Baby Free Friday - Last One

This is my last Baby Free Friday - next year, I'm starting a new tradition. No, I'm not pregnant - we're not going back to "Fetus Friday". I'll write more about my new topic next Friday.

For this Baby Free Friday, I'm just going to give a couple updates - in my favorite form (bullet point).

• This blog initial started as a running blog - and I HAVE been running fairly consistently for the last few weeks (Christmas week excluded). I have one month until my first post-baby race - the Houston Half-Marathon.
• I'm working on a few goals for 2011; some include - running more and blogging more about running.
• Last night, some dipsey-doodle decided to set off fireworks at 11:45. Stupid-heads. I guess they were celebrating the Eve of NYE. I stayed awake till 2:40 thinking about Molly.
• In Molly news, we get to bring her home today. The vet said she seemed a lot better. We'll continue the steroids and then have her checked again next week.
• In SBO news, we have two new misfits starting on Monday. To say I'm not quite prepared for them would be generous way of saying it, but Buttin and the other misfits are pretty on-top of it.
  

Happy New Year's Eve! I'm looking forward to a wonderful 2011!

Dog In Hosptial

I took Molly to the vet this morning.

Poor girl couldn't even walk from the car to the front door of the vet office. She walked as far as she could and then just laid down in the parking lot.

They had to come out and carry her inside (I'm sure the vet technicians appreciate this picture of their butts).

The vet immediately determined that she was dehydrated (I knew this because I hadn't seen her drinking much water in the last couple of days), but that they needed to run some tests.

The diagnosis is Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia. Essentially, it means that her immune system is attacking her red blood cells.

The doctor is very hopeful that with some steroids Molly will be back to her normal self soon. She's spending the night in the animal hospital and hopefully we can bring her home tomorrow.

What's Worse Than Asparagus?

PUFFS - apparently.

Wordless Wednesday

Some People

Some people make me want to do more. They make me want to be a better person.

I bet you thought this was going to be a negative 'some people' post . . .don't worry, I have some of those too.

It's the end of the year and I can't help but think back (reflect, if you will). Have I done enough for others? Do I walk the walk or do I just talk a good game? Am I doing MY part to make this world the place I wish it could be for my son?

I joke a lot about our misfits. Our misfits can be real boneheads. BUT our misfits can also be some of the kindest, most generous people I know (and I know at least 5 non-misfit people).

Our misfits fight like brothers and sisters, but also defend each other from outsiders with the same intensity. The past week (Christmas week), one of our misfits did something very kind for another misfit. He did it without the desire or need to be recognized for his good deed. He just did it because a fellow misfit needed his help.

When I witness things like this, it makes me want to do more - makes me feel like I can (and should) do more for others. I think about some of my goals for 2011, and I want to do more for others.

OK, enough seriously cheesy stuff. Now for some silly pictures of Graby.

One of his most favorite places to play is in the refrigerator door. I was sitting next to him eating leftover monkey bread from Christmas morning and he looked interested in it so I gave him a piece. I don't think he really liked it.


However, that was nothing when compared to the face I got when I gave him a stalk of asparagus. Yuck - apparently.

This & That

A few updates, in bullet point form:

• File this under, "Not a shocker" - Cartman has worms. He apparently has fleas too! Goodie. Buttin took him to the vet today to get a de-worming pill and his yearly check-up. He's in good shape considering he's about 14 or so years old, extremely grumpy and a Chihuahua.
• In other disgusting pet news, one of them (either Cartman or Scratch) decided to vomit on our bed this morning, in two places. It's like a little post-Christmas present.
  
• I'm a little worried about Mo-bear. The past two days she hasn't walked up to the back porch (that I've seen). I even put out BIG chunks of meat and yummy (to a dog) stuff, but she won't come to the door. She's just laying down in the back corner of our yard. I took some food out to her today and she ate it, but them promptly moved to the other corner of the yard - like I was bothering her. She goes through phases where she wants to be right next to me and others where she wants to be alone. I need to make a vet appointment for her this week too.
• Little Cub doesn't have school this week, so he came to work with us this morning. We put him to work trying to fix the two computers I've killed. Apparently, you fix computers with Tootsie Roll Pops.

Presents!

I could spend about twenty blog posts detailing all of Cub's first Christmas gifts, but that might be a little boring.

We are taking the advice of a friend and putting away about 75% of Cub's new toys and bring one out every few weeks. If we do this, Cub is pretty much set for toys until college - provided he's OK playing with a tricycle in junior high.

One of the presents that I was most looking forward to Cub receiving was a little table and chairs set. He eats at a table at school and I was hopeful a little table would bring some consistency to eating at home (although we used to consistently feed Cub outside).

So far, he loves it even though his little feet don't even touch the ground.

Christmas Day

Since April 6th this year, every occasion has been the best one ever. This Christmas was no exception. Cub makes everything wonderful even more wonderfuller.

Instructions

According to Cub, with every new toy (thank you Aunt Barbie) - you must first read the instructions.


Then you eat them.

Sleeping

I still love to watch Cub sleep.

I remember going through a picture taking phase where it seemed like every picture I took was of Cub sleeping. I don't take nearly as many pictures of him sleeping as I used to, but here are a couple of him sleeping in strange positions in his bed (excuse the fuzzy, grainy quality).

Here he is sleeping ON TOP of his moosey.

Here he is in just a funky little position.

The First Day Of Winter

Today is the first day of Winter.

In Texas, we celebrate this occasion by SWIMMING!

Since we haven't been swimming in a while, here are a few of my favorite pictures from today.

Dear Blog Reader

Posts will probably be somewhat sporadic and minimal this week as I TRY to prepare for Christmas.

Here are a couple of updates, in bullet point form:

• Last week was kind of a running bust, but I still managed to get my butt outside and run three days. In good running news, I DID run this morning - so I'm off to a better start this week.
• On Saturday we celebrated our Christmas and Liz's birthday with Liz & Jonathan. I got a spa gift certificate!
  
• In Cub eating news, I think we've found a NEW favorite - peaches & bananas. He ate an entire 2 ounces at school today in one sitting. No surprise, he only manged to eat about 2 small spoonfuls of peas.
• At work, I managed to kill another computer (it was our home computer that was already kind of on the outs). Yeah, me.

Here is a cute little picture of Cub crawling around outside.

Then & Now

Today we got a visit from our friends Conor & Christina and their daughter, Ava.

Christina and I have been friends since freshman year in high school.

They moved to Houston a couple of years ago, and we haven't seen them since they moved away (that sounds horrible - they're only 150 miles away).

Here is a picture of me and Christina from high school (I'm guessing sophomore or junior year).


Here is a picture from today:


Cash was mesmerized by Ava. Ava was mesmerized by Mouser.

Don't Tell Mom

I'm eating paper . . . again.

Baby Free Friday - Seven More Days Till Christmas

Holy Christmas town, Santa I can't believe how much there is still to do!

How many presents have I wrapped? ZERO
How many presents do I have left to determine/find/buy? A TON
How many cookies have I made? ZERO
How many cookies have I eaten (made by other people)? A TON

Gotta run and get working (or sleeping so that I can do work tomorrow).

Music Class Success!

Cub and Buttin actually made it to music class today AND Buttin took a picture to prove it.

I was planning to go, but just had too much stuff to do. Buttin said he and Cub had a blast.

Dear Jansyn

My cousin-in-law had a baby boy a couple nights ago (I actually started this post the morning after, but got lazy and had computer issues). I've only been a mother for a little over eight months, but these are some nuggets of newly found wisdom I want to share with her.

Dear Jansyn,

Congratulations on precious John Taylor.

Welcome to the world of motherhood - - so much love, joy, worry, stress and awe in one tiny little 7 lb 4 oz package. Don't worry though, he'll grow and so will your love, joy, worry, stress and awe.

Becoming a mother can feel very overwhelming at times, so here are some of things I've learned during the past several months that might (or might not) help.

• Newborns poop and pee - ALOT. I mean like 12 -15 times a day, a lot.
  
• Newborns cry quite a bit too. It's their only way of communicating, so try not to feel discouraged.
• Always say "yes" when help is offered. I don't care if someone is offering to brush your hair, say "yes". I know you have an excellent support system so don't try to do it all by yourself.
• Enjoy the moments John Taylor sleeps on your chest or in your lap. One day (it'll come a lot sooner than you may think) he'll want to wiggle around and play. Nothing is as wonderful as a baby sleeping on your chest.
  
• Try to meet and become friends other new mothers. No one will understand you like they will.
• Nothing you do is wrong so long as it's done with love. There are so many decisions to make as a parent, try not to overly stress out about any single decision. Go with your heart and you'll be fine. You are the only mother John Taylor knows, so to him, you're doing everything right.
  
• When John Taylor is about five weeks old, and you've had about seven hours of sleep since the day he was born, you haven't showered in more days than you care to admit and you feel like exhausted crap - remember - his first smile is likely only a week or so away. It's a very, very wonderful day.
• A happy mama = a happy baby. Try to take a little time for yourself (like taking help when it's offered - see above). If you're happy, the baby can sense it.
• Sleep, sleep and only sleep when the baby is sleeping. Everything else can (and will) wait - except maybe going to the bathroom, you should do that even if the baby is sleeping.
• Take lots of pictures. I may get made fun of, but I'm so glad that I have so many pictures. Even just three months from now, you'll love looking back at the his newborn days.
• Don't buy newborn clothes - he'll grow too quickly to even wear them.
• Kiss, kiss and kiss your son. I don't care if you kiss him so much he gets a bald spot on his head. There is no such thing as too much love for a baby.

OK, those are some of my little bits of wisdom. I'm sure I'd have more if you ever wanted to call and chat about the joy of having a little boy.

As you now know, being a mother is really the best feeling in the entire world - - and now you understand just how much your mother and father love you.

Give your son a big hug and kiss from me!

Lots of love,
Stephanie

Fried Rice!

**Warning contains food and babies, mixed together**

Cub has started making these "yum-yum" noises when he eats and when he's hungry. Buttin and I like to think that he does this noise because we've been saying "yum-yum" to him whenever he eats a bite since he started eating, but who knows.

Today, after Cub ate his lunch, I decided to eat my lunch of left over fried rice.

As soon as I started eating, he looked at me and said "yum-yum" so I gave him a bowl of rice to see what he would do.

Here's what happened (it gets kind of funny at the 30 second mark):



If you were wondering what happens next, Cub decided to play the drums:



Needless to say, a HUGE mess was made, but Molly had a fun time cleaning it up - good puppy.

Yup, I'm Lazy

I was working on another post today, but I just got home from Zumba and dinner with Liz and 8:30 is already about 30 minutes past my bedtime.

Also, my computer isn't working again, so sadly there is no picture today.

They can't all be winners.

Picture Pages

I've taken quite a few pictures of Cub during the last couple of days.

Here are some of my favorites.

Cub Crawl

Cub has been crawling (like maybe five little crawl-steps at a time), but whenever I would get the camera, he'd collapse down to his belly and scooch.

I guess he just needed to find the right motivation.

Here's cub NOT crawling to me (his mama).



Here's what Cub WILL crawl for . . .Dr. Pepper.

Dog & Bear (Cub)

Baby Free Friday - Two Things

OK - two things for this baby free Friday.

First thing. I love Aaron Sorkin.

Here is his rant regarding Sarah Palin's moose hunt. I don't often get political on my blog, but she is one big dumb horse potato and also mean. I've said it before (and I'll say it again) - I'm moving to Canada (or maybe somewhere warm and friendly) if she is ever elected President.

Second thing. I have a new iPhone application that I'm addicted to.

It's called "Color Splash" and it let's you make pictures black and white and then color in specific areas. It's also very easy to do and I'm going a little nutty.

Here are a couple before/after.

Before (a very interesting picture of my computer at work):


After:


I know it's baby free Friday, but here's a Cub before:



After:

Maybe Not A Musician

So with the name Cash we figured little Cub had to take music classes.

Last week, he took a late nap so he was late to class (although, he had a very good time). This week, he decided to sleep through music class.

We can't help but try to predict what Cash might like to do when he gets older, but maybe it's not music.

MorMor thinks Cub will be a race car driver (every mother's dream) or a football player professional (her description, not mine). However, before he can do either of these things he has to go to a petting zoo and Stanford. Again, this is MorMor's strange time line, but apparently Cub's path to Nascar (again, whopppe for me) goes something like - petting zoo, Standford then race car driver.

Here is Cub practicing to be a race car driver:

Bye Friends (who are now like family)!

Today was our last baby mamas Wednesday with Valeria and Nico. They're moving to LA on Saturday.

It feels a little strange. I've known Valeria and Nico for almost as long as I've been a mother (we met when Cash was about two days away from his one month birthday). In mom terms, that's like forever because when you share the new motherhood experience with someone, you're bonded instantly and forever.

Here's a picture of the boys from so long ago:

Here they are (last week), Cash was sharing (I use the word generously) his necklace with Nico.


Goodbye friends! We will miss you, but thank goodness for Facebook and blogs so you won't ever feel that far away.

Easement Into Sleep - Week Two

Overall, week two went pretty well; however, we've had a couple things derail some of our easement progress.

• A NEW TRICK - Cub has learned how to pull himself up (yeah), but does not know how to sit back down (boo).

This means that Cub will stand up and cry until we come back in the room and put him back down. About 30 seconds later, he's standing back up again and crying. Buttin and I tried lowering the crib - no luck, he could still reach the bars. We tried adding another crib bumper - no luck, he could pull it down and reach the bars. Finally, we turned Cub's bed into an extremely classy paper towel and duck tape experiment (see awesome picture below - I think we should win some kind of parenting award) - no luck, Cub could still manage to get up.


When Cub is really tired, he doesn't really try to stand up in bed - it's more of an issue during nap time. Eventually, he'll learn how to sit down and be confident enough to do it (he is practicing) on his own, but for a while we'll help him.

• A BAD COLD - whenever we know Cub isn't feeling well, it's just too difficult to let him cry or fuss for too long.
  

As with last week, we have to modify expectations (both of Cub and of ourselves) and rules. Buttin and I both feel that when Cub is ill, it's good to give him more comfort. We haven't needed to pat him to sleep, but we do pat his back for a few minutes before leaving the room. This seems to help ease him to sleep without protest - which is a very good thing for all of us.

Buttin and I are still very pleased with our progress and understand that (as with all things Cub related) it's a little bit forward and a little bit backwards.

Dear Cash - 8 Months

Dear baby Cash,

You're just not a little baby anymore.

I call you my little sugar man. I'm not sure if you understand what kisses are, but you sure do love to slobber, bite and give raspberries (we call them zerberts, but I don't know how to spell it).

Let's see, this month you've been all about standing, scooting and in the last couple of days - you've started to crawl (a few crawl-steps at a time and then you just fall on your tummy and scoot the rest of the way to your goal, which is usually a piece of dirt or something more disgusting). You've also started to enjoy meal times a little more, but have developed this habit of blowing at the spoon and spraying us with food. I think your favorite food is chicken and sweet potato.

We haven't really finished (or started) baby-proofing the house. However, if there is an electrical outlet or piece of poop (from Cartman) within eyesight - you make a beeline for it. Why can't you just be satisfied with the millions of toys your Gigi has bought for you?

You are fascinated by new objects and we try to give you one new thing (be it leaves, a candy wrapper or toy) everyday.

I just cannot believe that it has already been 8 months! It just doesn't feel possible and at the same time, it doesn't feel possible that you were ever not a part of our family. You make everyday like Christmas.

My computer at work died last week and you dad brought in our home computer (which we rarely used) to be my new work computer. On the desktop there were several pictures from the day you were born. I look horrible (but remember, I just birthed you), but I still love the picture.

Today, you and your very un-crafty mother decided to make (and by make I mean use glitter glue) our Christmas stockings. My idea was for you to put your hand print on each stocking, but apparently glitter glue was not meant for this purpose.

Oh well - you had fun getting glitter all over yourself (and me).

Please be sweet to your dad and me and please don't grow up too quickly.

Love,
your Mother

You've Got To Be Kidding Me

Our kiddo is sick again. It seems to be another bad cold, and the only place he really wants to sleep is on Buttin's chest.


I also go a pretty cute picture of Cub in a shirt that couldn't be more true unless it had a "s" at the end of the last word.

Running With The Runs

**WARNING, THIS POST IS ABOUT POOP, SPECIFICALLY MINE**

Yup, it's a post about poop. Also, a little about running.

Buttin is out of town, so MorMor came into town.

I got a nice almost 9-mile run in this morning, but had to cut it short (I was going for 10) because of an EXTREME bathroom emergency. Since training for the marathon while pregnant (last year), I'm not that shy about squatting and doing my business (if I have to). I always bring along toilet paper and know of a few "safe" spots along my typical running routes.

There's this one new house that I always jog by and think, I pooped in the back yard when you were being built. I know, I'm a classy lady. One of my favorite spots is actually in this wooded area right next to an elementary school. I hope I'm not breaking any laws - it would really suck if I had to register as a sex offender or some other kind of deviant.

I don't actually set out to use the bathroom while I run, but sometimes I just gotta go (really bad).

Today, I had to go around mile 5. I made it to my spot (by the elementary school), did my thing and kept on running. However, around mile 7 I had a really horrible feeling in my stomach. Runners know exactly what I mean. I had to go AGAIN, but this time it was the runny kind and it could not be disposed of during my run. I had to get home and quickly.

I took a little short cut and made it home without a major accident (just a little one). Since that trip, I've been in and out of the bathroom about fifteen times (from 9 AM - noon). My stomach is just not happy.

Speaking of not happy, Cub has a cold (moan, again) and he's not very happy. I think we both need Buttin to come home soon.

Needless to say, neither one of us was in much of a picture taking mood.

Baby Free Friday - Six Word Novels

This idea was totally stolen from another running/mom blog, but I thought it was hilarious.

According to legend, Ernest Hemingway once bet $10 that he could write a novel in six words.
His novel:
“For sale: baby shoes, never worn,” he wrote.

In response to her post, I wrote the following six word novel.

Cookie dough shortage: Wide Spread Panic!

I wrote the following six word novels for my baby mama friends.

Bethany: I will eat your peanut butter.
Heather: Per your recommendation, bought Robeez socks.
Valeria: Please do not move away, ever.
Candy: I want to see your furniture.
Julia: Cannot believe Jackson is crawling already.
Karen: Good house selling vibes to you!
Allison: Please visit us soon, miss you!

Happy Anniversary To Me!

Four years ago, today, I married Buttin. Best. Decision. Ever.

Time

Where does time go?

One of my baby mama friends, Heather (aka, the wizard) says, The days are long but the months (or years) are short.

Well, recently even my days feel short.

I think of myself as a multi-tasker, but today I couldn't even manage a shower. NO SHOWER!

I planned on taking a shower while Graby napped (and he napped for two hours today), but I was either too busy doing other things or I just completely forgot to shower.

Today, one of the activities I did manage to do with Graby was take some Holiday card photos. I'll share outtakes on another post, but I discovered that he loved fresh leaves (right off the tree). Apparently, they're yummy.