Past Due

So I know I'm way past due on my blogging.  I was just going through my camera and it reminded me HOW far behind I actually am.  Sorry.
For those of you that don't know Hill just got out of the hosptial with high fever, pneumonia, bronchitis and fluid behind his ears.  Poor little fella.  He's on the mend now, but still fighting ears, snot and diahrrea (I'm sure he appreciates me telling you the latter part.)

Now....this is my solemn vow to you.  Since I am home this week, during nap time I will update update update.  As for now, this is the first second I've had to unwind and I am going to enjoy a nice big, obscenely filled to the rim, glass of wine.

Cheers!

Homecoming Parade 2010

Last Friday, September 17th, Hill went to his first ever parade!  Our local high school had their homecoming parade so Chip, Mama Lou, Hill and I went to check it out and cheer on the Whippets. For you non Kosciusko people - yes, the Whippet is the mascot it's like a greyhound dog. Different I know, but I have no room to talk since my home town mascot - (delayed pause) - the Ricebird. 
Moving along now....

Where I work has an administrative office on the town square so we decided to go to the balcony on the third floor and beat the crowd and have the option to go inside for some cool air instead of the 101 degree heat.

Here are some pictures of Hill at his first parade.



Hill & Chip waiting for the parade



Hill & Chip watching the parade

Birds Eye View

Taking it all in

as if to say:
"Lady it's hot out here"

Please don't ever make me do that again in this heat!

Lucky for him the next parade is the Christmas parade in December.  Maybe he will be bundled up instead of burning up?!

Party Silly - I mean Party City

Man ol' man have we had a ball lately - - which is why you haven't heard from me in like a week and a half.

Mama Lou came to visit Wednesday, September 15th and just left Monday the 20th!!
We picked her up at her house the airport Wednesday afternoon and hit the pavement shopping.  We always joke that Hill will think Mama Lou's house is the airport because he doesn't know what her house in Texas looks like.
Anyway,  Being the overly OCD person I am (who me?) I have been mentally planning Hill's birthday party.  Hush, I know, I'm a freak-a-zoid.  His birthday is in January, we still have Halloween and Christmas to get through before January 12th rolls around.  Here is my excuse though.  You see, my family lives in another state so they need to be on the look out for great deals on airfare between now and my little boys date of birth. Therefore, I have set the date and it's only natural to get the wheels turning on the party itself....right? .........right? 
Anyway, the point is that Mama Lou flew in and we picked her up from her house and went to Party City to get the creative juices flowing.  I already know the theme is Dr. Seuss, but I wanted to get party ideas.
Mama Lou and Hill tried on EVERY hat in the store.  It was so much fun - here are some silly pictures of those two crazy kids.



Princess Mama Lou
(the tiny crown fits on her tiny head)



Princess Hill
Oh, no his daddy will kill me if he sees this nonsense



Silly Mama Lou
with the cheetah crown

Arrgghhh!



Fancy Nancy



Choo Choo Train Conductor
and his Sponge Bob ball

This is my favorite
Happy Birthday candle head boy

Silly Cat in the Hat

Dr. Seuss

Holy Cow, Mom
That is the biggest bottle I have ever seen

There are more pictures to come of the fun we had with Mama Lou this past week.
Hill sends a big shout out to his Mama Lou for always being so fun and silly with him! 
Love you!

Baby Mommy

It's a given...my son is a spitting image of his daddy - there is no denying it.  He is my baby's daddy.  I have come to accept the only thing he got from me was his temper when he's hungry and his grouchy demeanor when he's sleepy.  BUT.... if you look closely you can see some of me in Hill too.  I know most of you didn't know me when I was a baby because "I'm not frum round these parts" - - but Lord have mercy I was really cute and sweet and my mama always had me dressed in dresses and bonnets.  The world often wondered why all babies couldn't be as well behaved and precious as I.... ok ok I digress.
What I wanted to show you was how Hill and I favor even if he is eaten up with his daddy's look. (I'm not saying Chip and I look alike, but anyway)

HERE I AM

Sweet tiny me.

Go ahead and say it... Awwwww

This is my favorite picture
Me and my Papaw

If you look at my profile Hill and I do pretty much look alike.

I will have to scan a few pictures of his daddy when he was a babe.  I just wanted to be selfish and show you me.  Sweet, precious, innocent, angelic, baby me.  So maybe Hill did get more than his hunger pangs and irritable sleepy headedness from me.

What All Does An 8 Month Old Do?

Hill is growing up so fast.

He will be 8 months old on Sunday.

Here is the down low on what tricks and new things our munchkin does.

* He wears a size 6-9 months, except in pants he wears like a 6 month. Yesterday I took him to get measured for an outfit I'm getting made and his inseam is 5. Yes 5 inches. How stinking cute is that? His daddy has a long body and short legs too.

*He wears a size 3 diaper and HATES to have it changed. I hate changing it too because he flips over and wiggles and squirms. Makes for a tedious wrestling match.

*He's forgotten how to say Mama since he's now always saying Dada, but Mama was for sure his first word. Sometimes I think he says ‘dog’ and ‘hey’, but maybe it's my imagination.

*He can give you 5 (which is new) and wave bye bye (which he's been doing for about a month.) We want to work on blowing kisses next.

*He gives the sweetest, silliest, best open mouth slobbery kisses in the world. He will take his sticky little hands and pull your hair and face towards his open mouth and just plant one on ya. It may land on your nose, your cheek, your forehead or on the kisser, but he’s a snuggly kissy butt and a total mama's boy. Hopefully one day soon he will stop pulling my hair. It hurts so so so bad.

*He crawls everywhere and likes to chase the dogs. He pulls up on things like his 'cage' but can't figure out how to set himself back down, so he cries for help and frustration.

*He's been sleeping in his crib for about 2 months, since he started to roll himself over. We had him in a play pen in our room for the first 6 months for fear of SIDS and not being right there.

*He still loves his swing just as much as the day he was born. I'm not too sure what we are going to do when he grows out of it. He will be like 6 years old with his feet dragging the ground in the living room watching Mickey Mouse Club House.

*Mickey Mouse Club House is by far this little boys favorite. He literally stops what he's doing as soon as he hears Mickey's voice and gasps for air because Mickey makes him lose his breath, he gets so excited. Hill dances all the time (he gets that from his mommy) but when the Hot Dog song comes on…. everything must stop and he must dance. Remember he's only 8 months old!

*He has his two bottom teeth in already (came in at 6 months) but he is trying to cut the top left tooth which keeps everyone up at night. We sometimes wake at 4am, 3am, 2am or like last night at 1am. See comments above about swing which is my saving grace during these early morning tirades.

*We have the same routine every day.

We wake up and get in bed to play with Daddy while Katie Lou runs around the bed avoiding Hill at all costs. Chip gives him his “bah-bah” (bottle) and together they watch Mickey Mouse Club House. During this time Mama is getting ready for work.

Once everyone is dressed and ready I take Hill to daycare. We give enough kisses to last the day until my kiss-o-meter runs low and I need to go refuel. His daycare is across the street from my office. Literally, when I pull out of the parking lot of my work the fasten seatbelt ding in my car doesn’t cut off until I pull into the parking lot of the daycare. This is so great because I love to go and check on my bugga-boo during the day. I think he likes seeing me as much as seeing him makes my heart shine.

After work I hop on over to pick him up and LOVE IT when he sees me and gets so excited. His tiny smile just makes me melt!

We get home and play play play. Sometimes we play with the puppies, sometimes we play in our cage, sometimes we play outside, sometimes we play in our room. We just love to play and investigate new things.

After about an hour of being home it’s time for dinner. We eat and hang out. Meal time is fun time. He usually eats a veggie and a fruit and maybe some puffs too. My favorite is when he swings or kicks his legs back and forth from his high chair. I too do a happy dance when I like my food.

After dinner it’s bath time! Now that he's pulling up on things he LOVES to stand outside the tub and watch the water fill it up. He likes to splash around and put his foam A-Z letters in his mouth. He thinks it’s hilarious when I stick one of each color on the side of the tub and say “green,” “yellow,” “red,” & “blue.” Blue makes him lose it every time. Blue must be a funny funny word to an 8 month old.

After his bath it USE to be like a trigger for bed time. Now in his older age he knows it’s bed time still because we lather down in lotion, clean out his ears, put on the pjs and Dada always has the lights in the living room turned down low and our bah-bah ready - - but now since he’s a wiggle. He wants to wiggle and drink his bottle. Then eventually after frustration sets in he’ll pass out.

That’s our typical day.

At daycare he eats breakfast (a fruit) around 8:30 then takes a nap around 9:30-10:30 and then eats lunch (a veggie) around 12:00-12:30 then naps around 1:30-2:30 then plays with his friends and has a snack around 4:00 until I get there at 5:00. His crib at daycare is on the “not so good sleeper” side of the room. They say he’s getting better, but I don’t think he takes long naps like the other kiddos. Oh, well…I guess he’s afraid he will miss out on something fun if he’s asleep! 

Our little buddy sure is our everything! Life is so busy with him, but as the ol’ cliché goes – I couldn’t imagine life without him.

Happy 8 months bugga boo! We love you!

Chicken of the Sea

As I've stated before that Hill is Mr. Independent these days and so since he wants to be a big boy then by all means, let the boy have what he wants.  I called his pediatrician to see if he could go ahead and start eating things like eggs, canned tuna, catfish, etc. - you know, grown up things. We got the green light and so last night for dinner I gave him tuna (chicken of the sea) and mixed veggies.  Here is how that went.

Dinner a la Hill

I decided a plate was not a good idea
so we dumped it on his tray

Yum, grown up food.

Would you like some?

Foster (left floor) & Katie (right of chair)
are waiting patiently for Hill to drop something.

I will eat it all up

Then help mommy clean the high chair tray

and show you how full my belly is
(and my dirty foot)

I was really impressed with his picking up and putting in his mouth skills.  He ate most of his veggies first, which I didn't expect but makes his mommy proud.  I even had to go and get more because he liked them so much.  Maybe it was because they were bright?  He liked the tuna a lot, which makes his daddy proud. 

We want him to be a good diverse eater.

So hopefully this is a start.

Duty Calls

Yesterday I was called for jury duty.  What an experience.  This was my first time to be called and I was more than willing to do my duty as a registered voter.  I had no idea of what to expect so I went in with an open mind.  Since the courthouse is under construction they held the selection process at the local Coliseum.  The chairs were lined up by the millions it seemed and no less than half the county was there.  They were selecting the jurors for the month not just the week.  I didn't expect things to work how they did, but what do I know, I'm new.  So, of course like any other person outside their comfort zone I went and sat next to someone I knew. 

We were all asked to stand against the wall and sit down once our name was called so that we could be accounted for.  Surprisingly there were a lot of people that didn't show up, even though half the county was still present.  Jury duty calls people out of the wood work.  There were some rare breeds there and so once my name was called I had to sit ontop of next to this lady that smelled like tamales, and not in a good way.  Thank goodness the lady to the right of me had on a nice perfume that masked, but didn't cover the tamale lady.  So once everyone was called and had their seat the excuses began.  Do you want to opt out if you are over 65, do you own your own business and being a juror would cause money difficulties or your business to shut down, can you not read or write, were you probed by aliens, or do you have a massive problem with acid reflux that causes you to burp deep loud gurggling belches repeatedly into the direction of the person sitting next to you?

Oh, yes.  The tamale lady had the acid reflux issue.  Every burp made my gag reflex trigger.  She told me from the get go of her issue and I'm not sure how I replied to that because I was in such shock from her repeated mouth expulsions.  So, as she sat there with her B.O. infested arm raised to give her excuse I was praying they would call on her since she didn't qualify for the 65 and older category, which I was surprised about.  They went row by row and by the time they got to her they somehow started skipping around.  The nice perfume lady next to me tried to keep me grounded.  For a minute I thought she thought I was the one burping...then I think she saw my face and realized it was not me. 

Wow.  I'm not trying to speak ill of someones misfortune, but seriously, seek medical attention.  So finally they called on the burping tamale lady that was making my shirt smell like her arm pits - we were that close - she said that she has acid reflux and is a diabetic and she also has to go to the bathroom every 15 minutes which would cause her to not be able to sit on a jury.  They dismissed her back to the wood work.
The day ended up eventful, educational and enlightening.  I can now say I've been called to jury duty and am fulfilling my duty as an American citizen.  I will also say that if tamale lady were to enter a belching contest.  My dibs are on her any day! 

Blach! (that was my gag refelx)

Labor Day Weekend

What a fun & busy Labor Day weekend! 

Hill and I didn't go to the game because he was not feeling up to par since he was cutting a tooth.  So we cheered on the Rebels from the house to the worst loss since 1945.

Go Rebels, Go!

Hotty Toddy with my finger in my mouth
(he is getting his top left front tooth)

All geared up to see the Rebels play

Silly Rebel

 We went over to the Johnsons house

(Harvey's grandparents) to eat lunch and play

Eating a ball while having a ball!

Hey Har-bee!

JJ & Harvey

Sweet Boys

Hill always lets me know when the dogs need food.

Mom!  Katie Lou is out of food!

Please feed her.

We sure love our Foster. 

He is so sweet and lets Hill climb, poke, kiss & pinch him.

Hiding under the furniture

At the Country Club watching the fish

What a great weekend with my boys.

No Thanks, I Can Do It Myself!

So, my son is knocking on 8 months old next week and he thinks that he knows everything already.  I mean, he does get it honestly - our household is a plethora of knowledge, mostly useless....but knowledge none the less.  If I don't know the answer then Chip surely does.  Anyway, the point is that my son is 8 months going on 18 years.  I have noticed he's Mr. Independent now that he's been crawling full blast for the past 3 weeks.  So, since he thinks he is Mr. Smarty Pants I thought I'd put him to the test.
He's been getting aggrivated at his bottle and his spoon lately, and personally his spoon is my least favorite part of him being a baby.  I know this sounds dumb, but spoon feeding makes me tired.  You see, when I feed him I tend to open my mouth too - like when you put on mascara and you can't help but make the open mouth mascara face.  Well, I do something of the sorts when he eats.  It's as if I am making sure ALL the food gets in his mouth by making my mouth open wider for him.  It's rediculous, I know.  So, spoon feeding makes my jaw tired. 
Well I decided since Mr. Big Shot wants to be self sufficient then maybe this is an opportunity to give my jaw a rest.  Last night I served him the Gerber Graduates cheese ravioli for toddlers.  It's a pick up type food where my big man on campus can feed himself and mommys jaw can take a rest. 
He feeds himself his snacks and puffs with his hands so I thought I'd give it a whirl.  Well he showed me because he ended up wanting to feed himself with a fork.  I did cut up the already tiny ravioli into 3 or 4 pieces so he didn't choke - the boy only has 2 teeth on bottom.  Here are some pictures of how things went.

Me & my big boy food

I can do it myself
& LEFT HANDED

Trying a fork for the first time
went over really well....

UNTIL

He thought he could do it himself
(left handed)

That was alright, could have been dangerous, but he was insisting on doing it himself.

Then I have to wash it all down with my sippy cup
BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT BIG BOYS DO!

Lord help me and Chip ... a mini us. 

Can the world (or my sanity) handle it?