Kaisley's Kraft

SPOILER ALERT! Michelle. . .DO NOT LOOK AT THE PICTURE!!! xoxo

My good friend Michelle is just weeks away from giving birth to her second child, but first girl, Kaisley! We are all so excited to meet her. So excited in fact, we are throwing her a shower next week, along with another one of our friends that is expecting a week before. (Jazmin. . if you could decide on a name, you and your little bit might just get a special crafty item, too!) I saw something similar to this at a boutique (for about $75) a few months back and thought "I could totally do that!" It is a purely decorative ballet costume made from buckram (kind of like canvas), tulle, paint, and glaze with a pretty silk flower and ribbons on a nice wooden hanger.  It was so easy to do if you have a little creativity and even less time.  I thought it would make a cute decoration instead of the traditional baby wreath that could be hung at the hospital and at home in the nursery.  It made me feel super accomplished to finish a craft (seeing as I have no less than 30 projects for myself on my "waiting list". . .waiting to get some free time).

xoxo

Ps in a Pod

The pod is our house. The Ps: poop, prime, pink, paper, and pampers.

POOP

While showering this morning a naked Ruby (she refused to put on clothes so I thought "what's the harm in letting her run around in the nude while i shower?") runs into the bathroom saying "Poop on my bed, poop on my bed!" Now Ruby is potty trained and has been for a while now, so I thought I MUST be misunderstanding her! As her little hand reached into the shower and grabbed a travel size shampoo bottle it hit me that she was saying "poo" as in shampoo.  She had to have been stealing the shampoo and putting on all over her bed. I asked her "Did you say poo, like shampoo, is on my bed? Did you, Ruby? That's what you said, right? SHAMPOO? A soft "yeah" came from her. This didn't make me happy, but was much better than the alternative! I continued with my shower with peace of mind just KNOWING the latter had happened (Ruby often gets ahold of my little shampoos and uses them like lotion). To my horror I found a much different scene as I exited the shower. Yes, Jayme, there is POOP on the bed! You see, Ruby has been experimenting with going to the potty on her own.  Up until now if she has had to do #2 she stays on the potty to let me "pat pat", what we call the cleaning off process. Oh goodness, but not today.  I'm assuming she tried to do the whole shebang herself while I was showering but was not quite a thorough as I am. Poor Ruby ended up leaving the skid mark to end all skid marks on her WHITE quilt! I couldn't get mad, she said "I'm sorry Mommy it was an accident!" Can you believe that, shame at 2 years old! As disgusting as the poop on the bedspread was, the situation was twice that but adorable. 

PRIME

After the 'incident' Ruby gave into my request for her to put on some clothes. We settled on a pair of jeans and her Beatles t-shirt, it was really cute. Only minutes later she found a box of clothes I have hiding in the closet for Elvis. The first thing she pulled out was a Marvel Superhero sweatshirt, she didn't have any interest in wear it even though it was big enough to wear. Uh oh, she then found the Transformers t-shirt in her size.  She started immediately saying "this is MY OPTIMUS PRIME!!! MY OPTIMUS PRIME!!! I wear it! I wear it!!!" I had no good reason for her not to wear it, and no energy to fight with her to keep on her perfectly good shirt. . .so now she has an Optimus PRIME t-shirt that she will every so kindly let her baby brother wear when he 'grows up'! 

PINK

This is a first for me! I turned an ENTIRE LOAD of clothes PINK! This load of clothes included 2 of the new towels I bought for the kids' room with yard sale money (formerly yellow & green), my favorite bra that I converted into a nursing bra (formerly white), a church dress of Ruby's that she has never worn (formerly white), another dress of Ruby's that she has never worn (formerly yellow), a worn twice sweatsuit of Ruby's, and one of the only t-shirts that fits me right.  Now all of these items, plus nearly a dozen others, are tie dyed PINK!!! Argh! Alex's reply to my frustration is that "we still have our health", but that isn't my point. We have few nice things and I would just like them to STAY NICE!!! Blah! (see below the culprits, my super bra, and Ruby's dress . . . they all look much pinker in person)

PAPER

As if Ruby's bathroom adventures weren't enough for the day, she decided she'd try out toilet paper as a candy! I left her in her room to go get something downstairs. When I came back I found her at the toilet paper roll breaking off tiny pieces and putting them in her mouth. Ew gross! She did spit them out in my hand when I asked her to.  She said "that not like candy!" No kidding that's not like candy! Hey, now she knows! 

PAMPERS

OK, so we don't use pampers, but I had to keep with the Ps! When we woke up this morning we had 3 disposable diapers.  Thank goodness I had the best of intentions before Elvis was born to use cloth diapers, because we would have been up the creek today! If he hadn't have come so early (Elvis was born 4 weeks early) I would have had all of the diapers/covers/supplies I needed for cloth diapering, but that isn't worth dwelling on. I cloth diapered Ruby until we moved into an apartment with communal laundry (I just didn't want to go there, though there are people that do) and really planned on doing the same with Elvis.  He's been in cloth all day, long enough for me to realize that the diaper covers I had for him are way too small now and that I want to start diapering him in cloth from now on! I just have to order new, bigger covers, and a few extra things. . .I don't have a bag to keep dirties in (VERY IMPORTANT)!  

That's been our day! Lots of laughing is getting us through! 

Other things of note from today:

1. Ruby says her ABCs really well now, though still with the help of her little LeapFrog thingie. 

2. Elvis and Ruby are at this very moment napping at THE SAME TIME!

3. I moved on from the laundry catastrophe to do 3 more loads of un-PINKED laundry. 

4. Our computer is on its last leg (it is 7 years old). . .it is making this really annoying hiccuping sound. . .we're going to have to spend that tax return on a new computer! 

5. Ruby leaves this afternoon with Honey and Nana to visit Mimi and Papa. (gotta love those nicknames!) 

California Dreamin'

Alex and I have been talking a lot about California lately.  I don't know why. Maybe it's because we haven't been back since we left, maybe it is because we want to share it with our babies, maybe it's because we are so horribly stressed that we find ourselves longing for an easier time. Whatever the case may be, our first home together, LA, has been popping up everywhere.  Just yesterday as I was driving to pick up my sister from softball practice during the "baby rush hour" that we have here I felt myself invigorated by driving with lots (not as many as LA during non rush hour times, have you) of other cars.  How insane, I actually miss the 6 lanes in 1 direction traffic (I'm sure that would go away after only a handful of drives in it, especially now with little ones who are known to scream at the top of their lungs in the car but I was longing for it just yesterday all the same). Al and I have realized that the places we most miss are food based!  This after making a list of places we MUST go while visiting. You ask, "do you have a trip planned?" In our heads, YES! Actually, NO! We've been throwing around the idea of using our tax return (God will we'll get one!) to take a trip out west, but who knows. . .we have PLENTY of other more practical things to spend that money on.   

Favorite things about the City of Angels:

1. How YOUNG we look in those pictures!

2. Disneyland 

3. Versailles (isn't that in France. . no, silly, it is an AMAZING Cuban restaurant. . you would think now that we live much closer to Cuba that there would be good Cuban food here????? We've yet to find it)

4. Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles

5. My hair always looked good there. . .I want my hair back from the 'deer in headlights' pic above!!!

6. California Adventure (another park of Disneyland) & the most fabulous corn dogs on the face of this earth! 

7. OUR FRIENDS (for those of you reading this, this list has no order of importance!!!! We LOVE YOU GUYS!)

8. Mulholland Drive 

9. Santee Alley & the Garment District

10. The Standard, Girls in the Aquarium, and where I used to get my hair cut (can't remember the name, but it rocked)

11. Driving through neighborhoods filled with amazing houses!

12. Baja Fresh!!!

13. Premier Party Crashing

OK. . I have to stop here. . .I'm scaring myself!  I didn't realize just how much I missed that place until now. Holy macaroni, I think I could keep going for a WHILE!  Time to come down. . 

Least Favorite things about "HELL"A:

1. Working 4 jobs between the 2 of us.

2. My 2 jobs. . .hated them!

3. Borrowing money from my mom.

4. Selling CDs for food money. . even though we were constantly working!

5. 

Now I can't stop thinking of why I love it there. . .MONEY, the only reason we don't! 

xoxo

Rollin' With My Homies

Yesterday, while actually enjoying a little tummy time for a change, Elvis surprised me and Ruby by ROLLING OVER! He was totally inspired by his bunny toy to make the move.  The super roll came about while he was trying with all of his might to reach the bunny, a toy that also witnessed Ruby's first roll! My little man, he's so athletic! He rolled for the first time all by himself. . .these photos are with a little help from me (he just wasn't inspired enough to recreate it for me. . .I only helped him by putting his arm up so he could get on his side, so it was mostly him).  I did put him back on his tummy and stand by his crib with my cell phone on video mode to capture a live action roll to no avail!  I must have stood there for half an hour, enough time for Elvis to fall asleep in a pool of drool! Nonetheless I am so proud of my little guy! And so it all begins. . .time to batten down the hatches!

After a morning of milestones and a little (meaning alot) of two year old tantrums (Ruby had an absolute breakdown over what socks she would wear. . .I gave her two pairs to pick from, she said neither, I picked one, she wanted the other, I couldn't give in. . .) we arrived at Bluebonnet Swamp 25 minutes late just as everyone we were meeting was heading for the trail! Being late isn't unusual for us lately.  If it isn't one thing it's another putting us behind our schedule. . .schedule's are for losers, I guess (just makes me feel better to say that).  I decided we would just walk the nature trail and find our friends . . . or not, it didn't matter because we were out of the house and calm.  After walking by ourselves and without drink (I didn't realize until it was too late that we were on a nature trail with no bathrooms) for about 15 minutes we did meet up with our picnicing friends.  Ruby had lunch with her boyfriend Owen, and held hands with him all the way back to the lodge where she informed a number of the moms that she was excited to "pee in the toilet!" Now that we've got the pee-pee poo-poo down in the toilet we've have got to work on the not talking about it as much!!!  We had lots of fun seeing our friends, I don't know what we would do without them!  

After our trip to the swamp we, as if our morning had not been enough, found ourselves in a comedy of errors.  Having the babies fast asleep in the back seat I totally gave into the temptation of the almighty HOBBY LOBBY! I needed to pick up a few crafty items (more on that in a later post) and couple of baby shower supplies (more on that later, too). Of course I spent their entire quiet time in that store!  GO ME!  By the time I made it to the register, Elvis was WAILING in hunger.  A super nice lady at the store opened her checkout just so I could get out quickly, but after I got Ruby in her carseat I realized I had left my bag in the store!  OH YEAH!  By the time I got back to the car there was only one choice, to nurse Elvis right then and there!  I don't really like nursing in the car, but I gotta do what I gotta do.  After all of this I determined that I needed a snack.  So we made an emergency stop at Sonic for a large coke easy ice, cheddar peppers, and a chocolate sundae (Ruby's). With only an hour and a half to pick up my sis from softball practice, Ruby and I settled in front of the TV with our snacks to watch most of the Scooby Doo movie. Unfortunately, picking up my little sis was yet another disaster! She doesn't understand just how much Ruby looks forward to seeing her.  After going to the wrong field we finally found Becca only to have her get into the car and without a 'hello' or 'thanks for picking me up' she said "I've got to go home and take a shower". Taking her directly home is such a pain!  It takes at least a two hour commitment to pick her up, especially when she wants to go straight home and not just come along to our house.  15-30 minutes to get out the door, an hour from door to door, then 30-45 minutes to calm down Ruby after watching her beloved Nana get in the car then get out of the car at Honey's house with no time to play together or anything.  I literally had to peal Ruby off the driveway like a pancake because her sorrow overwhelmed her to the point of paralysis! 

Today's note to self:

From all of our day to day craziness I find myself uttering a certain phrase to the Lord constantly, "You've got to be kidding me!" Really, I don't think He's kidding me.  I know it is all His plan, so His plan must be to somehow make the good moments as sweet as possible.  That is what all of the challenges of our day do, they make those indescribably wonderful moments as sweet as can be. . .like the yummiest Red Velvet Cupcake or a mouth watering piece of chocolate! Though it may sound like it sometimes, I wouldn't give up my life for anything. . .I wouldn't trade with anyone!  LOVE to my LOVED ONES!

xoxo

Flat Tire

About an hour into our day trip to Jackson we thought we hit 

something on the road, but alas, after a few minutes of driving on it Alex peeked back in the mirror and discovered we had a FLAT 

TIRE!!! Man, we were so lucky Alex was with us!  We drove on the flat for another few minutes to get safely

to a service station to change the it. I would have freaked, cried a little (meaning alot) and stopped on the side of the road if I had been by myself, putting us further in the sh*tter! Al knew exactly where the jack and spare key were (I couldn't have

guessed in a million years where to find them)! I felt pretty awesome taking the bolts off the spare. . .just so I could say "I HELPED!" Surprisingly only one car passed by us really slowly with prying eyes, though they didn't even offer help. Rebecca, Ruby, and Elvis slept through the entire ordeal!  We were back on

the road again hurtling towards our destination in probably less than 20, of course only after Alex made sure I knew where all of the emergency tire changing goods are kept. Hello manly man Al! We went on to have a fabulous day with Ami and her family (THANKS to Mrs. Isbell for that wonderful brunch!!! I must get your recipe for that sausage casserole!).  Then we made it to Gramps's house for a relaxing afternoon of hanging out and watching movies (I think we watched 3).  We really need to have more Jtown road trips, just minus the flat tire (especially since Alex had to go buy a new tire and have it installed & that ain'tcheap)! To sum our trip all up: Thank God for Friends, Thank God for Family, THANK GOD FOR HUSBANDS WHO CHANGE FLAT TIRES (especially mine, xoxo)!

Other notes from our trip:

1. Ruby was amazed by "the woods" we were driving through! I guess she needs to see more trees on a regular basis!

2. Alex bought 2 breakfasts for himself b/c the first McDs we went to put MEAT on his sandwich! Oh, the horror!

3. I sat in the back of the car so Becca could have room for her constantly growing long legs in the front! I am a super sister!

4. Ruby had a fun time running around Gramps's house like she owned the place!

5. For the FIRST time we put Ruby and Elvis in their PJs before we headed home. . .it worked well for Ruby, she has much more practice being flexible, but Elvis had a hard time staying asleep once we got home so we ended up having a Family Bed last night . . . that was a first, too!

xoxo

p.s. All of these pictures were taken with my cell phone. . .pretty good, huh? Yay for a 2 mega pixel camera phone!

Mama's Boy

When Ruby woke up this morning all smiles squealing "Baby Brudda, I want to see him", I knew today was going to be a good one. . all about Elvis. After watching Monsters Inc. for the 3rd time (that's right, the first time was last night. . .we watched it twice before lunch), my mom and sister came very last minute to pick up Ruby to give me some time to clean up the house without a little toddler shadow. Ruby LOVES to hang out with her Nana Becca, and went so willingly with her that it made my heart break just for a second.  I have managed to get a little cleaning done, but more importantly I got some one on one time with my little man! You can never be really prepared for your second child. It is almost more of a shock than having the first.  I thought I had so much figured out: changing diapers, feeding, playing, teaching, snuggling.  I was warned but didn't believe how different it would be! I caught myself yesterday at nap time telling Ruby "you're my favorite" and had to quickly add "little girl in the whole wide world!" Old only child having habits are hard to break so a little time alone with my youngest should help. We laid around on the floor together where I stared and smooched (holy macaroni, have you ever smelled breastmilk breath. . .it is insanely yummy smelling, like candy) and he pulled my hair and drooled.  I put him in his Bumbo to play with the cars he got for Christmas, Elvis thought that was pretty smart. That Bumbo is such a cool invention!  He got totally tired and passed out after getting a little milk drunk only to wake up an hour later screaming from teething pains, my poor baby. Cutting teeth must horrible, I'm so glad I don't remember that part of being little! Luckily I'm a professional baby cuddler and I have extensive knowledge of Baby Tylenol dosage, he is now back napping happily in Daddy's arms (while Dad reads comic books, right on!). 

    

Going back to 'cool inventions' I have a few I've been wanting to share with, well, anyone who cares.  The first is my super amazing temporal artery thermometer. I put it on our Christmas list after seeing it used at our pediatrician's office.  It takes your temperature as accurately as the dreaded rectal probe by processing several temps collected by infrared technology and averaging them out.  You just start by placing the end of the thermometer on your babies forehead, depressing the button, and sliding the thermometer into the hairline.  It is great!! I've taken Ruby and Elvis's temps while they are sleeping! The second on my list of cool finds is my new PreserveRecycled Food Storage Containers.  They are

made from 100% recycled plastic, are BPAfree (a really big deal amongst all of my mom friends), are

dishwasher safe, are stackable, are recyclable, and have a really cute green apple design that just so happens to go with what I'm going for in our kitchen! These cute little containers (19 oz & 25 oz) also have a great tagline, "powered by leftovers." LOVE IT! 

Notes from today:

1. Ruby apparently knows what "punching" is because she punched Elvis with a closed fist and said "I punch him." Note to self: pay a little more attention to what is going into that little brain of hers!

2. I tried to clean the sliding glass doors while it was lightly raining. . .what is wrong with me? 

3. We are going to visit my Dad (aka Gramps) and my Bestie from High School, Ami, tomorrow. 

4. Alex brought me 4 cookies, a piece of King Cake (some of the best I've ever had, all it need was a little cream cheese), and a Ginger Ale when he came home from work (no I didn't eat it ALL)! That in addition to the surprise I woke up to, he did the dishes piled up in the kitchen BEFORE he went to work! What an amazing man! GO ALEX! 

5. Word to the wise: DO NOT put apple juice in your daily dose of prune juice to make it taste yummier.  It does do that, but MUCH MUCH MORE!!! 

xoxo

Going Green

Ruby has slept pull-up free for 2 nights now.  She's just doing her part to reduce pollution . . . no more yucky diapers in the garbage for Ruby! She's been potty trained for a few months now, Alex and I just haven't been brave enough to do away with the nighttime pull-up until now (our new found courage came in the form of a waterproof cover for Ruby's mattress).  Ruby has also found a little more independence, while I was nursing Elvis this morning she went to the potty all by herself! Ruby does something new and amazing every day, which makes the other kind of 'going green' easier to take. Not EASY to take, but EASIER.  The HULKING OUT began at the breakfast table (see the photo of Ruby spitting out her milk) and continued on for hours.  By the time we were ready to get out of the house all three of us had had a HULKING OUT incident! Ruby apparently didn't want to sit in her booster seat to eat breakfast (earlier in the week I had a moment of insanity when I let her sit in a big chair to eat) and it seemed as if sitting in the booster seat made everything taste like "poop"! Her exact words : "it taste like poop, mom, breakfast like poop!" Oh well! I had a moment of weakness and joined Ruby in HULKING OUT a bit when she refused to cooperate in taking a few photos of her super cool "Big in Japan" shirt (Daddy designed it and the company that produces them wants a shot of her in it for their website b/c the baby on the shirt is her). What Mother/Daughter bonding: a tandem freak out! The Elvis HULKING OUT started as we wrapped up taking pictures (Ruby accidentally rolled over on him) and continued through me taking a shower. The moment I got out of the shower and he caught the slightest glimpse of my face he fell asleep! So, after probably two straight hours of one or more of us screaming we were off to "The Market" (that's what Ruby calls Whole Foods & the Farmer's Market) to get some groceries (yes, that skipped visit came back to bite me in the butt) when all I wanted was a nap! 

We were all three too tired to cause any drama while grocery shopping.  (Check out my make shift shopping cart!) We did practice colors and learn what chickens look like when they are cooked whole! I ALWAYS time out our adventures in grocery shopping so that we eat lunch from Prepared Foods first then we shop.  I usually end up with full, happy, sleepy kids that way.  A kink in the plan has recently presented itself though.  Now that Ruby is potty trained AND I have another baby (aka another diaper to change), our post lunch/pre shopping visit to the restroom takes me no less than 20

minutes . . . and that is moving at the speed of light! It takes a real resolve to go ahead with shopping after that (especially after the morning we had)! I probably could have slept on the floor in the frozen aisle . . . that is how wiped I feel! From the second we left that bathroom Ruby began asking for "cheese, Mommy, cheese!" Thank goodness here 'dealer' was working today! Check out that frickin bowl of cheese. . .and with a SPOON!!! All I can say is "WOW! Thanks Annie Laurie!" The only problem with that cheese is it turned to soup in her mouth, and for a 2 year old that has yet to master not talking with a mouth full it was pretty messy! No worries, it kept her SO happy for the rest of our culinary journey and gave me something yummy for a little afternoon snack! Rounding off the "tour of tired", we stopped by

my mom's office for Ruby to "do emails" (at least that's what she said).  Mom (aka Honey) likes to parade Ruby and Elvis around her office every once in a while!  I guess that is part of the joy of having grandchildren, to have everyone drool over them and tell you how beautiful they are then, instead of having to take care of them, you can just give them right back to their parents. Cool for Grandmas! 

Other things of note from today:

1. Elvis slept from bedtime to 5.30 am then right back to sleep after nursing. . .he woke up for reals at 8.30!!!!  Awesome!

2. My right one is in pain and leaking . . . I hate to complain about a longer than usual nap, but OUCH! 

3. Tonight is MOVIE NIGHT & we have Monsters Inc. to watch! 

4. Our house is a WRECK, I've been avoiding cleaning and laundry for days! 

5. Oh, Ruby DID watch Lilo and Stitch after her nap yesterday. . .I KNEW she would ask for it! 

xoxo

Hide and Peek

Apparently yesterday was only the beginning of a hiding phase for Ruby.  In an attempt to not have to go upstairs and get dressed for the day in addition to falling to the floor to render herself immobile she slithered herself underneath the kitchen cabinets. Very creative, Ruby! She stayed underneath our beloved IKEA sink cabinet just long enough for me to snap some pictures as proof.  What does this mean for us, the parents of little Houdini? I don't know! I guess when we have her somewhere where she can really hide we need to keep her strapped in or in hand (which we do already anyhow).  

Yesterday I was multitasking, as all mothers must do during the coveted nap time. I was channel surfing while writing while eating a snack while remaining on call for crying babes.  I happened upon the very moment on Dr. Phil (not my usual fair) when the words 'not ashamed of breastfeeding' were uttered.  My interest was peaked! Having been a part of a Nurse In or two, I'm always interested to hear what other people are going through.  It turned out to be a smaller segment of an episode about living your life out in the I generation. Not quite the scandal I thought I was going to be watching. But, unfortunately I had to open my big mouth on my Mom's group message board (I've done this once before to not so happy results. . .feelings hurt & people all mad. . .it wouldn't be so bad if I didn't actually know these people). Of course from just my mention of the Dr. Phil show (with nothing voicing my own opinion this time. . I thought I was being safe) I freaking opened a can of worms...AGAIN!! I SWEAR it didn't cross my mind that I might be starting sh*t until after I posted! I guess I can see a point on both sides. I do understand that most people in Western culture are brainwashed into thinking that breastfeeding is something to hide, even something vulgar (though most of these people seem to be women. . .what man would cover up boobies? some men may say it makes them uncomfortable, but they are nearly always lying in the faces of the woman they are with!) & that "rules is rules" on those sites. Though the question is asked "why do these breastfeeding women feel the need to post a picture of themselves 

breastfeeding?" In response I ask "why do some people feel the need to post pictures of themselves pregnant? bottle feeding their baby? just plain sitting with their baby? at a birthday party? on vacation? at a soccer game? out on the town?" (you get my point) The answer is the same for all of those.  . .it is a point in their life they want to remember and share with others because it is important to them.  Isn't that what these social networking sites are all about. . .letting your friends and family in on all the happenings of your life you deem important?  Don't hate me if next time you see me breastfeeding my baby and you get a little peek! Oops! 

We went to eat lunch with Daddy today!  This is one of Ruby's favorite things to do.  Months ago when we pulled up to Whole Foods Ruby would scream "Daddy's house!"  I think now I have her trained to say "Daddy's work" but it still holds the same excitement for her.  She is forever asking if we can go see Daddy and get Whole Foods pizza.  That's what they ate today, pizza!  I, on the other hand, opted for a yummy pulled chicken sandwich with BBQ sauce, some other sauce, cheese and "salad".  To my horror, my first bite contained a chicken bone! Now this is totally understandable because they cook all of their chicken fresh, but I was still freaked out for a second.  In my sophomore year of high school the same thing happened and I didn't eat meat for 3 years! Thank goodness for all of the other important things that constantly flood my mind. . .it didn't even ruin my lunch! I just put it on my plate and kept on eating. Go MEAT! 

  

               

                              

  

                                             

After lunch we went to the fabric store just to see what was going on there!  I like to pop in from time to time to see what is on sale. The home dec fabric was 50% off so I got a few things I thought might make nice modern portrait backgrounds.  We'll see how that goes.  I was planning on going to WFM for groceries right after, but when we got into the parking lot both of the babies were sound asleep.  Now, years ago I may have turned my nose up at the idea of me ever saying this but, "SWEET RELIEF!" they were (and still are) asleep so as soon as I made a mental check that I had something to fix for dinner I high tailed it home for some much needed "me time". Groceries can wait, I love me a peaceful nap time!

Other things of note from today:

1. My mom brought us breakfast from McDonald's . . . THANKS, MOM! I'm eating those cinnamon roll thingies right now.

2. I convinced Ruby to watch Tinkerbell instead of Lilo & Stitch for the 3rd day in a row.  . .we'll see what she asks for after her

nap!

3. The weather today is 

INSANELY PERFECT, 

very much like a day in LA 

. . . sometimes I really miss it!

4. Elvis's hair won't stop falling out!  As if the bald spot isn't enough, his beautiful hair is coming out in clumps when I run my fingers through it.  

5. Ruby and Elvis still seem to be "best friends", that's awesome! 

xoxo

Tummy time, chocolate, and where's Ruby?

I've been struggling to get in the habit of letting Elvis have 'tummy time'.  Apparently when our parents put us to bed on our tummies it increased the number of cases of SIDS, but did wonders for our muscle development.  Did you know that tons of kids skip crawling all together because of new safe sleeping practices? Neither did I!  I also ask, how in the world do I actually find time for tummy time when I have a 2 year old that would LOVE to pick up a baby from the floor running around? Our doctor says to leave him on his stomach in his crib for a few minutes a day, but do you know what this turns into? Elvis screaming his head off, that's what! Not just regular screaming that calms when you pick him up. . .crazy, drooly, snorty, pissed off, nothing is going to quiet my anger screaming!  The flip side of no tummy time apparently is delayed rolling over, delays in muscle strengthening, and a really silly looking bald spot on the back of his head (I don't have a picture of that but promise to post one when I do).  So, is it worth the mental and emotional strain on all of us or is it OK to be a little delayed? The jury is still out on that one!  Right now we're on an every other day plan: one day of crazy screaming and one day of being slackers!

Thanks to Aunt Jenny (Alex's sister) we have super yummy chocolates from Switzerland!  She picked them up at the Lindt chocolate factory on her recent trip to Europe.  They are fabulous! Alex ate a third of the box last night and Ruby & I had them for dessert today after lunch. There really is nothing like Swiss chocolate. . . hello decadence! I totally thought our newest yummy snack deserved a mention when I saw Ruby put an entire piece in her mouth and say, with mouth full, "it's delicious!"

While putting together my first post for this blog I heard the unmistakable thunder from upstairs that could only be Ruby emptying out her toys onto the floor.  Though, this time it was much louder than usual!  I tiptoed up the stairs so as not to let on that I was trying to peek in on her only to find . . . NO RUBY??? Toys EVERYWHERE, but where was Ruby? I wasn't all that concerned because she had to be somewhere, we have a gate on their door.  So what hiding space was she in? Under the bed? NO. In the closet? NO. In the bathroom? NO. Where was that giggling coming from? AHAH! The tall cabinet next to the changing table! There she was!  She hasn't gotten in there since we put it together and there where no shelves & she has NEVER really hidden like that either!  It was so cute, she kept going in and out playing with me. That is, she did until I wanted her to go back in so I could take a picture! What a stinker!  

 

          

Other things of note from today:

1. Ruby talks about her "friends" often, but today she told me that her baby brother is her "best friend". 

2. Ruby was super sick yesterday with a runny nose and cough so bad that she vomited 3 times, but today she seems MUCH better.  No runny nose (maybe a little congestion), hardly any coughing, and no fever!

3. We've watched Lilo and Stitch for two days running. After we watched it today, Ruby said "AGAIN!"

4. We haven't gotten out of our pajamas yet and it is 3 pm! 

5. Tonight is Ruby's Spend the Night Night with Honey and Nana (my mom and sis). 

xoxo

Jumping off the proverbial bridge...

So, I guess since 'everyone is doing it' so will we! I've been struggling how to document our daily life so that my little ones will have something to remember and so those interested can keep up with us.  Ruby has a baby book and my journals to look back at her first months of existence, but I haven't even STARTED a baby book for Elvis (he was four months old yesterday)! I am forever on the computer checking email and doing bills, so this option fits. Here I go . . .

We are the Austin Family of Baton Rouge, LA by way of San Jose, CA (Alex aka Dad); Long Beach, MS (Jayme aka Mom); Jackson, MS (J); New York, NY (J); San Francisco, CA (A); Los Angeles, CA (J&A); New Orleans, LA (J&A); Long Beach, MS (this time J&A with Ruby, long story that I'll tell one day).  We've been around our fair share of places & scenes, but now totally enjoy our 'normal' family life.  Our amazing children are Ruby (2 years) and Elvis (4 months).  I was just thinking last night that even though I know they haven't always been with us, I can barely remember life without either of them!  It's like the parent mind meld, you just can't even imagine life without them.  A great quote I heard while I was pregnant with Ruby: 'Having a baby is like finding a long lost part of you that you never realized was missing.' That is so true! 

A few things you should know that might make reading about us in the future easier: 

1. We struggle every day to remain true to our pre-kids selves.  We were once really cool people and hope to stay that way (just saying that makes me feel lame, though).  

2. We are planning to homeschool our kids, however many we have.  

3. We are both artists (Alex is a graphic designer and I am a photographer).  

4. We are teetering on the edge of 'granola'. . .Whole Foods Market all the way, Saturday trips to the Farmer's Market, a total boycott of WalMart, Alex is veggie (will most definitely be the topic of a future frustration blog), all this and I still have a secret addiction to preservative laden snacks!

5. We are insane about movies (all of us, even the baby!).

6. If we could ever save the money, we would travel all over the world. 

7. I would breastfeed my babies until they are 5 if that's what they wanted, though it doesn't seem to be what they want. 

8. Alex and I enjoy watching Sesame Street & Disney movies just as much as our babies do! 

9. Tattoos and odd colored hair are pretty normal to us.  

10. We have so much love in our house, it is crazy! All aboard the CRAZY TRAIN! 

xoxo