Thursday, February 28, 2013

Security Blanket

Cash has never used a security blanket (or stuffed animal or lovie).

However, he now has a little security item that Buttin and I find adorable - - a book.  

Every night, he snuggles "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" and tells me the story about how one horrible, horrible night his book fell in between the mattress and the railing and was lost for all eternity (or at least until morning when I retrieved it). Apparently, that night was pretty dramatic for him. 

It's sweet how he tucks his book in next to him every night and makes sure his book has covers.  He treats the book better than most of his friends at school. One night I hope to get a picture of him snuggling his book.

Here he is today telling me the story about the "Squirrel in the Food Machine".  


 
Translation: Squirrel in the Food Machine = Rat in the Grill




P.S. The rat (or mouse) is alive and well and using our grill as a mouse-mansion


Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Good Dog

All weekend long I wanted to write a post about Riggs and our adventure on Saturday morning.

On Saturday night I was semi-alone (just me and the boys), so it was difficult to blog with a 2 month old sleeping in my lap (lazy excuse - I know) and by Sunday night Buttin and I had come to a difficult decision and I wasn't really in the mood to write about Riggs.

The good stuff:

Saturday morning was fantastic.  I went for a run and decided to bring Riggs (I'm not really up in the mileage department, so I figured he could handle 3 miles pretty easy).   We ran down to some big open fields and then I just let him off his leash and let him run.  He was in puppy paradise.


 
When I got home from my run with Riggs, Cash decided HE wanted to take Riggs for a run immediately - which wearing footie pjs.  We had a great time.


The bad stuff: 

On Sunday afternoon while we were all downstairs, Riggs snapped and barked at Miss Hannah and caught her on the mouth (it wasn't a puncture bite - more of a graze).  He scared her (and the rest of us) more than he hurt her. 

The trouble is that this was not the first time Riggs has snapped -  but it was the first time he actually made a person bleed.  Riggs knows Miss Hannah very well and she did not scare him.  

Buttin and I came to the sad decision relatively quickly that we would have to give Riggs back to the Great Dane Rescue - we cannot have this kind of unpredictability around our boys.  I spoke (and cried) to the president of the Great Dane Rescue and she agreed. 

Today, Buttin drove Riggs back to Houston.  Buttin said that it was much worse than he expected.  I felt bad that Buttin had to make the drive by himself. 

I spoke to the rescue people and they're going to keep up us to date on his progress.  They said sometimes behavioral problems (the result of a bad treatment as puppies) don't really show up until the dog gets older.  They're going to send Riggs to doggie therapy.  

For the first time in about 12 years I'm living in a house without a dog. We are now (gulp) cat people. It's sad, but Buttin and I are going to wait until the boys get older before getting another dog.

Here's a happy picture of Cub today  - for some reason he needed to wear his hat (although it wasn't really cold outside).





Monday, February 25, 2013

Misfit Monday

Roaches! Roaches! Roaches!

I hate roaches. 

A large colony seemed to have set up camp in my office and it's horrible.

Let me set the scene. 

Me in a  semi-dark room, feeding PupPup - I spot a roach crawling across my keyboard.  I'm paralyzed.  I  can't scream, I can't jump up and smash it - all I can do is watch and see where it goes in the hopes that I'll be able to put Mac in his bed and quietly scream for Buttin (or anyone, really). 

My office contains about  fifteen roach motels (those things that give them poison - I'm not ashamed - I am not for the ethical destruction of roaches) and I've sprayed (with the all natural spray - that's supposedly safe for people and animals, but kills roaches and smells like pine-lemon butthole), but they're still crawling everywhere.  Two today, so far. 

Brandi (very sweet, wonderful misfit who I will always be indebted to) has helped me clean my office (and she kills the roaches when Buttin isn't available) - TWICE.    Of course, while we (mostly Brandi) were cleaning we spotted ZERO roaches.  

To make matters worse, I now see roaches all the time - even when they're not there.   Stupid eyes playing tricks on me.  I was really hoping all my (Brandi's) cleaning would help get rid of the roaches, but it only seemed to keep them away for a couple of days.  I'm not sure what to do now - maybe call a professional.  I can't work in this hostile environment.  

Here is Cashman in his favorite environment - playing with trains.







Sunday, February 24, 2013

Weekend With Gigi

Maybe you got from the title of this post that Gigi spent the weekend with us - it was fantastic.We actually got to see a movie on Friday night (a first since before Chicken).




Looks like we might get another night with Gigi.  A winter storm is on it's way and she should probably stay put in warm, cozy Austin and not venture north. 

Friday, February 22, 2013

Filanthropy Friday

After last week's terribly sad donation, I really wanted to do something happy or uplifting today.  I wasn't having much luck, but then one of my baby mama friends gave me an excellent suggestion.

This week I donated $20 to the Mothers' Milk Bank of Austin (my baby mama friend has donated 450 oz of milk!!!).  The Mothers' Milk Bank collects, pasteurizes and distributes donor breast milk to premature and ill infants.  I don't always like breast feeding, but I know that it's good for my baby.  Not all babies have access to breast milk (or as Cash calls it "baby milk") so Mothers' Milk Bank of Austin is doing very good work.

I don't usually share pictures on Fridays, but this one is fitting - here is Cash trying to make "baby milk".  




Thursday, February 21, 2013

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Big Mac - 2 Month Appointment

Today we went to Mac's (who I'm holding right now and typing with one hand, so this will be short) 2 month appointment.

Updates:
  • Weight - 15lbs, 10 oz - >95th percentile (I'm not sure if the greater than sign means odd the charts or what).
  • Height - 23 inches - 50th percentile
  • Mac has an ear infection (he's had a cold now for a couple of weeks). 
  • Vaccines weren't fun, but were much better than they were with Cash.
  • I really like our new pediatrician, Dr. T. 
 Here is Mr. Chunky-Mac.
Here is sleepy Mac.



Monday, February 18, 2013

Misfit Monday

Our misfits are so dramatic. Buttin has to play dad/referee to many adults who are older than he is.  I like to think of all this as training for one day having teenagers, but  I don't think our children will ever be as bad as our misfits. 

I'm sure Cash will thank me one day for this picture - here he is peeing "like a big boy".






Sunday, February 17, 2013

Happy Two Months Chicken!

No letter tonight - hopefully later in the week. 

Here is Mac giving smiles to Mormor.


Saturday, February 16, 2013

Potty Humor

We've experienced some small success with potty training.  Since we talk about the potty quite a bit,  we also have some body awareness conversation. 

This morning Cash decided he wanted to be naked (no diaper, no underpants, no nothing) and peed a few times in the toilet, but mostly peed all over the floor.  He thought it was hilarious to dribble pee everywhere.  A couple of times he managed to go in his toilet.  During one of these times he proudly declared (twice), "I have a big penis.".  

I had no idea how to respond to this statement, so I just praised his going potty in the toilet.  I'm sure my friend, Jen, would find this hilarious.  I remember laughing when her son told me something similar many, many years ago and she kind of snickered - just you wait.  I suppose all little boys like to talk about their penis. 

Here are some pictures of our family today.

I finally got a shirt on Cash.




 

 

Friday, February 15, 2013

Filanthropy Friday

This week's Filanthropy Friday is too overwhelming.   You can read about it here and here (warning, extremely sad - I do not recommend reading it, you should just trust me - some things can't be unseen). 

It's bizarre, but if I think about it (ask Buttin, I cried a few times last Saturday), I am overcome with grief (like sobbing in a parking lot) for someone I do not even know.  I donated $20 to the family, but I'd pay a lot more if it would bring the baby back.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Wordless Wednesday

I had a meeting this evening.   Buttin gave Chicken a bottle and got him to go to sleep.  My work here is done.


Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Misfit Monday

For the next several months foreseeable future, I will be at least a day behind.

We have lots of exciting happenings at work and most of the misfits are contributing in very positive ways that are making US even more excited about work.  It's good to be re-energized about work.

We officially have a 2nd location for our retail division and that makes Buttin super happy.  I always get nervous about growth and risk, but this is a pretty small risk and it has a ton of potential.
  


Sunday, February 10, 2013

My Heart

In less than two months, we will have a three-year-old.  

Here is a conversation Cub and I had the other night while I was putting him to bed.  As a little background, Warblers is the name of his current classroom and Cardinals is the name of the classroom he will move into in a couple of months. 

Me:  Cash, you're one of the oldest Warblers now so you need to help the younger Warblers.
Cash:  I need to help them? 
Me:  Yes, you need to help all your teachers with the Warbers who are younger than you.  Because one day soon, you'll be bigger and you'll be a Cardinal.
Cash:  Mommy, I don't want to be a Cardinal.  I just want to be small. 
Me:  You just want to be small?
Cash:  Mommy, is it OK if I just be small for a little while? 
Me:  Of course.

Sweet little boy, I don't think he could have said anything better.

Here are Cub and Pup playing together today.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Filanthropy Friday

Facebook can be a silly place.  It can also be a very mean place.

I rarely get political on Facebook because (1) I'm probably not going to change anyone's mind about something during a 100 word Facebook post and (2) People get very passionate about their beliefs and feel like Facebook is a good forum to spew hate and condemnation and I prefer not to be on the receiving end  of it.

I watched during last year's election as many of my friends posted semi-political Facebook musings only to be attacked by the other side. I'll also admit that I found it difficult to not be offended by what some of my Facebook friends (not real friends) were posting.   Now with gun control, immigration and drones - my Facebook feed looks like the bi-polar ramblings of a tea party socialist.  

The WORST thing about Facebook political postings are those stupid pictures with crap written all over them.  You know, like this:


I have no idea why people think sharing items like this is (1) persuasive (2) informative or (3) ACCURATE.  (For the record, I don't know if the above is accurate, but it shows a complete lack of knowledge for the logic behind gun control - you don't hear about a lot of mass school feetings, I digress.)  Whenever I see a Facebook friend share something like the above (both sides are guilty), I wonder if they researched the information on that clever little picture.  By posting these to their own page, they are essentially endorsing the information and the spreading of misinformation isn't smart. Anyone can take a cute (or shocking) picture and write words on it.  Here - I'll do it.


Lately, I've seen a lot of Hitler references on Facebook - especially regarding gun control.  These references aren't in paragraph form - they're written on a picture of Hitler that someone has just reposted and has done so, probably, without doing much research.  Here's the thing - they're inaccurate and offensive.  I guess, if it's your Facebook page you can decide to be inaccurate and offensive, but tying to pass it off as fact makes you look not so smart.

I really wish we could have debates in the country without resorting to using a  Hitler reference. If someone disagrees with you, that doesn't make them Hitler. 

This week, I'm donating $25 to the Anti-Defamation League.  They fight bigotry in all forms and (in this case) promote civility in discussing difficult issues. 





Thursday, February 7, 2013

Happy Valentines Day!

This is how tired/worn out we are:

I went downstairs this morning to get Cub some milk and found two greeting cards waiting for me.  I though - how sweet, Buttin bought me a couple of cards because I'm sick.  The cards were for Valentine's Day - just a week early. 

It made me laugh and pretty much made my day.  

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Wordless Wednesday


Sick Sick Sick

Cub was sick this weekend.

Puppy (who also goes by Chicken, Chicky Baby, PupPup and Poot - but rarely, Mac) and I seemed to have caught a cold.  I hate it when little baby noses are stuffed up.


Monday, February 4, 2013

Nap Time View

This was my view (well, from above anyway) of nap time today.  Cub was feeling under the weather (but is doing much better this afternoon) so Pup, Cub and I stayed home and napped on the couch together.

Pictures like this make me look forward to all the other pictures I'll get of the two of them sleeping closly  - I hope they become the very best of friends. 


Saturday, February 2, 2013

Sleep Sitting Up & No Milk (For Me)

The past couple of weeks, I have slept while sitting up.

I've just found it easier to sleep having PupPup wrapped around my waist (while he's sleeping on the Boppy).  This way, he has easy access to the boobie and I don't really have to move.  

In other baby news, Mac was really, really grump at night time for a couple of weeks - he was the definition of "the witching hour" (except it sometimes lasted hours).  I did some interwebs research and found out that sometimes a baby's tummy are irritated by the cows milk the mom drinks. On Monday, I gave up milk.  It's difficult and I'm pretty hungry right now because (as I've discovered) most of the food I love contains milk - cookies, cookie dough, mac n cheese, cheese and more cookie dough.  However, the past few nights Pup has been much better.  

I'll try milk again in a week or two, but right now I'm too superstitious to try.

Here's Cub today playing at the park.