday, I turn toward Christmas. I guess that means I should start some shopping. Though you won't catch me in a mall for at least another week or so!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

video: newborn G!



It's enough to make my ovaries hurt. Yeowch!

Monday, November 21, 2011

ocean shot

I'm working on finishing up my Miami posts, as I still haven't posted part 4. (Whoops.) I was digging through the photos and found this one:


It's a shot of Key Biscayne from the water at Crandon Park. The water is very shallow there, so we were several yards out and not even up to G's waist. Since winter was approaching, the ocean was starting to get kind of chilly, but the shallow water wasn't too bad.

Oh, how I miss you, little island!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

hi

I've noticed that the # of people who visit this blog has jumped up considerably lately. I wanted to give a shout out welcome to all of you, especially those who are new!

Check it to the right of your screen.

~~~~~~~~~~~>

See all that stuff over there? If you like MCM and want to, please click Join This Site and become a follower!

You can also click those icons at the top to follow me on Pinterest.

Or Twitter.

I love me some Pinterest and Twitter.

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If you really love MCM, you can click to vote for me on Top Baby Blogs.

Or grab my button to link to me on your own site.

Also don't be afraid to leave a comment saying hi. I do love me some conversation. Oh wow, I sound so country in my head right now. It's gotta be those Alabama roots.

And with that, I'm off.

teething crazies


You know, it's a good thing that we go through this horrible stage called teething when we're young enough to have no long-term memory. Otherwise, how would we live the memories of such pain or the looks of horror on our parents' faces?

G has been an utter bear this weekend. He hasn't wanted to eat much or sleep his normal hours. He breaks down crying at every little thing that doesn't go perfectly his way. Though it doesn't exactly help me deal, I know exactly why he's acting like this - besides just being a normal toddler. His fourth and final molar, of the first set, is trying to break through his bottom right gum.

As I can see from the other side, where the other bottom tooth has broken through all the way, these molars are huge. I'm really kinda taken aback by how big they are compared to his other teeth, especially by the way they cover the entire gum. And when you look at the other side, at the one that's currently plaguing him, you can pretty much see the bulge of the entire tooth just under the gum. Man, that has to hurt. Can I really blame the little guy for breaking down at the drop of a hat?

This will make tooth #twelve for him. He has the front four on the bottom and top, and now has the four molars. No fangs so far, which I've heard can be deadly to cut as well. He's been teething these molars since our Miami trip, which was a month ago now.

Maybe we'll finish with the first molars and fangs just in time to start the second molars around age 2.

Yay.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

5 things I'm thankful for today

1. Ice cream. Specifically, Menchi's in south Nashville.

2. Internet shopping. We spent two hours in the mall today, and it was already a madhouse. I hope I don't have to step into another one until sometime AFTER Christmas.

3. Puffs. How else are we supposed to get through a shopping trip with a toddler who now hates the stroller? Bribery works wonders at this age.

4. Caffeine. G went down late last night, was up for almost an hour in the middle of the night, and got up early. Caffeine kept me going.

5. Toddler cuddles. He was full of hugs and kisses and cuddles today. A toddler hug can make you forget that just a second ago he was screaming because you put him off the couch after he smacked you in the face.

... a longer post coming tomorrow, I promise!

Friday, November 18, 2011

flashback friday

Oh my gosh, I was huge! I forget how pregnant I was with G during this photoshoot with the uber talented Adrienne of Chris and Adrienne Scott, Photographers. 32 weeks, maybe? I was already very uncomfortable, too, as I had swelling start up kinda early.

My boobs were freakin' huge too. Thank GOD those went back down some.





Aww, looking at these pics, and those of G as a newborn, make me kinda miss being pregnant. Kinda, sort, anyway.

Of course, then I remember the throwing up, aches, swelling, pre-eclampsia, and all of the other horrible ickiness from my first pregnancy. And then I'm kinda happy with our family of three for the time being!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

strike a pose


Aww, my son is going to be a bodybuilder!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

baby's first spaghetti night

The hubs and I aren't super neat freaks, but we certainly try to keep our kid clean. I really hate to see a baby or toddler running around with a dirty face. I mean, come on. It's just lazy parenting. But it's fun stuff when you let them get messy deliberately, which is what we decided to do last night.

Yeah, spaghetti night!

G'd had spaghetti once before at a restaurant, and since that went over well, we decided to put a pile in front of him and let him go at it.

He was pretty cautious at first, looking at us to make sure this was all okay.


He did quickly try to stuff some in his mouth.


When some strands dropped on him, he started whining about it. The kiddo does not like to get dirty. The hubs rescued him by picking off the spaghetti.


yesssss, I shall eat you.





I love the next picture, especially his face and crossed feet. My kid has seriously big feet. Click on it to make it bigger and you can better see his adorable expression. Everyone keeps bugging me to cut his hair, but if I did, he would lose those curls. I can't bear the thought right now!


Add a fork into the mix, and suddenly it's play time!


Oh, the joys of messiness when you're a kid. Next time, we'll wipe him down before plopping him into the bath. Spaghetti sauce in bath water kinda looks like barf. So not pleasant.
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