Not much

So, we didn't do a whole lot today. All we really did was go to the bank and to Home Depot (I was *tsk*tsk*ed by my friend yesterday for not having a carbon monoxide detector, so I had to right the wrong). Oh. We also made a mess today. This mess.

But he cleaned up (most of) his mess without even being asked.

Maybe I should actually fasten the child proof lock next time.

Wrinkle update

For all of you avid readers, surely you remember this post. Well, I have an update on the wrinkle cream: it didn't work. There is a good chance this is due to user error, but come on. It's a cream. I tried to get a close up of my forehead in the mirror but was fruitless in my effort. Then I found a picture online!

I'm home!

Luke and I got back from Abilene today at 1:30- which means we were gone EXACTLY 24 hours. I really didn't do that on purpose! Something I wasn't expecting was the subtle comfort that came over me being in Abilene. I love living here and having everything I could want so close, but there is just something about Abilene. I broke out my Kevin Fowler and Jason Boland and got back in touch with my country roots. That's right, sweet and sophisticated Lindsey has some deep country roots. Hello- I did pick John Deere for Luke's birthday theme! The shower last night was fun. There was lots of drama before hand (locked out of houses, wrecks, no water due to water main break to name a few) but we pulled it off and had a great time. Nick and Kendra got a lot of great stuff for their new house! I am bummed that I didn't get a single picture though. I was too busy with Mr. Explorer and being a hostess that I didn't get my camera out once. This morning before I left town I had to stop at McKay's Bakery. I bought $15 worth of treats to bring home!

Also, tonight at church there was a preacher from Australia. It just made me, once again, ache longingly for an accent of my own. If I could pick one for myself, I would pick a South African accent. Alas. Twill never be. So here's a picture of how fat Luke used to be. My sweet chunky monkey. His cheeks are slimmer now because I kissed them all off!

More boo boo's

So I just saw a T-Mobil commercial where a husband is star struck with Cathrine Zeta Jones and ends up saying he is "technically" married to his wife, who is sitting right there. It got me thinking...if Cody ever met a celebrity, I don't think he would get star struck at all. He's pretty cool like that. Then there was a Target commercial about a mom getting her son ready for college. It made me almost tear up, because, I don't want Luke to get ready for college. ;( But, ask me again in 17 years and I might have changed my mind.

Also, I made another boo boo today. I am going to be in a good friend of mine's wedding in September, and we the bridesmaids are throwing her a shower. It's in Abilene so Luke and I will have to stay the night. I THOUGHT it was Thursday, but then I got an email today from another bridesmaid and she was talking about how she was excited about tomorrow. WHAT. I ran to check the invitation and sure enough I miss read it and it's tomorrow. WHOOPS. So that meant I had to bust it today to get the presents I'm making for her finished. Since I'm pretty sure Kendra doesn't read this either, here are pictures of it....

This one says "made with love" at the top and "by the tapies" at the bottom with a fleur de lis on each side. It looks a little fuzzy in the picture, but that's cause I couldn't use the flash. Etching cookware is my new craft!

This one says "A Tapie Creation" at the top and two stars at the bottom. Everything is a little uneven cause I had to free hand it all.

And of course I had to make a set of coasters. Now, I did go in with the other girls on a hostess gift, but I just couldn't resist making her something! Also, it rained really hard today, it was so relaxing. Luke loved looking at it through the back door!

Letter

Dear Society,
I have come up with a new rule for us. When you are going through a drive through, please limit the number of items to 4 or less. If you are ordering a 12 course meal or dinner for 20, please go inside. I too am hungry and have places to go. Yes, it is I, the lady behind you. This is just common courtesy. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Lady with screaming baby huffing behind you.

p.s.- It took me 5 minutes, literally, to figure out how to spell courtesy. The "ou" is tricky business.

Another lesson learned

So today I learned a very important lesson: no matter how good the idea is, don't make something for someone as a gift for the first time. Let me explain.

My girlfriend has 3 little boys, and she is finally pregnant with a girl. Yay! When I got the invitation for her shower that is a week from today, I got to thinking of all the sweet girly things I could make her. I settled on a decorated bag (for toys or something, not really a diaper bag) and a matching monogrammed hooded towel. Have I ever made these things? No. There in lies the mistake.

I spent an entire afternoon last week just cutting and pinning the things together, and it took me all of this afternoon just to sew. Holy moly sholey. That sewing machine was very temperamental. Or maybe it was the user. The sewing machine was also 20+ years old. Hmmm.....so was the user........ It was just all around bleh. My idea was not realized quite like I wanted, and there are several boo boo's (lets just hope she doesn't look too closely!) but at least it was made from the heart. I'm posting a picture of it all, because I'm fairly certain that the expectant momma is not one of the 8 people who actually read this.

As you can see I also threw in a couple of paci holder's with the baby's name on it- I knew I could do those without screwing them up. You can't see the hood on the towel, but it's there all right, slightly over sized, but there none the less. I hope you like it all Christina!

On a completely different note, don't you hate dumb drivers? I was pulling into the grocery store parking lot this afternoon (after the crafting debacle) and the guy in front of me just stops. That's it. Just stops. No hazard lights, no wave around, no nothing. After a few agitated moments I huff and zip my awesome little dinged up '97 Protege around him and whip into a parking spot. I would really like to know what he was thinking. As I walked into the store I glanced back at him, still sitting there, and I think he was on the phone. *tsk tsk tsk*

I will leave you tonight with a fun picture of Luke. We went to a friend's baby's 1st birthday party this morning, and it was a carnival theme. There were lots of balloons, but I just tried to be brave and sit away from them. This is a picture of Luke in the ball pit, where he did nothing but throw the balls out. I finally had to remove him before he removed all the balls. The other little boy in the picture is the birthday boy!

Confession

Alright, it's confession time. I wasn't going to post anything today, but I need to get something off my chest. I did something I promised myself I would never do. I jumped on a band wagon. Which band wagon? The Vera Bradley band wagon. I went shopping today with Mom, Ashley, and Luke at Southlake today and they had a Vera Bradley store. Ashley is big into Vera, so she wanted to go in. That's when I saw it. The most perfect walet ever.

This is the fabric and everything. Do you see how this side holds my cell phone? Hello! Perfection. The other side has the i.d. spot on the outside, and inside is enough room for cards, cash, and change. Plus I can unclip the loop and put it around the diaper bag strap so no more digging with one hand. See? It was totally worth it.

Just plain yum

So my friend Kristin posted this recipe for a Chocolate Chip Cheeseball Dip, and I had to give it a whirl. What hooked this non-cooker to venture out into something new? The fact that it only has two ingredients and all you do is stir them together. I can handle that. Well my friend, I topped your deliciousness with amazing super deliciousness with two words: fresh strawberries. Get ready to witness heaven in a bite.

If you ever get the chance to eat this, HOARD IT. Hoard it all to yourself. I'm not telling Cody what I've made. And when I reach 500 lbs. from snacking, you'll know why.

This is a picture I took the other day. For Luke's first birthday I bought a John Deere mat for everyone at the party to sign, it turned out really cute. I needed a great picture for the mat, so I took one with a couple of his birthday presents and the shirt he wore to the party. This riding car is now his favorite thing in the world, and my sister bought the hat. She is a huge sports fan, and Cody and I are NOT sports people AT ALL, so she felt it was her duty to let Luke have a baseball hat. I let him wear it when he's having a really bad hair day. Cause that's what hats are for, right?

I just like this picture of my boys. I developed it and taped it up in my bathroom. So handsome!

dirty kids

Why is it that babies are so hard to clean? I never know which part to wipe down first after a meal. If I wipe down the tray first, then one dirty hand is smearing food on the clean tray while I wipe the other hand. If I do the hands first, then the clean one goes into the dirty mouth or back on to the tray. If I start with his mouth, then the dirty hands go into the hair as protest. What's a girl to do? I'm convinced that every house should be equipped with one of those HASMAT shower things like you had in high school chemistry. Or better yet, you should just feed your kid in the tub, naked, and then you can turn on the shower in there. You're going to freak out about a wet paper towel coming at your face? Here. Have a cold shower instead. I kid though. I've just found that quick and 2nd wipe downs work just as well. And tonight I found another scenario to add to the mix: I get him all cleaned up, as well as the tray to the highchair. I take the tray away to get him down when he sees the food that has fallen into the lip of the bib. Before I can take the bib off he starts rooting around in there and eating all the things that escaped his lips the first time around. The way this child shovels food into his mouth and scours out crumbs to inhale, you would think I never feed him.

This is the most recent messy face picture I have. It's a couple of months old, but you get the general idea. Well, except for his birthday pictures. All that icing smeared all over his face is another good visual.

Fake gems and Bond

I just saw a commercial for the Prayer Cross and it made me wonder, does anyone really have one of those? I sure do wish I could see one in real life. You know what I'm talking about, right? The fake diamond cross that magically has the Lord's Prayer in the middle when you hold it up to light? Now don't be confused, I don't want one, I just wanna see what it looks like. I love Jesus a lot, but I don't need a crystal cross with a memorized prayer hanging around my neck to reassure me of my faith. It reminds me of when it was cool to write things on a grain of rice and wear it in a vial around your neck. I remember there was a stand in the West End where you could have anything you wanted written on rice and then put in the vial shape of your choice. That was so 1995.



While I'm on the topic of things I saw on t.v. today, there has been a Bond marathon on USA today, as well as on Saturday. I love old Bond movies. A young Sean Connery, sexy 60's/70's Bond girls, cheesy plots that suck you in anyway....what's not to love? I think Moore and Brosnan portray Bond the closest, they each have an easy sense of humor and deliver the classic Bond-puns lightly with a slight twinkle in the eye. While I love looking at D. Craig (all you can say is yum) I am a little disappointed at how heavy and serious he takes the character. Picking my favorite is hard, (maybe A View To Kill: Christopher Walken makes the best bad guy psycho, and who doesn't enjoy Mayday's freakishly thin and pulled back face. Tell me though, how does Stacy Sutton keep those heels on the whole time? I would think any logical gal would kick those off when trying to climb out of a mine shaft or traipsing along the Golden Gate Bridge supports.) but picking the worst is easy- Moonraker. AAAAAHHHHH!!!! The slow "anti-gravity" movement when they first get into outer space kills me every time. So what's your favorite Bond movie?

All's well that ends well

When ever I hear the phrase "All's well that end's well." I think of Ma from Little House on the Prairie. I love those books. I think I have read them all a million times. And that phrase definitely describes today.

It all started by me waking up an hour late. I meant to get up at 6:45 so that I would have time to bathe Luke and still have time for a Starbucks run on my way to church. Well, I woke up at 7:45 from the craziest dream ever. Last night I checked the time the alarm was set, I checked the volume of the radio, I checked the brightness of the numerals, but did I actually turn the alarm on? Nope. So after I've run around like crazy getting me and Luke ready for bible class in an hour, I get his diaper bag to pack his lunch and run out the door (still on time for the coffee, but he skipped his bath, I was just praying no one would take a wiff of him). When I open it up, what do I find? ANTS. Little black sugar ants are everywhere. I flip into panic mode and toss everything on the back porch. I grab my tiny hula girl sewing bag, dump out the contents, and throw in a couple of diapers, the food. That's it. No toys, no nothing, to get us through church. I still go get the coffee, we're just really late.

So then after church we go out to lunch with the in-laws. It was good, but then there was a baby shower. I had to dash out of lunch, run to Walmart for more diapers for the top tier of the diaper cake center piece I made, and then run up to the the church to help decorate. We had a great time, and I finally feel like I get to breath. While we were having the shower it rained and we joked about how my grass might turn green again since I haven't watered it once this summer.

The shower is over, and I mosey on home. Has something in this story not added up? Like the fact that I tossed all of Luke's favorite things which we carry around out on the porch and then it rained? It didn't even occur to me until after I got home and was letting the dog out. Board books- melted everywhere. Snacks- unrecognizable blobs. Bibs- soaking mess. Bag- full of water. *sigh* I guess it needed to be cleaned out anyway. But that was not the best way to wipe out old spilled milk and formula and months worth of crumbs. Not to mention the ants that had weathered the storm in the shelter of a cute diaper bag.

Now for the part that ends well. Cody went to go listen to some band play tonight, and my friend Sara's husband is out of town, so I had her and her daughter over for dinner. We had a great time hanging out and visiting. It was a nice way to end doozy of a day!

New Bedding

Is there such thing as a P.S. for the beginning of something rather than the end? Anyway, that's what this is. I was poking around at other random blogs just now, and I found this girl in Australia who is a believer. I love that! She seems like the kind of wife and mother I would love to be. And then I realized as I was reading all of her posts, that the words in my head had an accent. I guess when I read something someone has written who is from another country I automatically put in an accent in my head. Except I'm pretty sure what was in my head was British. I think all accents in my head are British.

Today I didn't really do any thing except play, watch trashy Bravo shows and do laundry. Doesn't make for exciting reading. So I thought I would post pictures of my new bedspread! I spent my birthday money on new bedding for our room, I've been tired of what we had for awhile. We got the old stuff as wedding presents, so after almost 6 years I was ready for something new!

Out with the old:

And in with the new!:

The old picture is from Christmas, hence the Christmas lights (which I put up every year, it makes me feel magical!) and during the day. I tried to turn on all the lights so the new picture wouldn't look so dark, but it is 10:00 PM. The sun went down 30 minutes ago! I love how crisp and minimal the new bedding looks. Much more serene and relaxing. But, you are not allowed to relax ON it, you must move it aside and relax NEXT to it. Just FYI.

Going on a bear hunt...

Friday morning the fam and I left on a trip to Colorado City to see my cousin get married. I had meant to do all my cleaning and packing on Thursday, but I couldn't get motivated so I had to do all my packing Friday morning and didn't get anything cleaned. I didn't think putting off packing would be a big deal, usually it takes 30 minutes to get me and the baby packed up (Cody packs for himself- I've been banished from that years ago). Well, I don't have a baby anymore, I have a child with an entourage of things. Oiy vey. It took me 2 hours to pack. It used to be you just throw in a couple of bottles, a jar of formula, some bibs, outfits, and diapers and I was done. Now I need multiple outfits for each day (self feeding is slightly unpredictable with a one year old), sippy cups, bibs, shoes, bathing suit, floaties, toys, pack-n-play, diapers, baby shampoo, baby soap, comb, paci, lovey, and not to mention all the food that I ended up just buying there and not bothering to transport. Ey yi yiiiiii. It was a mess! I packed for me, then I packed for Luke, and Cody ended up having to take his own suit case because I filled ours up with Luke's things! We had a great time though, and the wedding was beautiful. The whole family was so excited to see Luke, and what mom doesn't love to show off such a cute kid? We got home today and I am wiped. I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation. I have been parked on the couch most of the evening, except for feeding and bathing Lukie. And, ug, now I have to unpack. I think I hate unpacking worse than I hate laundry. Maybe because there is always laundry involved with unpacking. Since I have no plans for tomorrow, I've put it off until then. It will just be Luke and I, because Cody starts his new job tomorrow! Say a little prayer that he enjoys it and catches on quickly to everything without being overwhelmed.

The great grand kids!

Doesn't Courtney look so pretty? Ashely was the maid of honor!

Trying to keep Luke happy with Cheerios. He likes to shove as many in his face as possible.

First time to go swimming in a lake! We let him keep the paci so he wouldn't drink the water. And he HATED the sand. It was so funny to watch him avoid touching it at all cost.

Oh, and a little update one the wrinkle cream- I've used it twice a day since Thursday and I don't think I see any differences. Thursday night right after I applied it I stood there and waited for the wrinkle to pop out. Apparently the cream doesn't work that way. When I woke up on Friday morning I thought that my forehead felt firmer, but then I realized my thumb was lightly resting against it and that's what I was feeling. I've also been applying it to my eyes just for the heck of it. I'll report back in two weeks and let you know if it actually works since that's how long the package says it takes.

It's official....

That I'm getting old. I bought my first......*wait for it*...........wrinkle cream today. I know, you may say "But she's only 26!" And to that I say "Have you seen my forehead lately?" I have two rather deep wrinkles on my forehead from constantly having my eyebrows up- occupational hazard from teaching public school. While consciously reminding myself periodically throughout the day to relax my forehead will help in future deepening of the wrinkles, it will not heal the damage that's been done. Hence the need for cream. Come on L'Oreal. Do your thing. The way I see it, if I start now maybe I can stimulate whatever skin regenerating stuff that is supposed to happen and it will get fixed and I will never again get wrinkles. Right? RIGHT?

Also today I let Luke have spaghetti for the first time. Cody had to work tonight, so I fixed some angel hair and sweet basil marinara for myself (since it doesn't have meat Cody doesn't count it as a meal so he won't eat it for dinner) and cut up a platefull for the Lukesters. Holy moly was cutting up that pasta a pain. I don't know when I'll be doing that again. Besides, he didn't seem that interested. He ate some of it, but then stopped and started yelling at me, so I got out a spoon and fed him some. Oddly enough, he would eat it off a spoon. So then I let him explore with the spoon and try to "feed" himself. I knew that that since this is the first time he's really used a spoon he would gag himself, but you would think after the first couple of times he would learn not to put the spoon back that far in. Nope. Not my son. After about the 10th time of me being frightened all that spaghetti would come back up, I took it away from him. I know, I'm a mean mommy.

Please Never

So yesterday Luke and I were coming home from some random errand, and I saw this old man with a 8 month preggo belly wearing tall black socks, tennies, shorts, a sleeveless shirt, a fanny pack (worn backwards, because that makes it all right), a sweat band, and head phones. You could tell that this was this first jog he had been on in, oh, 20 years or so, and it begged the question: Do you have a mirror? Do you have a wife (she should not have let him leave the house like that)? My heart immediatly felt sad for him, and then jumped to the thought "Cody better not ever. Ever. look like that. Even for a jog." If something ever happens to me and Cody is a widower trying to get back into the game, please someone come and lay out work out clothes for him. Okay, whew. The burden is off me and now on you.

Today Luke and I didn't leave the house at all, and it was so nice. I like to just stay home every few days just to let him play and eat as needed. This first month of my official SAHM status has been fantastic. At the end of the day I feel so fulfilled knowing my house is in order, I have provided nourishment for my family, and given my kid the attention he deserves from his mother. I don't ever go to bed ready for the next day to be over already. Although, Luke is cutting a back molar right now, and so he hasn't been quite the pleasent child he once was. Hopefully soon I will have my sweet content boy back. But even though he has been a whiney booger lately, the kid still melts my heart every day. I found out on FB just a few minutes ago that my friend is pregnant with a little boy, and for some reason hearing about her little boy made me even prouder of my little boy. Is that weird? I love him so much it hurts sometimes, I look at him and think I might physically burst. But in a good way.

Who couldn't love this beautiful face?!

Grrrrreaaaaaat

Another new and fun game Luke has learned. Another chance for Momma to say No No!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd1Y4GSTLOE

Irritating fact

You know what really irks me? That all tv shows go on hiatus during the summer. Helllllllooooooo! This is when we actually have time to sit down and watch something! Maybe I can understand prime time shows more, but I was so excited to actually be home during the week so I could watch Ellen in real time instead of DVRing it every day, but nooooooooo, she takes a break too! Talk about a let down. Whew. That's been bothering me for awhile.

Also, I went to the grocery store hungry today. Haven't I learned yet that is a huge no no? Apparently not. I came home with 4 bags of snacks, and some of them didn't even make it home. It's sad that I live a mile from the grocery store, yet half a bag of some new gourmet baked herb cracker thing didn't live to see the garage.