it's a Monday

* E got to sleep in 12 month old red pants and 18 month old new sleep shirt with orange and such colored dogs on it. Cuz laundry day has been going on since last Thursday.

* Good thing we stocked up on paper towels last night, cuz boy he sure can sling applesauce really far when left to eat breakfast on his own while mom checks facebook and other worthwhile things on the computer such as blogs.

* Had to hunt the remote and found it mixed in with the toys in the play room.

*there is now a drying, crusty lump of green playdough somewhere in this play room, as he wanted it out of the jar this morning, and now I have no idea where it is. and he was not unattended during that time.

*he is now sitting in his diaper and new $3 tshirt from walmart (see number one up above) till we find some (fairly) clean shorts to put on. or jeans it is! it's only going to close to 80 degrees today!

*I don't even have a picture to document any of this. Yup, definitely a Monday. And it's only 9 a.m.

Bubble bath attempt

Eli had his first bubble bath tonight - but there weren't just a ton of bubbles. But that's ok. Plenty of time for more bubbles coming up!

He looks so much like his daddy in these pictures! Where did my baby go? He also looks like such a big boy too!

I know too much about the ER

Since the week before Eli was born, I've been in the Emergency Room five times (that's five times in the past 17 months). I ended up taking mom to the ER this past Wed night, as she was having chest pains...(without going into the entire story, she is home today and doing great, so all's well that ends well...). It dawned on me that I am really comfortable now with what goes on in the ER, so thought I would share my observations.

Brief recap - visit one: the week before Eli was born, went to ER in the maternity section for high blood pressure, was sent home; visit two: the next week, went back for same condition, this time I stayed a week and came home with a baby; visit three: last spring (or was it summer?) I actually got SHINGLES in my HEAD - the upper left quadrant - I thought only "old" people got shingles - did I mention it was on my HEAD?! - we didn't know what it was, this swelling itchy mess, I had a nursing infant at home - so off to the ER we went; visit four: this past January, with the unfortunate spotting incident (see previous Pardon the Interruption blog post); and now this past Wed, visit five (with my mom). whew! makes me tired just re-reading all that.

Some observations -
* if you're elderly and live in SW Houston, and have chest pains, they get you RIGHT in. good to know.
* bring a book, snack, bottle of water, cuz you'll be waiting a loooong time usually. May not wait that long in the waiting room, but usually wait forever once you're actually back there. Even this past Wed when I was feeling nervous about going to get mom to take her in, I grabbed a book and magazine before I left the house. It was just automatic.
*They will draw blood, and will tape in the little thingy in case you are admitted and need an IV. This little do-hicky is uncomfortable and annoying on your arm.
*Always ask for two gowns, one to put on the regular way that they want, and one to put on like a shirt. This way your rear end is protected when you invariably have to go to the bathroom (since you've been sitting on that dumb gurney for like an hour) and have to walk down the hallway in your socks, past the folks working at the desk, other patients, their relatives, and the guy mopping the floor. And, it's kind of nice to leave the little curtained-in exam room for a bit.
*you'll have to relay the same information to like 10 people (ok, not quite that many, but feels like it) as to what brought you in.
*the doctor will see you, but also usually has to call another doctor, so you have to wait for that doctor to call back, and the original dr will have a million other patients to run in and see, so you'll wait forever while all this happens. the book comes in handy at this point. I know they are doing the best they can, it's just the reality of it all.
* you get a plastic bag that says "patient's belongings" to put your stuff in since they make you put on that gown (or in my case, those two gowns).
*for the most part, everyone is really nice to you, even if they are busy and don't know all the answers to your questions.

Well, that's my recap that I just felt like writing about tonight! If you ever need to go to the ER, I'm your gal, call me and I'll be right there to pick ya up, book and water in hand.....

I got it, Mommy!

As E was eating his afternoon snack in his high chair, a big 'ol nasty spider came crawling across the floor. Bravely I sprang into action, slapping that sucker dead. He had started crawling up the kitchen island, so I had to grab my shoe and slap him on the island, and a few more times on the floor. Quite proud of myself, too bad hubby wasn't here to witness it! After E got out of his highchair, he made a beeline for my shoe, and....

...started hitting the island, and the floor...I grabbed the camera and managed to get this one shot!

Valentine's Day

I admit, I like Valentine's Day. I keep reading all these people's post on FB and on blogs about how it's a Hallmark holiday, blah blah blah. But I like it. I like all the cheesy heart jewelry, the valentines, the decorations for baking stuff - can't wait till next year when E will be in a class and we can make valentines! Call me a dork, it's ok. Maybe because I like do crafty stuff, and Valentine's just screams for making crafts? I like celebrating my love for my friends and family all throughout the year, so on this one day, for me it's more about making cutesy stuff!!! And getting a nice surprise from my husband, and making him something cute. I blame my Love Language of Gifts (if you haven't read the book The 5 Love Languages, you should go buy it right now and read it. I haven't read it in many years so could probably use a brush up myself).

So after saying all that, I feel kinda bad that I didn't do more for my two main sweethearts yesterday! I suppose our Valentine card I made a couple of weeks ago counts as our main V-day thang. Yesterday, my sister in law along with niece and nephew came over and we made cupcakes. Right when it was time to decorate (and prime photo snapping time), E became extremely fussy and insisted on sitting on mommy's lap, so pictures this round are a little more limited. And I didn't get a pic of Doug's finished valentine - I guess I fell down on the job!

Aaron cracking the eggs.

Rachel adding the butter. A whole stick. Yep, they were GOOD cupcakes.

Eli adding the water.

Decorating....

...and more decorating....

Yes, he's holding a butter knife. We did hand over hand to frost his cupcake. Terrible pic of me. But as always, E's cuteness makes up for it.

Our final products! The kids love to tease Unc (they call Uncle Doug "Unc") by making his cupcakes (or cookies, or whatever) with a school logo that he doesn't like - so Rachel made one that says "peace love UT" - Aaron made him one with ATM crossed out, and "Boo on U of A" (University of Arizona I think, b/c I think his dad went to ASU). And, they made us a Baylor one too. Very creative niece and nephew. Aaron originally wanted to make one that said "ATM smells like cow dung" but we convinced him that was too long, and why don't we try things like "Be mine" and "I love you".....guess that's a 7 yr old boy's version of a Valentine cupcake....

Reading with Grandma

While helping out my sister to prepare for Grace's birthday party last week, I took some sweet pictures of my mom holding Eli and reading books. I thought they were all so sweet, I made a 12x12 digital scrapbook page.

This one is one of my favorites, because it cracks us up when E purses up his lips like that. I am mostly over feeling self conscious about posting pictures that aren't technically "perfect" or at least "technically acceptable;" for me these days, photos are all about capturing the moment, and I may or may not capture that moment "perfectly." But for me, the pictures will still be a reminder of that stage E is in, that cute thing he was doing at the time, his relationship with other people - all that good stuff.

16!

My beautiful niece Grace just turned 16 and got her driver's license yesterday! And got her braces off last week, which was equally as exciting. She really wants our 1999 4Runner - at one point we thought about getting a new car to replace that one, but decided against it, so unfortunately we plan on driving that baby until it's engine falls out - or if by some chance we need a new car before that happens. So there's a small chance one day she'll inherit the Green Bean (including the duct tape on the inside of the driver's side door! and the funky smell! and the antennae that won't go down!) but we can't make any promises. I took a few pictures last Friday before her birthday party to commemorate her coming of the teenage age:

Happy Birthday Grace!

Random February Happenings

So far in February, we have:

-enrolled Eli in his first Mother's Day Out program that will start in September (whoo hoo!!!)
-played in the Inflatable Zone (venturing out to different play places with this nasty weather)
-fed the ducks when it was decent weather, and this time E could throw the bread in the water
-had a couple of play dates
-did a quick tour of the Chinese museum Forbidden Gardens
-and that's all I can think of. not a very exciting month so far. except for the enrollment thing, that was a Big Deal. Had to go wait in line at 4:45 in the morning, and it was lucky that I did, because he got the last spot in his class. Whew.

Here are some random pictures for ya....

Finally discovered the doghouse in the backyard.

There's a picture of my dad crawling out of a doghouse when he was a kid, I need to find that picture at mom's house and compare it to this one!

Cheap entertainment.

I was seriously proud of how high E built this tower. I did help a little with making the base more secure, but he was the one that kept adding blocks on.

Kind of Dr. Seuss-looking tower.

My favorite picture from when we went to Forbidden Gardens. I have the hardest time lately getting E to look at the camera, so when I actually catch a full on smile with eyes, I love it!!!

Valentine's Day Card

Here it is! I had a lot of fun making this card. I printed it on pearlized paper, and loved the effect. Wasn't cheap though! but of course worth it to me - I love cards. I love all stationary type products actually.... :)

This is the front of the card.

When you open the card, this is on the top inside.

Bottom inside.

And back. Gave Stacey some props since she took that picture that is the close up on the Bottom Inside picture!

Now, what to do for a spring card....

My Owl Hat

Mommy got me this owl hat and thinks it's really cute, so I wear it just for her! (Mommy also had her camera in the wrong mode when taking these pictures, so they aren't the best, but she thinks I'm sooooo cute she's posting them anyway).....