Somebody lost her marbles, and it was me.

Coming out of a cave full of tissues and questions regarding whether or not it is OK to hit up the Nyquil if I'm nursing to bring you the following irrelevant information (yes, I have officially caught Newbie's cold- and now I feel worse for him than ever!)...

I just found this picture of myself at 16 weeks pregnant this time last year, and I KID YOU NOT, the first thought that came to mind when I saw it was,

"Gee, I remember that. That was before I went crazy."

Somewhere around week 20 or so of my pregnancy I went absolutely bonkers, and I haven't returned to sanity since.  I forget things, my mind is jelly, I freak out about everything, and I'm balding.

Who knew the "pregnancy crazy" would hang around this long?

What is it about getting pregnant and having a baby that turns your mind to jello?

I don't know. But I can tell you mine is gone.  Like, so, SO far gone.

Which would explain why we had to have tacos instead of spaghetti for dinner tonight because I had not, in fact, bought the spaghetti noodles like I thought I had.

That is all.

No, actually, that is not all.

I'd also like to add that Chet the squirrel has unleashed either the Beav or an army of raccoons with chain saws, or possibly an unexpected and destructive combination of both, into our bedroom walls.  I seriously thought the walls were going to cave in around us during our afternoon nap today. 

That is all.

For reals.

My Little Sparrow

Here's my little pumpkin on our way out to the doctor yesterday...

...I know, smiley as ever, but if you look closely, you can see there are only about three to four hours of sleep in those little blue eyes.

After two very restless nights in a row, I am left to ponder how on earth I survived the first eight weeks of Newbie's life in which I was constantly functioning in an entirely sleep deprived state.

Because, boy, am I tired. But not as tired as yesterday.  Whew.

It certainly helped that the Hubs wasn't doped up on Nyquil last night.  He is such a good daddy.  He took the first shift, and I took the second, and somehow we mangaged to come out on the other side of things this morning.  Newbie slept OK, he just woke up several times ready for another hit on the Tylenol dropper.  I can't blame him.  If my ibuprofen tasted like wild berries, I'd want another hit at 3 in the morning too. 

He was lookin' good this morning when he woke Daddy up to come downstairs and play.  The Hubs has the day off today, so we're looking forward to a low-keyed snuggly day just the three of us.

Nothing like getting up at the break of dawn on your "Saturday" after a less than mediocre night of sleep.

But we can't complain, because this little smiley bundle is who we get to wake up to!

We're off to pick out a movie and a cuddly blanket.  Hope you have a fabulous Friday and your early birds sleep in tomorrow!!!

Ariel, you are my meatloaf.

Last night was L-O-N-G long.

Newbie was fussing from 8-12 and just wouldn't fall asleep unless I rocked him. As soon as I lay him down in the crib, he would wake up wailing.  To make things more interesting, the Hubs had popped some Nyquil before bed due to a bad cough and chugged up head, so he was dead to the world after about 7 pm.

I moved into Newbie's room around 10 pm after staying in there to rock him since 8 pm, and by 5 am we were both sharing the big bed with the Hubs (who was still dead to the world.)  Too bad Nyquil isn't for 6 month olds!  When Newbie put his little palm to my cheek like he does when he wakes up in our bed, his hand was on fire.  And I knew.  I knew right away that my little buggy was running a fever and was sick.  I opened my eyes and his big blue eyes were looking up at me above the most plugged up gunky nose I have ever seen. 

So I dumped a cooler of Gatorade on the Hubs, effectively waking him up, then we swept Newbie off to the doctor this morning and came back with an ear infection diagnosis and all kinds of bubble gum pink medicine that should make him feel better.  Poor little guy.  He slept all the way home and all the way through our 57 hour stay in the pharmacy drive-thru window line. 

Now we're back home and taking it easy this afternoon while the Hubs is at work.  Lots of snuggles on the couch and The Little Mermaid on the TV.  The Little Mermaid is for me, not Newbie.  Thaaaat's right.  It was a long night for both of us, and there's just something about a good Disney movie that is light years better than comfort food to me.  I grew up with Ariel and Belle and Simba and Peter Pan, and on a bad day, those pals are just the meatloaf and mashed potatoes this girl needs.  Don't worry, I skip over the scary parts- like when Ariel visits Ursula, because who's a fan of a black octopus anyway? She gives me the creeps.

Is now a good time to mention that I occasionally revert to eating macaroni with hot dogs on a bad day too?  Sometimes it is fun to be five years old.  It just makes a girl feel better. Like when you're having a rough go and you just want to be a mermaid and eat some mac and cheese.

Newbie appreciates the "under the sea" ambiance.  He told me so.

So we're huddling down for the next couple days while Newbie works his way through his first official sickness.  Bless his heart, he's still smiling at his mama despite feeling just awful.  What a sweet little boy I have! 

Wishing you a day free of bubble gum pink medicine and hoping your seaweed is greener.

Daddy's Day Off

First it was pumpkin pancakes followed by sweet potatoes and mac and cheese at lunch time...

 Then we bundled up and took off for a walk at the park...

And then we went to Petco to get Opie's mani and pedi combo, where we were red-lighted and asked not to come back.  Ever.  Because "he was quite a handful."  We always knew it was just a matter of time.

Now we're snuggled up watching some TV and hanging out before dinner time. 

 I love lazy days. =)

Here are a few pictures of my blue-eyed boy yesterday when we enjoyed a lazy afternoon crunching in the leaves together before his daddy got home from work...

Hope you find time this week to have a lazy day!

You are the allspice in my pumpkin pancake

Today I made
PUMPKIN PANCAKES
with whip cream and cinnamon on top for breakfast.  The Hubs has the day off, so I decided it was go big or go home.

I also whipped out the Beaba Baby Cook and took my first whack at making Newbie's baby food.  Sweet potatoes, comin' right up!  I have to say, it was a breeze, even for me.  Which is saying a lot, because this lady burns EVERYTHING.  So I think there's a good chance my little man will be feasting on homemade baby food on a regular basis. 

That last sentence looks so ambitious, it makes me want to curl up in the fetal position and hide.  But we shall keep calm and carry on with our lofty goals. 

Speaking of lofty goals, when Newbie gets up from his nap, we are headed out to a local park to walk some nature trails and have a picnic together.  Lofty? you ask.  Yes, lofty.  Because we are taking Opie.  And Newbie.  And we plan to have lunch and enjoy Creation's serenity together.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Have mercy.

This would be a great place to share some pictures of our homemade baby food and our delicious pancakes and my sweet little guy playing the leaves yesterday afternoon, but my camera is downstairs, and I am not.  While I'm feeling ambitious today, I'm not feeling that ambitious.  So I'll update later with some munchable pictures of food and baby rolls.

For now I just thought I'd drop in to share my food endeavors and inform you that I am still missing the "u" key on my laptop thanks to a vigorous birthday message a la 6 month old. 

Also, I love when the Hubs has a day off.  It is like the allspice in my pumpkin pancake....life just isn't the same without it.

I hope you have allspice in your pumpkin pancakes today.

Movin' Up in the World

Does it get any better than a warm cup of hot chocolate on a chilly fall day?  Mmm....I am soaking in a productive morning with the Hubs at home while Newbie naps.

Eggs for breakfast- check!

Laundry- check!

Trash out- check!

Get out of my pj's- check!

Then comes the hot chocolate reward.  Loving it.

We went to the grocery store yesterday and Newbie did a great job! Since he's moved up to his big boy car seat, we don't have a car seat for him to ride in at the store, so he had to go it alone yesterday in the cart.  He did so well!  He was looking all over the place for the first half of our grocery shopping and was gumming and drooling on all of his stuffed animal buddies for the second half.  I crammed two big stuffed animals on either side of him in case he got tired and couldn't sit up anymore, but he didn't start to lean til we hit the check out line.  Such a big boy! 

Here he is cruising through the parking lot on our way in:

I may or may not have bought him one  three toys because I was so proud of his endurance.  Ha!

We took some fun pictures this afternoon out in the leaves.....brace yourself for some blue eyes- coming soon!
Have a happy day!

Home, Sweet, Messy Home

This morning I got to wake up to this sweet little face and these teensy toes and all was right in my world. 



I had a good trip to Chicago, spent a lot of the weekend walking and shopping and came home with a slew of IKEA wares that I don't have room for.  Good, not great, because CHICK-FIL-A IS CLOSED ON SUNDAYS.  My bestie talked me into a Chick-Fil-A road trip on the way home, and just as I was deciding the rabbit trail to get there was probably worth it, we were reminded that they are closed on Sunday.  CLOSED!  And it was Sunday.  The reminder came in just in time (thanks, B!), and we were able to hop back on the highway before we reached an empty Chick-Fil-A parking lot where we surely would have been swallowed in despair.

After my WORLD CLASS navigator managed to talk me out of a panic attack driving through downtown Chicago, and after we subjected ourselves to a germaphobe's worst nightmare that is the subway system, we sucessfully hit up the Cheesecake Factory for lunch.  BLT salad and a plate full of "I'm about to start the Biggest Loser Challenge...but not 'til Monday"?  Yes, please!



Then we hit the Magnificent Mile for some shopping.  Six hours and eighteen hip replacements later we learned that a GPS is made for driving, not walking.  You live and learn.   You walk and walk and walk and walk and walk and hurt really bad.  But you live and learn. I would have had pictures to show for it, but, well, depression.

Then the day was redeemed when we met up with my uncle for dinner at Italian Village and dessert at a spot where we experienced the autumn wonder that is: Snapple Lantern Ice Cream....pumpkin spice ice cream with gingersnaps- yes, that happened.

We crashed at my uncle's apartment, where earlier that day my WORLD CLASS navigator had talked me out of a panic attack while PARALLEL PARKING in a 3 foot by 2 foot spot just outside of my uncle's place.  We should have won a medal for that parking job.  Here we are on Day 2 bright-eyed and bushy tailed. We were semi-well rested, considering all the hip replacements of Saturday, and we were ready to hit up IKEA.

Chicago Starbucks' Vanilla Latte and Perfect Oatmeal.  Yes, please.

Road trip buddies =) At least, I hope we can still be buddies after this trip.  Something about letting someone see all of your crazy by allowing them to witness your reaction to driving through downtown Chicago at 60 miles per hour makes you question whether or not they will ever want to talk to you again. 

 Forgive me, L.  Please, forgive me. =)

A big fat THANK YOU to my uncle who let us crash at his Halloween pad while we were in town and who paid for a taxi cab so we didn't have to haul our battered hips and feet onto the germ-infested subway after a day trekking through the concrete jungle. You. are. the. best!

Then it was off to IKEA.  I had my WORLD CLASS navigator and Richard, our GPS, to lead us.  Except Richard must have been a little hopped up on something or rebelling from the insanity of our expectation that he lead us down sidewalks and not roads on Saturday because his directions were, at times, less than mediocre.  But we made it.  By George, 34 minutes after pulling out of our 3 by 2 foot parking spot in Chicago, we made it. Here is our first view of that sweet and incredibly large warehouse full of home decor....Have mercy.

Then we embarked on our trip home.  A trip involving Richard in all his wrong-directions glory and a Chick-Fil-A that was closed.  I was beat to a pulp by the time I finally pulled into my driveway, where I was greeted by the Hubs who was running a 99.4 degree temperature and a sweet roly poly little boy who was all "why do I have to come home to mama when I could just hang out with G-Mama and G-Daddy some more? I like it there.  They let me do what I want."

Ahh, it's good to be back.

And now my living room looks like this. 

Worth it.

 I'm off with Newbie in a few to hit the store in hopes of filling a pantry that currently consists only of rice cereal and popcorn.

Hope you all have a day full of food.  Good food that doesn't taste like a store brand version of Frosted Flakes or something you would find at a movie theatre.