My Baby is So Sweet!!!

2009-06-21T23:41:00.004-05:00

My sweet little man is good at a lot of things. He's a fantastic piano player. (Okay, he doesn't make any recognizable music, but he plays it so sweetly like he's really trying, rather than banging on it like most little kids.) He's great at texting. (So they're not really words he's sending, but he knows how to slide the qwerty keyboard out and use both thumbs so it looks real.) He's wonderful at cuddling. (No disclaimer on this one. He's an A-number-one cuddler.)

One of the things that he's really good at is sharing. He's really great about it considering he's an only child. He especially likes to share yellow things with me. Little Man has decided that yellow is my favorite color. I'm not entirely sure why. Every time he has M&Ms, he gives me all of the yellow ones. My mom bought him some one afternoon, and when I picked him up at 9:30 that night, he ran and got this little bowl with all of the yellow and blue M&Ms in it. (The blue ones were for Daddy.)

The other day, I was getting ready to leave for work and he brought me all of his yellow trucks. I thanked him for sharing his trucks and when I tried to put them down, he got very upset. He kept pointing at them and then at me and then at the door. He was insistent that I take them to work with me. He wouldn't take no for an answer. So I took them with me. I tried to give them back to him when we met at the park for lunch, but he wanted me to take them back to work. Isn't he the sweetest little guy?!? I snuck them back into his toy box that evening.

Happy Birthday Teri!!!

2009-06-18T22:50:00.004-05:00

Teri's turning 29 this Saturday! So . . .

I posted about thirty of these all over the office! lol

I'm a total and complete sucker...

2009-05-02T00:27:00.004-05:00

...for adorable blue-eyed boys with beautiful blond curls. Especially those who've learned to cry real tears on demand.

We came home from Teri's tonight around eight, and like usual, Little Man didn't want to come home at all. He's like me in that respect. Bryan is somewhat of a homebody. He likes to be in his own chair with his tv and his remote. I'd rather be out and about, and so would Nathan. So when we pulled into the driveway he started to protest. We went inside and he was still unhappy. He refused to take off his jacket and he kept going over to the balcony door, pointing out at my car and saying, "Bye-bye, bye-bye, bite-a bite-a!" (He had already eaten. The bite-a bite-a was just an excuse to go somewhere.)

When that didn't work he started to cry. He squeezed out a steady stream of big crocodile tears and kept wiping them away with the backs of his hands. He's becoming a professional at looking absolutely heartbroken and miserable, and I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. I couldn't help it. He looked so pitiful!

So we went out to get an Encharito.
I knew I was being played, but I just couldn't stand the unadulterated sorrow that my little guy can emote. Besides, I like to take him out in public. I love when people smile at him and tell him how cute he is. And he is cute! His dimples can just turn your insides to jelly. Even when he's stealing your soda.
I know it seems crazy to take a bunch of photos on a simple fast-food outting, but I do have an awesome new camera and the cutest family in the world.

I love the contrast in these two photos. The first one looks like they're thinking, "Will she ever put that camera down?" They weren't really thinking that, I just caught them off guard.

I think.

I Got A New Toy!!

2009-04-28T23:15:00.007-05:00

I'm so excited!! I got my new camera! It's a Canon SX10 10 megapixel with 20x optical zoom. I'm totally in love with it. It takes amazing photos and it has a ton of settings that I have to learn how to use. I've had it for two days, and I've already taken over 100 photos. (And that doesn't count all the dumb ones I took and then erased.)

So in this post, I'm just going to show you a bunch of the photos I've taken so far. Basically, I'm just revelling in the awesomeness that is my new camera.

This Teri's cubie-mate, Fred. He's a Fantail Goldfish.

This is my new cubie-mate, Ginger. She's a Black Moor. (Fred and Ginger; Get it?)

This is a picture of Little Man's crazy hair. It's getting a bit out of hand, but I still don't want to cut it yet.

This is Teri and Shawn's puppy, Taylor. Leah named her after Taylor Swift. lol

Boy+Bucket+Dirt=Fun!

I love this adorable pout. I think he was mad at the dirt.

Fun Things To Do On A Snow Day!!

2009-04-01T23:19:00.006-05:00

The part of our weekend that wasn't spent in the ER was kind of crappy because we were snowed in. We were all stuck in our tiny apartment and all three of us were on the verge of a great big cabin fever meltdown at one point. We did manage to find some fun things to do with the boy child, though.

First he decided to dump his whole toybox on top of himself. Note the hard hat. Safety first!!

He would rise up from underneath the toy mountain like the swamp thing rising from the murky depths and then we'd bury him again. Then we buried him inside the toybox. You can't tell by looking, but he really was having a ball. He's taken to giving the super-serious face everytime the camera focuses on him.

On my birthday a few weeks ago, my awesome co-workers filled my cubicle with balloons and wrapped it like a giant gift. I brought home most of the balloons (they filled three garbage bags!) and threw them all on the living room floor for Nathan to play with. They're starting to shrink and go flat, but most of them are still hanging around. After we got done burying Nathan in the toybox, we put him in the play pen with all of the balloons. It was like his own personal ball pit. He thought it was awesome! He'd lay on his back and kick like mad while the balloons flew around like popcorn in a popper. We were laughing our butts off and bopping any escaping balloons back into the playpen. It was so much fun, and what cheap entertainment!

Through the balloon play, I've learned that Nathan has a bit of a problem with gender stereotypes. Everytime he sees a blue balloon, he gives it to Bryan, and everytime he sees a pink one he gives it to me. Maybe it's because I'm a big girly nut for the color pink.

I guess being stuck in the house for the weekend wasn't all bad.

Snow Day

2009-03-29T10:51:00.002-05:00

So on Friday, we had a blizzard. An honest to goodness, 50 mph wind, 14 inches of snow, mother nature is a dirty old hag, blizzard. Everything in town shut down early. I got sent home from work at 1:00 (but got paid!) and visibility was less than a block. It took nearly 30 minutes to make the regular 5 minute drive home. The snow was so deep Saturday when Mom cleared her walk she sent us this picture to show Nathan his tractor:

The worst part about the blizzard, besides the fact that it foiled my Saturday night plans to do a little social drinking and see my favorite local band, was that Nathan was supposed to see the doctor on Friday. He's been running a fever off and on for a week. Every time he'd come out of it and seem fine, we'd think he was all better and then the next day the fever monster would rear it's ugly head again. After driving home from work that day and praying the whole time that someone wasn't going to slam into my car, he was feeling fine again and I decided it would be counter-productive to get him out in it.

Saturday his fever came raging back, and even while alternating doses of acetaminophen and ibuprofen we couldn't get it below 101. Our cars were snowed in, so we called B's dad who'd managed to dig his van out, and headed for the ER. It wasn't a fun day for little man. He had blood taken, swabs in several orifices, chest xrays, and some kind of medieval torture device called a U-Bag that's designed to collect a urine specimen from babies who can't or won't pee on demand. Think zip lock bag with adhesive around the top, stuck to very sensitive skin. Not pretty.

While we were waiting for his chest xrays, his temp started to spike again and when we called the nurse in to check it, it was 103.9! I was so glad we were in the ER at that time, because if he'd run a temp that high at home I probably would've had a heart attack. They gave him some Motrin and we washed him down with a lukewarm cloth and it came down again. The doctor finally came in and told us Nathan had an ear infection (which floored me because he'd showed no sign of it) and bronchitis. Poor baby got a shot in each thigh and a prescription for antibiotics.

He seems okay today. Those shots really worked well. He hasn't had a temperature since we left the emergency room last night. Today they cancelled church so we've been having another snow day.

Potty Training Day Two -- An Overnight Success!!

2009-03-22T23:49:00.006-05:00

He went pee pee in the potty!!!

I'm sooooo proud of Nathan! He went pee pee in the potty less than 24 hours after the first time he sat on it. How's that for a quick study?

I'll be honest. I've been resisting potty training. I know it was wrong and selfish and I kept thinking that I was probably just giving him more to complain about to his therapist someday, but I was dragging my feet for several reasons.

One of the problems was that I wasn't sure how to do it. There are so many schools of thought and heaps of good-intentioned (if inconsistant) advice out there. How do you know which method is the right method? I read one article that said you can potty train your child in three days. It involved a long weekend where the child ran around completely naked for all of his or her waking hours and the parents follow with a mop. The article then recommended no pants in the house for three months. I decided that plan wasn't for me.

I was unsure of the logistics of training a boy, too. Stand up or sit down? Urine guard or not? I was told to put him on the toilet backwards so he has no choice but to aim down. I'm sure this works great for other people, but that concept terrified my little guy. When I tried it, he acted as if I were trying to seat him atop a lit barbeque grill. Think trying to stuff an eight-legged cat into a too-small pet taxi bound for the vet's office. It was all flailing limbs and howls of protest.

Another reason I was putting it off was that I never envisioned potty training in our current apartment. We've been wanting to move to a bigger place since I got pregnant. First I got laid off, then we couldn't afford it, etc. I kept thinking that as soon as we found a new place, I'd set up the bathroom for training and get started. It seems silly, but I just didn't want to do it here, because in my mind we weren't supposed to still be living here when we got to the training stage.

The last and most selfish reason I had been stalling is the fact that I work full time. I didn't want someone else to potty train my child. I love our sitter. She's my best friend's mom and she's just like a second mom to me. I've known her for over 20 years. It had nothing to do with her personally, but I really really really didn't want his first potty training success to be with someone else. I know I'll miss plenty of firsts by being a working mom. I have no choice in that matter. But I didn't want to miss out on something this important. If I had vacation time at work yet, I'd probably have taken a few days off to work with him, but my one year anniversary isn't until next month. The thought of missing out on doing the silly potty dance made me so incredibly sad.

I knew Nathan was getting to the point where he was ready to begin training. He tells me when he needs a new diaper, he wakes up dry, he's curious and interested when we go to the bathroom. I went out and bought two potty chairs, one for home and one for the sitter. They stayed in my car, one in the trunk and one in the back seat, waiting for the day ~~when he~~ when I was ready. Nathan knew what that box was. When we'd get into the car he'd point at it and then at himself. "Yep, that's for you big boy." He'd plug his nose and say ewwwwww (Nathan-speak for going to the bathroom). "Yep, that's for going potty like a big boy." Finally last night I decided that it wasn't fair to him to make him wait for my own selfish reasons. When we got home from Mom's house right at bedtime, I said, "Alright Nathan. You want to bring it in and try it out?" and he said excitedly, "Uh-huh!"

We took it inside and I picked up the dirty clothes out of the bathroom to make room for the potty chair, and I stripped off his pants and diaper and showed him how to sit on it. I had to show him how to make sure it was pointed down into the bowl and we practiced emptying it into the big toilet. He thought it was great fun. He sat for awhile, and then we started his bath. He kept wanting to get out and sit on the potty. I let him sit on it as often as he wanted until I put him down for bed.

The potty chair I'd gotten was a little hard for him to sit on properly. It seemed like the bowl was a little small, and he always had to push his penis down into it. I'd seen this frog-shaped potty chair at Wal-Mart that looked like it was shaped so as to make it a little easier to assume the position.

We brought it home tonight, and he was really excited about it and he wanted to try it out right away. I unwrapped it, stripped off his diaper, and set him on it right in the living room. I asked him if he could push the potty out and demonstrated how to push and grunt, and next thing you know, he was peeing!!!! I was so excited I danced and sang and praised him and clapped and generally acted like a fool. I helped him take out the bowl and empty it into the big toilet and flush it away, then I gave him some Cars fruit snacks for a reward and started calling the grandparents and my sister to brag on him. I couldn't believe he did it so soon after we started! We tried it out again before we put him down for bed, and he grunted and pushed and managed to squeeze out a few more drops. He went twice in one night!! I LOVE that frog! I'm going to take back the unopened potty I got to take to the sitter and exchange it for another froggy potty tomorrow.

This has truly been a banner day in the Ackley household. I am on cloud nine! I have no illusions that this means he'll be accident free within the week. I know we still have work to do, but I couldn't be more pleased. I'm so proud of my big, smart boy!

The Big Birthday Bash!!

2009-03-08T20:39:00.010-05:00

My precious little boy is 2!!

It's exciting and depressing all at the same time. He's growing so fast!!

We had an awesome birthday party! It was a car theme. Without further ado, here are some photos:

Distracted

2009-02-01T01:02:00.003-06:00

Sometimes I think I should take down the photos I have plastered all over my cubie. They’re 99% Nathan, and they are a little distracting. Often, when I’m waiting for a report to recall, or checking my voicemail, I stare up at his little face and I feel so unbelievably homesick. I actually feel a little pang in my chest, and I miss him so much you’d think I hadn’t seen him in months rather than mere hours. I just want to get up and run home to smother him with kisses.

At first I thought the feeling would fade. Until now, I’ve never had a place to hang photos at work. Before I got my cubie, I missed him while I was at work, but I thought it was just because he was new. I was having new mommy I-don’t-want-to-work-I-just-want-to-stay-home-and-stare-at-him feelings. That's normal, right? That first day back to work (the day after he turned one month old) I was like a junkie waiting for a fix. When my lunch hour came, I broke every speed limit between the mall and our apartment.

The urgency has subsided a bit, but the pangs, if anything, have gotten worse. He's like a real little person now! He makes me laugh and he amazes me with how smart he is. I can't wait to get home to see what new thing he's learned each day. He reminds me of my own childhood. He does these silly little things that I used to do but had forgotten. Like bumping down carpeted steps on his rear, and blowing bubbles in the bathtub.

The best part of all? He likes me. I mean, he really, really likes me. I'm one of his favorite people in the whole world. He believes every word out of my mouth. If he's scared, he wants Mama. If he's sad, he wants Mama. If he's tired, hurt, excited, hungry, etc, he wants his Mama. I've never felt so important in my entire life, and I gotta tell ya, I like the feeling.

Who's Really Getting Spoiled Here?

2009-01-28T00:54:00.003-06:00

In answer to the charge of spoiling my child, I plead 100% undeniably guilty.

Since the day he was born, either the hubby or I have rocked Nathan to sleep in our arms. I knew as the habit developed that I may regret it one day as I shopped for a rocking recliner big enough to accommodate myself and my 13 year old son while I rhythmically pat his bottom and sing "You Are My Sunshine." I was perfectly aware of the potential nightmare and loss of sanity we were facing when we finally decided to break this habit. My friends, the time has come.

I'm happy to report that it's gone very well so far. The very first night was tough, and Nathan's loathing of anything out of routine was compounded by the fact that we waited too late in the evening in the hope that he'd be too tired to put up a fight. As all of you experienced parents out there are shaking your heads and chuckling at us noobs, I'll readily admit that your suspicions are correct. He was overtired and feeling especially stubborn. Hubby ended up lying on the floor next to the playpen and talking the child to sleep. (Insert playful jab about the Hubster's ability to talk a person into unconsciousness here.)

Since then, at the risk of jinxing us, it's been fairly smooth sailing. A few fusses here and there but nothing major. I've tried to keep to a regular routine: bath, lotion & pjs, one cartoon with the lights off, 5-10 minutes of rocking with the soothing classical music/ocean waves cd playing, and then into bed.

I think the rocking time is built in there as much for me as it is for Nathan. From the very beginning, the nightly rocking habit was spoiling me more than it was spoiling the boy-child. I may have a harder time giving it up than he is. I just love it when he's so sleepy he starts turning his head one way and then another over and over in a futile effort to stay awake, then nuzzling into my neck and letting out the tiniest of snores. I like to bury my nose in his sweet-smelling curls, and his steady breathing and the symphony/ocean cd have lulled me to sleep more than once.

In a way I wish it weren't going so smoothly. I'd like to think he'll miss our drifting off to sleep in the chair together every night just as much as I do. Then again, I'm really enjoying my extra hour or so of free time in the evenings. I guess I'll just have to make the most of that nightly 5-10 minutes of snuggly-wuggly curl sniffing. That is, until he starts telling me, "Mom, do you mind? I'm 37 years old and I have to go to work in the morning."

Three-Horns Do NOT Play With Long-Necks!

2009-01-09T08:02:00.003-06:00

He finally has enough hair for fun shampoo styles! This kid looks pretty good in a mohawk, too!
For those not in the know, the title is a quote from the animated dinosaur movie, "Little Foot."

A Holiday Recap

2009-01-04T22:37:00.004-06:00

(No, he isn't stoned. He's in the middle of a spirited, "Ho! Ho! Ho!")
Frame by Kelley Mickus

Our holidays were, in a word, fabulous! We got some amazing photos with Santa Claus. We ended up taking Nathan to see him three times. The first time he didn't want to sit on Santa's lap at all, but by the third time he was tugging on Mom's arm trying to get his turn. He had an adorable little suit on and he smiled his gorgeous dimple-ridden smile. It was totally worth the extra trips. You can see the photos here.

After we put him down to sleep on Christmas Eve, I started setting out all of the packages around our little tree. Just before I headed off to bed, I was sitting in the recliner next to the play pen where Nathan sleeps, and I swear on my life, he said, "HO HO HO!" in his sleep. It was the cutest thing I've ever heard. It was one of those moments that make me wish I could outfit the house Big Brother style so every adorable little thing he does can be caught on tape. Of course, I'd have to edit out all of the nose-picking, and some of the stuff Nathan does, too.

On Christmas morning Daddy and I both woke up before Nathan did. I know that won't probably happen again until he's a teenager, when getting 22 hours of sleep a day is more important than presents. We were so anxious we had to restrain ourselves from waking him.

Nathan is at that perfect age for Christmas. He's old enough to get all kinds of excited about opening presents, but young enough you could wrap up a big ol' mound of used chewing gum and he'd still be thrilled to death as long as there's paper to tear and bows to throw over his shoulder.

He was so adorable! As soon as he started to tear off the paper (in widdle biddy pieces), and before he could even see what was inside, he'd let out this huge excited gasp as if he'd just been handed the keys to the biggest ice cream and breakfast sausage vault in the world. (I know that sounds wierd, but those are his two favorite foods. At our weekly Saturday morning Sirloin Stockade breakfast with my parents, he could easily consume more sausage links than the rest of us combined. And of course, ice cream is self-explanitory.)

He got good and spoiled, just like last year. That is to say, the Grandmas did their job right. Of course, we are just as guilty. Some of the coolest things were a workbench that Grandma Helen and Grandpa Bill got. It came with all sorts of tools and the back of it is plastic "pegboard." It even has a battery powered drill, which Nathan likes to run nonstop the whole time he's there. I think I heard Grandma Helen say something about losing those batteries or something like that.

Grandma Doni and Grandpa Chuck got him this awesome play tent from Imagine That Toys.

He loves having his own little house to play in. He stuffs it full with as many of his toys as he can fit, or he uses it as a garage to store his walk-n-ride lion.

So Christmas was awesome, and our New Year's was just as cool. I learned that Teri's boyfriend, Shawn, looks mighty good in a pink tutu, and that shooting pool in a welding helmet is really hard but fun to watch. But those are stories for another blog post. I'll sign off for now.

Here's to another awesome year to come!

My New Mom-vention

2008-12-14T14:25:00.002-06:00

One of the many things we women sacrifice when we become mothers is our butts. I don't mean because they change in size or shape. I've never had the ideal size and shape in that area anyway. I'm talkin' temperature, people.

It's a mere 20 degrees here today, and that fact has alerted me to the amount of time I spend with my posterior hanging out of the car fastening and unfastening car seat straps, changing diapers in the seat of the car, and chasing upside down sippy cups that claim to be leak-free. I've been home nearly a half hour and my butt still hasn't thawed completely.

I've come up with a solution. I'm going to take a staple gun and attach a roman shade to the roof of the car just above the door. That way when I go to put the child in the car and assume the best-face-forward position, I can just drop that shade over my behind and keep it nice and toasty warm.

Maybe I can make and sell my invention to other moms out there. I'll call it the Toasty Tushie. What a great way to make some extra Christmas cash!

If that doesn't work, maybe I could just sell ad space on my butt.

HO HO HO!!

2008-12-12T23:57:00.000-06:00

Nathan learned a new word!!! Okay, maybe it doesn’t technically qualify as
a word, but when anything new is added to his list of five kid-tested,
Nathan-approved words, I get really excited.

So far, the only words he’ll say on a regular basis are:

Mama, Dada, Bite, Hat, and Hot

It isn’t that he only knows five words. His first word was ball. He’s also
said bath, fish, reach, and please. There is a subtle difference in the
“Mama” he uses for me and the “Mama” that he uses for his Grandmas. It’s
hard to discern, but it’s there. My mom even got him to say Santa exactly
two times. He also says Uh-uh and Uh-huh, but I’m not sure if they count.

Evidently my little man is kind of a word snob. He’ll learn a word, say it
once or twice and then decided it doesn’t taste right in his mouth and spit
it out like the macaroni I tried to give him when he really wanted a
carrot, even though the night before his whole dinner consisted of nothing
but macaroni and Tuesday was carrot day. My baby boy actually ate an entire
meal of nothing but lima beans one time. But that’s a subject for another
post. The word finicky comes to mind.

I should add that he does have a few animal sounds in his repertoire. He
does a mean puppy imitation complete with arfs and panting. He also shouts
his own special version of Yee-haw when he’s riding his Wonder Horse. He
kind of mixes it together with Hi-Yah! And he gives a funny little Karate
kick when he says it. I call him the Cowboy Ninja, but once again, I
digress.

So now his vocabulary consists of the following:

Mama, Dada, Bite, Hot , Hat

& HO HO HO!!

I taught him to say what Santa Claus says! It was hard to pry it out of him
right at first, but now he kind of thinks that’s Santa’s name. When I went
to pick him up from the sitter’s the other night, he got really excited and
grabbed my hand to drag me over to the Christmas tree, shouting “Mama!
Mama!” over and over again. He pointed excitedly to a Santa Claus ornament
and said, “HO HO HO!”

A couple of nights ago, we were out to eat with my mom and my aunt, and a
big biker guy with a white beard walked out of the back dining room.
Nathan’s eyes got really big and he pointed to the man and said, “HO HO
HO!”

It’s so exciting this year, because he’s starting to figure this Christmas
thing out. We visited Santa at the mall (no pics yet, it was a trial run)
and then lo and behold, we saw him shopping at Wal-Mart that same evening.
He had candy canes and toilet paper in his cart. When ya gotta go…

Nathan gets really excited when he see’s Santa on tv, and he likes to watch
Christmas shows, especially the Grinch. He didn’t care much for the live
action movie – that Grinch was a little scary at times – but he loved the
cartoon. He cracked me up when we watched it together. When that old Grinch
was stealing the Christmas tree, Nathan’s eyes were as big as saucers and
his eyebrows were raised as far as they could go. It was such a look of
deep concern! I said, “Nathan, he took their Christmas tree!!” and he just
kind of nodded, not wanting to tear his eyes away. Oh, the suspense! When
the Grinch saved the sleigh from falling down the mountain, and he picked
it up high over his head, Nathan threw both arms up and cheered! It was so
cute I almost cried. But I’m a bit of a crier in my old age.

I can’t wait until Christmas Eve. We’re going to put out cookies for Santa,
and I’m excited to see what he thinks when he wakes up and finds them
eaten! This having a kid thing is pretty gosh-darned fun!

Wow! Do you think I could Use! More! Exclamation! Points!!!! Somebody slap
me.

April wasn't really THAT long ago!

2008-11-30T23:13:00.004-06:00

So I decided to start blogging again. That means all of my fans that have been checking out this site on a daily basis with bated breath (I looked that up and yes, I spelled it right) just waiting for new little bits of wit and wisdom can finally sigh that satisfied, just-finished-Thanksgiving-dinner, lip-smacking sigh and live happily ever after. I've really missed the sweet catharsis of spilling my guts to the whole interweb even if only six people actually read it. Maybe six is pushing it. Regardless, I like being able to vent and steam and overflow all over my computer.

Wow, that sounds messy.

Anyhoo, I'll re-inaugurate the ol' blog with a Thanksgiving post. The food was wonderful, as was my lovely cousin's hospitality (read: bravery, for letting my huge, noisy family take over their beautiful house for a day) but most of the rest of the day can neatly be summed up with the following visual aid:

The morning was pretty nice. I got up and put the parade on tv for Little Man while I made cinnamon rolls. By made, I mean popped open a tube and stuck in the oven, of course. We munched on those and then I made (this time really made) not one, but two casseroles to take to dinner. We got dressed in our finest room-for-eatin' britches and headed to the Village Inn to visit with Hubby's family before heading to my cousin's. That's about when the graph started its abrupt descent. I started to feel really lousy. Little Man had been mucho sicko for a couple of days earlier in the week, and true to form, it hit Mama at the most inconvenient time. Getting sick on Turkey Day is a true testament to the unfairness of life.

I muscled my way through dinner, though, because I refuse to miss out on the face-stuffing just because my puny little stomach was begging me for the love of God, don't do it! By early evening I was regretting it, though, and not long after that the Hubby joined in my misery. We bowed out of the domino game early and headed home. The puking went on all night long. I'll spare you any other details.

Oh yeah, sometime just before the puking, the Hubby was taking home a friend who had joined us for Thanksgiving dinner and he backed into a parked car and got a ticket. So all in all, our Thanksgiving was kind of a bust.

We're all feeling much better now, but we did manage to share our disgusting germs with my mom (sorry Grandma) and she was suffering through it yesterday. Hope you're getting over it quick, Mom!

So all who have re-joined me on the blogwagon, thanks for listening to me complain about my holiday, and keep your fingers crossed that our Christmas won't resemble our Thanksgiving in any way.

Buh-Bye!

Swag

2008-04-27T16:42:00.004-05:00

I had to share the sweet swag bag I got from work the other day. It was Associate Appreciation day, (coincidentally, it was also Admisitrative Professionals Day.) We were so spoiled!! First we got a goody bag. The photo shows the sign that came with it, outlining the significance of each treat within. (Click it to enlarge.) At morning break we got continental breakfast, at lunch we got deli sandwiches and chips, and at afternoon break we got ice cream bars and cookies. Then they passed out the cute little thermal lunch bags with a stress ball and a coaster inside. I felt pretty darned appreciated for a girl who's been watching someone else work for a week and a half.

Stuff

2008-04-20T21:35:00.009-05:00

I had to post some photos from my super-fun going away party from Hobby Lobby. There was another person quitting at the same time as me, and our awesome (ex)co-workers threw us a going away party at the bowling alley. We had a blast! I haven't bowled in forever, but I don't think I did too badly. I played four games and I scored a 103, a 117, and the last two games were both 120. I was so proud of myself. We all had a blast and we had some really good chocolate cake, and they even gave us presents!! We got a pretty Wood Wick Candle, a hand-made beaded bookmark, and a $25 gas card. Aren't those Hobby Lobby people awesome?!? I'm going to hang the bookmark on the wall of my cubie, and put the candle on my desk. I'm gonna miss working with my crazy Hobby Lobby friends. Especially my favorite one... Yeah right, like I'm gonna pick a favorite. Some of them will be reading this! lol

Speaking of cubies, my new job is so awesome! I love it so much!! I keep talking about it all the time. I'll just pop up and say, "Hey Bryan, did I tell you there's a cappucino machine in our cafeteria, and I can fill my 34 oz. cup with soda for 50 cents, and I can take an hour and a half lunch if I want, and my phone has an earpiece so I don't have to use my hands, and my chair adjusts in 14 different places and..." and he says, "Yes! Yes! For the love of God, yes! Now shut the hell up!" and then he stabs himself in both ears with a pencil so he won't have to listem to me anymore. I guess I can use his mp3 player now.

I'm such a dork I've been shopping online for all kinds of cool cubicle gear. I even started a Kaboodle list for them. Check it out here. I haven't been able to buy a pencil holder because I haven't found just the right one yet, and I believe there is one special set of office supplies out there for everyone, and you just have to keep going through life until you find it.

You may kiss the bridesmaids!

2008-04-12T02:09:00.008-05:00

First of all, I had a really good first day of work yesterday. It was just orientation. My real training will start Monday. I got to learn all about my vacation time, sick pay, floating holidays, insurance, discounts and perks. And I got to see my cubicle! It's awesome. It's just waiting for me to decorate it up. I have some time, though, because I'll be in training (at someone else's cubicle) for a while. I'll just be watching someone else work for a few weeks. In the meantime, I have to figure out what kind of plant thrives in a cubicle (and is hard to kill).

Last night we went to a friend's wedding, and I learned that my little guy was born to party. He was a very fussy, tired little turd for most of the afternoon and evening, but when the reception got under way and the dance music started, he was the life of the party. He danced all night. All the girlies couldn't get enough of him. I have some pics to share and a video, so check him out:

*Glitter Frames by Lindsay Jane Designs
Bryan was a groomsman and he looks awesome in a tux if I do say so myself!

Munchin' on some yummy wedding cake!

My little dude is gettin' some hot bridesmaid action on the dance floor. So many women, so little time between naps!

This little sleeping beauty is the flower girl. She slept through most of the reception on the stage right in front of the dj booth. Guess she partied too hard at the bachelorette party.

I took some video of Nathan bustin' a move, but I'm kind of a dumbass, and I did it all holding the camera sideways without even thinking about it. I found a way to turn it, but it looks a bit squished. And it's super dark because the dance floor was dark, but here it is anyway:

Go sell cute somplace else. We're all stocked up here.

2008-04-08T21:42:00.001-05:00

In fact, he's got cute running out of his ears. (Which is a damn sight better than what's been running out of his nose.) Anywhooooo. Here are the vids I wanted to post the other day. Enjoy!

Three More Days!!

2008-04-08T00:16:00.006-05:00

I totally forgot to blog about my good news! I got a new job! I start Friday. I'm super excited because I'll have a grown up job, with a desk, and nice clothes, and yep, you guessed it:

A cubicle!!!

I will be a payroll clerk for a large company that owns a bunch of grocery stores and gas stations. I'll make a dollar more an hour, be guaranteed 40 hours, have benefits, flex scheduling, and did I mention?

A cubicle!!!

Okay, okay. I'll stop. It's just that I'm super-psyched about the whole prospect. I've been dreaming of a cubicle job for years. My own little world with a desk and a computer and a plant and a photo of my family and a Dilbert comic hanging on the wall. It would only be more awesome if my little cubie were pink. Laugh if you want, but you know you'd be jealous.

I'll miss working with all my friends at Hobby Lobby. I really do like that job, but I just need a little more cheddar, if you know what I mean. So I can buy more... well... cheddar. And a bigger place so I can get my little muffin out of a closet and into a real room. And I'm gonna have weekends off!!!!!!!!! I've never had a job where I've had weekends off.

So anyway, if you happen to think of it this Friday morning, say a quick little prayer that my first day goes really well and that it rains Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies all weekend. (It can't hurt to ask, right?)

I can't remember the last time I blogged so many lines without talking about what adorable thing Nathan just did the other day. I taught him to ride 'em cowboy and yell "Yee-Haw!" Of course, his yee-haw sounds more like "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" but it's the enthusiasm that counts. I was going to end this post with an adorable video or two that I took of Nathan playing in his play pen, but YouTube is being a bi-yotch and it's down for maintenance. The nerve!! So you'll just have to be satisfied with a couple of adorable photos.

*Frame cluster by Sherry Tierney.

Oh, and one more thing:

A cubicle!!!

A Whole Mess O' Egg Huntin'

2008-03-23T22:55:00.012-05:00

So today was Nathan's first Easter Egg Hunt. Didja really think I wasn't going to clog up the internet with a ton of adorable photos??
Nathan is eagerly awaiting the big hunt. He can see the eggs in the yard, but he has to wait for Leah to change clothes. Darn girls!!

And we're still not sure this was a smart fashion decision.

Grandma had to help Nathan get started. Once he found one he didn't want to put it in the basket. He just wanted to carry one in each hand.

Two eggs, two hands, all set!!

He finally got the hang of it, though.

They are so good at sharing. It's amazing, really. But Leah and Nathan are best buds, so they don't mind.

Dividing up all the loot!

"Mom, why are we working so hard to find eggs, when these rocks are all over the place?"

Nathan finally discovered there's goodies in them-there eggs!! Here he is with a mouthfull of jelly beans.

This girl is a nut!!

All in all, we had a fantastic day! The weather was good, the kids had a ball, and no one got sick on candy. I'll wrap things up with a little video of the kids dancing together. They crack me up!!

A Quickie!

2008-03-13T07:34:00.003-05:00

I don't have much time before work, but I have to brag on my boy. His first word is officially "ball," said within the last month. He would hold up a ball and say, "Bah" and we were so proud! Of course he'd call every toy a ball. When Bryan gets home, Nathan points at him and grins and says "Da" and that's exciting, but he calls the chair "da" and the tv, and the computer, and the cat, etc. etc.

But yesterday, he said two complete words, in context! I was so excited! We went to visit my mom at the bank, and in one of the offices there's a fish bowl on the desk. We were looking at the fish and I kept saying, "Is that a fish, Nathan? Fish?" and at first he said, "shshsh." It was more of a sound than a word, and then he got it. He said "fish" very plainly a couple of times. Then last night, I was eating a brownie, and he walked right up to me and said, "Bite!" Just like that. With puctuation and everything. I was so excited, I fed him TWO brownies, bite by bite, just because everytime he said, "bite" I couldn't say no.

I'm so proud of my boy!!! He'll be reciting Shakespeare in no time!

Not Yet a Month Late

2008-03-08T13:44:00.005-06:00

Faren motivated me to get off my butt, (or rather ON my butt, in my new computer chair) and post some of Nathan's birthday pictures. So here we go:

Here they are, Their Majesties, King Daddy, and Prince Nathan. My mom, a.k.a. Martha Frickin' Stewart, put up castle walls and built a whole throne room for our guys.

This was the first tentative taste of birthday cake. Nathan really is a pretty neat eater. He's not one to just dive right in with both hands. The first time he got a little frosting on his fingers, he wrinkled his nose and tried to shake it off.

Then he figured out just how good that frosting really was. He kept feeding it to me too.Yummy!!

And this is what was left of the cake. I'm not real sure he actually got any cake. But I think he ate about a pound of frosting.

We told King Daddy he had to eat his cake with his fingers, too. But he outsmarted us with his Go-Go-Gadget-Birthday-Candle-Chopsticks.

So, hypothetically speaking, if a one-year-old boy gets a Thomas the Train Ball Pit from one grandma, and an actual throne from the other, not to mention numerous other gifts and a huge party, does that make him spoiled? Nah, I didn't think so either.

Glitter frames are from Web Designs by Kristi.

So I Joined the ADSR

2008-02-29T11:09:00.003-06:00

That's the Amazing Digi Scrapping Race. You have a partner, and you go around completing challenges at all the major digi-scrapping sites. If you make it to the end, you get a ton of prizes. My partner is my fellow chat brat, Fantacy. She's an awesome scrapper and designer, and she's fabulously ornery, which makes us a perfect match.

This week's challenge was for us to scrap a page together. We each were responsible for half of the page, and then we had to put them together. Here is our fabulous, fantastic, wonderful, awesome page:

Aren't we adorable???

Alexander called. He wants his day back.

2008-02-26T00:03:00.005-06:00

(One of my favorite books as a child.)

If you're looking for a laugh, this may not be the place to be. I've had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day and I'm here to complain.

Did you ever have one of those days that just made you want to take a vacation from yourself? I'd like to request a little time off to be someone else. Someone who didn't have to stay up half the night with a one-year-old who spiked a temperature of 103 only to decide that 5:30am was the perfect time to wake up for the day. Someone who didn't spill soda on an envelope full of her baby's first studio portraits. Someone who didn't have to spend $25 on antibiotics only to drop the bottle and spill half of it on the kitchen floor before even administering a single dose. I just need a day off from being me. I told Bryan he had to put Nathan to bed tonight because I was afraid to carry him that far.

I promise a happy post with birthday photos really soon. Today just wasn't the day.

Seacrest out.

'Nuff Said.

2008-02-08T00:07:00.001-06:00

On Superbowls, Jugs, and Croc Wrestling

2008-02-05T02:39:00.000-06:00

Hello Internet. It's been a while.

We survived Nathan's first and second ear infections, the latter being a bi-lateral one. "Bi-Lateral" is just a fancy-schmancy way to say "it's in both ears." We have no idea how long the poor little guy suffered with them, because both times he never indicated there was anything wrong with his widdle ears. He got a cold he just couldn't conquer, and when it settled in his eyes, we took him to the doctor. The poor baby was waking up with his eyes glued shut by this yucky green goo. We were given oral antibiotics for the ear infection, and antibiotic eye drops for the eyes (<--duh).

Here's a list of things I think would be only slightly harder than putting drops in both eyes of a writhing, screaming 11 month old:

*Wrestling Cranky Crocodiles
*Flossing the teeth of a giant Great White shark
*Curling the mane of a big hungry lion
*Giving Freddy Krueger a French manicure

You get the picture. He didn't really like the drops. He acted as if we were dangling boiling oil over his beautiful baby blues. It was, in a word, unpleasant. But the drops did work. His eyes cleared up within a day or two. He seems to have kicked the cold, too. At this point, we're all pretty healthy. But I'm not going to say that too loudly.

Aunt Erma was here to visit. We had a whole family get together so we could all see her before she heads back to the west coast. Nathan had a ball with cousin Renee's kids. I think he's fallen in love with Kiersten. He just kept hugging her and wouldn't let her go. It was so cute! She loved it, too, because Nathan will rough-house with her. Her little brother Matthew won't.

Speaking of Matthew, he and Nathan were sitting on the floor together, playing, and one of Matthew's sisters tickled him which made his shirt come up a little. Nathan sat there with a totally serious face and, reaching out with a steady deliberation, placed his finger in Matthew's belly button. It was like the baby version of a secret handshake. Matthew just looked at Nathan knowingly, and I swear he gave a slight nod, as if to say, "I feel ya, dawg." These two are destined to be BFFs.

We went to Mom's for Superbowl. I thought it was a pretty good game. Especially since Bryan was the only one in the room rooting for New England. Ha ha! I brought a dozen little stuffed footballs, so everytime there was a bad call or the play went in the wrong team's favor we threw them at the television. Nathan thought that was hilarious. The commercials were better than last year. I especially liked the ones with the talking baby who's trading stocks on the internet. Very funny stuff.

My stepdad, Chuck constantly carries a ginormous thermal mug of Sierra Mist everywhere he goes. It has come to be known as Chuck's jug. Nathan has learned that Grandpa's cup contains great sugary goodness, and since I'm a bad mommy who lets her child occasionally drink soda, he loves to share Grandpa's drink. The jug Chuck had on Superbowl Sunday was probably big enough to share with all of the New York Giants twice. I believe it holds 100 oz. I just love this picture of Nathan drinking from Grandpa's giant jug. Only his widdle feet show below it!

Now that's refreshing! (Insert cheesey commercial smile here.)

Well, Internet, that ought to be a long enough post for me to get back into your good graces. I'm off to beddy-bye. G'Night!

I Gotta Brag!

2008-01-18T01:07:00.001-06:00

I've been featured on Simply Yin's blog!! I have downloaded and used several of her freebie templates and she has posted not one, but three of my pages on her blog!! Check it out!!
<<Simply Yin>>

I'm Raising a Chicken Hawk!

2008-01-12T16:02:00.001-06:00

Remember Henry Hawk from Looney Tunes? I may have to change Nathan's name. The other night I just happened to leave my dinner unattended for a minute or two, and this is what I found.

He stole my chicken wings!! It got really quiet, so I said, "Bryan, what's the baby doing?" He looked over and said, "He's eatin' a chicken." He had one in each hand and he'd slurped most of the breading off of one. I was laughing so hard I could barely hold onto the camera, and he was just gnawing away and looking at me like, "Whatsa matter, Mom? Never seen anybody eating chicken before?"

He's so darned cute and so smart, too. The other night we were over at Mom and Chuck's and he found Grandpa's cup. Chuck always carries a big thermal jug of watered-down Sierra Mist, and he likes to share it with Nathan. Usually we give him drinks by holding our finger over the end of the straw and putting the other end in his mouth. Well when he found Granddad's cup, he grabbed the straw, pulled it out of the cup, put his widdle-bitty finger over the end and stuck it back in the cup. Mom and I cracked up. He's definitly learning by watching all of us. I guess we're going to have to stop picking our noses and chewing our toenails in front of him.

Nathan's First Christmas

2007-12-30T23:58:00.000-06:00

Hello all! I hope your holidays were as great as ours. We had a wonderful Christmas. My child was totally spoiled rotten. He was so cute in his little blue corduroy suit on Christmas Eve. I don't have any pictures of it, though. Forgot to get them from the Grandmas.

Christmas morning was so great. Exhausting, but great. As usual, I was up til after 3am trying to get everything ready for the big day. Just as I was about to go to bed, Mr. Nathan decided to wake up to play. Usually if he wakes during the night we just give him a bottle and he goes right back to sleep. Evidently he knew it was Christmas. He woke up bright-eyed and ready to play. He wanted nothing to do with his bottle and he was not having any part of going back to sleep. He was up until 5:30! Then we had to get up at 8:30 so we could have our presents and get to my mom's in time for breakfast. So needless to say, we were like zombies.

Nathan did really great opening his gifts, but we had a little trouble getting him to put down the toy he just opened long enough to open another. He looked so cute in his little Christmas pjs, and he had the most sober look on his face while he unwrapped his gifts. This present thing is serious business!

You wouldn't believe the amount of stuff Nathan got. I thought he'd be opening all day!!

I got the cutest little package from Nathan. (I have a feeling Daddy helped.) It was all wrinkled and crumpled and it said, "To Mama From Nathan." Inside were the most adorable ornaments. One of them was a Boyd's Bear one that said, "I <3 Mom."

We had such a busy holiday! We went to Bryan's parents and then church on Christmas Eve, then we had Christmas morning at home, then breakfast at Mom's, lunch at Bryan's cousin's, and another dinner at my aunt's house. We all came home worn out. Nathan was spoiled, Bryan was spoiled (He got a PSP), and I was spoiled. I got nearly everything on my list. All in all, I have to say it was a fantastic holiday. and thanks to this little giftie that Santa brought to Mommy, I'm all ready for New Years!!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday too, and a Happy New Year!

A Blast From Our Holiday Past

2007-12-23T09:25:00.001-06:00

After seeing Kim's Blog I just had to post a video featuring ToyBoy. I used to rush home from school everyday in December to watch a local program called "Santa's Toy Shop." They're showing the old episodes this year, so we've been recording them for Nathan. He's really fascinated by ToyBoy. Watch and see how cute he is here, and see the best Santa-laugh ever. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!!!

A Little Holiday Meme

2007-12-19T23:55:00.001-06:00

Here's a little holiday activity I got from Kim's blog.

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate?
I like egg nog IN my hot chocolate! Or Bailey's. Yum!

2. Letter to Santa?
I don't usually write one. I guess I'll be helping Nathan write one next year.

3. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree?
He wraps them of course. In his own special paper.

4. Colored lights on your tree/house or white?
Colored lights on my balcony, and white on the tree.

5. Do you hang mistletoe?
No.

6. When do you put your decorations up?
Whenever I get around to cleaning the house enough to decorate. Usually not long after Thanksgiving.

7. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Aunt Geri's cheese ball!!

8. Favorite holiday memory as a child:
My dad's a fireman, and his 24 hour shift usually ended at 7am on Christmas day. We'd sleep in Mom's bed on Christmas Eve and no matter how early we woke up, we couldn't leave the room until Dad got home. That time we spent waiting was painful yet sweet anticipation. My little sis and I would spend the early morning giggling and bothering Mom for just a little peak.

9. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I really don't remember.

10. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Never as a kid, even though we used to beg and plead. Now we do sometimes, depending on the easiest way to fit in time with all of the parts of our families.

11. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
It's a tiny prelit 3ft. tree, that fits my collection of Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer ornaments perfectly. Oh, and a crocheted angel tree topper.

12. Can you ice skate?
Never tried.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Too many to choose a favorite. There was a year with a Barbie Mansion. A leather jacket I didn't think I was going to get. A puppy! (Love ya, Aggie!)

14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you?
Well now it's making sure Nathan has a fantabulous wonderful holiday, and getting to spend time with all of the family.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Ginger Snaps! Though they haven't been the same since Grandpa doesn't make them anymore.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
The candlelight service at our church on Christmas Eve.

17. What tops your tree?
A crocheted angel.

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?
Giving. I love to pick out and give gifts I know someone will love. Though I do of course love to get pretty things. :)

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
Any by Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, or Nat King Cole

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum?
Yummy! Especially in hot chocolate!

I'm not sure if any bloggers read my blog other than my sis and sis-in-law, but anybody who does is welcome to copy, paste, and play along.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-12-11T20:14:00.000-06:00

Baby, it's cold outside! We've been hit with a nasty ice storm. We had thunder and rain all evening yesterday, and all night too. Then it dropped below freezing and poof! Everything has a nice protective ice coating. I took a few photos outside the apartment this afternoon. (You can click the images to see them full sized.)

This is the huge tree right in front of our balcony.

And this is the same tree giving the neighbor's car a nice big hug. It's hard to tell in this photo, but every leaf and every branch is encased in about a half inch of solid ice. The branches are so weighed down that they surrounded the neighbor's car and then froze to it.

Tree Popsicle. Yummy!

This broken tree stands in the yard next door, and it was rude enough to litter that branch right in the middle of our driveway.

These are some more broken trees next door. This is minor compared to the huge branches lying all over town. I saw pictures on the local news website of trees that were split straight down the middle and laid over like a banana peel.

We were very lucky to not lose power. (Knock on wood!) I was one of very few that showed up for work today. A lot of my co-workers live out of town or have kids whose schools were closed. It didn't really matter, though, because business was pretty slow today anyway. It's supposed to be even colder tonight. I'm dreading tomorrow just a little.

On another subject, I found out last night that my Mommy-Ears have grown in. I have always been a very heavy sleeper. When I was a kid, my dad always worried because he could set off the smoke detector right outside our rooms, and my sister and I would sleep right through it. I even fell out of the top bunk bed once and my dad picked me up and put me back in it and I never even knew it happened. Last night--or should I say insanely early this morning--I was awakened by the softest little "thump, thump." I sat up in bead instantly, and looked over toward the cradle only to see Nathan crawling right toward me. He's finally figured out how to climb out of the cradle. I knew it was coming. We're just going to have to set up the crib. I knew he was getting way too big for that little cradle, but I was hoping we'd be moved before we had to set up the crib. I remember when he was so tiny you could've fit six of him in that cradle. Wow, how the time does pass!

He's getting so big. He's walking more and more. It's still usually a flurry of quick little listing steps. It's like he says, "I gotta go fast or I won't make it!" He's also figured out how to climb up into Daddy's chair. I was so proud of him. He pushed a box of wipies in front of the chair and climbed right in. My adorable little couch potato!

That's all for now. Here's hoping work is closed tomorrow, and I can stay home and show Nathan the finer points of couch-potatoey-goodness!!

Titles are too hard to come up with

2007-12-08T09:56:00.000-06:00

Hello out there! Things have been a little crazy around here. And by crazy, I mean stressful. And by stressful, I mean Bryan never shows stress so I have to do it for both of us and I go totally nuts. The store where Bryan works was sold and changed hands this last weekend. He went in to work as usual on Monday, and was told everyone had the day off so they could switch over the computer system. He went in to work Tuesday and was told, "Oh didn't someone tell you? You don't work here anymore." No notice, no severence, three weeks before Christmas. Nice, huh? Needless to say, I panicked. Especially because he was paid Saturday like usual, and they pay for everything right up to payday, so he didn't even have another check coming to him. I was completely freaking out. I called Mom immediately of course. Because that's what I do. She tried to calm me down and spoke rationally, which I soooo needed.

I was also so angry I could spit nails. How dare they do this to us? Don't they know we have a little boy's first Christmas coming up? If Bryan had quit, they'd have expected notice. Where was our notice? I wanted to take out a full page ad in the paper telling people not to shop there. I wanted to march up and down the sidewalk in front of the store with signs. I wanted to throw eggs, spread nails behind all their tires, etc. etc. I kept dreaming up all of these awful things I wanted to do. Nothing that caused bodily harm. I'm not psychotic. I was just p*ssed off!!

The next couple of days, I was so stressed I'm surprised my stomach didn't eat it's way out of my body. Mom put us on the prayer chain at church, and I know every one of our friends and family were praying for us too. I was praying like a madwoman every chance I got. Then Thursday, Bryan was offered his job back. I wanted him to tell them where to stick it, but I also wanted him to have a job. I was so torn, and I knew it had to be his decision anyway. Besides, he was kind of stuck, because once they offered the job back to him, he was no longer able to draw unemployment. Then I was mad that he was going back. He said he was still going to look for another job but at least this way he'd have one in the meantime. I was afraid that wouldn't happen, because it's way easier to stay at a crappy job, than find a new good job. As someone who worked a job I despised for almost seven years, I knew that better than anyone.

Then yesterday I thought of something that made me feel a little better about the whole situation. I had been praying for an answer. This is what I got. It's not what I was looking for, but He doesn't dial wrong numbers. This must be what is right for us. At least for right now. I have to be confident that what needs to happen will happen, and we don't always get exactly what we think we want, all wrapped up in a pretty bow. But somehow, it always seems to come out okay. So I've tried my darnedest to stop stressing and just see what happens. Most of the time that works, and when I start to freak out, I just remind myself that He doesn't dial wrong numbers.

So enough of all that. How can I be anything but blissfully happy, when I have this at home every night??

Oh, and for every woman who has, or ever has had, a husband, boyfriend, father, or brother, you will enjoy this little gem.

Goodbye for now!

Nathan Taught HimsELF to Dance

2007-12-03T10:10:00.000-06:00

You simply must check out this link. It was the hilarious highlight of my day!!

Merry Christmas From the Ackleys

Nathan learned to clap today!! It's so cute. He's clapped once or twice before, but it was always kind of an accident. Today he figured it out. He was clapping up a storm and giggling like crazy. He'd clap four or five times and then look up at us like, "Did you see what I just did???" Then he clapped along with Jack's Big Music Show while he ate his cereal. Then, because he just wants to make my heart explode with mommy-pride, he started dancing! He was clapping and swaying back and forth while The Schwartzman Quartet sang about Jack the Bugle Bunny. I was so happy because I've been hoping and hoping for him to dance. It's so cute when little ones sway and twist to the music. Sure, his rhythm is a little off and his technique is rather rudimentary, but I think with a little work and his very own set of leg warmers, he'll be ready for the next cycle of "So You Think You Can Dance!"

I've been busy scrapping this weekend, so I'll post a few here. You can click the images for a full size view, and there's a link in the sidebar to my whole gallery so you can see what else I've done.

Well, that's all for today. I have to get Nathan ready for his "American Bandstand" audition. "Less lip, Monroe. More sweat!" I know, I know, only old people will get the Fame reference.

Once Again, Better Late Than Never

2007-12-01T16:10:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Annell!!

Catching Up

2007-11-11T15:53:00.000-06:00

Hello out there!! Long time no post. Like that's unusual. :) Anywhooo, it's Sunday afternoon and Nathan is fast asleep, so I finally have time for a catch-up post. Last weekend Mom and Chuck and Nathan and I went to Oklahoma to visit my brother, Shawn, and his family. I couldn't believe how much his kids have grown!! It really has been a long time since I've seen them. This was the first time they've gotten to meet Nathan, too. Sadly, I have very few photos due to some mostly-dead camera batteries. I have to get some from Mom's camera to post and/or scrap. I do have one cute one of Nathan and Uncle Shawn, though.

Last night the family all met at my Aunt's for dinner to celebrate Granny Ruth's birthday. I had to work, so Mom took Nathan with her. I got there just after he fell asleep. Apparently he'd fought it long and hard. He wouldn't let anyone hold him, because that might make him fall asleep, but he was too sleepy to let them put him down, either. This led to the very peculiar sleeping position he was in when I arrived. I just had to document this:

He stayed like that until his Grandma's feet got too tired to hold him. What a goofy kid! (Disclaimer: Please forgive the little chocolate mustache. Granny Ruth shared a little devil's food icing with him before he konked out.)

Today after church we had our monthly potluck dinner, and after that, we tied fleece blankets for Project Linus. It's a really great charity that provides handmade blankets to children who are ill or have been traumatized in some way. It's the second time we've participated in this mission project. Today we made 20 blankets in an hour. Project Linus takes any kind of handmade blankets including knitted, crocheted, quilted, or whatever. We made the very simple no-sew tied fleece blankets like the one Nathan is enjoying here:

I've actually gotten partially caught up with my scrapping, too. I fell way way way behind while I was working on Mom's birthday party. Here are a couple of pages I've done recently. As always, you can click the photos for larger images, or visit my gallery link in the sidebar to see them at Designs In Digital.

Well, I believe I've covered all of the major happenings in our lives of late. I'm sure you all feel fascinated and enriched now for having read it. Glad I could be of service. lol

See ya next time!

Happy Trick-Or-Treats!!!

2007-11-01T00:13:00.000-05:00

It's late, and I'm exhausted, and I have to be at work at 8:00 in the morning. That being said, I was given very strict orders to post photos of Nathan's Halloween costume immediately if not sooner. So here you are, Auntie M. It's the most adorable frog prince you've ever seen!

Oh yeah, I DO have a blog!

2007-10-24T23:58:00.000-05:00

Wow! Long time no see, huh? Didja miss me? I'm not even sure who I'm talking to. Sorry I was away for so long. I was crazy busy and I couldn't even blog about it, because it was a great big secret. I was plotting away, trying to throw my mom a surprise 50th birthday dinner. Meagan was here for the celebration, and that was a surprise too. I didn't think it was possible, but we pulled it off. We actually surprised Mom. At least she's letting us think we did. lol Anyway, it was a great party. We had a lasagna dinner and cake and punch for over 50 of Mom's friends and family. Thanks to the tons of help from my sister, my aunt, and my cousins, it was a great success.

Not a whole lot more has been happening around here. Nathan's growing like a weed of course. He's still just got the two teeth. He keeps threatening to grow more, but so far he's just been bluffing. He cruises the furniture with ease these days. He'll be walking before Thanksgiving. I'm sure of it. We put him in a walker at the church and he goes 100 miles per hour. Backwards. I finally got him to go forward by pushing the walker slowly so his feet were moving the right way, but when he wanted to go fast, it was backwards or no-wards.

The weekend before Mom's party, we took our annual trip to Rolling Hills Wildlife Refuge out by Salina. Mom, Aunt Geri, Grandma and I go every year on the weekend of Columbus Day. It's a really great zoo with a fantastic museum. It's such a pretty setting and you can get a lot closer to the animals than you can in most zoos. This year we took Nathan and my cousin Kaydee with us. Nathan really likes zoos. He's been to three different ones already. He loves to be outside, and he really looks at the animals. Though I think his favorite exhibit is the people. He was really interested in the ring-tailed lemurs. They were running and climbing and flipping those long tails, and he was fascinated. We had a really good day for the most part, until Nathan crawled out of his stroller and landed on his head. He was fine except for a pretty gnarly goose egg. We iced it right away so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Our bad luck wasn't over, though. We were getting ready to leave, and as we walked back to the gates, Grandma tripped over a flower bed and fell. She ended up fracturing her wrist, so we spent the evening in the ER. She's doing well, except for trying to get around with a giant cast going from her fingers up over her elbow. That makes everything difficult. We've been doing our best to take care of her though. She seems to be healing well.

Well that's all the news I can cram into one post for now. I'm starting to nod off at the computer, so I think I'll head to bed before this entry becomes pages and pages of one key repeating because I've landed face first in the keyboard. Night all!!

Oh wait! Can't have a post without a picture of the cutest baby in the world! Here he is:

A Little Late, But...

2007-09-23T23:39:00.000-05:00

That's just who I am. If I were on time, no one would recognize me. Anyway, here it is:

We love you Meagan!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuckered

2007-09-17T00:29:00.000-05:00

The fair wore him out! Be sure to turn up your sound.

Our State Fair is a Great State Fair...

2007-09-16T23:15:00.000-05:00

If you've seen the musical "State Fair," that title may have you humming now.

We took Nathan to his first Fair tonight. We had so much fun! He really enjoyed being outside all day, and all of the activity going on around him. His little neck may be sore from swinging his head from side to side trying to take it all in.

He got to pick a duckie. I remember doing this at the fair every year when I was a little girl.

He won a red rubber ball. That reminds me of another song...

We also shared one of my favorite fair treats: Dippin' Dots. I was afraid Nathan wouldn't like them because they were so cold, but he went nuts for them!

And this is the face we make when the Dots are all gone.

That sour face only lasted for a minute, and that was the only fussiness all day. So all in all, we had a really good family outing. I can't wait for next year so Nathan can ride the carousel!!

This last photo I'm posting just for my sis, and she will totally get it.

That's all for now! Tune in next time...

I Heart Yo Gabba Gabba!!

2007-09-12T09:46:00.000-05:00

Wow! I've never watched this before, but it's my new favorite show! I was trying to get ready for work today, and Nathan decided to be a little clingy, so I turned on the tv. I know, I'm a terrible mother for parking my baby in front of the tv, but I just needed a little time to get some stuff done. Anyway, Yo Gabba Gabba was on, and Nathan was just mesmerized! He wouldn't take his eyes off it! I think I'm going to have to Tivo a few episodes.

We're Back!!!

2007-09-11T22:51:00.000-05:00

We made it back okay from our trip to Auntie M and Uncle Dave's. It was a really great trip and we had a blast. We travelled at night on the way down, and Meagan had breakfast for us when we arrived at 5am. Now that's sisterly love! Bacon, eggs, biscuits and gravy, hash browns, it was fit for a king. In a nutshell, we shopped Friday, swam Saturday, went to the zoo Sunday, and came home Monday. I'll be sharing more photos in the next few days, but i have to share this video. I guarantee you, you've never laughed so hard at linguini in your life. This is Nathan eating (or trying to eat) his very first pasta, and trying to figure out what in the world we're all laughing at. We're all just trying not to pee our pants.

Just a quick update!

2007-09-04T23:40:00.000-05:00

Not a whole lot going on around here. I just wanted to post a Nathan-update. We went to the doctor on Wednesday, and our little man got a glowing report. He's up to 19 pounds, 7 and a half ounces, and he's 27 and a half inches long. He's growing wonderfully, and ahead on most of the milestones. (i.e. reaching for things, sitting up, rolling over, etc.) We already knew he was doing fabulously there. He sits like a champ and within the last couple of weeks, he's started pulling himself up on the furniture and crawling on all fours. Cousin Matthew's got him beat for teeth, though. He's got two already! Mom and I decided he needed those to help fend off all of those brothers and sisters. (5 of them!!)

Nathan and Mom and I are going to visit Auntie M and Uncle Dave this weekend. We're all so excited that we're counting the hours. Well, all of us but Daddy. He keeps saying, "You're taking my boy for four whole days?? That's such a long time!" He's really going to miss his little buddy!

Well, I know it isn't much of an entry today, but I'll write more later. I know I'll have tons of new photos to scrap and share after our trip, but here are a couple of new pages I've done recently. Enjoy!

Where Does the Time Go??

2007-08-25T20:18:00.000-05:00

My sweet baby is six months old now. I can't even believe it!! It seems like yesterday that I was pregnant, yet when I look at newborn pictures I think, "That was ages ago!" To really see how much changes in just six months, check out this video of Nathan. He was only about a week old in it. This also happened to be the first video I ever shot with my camera, so it isn't any cinematic masterpiece. It was more of an experiment with the movie setting, but it does serve to illustrate how much Nathan has grown and changed in his first half a year.

Amazing, isn't it? He used to make every move in slow motion. Now it's nearly impossible to keep up with him, and it's just going to get harder I know. I'm a little nostalgic for the tiny little bundle that used to sleep on my chest and fit in my hands. Now I have a squirmy 18 pound baby boy who's over two feet long. I do love this age, though. He's so much fun. He's the happiest baby I've ever seen. He smiles all the time, and he's very social. I love his little giggle! Sometimes I can't wait until he's older, and sometimes I want to keep him six months old forever. Just to compare, here's a little video I shot in Lawrence while we were there for B's cousin's wedding. This is Nathan and his daddy playing together in the hotel room.

And last but not least, my latest scrapbook page. It's my new favorite. Credits can be found HERE.

The Newest Love of My Life...

2007-08-16T01:27:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we had a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. A monster was set loose in our house, and his name is Nathan The Terrible Teether. That poor, poor baby was in so much pain that he just wasn't happy all day. It took me a little while to figure out what was wrong. He would be smiling and playing one minute and screaming and wailing the next. I just could not make him happy. I had to take him to Granny Jane's last night because I had pool league. He was not a happy camper over there either. When I went to pick him up, I brought some baby Orajel. I put it on his little gums, and he was a totally different baby within minutes. He stopped crying and started smiling. He was sitting on my lap and he looked at me and smiled, and then he leaned over and gave me a big kiss. It was so sweet! But then I felt really lousy. I don't know why I didn't do that sooner. It was so easy to make him feel better. It just took me all day to figure out what was wrong and how to fix it. I guess that's just part of being a new mom. It's amazing how motherhood can make you feel supremely happy, extremely powerful, and horribly inadequate. It all just depends on the day. But I wouldn't give it up for the world.

Here's a new LO I did the other night. I really like how it turned out, so I'll share it with all of blogland!

Credits can be found HERE.

His Favorite Skill

2007-08-11T15:39:00.000-05:00

I have another Nathan video to share. Mommy and Grandma Helen were trying to get a picture of his beautiful smile, and this is what we got instead. What we failed to capture in this slightly dark video is the exact shade of crimson his face turned. He was working so hard on those raspberries, I thought he was going to pop! Enjoy!

Randomness...

2007-08-03T22:55:00.000-05:00

Hello out there in blogland! It's been a long time. What is it about not having a blog that makes it really easy to come up with things to blog about? I've come to the blog several times in the last week, and just couldn't come up with enough for an entry. Suddenly I have nothing to say? Right.

I can brag that my sweetie hubby brought me these gorgeous things yesterday:

Ain't he great?! For some reason, you can only see 11 in the photo, but there are a dozen. I love the multi-colored bouquet. The best thing about them? They're No-Reason-Flowers. It's not a special occasion, he isn't in trouble (as far as I know), he just brought them cuz he wanted to. What a stud!

So I'm sure no one is going to be shocked, but I have to spend the rest of the entry braggin' on my baby boy.

Wait, sidetrack: You know, I never thought about it much before, but all of those people who get tired of hearing new moms go on and on about their little bundles of joy should just hire them a babysitter and take them out for Margaritas. Sure, you'll probably hear about every cute thing the little carpet-varmit has done since labor and delivery, but at least when the night is over she'll have one child-free story to tell. The reason we new mommies only talk about our babies is not because they're particularly exceptional (though mine is) or extra, extra cute (he's that as well) or because they think no one has ever experienced a more wonderful baby than their baby (that's my boy!). It's mainly the fact that there isn't really time for anything else, so there isn't anything else to talk about.

Think about it. What do people make small talk about? Great books you've read? Dr. Suess usually doesn't count. Movies you've seen? Not if they're more than five minutes long. That's about the average chunk of free time. Politics? I don't even have a clue what the president's latest screw-up is. Weather? Don't even talk to me about weather. It just reminds me that the seasons will change soon, and I don't know if Nathan has enough warm clothes. Or maybe he has enough warm clothes, but not enough in-between-seasons clothes. He's growing so fast it seems like I put pants on him in the morning and they are shorts by nightfall. Speaking of nights, we're working on changing his sleep-schedule. It's so important to get him on a schedule. Speaking of schedule, when's his next doctor's appointment? Is he due for shots? The doctor said to start feeding him fruits soon, and then meat. Will he still want his cereal? Speaking of cereal, what time is it? Is it nap time, or dinner time? Oh, did you say something? What were we talking about again?

Your Honor, the defense rests.

So back to braggin' on the boy. He's crawling all over the place these days. He's getting so good at it, he hardly ever tips over anymore. I kind of miss that. It was so cute when he'd get his arm caught underneath him and tip forward on his face with his bottom half up in the air. Guess you have to be there. Anyway, I took a little video of him crawling today. Now remember, I'm not a professional videographer and I took this with my Canon digital camera, not a real video camera. It takes him a minute to get going, and the cat decided she was ready for her close up, but then you can watch him take off and crawl right to the camera, then get tired and take a little rest. Ignore the E! channel playing in the background. I'm ashamed to post actual evidence that it was on my tv for more than 30 seconds, but I swear I wasn't watching it. So here it is; enjoy!

Shopping For Hairplugs

2007-07-26T09:15:00.000-05:00

So what's up with post-partum hair loss? I know it exists, but my little man is nearly six months old, and my hair is still falling out in handfulls. Every morning in the shower drain there's enough hair to make a Cher wig! It's annoying and frightening. I keep checking for bald spots. So far I haven't found any. I'm worried because I didn't really think my hair got all that much thicker while I was pregnant, so if it keeps up like it is, Nathan and I will have matching chrome domes. A bald baby is adorable, but I'm not sure I can pull off the Britney Spears look. Besides, he's finally starting to grow some hair. The little traitor. On the upside, I guess I can order one of those "Solar Panel for a Sex Machine" t-shirts. I've always wanted one of those. Ugh!

Here's my newest LO. Credits can be found here.

We're Rockin'!!

2007-07-23T09:39:00.000-05:00

One more first this weekend: we took Nathan swimming! Since we sadly do not have a yard, my mom set up a little kiddie pool at her house for Nathan. I thought he would cry when we put him in it, like he did when I dipped his feet in the water at the lake, but he really loved it! Of course he had about fifty toys in there to distract him. He played and splashed Daddy and tried to eat all the toys. Oscar (the weiner dog) was trying to lick the water off his head, and then ended up getting in the pool with him. It was a lot of fun to watch. This child is so well documented it's not even funny. I was snapping away with my camera, my mom was snapping away with hers, and Grandpa had his video camera out. If Nathan ever becomes famous, the paparazzi won't bother him a bit. lol

Speaking of pics...

And I almost forgot! My fabulous SIL named me a Rockin' Girl Blogger!

You like me, you really like me! I'd like to thank the little people; my manager, my hairdresser, etc. etc.

Now I have to bestow this honor upon five other Rockin' Girl Bloggers.

Fantacy, You Rock!! This scrappin' bloggin' diva has two blogs, and she may use this little banner on either one of them. Check out her awesome freebies!
Miss Kim, You Rock!! This awesome bloggin' girl shows off her gorgeous LOs and then shares some fabulous templates, too! And she doesn't live too far from me!
Gina, You Rock!! Gina Miller has probably never heard of me, but I have to include her as a Rockin' Girl Blogger. I love to read her blog all about her little kidlets and shopping and her fabulous designs!

Until next time...

Big Weekend

2007-07-22T17:14:00.000-05:00

Nathan got to experience his first demolition derby this weekend. Some of B's friends from Stafford were driving in the derby, and Nathan hadn't got to meet any of that crowd yet, so we decided to go. My parents went to the derby with us and then took Nathan home so we could stay for the after party. He had a lot of fun, though just like the Little League game we took him to, he didn't seem to be all that interested in the event itsself. What he was interested in was the checkered flag they gave him and all the other kids in attendance. Only instead of waving it, he just tried to eat it. He's at that age where he's part goat and part dustbuster, so everything within reach goes directly in his mouth. That is, unless he misses and puts it in his eye. Don't worry, we watched him really close to avoid that.

Here's the Get Bent Demo Crew we went to cheer on.

Nathan had another first this weekend too. Now that he's five months old, he was ready to start eating veggies! We started with squash, and I made sure to have the camera ready to capture the funny faces, but he didn't really make any. He seemed to just take it in stride. Just another day in the life. Oh well, here's a piccy anyway.

Until next time...

There Goes Tokyo! Oh no, Grumpzilla!!

2007-07-17T18:17:00.000-05:00

So, once again, my little guy tells me how to be the mommy. I had about a half an hour of screaming baby this afternoon. Wait, make that SCREAMING BABY!!!!!!! I could not make him happy. He didn't seem hot or cold, he'd just eaten less than two hours ago (he generally gets hungry every 3 1/2 to 4 hours these days), his diaper was clean, I tried toys, tummy time, holding him, rocking him, etc. etc. Nothing would work. Finally, in a last ditch effort to retain my sanity, I went ahead and made him another bottle. He took three ounces and once again became the sweet adorable little boy I'm accustomed to. Just like that, he decided that instead of six ounce feedings, henceforth we shall make available to his highness a whopping eight ounces of formula at a time. Tum ta da dum (fanfare)!!The diminutive dictator has spoken!! (In a manner of speaking.)

He really has gotten good at letting us know when he likes or dislikes something. When we don't hand him the right toy, or hold him the right way, or keep his favorite magazine in the john, he suddenly turns green and bursts out of his shirt sleeves, roaring his displeasure at us. As soon as the problem is rectified, he regains his normal size and adorable demeanor, and smiles so sweetly that little birdies alight on his shoulder and we can hear strains of Grieg's "Morning" floating down from above. One day maybe we'll convince him that he's not the boss of us, and dadgummit, we're bigger than him. Yeah right.

I'm back in the Blog-O-Sphere!

2007-07-14T03:02:00.000-05:00

Okay, okay, hold your applause. I know how much all of my adoring fans were missing me. lol

So, just to bring everyone up to speed, Nathan's doing fantastic. He'll be five months old next week. He's growing like a weed! We've had his ExerSaucer for just over a month and we've already had to raise the legs to the next height. He's outgrowing all of his clothes! It must be really nice to get a whole new wardrobe every other month or so.

He's eating cereal now, and he's decided he really likes it. The first few attempts made for some hilarious faces. I thought he'd just hate it forever. Now, I can hardly feed him because as soon as I take the spoon out of his mouth, he's reaching for it to put it back.

He can roll over now, both back to front and front to back. That's how he gets around. He's trying to crawl, but he has yet to learn that forward motion is much easier if his face isn't mashed into the blanket. It's like trying to drive with the emergency brake on. You can do it, but the results aren't pretty. His drooly little face is always covered in blanket fuzz.

He loves to talk to his toys (and yell at them, and curse at them). I'm pretty sure if I understood baby talk, I'd have to wash his mouth out with soap. That damn rubber lion really pisses him off! It must be a smack-talker.

B and I are doing well, too. Though we're all getting over a crappy cold. We got it from Nathan, who also gave it to the sitter, her daughter, her daughter's boyfriend, and her granddaughter. My sweet little baby leads a double life as one big germ in a diaper. But if ever there were an adorable germ, he's it!

A great way to keep up with Nathan is to look at my scrapbook pages. They're all posted in my Digishoptalk Gallery. I'll eventually get a button up in the side bar, but I'll probably be posting most of my future pages here as well.

Well that concludes this entry. Tune in next time. Same bat-blog, same bat-page. Kablow!

Things I've learned since giving birth: I now know whether or not nearly every public restroom in town has a changing table, and how hard it is to change him on the floor if they don't. I'm still learning which restaurants are evil (Carlos O'Kelley's, though it's still my favorite place to eat) and only have one in the women's restroom and not the men's. Or maybe B's just telling me that to get out of changing diapers when we're out. I may have to check for myself.