Thursday, February 24, 2011

The Colonel Lives!

Nothing new here, except that our house is haunted... by Colonel Sanders' ghost!!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

TV Rots Your Brain, Kid

Liam just figured out he can turn the TV on. Off. On. Off. On. Off. On.

Change the channel.

On. Off. On.

Change the channel again.

Mommy needs a Tylenol.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Giggles

This kid cracks himself UP.

First of all, Liam has a Gloworm. We put it in his bed every night with him, and now it is his lovey. The Gloworm's face lights up and he plays lullabies when you push on his belly.

This morning after waking up, Liam and Gloworm joined Mommy in bed for cuddles. As they sat in bed together, Liam FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER pushed on Gloworm's belly all by himself. And then he did it again. And again, and again, and again.

Baby's got skills, yo!

So this evening Liam went to bed but woke up a few minutes later crying. Mommy picked up Liam, who brought Gloworm, and the three of them sat in the rocker for more cuddles. That little baby kept pushing Gloworm's belly. And again, and again, and again, even though Gloworm was already lit and "singing."

And the whole time he was giggling.

Daddy was in the living room watching his stories, and for half a second Mommy thought, "I wish this baby were asleep, so that I could watch TV with Daddy."

Then, "This is kind of nice."

"How many more times will this baby let me cuddle him?"

"Oh, his hair is soft and smells so nice."

"I love love love when this baby giggles!"

"I wish we could do this every night."

"Stop growing up, Baby!"

And now he is asleep. Hopefully he wants to cuddle again tomorrow. Cuddle and giggle and snuggle, because so far it is Mommy's favorite part of being "Mommy."

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Stone Crabs on the Brain

Hoo boy, it is kind of difficult taking pictures every day. Thought it would be easy, but by the 3rd day we were pretty much doing the same things as the day before, and the day before that...

For those who don't know, the people in Friday's picture are Penny, Carrie, and Eddy. Mommy used to work with them at Otis, and they are lovely people. They are the Friday Lunch Crew, and we still get together most Fridays for lunch. Which Mommy loves, because she can go outside, and eat a meal someone else cooked, and talk to other intelligent and interesting adults.

...

New this week, we are working on the house. Mommy and Daddy had agreed to NOT work on the house for a year, partly to save some money and partly just to take a break. Buuuut then Mommy got sick of the hallway. Dirty white walls, scuffed trim, UGLY blue carpet, and dim lighting is depressing. Oh yeah, and drywall work that just needed to be completed and painted over. Liam's birthday party is coming up and in order to make the house a bit... prettier, we are doing a bit of work.

The walls now have one coat of paint on - Valspar Fragrant Lilac. (By the way, if the guy at Lowe's tries to tell you that the Signature Series paint is one-coat, don't believe him. It will take two coats.) Grandpa has painted Liam's bedroom door and painted and stained the second bedroom door. He will also do the bathroom door. And Daddy added some ceiling lights! You can see as you walk down the hall! The mirror at the end of the hall will be replaced with something nicer; the old one was tarnished and gross.

We still want to change the two closet doors and our bedroom door to 6-panel doors, but that will not happen yet. We also will not be able to replace the carpet yet; we want to do the dining room at the same time, and are not yet ready for that. The baseboards might get done before then though!

...

And we may just get to take a family vacation this year! Grandpa J's brother and sisters get together each summer for a week-long vacation and this year they are renting a friend's house in Crystal River, Florida, in April. Mommy is planning on going, whether Daddy can come along or not (he may be working). You know what she is going to do? Even if it is the only thing she does all week? Swim with manatees. She would even wear a bathing suit, if she has to! *shudder*

Oh, and April is still stone crab season. :)

And if Daddy gets to come, we'll go to Orlando and Titusville to visit some friends from college.

And we'll eat some delicious seafood, like stone crabs.

And maybe we can go to the beach.

Did Mommy mention the stone crabs?

Question of the Day: What is your favorite seafood?

Monday, February 7, 2011

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man

We made Italian Wedding Soup for dinner a couple nights ago. It is Daddy's favorite soup (along with Coach's Stew and Chicken Taco Soup). It is pretty darn good, with carrots and spinach and orzo pasta simmered in chicken broth with meatballs. Meatballs made with basil and Parmesan cheese, for the win!

But enough about the meatballs. (Mmmeatballs...) The next day Mommy and Liam shared a bowl of leftover soup for lunch. Mommy picked out a meatball and carrots and pasta and spinach for Liam to eat. And let me tell you something. That kid? He DESTROYED the spinach. Admittedly, it was probably because it had been simmered in chicken broth (with mmmeatballs!), but still.


Also, he doesn't much care to sit in his high chair anymore. He either wants to sit on Mommy's lap or eat on the run. (He makes a lap around the dining room, stops for a bite, makes a lap around the dining room, stops for a bite...)

" Who says spinach is yucky?!"

A Week in Pictures - Monday Edition

You do the math...


Sunday, February 6, 2011

A Week in Pictures - Sunday Edition

"Go Pack Go! Find my Cheerio!"

Brinner

Breakfast for dinner, Baby!

Liam read the Pioneer Woman's post about smoothies, and he begged Mommy to make one for him. What you see below is a blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, mango, peach, and yogurt. It tasted great with our broccoli bacon quiche! (Of course, once he tasted the smoothie he forgot about the quiche.)










Friday, February 4, 2011

A Little Cabin Fever

We had a little weather excitement this week. Snowpocalypse, or Snowmaggedon, or whatever the kids are calling it these days, moved through and dropped a layer of ice and sleet on us. Our driveway is an ice rink, and it is hard to believe the dogs have not yet broken their legs running around on the deck.

And Mommy and Liam have not been out. Tuesday we would have gone to IU for the optometry study. But it sleeted. Thursday we would have gone grocery shopping. But we still have food in the cupboards. Friday we would have gone to Toddler Playtime. But Liam was napping those two hours.

Mommy is going a little stir crazy.

It doesn't help that Liam has been in A MOOD. A mood where he wants to chew on everything. You know, like the movies and the CDs, the lamp stand, chairs, Tupperware, shoes, and books. Oh, those poor books! We have had to take books out of his bins because he has chewed chunks off of them. Little Lamb will never be the same again. Mommy actually had to move the bookshelf full of paperbacks into the guest room; he would take each book off, chew on the top edge for a little while, throw it aside, and pull the next book off...

Speaking of Tupperware, we have all come to an agreement. 1) Liam is allowed to pull out and play with all of the plastic containers. 2) Mommy and Daddy will rinse the dog hair and dust off the plastic pieces and use them as needed. It is much easier than re-washing and putting away all the pieces each night after Liam is done playing.

Oh! Liam is napping again! Usually twice a day! Sometimes his naps are not very long, maybe 20-30 minutes. But sometimes the heavens open, the angels sing, and he sleeps for an hour! Or two! Oh, good gracious, those are good days. It gives Mommy time to work on her TOP SECRET project, or I dunno, take a shower. Crazy.