Quick Pic

Just a picture to enjoy in this post - - hold your breath - - the 2nd post of the day!

And no, I didn't put him in there- - he did that all by himself!

Tankless...

No, I didn't say Topless.

Our water heater went out. I'm currently on day 2 with no shower - but luckily, worked from home part of the day so nobody would notice the grease oozing out of my skull.

When the guys came to install the new one, they couldn't even get started. Our brand is rare, and shorter than usual. They can't move the vent. Our options, as a result, are electric or tankless - and although the cost is higher, we decided to go tankless.

I've read online some, and I'm not sure that this is the "best" thing, necessarily. It makes me nervous. I don't want to run water forever for it to get warm - what we are supposedly making up for in efficiency on the gas bill will be paid in the water bill. The tax credit will be nice, I suppose. I still just don't like that this is a decision we "had" to make because of the setup and peculiarities of this particular house.

I have before and after pictures, and hopefully I can post those soon. In the meantime, it's another crazy week and I won't be able to post tomorrow - but will hopefully post again soon!

Before:


After:



Love: Visitors!
Hope: Tomorrow my flights are on time!
Do: Need to get crackin' on packin'!

Homeless Baby...

When Kiddo got up from a nearly 3 hour nap this morning, we headed to lunch. He looked pretty rough. He was only wearing a onesie (no shorts, shoes, socks), and his hair was the messiest I've ever seen it. He then sat in a high-chair at the place we ate that was more like the kind of highchair you have at home. As he was eating his beans, tomatoes, cheese, and applesauce for lunch, DH said, "he looks homeless!"

Later, as we were in the checkout line at the grocery store, a stranger said, "Love the do!"

Last week, we took my sister to lunch. She commented that we never wipe the kid's face, and that he had stuff on his outfit (which we didn't bother to change).

I'm not sure what it is about the "Homeless Baby Look" - but we, as parents, seem to have mastered the art. I guess that's a sign that we don't worry much about the things that don't matter.

Kiddo's 2nd haircut is destined to be this afternoon. I just wish I would have gotten a picture of homeless baby - perhaps right after naptime.

And to clarify - the kid has a great home, he has just mastered the homeless "look".

Love: Being lazy.
Hope: Haircut 2 goes as smoothly as the first!
Do: still need to study today!

It's HOT!

It's officially summer. I know this for a fact, because I went on a run after waking up this morning. It's not even 8am, and I'm sweating like a pig- more than I've sweat in a long time!

I would have the option of getting more sweaty if I did more exercise. It had been a looong time - - probably a month, maybe even two months - since I went on a run.

I have a shirt that says running is cheaper than therapy. I guess this morning, it was my therapy session.

After failing another Actuarial Exam, I begin studying today - again - for an October test. I need to study in earnest. I'm on a bad streak recently, and I need a "pass" to prove to myself that I can finish.

In other news, Kiddo had 2 nights in a row of fuss-free bedtime. It's awesome - and a little hard to believe! Let's hope that continues! Of course, tonight he'll have to fall asleep in a strange place, since we're headed to some friends for a movie!

Love: Running therapy - - when I convince myself to do it.
Hope: It's not 2 months before I kick my own butt again.
Do: Begin studying in earnest today. And laundry.

Fuss-Free Bedtime

It's been quite a while since we've been able to put the babe to bed without a fuss at all - but tonight, after books, he was expecting it and was an angel and went right to sleep. Love a sleeping baby!!

Love: Fuss-free bedtime!
Hope: for more fuss-free bedtimes!
Do: Well, should be studying, at the very least!

Attitude

Sometimes, it's all about your attitude. Today, I could use a good kick-in-the-hiney.

I even said to DH that I needed to be left alone so I could go sulk. Of course, he heard "soak" and expected me to go take a bath. Maybe that would be more healthy? I guess, for the moment, I prefer(red) "blog therapy" as my current form of sulking?

Love: DH's seemingly neverending patience for me.
Hope: Tomorrow is a better day.
Do: Get all the sulking out so perhaps I can change my attitude?

Rice

I'm not sure why, but in the last several months I've been wanting rice all the time! I love steamed rice, and I have a great steamer. This evening, I used that and my iced tea pot and I felt like a queen! Perhaps the fact that I took a bath, shaved, and finally returned home after a 10 day trip also had some part in that - but regardless, it's good to be home!

And later this week, the leftover rice can be fried!

Love: Rice!
Hope: Work isn't too rough tomorrow!
Do: Get back into the routine again.

Newspaper

Since we moved to Cary, I've always thought of the newspaper as a pain in the butt. We don't read it. As DH put it, "we should sue the city for littering on our driveway!" It often takes all day for us to pick it up. Our neighbors put it on our door step once in a while - and sometimes, I think it's because we haven't bothered to pick it up yet!

Here at the Texas farm, the paper represents so much more! Mark and I have been taking a daily walk - about a block long, which is the length of the driveway, to get the paper for Mark's GrandMommy (great grandmother). To her, at age 91, the paper is the best reason to get up in the morning and often keeps her occupied all day long.

It's amazing what a difference a couple of generations makes.

Love: The warmth of summer.
Hope: Our last day is as interesting as the rest!
Do: Have to pack to go home this evening.

Shocolate?

Why isn't Chocolate spelled with an S? If it were, it would definitely had made the title of my blog. I'd lose the alliteration if I added it with the correct spelling, so this post is called Shocolate.

I went almost a week without chocolate. Not without thinking about it (more than once), mind you, but without eating a piece of it. I broke down. Yesterday, I bought a chocolate covered banana and chocolate covered graham crackers. I bought a butterfinger bar, and a new candy by butterfinger. Yep, I had to get my fix.

On a side note- sorry for the hiatus! We traveled to Wichita, and I didn't have easy internet access. I threatened to go use wifi somewhere, and in the end, didn't. What I did do was read a good book, see my family (Mom, sister, brother, and assorted others), and ate at places that DH characterized as "needed to be remodeled 10 years ago".

And alas, we are back to the farm. Today is Seth's first Father's Day, and I didn't get anything to bring with us. Does that make me a horrible wife/mother? He probably won't care. We did have Mark "draw" a picture with crayons for Grandpa for Father's day. Last night, we also met some family that I've only connected to with that F site.

Love: Being able to sort through the email and online happenings I've missed. I'm not an addict!
Hope: Father's Day is fabulous for my DH, and my father-in-law. This is, however, one day of the year that I do miss my daddy. To my own daddy: I'm thinking of you, wherever you are!
Do: Get to eat homemade ice-cream today. YUM!

Museum Pass

In some large cities (London, Paris) they have a "city pass" where you can go to a large number of museums and pay one entry price. It is a really cool idea! For the last two days, this would have come in handy in the Texas area.

Yesterday, we visited the Kimbell (and it took me forever to learn/figure out how this was spelled, since I only heard it spoken). We also visited the Modern Art Museum, and the Science and History (aka Children's Museum) of Fort Worth.

Today - after some tractor driving and chain saw action on the farm - we visited the Dr Pepper museum and the Mammoth museum, capped off by dinner at Chuy's where we met a dear friend of mine!

At the Dr Pepper museum, I was reminded of calling my grandparents "Grandma and Grandpa Pepper" while growing up. Why? I think they had a dog named pepper at one time, and the nickname stuck. I actually don't even know if all the cousins knew them by this name, or if it was just us.

Tomorrow, we have a drive ahead of us as we head to Wichita. Hopefully, Kiddo naps in the car and does OK. Wish us well!

Love: Museum hopping
Hope: Kiddo does well in the car tomorrow
Do: Need to get a bag packed!

No safe place..

There's no safe place anymore. As of last Friday, "bug" is a crawling fool!

He's not always motivated to crawl, but he is moving forward. Again, it's fun watching kids grow up!

Yesterday, he got to meet the cows! Today, he spent some time at a children's museum.

Love: Watching kiddo grow
Hope: We remain accident free for a while longer
Do: Need to think about child-proofing upon our return home!

Nicknames

Yesterday, I was reminded of another way in which I am like my father.

I like nicknames. Specifically, I like nicknames for FOOD!

Have you had Maters? How about 'Nanners? Now that we're in Texas, hopefully we'll get some good Wocca-Wocca! There's also Sketti, and Taters of course...

Anyhow - those are the ones I can think of, and/or that I discussed recently!

Translations (even though some are obvious!):
Maters = tomatoes
Nanners = bananas
Wocca-Wocca= Guacamole
Sketti = Spaghetti
Taters = Potatoes

Spell check doesn't like this post very much.

Arrived in Texas yesterday, took "bug" swimming for the first time, and DH killed a snake on the farm. I can't wait for what adventures might be in store for us today!

Speaking of the Snake... He was crawling on the main window to the house. Maybe, for a change, we were the ones "in" the cage at the zoo, and he was watching the humans play?

Hope: Any of Snake-y's friends stay a little further away.
Do: Have more travelling today!
Love: A great adventure!

Not so cheery...

Nothing "bad" today, just a little whining...

I try to be a happy person - most of the time. My blogs are typically upbeat, and I try to add excitement and energy. Sometimes, though, I just can't do it.

Today I'm feeling defeated, frustrated, emotional, and perhaps even a little depressed. It's also for a STUPID reason, that makes sense perhaps only in my brain.

It's about nursing. I have nursed Kiddo since he was born, and it seems to get harder and harder for so many reasons. Today, all of those reasons seem to be coming together and it seems I won't be able to nurse much longer- which makes me even MORE sad. Daycare wants more milk. I'm frustrated because I know I'm not producing enough during the day, and "scheduling" nursing with a busy work schedule just doesn't always work as smoothly as I would like. I tried to feed kiddo formula after we got home, and he wouldn't take it.

He's nearing the 8 month "mark" (catch the pun?) in a few days here, so I shouldn't feel bad about no longer nursing, and yet, something in me feels like I've failed.

He was "fussy" when we got home, which I didn't understand as his "tired" fuss. While having a break down, I fed him some puffs and he fell asleep in my arms. It's always sweet when they do that, but I wish I could have enjoyed the moment a little more.

I try very hard to be a super mom, but sometimes it's hard to admit I can't be "Super-Mom".

Perhaps it's just the female "cycle" finally taking hold of me, again.

Tomorrow is another day - and the last day (hopefully) for a while I'll have to pump. Maybe in the week or so ahead things will improve.

Love: This is harder today than usual! I do love when baby falls asleep in my arms.
Hope: Nursing improves in the week ahead.
Do: Need to move on. Writing out my thoughts helps with that, so thank you for reading my "whining".

Adventures in Food!

As "bug" begins eating more "normal" food - we can feed him directly from the table! Today, he had some apple sauce, but also shared our pasta and chicken dish. He's had chicken nuggets and crackers. He's had cookies and rice krispie treats. He's had yogurt (and loves it - especially the baby yogurt!) In some ways, I'm glad he's in daycare as he begins trying more foods - since they are often more adventurous and encourage us to make him eat what we eat.

He liked cheese - no surprise there, since that's his dad's favorite food. He'll be eating refried beans, and already loves any kind of bread.

Anyhow - adventures in food with the kiddo are fun! It's helping contribute to him becoming 'more interesting'. He's also moving around on the floor. He will be a "little person" soon - maybe I'll think of him that way once he starts to walk. He's still my baby for now!

Hope: we can continue being adventurous with food and moving around!
Do: Need to be thinking more about the upcoming trip here soon!
Love: That life with kiddo is "becoming" more interesting!!

Meeting!

Today has been the day of the meeting.

I met my husband for lunch, for example, and we figured out where Mark will go to daycare next (whew! Glad that decision is made!).

I met several times at work.

I met a guy who picked up a desk I sold on Craig's list.

Yep, I'm all "meet"ed out.

Love: Productive Days - they give me energy!
Hope: Tomorrow is a little slower meeting-wise!
Do: Need to start gearing up for our trip - can't believe it's this weekend!

Picture

Here's a really cute picture from Memorial Day weekend! Enjoy!

Relaxing Weekend...

We've had a pretty relaxing weekend around here!

Bug got to swim in a pool - and put on his new superman swimsuit! He also took 2 Looong naps (which means he doesn't want to go to bed now!)

We had a fabulous dinner- hubby did meat on the grill and I did sides, plus my favorite dessert homemade (creme brulee)!

New sofas were delivered. We chilled on the patio. I studied some.

Yep, full weekend!

Love: Time spent at home.
Hope: Plans (details) all work out for next week!
Do: Back to the grind tomorrow!

Summertime!

Summertime is definitely upon us! How do I know this? I took Mark to the park in 90+ degree weather!

Right as we were getting home, there was an odd rain shower that lasted about 30 seconds, and then the sun was back out again!

I needed the shower. I was somewhat overheated, and hadn't brought my water with me to the park! I got more red-faced than I've been in a while. The adventure reminded me of doing agility with Kobe in the sweltering heat!

Love: A little bit of sunshine.
Hope: Baby goes to sleep!
Do: Wait on furniture to be delivered - yay for new sofas!

Naptime!

I wish I could still nap every day.

Well, maybe only some days. I was lucky enough to get a nap in today, with the kiddo!

The sleeping schedule has been a bit odd lately. I was talking to his daycare teacher today, and she noted that he doesn't sleep long at daycare. In order to pre-empt a 6 or 7pm nap today, I decided after Mark's last feeding that I'd try a nap. Over an hour later, and he's still sleeping!

Love: That baby's nap! They are so precious asleep.
Hope: We continue to work on the schedule!
Do: Visit another daycare tomorrow - a decision soon, perhaps?

Random Thoughts

I made it to target today. Whew!

Baby got home from daycare hungry and tired! After a big dinner, and a short nap, he is protesting about bedtime!

I also overslept for the first time in a LONG time - - which is very unlike me!

Anyhow - nothing interesting today.

Love: Shopping! (Yeah, and Starbucks and Socks!)

Hope: Baby falls asleep on his own.

Do: Need to get some studying in... Yep, back to that already!