Moose on the Loose

Update Your FEED to my NEW SITE!!

2008-08-26T17:21:00.003-06:00

If you are reading this, you are subscribed to an old feed-please update it to see my new website over at http://web.me.com/lizzybee

And make sure to subscribe to each feed you are interested in, there is one for blog posts, one for recipe/cooking tips, and another one for photos.

I am posting this because a few people notified me they missed the original prompt...

I am leaving Blogger...

2008-08-12T17:22:00.001-06:00

...and on to greener pastures!
I have made the tough decision to start a new website to split my blog posts, pictures and new recipes into separate sections.
I hope you will continue to visit and comment!
Please feel free to let me know what you think.

Please update your links, bookmarks, and feed readers.
http://web.me.com/lizzybee

Try-It-Tuesday: Lash Blast Mascara

2008-08-04T15:20:00.006-06:00

This is my first post for Mrs. Who's Try-It-Tuesday!

I’m your usual girlie girl, I won’t try to deny that. The last time I was discussing something of that sort with my friends, I believe I said something along the lines of “I’m sort of sporty…” and that was met with maniacal laughter. So I won’t try anything of the sort here.
What I will say is that I haven’t worn mascara for almost two months. Why? Well, my old stuff dried out, and I thought I would force myself to buy some at the grocery the next time I went if I went ahead and threw my old stuff away.
Wrong. I kept forgetting, and after a few weeks, my mascara-less eyes sort of looked… normal.
So imagine my shock when I picked up a cheapo brand of mascara at Meijer the other day (I actually had to write it on the list so I would remember!) and it turned out to be AWESOME!
Please run, don’t walk, to your local supermarket and pick this stuff up. It is the Lash Blast Cover Girl Mascara. The orange tube! (no mom, the color of the tube is not why I picked that one)
It has amazing instant results. I don’t have any issues with flaking or running. It just, well, does what mascara is supposed to do! Plus, it is only $8, and AT YOUR SUPERMARKET! You don’t have to order or anything of that sort.

I tried it and loved it! Let me know if you try it.

First Field Trip

2008-08-03T12:08:00.010-06:00

We went on our first field trip with Daycare on Friday. We visited the Louisville Zoo! Moose has been studying the zoo for the last two weeks, so he came home with all kinds of new animal sounds and actions (it was hilarious). Plus, one of the teachers must live in a menagerie, because she brought in all kinds of animals for them to see.

He was most excited about:
berds
lizerds

We woke up bright and early on Friday morning, we had breakfast, got ready and headed in to meet everyone else and carpool up!Off we go!

Here is the big Water Ball in the entrance to the zoo. The boys loved it. There was only one little girl who came with us.

Most of my pictures look like this, it is hard to get fabulous pics of the kids, looking at the animals. So I will just show you a few.

The orangutans were the most entertaining, the played for the cameras, coming right up to the windows. The boys were mystified.

After a VERY long and VERY hot day, we headed home. I made good friends with one of the boy's Daddy, he and I were on the same frame of mind-get home before 5PM.

After we got home, we had a small snack, and headed off for a short nap. Both of us...

Happy Birthday Cory!

2008-07-29T16:29:00.010-06:00

We got together with a few friends this weekend, to celebrate Cory's 27th.

The newlyweds...

Spin those stix, sista

Get a little saw-blade in ya...

I love you darling!

Sorry to everyone not pictured, I didn't bring my camera to the restaurant!

Domestic Goddess Tip-Week #8

2008-07-27T18:12:00.004-06:00

I love my CrockPot! I may not have an "unhealthy obsession with my CrockPot" like Stephanie at A Year of CrockPotting. But I love it just the same!

Our air conditioner recently went out, and we spent a few days in the blistering Summertime heat of central Kentucky. I was looking for ways to cool down the house (or rather not heat it up) and one of the things I thought I could do, was use my CrockPot instead of my oven or stove top.

So I flipped through Stephanie's site, trying to find a recipe that would suit my picky eating, my two-year-old, and well... Cory really eats anything, so it was just Moose and I to please. We tried a few things, but I absolutely loved the Sloppy Joes recipe. And Ariel, it is SUPER EASY!

Sloppy Joes in the CrockPot
h/t: edited a bit from A Year of CrockPotting
1 pound lean ground meat
1 packet of McCormick sloppy joe mix
1 6oz can tomato paste
1/4 cup of water
1/4 cup of white vinegar

I used extra lean hamburger, but (Stacy!) you could use ground turkey or ground chicken for this.

Mix the raw meat with the sloppy joe mix and the tomato paste. Add the 1/4 cup of water and the 1/4 cup vinegar, and stir well.

Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or on high for 3-5. I cooked it on high for four hours, and since I was home when I cooked it, I stirred it once or twice.

The meat is done when it is crumbly and fully cooked. Serve with hamburger buns, or on top of rice. We ate this with microwaved mac & cheese and peas. The next time I make this, I would toast the buns so that they would be a little stiffer for the sloppiness of the Joe;) We also like our Joes with a slice of cheese on top.

Picture Post!

2008-07-25T16:48:00.015-06:00

Oh the glee. He is such a boy.

To prove I was here this past week. I had a comment from a friend that I was never in any pictures. Um, that is because I'm taking them!

Scout is enjoying her single-dog-dom.

Saturday Stacy and I tagged along on Boy's Nite, which started at BW3s, and ended up at our house. A good time was had by all. Even Scout.

Sunday we went out to the farm for some picnicing and sweating.

It was an exhausting day!

Domestic Goddess Tip-Week #7

2008-07-20T06:47:00.004-06:00

I wanted to share one tip that works really well for me. It is casseroles. I love a good casserole, I am so picky however, it takes me a long time to find a good one. And even then, I often cut out or substitute ingredients.

I ran across the recipe below, when I was looking for a chicken recipe, to make something new. The first time I made it, I made it in one large dish, we ate it, and put the left-overs in the fridge. The second time I made it, I thought ahead enough to dump it into two smaller casserole dishes, cook one, and freeze the other. I can tell you, there is nothing quite like coming home, popping something frozen into the oven and forgetting about it for an hour, only to have a delish hot meal in an hour or so.

Score.

Chicken Boudine
h/t: inspired by Paula's Home Cooking Show
2 cups cooked egg noodles
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup dry sherry
4 cups chopped cooked chicken
3 cups grated sharp cheese, your choice, divided
1 (2 1/4-ounce) package slivered almonds, toasted
1 (4-ounce) can sliced mushrooms, drained
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, toss together the noodles, soup, broth, and sherry. Add the chicken, 2 cups of the cheese, the almonds, mushrooms, and salt and pepper, to taste, and toss gently to combine. Transfer the (whole) mixture to a greased 13 by 9 by 2-inch casserole and top with the remaining cup of cheese. (if you split the recipe, obviously use smaller dishes)

Bake for 30 minutes, or until bubbly.

If you choose to freeze a casserole, here are those cooking directions:
Bake covered at 350 degrees F. for approximately 30 minutes. Then bake an additional 45 minutes, uncovered, at 425 degrees F.

Let me know if you make it!

Picture Post!

2008-07-18T15:44:00.009-06:00

*Trying to get back on my posting schedule! Picture Friday is back! Again! Also, those of you with blog readers, check out my new template*

The new tile for the entry way!! We felt the new door needed some new tile to compliment it. So Cory was able to use the left over tile from downstairs to do it.

Ripping up the old stuff.

Please, please notice the Simpsons boxer shorts.

Laying them out.

Filling in the grout.

The cheering party.

And done.

New entranceway? Check. Next project... hmmm.

Pensacola Beach 2008

2008-07-13T10:51:00.037-06:00

We woke up bright and early at 3AM on Saturday morning, and headed out for Pensacola Beach. Moose was wide-eyed for almost an hour while we drove toward the highway. Once we got on, he finally drifted off to sleep.

I actually sat in the back with him, which if you know me, is practically a death sentence. Mainly because of my tendency to get motion sick. I made sure to take Dramamine, and it was not too bad at all. Moose woke up around 6 or 7 AM, and we stopped at got breakfast. He was great, and even went potty in the big boy potty with me holding him up. It was quite a feat, and something I have mastered by the end of the week.

When we got back in the car, we hooked up our portable DVD player, and popped in Cars. That thing is worth it's weight in gold, let me tell you. It held him in rapt attention, and actually? It held my attention too. Not bad at all, man. Seriously.

We finished Cars, stopped and had the picnic lunch I had packed, and headed off. We watched Nemo next, then started The Little Mermaid, when we arrived in Florida. The first sight of the beach and ocean (it is actually the bay, but hey, still cool) is always awe-inspiring. It was about this time that we realized we had printed the wrong directions off of MapQuest. When I searched it, it found a different address and suggested a different destination, I just shrugged and clicked okay, MapQuest wouldn't lie to me, right? Well, it was wrong and we would have ended up in the get-to if I hadn't noticed the trademark three-mile bridge was missing from the directions.

We called my Mom, who was already down there, waiting for us, and got some clarity. Then we headed to the realator to pick up our keys. We met Mimi at the house, and looked around briefly, dumped out stuff on the beds, and promptly put on our suits and headed out to the beach.

We got cleaned up, and headed out for seafood for dinner that night.

Then we collapsed in a heap in front of the TV. We ended up going to bed at like, 8 PM or something, but Cory and I were exhausted! We had been up since 3 AM! A storm rolled in that evening, and our little house on stilts was obviously made to sway slightly in the wind. I didn't feel it until the next morning, but Cory said he laid awake feeling it.

Sunday day we spent playing on the beach. And Sunday evening we got all dressed up and went out for more seafood, for my aunt's birthday.

The restaurant had a large salt water aquarium, complete with a Nemo and Dori fish.

We spent Monday day out at the beach too.

Here is the crab that Cory caught. I believe it is the one that attacked his foot.

Eating brownie batter, hey, we're on vacation, right?

Tuesday dawned cloudy and a bit rainy, so we headed off to Florida's Gulfarium in Fort Walton.

One of the sea lions was named "Cory" we thought that was pretty amusing.

We headed home to blue skies, and went out on the beach for a few hours.

Thursday we woke up to a beautiful rainbow.

The Blue Angels also made an appearance around 8 AM. Of course, we were already up, but everyone in the other house was still snoozing. Moose really enjoyed the "jeps" and talked about them for the next couple days. They did a few tricks and passbys. It was pretty cool. I got some pictures, but they are too far away to appreciate them. Cory got some video, so I will try and make those web-ready for you to see.

Thursday evening Cory and I headed out for a date night. We ate dinner on the patio at Peg Leg Pete's and then headed over to the boardwalk to buy some souvenirs. I got an awesome hat that I love unconditionally, and a T-shirt and sweatshirt. Cory couldn't find anything he wanted. He has requested some flip-flops with the bottle opener on the bottom, so I guess I will be picking those up for him.

Here is Moose after wearing 50 SPF all week!

Moose's hair has turned almost white-blond, and even with the sunblock, he has bronzed his skin somehow. Cory sunburned his shoulders at some point and then his stomach later in the week. I had an unfortunate encounter with spray sunblock that affected my ankles and the backs of my legs. This is the second time spray sunblock has screwed me over, so I will never use it again. Overall our sun protection was sufficient, and has never been something I worried about before!

Mimi picked up a Frisbee and a kite which we thoroughly enjoyed on the beach.

Overall we had a wonderful time. I knew this would be different from any vacation I had ever taken, and it was. Everything hinged Moose's happiness instead of my own, and while I am used to that at home, it was different to experience it here. We had a great time, and have been discussing buying a beach house and renovating it, and renting it out to vacationers. White Sands, the condos we typically stay in, are completing their rebuilding, so they would be available for us the next time we come. We have talked about trading off years, doing a family vacation one year, then a home improvement the next and so on. So I think that makes the most sense for us, seeing all the things we have to do with our house.

We talked with the family about coming to Pensacola again in two years, and we have also discussed just me and Moose coming down with my parents next year. We have nothing set in stone yet, abut I would really like to take Moose to Walt Disney World when he is about four or five years old. I have read that this is the best age when everything is really magical, and they are really seeing "Mickey's House" and meeting Pooh and stuff.

So I am tentatively planning a Disney Cruise. I have not done any research yet, but I think we can get an all-inclusive package that will include everything. And if I start saving now, and start paying now, I think I can afford it. Mom is going to talk to her friend Vicki, who just did a Disney Cruise a few years ago, and I am going to talk to Mom's travel agent and get some more info. I'll keep you updated on that front as I know more details!

Pensacola-we'll see you in a few years!

Da Beeech!

2008-07-01T16:31:00.003-06:00

Well, we are heading to Da Beeech this weekend for a well-deserved family vacation. Moose is seriously pumped about it too. Apparently his class is going over a ocean unit at school, so everyday he comes home talking about something new he wants to do at Da Beeech.

Things Moose Wants to See/Do:
weves
sendcaskles
feesh
sherks
turtales

So I think we can accomplish that pretty easily, except for the sharks, anyway. And hey, I just checked and the Gulfarium has a shark exhibit, so, there you go. We are all set.

We originally were going to split up our drive over Friday and Saturday, but now due to the high gas prices, we are just doing it one swoop. So we are leaving around 3 or 4 AM, and we will arrive in Pensacola, Florida around 2 or 3 PM, depending on how often we stop and traffic and such.

Our family is renting a condo on Da Beeech, right next to another condo that the rest of my family is renting. My condo will have Cory and I, Moose, and Mimi. The other condo is quite a bit larger and will have my cousin Sarah and her husband Nick, my cousin Jenn and her husband Chris, my baby cousin Missy (who amazingly enough, does NOT HAVE A BLOG!?) their parents Cici and John, my aunt Carole and my Nana.

We have been going to Pensie since I was a baby, and if I'm not mistaken, my mom actually went there while she was pregnant with me(?). So we are very familiar with the area, and we have our favorite spots. My Nana is from that area, and she met my Papa there at the Marine base.

I am very excited about Moose's first Da Beeech experience being at my first beach place too. I am hoping this place will be as special to Moose as it is to me, and my whole family.

I am planning on taking a million pictures, but I don't want to mess with blogging when I can be soaking up sun and surf. So we will be driving back next Saturday, hopefully I will feel like uploading pics for you guys on Sunday.

A Pox Upon this House

2008-06-29T09:26:00.003-06:00

...or a stomach virus rather. Oh this has been a joy.

Those of you with Readers, check out my new layout!

Moose has been potty training this week, with full-fledged Big Boy Underwear. We started Monday morning with Big Boy Underwear, and off we went to daycare. I picked him, and five soiled outfits up at 5 in the evening. Tuesday, he had only two accidents, Wednesday the same. Those two accidents were both poopy, he has been peeing in the potty just fine, it has been the poo-poo that has been the problem. Thursday was awesome, only one accident (still no poo-poo in the potty)! Yea! Friday... we had two accidents, and they were both poopy and... lets say... loose. The teacher warned me when I picked Moose up about this, and that a stomach virus has been making it's way through the school. (one of the drawbacks to daycare, however, I would rather him get sick now, and build up immunities than get sick later in life (I really think this is why I get sick so easily, and Cory doesn't-he was in daycare at an early age and I was not))

This virus news did not bode well for our potty training for the weekend.

Saturday morning was spent very well, with many trips to the potty to go pee-pee while watching Disney. At one point however, I came in to the living room, and he was sitting on the couch with a glazed TV look on his face, and he was sitting in a puddle. So one real accident. We did a nap (with a pull-up) and were sitting in the living room afterwards when he stomach made a sound like an atomic bomb. Then I swear his bottom actually visibly vibrated from the forceful diarrhea he had.

So we went into the bathroom to get cleaned up, and an hour later we were back doing the same thing. At this point I switched him back to diapers. And then he didn't have anything for almost three hours. So we went ahead and took him over to Mimi's house so Cory and I could have a nice date (and probably spread the stomach virus to everyone in the movie theater and at The Pub).

We went to see Wanted which was AWESOME IN EVERY WAY and we were mid-way through dinner when I got the call from Mimi asking us to come and pick him up instead of letting him stay the night as originally planned. So after dinner we went and got him, and headed up earlier. I checked on him twice before I went to bed, fearful he would have diarrhea in his bed, but he was fine.

About 6 AM I heard him cough and call for me. So I went in to check on him, and he was lying under the covers and restlessly turning over, like he was going back to sleep. I silently closed the door without him seeing me, and crept back to bed, hoping he would sleep at least another hour. I snuggled back into bed with Cory, and about ten minutes later, I heard him cough, gag, and start screaming.

I rushed through the bedroom, and opened his door to see him covered in goo in the morning light. I flipped on the light and discovered he had thrown up, everywhere. Apparently he did not have macaroni and cheese last night like Mimi said, but spagetti-os? Not sure about that, but let me tell you, cleaning up someone else puke is not one of the joys of motherhood they tell you about.

I yelled for Cory to help me, and the warning must have sounded in my voice because he made it in there pretty quickly. I instructed (barked out) him to clean up the bedding while I tackled Moose, who was still crying-retching.

Oh it was lovely, let me tell you.

I got him into the bathroom, where somehow he managed to throw up more. I can't imagine where it came from because it looked like there was definitely enough vomit for one little boy, covering his bed. Probably the depths of Hell.

I carried him and set him on his potty stool, so hopefully whatever was left in his stomach would end up the potty this time. He managed a bit more, and told me he was "all done Mommy". So I stuck him in the bathtub while I tried to clean up the floor in the bathroom, so that I could give him a bath without, you know, sitting in it.

The poor baby was terrified and quivering. I managed to strip him down and hand off his clothes to Cory who was taking his bedding down to get washed. I started his bath, and he happily sat down and asked for a bath toy.

???

I got him out after washing him, and we went into his room to get dressed, and he told me on the way that he had "made a mess". I told him yes, that was certainly a mess. When we got into his room, he started crying again, pointing to his stripped bed, telling me he made a mess. So I had to calm him down, telling him that is was okay, and Daddy was washing everything.

Later we turned on Disney, and he sat between Cory and I, snuggled up with his spare blankie. He has not thrown up again, yet. He just had a poopy diaper, and it was a bit firmer. So hopefully we're on the mend.

I still want to take him to the doctor tomorrow. Even if he doesn't have anymore problems. I definitely don't want him sick next week while we are in Florida. So anything I can do to curb that would be awesome.

Cory and I seem to be fine at the moment, but Cory said he was on the edge of not feeling well. At least this is happening this week, and not next week while we are on vacation.

Needless to say this has totally curbed potty training for today. I have no desire to attempt that while dealing with this madness.

Daycare Poems!

2008-06-26T16:59:00.012-06:00

We love Moose's daycare so much. I love the teachers, I appreciate them teaching our child, and they have wonderful field trips and activities.

They have taught him to drink from a cup, to eat cereal with milk, and are currently working on potty training. All in conjunction with what we do at home, but let's be honest, they have him for eight hours, I owe them a lot!

And being with my child all day, they all grow pretty attached! They love them like their own, Moose asks me what his teachers are doing during the weekend sometimes-so I know he loves them too! We are very lucky, I know all daycares are not like that.

One of the teachers in Moose's new class took the time to write a poem about each child. I thought you might be interested to read them, I hope you can see them well enough.

This is one of Moose's friends in the Cool Clique.This is one of Moose's friends in the Cool Clique, and his best friend that he talks about all weekend!

This is a new friend of Moose's, he was already in the class when they moved up.

Here's Moose!

How fitting! I would think the other poems describe the other kids as well. I only know "The Crafty One" and he is indeed crafty in every way.

All the teachers know Moose's name, and say hi when we arrive in the morning and when we leave in the evening. So I am looking forward to future classes, and each new teacher for Moose to learn from.

Big Boy Underwear!

2008-06-23T17:04:00.005-06:00

Moose has officially started potty training. He moved up to the next room at daycare about two weeks ago, the T-Twos (transitional twos) and he will be in that room until he starts the next level, which is preschool (scary!).

Moose moved up with three of his friends. They are the "cool clique" according to Ms. Allie, his new teacher. They are all about the same age and level. His old girlfriend actually left daycare a few months ago, I'm sorry I forgot to tell you guys about that! I don't know any details, she just disappeared one day, I guess her mom found another job (remember she was a teacher at the daycare too).

Well anyway, the Cool Clique was ready to start hard core potty training according to Ms. A. I picked him up last Thursday evening, and she told me he was ready to start on Big Boy Underwear.

What?!

That's right. She said that he was ready, and that meant they were ready to start training. So this weekend, I bought several pairs of Big Boy Underwear, plus the gift Charing brought over (thanks girl!) and we washed and got them ready for the Big Day.

This morning we got up, had breakfast, and I was all ready to put on the Big Boy Underwear, and Moose said, "No." So after all that, we wore a diaper in to daycare. When we arrived, his best friend, Alex, had his Big Boy Underwear on, so Moose wanted his on too.

Ah, peer pressure, a lovely thing at this age.

So I knew I would have to do some laundry when I got home, I figured, maybe three(?) pairs of clothes? Try five pairs. Apparently all I'm going to be doing for the next few weeks will be laundry. Also? Florida should be fun, with us in the midst of potty training and all.

Oh, and we are going standing up, like a Big Boy, now.

I'll try and keep you updated on this front, I'm sure it will be a bumpy road!
--
We have finally found a new home for Sophie, our Weim. We've been looking since last Fall, and we found a nice friend of a friend who wanted her, and is now lavishing attention on her at every opportunity. I am sure she is relishing it.

Scout is doing fabulously well as a solo dog. She is getting extra attention of course, but I think she is actually enjoying having us all to herself.
--
Cory and I had a nice date on Saturday that almost was canceled. Mimi and Grandy kept Moose overnight so we stayed up late watching movies, then slept in, and went and grabbed bagels and coffee. It was... indescribably lovely.

Then we had Mimi and Grandy over for dinner, to celebrate a belated Father's Day! Cory grilled a wonderfully yummy (and easy) glazed chicken. It was great!

My Little Boy's Boo-Boo Pt. 5

2008-06-19T17:45:00.002-06:00

We had our final appointment with the hand surgeon yesterday. I took off work early and Moose and I made the trek across town for the 3:15 appointment. We waited in the waiting room for 30 minutes before they called us back! Then! We waited another 20 minutes in the actual exam room.

All of that for the doctor to come in, look at his healed finger, and tell us he was healed and to go! Moose did tell her that his finger "was all better now," thanks Mimi:)

Well, maybe I got a little more info, but I was still pissed about the unreasonable long wait, with no explanation or excuse. (of course, I didn't ask either, so...)

She said that it could take up to a year for the fingernail to look normal again, currently it is growing back in layers.

Apparently the reattached finger piece is hyper-sensitive. This was slightly alarming to me, considering he fell the other day and told me he hurt his finger, and I told him to suck it up, that he was fine. *oops*

So the doctor advised that we buy some Children's Mederma for the slight scarring. She also recommended massaging the finger, from base to tip, to restore the normal sensitivity. It will take a few months.

So we are all done with the appointments, and looks like we are pretty close to normalcy! The original Boo-Boo happened on May 2, so it's been about one and a half months total recovery time.

Door to my Heart!

2008-06-18T17:52:00.008-06:00

Our long-awaited new front door was installed on Tuesday. It. Is. WONDERFUL. We are loving it. Totally. Amazingly, Cory and I easily agreed on what style and color to get. We went in knowing we wanted a new door, with a glass insert, plus new side lights, and a screen door. Unfortunately, the door we decided on, could not have a screen door without screwing with the guarantee. We decided to forgo the screen door, since we have done without one for the last couple years with no huge problem. Plus we have two quite unintelligent dogs who I could see finding some way through the screen, no matter how high.

Before Outside

Before Inside

In Progress... (Cory was so good to take photos for me:)

And without further ado:

After.

Oh, yes.

Be still my beating heart, I had no idea home improvements could get me so excited.

Rockin' Out

2008-06-10T17:08:00.004-06:00

Picture Friday is early this week, I thought I would put some pics up today since I'll be out of town the rest of the week.
Cory picked up Rock Band for his Xbox on Sunday. So Mark came over to help him break it in. They had a blast.

Breaking in the drums.The dogs were thrilled to see Mark, their love for him has grown since he watched them for us when we went out of town the last time.

Moose's finger is on the road to total recovery. The nail bed seems to have recovered, and is smooth and is about half the normal length. There is a scab on the end of his finger, and I was noticing while he was zoned out watching TV with us yesterday, that the finger looks to be a bit different than normal, the tip doesn't seem to be as rounded as the other, it has more of a blunt end.

The bandage wouldn't stay on, with out the chunky piece holding it on I guess. It kept sliding off, and each time Moose would flip out telling me to, "wrap it UP!" over and over. Mimi kept Moose overnight on Saturday so Cory and I could go to a fight downtown, and after the bandage fell off twice, she didn't put it back on. Moose was pretty upset at first. But she must have told him it was "all better now" because that is what he told me when I asked to see it. "No Mommy, it is all better now." Oh. Okay.

So, I am going to Chicago for work tomorrow. I won't be back until Friday night, late. Unfortunately, I will have meetings each day, so we won't get to sightsee or anything. Not cool. Hopefully it won't be too stressful. Looking forward to meeting with some of my friends for drinks after our meetings.

My boss asked me if I thought I would have to check my bag. I laughed manically until I realized he was serious. Does he know me at all? Three days? Of course I'm going to have to check my bag. I'm bringing the big suitcase! He was not amused that I laughed, and stated that it was only three days. And said, yes, three days. Exactly. Eye roll.

I'm sure I'll miss my boys, but surely I can enjoy my alone time, and hopefully they will miss me desperately. I'm sure they will miss me around, or I don't know... dinner time?

My Little Boy's Boo-Boo Pt. 4

2008-06-06T18:02:00.017-06:00

We spent most of last Sunday playing in the backyard!

The results of the afternoon.

Some sort of melt-down.

He was very annoyed that I wasn't immediately bending to his will, plus, I had the nerve to take his picture again...

Later in the week, helping me make pancakes for dinner!

He has a recent fascination with my shoes. No, not like that! He has figured out they can be used as ramps for his toy cars. Right.

Sweet and innocent when he sleeps.

This evening, while we were getting ready for bath, Cory took his wrap off of his hurt finger. And!! The crusty, black, scab-like piece of his finger came off. Ewwwww. However, underneath, was fresh, pink, healthy-looking skin! It looks almost normal! When his fingernail grows back, it should look totally normal we think!

We had no idea it would happen this fast! We didn't think it would happen until after our next doc visit. We weren't sure if we should keep it wrapped, the doctor had not told us that it might happen so soon. We've decided to keep it wrapped until Monday, then I will call and see what they want us to do. Some of the skin looks a little tender and hurty.

Can you BELIEVE IT? We are soooo lucky!

My Little Boy's Boo-Boo Pt. 3 & Steve's Wedding & Picture Friday!

2008-05-30T17:01:00.020-06:00

Well, you get a title that long and confusing when you wait this long to post! We had a very busy weekend last week with Steve's wedding, and then this week, we had our check up at the hand doc.

Our very good friend Steve married our new very good friend Stacy this weekend. It was just about the coolest wedding I have ever been to! Stacy is from Jeffersonville, IN which is right across the river from Louisville, KY. So they had their wedding at her church in Jeffersonville, and the reception right across the river at the Galt House. Most of the family stayed with us at the Galt House too. I must say it was one of the nicest hotels I have ever stayed in.

So first I had some help packing from Moose. Then I packed him up and sent him off to Mimi and Grandy's for the weekend.Cory and I took off on Friday right after lunch and made the hour and a half drive to Louisville. When we checked in to the hotel, I noticed the abundance of Baby Boomers that were covered head-to-toe in Beatles memorabilia. I honestly did not even know that they sold that stuff with Beatles faces all over it, but let me tell you: if they make something, they make a Beatles version of it. Turns out it was the Abbey Road Convention.

The front desk gave us a wonderful package from Steve and Stacy, thanking us for coming to their wedding weekend. Maker's and wine. A lovely way to get ready for our evening.

When they assigned our room, they offered us a higher up room that was handicapped. Cory was concerned we would be taking it away from someone who might need it, so we got the lower room. It was beautiful, but it overlooked the street.

If you leaned just right though, you could see the river:)

I proceeded to get ready for the rehearsal and Cory went out to investigate the hotel. When he got back, he had ran into Steve in the hall! Steve was remarkably calm considering his upcoming nuptials.

We met his family in the hall after we were ready, and we headed over across the river to the church. It was only about 10 minutes away, and pretty easy to find since I had printed out directions (of course!). Everyone promptly made fun of my printed out directions to everything, then they all checked them out so they could follow them!

Here are Cory and I with the bride and groom.

Cory, Steve, Russ (childhood friend), Rick (Stacy's brother), and his son Ryan (ring bearer)

After the rehearsal, which went really quick due to Stacy's wonderful planning, we headed over to the Spagetti Factory for the rehearsal dinner. It was WONDERFUL. I have never eaten there before and it was so good! We both had crab ravioli and Steve's parents graciously included drinks with our meal.

This is after a few drinks:)

We walked back to the hotel, which was only a few blocks away, with Russ and Steve. Stacy went back to her parents' house to stay the night there.

Before we went back to our rooms, we hit the hotel bar, so celebrate Steve's last few hours of bachelorhood. The bar was actually made of a large aquarium, it was super cool.

I tried to inconspicuously take some pics of it, and not look like a dork.

The boys.

We got up the next morning and had a wonderful breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Then we headed over to the church for the service! Stacy had asked me to stand with the bridesmaids and make sure the flower girl and ring bearer were in the right place at the right time.

Here is the church's baptismal, it was a beautiful fountain. Never seen anything like it.

The service was beautiful and shorter than what I had prepared myself for. It was a Catholic service with full mass. Steve and Stacy decided to wait until the ceremony until they saw each other, so after the service, they had the rest of their pictures taken.

After the pictures, we realized the shuttle service had forgotten about us. So the wedding party was almost 40 minutes later than when they were supposed to be there. It was very annoying for everyone.

We finally got back to the Galt House, and after meeting up with the photographer, headed towards the ballrooms. The hotel lobby was filled to the brim with Beatles fans, and a ton of kids for some reason. When we walked through the revolving doors, everyone turned around and started clapping and congratulating the happy couple. It was very cool.

They had reserved two huge ballrooms and they were filled with people. I was supposed to sit with two couples that worked with Steve and Cory, but they didn't show. Luckily, there were two of Stacy's old teachers also at the table and they were super nice to me. Cory was sitting at the head table with the rest of the wedding party.

Here is the groom's cake, it is a "four-wheelin'" cake. Steve likes jeeps and four-wheeling with off road vehicles.

The garter.

We had a wonderful time, closing the place down. We stumbled back to our room in exhaustion several hours later. Cory and I were supposed to attend a cookout the next day, sending the bride and groom off on their honeymoon to St. Lucia. Unfortunately we decided we missed Moose too much, and we wanted to head home. So we left earlier than we planned. But we had a blast.

Instead of being thrilled to see us, Moose was bit miffed that Mimi left him with us and didn't stay herself.

Luckily, it only last a few minutes before he melted into and exhausted heap on top of Cory. Mimi and Grandy are tiring.

On Wednesday, we had our third appointment with the doctor for Moose's finger. They unwrapped him, and informed us he was healing well. The tip is still black, with parts of it tinged with pink. The nail is gone, and it looks soft a smooth were it came off.

They sent us home with a small bandage, just around the hurt finger. We can take it off for baths, and replace it as needed.

Moose does not like to see it. We have taken it off each night this week for baths (Summer is everyday bathing due to his tendency to smell like a dirty foot) and he cries each time and tells me he doesn't want to see it.

He is still favoring the whole hand even though he can use it again. The skin on the rest of his hand that was not injured is very oddly textured at the moment. It almost looks a bit swollen, and is dry and flaky. I have been smothering it in Curel lotion, but I'm wondering if I should be putting something else on it. If it doesn't look better soon, I may call the doc back.

The new bandage.

When it starts to heal a bit more, I will post a picture of it for you guys. It might be a bit too scary to post as it is currently. We have another appointment for a check up with the hand doc in three weeks. We'll keep you updated!

Domestic Goddess Tip-Week #6

2008-05-18T18:24:00.006-06:00

My family and I really enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables. We have lots of buying options, from the local farmers' markets, to a whole food store, to our regular grocery. Our regular grocery is the cheapest and most convenient, so we typically pick them up there.

The in season fruits and vegetables are typically on sale, and prominently displayed. This week, berries were on sale, so Moose and I picked up an array of choices.

My husband loves my pies, so since he was returning from a long trip today, we decided to make him a pie to welcome him home. There is nothing like a warm, sweet pie smell to meet you at the door when you've been out of town. Not that I would know from experience, since Cory has never baked me a pie in his life, but... you know, I can imagine:)

All of these berries are on sale, and fabulously in season, which translates into: run and buy them NOW while they are delicious and sweet and ripe!

Love Berry Pie
adapted from Woman's World recipe
1 pkg. pie crust mix or Pillsbury Pie Crust
2/3 C granulated sugar
3 T cornstarch
1 T chopped crystallized ginger (this is expensive but the taste is worth it, plus it lasts forever!)
2 t Velencia orange peel
1 t ground cinnamon
1 pkg. (1 lb.) strawberries, sliced
1 pkg. (6 oz.) raspberries
1 pkg. (1 pt.) blueberries
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and place a cookie sheet on the center rack of the oven, to catch any drippings. Prepare the pie crust according to directions (I used Pillsbury Pie Crusts that are already prepared, you just unroll them) and fit into nine inch pie pan. Trim and flute edge. With remaining dough, cut out five half-inch strips to put across the top of the pie. To make it double cute, use a cookie cutter to cut out hearts, stars, or what-have-you to decorate the top.

In a bowl, combine granulated sugar, cornstarch, ginger, orange peel and cinnamon; stir in strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. Pour into pie shell.

Arrange strips over filling. Trim the ends and fit to the pie shell. Lightly brush one side of each cut-out (I used stars this time) and press onto the top of the strips. It will work like glue. Then, lightly brush the top of all of the dough with the egg. Grab a pinch of sugar and sprinkle it over the top of the pie.

Place in the oven on the heated cookie sheet, and bake for one hour or until golden and bubbly. Be sure to cool completely before you slice and serve. Goes wonderfully with vanilla ice cream and a tall glass of milk.

This is a very easy recipe, even if you've never made a pie before. The Pillsbury Pie Crusts are available in the dairy aisle with the biscuits and they make the recipe absolute cake... or pie rather:)

Doc Mommy and the Pink Casts (that would totally make a good name for a rock band)

2008-05-17T18:09:00.006-06:00

Turns out Tractor Supply is not a hot spot on Saturday night. I glanced over at Moose during dinner tonight, and saw this. His new soft cast is hanging on by threads, literally.
Doc N said that we could replace it over the next two weeks, she didn't say that I would have to. So picking up new bandage has been low on my list of priorities.

The bandage is actually not really a bandage. It is a special equine "vetrap". That's right, the stuff they wrap around their legs. It even has a lovely illustration of a horse on the package.

And it is only available at Tractor Supply.

The only local Tractor Supply I know of is in Nville, about twenty minutes away from our house. Not a huge deal, but simply annoying because we were "in" for the night as far as I was concerned.

We actually had a wonderful drive out, because the weather has decided to be a piece of Heaven today. The temperature was perfect, and dusk had just started to fall. My favorite time of year during Spring.

I was one of three cars in the Tractor Supply parking lot. We went in and there were two men working the front desk. I thought it best to ask were the horse stuff was, instead of looking for it. Both of the guys cooed over Moose and his finger boo-boo, and both felt the need to escort me to the equine aisle and give me their advice.

One of them said that we should get a manly color. Apparently we had an array of choices available. Moose picked out red, and yellow. Big surprise.

We got home, I sat Moose on the bathroom counter and I asked him which color he wanted first. Red.

I rolled out the bandage and realized my mistake. Not red. Pink.

Very pink actually, almost magenta.

The package clearly says red, and it totally looked red in the store. Dang it.

On a semi-related note, Moose asked me about my pink toes this afternoon. I told him Mommy painted her toenails pink. Then he asked me if I could paint his toenails too.

I told him no, only Mommies painted their toenails. Daddy needs to come home:)

My Little Boy's Boo-Boo Pt. 2

2008-05-15T15:48:00.005-06:00

Wednesday we had our second appointment with the hand specialist, Dr. N. She and her whole office were absolutely wonderful with Moose.

We arrived promptly on time and had to wait almost 20 minutes in the waiting room. Kind of annoying, but luckily I packed a nice bag of tricks. Including the new coloring book from Cici, and Dora book from Donna (thanks ladies!). So we were perfectly entertained.

Now Dr. N had told us they may put Moose under anesthesia to have the cast switched over, so we had readied for that by not eating anything for breakfast. We had no idea what the appointment would be.

They finally called us back, and the young little nurse sat Moose and I in a seat in front of a small table. She then proceeded to cut Moose's original cast off.
It took her almost 15 minutes to get the whole thing off. Moose sat like a perfect angel, watching her intently.

She even said that she wished all the little boys she took casts off of acted like him.

*beams with pride at my awesome mothering*

When she got to the last of it, the smell hit. Now that was some nasty, let me tell you. But you could also see the dried blood on his fingertips. She took off the final pieces, and I could see the fingernail ripping off.

This is when Moose started to get upset. I tried to cover his eyes up, but he didn't really like that either.

The nurse hopped out, promising the doctor would be there shortly. Cory sat in the floor beside us and read Moose at tractor book while we waited.

The doctor arrived and told us that his finger looked great. The piece they sewed on had "took" and you could see parts of it were black, but the main middle part was pink and fleshy looking. She said the his fingernail should grow back totally in about a year. Hmm.

She also said that she was replacing this cast with a new one that was smaller and easily replaceable on my part. It is just a wrap, really. More of his thumb is showing and he is able to bend his elbow again, due to the fact that the cast only goes to his top wrist.

We have an appointment in two weeks for another healing check, and she is planning on us leaving with only a band aid on the finger!

*beams with pride at awesome mothering again*

The new cast:Da whole thing:

My beacon in the night: thank Gawd they were not out of original glazed this time.

And after we filled our tummies with hot Krispy Kremes, Moose went in to daycare, I went back to work, and Cory headed up to Chicago!

So the last two weeks have not been nearly as bad as I thought they would be. The only task has been baths, and we just tied Mejier plastic bags around his arm, and put him in. It wasn't a big deal. He has been a total trooper, not complaining or trying to take the bandage off.

I feel an odd sense of incredible gratitude towards Dr. N that I am not sure how to express. I know she was only doing her 9-5 job, but it's weird, I feel like I should send her a basket of muffins or something. Not sure how to describe it.

Back in Black, the New GT

2008-05-13T17:38:00.005-06:00

Well, Cory is thrilled of course. Aaron brought it to him today, and everything is taken care of I think. My old GT is gone, the guy picked it up a few days ago.
I have to learn how to drive a stick soon!

Mother's Day '08

2008-05-11T07:09:00.016-06:00

Well happy Mother's Day to myself, and all the wonderful mothers in my life! Specifically Mom, Mil and Cici!
I've already had a wonderful Mother's Day, and it's not even 10 AM yet. Cory let me sleep in, and Moose and him baked me orange cinnamon rolls. It was lovely, he even had coffee ready when they got me up.
They bought me an astoundingly beautiful diamond pendant. You know how I feel about taking pictures of my jewelry, so you'll have to wait until you see me to see it. But let me assure you, astounding. That's all I'll say.

Here is a picture of the very cool "flower" vase Moose made me at daycare. The "flowers" are made of tracings of his hands. It is so cute! And also the mysterious pendant's box. Don't worry, you'll see it when you see me next, it is never leaving my body.Last weekend, Cory installed a ceiling fan in our living room. He had to actually crawl around in our attic to install an electrical box, because there was nothing there to start with.

Finished! It has made a great difference in the air circulation, and temperature already.

Here is the gift I made for Baby Avery. It is something that I would have loved to have received when I was pregnant with Moose. It's all the extras and little things you don't really know you need, until you need them! The wrapped gift in the back is Lionel, the ceramic lion that the girls got me when I was in the hospital having Moose. They went to the gift shop and for some reason picked out the tackiest ceramic pastel colored lion that was available. I see no reason not to share the wealth with Jenn. Hopefully she'll continue my started tradition of giving it to the next expecting parent in our friend group.

Bath time! Obviously before the Finger Event.

Playing with Daddy.

I totally earned my fabulous Mother's Day gift yesterday. Don't let this angelic face fool you. He was Hell on Wheels yesterday. All day. I was almost in tears when Cory got home.

Here is some of the reason he was so bad. He refused to take a nap. I heard him in his room walking around and rustling things. Turns out he was reading every book in his room.

I didn't finish laundry yesterday like I had planned, but I did finish cleaning. I am hoping to do a whole bunch of nothing today.
I am having M&D over for dinner for Mother's Day tonight too. But I planned a pretty simple dinner of Bar-B-Q Chicken Pizza. I made a very cool cake yesterday from scratch. It smells delicious, so we'll see. Hopefully I will get back in the groove of posting pics on Friday or Saturday, and my Domestic Goddess Tips on Sunday, next weekend. I have a ton of recipes to share.

**Edited later to add: Okay, I cave. I refuse to put a picture of the necklace up for personal reasons, I don't want people to think I'm gloating and such. However, since a lot of you live far away, and won't see me for a bit, I will email a picture to you (Mil!). So if you want to be added to that email I send tomorrow evening, send me an email, or request it in your comment. Thanks for caring, guys.**

My Favorite Type of Post...

2008-05-10T07:44:00.004-06:00

...the bulleted kind. It seems the best way of handling updates I have to share. Plus it's the easiest!

Moose is doing great. You would never know anything was wrong with him. He has been happily playing all week at daycare, and according to them, it hasn't slowed him down a bit. Pieces of the cast are starting to rub off, leaving it frayed. We have an appointment on the 14th for him to have his cast replaced. Doctor N mentioned they would probably put him to sleep to replace the cast, because he is so little he might fight them putting it back on. We're not sure about that yet. Luckily the appointment is at 9, so we won't have to keep him hungry for too long.
Pee-pee in the potty has been progressing. He is clearly doing it for the M&Ms rewards we give him, we've diminished the rewards down to one M&M now. I tried to put him in a pull-up on last Sunday, and he promptly pooped in it. Not fun. So I haven't done it again. He has gone almost each morning, and once he actually went twice, once before breakfast, and once after before we left for school. At school, he has gone several times, but only during the morning hours. The afternoon hours are pretty busy for them, they do crafts, and go on walks, and play on the playground. So that is understandable. I'm not sure when we'll switch over to pull-ups. Advice? Should I just deal with the poo-poo or should I wait until he is ready to poo-poo in the potty?
We finally seem to have enough clothing for Summer. I would like to get him some sandals too, but that is not high priority. Special thanks to Mimi for showing up with jammies and shirts. (even if some of them were FUBU:) JK Mimi.
Work has been good for me lately. Busy but manageable busy. And that is a good thing. My days go by fast and are rewarding. My co-workers are going on a big trip back to Chicago next week to visit some of our divisions. I'm sadly not able to come on this trip, ha-ha have fun guys:)
Annnd I can't go to Chicago because Cory is going to BMW School! He leaves for Chicago on the 14th, after Moose's doctor appointment, and will be attending school until the 16th. Then, because he is so close to home, he is going to visit my in-laws that weekend in Wisconsin. He will be coming home on the 18th. So I will be single-parenting all week. I'm not sure how I feel, it won't be too bad I don't think. Moose and I will just have to do some fun activities together.
Speaking of Cory, he is buying another car. Since we've met, we have owned a plethora of cars. It is just something you sign on for when you marry a car guy. He was very upfront about it. I won't even try to list them out for you, I don't even know if I could remember them all. This car he is buying is a bit different, because it is a lot newer than the others he has bought. He is buying a black '02 Mustang from one of our friend's brothers. The car will be here on Monday. Big thank you to Aaron for picking it up for us. I'm looking forward to driving it, most of you know I miss my blue '01 terribly (just guess what I'll be getting when I trade in my BMW) but this car is a stick-shift. Nothing I am sure I can't handle, I learned a long time ago, but I have to re-learn, and use it so I don't loose it.
He has sold the GT, which he bought for me last Summer. (remember I mentioned it has frame damage and would cost an arm and a leg to fix) So he has sold it to his new friend that owns some sort of customizing shop. They met when he put a roll-cage in Cory's SVO Mustang. I put one stipulation on our total car ownership, he can only have five cars at a time. We don't have room for more, and that includes my cars, right now I only have two, if you include the Coupe. This number may change when we finally follow through with our driveway plans. We want to take it around the side of the house, and eventually all the way to the back for a basketball court, and to the planned garage (Gawd help me, I'll never see Cory again after that is built).
Speaking of my backyard it is absolutely beautiful right now with all the big trees and flowering plants. Cory planted a raspberry bush, so we'll see how that goes. I added a spreading flower to my front bed, but since I started from seed, it is just now starting to pop up. I will take pics when it get a bit more noticeable.
We went to order our new door last weekend. We have been to Lowe's (I've called it our second home and I'm not exaggerating) at least three times looking at doors and sidelights. However we had never actually talked to anyone. So we finally approached the service rep, and she promptly informed us that we had to have our door professionally measured before we did a thing, including picking out the door, because "every doorway is different". So the contractor came this week, measured and sent the sizes to Lowe's. Our service rep. is supposed to call us, for a consultation. I was hoping this weekend, but she's not called yet. We have decided on the color, but I want to keep it a secret so you can be surprised when you see it on the house. So Mom and Mil, don't tell anyone!
Cory and I had a wonderful date last night. We went out with our new friends Beaven and his wife Elle. We met at the Pub and went to catch Iron Man. OhMyGoodness the movie was AWESOME. I throughly enjoyed it. The characters were perfectly cast, and the story was great. I have read a few Iron Man comics, but I didn't know the whole story so it was mostly a surprise. Of course, we had to stay through the credits to see the Extra Deleted Scene at the end that sets up the sequel. Let's just say I thought it was worth it.
We don't have a lot scheduled for today, so I want to take care of cleaning and laundry so I don't have to do it tomorrow. Not too sure what Cory has planned, he says that my gift is from Moose and not him. Moose did make a very cool craft at school that I will keep forever of course and put up a picture of on Mother's Day. Daycare is handy like that.

And that is all for now. I'm planning on posting on Sunday, but hey, it's my day and I might not:)

My Little Boy's Boo-Boo

2008-05-03T06:15:00.010-06:00

*Word has spread pretty quickly through the family, so you may have heard about this already. I want to tell the story all the way from start to end, because almost nobody has heard it all. Some of the story is a bit gruesome considering this is my two-year-old we are talking about, just wanted to warn any squeamish that they might not want to read this.*

Friday, May 2nd around 7 AM, I settled down at my desk at work. I spent about 30 minutes catching up on my email and planning my day. I had several projects that were due, and I was planning the best way to attack them, and get them all accomplished. I was in the middle of an email to one of the divisions when my desk phone rang.

Very odd, it was Cory and he absolutely just never calls me.

Cory: "Why the hell didn't you answer your cell phone? Daycare has been trying to get ahold of you!"
Cory: (not waiting for my answer) "Moose has caught his hand in a door and daycare, they've called us to take him to the hospital"
Me: "Oh God, okay, I'm on my way!"

So I raced over to daycare, only taking time to lock the door behind me, I left my tote bag by my desk, therefore also leaving my pain medicine for my wisdom teeth.

I don't believe I've ever driven so fast in my life. I contemplated driving the wrong side off the road for a few moments when I got caught behind someone who felt the need to drive below the speed limit. Luckily, daycare is only a few minutes away. Unluckily, the stretch of road between me and daycare is a hotspot for morning traffic, being a speedway towards downtown, and onto the bypass around our town.

I sat in traffic, actually squirming in my seat, my heart and chest actually hurting. I picked up my phone, called Sarah, hoping she could stop my house and pick up Doggie and Blankie for Moose to hold onto.

Damn, she's still asleep of course. It was only 7:30 AM, we're the only fools who are up so early.

FINALLY, I make it to the neighborhood turnoff to our daycare. Again, I get stuck behind someone who refuses to turn in front of anyone at the two-way stop sign. I was extremely frustrated. Of course they were driving totally normally.

I pull in to the daycare parking lot and Cory is standing out front waiting for me, with Moose in his arms, with one of Moose's teachers, and the head of the daycare.

I barely registered they were with him, I only saw Moose. And his hand wrapped in a bloody bandage with Cory holding it up above his head. Moose was holding on for dear life to a stuffed brown horse and a tie-dye stuffed dolphin.

They opened the car doors and everyone started talking at once. Cory was putting Moose in his car seat, trying to keep his hand elevated above his head. Moose was crying, not extremely loud, almost like he was already exhausted, and crying lightly. The teacher jumped in the front seat to help Cory get Moose in his car seat.

The head of the daycare opened by car door, and I turned to meet her, expecting to hear some sort of apology. My eyes already narrowed, I started to yell for some sort of explanation.

Instead, she said, "Here is the peice of Moose's finger. It is the fleshy part, it is on ice, they will be able to sew it back on. Try to stay calm."

Then she handed my my son's finger in a ziplock bag with ice.

My heart clenched somehow more than it already was. My eyes filled with tears. I have no idea what else she said to me, if anything more. She closed the door. Cory got in back with Moose.

And we headed to Central Baptist. Our hospital, that held our little boy and took such good care of him when he was born early.

I navigated traffic towards the hospital.

I must have. Honestly I don't remember it at all. I know now that I was in shock.

We pulled up to the ER. I left my car there next to a sign that said "ten minute parking only" and headed inside with Moose, still crying lightly, (nothing like I would think if you would have asked me) we quickly signed in. And they lead us directly back to a room. They pulled me away to register him, gave me his ID braclet. Which I again have no memory of, I only remember I could hear my baby crying. We finished up and she said something like, "...I'm not sure which room they put him in..." but I had already started to run off, toward the direction of my child's crying.

I found them easily. Cory was sitting on a bed, Moose was in his arms, and there about three nurses and a doctor in there, everyone trying to calm him down. Finally, an eternity, or maybe three or four minutes later, they doctor returned with a S-H-O-T, which he knowingly spelled for us, that would numb Moose's hand.

I am not a squeamish person. But when they took the homemade bandage that covered my son's hand. I felt like I was going to pass out. I actually had to look away.

They tip of Moose's middle finger, on his left hand had been severed at an angle. The nail was still intact above it, the fleshy tip of the finger had been cut off, leaving the jagged nail, and the tip of his finger bone exposed. Blood was flowing.

The sight of his finger upset Moose, understandably. He cried harder, and fought the doctor as he tried to inject Moose's hand with numbing medicine. This was almost too much for me. I felt the sobs start to rack my body, and then I couldn't control it any more. The tears flowing freely, no longer trying to contain it, I absolutely broke down.

It only took a few minutes for the shot to take affect. Moose stopped crying as soon as they wrapped his hand back up with a more professional sterile wrapping.

I called Sarah again, no answer.

I called my Mom at school.

Mom: "What's up?"
Me: (somehow calmly) "Moose had cut his finger off at daycare, we're at the ER."
Mom: (obviously not understanding how serious the situation is) "Hmm. Well do you need me to come over there?"
Me: "Yes."
Mom: "So he cut his finger?"
Me: "Yes. Off."
Mom: "Okay I'm on my way."
Me: "Please stop at the house and get Doggie and Blankie"
Mom: "Sure"

I called Cici, who works at Central Baptist, but who was off for the day, planning for my cousin, Jenn's baby shower this weekend.

Once I found some cartoons on the TV, Moose quietly sat in Cory's lap on the hospital bed.

About ten minutes later, the nurse came to lead us over to Radiology for X-rays. They wanted to determine if the bone had been broken or severed as well.

We weaved in and out of the maze of corridors in the hospital. She deposited us in the radiology waiting room. It was at this moment when Cory said, "Did you leave the car in a bad spot? You should go park it."

So I did. I ran through the hospital hallways, trying to go as fast as possible. God was obviously with me, somehow I felt guided through the hallways back to my baby.

I got back just as the radiologist showed up to take Moose back for X-rays. Thank God. Literally actually.

I'm very surprised in how good the hospital staff was with Moose. Absolutely everyone we encountered, from the man cleaning the floors, to the doctors, everyone was really good with him. Talking on his level, sensitive to his hurt arm, I really appreciated it.

The X-ray tech sat Cory and Moose in a chair and took "pictures" of his hurt hand. She left the bandage on, thinking it would be okay. We finished up and she was taking us back to our room when another nurse met us in the hallway, and told us we had to take the bandage off for the X-rays.

Now, Moose was not in any sort of pain, his whole hand was numb. But seeing his hurt finger made his cry and physically hurt me to see again. I can only imagine how he felt to see it again.

Seeing my son's pudgy little toddler hands on X-ray was almost too much again. I started to break down again, the X-ray tech put her hand on my shoulder and said to not worry, that it looked to her that the bone was not broken.

I know for a fact that X-ray tech and really anyone running a test in a hospital is not supposed to share information with the patient. So I really appreciated her telling me that.

She must be a mother too.

She led us back to our hospital room. And who was waiting for us, none other than Grandy, my Dad. He was extremely worried, Mom had filled him in, and he was really near us so he rushed over to the hospital. I filled him in, and we both got extremely emotional again.

Moose happily, quietly, sat with Cory on the bed, watching cartoons. As we waited for the doctor, Mimi, my mom, and Mark, my brother, showed up. The doctor showed up, and informed us that the bone had not been broken. They were sending us to a doctor that specialized in hand surgeries. Her office and surgery center was all the way across town.

So we gathered our X-rays, got directions, and headed across town. We talked a bit in the car, but Cory and I were already exhausted, probably due to our adrenaline wearing off. It was only about 10 AM at this point.

We arrived at the Hand Specialty Center, which had a huge sign across the building, and actually make me feel very secure in letting this doctor operate on my child. I had a few reservations just letting a stranger I had never met, cut into my child. But, I guess that is just the faith we put in doctors. Plus, she had been recommended by the ER, so she must be good right?

We waited a while it seemed, maybe a half hour? Luckily, we were able to turn the TV on and put it on Disney for Moose. I filled out a stack of paperwork this time.

They call us back, we sit in a room and wait just a few minutes before a nurse practitioner meets with us, and tells us we won't be able to meet with the doctor until we go over to the Surgery Center. I couldn't help but be upset. Why had we waited all this time here then? Why hadn't we just gone to the surgery center? What if we waited too long, and they couldn't re-attach the finger tip? What would happen?

Instead of asking these simple questions, I snap at the nurse, saying something along the lines of, "We have to go somewhere else?"

She calmly nods, and tells us she'll be right back. Cory tells me I don't have to be mean, and I snapped back at him.

We check out of there, and simply walk next door to the Surgery Center. We check in, only for them to tell us we are in the wrong place, only to realize we are in the right place, they just hadn't been notified yet.

At this point Sarah catches up with me, having frantically called my cell phone, emailed me, trying to find me. She knows something is wrong, obviously I wouldn't call her at 7AM for no reason. She insists on coming over and waiting with us. So she heads over.

They keep us waiting almost an hour, and I really thank God, yet again, for my mother. She said with Moose in her lap and sang and told him stories, and kept him totally entertained the whole time. He was blissfully attentive, listening and giggling to her. This place had
TVs but they were all tuned to CNN. Who seriously watches that?

At this point things had calmed enough for Cory to make some phone calls, so he called my Mil and Bil and filled them in.

Sarah showed up pretty quickly it seemed. But it must have been a while. She loved on Moose. And then they called us back!

They showed us back to a prep room with a bed. Moose and I sat on the bed, Cory sat in a chair. They closed the little curtain to the room. So then we waited.

Doctor N showed up about 20 minutes later. She told us they wanted to save the piece of finger, but they might not be able to do so, it all depended on what she saw when they unwrapped it. She wanted to wait until Moose was under before she unwrapped it, because she wait was traumatic of Moose to see his finger. Which we knew from the hospital.

She told us we were waiting until Moose's stomach was empty, because of the full breakfast we unknowingly fed him that morning. So she said it would be at least an hour until surgery. I send Cory out to tell M&D and Sarah to go get lunch, and to give them an update. At this point, Moose tells me he wants a nap, and promptly falls asleep in my arms. Cory returns and we carefully place him on the bed. He snuggles in and falls into a deep sleep. Poor baby was obviously exhausted.

Cory and I passed the hour whispering our fears to each other and tried to comfort each other.

The anesthesiologist arrived and answered our questions, telling us we couldn't wait too long to reattach the finger, because it was a "dead skin graft". There was no blood flowing to it. We would learn more about it later when the doctor talked to us after the surgery.

About 1:30PM, they arrived to take him back. Unfortunately, the opened the curtain really loudly and it woke Moose up. He sort of woke up, realized we weren't coming, and started to cry. We watched them wheel him down the hall, towards surgery. One of the anesthesiologists picked up Doggie and made him talk to Moose. Then they turned a corner, and we had to go back to the waiting room.

Sarah was sitting the waiting room, gracefully having brought us lunch, she looked like an angel. An angel with food. We were starving of course. We ate, and waited. Talking. Sitting and staring. I don't really remember.

I got a phone call from Jeana, my work friend. Turns out her and Kris wanted to get out of the office, so they headed over to visit me, and they brought my medicine! I hadn't even realized my jaw was throbbing! They met Cory and Sarah, and headed back to the office to cover for my absence.

Mom and Dad got back from lunch, Dad having run home to shower, he had been in his work uniform. So we sat and waited.

Sarah headed back to her office. We really appreciated her coming, and especially lunch. Thank you so much Sarah!

The nurse called us back, to meet with Doctor N, so she could tell us how surgery went.

Doctor N shows us, and fills us in. Moose did very well in surgery.

She reattached the piece of skin. She sewed it back on. It will act like a cap, so the finger can "rebuild itself". Eventually it will turn black, and fall off similar to a scab. The finger may or may not look normal, there is a good chance it will. Some of the nail bed was damaged, but should be okay. The nail will fall off and regrow relatively normally. There may be a scar, there may not. Moose is in a cast from the tip of his finger, to his shoulder. This will prevent him taking it off, or messing with it. We come back in two weeks for a new cast. It is a soft cast, but still pretty heavy for a little boy. At the end, he will probably just have a band aid protecting it. The entirely recovery will last eight to ten weeks.

We slowly absorb this will Moose wakes up from the anesthesia. How long will he actually be in a cast? Will this ruin our Florida vacation? Will he be scarred? How bad? Is his fingerprint changed? How will I give him a bath. HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DEAL WITH THIS?

So then Moose woke up. We all went back to visit him while he woke up. The nurse has holding him and snuggling him when we got back to him. She depositing him in my arms and sat me in a soft rocking chair. Then she promptly brought over three chairs for Cory, and M&D.

We all sat there talking while Moose came out of it. About 45 minutes later, the nurse gave us the prescriptions for pain medicine and antibiotic. We got in our car in a torrential downpour, and headed home.

We stopped at Krispie Kreme, for treats for the extremely good boy, who did better than I ever would have thought. I mean, I know my child is extremely well-behaved, but I just never would have thought he would have done so well! Amazing.

Krispie Kreme was out of Original Glazed. What? Seriously? I kind of thought they were joking. but NO. So we got some cake doughnuts and chocolate covered ones.

I dropped Moose and Cory off at home, got them settled with doughnuts, and headed to Rite Aid to fill our prescriptions. When I got back, they were sitting on the couch, watching Dora the Explorer. Moose was sitting beside Cory, with his cast sitting on a pillow.

We were amazed all evening to watch Moose casually play with blocks, watch TV with us, and not complain once. I don't know if he understands or... what. I don't know. But I am amazed how well he had done.

Also, out of the blue, he asked to go twice to pee-pee in the potty. And he went. Twice.

We woke him up twice in the middle of the night for pain medicine. We were both hoping he would sleep in this morning. I mean, we sort of needed to recover from yesterday, you know?

Nope, 7:20 AM he woke up this morning, just like normal. Except this morning, I tried to put a diaper on him like normal, and he said he wanted to pee-pee in the potty. And he went!

Amazing. He has been quietly playing and watching Disney this morning. He has asked to go two more times to the potty and HAS GONE PEE-PEE EACH TIME.

???

Well, we are both very pleased, but it is kind of funny that this has happened right after our Finger Event.

All-in-all, I feel like my Mothering Ability was tested or something. I'm not sure how to describe it. Does that make sense? It sort of does in my head.

I wanted to get this all down before I forgot, not only to inform everyone in the family of the details, but to get it down to look at later when Moose is grown up.

Thanks to everyone who helped, called, and prayed and sent good thoughts. We are doing just fine in the Bee family. Amazingly.

Now I just need to figure out how I'm going to bathe Moose.

Updates: Bullet Style

2008-05-01T16:46:00.004-06:00

Bullets seem the easiest way to share the news that I have to share, so here we go:

My wisdom teeth are better, I have had to back to the oral surgeon twice more for new stuffings for my dry socket. I am doing much better, and I am almost off the pain meds. I have a final check up next Monday.
Moose told me he had to go "poo-poo" the other day and I almost had a heart attack I was so happy. After much grunting and groaning, we had an empty pot. Though right after a nice, loud, fart, he popped up and demanded a treat.
He needs new tennis shoes. Again.
Cory had a great time at Churchill Downs for Steve's bachelor party. They had a blast eating and drinking all they could stuff in at their suite. Very posh, considering I was at home drawing on the sidewalks with Moose in sidewalk chalk.
I finally received all of the promo items I have been working on at work. It is really great to see the final product that I worked so hard on! Plus, it's cool to get free stuff:)
Moose is doing extremely well in his big-boy-bed. We've permanently switched his bedtime from 7PM to 8PM (he never adjusted to the time change, probably because the light outside?) and that clenched it. About 2-3 times a week, he will wake up once and ask for water. Even though we carefully place a glass of water in his room, and inform him he does not need Mommie and Daddie to get water, he still calls for us to go with him across the room to get the water. It is annoying. But other than that? Loves his bed. Asks for "ny-nite with my Thomas" when it's time for bed. We got a door knob cover so he can't lock himself in his room.
I finally met our new neighbors that moved into the pink house across the street. I was so excited when they moved in. They are young like Cory and I, and they had a baby. Then, she kind of dressed a little hippy-ish. Then, he started up his electric lawn-mower. And I knew we would never be friends with them. Yea, we're not really hybrid-driving kinda people, you know? Today after work, the girl was out with their baby, and Moose spotted her and said he wanted to go see the baby. So we walked across the street and I introduced ourselves, and they introduced themselves. And I noticed her bra-less status, and Teva sandals... and we talked for a bit... that was about it. We might have a play date, she asked about our daycare. I'll keep you updated. She is a therapist for the hearing-impaired, isn't that interesting?
We are going to buy a new door and side lights for the house. We are going on Saturday to order it. I AM SO EXCITED, I can barely stand it. I set it up in PhotoShop, and looked at different colors, we've changed our minds several times on siding and accent colors. But now we've picked. Things are in stone. It is exciting.
Cory pulled the engine from the engine bay in the GT and discovered the car had been in an accident. So we've decided it would be too expensive to fix the frame damage and make it safe. He has it up for sale. He has decided he is going to buy a newer Mustang, and give me his coveted Coupe. Of course, he has to drop a new engine in it because I would never be happy with a 4-cylander. So the list of vehicles is changing yet again. Cory found a '02 that he is interested in. I'll keep you updated on that front as well.
I am so excited about my baby shower gift for Jenn's next baby shower! I worked all night Tuesday to get it "fixed". I want to post a pic but you'll have to wait until Sunday, after the shower, since she checks my site:) I really think she will love it.

That's all for now! I'm sure I'll think of several more things as soon as I hit publish! Oh well...

Baby Avery's Shower!

2008-04-26T17:03:00.004-06:00

As most of you know, my cousin-sister Jennifer is adopting a baby girl from Guatemala. Avery is almost ready to come home to meet us!

Today Sarah, Missy, Mom and me hosted a baby shower for Jenn! Here are some great pics from the event:

In My Infinite Wisdom

2008-04-26T07:10:00.002-06:00

I had my wisdom teeth out on Tuesday. I've known they should come out for a while, they have been impacted for about a year now.

About two months ago, the pain in my upper left jaw was so intense, I thought the root canal I had last summer had become infected. So when my dentist agreed with me, I went to see a root canal specialist to see about fixing or re-doing the root canal. Turned out the root canal was just fine.

It was my wisdom teeth. They were making their presence known, my shoving all of my teeth together. So much so, that my mouth guard I sleep in was tighter each night.

So I went to see an oral surgeon about having my wisdom teeth removed. He agreed they needed to be removed, so I scheduled the surgery for last Tuesday.

Cory and I arrived at the office on Tuesday, they immediately took me back, gave me laughing gas, started my IV, and gave me "something to help me relax" then by the magic of painkillers, I woke up to find the surgery done, and Cory coaxing me into a wheelchair.

I don't remember much after that. I don't remember the drive home, getting inside, or into bed. But I do remember waking up every half hour or so, when Cory came in to check on me, re-situate the ice packs, and give me pain meds.

After a few hours of sleep, he came in to give me medicine, and I woke up starving. So Cory helped me into the living room to sit on the couch, so he could help me eat some applesauce.

As I was sitting on the couch, with the bowl of applesauce, and glass of juice, I started to feel funny. I told Cory to take the juice so I didn't spill it. Which he did.

Then the heat and blackness took over. I couldn't move, and it felt like there was pressure all over my body. I woke up several minutes later laid out on the couch, with Cory pouring juice down my throat.

Turns out I was out for five to ten minutes, during which Cory freaked out, called 911, and the dentist, finally realizing I was having issues with the anesthesia. The dentist said something about all the carbon dioxide rising to my head because I was sitting up, and it made me pass out. It was so scary, because towards the end, I could hear Cory talking to me, and the operator, but I couldn't move or respond. At that point I started to hyperventilate. According to the dentist that was good, because my body was regulating its oxygen levels.

For the next few hours, I was light-headed and very weak. Finally, right before Mom brought Moose home, I was feeling better. So apparently I have a problem with anesthesia.

I tried to be so good about taking my pain medicine, and following the rules about not spitting or sucking too much. I stayed home on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I went back to work on Thursday, and with all the talking I did with my friends and co-workers, my jaw started to swell and turn black and blue. That evening I actually cried my jaw hurt so bad. At that point I realized something was probably wrong.

So Friday morning I went back to the dentist to have them look and see if every was okay. I didn't think it was, because I had a huge hole in the back of my jaw, where you could see my jaw bone through it.

The dentist diagnosed me with a dry socket, which is very common. The nurse set me up with a packing that she put in the "hole" that had medicine and cloves in it. I could not imagine as she was stuffing it in, that it would make me feel better, but somehow it did.

I'm feeling much better now. When I first had my pain meds filled I was shocked to see I had refills on the pain meds, I kind of scoffed and thought, who would have to have these refilled? I never us all them when I'm sick!

So I had to have them refilled on Friday too of course. I am happy to report though, that with the new packing for my dry socket, I am down to one Vicodin, instead of two. That was an accomplishment too.

So I'm feeling much better, to my family's relief, I'm sure. Cory has been single-parenting all week! Special thanks to everyone who's had a help in my recovery!

I am such a bad blogger...

2008-04-23T10:36:00.019-06:00

Sorry I've been neglecting you, old blog. I know the tens of people that read you every day depend on me to update, so that they can see fabulous pictures of Moose and Cory:)

So-I have a lot to catch you up on. I'll try to include everything, so this should be a long picture-logged post.

First of all, here is my old computer:

And here is my brand-new rockin' computer:

Second of all, the new dishwasher we bought with our tax return:

Here is the old one:

Here is the new one:

Third of all, I decided to update my closet. I was thinking there was more I could do with it. So Cory bought me a very cool kit that doubled my space, and added in shelves. Very swanky.
Here is the old closet:
And here is the new one. I totally recommend one of these kits, I can easily see all of my clothes now. And if you see them, you'll wear them!

And now, some family photos I've been saving:

Would you like... an eggo? A... hot pocket?

And for those of you that are still with us:

Picture Post!

2008-04-15T14:39:00.005-06:00

Things have been pretty busy around the Bee Household these past few days. Cory has been busy planning a bachelor party for our friend Steve, and I have been playing taxi driver for Moose.

Moose was invited to his first friend's birthday party on Saturday afternoon. It was at Gymborie, where we held Moose's party. It was a blast! They sang songs I actually knew this time, and they seemed to have a better sequence of events. They played a bit, sang a song, danced, played a bit, played a game, danced, etc. Moose had a wonderful time. He also got very cool gift bags, that were actually a sand pail, with gifts inside. VERY COOL. At least Moose and I thought so. I let Moose pick out the gift for Friend H, and he really wanted to keep it for himself. Luckily, when the time came, it was given with minimal fuss and muss.

Cory has been given the honor of being Steve's best man in his upcoming wedding. Steve is getting married in late May, and it is going to be a WEEKEND EVENT. We have the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner on Friday, wedding the next day, reception, cookout on Sunday after, then we head home. This all happens up in Louisville. So we are staying overnight for a weekend away! Now that I am typing this, I am realizing we have to do something about our dogs. Hmmm. Too bad Mimi and Grandaddy don't like doggies too.

My jaw has been bothering me more than usual, so I went to a specialist that thought my root canal was infected. Turns out it was fine, but my wisdom teeth aren't okay. I get to have them removed next Tuesday. So that should be a blast.

Moose has graduated officially to the Big Boy Bed. He did extremely well his first night, getting up only a few times, asking for water, and "hugs." He is going down really well now, except he does actually still get up a max of about three times, asking for certain things. (mainly "hugs") He picked out Thomas bedding which is very cute. Here's a few pictures I snapped.

The front of his crib comes off, to form a toddler daybed.

Picture Saturday!

2008-04-05T06:40:00.009-06:00

*everyone with Readers, please visit and see my new Spring artwork!*

I just flat forgot to post last night. Cory and I got wrapped up in 3:10 To Yuma, which was freakin' awesome, of course I love Westerns, so I'm a bit biased.
We've had a ton of home improvements, (because we got our tax return in the mail) that I plan to post about tomorrow, along with a new recipe that was simple and yummy-if a bit weird.
And, without further ado:

We have a super-big-day planned. Moose has learned how to climb out of his crib at Mimi's house, and a few times I have come in to get him in the morning, and he has his leg hiked up like he's trying to hop out of ours.

So-he is ready for the front of his crib to come off, and transform (picture Transformer sounds here (I tried to type them out, but it did not work AT ALL)) into a daybed. I researched online and found that Target and Wal-Mart have some great toddler sets (like a real bed set, except crib mattress-sized). So we are heading to Target today. I hope they have some in the store, I don't want to order online and have to pay shipping. Plus, I want it NOW. We've been talking it up to Moose all week and we are ready.

I am pumped about this.

What? I am.

This is good right? A seamless transition? Well maybe not. But we can hope.

Egg Hunt 2008!

2008-03-24T16:37:00.005-06:00

Moose's daycare had an Egg Hunt today at school. I was lucky enough to be able to attend. Here are a few snapshots I took:

What? Why...yes I AM enjoying iPhoto-this slideshow took exactly 3 minutes.

Happy Easter 2008!

2008-03-23T11:50:00.002-06:00

Domestic Goddess Tip-Week #5

2008-03-16T12:17:00.004-06:00

I actually haven't been to the grocery today, Cory and I attended a housewarming party for some new friends of ours, Andrew and Lauren. They were super-nice and we had a great time, plus I made two new friends! Looking forward to pursuing that friendship, it is so much easier when both Cory and I have a friend to talk to, if you know what I mean!

So-due to the party, M&D graciously kept Moose overnight, which meant Cory and I slept in like dogs, rolled through Panera for bagels 'round 11, and just got home from the mall. And we haven't made time for the grocery yet. I think we'll have to do it during the week unfortunately, which I hate-but we'll see.

I have an interesting tip this week, and a lovely new crock pot meal that was DELICIOUS.

Three weeks ago, I bought cheapo store-brand dishwashing soap for my kitchen, and a mongo-size container of antibacterial hand soap. I had received beautiful hand-painted glass containers to display on my sink that could be filled with anything-be it the exorbitantly over-priced Williams Sinoma hand soap, or Meijer brand hand soap.

Who would know if it was in another container? You won't tell anyone will you? I didn't think so-check it out:

I have a great new St. Patrick's Day recipe to share. I made it this week in the crock pot, because corned beef brisket was on sale at Meijer last week. This recipe was inspired by friend Charing's recipe, and pulled from my magazine All You.

Corned Beef and Cabbage
1.5 lb. small red potatoes or 4-5 Yukon Gold potatoes peeled, chopped into cubes
2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 corned beef brisket with seasoning packet
2 tsp. ground cloves
1 small onion, chopped
2/3 package baby carrots
1 small white cabbage, chopped into small wedges

Arrange potatoes, onion, and garlic on bottom of slow cooker. Place corned beef on top of the potatoes, and sprinkle with seasoning packet. Sprinkle ground cloves over beef. Add enough water to cover beef, cover and cook on low until tender, all day, 7 to 8 hours.

When done, transfer meat to cutting board, and cover up with foil. Scoop out potatoes, and put in large bowl, and also cover them with foil to keep warm. Pour left-over water from crock pot into large pot on stove. (or scoop it out using a glass like I did) Add carrots and cabbage to pot, turn heat to med-high, and cook until veggies are tender, about 30 minutes.

While veggies are cooking, slice beef across the grain (that is important, or it may fall apart) and serve with potatoes, carrots, and cabbage on one platter.

This was so extremely yummy, I can see myself making it more often than just on St. Patrick's day! Moose and Cory loved it, and both asked for seconds and thirds, and we still had enough left over for two lunches, which heated up very well in the microwave. This would be complemented very well with a crusty French loaf.

Picture Friday!

2008-03-15T08:45:00.007-06:00

It feels very weird to post these pictures after I wore a t-shirt to work yesterday... but I still thought you would want to see them!
Spring is quite odd in our neck of the woods.

I have begun what I can only assume is a lengthy affair with iPhoto, which came on my new iMac. It is so wonderful and user-friendly, even Cory can use it. There are so many bells and whistles, I cannot even express how wonderful it is. From automatically importing photos-to sorting them into "events" automatically seeing what days you took the photos on-to ordering prints and calendars and cards-all from iPhoto. Apple really did good things with this program.

And I haven't even investigated some of the other iLife products yet. I'll look at iMovie next-it should prove to be cool too.

My new computer is so cool I love it already-iMacs don't have a tower, all the computer info is in the monitor, the very flat monitor! I don't know how they do it-but it's cool.

Alright, enough bragging-on to the pictures!

Snow Day!

2008-03-09T16:37:00.006-06:00

Here are a few pictures from our snow adventure. We had no idea the snow had melted so much! We would have gone out sooner. It suited our purposes, however:)

I have a few more, including a video, that I will share on Friday. It looks like my new rechargeable batteries will definitely fix things for a while. So Picture Friday is baaaack.

Domestic Goddess Tip #4

2008-03-09T09:55:00.003-06:00

Somehow, even though I am almost thirty years old, I have contracted strep throat. So, the long and short of it is, I am not feeling well!

We did manage to go to the grocery today, and I am trying a new crock pot recipe tomorrow, which I am very excited about. I will share it if it is good.

For now, I wanted to share a very simple family recipe that I tweaked a smidgen.

Polska Kielbasa with Veggies
1 package polska or smoked sausage
2 large baking potatoes
1 can green beans
2 teaspoon chicken broth granules/or chicken broth cubes/or canned chicken broth

Fill a large stew pot with enough water to boil the potatoes (about five cups or so) and while that heats up, peel and chop the potatoes into cubes. Add in the chicken broth granules so that they dissolve in the warm water, then add in potato cubes. (I keep a jar of chicken broth granules and beef broth granules in my pantry, because they are an easy way to add flavor to a bland dish) Boil potatoes until they are cooked, and you can mash them on the side of the pot, about 30-40 minutes.

While potatoes are cooking, slice polska into 1/4" slices. When potatoes are done, add polska slices, and canned green beans in to the pot. Cook about five minutes, or until they start to plump.

Use a slotted spoon to serve dish in bowls, salt and pepper to taste.

Moose and Cory love this dish, Moose loves the "big hot dogs". This also heats up remarkably well, there is typically enough left over for both Cory and I to have a "lunch serving" for the next day.

Big special thanks to Jenn, for buying me a super cool magnetic weekly menu list for my fridge. Thanks for thinking of me!!

Another special thanks to my Mom, who not only watched Moose while I trekked though the six inches of snow (a big deal for our area:) to get meds for my strep throat, but also sent home a meatloaf and hash brown casserole so I wouldn't have to make dinner!! Thanks mom!

No Picture Friday!

2008-03-07T17:25:00.006-06:00

Well, I decided to buy a new computer instead of a camera.

I kind of had to, actually. My Mac that I had at home was my work computer, that I was to use anytime I had to stay home with Moose. Well, my boss decided that he wanted me and my fellow employees to have access to a laptop that we could take home as needed-but my work computer was to be returned.

Not a bad deal. Since I installed the new operating system, Leopard, it has acted more slowly. I think it was just too robust for my old G4. Nothing big went wrong luckily, but I feel better getting a new computer. (I have an external back up drive too.)

So my new iMac is currently on its way to me.

I. Cannot. Wait.

I'm sure some of you understand, and the rest of you are shrugging your shoulders! I was also able to order a new scanner/printer and speakers. I am SO PUMPED. It should be here at the latest next Friday.

Now-about my camera. I've decided to try and nurse it along, and buy some new rechargeable batteries. I think that will help it tremendously. And maybe I'll be able to afford the new camera I picked out at the end of Summer. Keep your fingers crossed!

Family news? Not too much going on here, except for the tremendous snow storm that is supposed to hit us. We are not too sure it is actually going to make it to us though. I actually hope that it does snow, so we can play in it.

Moose is good, nothing big there, and alas, no photos to share.

My sister-in-law has some fabulous news. She won an art contest. Read about it in their local paper here.

And here are a few pictures of her.

Domestic Goddess Tip #3

2008-03-02T10:32:00.002-06:00

No ground breaking tips this week. I did find a wonderful recipe that we tried and loved, so I thought I would share it.

Southern Pop Pork Chops
Pork Chops
1 Cup Coke or Pepsi (mine was from a flat 2-liter)
1 Cup Ketchup
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

Quite simple isn't it?! Mix the ketchup and coke in a bowl, pour over the pork chops in a baking dish. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the top.
Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Actual reactions-
Cory: "Hmm. This is definitely a keeper."
Moose: "Mo CHOPS, Mo CHOPS!!" "PEEZE MO CHOPS!"

I will add that the sauce drenched the pork chops in my pan, effectively covering them totally, I didn't just brush it on or anything. When in doubt, add more sauce, that is my motto while cooking.

We all enjoyed this recipe, and the super simple minimal ingredient list might actually be a tip, now that I think about it! Sometimes simple meals are delicious and cost effective.

*for those of you asking about the crock pot recipe I made last week, and never shared-it was not good, that is why I didn't post about it:)

No Picture Friday!

2008-02-29T16:55:00.004-06:00

Sorry, my camera has died a painful death. Let us all mourn it's passing with some nice family updates. Everybody likes family updates... unless you don't know us, then they are probably boring.

Anyhoo-Moose is talking more and more. And... about every other word or so is decipherable. I spend my time saying, "what?" "don't whisper" "don't yell" and "huh?". He hasn't bitten any friends recently, so I feel safe saying maybe it was a phase. The last time he bit a friend, was when I was in Chicago. So I think that is how he expresses annoyance. So, as my friend Charing said, "hopefully daycare won't piss him off again..."

I took all I could take of Mickey Mouse Club. You can only watch Minnie get her Pretend Doctor Sticker for six times before you go crazy. So I switched our DVR to tape another show. "Yo, Gabba, Gabba". Mainly because is amuses me so much, and I like to think about what kind of drugs the creators had to have been on when they thought of this show. On a similar note, it is very educational, yesterday Moose learned about how to eat right, because the carrots and green beans wanted to be "in the party in his tummy". Trust me, it is better than Mickey.

Moose had a severe preference for me before his trip to Wisconsin with his Daddy. I am not sure how Daddy felt about it, but I remember when the preference was opposite, it about killed me.

But then again, I'm the jealous type, and I like everything to be about me.

Right after they returned, I realized things had changed for the better. He seems to equally prefer us both. He will call for us both in the middle of the night if he happens to wake up, he asks the current parent where the other one is, they are gone. It seems to have evened up the stakes. Which is great!

I can leave if I have to do some emergency clothes/purse/shoe shopping, and when Cory has to do some emergency car/car/car shopping, he can leave, and Moose is fine.

It has absolutely been killing Cory to not buy any cars the last couple weeks. He comes home every day talking about a new car option for me, when my leased BMW runs out next Summer. I nod, we look at the car online, and I tell him we'll test-drive the car next Winter. We have quite a list compiled.

To ease his car ache, he is planning on working on his SVO, which he pulled the engine out of a few weeks before Christmas. He's reached the expensive part of working on my car, so he has paused on that for a while. I'm quite curious how he is going to take my car out of the garage, and put his car back in, when neither of them run-by himself. It might be amusing to watch, actually.

I don't have a lot of news, myself. Work has hired a new copywriter, whom the other designer and I picked and are extremely happy with. She fits in super-well so far, and seems to be a very talented writer. I worked very hard with my boss last week to get her office all ready for her, and tried to make the transition of starting a new position easy for her. She will be taking all of the simple writing tasks out of my hands, for which I am extremely happy. I can write simple blog posts, but writing technical things escapes me sometimes:) Just not my cup of tea.

I was supposed to go back to Chicago last Friday, but the trip was canceled at the last minute. We waited to late to buy our flights, so my boss went without us.

Due to our onslaught of snow and ice, my ceiling in my office started leaking. I was on my video conference with the VP at the time, and he promptly told me to make sure I didn't inform anyone, or they might start charging me for a pool.

I am now friends with the maintenance man, which is extremely convenient I must say. Any little thing, I can now call him, and he jumps to help out. It is wonderful, and he is a very nice man.

We've been extremely busy at work, with a ton of projects due at the end of February. I am happy to say I met all of my deadlines, and had a leisurely Friday afternoon, completing projects, and exporting final files for my boss's presentation he gives at the end of the quarter. That is my favorite type of Friday, I must say.

We don't have big plans for the weekend, I don't think we're going to go out tonight, however I have breakfast planned with my friends today, along with a playdate for Moose and Carter.

I hope you all have a great weekend, and I plan to post my Domestic Goddess Tips tomorrow!

Almond Baked Chicken Strips

2008-02-25T16:55:00.004-06:00

I tried this wonderful recipe last night, and I had to share it! It turned out delicious, and is not all that bad for you. The only "special" thing I had to pick up at the grocery was almonds, (you might not stock balsamic vinegar, but I do) so it was inexpensive to make too!

Baked Chicken Strips with Mustard, Almond, and Parmesan
H/t: Kalyn's Kitchen

2 very large boneless, skinless chicken breasts

marinade:
2 T mayo
2 T Dijon mustard
1 T white balsamic vinegar (or use slightly less than 1 T white vinegar)
1 T water
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning

coating:
2 T Parmesan cheese (freshly grated or coarsely grated, not the kind that comes in a can)
3/4 cup chopped almonds
1/4 tsp. poultry seasoning
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Trim any visible fat or tendons from chicken, then cut each piece into crosswise strips about 1 inch wide. Wisk together mayo, Dijon, white balsamic vinegar, water, garlic powder, and poultry seasoning. Kalyn's recipe says to marinate the chicken for a few hours, but I forgot and just used the marinade as a dipping stuff for the breading to stick to.

When ready to cook, let chicken come to room temperature while oven pre-heats to 450 F. I used my chopper to crush the almonds up, (Kalyn recommends a food processor) Parmesan, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper, and put coating in large flat bowl. Spray non-stick baking sheet well with non-stick spray. Dip each chicken piece into coating, turning to coat both sides, and arrange in single layer on baking sheet.

Bake without turning for 15-20 minutes, or until top side is quite browned and underneath is starting to brown. Then use metal turner and go under each piece of chicken to be sure it's not stuck to the pan, then carefully turn each piece. Some of the coating will fall off and possibly get too browned in the pan, so don't worry about it. Cook 10 minutes more until chicken is well browned and cooked through. Total cooking time will be 25-30 minutes, depending on your pan. Serve hot.

Domestic Goddess Tips

2008-02-24T11:58:00.006-06:00

Back on track this week, with my whole family to accompany me to the grocery store. I built my meal plan this week mainly from the meat I already had in my freezer, due to the deals I found last week on frozen chicken, and the buy-one-get-one-free deals from a few weeks ago. I also found a few side dish deals last week that I stocked up on, for instance Moose's favorite brand of macaroni and cheese was 3 for $5. So we are having that as a side in one of our dinners.

My tip this week is about buying in bulk. Some of the necessary items that most of us are required to purchase include cleaning products. I don't need them every week, but it seems that when I do need them, they all run out at the same time! It turns into a large chunk of the bill if we run out of tub cleaner, all-purpose spray, and toilet cleaner all in the same week. One solution is to make sure you only buy one cleaning item per week (before you run out!), therefore splitting the purchase over a couple weeks instead of one big blow.

Another solution is to buy the big "refill" option. Most of the cleaning products we use offer a large version that is cheaper per ounce. You just refill your spray bottle as needed. A super bonus is when you find that refill bottle on sale. Yet another reason to pay attention to sales either on the online flier or while you are in the store. I prefer the online flier, because we don't necessarily go down aisles if we don't have something on the list from that aisle.

Our total bill this week, for our family of three was $62. This included three cleaning products (two of them the refill variety, on sale), dog food, and deodorant. Plus, we allowed ourselves each a little treat this week, with me getting my fav Cadbury Eggs, and Cory picking out a Pina Colada juice. Having the extra meat in our fridge, and a few extras I picked up on sale, really made a large difference for us.

Pork Chops were on sale last week, so I picked up a package of four. Luckily, with our family of three, that will make us two meals. Moose and I split the large one, and Cory has his own (with sides, it is enough food). My friend Em sent me a wonderful recipe that I tried on Friday, and I thought I would share it with you.

Oven-fried Pork Loin

4 pork loins (I used two)

2 Tbsp margarine or butter, melted (always use butter!)

1 egg

2 Tbsp milk

1/4 tsp pepper

1 cup herb-flavored stuffing mix (I used the Stove Top chicken flavor, it was on sale)

Trim fat from the meat. Put melted butter into 13x9 baking pan. Mix egg, milk and pepper. Dip meat in the egg mixture then into the stuffing mix. Place in baking pan. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Flip meat and bake for 10 more minutes or until meat is no longer pink.

I used my stoneware baker, as did Emily. We both found that this recipe was very good, moist, and flavorful with the stuffing mix breading. I served it with peas and macaroni and cheese.

Picture Weekend: Wisconsin Trip Pt2

2008-02-23T07:26:00.021-06:00

Here are the rest of the pictures my Mil sent me:

Both my boys are home safe and sound now. I've been enjoying their company for the last few days, and absence definitely makes the heart grow fonder.

Wisconsin Pictures!

2008-02-18T16:23:00.010-06:00

My favorite and very understanding mother-in-law forwarded me pictures last night. Thank goodness because I was definitely missing both Cory and Moose terribly! She said that she took a ton more, but that these were the only ones that came out. (sorry if you aren't pictured!) (I'm posting every single one she sent me!)

Learning his boy-job early.

Playing guitar with Jake (I think!)

Cuddling with Em

Playing with Grandpa

Building with Carissa and Grandpa

I am not sure if my Mil is sending me more pictures or not. I know that they had a small family get together last night, but because Cory is a boy and I go the boy-version of the story, I have not clue who was there! Sorry I can't share more.

Cory said that Moose had a slight cough, so I'm hoping it doesn't get worse.

They are planning on coming home Wednesday and I'll be waiting at the door with bells on!

Domestic Goddess Tips

2008-02-17T10:47:00.009-06:00

And therefore it has been ordained. Thank you Lisa for the title idea, see her comment on my last grocery deal post. Oh, Lisa, you know me so well. How could I not crown myself Domestic Goddess?

This weekend was a little different. As some of you know, Cory took Wesley to visit my in-laws in Wisconsin. They left yesterday after lunch. Here's a few shots I managed to snap before my camera died again:

I could almost feel Cory's eye roll when I said to wait a minute so could take some pictures. Gosh I'm a wonderful photographer, blurry and I cut heads off.

Again, demonstrating my foto skillz.

Catching the pensive moment...what do you mean Mommy's not going?

Picture me waving wildly with my whole body. ByeBye!ByeBye!

And they're off. Of course, they made it safe and sound. My mother-in-law is having the time of her life spoiling both my boys, I'm sure!

And on that note, I went to the grocery by myself today. It was very lonely. *sigh*

So Meijer was having a buy-one-get-one-free sale on their bags of frozen chicken breasts. In the past we have bought these, and they get shoved down to the bottom of the freezer, and they get freezer-burned and have to be thrown away. A few tips occurred to me, so I put them in action, and I think they will save money and time in the future.

*waves Domestic Goddess wand*

What?

Alright, so my new BFF (sorry Jessica;) is freezer bags. (JK) Apparently the bags and containers a lot of meat comes in, will not protect them from freezer burn. So that is easily fixed.

When I got home from the grocery today, I opened the bags, and divided the chicken into meal-sized portions, and split them among freezer bags. The two bags of chicken breasts, that were buy-one-get-one-free at Meijer this week for $15, will make ten dinners. (!)
Having them already split into dinner portions will save me time and help me not waste them (hopefully!) and the freezer bags will protect them from freezer burn. Now, since I have my meal plan for the week, I will check whatever dinner I have planned for the next night, and I will take out the appropriate meat to thaw!
I have two new recipes to try this week, and I plan to post about them after I make them. I have a new crock pot recipe to try, which everyone loves, and a new pork chop recipe from my friend Emily.

I have been stockpiling my new recipes (I have several blogs on my blog reader, and I belong to a ton of email lists) so when the main ingredient goes on sale at the store, I pull out the corresponding recipe.

Stay tuned for some picture posts from Wisconsin, and some (hopefully) delicious recipes!

*waves Domestic Goddess wand again, just for the fun of it*

Picture Friday!

2008-02-15T17:18:00.009-06:00

Oh, you lucky people! I worked long and hard charging my batteries this week, so that I could have some pictures to share this evening.My sugar-heart cookies for Valentine's day. They were delicious, I will share the very easy recipe here later. I've decided to combine my two blogs into one. I only post a recipe every now and then, and most of my readers are the same group.

Moose and the dogs have worked out their differences. I know a lot of you had strong opinions about the dog issue that we had. We decided to try and work on their relationship, we've kept them separated with baby gates up until now. He realizes they deserve a certain amount of respect, and now doesn't tease them like he did previously. We (obviously) still keep an eye on the relationship, but I wanted to give you and update.

And now, a special present for uncle Kyle:

So Apparently I Need a Creative Name for my Grocery Deals

2008-02-10T10:53:00.000-06:00

I'll think on that and get back to you. I'm not actually sure how many tips I will discover, but I like sharing them with you, because you care, right?

This week was bit more like our bills will typically be, in my opinion. My mom sent me a website called MyGroceryDeals.com which I was excited about. You sign up (for free) and they list all of your local grocerys' sales for the week. We typically only go to one grocery, and at the moment we are stuck on Mejier. They have a wonderful produce section that is very fresh, and fully stocked at all times. Plus? They have an abundance of cashiers, which totally floats my boat.

Because we don't get the local paper, I was very excited about MyGroceryDeals.com, all of their stores' sales all listed out for me? Wonderful. I had planned to use the sale meat for the basis of my meal plan for the week.

We always go to the grocery on Sunday morning. Some of my friends are shuddering in horror reading that. Yes, once, in a time long, long ago, Cory and I lounged together in bed until 10 or 11, then drank hot coffee luxuriously while we contemplated if we would get out of our pajamas at all during the day.

Now? We're typically up by 7 AM, and rearing to go by 8 or 9. The grocery fills that morning time before Cory's Car Shows at 11 very well. We're in such a rut. I luv it. I heart routine:)

So I make my grocery list Sunday morning before we go. I happily logged in to MyGroceryDeals.com to see all the sale items, and make my meal plan.

Um, they haven't put the sales up yet. And as of 12 PM on Sunday, they still aren't up yet. I'm not sure when they typically go up, but that won't work for me unfortunately.

Luckily, I thought to go directly to Mejier's website. And low and behold, their Sunday Sale sheet that was in the paper, is was right on their home page. So I flipped through the sale sheet, noted the sale meat, and made my list. It worked great. And, as I mentioned last week, actually made the menu making easier for me.

We bought a few extra things this week, versus last week. We needed toilet paper, and our kitty food brand was on sale, so even though we didn't need it, we bought it while is was on sale. So we will get in that habit, buying things when they are on sale, instead of when we need them. According to Crystal, things go on sale in a pattern, so we just have to get in a groove on that pattern, paying attention to when things go on sale.

A lot of meat was on sale for buy-one-get-one-free. So we stocked up on sausage, hot dogs, and polska, then froze the duplicate (or "free" one) to use for next week's meal plan. Next week, I can use those things to build different meals.

Something else to note, that I have read several places, is about hamburger. Cory has a huge problem with greasy foods. In the past we have bought extra lean ground beef because that fact. It is much less greasy, however it is a lot more expensive. To save money, and be just as healthy, we have been buying ground round hamburger or ground chuck hamburger and cooking it as normal, draining it as normal, but then rinsing it with hot water in the sink. This rinses the rest of the grease off, making it just as healthy as the extra lean ground beef. (or so I have read:)

We haven't been lacking in the snack department either. Last week, I bought large blocks of cheese, and have been making beer cheese from scratch, which is delicious, and much cheaper than buying dip for chips.

Speaking of dip, we bought a eye of round beef pot roast for a dinner this week (which was on sale at Mejier), and I cook my roast in my crock pot with chunky veggies as sides. Instead of buying already chopped and cleaned veggies, like I have in the past to save me time, I bought large quantities of celery, carrots, and onions. Then, as I chopped them for the pot roast, I chopped the leftover celery and carrots into dip-able sticks. Now we have those to snack on and dip in ranch, during the week. I spent 20-30 minutes chopping veggies after we got home.

This week was more on target for what we will probably typically spend. The final bill was $96 for one week, with six planned dinners, and two lunches, plus all the norms such as milk and eggs.

Picture Friday

2008-02-08T18:16:00.000-06:00

I am having camera issues, if you haven't gathered. I am looking into a more robust camera, but I may pick up new rechargeable batteries for now. Until then, I take two pictures, and then my camera goes dead.

We have been busy around here, due to the storms and tornadoes. Moose's daycare flooded, and was without electricity for two days. In the midst of that annoyance, Moose decided to get a virus (on top of his ear infection from last week) so we've been dealing with sky-high fever for the last 48 hours.

I was able to go back to work today due to the grace of God, or rather Mimi, who stayed home with Moose. I came in to another sort of tornado in the office, but managed to get everything on my plate tucked in nicely by 4:30.

I am filling my evening with baking cookies for Mimi's Cookie Exchange tomorrow evening. Should be interesting, I'll try to take pictures, but... we'll see how that goes:)

And on that note:

Grocery Triumph

2008-02-03T11:20:00.000-06:00

Many of you were interested in our my attempt at penny-pinching would go at the grocery today, so I thought I would give you an update. It was a total success. I was amazed.

Special thanks to Jessica for recommending I check out Money Saving Mom for ideas. Crystal had some great ideas for saving money, and most of them required making a plan. Which as most of you know, is my forte.

I recommend you check out Crystal's website for her drawn out plan, but I'll tell you what is working for me so far. Crystal recommended first, to make a meal plan for the week, including dinners, lunches, breakfasts and snacks. I always do this, so it was not a big stretch for me. There were a couple of differences in her recommendations however.

First, she recommended looking at your pantry and fridge to see what you already have, and work from that to produce a menu. This actually made my meal planning easier, because typically, I'll sit on the couch, and Cory and I will wrack our brains for meal ideas. Instead, the meals practically planned themselves. Oh, the pepperoni I froze a couple weeks ago? I should use that in Stromboli...the canned salmon I bought on sale a few weeks ago? I should make salmon patties with that... you get the idea.

Second, Crystal recommended writing absolutely everything down that you need to buy, and then not deviating from your list. This took only a few more minutes to include on my normal list, and would actually save me time in the long run. Last week we didn't buy any eggs because I didn't know if we needed them or not, if I had checked when I made my list, I would have known that I did need them. No more extra trips during the week, no more excess eggs, you get the idea! My list writing took me about 15 minutes total.

I bought the store brand on absolutely everything that was available. I will let you know how that goes, seeing as that we haven't eaten everything yet. Instead of buying ready to microwave in the package steamed frozen veggies, I bought the store brand, big bag of veggies. The directions differ slightly and will take a few more minutes work, but should be fine. I divided them between freezer bags and put the day's name on the outside so that Cory could get it started if I needed him to.

We didn't buy any carbonated beverages or beer. Which is not a huge stretch for me. Most of you know I stopped drinking cokes when Moose started eating with us regularly. He was always very interested in my coke because I was having it. So I started drinking milk with him for dinner or snack (or lunch, if we are together). I still order coke at a restaurant, or drink it when it's available. But it did occur to me, that this might be affecting my weight loss as well, it's not like coke is good for you, even the diet kind! Cory made the decision about the beer, I just nodded when he told me about it. Plus, he typically prefers more exotic beer than our store offers anyway. He has a stock pile of different things in his garage that a friend picked up for him, and he is slowly working his way through that.

We typically alternate our "baby" purchases, so they are not a huge hit on the total bill. Week one we buy a big pack of diapers, week two we buy a big pack of wipes, week three we have off, then we start over. This week was our week off.

Here is our dinner meal plan for the week:
Beef Tacos (we had fajitas in the fridge)
Italian Potato Pie
Breakfast Burritos (fajitas and half a tube of sausage in the fridge)
Salmon Patties (can of salmon in pantry)
Stromboli (pepperoni in the freezer)
Hamburger Helper

Our total grocery bill was $50 for six days, for our family of three.

This may have been a fluke, but I hope it is just a beginning. According to Crystal, if you keep track of sales, and stock up on those things as they pop up, it is totally do-able.

Picture Friday!

2008-02-01T18:24:00.000-06:00

Oh my gosh, I've been so busy... blah blah blah. Yea, I know you're getting tired of the same old tune here, but... wait for it... yes, I have really been busy.

Again.

So busy in fact, that I've been getting home almost an hour later than normal most of the days this week. This really effects the evening, dinner, and playing with Moose. Kind of sad actually. I don't like it and neither does Moose.

The big job I was working on has been completed, and I shouldn't have such a busy week until, well, next month I guess, seeing as this is going to be a new reoccurring thing. I don't want to go into details, but I have been heavily stressing at work lately. So much so, I've lost about ten pounds. I can't actually blame that all on this job, it's been decreasing since Christmas.

I'm not sure why, I think it's stress.

And maybe the stomach flu bug I had last weekend. That certainly didn't help matters. Oh wait! That's another excuse why I haven't been blogging! I've been sick! So sick. No details, I'll leave it at that.

On a related note, Moose is sick this weekend as well. We were sitting at breakfast this morning when all of a sudden he grabbed his ear and squeeled, "My ear! My ear! eeeeeiiiieeee..."

So I'm happy Moose can now tell me if he is in pain, and if so where and how much. I am unhappy to report that he has an ear infection. We saw Doc M and he assured me that Moose's tubes where in and totally intact. They unfortunately cannot get rid of all the infections.

We had to reevaluate our budget this week as well. Cory's work has been incredibly slow, and that directly affects his checks. We switched our bills around between each other, and vowed to spend less frivolously (no more, ahem, cars and such, right dear?). Plus I have to look at our grocery bill and figure out how to continue to feed us healthily, but hopefully with a decreased total bill. So I've been researching different ideas online, and so far I've decided we're going to switch back to ground turkey instead of ground beef, and we're going to try some of the grocery store brands. I'll keep you updated if I discover anything groundbreaking on this quest.

And now, I'll leave you with this picture. (yes only one, check back next week, hopefully I will have been more active)

Doc T and the Seattle Grunge (man, that would be a great name for a rock band)

2008-01-24T14:27:00.000-06:00

Apparently you can wear a toboggan hat to work every day for two weeks with no one questioning your motives. But that 14th day must be the kicker.

My boss stuck his head in my door this afternoon and asked how long I was going to be wearing my hat. I told him this was my new style, in slightly wounded tone. How dare he question fashion? We are an ad agency after all. I should probably have blue hair.

Luckily, my co-workers won't have to deal with my Seattle Grunge look any longer, because I got my stitches out today. And it hurt! A lot!

I totally kept it "juicy" with Neosporin, just like they advised. And it still felt like she was combing my head with a steak knife.

Doc T is great. I inherited her from my mom. She is totally sympathetic to all of my dermatological plights. She has an answer for everything whereas my last derm kind of shrugged when I asked her things.

I asked her about my "sun spot" on my face. It popped up during my pregnancy, and never went totally away. I want it gone. A girl can only apply so much concealer. Doc T never called it a sun spot, she said it was several freckles grouped together.

She said she could get rid of it right now, if I wanted her to.

Uh, sign me up. I was all about this.

Until she got the silver canister that looked like a blow torch.

I started to second guess my split second decision at that exact moment.

Especially when she said that it was going to hurt a bit. Just a little bit. She was going to freeze the cells off. Um, ow.

Did I mention the spot is right below my eye? When she set off the blow torch, I thought she was going to blind me. You know, freeze my eye right in the socket?

And then the pain. Oh my, the pain. I remember it being excruciating, and then it was over. It actually didn't hurt that bad, come to think of it. It wasn't too bad.

And now I have a lovely welt on my face where she froze my cells. Hopefully in the next couple days, it was flake off, and my lovely fresh skin below will pop up.

So I should be all set now. No suspicious moles. No sun spots. Jaw is all healed. I should be good now, right?

Actual Conversation

2008-01-23T17:30:00.000-06:00

Moose: "Mo peas, too!"

Me: "Say please"

Moose: "Peas! Peese!"

Me: (gives peas) "Say thank you."

Moose: "Tank yoo"

Me: "You're welcome."

Moose: "Yo wecum."

Me: "No, you say thank you."

Moose: "Yo wecum."

Me: ---

Picture Post!

2008-01-20T11:46:00.001-06:00

New shoes! We visited the Talking Tree, (for those of you locals) and purchased some new shoes. Even though I wanted the black ones, I let him pick out whatever style he wanted...And he picked out the fire trucks! They are very cool, they light up when he walks...

The turban, for those of you who asked. My stitches will be out on the 24th, still sore, and not able to style my hair. (and some of you know how traumatic that is for me...) 30 stitches!!

We can all breathe a collective sigh of relief, Moose has decided he likes pizza. Sausage pizza to be exact.

Special thanks to our Wisconsin family, who thought to mail Moose his clothes Xmas gifts, so that he would not out-grow them before they saw him:)
And a special treat for them...

Be sure to check out my Chicken Pot Pie recipe on my cooking blog, Everything's Better With Gravy. It is super-easy and perfect to warm your belly during the frosty January evenings.

Picture Friday!

2008-01-11T18:09:00.000-06:00

Sweet, sleeping boy. Don't want to ruin your mind's eye with this one, however, as I was taking this picture, he was absolutely sawing logs. I picked him up from daycare on Tuesday, and the teacher just shook her head at me sadly.
Here is the result of the ketchup fight he got into with his girlfriend. (she's been moved to his room)

Here's the back of his pants, he sat in mud apparently.

Right. Is this a boy thing? According to Cory, I have much of this to look forward to...

Watching Disney with Mommy's Pooh. (which he kisses the nose of, for all of you who know me:)

KittyKittyATTACK!

Work has been incredibly busy. One of our clients has just flooded us with new jobs. So I have been working sun up to sun down. Plus my mind won't leave it at work, I lay awake crafting emails, dreaming of typing, writing headlines...it is slowly killing me I think. I don't know if I've ever been so happy to see a weekend.

Chi-Town (as if I am cool enough to call it that)

2008-01-07T16:49:00.000-06:00

I’ve tried to write about work before on this site, and it has never gone well. So instead of telling the whole story of the Work Trip to Chicago, I’ll just give an synopsis:

My flight was canceled at 9. There were mechanical difficulties with the plane.
So we took the 1:45 flight instead.
We were in a meeting with Company E until 7:30 at night.
That’s right. 7:30 at night.
We checked in to an awesome hotel, that I was completely uncomfortable in, mainly just because it was not home.
We met with Company S and Company L the next day completely problem-free.
We caught our flight on time Friday evening, and I was home by 11PM.

Overall it was exhausting, and kind of an adventure. Plus, it was nice to finally put some faces to people I’ve been talking on the phone to for the last four years. All the meetings went pretty issue free except for one.
Everyone was super nice to us, and yes, Lisa, I did wear some awesome outfits.

Picture Friday...er Saturday!

2008-01-05T14:13:00.000-06:00

Well this week was a busy week, so I only have two worthy photos and a short video. Details about my trip later, it went well but was exhausting!

Outta Town

2008-01-02T17:44:00.000-06:00

*For those of you with blog readers,
make sure to stop in to see my new Winter template*

I finally got my agenda for our big trip to Chicago today. I am so excited, I think it's going to be fun! We are going to make it fun anyway.

Tomorrow morning at 9:30 I am meeting my boss, Steve, and my fellow designer, Jeana, so we can hop on a plane together. Because of the time change, we arrive in Chicago about 15 minutes later or something crazy like that.

Even though I'm careful not to mention where I work, I still don't want to go in to the crazy details that are amusing and annoying about our different clients.

So we have a meeting after lunch with Company E, and I think that will last all afternoon. We'll check in to our hotel afterwards, then we'll meet up for dinner. Jeana's brother actually lives near Chicago too, so he may meet Jeana after dinner.

I'll have whatever is left of my evening to sit in my hotel room, and cuddle up with a good book, or movie, depending what is on I guess. I am planning to appreciate a whole bed to myself, and no mid-night fussing. Blissful, uninterrupted sleep.

You think I would be excited about this, but... I already miss the Moose a bit.

We have an early meeting the next morning, with Company S, then we are planning to stop by Company L. I'm hoping to run in to a few friends at Company L, because that is the company that absorbed the Company B from down here.

We catch a flight home around 7:30, and because of the time change again, we don't get home until 10 or so. I think I'm going to call a cab so that Cory won't have to get Moose up to come and get me.

Hopefully everything will go smoothly! I won't be updating from the hotel, so expect Picture Friday to be late on Saturday morning.

A New Year!

2008-01-01T17:25:00.000-06:00

Now that the holidays are officially over, hopefully my posting will be less sporadic. For now, to catch you up, please enjoy some bulleted info. Hey, it's easy for me, okay?

New Year's Eve? Absolutely wonderful. We put the boy to bed, snuggled up on the couch and watched the Die Hard movies. Awesome.
We are trying to teach manners at the moment, Moose will repeat after us, saying "please," "thank you" and "your welcome" but they are not forthcoming, they have to be prompted.
Cory (and I helped by watching) pulled my engine out of my car, so that is an ongoing project.
Moose loves everything that is yellow, and is looking to be a south-paw. Kudos Sarah, and Carissa.
I have to out of town on business on Thursday and Friday, doesn't that sound cool? I'm not sure if it actually will be or not, I'll keep you updated. Chicago, here I come.
As a sort of resolution, Cory and I decided to start actually walking the dogs, instead of just letting them frolic in the backyard. Today was a real test, sub-zero temps and wet snow. One day, and so far, so good.

That is all I can dash off at the moment, it's bath time then thankfully, bedtime. We've had a full day of PlayDoh and Thomas. I'm about ready for bed myself, and it's only 6:30!

Pictures From Christmas!

2007-12-27T17:51:00.001-06:00

Luckily on Christmas Eve, Moose started feeling better. He took a good nap, and his coughing got much better. So we decided to start a new tradition: bake and decorate cookies to leave out for Santa!Of course, we ate a few...

Just a few...

The Christmas Outfit.

Moose and Nana at Christmas Eve at the farm.

We think Santa had a good time setting up the Safari Set.

Moose woke up around 8, and Cory got him up while I got ready with my camera in the living room. I took this shot:

And then my camera died. WORST NIGHTMARE! Luckily Cory was thinking coherently enough to grab the batteries out of the remote and jam them in.

The new Thomas Track Rug...how great?!
No track to mess up! It's always fixed!

The monkey seemed to be the favorite!

Very happy with M&Ds presents and Santa's gifts.

We had a wonderfully relaxed Christmas. Cory and I had already exchanged, anticipating our Wisconsin trip, so Christmas morning was all about Moose. I made biscuits and gravy, as requested, and we lazed around most of the day, watching Elf and Claymation Christmas, our traditions we started last year.

I Found My Christmas Spirit

2007-12-23T14:11:00.001-06:00

Moose is still sick. He seems better, he acts pretty fine during the day. As long as we keep him entertained, he is OK. We have watched so much TV, I'm a little embarrassed to show my DVR que. But it seems to be one of the only things he wants to do. Cuddle and watch TV. I guess that's what I usually want to do if I'm sick too, so it makes sense.

His fever is gone, so we have heavy lingering congestion, and cough. His throat must be hurting, because he is drooling like it hurts to swallow. He hasn't wanted to nap for the last four days, so imagine our surprise today, when he is still sleeping at this moment, on hour three of his nap. He did not sleep well last night, waking up minimum seven times from 7PM to 11PM. Both Cory and I are exhausted, and picking at each other. Funny how a sick child can affect everyone in the house. Even the dogs have not really left the bedroom where we keep their beds.
I actually had not finished my Christmas shopping yet. I had planned to go shopping with Alice in Wisconsin and do Moose's stocking and pick up a few more things. Yesterday it was sunny and 60 degrees outside here, today it is sunny and 36 degrees. Quite a difference. Yesterday, I could not imagine Christmas being only a few days away. It was so warm and I had been all geared up for Wisconsin. Plus, I already did Christmas with both my family and friends, in anticipation of our trip. So, on Christmas? We don't have any presents to open! (not that it's all about that, but to be honest, it's definitely one of the things I look forward to:)

So early this morning, as to avoid as much traffic as possible, I slipped out of the house and ran up to Target. I wanted to pick up some travel-sized toys for Moose's stocking, to create a "restaurant bag" that could keep all those toys in it, for when we are out and about. Charing has one, and it is awesome and very entertaining. They seemed like the perfect stocking stuffers. I found two other very cool big things, that I am so excited for Moose to find under the tree.

Then I heard Christmas Canon on the radio on the way home, and my Christmas spirit switched on like a light. Especially because the temperature actually dropped while I was shopping!

Picture Friday 12/21

2007-12-21T17:48:00.000-06:00

Sick little boy.First Happy Meal! I wasn't there, so there's no pictures of him eating:(

He was chasing Cory down the hall while they were home today,
and he fell and busted his head.

Cory took Moose in to the doctor to make sure his croup had not turned into anything serious. We got his chest x-ray back very quickly, everything is OK. So all this horribleness is strictly the croup. We're hoping he'll feel better soon, he needs a good night's sleep very badly.

Croup, You Are My New Arch Nemesis

2007-12-21T10:07:00.000-06:00

I have heard of croup before, but I had no idea what it was or how bad it was, until Moose got it this week.

croup (krōōp)
noun. A pathological condition of the larynx, especially in infants and children, that is characterized by respiratory difficulty and a hoarse, brassy cough.
[From dialectal croup, to croak.]

Basically? Liquid Hell is in Moose's chest and nose, and is coming out by the bucket. His harsh cough rivals that of an old man, his poor little nose is rubbed raw with all of the snot and Kleenex wippings that it has endured. He is absolutely pitiful, carrying Doggie under his arm, and following me around the house like a puppy.

He is one of seven kids from daycare that are out with this. I guess this is the big negative with daycare-getting infected with hellish diseases.

As most of you know, this weekend is our big weekend. We celebrated Christmas early with my friends and family so that we could drive up and spend the holidays with my in-laws in Wisconsin. Well, last night, as we listened to him sobbing in his crib, we had to make a very hard decision: Do we chance an eight to nine (ten?!) hour car ride with Moose being this miserable? I left the decision up to Cory, even though I knew what the obvious choice was. And he made the right choice, the only choice we could make, really. We have to put our trip off.

This really sucks double, because, last year? We had to do a very similar thing. We had just bought our house, and Moose got sick. I was off several days while he recovered, eating up my vacation days. In the end? We didn't have any vacation time to go, so we had to reschedule our visit for January, during a long weekend.

I'm not sure when we will be able to come up for the rescheduled visit. We have talked about February, because there is a concert that Cory wanted to go to, and to celebrate Cory's brother's birthday as well. So that might come to fruition. We will see.

Right now, our priority is getting the little boy better. I am back in the office today, Cory is home with Moose. We decided to take Moose in to the doctor again, today, just to make sure that the croup has not turned into anything additional, like an ear infection. We want to nip it in the bud if possible, because of the upcoming holiday weekend, and I'm pretty sure the pediatrician's office will be closed.

I'll keep you updated, keep Moose in your thoughts.

Second Holiday Party!

2007-12-16T10:37:00.000-06:00

All the ladies of ZPO were able to attend our annual Xmas Party this year. (which was a record event, I don't think we've all been able to come to anything, since maybe last New Year's Eve!) I wish we could have gotten a group picture of everyone there, our little group has grown to include our boys' friends and their girlfriends.I'm so annoyed this is blurred, my crafty handiwork... had to put it in anyway, it's still cute:)

Playing with the train set at Charing's house.

We had a great time due to Charing's fabulous hostess abilities, plus everyone's great food that we brought. We had a sit-down dinner this year, complete with ham and the fixin's. They did a Secret Santa gift exchange, and it is so funny how well we know everyone. The girls all got gifts for the boys, so Moose got some really nice new toys, and a very cute outfit from Carter. (plus a really cute toy that I want to take a special picture of...stay tuned for that)

Our busy weekend is not at a close however, because of our absence next week, we are celebrating Christmas with my family this evening. I will hopefully have some more pictures to share shortly.

First Holiday Party of the Year!

2007-12-14T18:18:00.001-06:00

Today we had our Agency Christmas party. Our whole group took off a few hours and drove an hour or so to a very cool local inn for lunch. We had a blast, I really love my co-workers.The main inn is an old women's college. It was very cool. It was the first time I had been there, and it was beautiful, I imagine it is even prettier in the Spring. Some of the bedrooms upstairs have the original windows that have the initials and dates of the former occupants' engagements carved with their diamond rings.

The front porch.

The ladies of Corp F.

At lunch.

The whole crew, including our VP.

Back in our office, with our tree.

We have a busy weekend planned, things for every day. My personal camera's batteries are having issues, I have to charge them all the time now. I think I need to replace them with some new rechargeable ones (they can only be for so long, right?) so they are constantly charging. It might also be due to the fact that movies take more power than pictures, and I take a lot of movies lately, because the Moose is always in motion.

I will try to have pictures from the other two upcoming Holiday get togethers that are this weekend as well. Stay tuned!

Footloose & Cancer Free

2007-12-10T18:11:00.000-06:00

I received my biopsy results back today, and they are totally normal. Which, honestly kind of shocked me a bit, but we're pretty happy about it around here.

And, in celebration:

One Hundred!

2007-12-09T15:14:00.000-06:00

How fitting that my 100th post on this site, be a picture post! Okay all, here is Picture Friday rescheduled.

Cory has started on my car...

Pictures from my birthday... surprise, I cut my hair!

... and so did Jenn!

My new birthday coat, and boots!

Moose and his first cinamini's.

Sittin' back with Pooh.

Tickle! Tickle!

Wishin' it was nice outside, and not rainy...

We all glance through my Woman's World, thanks Alice!

He loves when I flip my hair over for some reason.
And likes to fluff it with me.

I made Emily's famous Mint Cookies for Cory today, and that is really all we got done this weekend!

What? I have a blog?

2007-12-08T09:41:00.000-06:00

Sorry I’ve disappeared for a bit, but we’ve had a lot of stuff going on over here! And I’m sorry to report that is probably just a precursor to how the rest of December will be too. I have a lot to share, so instead of trying to write it up in slightly easy to read paragraph form, I’m going to put it into bullets, that way I can just jot everything down easily.

Here we go:

The first weekend in December was my birthday weekend. Most of you know I share my birthday day with my fellow ZPO, Rhiannon. Typically we just hold a joint birthday celebration, so it is easier on all of our friends. However, this year was a big year for Rhi, so we split them up. I had a lovely dinner at Bonefish with my friends on Friday. It was so yummy, I love their fresh fish, and their sauces are to die for. (this was also why that Picture Friday was skipped, it turned into Mojito Friday for mommy) Saturday Moose and I met up with Carter and the girls so they could play, and we had Breakfast Club to catch up on the gossip. That evening we all met up at Rhi’s house for her big 3-0 party. It was a blast, and actually the first time we got to see Rhi’s new house. That Sunday I had my family birthday where I got all my presents. I got a great new coat, some new clothes for work, and some new slippers from my brother.
The following week was filled with lunches with different sets of friends from work, and former friends from work. Birthday lunches are always great!
Moose is doing a new thing where he plays Tickle Fight, with himself. That’s right, he dies laughing and will dig himself in the ribs, yelling, “Tickle! Tickle!” It’s a sight to see, let me tell you.
He got sick early in the week, and I had flashbacks of Exploding Butt Baby. Luckily Mimi was able to stay with him early in the week, and he had cleared up by Wednesday. He seems to be back on top, and sleeping through the night again. And we can all heave a collective sigh of relief about that.
We watched The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift this week, and it was totally entertaining.
A strand of my Christmas lights, that I bought two weeks ago, is OUT. WTF?
I have another scary mole, I had a biopsy on Friday, results back on Monday.
Happy to report that official internet is up at work. No more wireless cards. Also? Our phones came in, but we’re not sure how to hook them up. They are IP Phones, which means somehow they hook into our computers, and they came with directions but…they are still confusing. Hopefully we will figure them out next week.
My boss will be out of town next week, and then on vacation the next week. I won’t say I’m happy about him being gone, because that’s not true, I will say that I am happy it will be a bit calmer around the office.
Friday we went to see Disney Live downtown. It was completely awesome. We met Charing and Carter down there, and we all sat together. I was worried it wouldn’t hold the boys’ attention but it did. Moose sat in awed wonder the whole time. I must admit it was pretty cool to see Mickey and Pooh in real life. Maybe he was thinking the same thing. It makes me excited to take him to Disney World, which we will hopefully do in three years. I want to take him when it will still be magical and real, but hopefully old enough to remember.

I’m sure there are more things to share, but this is all I can think of at the moment. I have some pictures to upload, so I will try to put those up tomorrow evening. I can say I don’t know when Picture Friday will be back on track, because of the different Christmas parties we have to go to the next couple weeks. Plus I will be out of town the week of Christmas. I will be able to blog, but I’m not sure if I will have time. No promises, we’ll just play it by ear.

Yes, Another Entry About My Office

2007-11-29T19:23:00.000-06:00

I am happy to report that my new furniture for my office has come in. (I feel like I write “I am happy to report…” a lot) I have talked about my office before, and shown some pictures, remember it is very contemporary. The walls are curved and very brightly painted. As bright an cheery as I am, I am not the least bit contemporary. I like to decorate in warm earth tones, and rich fabrics. Not the cool colors and crisp fabrics that go with contemporary design.

Some of you are wondering why I care at all about how my office is decorated. Well, I figure I spend minimum eight hours a day there, I should be pretty comfortable. My boss agrees to a point. He bought me a fabulous new chair that is super comfortable and much more supportive of my back and neck than my old one. He would not however, have my office repainted.

So cool and contemporary it is, with refreshing purple walls. The new desk compliments the color and is a nice maple with clean lines and silver accents. It looks awesome together, and I’m getting used to the look. I may have missed my calling as an interior decorator.

My desk came from Company H, who, as much as they have totally pissed me off, I will not name here. Not only did we have to wait an extremely long time for the furniture to come in, my hutch came in with no hinges for the doors! We had to steal them from Jeana’s hutch, whose whole set has not come in yet. (I’m terrified the replacement hinges won’t be here on time when the rest of her set comes in, especially since Sheri called me Evil for taking the hinges from her)

The desk came with the usual paperwork-warranty and registration and such. The back of the card was slightly interesting and caught my eye:

“To help us understand our customers’ lifestyles, please indicate the interests and activities in which you or your spouse enjoy participating on a regular basis:

01. Bicycling -am I 12? no, I don't have a bike
02. Golf -no I enjoy dressing well
03. Physical Fitness -I am the least physical person alive
04. Running/Jogging -Cory would say I don't run right
05. Snow Skiing -never done it, but I totally have an outfit to wear
06. Tennis -my elbows!
07. Camping/Hiking -wow, never, ever again
08. Fishing -ditto
09. Hunting/Shooting
10. Powerboating -Blogger says this isn't even a word
11. Sailing -unfortunately no, but again, I have a great outfit I would wear
12. Grandchildren -this is an activity?
13. Needlework/Knitting -I can crochet...does that count?
14. Sewing -I pay someone to do this for me
15. Flower Gardening
16. Vegetable Gardening -this deserves it's own line?
17. Crafts
18. Buy Prerecorded Videos -does this sound dirty to anyone else?
19. Automotive Work -FINALLY, yes my spouse does this
20. Electronics
21. Home Workshop
22. RV’s
23. Listen to Records/Tapes/Cds -they actually wasted ink to print records?
24. Avid Book Reading -Avid? probably not
25. Bible/Devotional Reading
26. Health/Natural Foods
27. Photography
28. Cultural/Arts Events
29. Fashion Clothing -YES! one for me
30. Antiquing
31. Foreign Travel
32. Cruise Ship Vacations -I wish this was an activity I enjoyed
33. Travel in USA
34. Gourmet Cooking -Gourmet? probably not
35. Wines -does Applewine from Gatlinburg count?
36. Stamp/Coin Collecting -Vegetable gardening got it's own line and they combined these?
37. Collectibles
38. Our Nation’s Heritage
39. Real Estate Investments
40. Contests/Sweepstakes
41. Casino Gambling
42. Science Fiction -There is someone out there that checks this one, wonder what they look like?
43. Wildlife/Environmental Issues
44. Dieting/Weight Control
45. Science/New Technology
46. Self Improvement
47. Walking for Health
48. Watching Sports on TV -Ok, my spouse and I do this together!
49. Home Video Recording -see #18
50. Moneymaking Opportunities -I always enjoy money

Maybe they should have named this question, "what sort of junk mail do you wish to receive when we sell your address?"

Apparently I have no hobbies, does anyone want to take up #42 with me?

Two-Year Check Up!

2007-11-28T18:32:00.000-06:00

Moose had his two-year check up at the doctor today. I had to make the very difficult decision to switch doctors (within the same practice). We've been seeing Dr. M since he was born, Cici even brought Dr. M over to see me right after I had given birth, to reassure me and Cory that Moose would be fine, even being so early. I think she brought Dr. F too, but I am so fuzzy those couple days, coming off the magnesium was absolute Hell.

Anyway, Cory and I happily chose Dr. M for Moose to see whenever we visited the doctor. Which was extremely often in the first year due to the ear infections and such. The last couple times we went to the doctor, Moose has screamed uncontrollably each time we went. I think it is mainly because Dr. M chooses to examine Moose on the table. The last time Moose was sick, Dr. M was off, so we came in to see Dr. F instead. She let Moose sit in my lap while she examined him. He was still squirmy, but, much better.

So, I decided to see how Moose and Dr. F got along during a wellness-checkup. Both did really well, and I must say Moose seems calmer with her. I really think it has to do with her letting him sit in my lap while she looks in his ears, nose, and mouth. We did have two shots, the Hep and Flu, so he did cry right after that. But as soon as the nurse walked out the door he heaved a heavy sigh of relief, and collapsed in my arms like, "shew! thank goodness she's gone"

Here's the stats: (cause you all totally care about this, right?)
Height: 33.5" which is 25th percentile
Weight: 26 lb. 6.5 oz. which is 25-50th percentile
Head: 20" which is 95th percentile (still raising a bobble head)

Also this visit was the first time we have been able to check "yes" on all of the developmental questionnaire sheet. ALL OF THEM! That's right people, we have officially "caught up" with a term baby. I cannot express how much this means to me, most of you know that I harbor great feelings of guilt that my body got sick and made him come early. This has been a huge concern of mine ever since I realized he was going to be "behind" other kids. Well... no more!

Moose has totally mastered his colors. He can name them all, and pick them out. He has a vocabulary so large, I can't even count it, plus he will repeat whatever we say. Occasionally he will say a three to four word sentence. Moose loves to sing, and will try to sing along with the classics, favorites including "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "ABCs". I will try to get a video, but it is hard to sing and video, plus I sound like a moron, so that may not happen. We were watching Mickey Mouse (cause Disney is how we roll 'round here) and he counted along with Mickey and Minnie all the way to 20. That was a big surprise, so they must be working on that at daycare. He has gone in the potty several times now, and once he told me he needed to go with no prompting. That skill is not predictable yet, I am just coasting and seeing when he wants to go, I only ask if he wants to go when I change his diaper, and when I go too. He knows all the well-known animals and can make the sounds they make too. When you read a repetition book (think "Brown Bear, Brown Bear") he will sometimes repeat it with you. We are working on the ABCs, but he can't identify those yet.

We are so proud of him, he has come so far. We were talking the other day about he is a source of endless joy. I find myself gazing at him and smiling a lot. He has been more frustrating recently, since he has developed a temper and an attitude. We've been trying to show him who's boss, so hopefully that will continue to improve. I'll keep you updated!

Memeology Meme!

2007-11-27T18:50:00.000-06:00

OK. A new meme from Mrs. Who.

FOODOLOGY
Q. What is your salad dressing choice?
A. Blue Cheese

Q. What is your favorite Fast Food Restaurant?
A. Blimpies

Q. What is your favorite sit down restaurant?
A. At the moment? Carino’s

Q. On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant?
A. It depends on the service we receive. (my aunt Cici is keeling over reading that)

Q. What food could you eat for two weeks and not get sick of?
A. I don’t think I could eat something for two weeks and not get sick of it.

Q. What is your favorite type of gum?
A. I don’t like gum very much, it hurts my jaw.

TECHNOLOGY
Q. What is your wallpaper on your computer?
A. The new Mac OS X space background for Leopard. Because it ROCKS. Leopard is one badd kitty.

Q. How many televisions are in your house?
A. Three, but we only watch one of them.

BIOLOGY
Q. What’s your best feature?
A. My bottom.

Q. Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
A. A lot of things actually-gall bladder, Moose, and a few moles.

Q. Which of your five senses do you think is keenest?
A. Touch.

Q. When was the last time you had a cavity?
A. This Summer! Totally the kiddo’s fault, never had teeth problems before.

Q. What is the heaviest thing you’ve lifted?
A. Our bed.

Q. Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
A. Yes several times.

BULLSHITOLOGY
Q. If it were possible would you want to know the day you are going to die?
A. No way.

Q. Is love for real?
A. Of course

Q. If you would change your first name what would you change it to?
A. Joanna so I could go by Jo or JoJo.

Q. What color do you think looks best on you?
A. Magenta

Q. Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake?
A. No

Q. Have you ever saved someone’s life?
A. Not to my knowledge.

Q. Has someone ever saved yours?
A. Yes.

DAREOLOGY
Q. Would you walk naked for a half a mile down a public street for $100,000?
A. Oh yes. I am not shy of my body at all.

Q. Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100?
A. I guess.

Q. Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000?
A. No!

Q. Would you never blog again for $50,000.00?
A. Sure!

Q. Would you pose nude in a magazine for $250,000.00?
A. Might be fun! As long as my Dad did not see it. Or my Father-in-law. Or my brother.

Q. Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1,000?
A. Yea!

Q. Would you, without fear of punishment take a human life for $1,000,000.00?
A. No I would never do that.

Q. Would you give up watching television for a year for $25,000.00?
A. Yes, no problem, lots of romance novels in the world.

Q. Give up myspace for $30,000.00?
A. Absolutely. Never use it!

DUMBOLOGY
Q. What is in your left pocket?
A. Nothing - I have on pjs.

Q. Is Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie?
A. We loved it.

Q. Do you have hardwood floors or carpet in your house?
A. Only hardwood and tile.

Q. Do you sit or stand in the shower?
A. Stand. Who sits in the shower??

Q. Could you live with roommates?
A. No, not anymore.

Q. How many pairs of flip-flops do you own?
A. Just one.

Q. Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
A. Probably a few years ago when I was underage, okay maybe that was more than a few years ago…

Q. What do you want to be when you grow up?
A. Archeologist (a la Lara Croft).

LASTOLOGY
Q. Last friend you talked to?
A. Jeana.

Q. Last person you called?
A. Sarah.

RANDOMOLOGY
Q. First place you went this morning?
A. To daycare.

Q. What can you not wait to do?
A. Go to bed, I’m tired and Moose was up several times last night, I think we’re working on an ear infection.

Q. What’s the last movie you saw?
A. I watched the Santa Clause on Disney, never seen it before!

Q. Are you a friendly person?
A. Not really. Only after you get to know me.

Four-Day Weekend Is...Over

2007-11-25T17:41:00.000-06:00

And not a whole lot to show for it! Our Christmas decorations are up, but I spent the rest of the weekend hanging out at the house with Moose.

I did manage to sneak out for a quick haircut on Saturday.

We broke out the Playdoh this afternoon. And it was awesome.Daddy's hard work:

Here are the outside decorations. You can sorta see the green garland.
It turned out cute. I might do the bushes next year.

Make sure to stop by Everything's Better With Gravy to see the wonderful Pecan Pie recipe I made for Thanksgiving!

Picture Friday!

2007-11-23T19:53:00.001-06:00

Cory worked today, so it was just me and Moose all day. And due to a Thanksgiving Day-injury, we did not go shopping at all. (I lightly twisted my ankle, it's much better now) We just hung out all day, and put out the Christmas decorations.

This was his favorite ornament.

This is mine.

Here is some of the new garland I bought last year at a After-Christmas Sale. They were like, giving it away. I bought 150 feet, and I used every inch. More pictures of the outside to come.

Supportin' the home team...

Everyone in the family is enjoying the table...

The easel also doubles as a fort.

A special video treat for all the good boys and girls:
This is Doggie. Doggie is Moose's new best friend. He sleeps with him, and would carry him under his arm all the time if we let him. He is very soft and cuddly. He actually prefers Doggie's tag on his bottom, he rubs it with his fingers, and rubs it on his lips (just like I used to do with my Care Bear, and just like Cory used to do with his Blanket)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-21T18:41:00.001-06:00

For those of your with Blog Readers, make sure to check out
the new Xmas template!

I am so thankful for my little Indian...The outfit they made in daycare, the T-2s were the pilgrims.

The corn shaker.

The tie-dye turkey.

The Two's Room does a lot more crafts, which Moose seems to love. He is so happy to show me them when I pick him up.

The new table...before with kiddo.

What kiddo? Awesomeness.

Our Weekend Highlight

2007-11-18T18:14:00.000-06:00

Last night we were lucky enough to go see the Trans Siberian Orchestra at Rupp. It was wonderful! I had never seen them in concert before, Cory does have several of their CDs. (yes, the man that hates gifts and the general Christmas season loves Christmas music) (I don't know)

Anyway, I first heard of the band last year when they came here. Cory mentioned that we had several of their CDs, and we listened to them on the way to Nana's for Christmas eve. We weren't able to see them in concert because of timing, but this year, I got an email from Ticketmaster the second they were available, and I snatched up the best available tickets for part of Cory's Christmas gifts.

The concert was absolutely wonderful and amazing. Ordinary Christmas carols made extraordinary with blues, rock & roll, and jazz. The show they put on was great-fireworks, fireballs of flames, and of course a laser light show. And of course, all of the perfectly timed lights complimented each and every song. I couldn't help but watch from an artists view, seeing which colors they chose, and why. I loved it. Both Cory and I were extremely entertained the entire time.

Here is a video from YouTube, it is one of the traditional carols, with a rock edge:

Here is another video from YouTube, this one is one of their original songs, you may have heard the song on commercials and things. This video does not do it justice, it is amazing live:

When they come back next year, we are totally going again! I will say that the show was a bit long for kids, it was about 2.5 to 3 hours. Too long for Moose for sure. But maybe next year, we'll see. We actually may have started a new family tradition!

People... We Have Pee-Pee!

2007-11-17T13:05:00.000-06:00

After the first intitial asking for the potty incident, we haven't had too much news on that front. I went and bought a potty at Meijer, and he has sat on it a few times. But... nothing much. He hasn't asked for it or anything.

So I figured he wasn't ready, and I wouldn't push. He would ask when he was ready. In the meantime, both Cory and I have been bringing him to the bathroom with us to sit on his potty too. Cory refuses to sit on the big potty, so he stands as usual, and he has reported that Moose stands beside him and watches in awe.

With me, Moose will sit on his potty, with his pants on usually, until I am done, then I let him flush the big toilet, and we are done.

Last night, I asked him if he wanted to go pee-pee with mommy. He said, "Pee-Pee! Potty Pee-Pee!". So off we went. However this time, he tried to pull his pants off when we got there. So being the fabulous parent that I am, I helped and let him sit on the potty bare-bottomed while I peed. (is this TMI?) Anyhoo... I finished, and he hopped up to "flush" his potty and mine, and I saw it.

Pee-Pee!

In. The. POTTY!!

Yea! I yelped and called for Daddy, and maybe I startled Moose a bit, but we all did a victory dance in the bathroom for Moose's first Pee-Pee In The Potty. Yes, I took a picture, but Cory forbade me to post it on the internet. He was muttering something about me probably showing the pictures to Moose's first girlfriend, and I called out that "No I have much more class than that... I won't show it to anyone except maybe his spouse."

And, it seems this was not a one-time thing. Later in the evening, I was putting him in his PJs and he asked to go potty when I changed his diaper. So we went. And he pee-peed.

Same thing this morning. My Dad kept him for a few hours while Mom and I shopped but he said that Moose did not show any interest in pee-peeing.

But as soon as we got home, I was changing him before his nap, and he asked to go again! So we are definitely progressing! I'll keep you as updated!

Picture Friday is BACK!

2007-11-16T17:33:00.000-06:00

Two!

2007-11-15T17:32:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!We had a lovely birthday dinner that the birthday boy requested, star-shaped pancakes, links and eggs.

Here is his big toy from Mommy and Daddy. He loves it already.

Back Online

2007-11-14T18:06:00.000-06:00

I am extremely happy to report that I now have full-time internet at work again. Unfortunately, the network is not set up yet. But beggars can't be choosers, and we are relishing our internet connections fully.

My boss bought a wireless card that is actually supposed to be for laptops, but has a simple USB connection. So we are just sticking them into our USB ports and connecting to the internet wirelessly. (it's faster than you think)

I had become very dependent on my internet connection at work. Not only does my "job" require me to constantly email proofs to my clients, and upload ads to publications, I have become very used to checking my personal email throughout the day, and my blogs.

I have about 20 blogs that are on my blog reader, and let me tell you-if you don't check them one at a time, as they post, periodically during the day-that is a LOT OF READING. So much so, that I became a skimmer as of late, which I hate. And I also was not able to comment very much. So, there is my excuse for not commenting for about two weeks!

But, I am back... online. And I am feeling very good about that.

Tomorrow is a very big day-Moose's official 2nd birthday!

Starting To Catch Up With Me

2007-11-12T18:28:00.000-06:00

I am exhausted.

I think it is a combination of the daylight savings time change, and just maybe the time of year. Because no matter what time I go to bed, I am still tired by mid-day. I even got some new multi-vitamins after my friend Sheri recommended them. They have not helped yet. I am not sure if I expected a sudden burst of energy, or what, but I feel the exact same.

Another reason I'm tired may be that we have "something" every weekend all the way through New Year's. And that is just the time of year, because we normally have a little breathing time between events. Now that Moose's party is over, we have tickets to the Trans Siberian Orchestra, then my birthday, then Xmas parties... the list just keeps going.

Work used to be a bit of a breather, but recently we've been absolutely slammed with new jobs and there is a new division that has sort of created itself, just adding to my and the other designer's workloads. We've handled it fine, and not really working too much overtime, but I'm honestly used to a little bit of downtime where I can plan, research, and really think about the job I am designing. Instead, we're rushing through, trying to shove jobs out the door. It's not a happy way to work.

On a good note, we are finally all moved in to our new office space. Which is... awesome. We don't however, have the network set up, which means, you guessed it, no internet or office phone. So we've been using a work around which includes a shared wireless card and our cell phones. And when do they think they will have our network up? Mid-December. When will my furniture come in? Not until next week-maybe the next one. I am currently in my fabulous new office with the awesome windows that open... on a plastic folding table.

Moose is doing extremely well, however he is still occasionally biting at daycare. We've been trying to enforce the time-out chair for other tantrum-related woes:

Obviously he is terrified of the time-out chair, right?

Moose's 2nd Birthday Celebration Weekend!

2007-11-11T17:30:00.000-06:00

Wow this weekend almost drove me crazy! On the heels of my work-move, Moose's 2nd Birthday has been extremely hectic. Luckily, several months ago I decided to have the party hosted at our local baby gym. The took care of everything, and it was worth every penny! I had over 200 pictures to sort through, and they are not in order, which is annoying. Here is my best attempt to put the best ones together!

*Special thanks to Alice and Carissa for the pictures from the birthday party, obviously I didn't take any pics because I was running around with Moose. So sorry to everyone who wasn't pictured!*

Just Another Weekend Update...

2007-11-04T16:15:00.000-06:00

Cory has been knee-deep in construction on the basement since he got back from school. He is rushing because we have house guests that are coming next weekend, for the big birthday bash. And we both want it to at least be partly put together for them!

I did convince him to take a break on Saturday night, and we went out for a romantic dinner together, followed up by a trip to the Sears Craftsman department. Cause that's how we roll in this household.

Moose had a good time Saturday morning hanging out with Carter. And Charing, Rhiannon, and I had a good time having coffee and breakfast together.

Sunday has been an entirely different story. I am not sure why, and I hope to God it is not a precursor to what is to come. Moose has been difficult all day. Since he can now ask for what he wants, he is constantly asking for something, then if I don't give it in .002 seconds, I get a melt-down.

If it is not time to watch TV, I will not turn it on for him, which results in him crying, me getting upset/mad/sad. But I think it is important to lay down the rules right now, and not give in to his demands.

Things he has asked for in no particular order:
-cereal
-Blue's Clues
-cereal
-Thomas
-cereal
-goldfish
-cereal
-blanket
-cereal
-Doggie (his stuffed animal)
-(you guessed it) cereal

I am not sure why the recent fascination with cereal is, but it is about to drive me crazy. I have not problem giving him a little snack in the morning, and in the afternoon. But I don't want him eating all day, plus, he really doesn't want it, he will play with it, and crunch it on the floor and *aaaaaaaahhhhhhh help me I think my brain is going to pop out of my head and plop on the floor*

Alrighty then, I feel a bit better, how about a picture of the basement?

Wood paneling? Gone! Say hello to new drywall, and the tile is finally being continued!

My New Blog!

2007-11-02T18:25:00.000-06:00

I have a brand-new blog that I have been working on for the last couple weeks. I have decided to call it "Everything's Better With Gravy". Because, well, every is better with gravy, or sauce, or chocolate... anyway you get the idea!

As a lot of you know, I love cooking. I try at least one new recipe a week, and a lot of them are great! So great, that I would love to share them with you! So, when I run across a recipe that I like, I will post about it, list the recipe, and sometimes add a picture if I can take it before my family scarfs it up.

I added a new widget to the right on this blog, it will show you when I post a new recipe, or if you would like, I can add you to my auto-email list. Drop me a line at lizzybee79@gmail.com and let me know if you would like to be added to it. It can't hurt, who doesn't like a good recipe?!

Picture Friday to be rescheduled!!!

2007-11-02T17:32:00.000-06:00

Sorry to all two of my faithful readers, I have been so busy this week that I have absolutely no new pictures!

SHAME!

Well, there were all the pictures from Halloween, but those were already posted up!

I am having breakfast with Charing and the girls tomorrow, so maybe the boys will be cute together and I can take their picture.

The Post About the Move-Part I

2007-11-01T18:01:00.000-06:00

Well, I had convinced myself that the move was as planned as it could be, and that I shouldn’t worry about it at all.

I was wrong.

To catch some of you up-I work for the F Corp Ad Agency, which was located at one of their divisions, Company B. Big wigs up at corporate decided to move Company B up to be with the other divisions in Chicago. Leaving the Ad Agency down here until the Ad Agency president decides to retire. So instead of staying in Company B’s old spot, we needed a smaller building for just the five of us (soon to be six, but more on that later).

The new building ROCKS. I have already sang it’s praises in a previous post, so I won’t get into that again. However, IT ROCKS, AND I’M PUMPED ABOUT IT.

Anyway… we ordered new furniture for our new offices, and it has not come in yet. So the furniture place has loaned us tables to use until our new desks and book shelves come in. I volunteered to go meet the furniture delivery guys this morning. Mainly because I wanted to run through the empty agency and dance a jig in my new office.

So I headed over first thing, and after dancing the jig, I called Sheri to see if she thought I should meet the furniture guys upstairs at the agency, or up front by the parking lot. She said to meet them up front, in kind of a breathy-oh-my-god-hurry-they-could-be-there-at-any-moment kind of way.

So I quickly made my way downstairs, passing a tall skinny dude in the lobby who was hurrying in the other direction.

I stood out front, in my fleece jacket with my hands shoved in my pockets with the cold morning breeze on my face. Finally the sun came out from behind the clouds and warmed me up a bit. The minutes ticked by, and I glanced at my phone and it had been 30 minutes! I thought about calling Sheri at the old office to see what was up, but decided to wait a bit longer. Finally I got tired of standing and went over to sit in my car.

I sat in my car another 20 minutes and my phone rang. It was Sheri, and the furniture movers were waiting, inside at the door. Wuh? How did they get past me?

Come to find out, they parked in the back of the building, and I of course, passed one of them when I was on my way out.

So it doesn’t take them that long to get the tables unpacked and set up. They head out, and I fix everyone’s tables in their offices to how I think they will like them, then I head back to the old office to help with the move.

I call Jeana to let her know I am on my way back, and she says, “well, we might not be moving today…”

Stayed tuned for part II of the story, and by the way, I am really hoping there is not a part III…

Trick-or-Treat!!

2007-10-31T19:01:00.000-06:00

Special thanks to M&D for dinner, and helping with candy, watching Moose while we handed out candy, and of course, actually taking some pictures with me in them.

Sorry I've Been MIA

2007-10-31T12:22:00.000-06:00

Well I've fallen down on blogging this week, mainly because I've been so busy! (I know everyone says that,... but really!)

Cory just got back from school in Chicago last night. So I've been the solo parent for the last three nights. We did a call each night before bedtime to do the Night-Night routine. Moose was okay with Cory being gone, but not great. He kept asking for him, and even said, "I want Daddy" very clearly on Monday. Unfortunately, I couldn't do that much for him on that front. I also apparently barely eat when Cory is gone, it's kind of like, if I can't cook for someone, why cook for myself? Apparently I can never live by myself again or I will waste away, eating crackers and drinking from the carton.

What? Why am I blogging at 2:30 PM on a weekday? Well, daycare called to tell me that Moose threw up, and was generally fussy. When I picked him up? He was happily playing on the playground...and is currently down for the count. He will be going back to daycare tomorrow.

I got Moose's Big 2nd Birthday Bash invites out to everyone I think. I am so scared no one is going to come. No, I am not talking about you, I'm sure you are coming! I am talking about his daycare friends. I put the invites in their pockets, just like I've seen other parents do. But I have not received any RSVPs yet, of course, is that saying much? Does, like, anyone RSVP anymore? How am I supposed to order food for an unknown amount of people?

Also? Company B is officially shut down. The place is a ghost town. F Corp is moving to our new office space TOMORROW.

And I am home with Moose.

TOMORROW, WE ARE MOVING TOMORROW.

That's right. At least I am packed.

So I am trying to enjoy my afternoon off. I am watching scary movies while Moose sleeps, and sort of mentally gearing up for the trick-or-treaters that will be descending in a few hours. I have never had t-o-t before, and I am kind of looking forward to it.

My M&D are coming to help me. So I am planning on taking Moose around our court, then sitting on the porch with him to hand out candy. We'll see how it goes.

I'm sure I'll have pictures soon.

Pictures from the Halloween Party!

2007-10-31T12:13:00.000-06:00

I didn't catch a picture of everyone, but here is what I got!

Halloween Meme

2007-10-31T11:59:00.000-06:00

Tagged by Mrs. Who over at Mrs. Who's Open Book.

1. What's the scariest movie you have ever seen?

I love scary movies, and I have seen so many. However one sticks out in my mind right away, mainly because it was so gross and scary. It was the most recent remake of The Hills Have Eyes. When the guys killed the mother and raped the girl, it was a little too much for me.

2. What was your favorite Halloween costume from childhood?

From childhood? I was a princess one year with a very cool dress my mom and I found at a Goodwill.
From adulthood? The year I was pregnant with Moose, I had a big belly on Halloween, and I was a Care Bear. It was very cool, and besides being hot, the most comfortable costume I have ever worn.

3. If you had an unlimited budget, what would your fantasy costume be for this Halloween?

I am not really sure, I would probably buy Cory a Master Chief costume from Halo.

4. When was the last time you went trick or treating?

My friend Laura and I went when we were freshman in high school (I know! crazee!) and we had two women who were handing out candy tell us we were too old. My friend Laura said very matter of fact, "if you think we are too old, you're too old for the holiday"

5. What is your favorite Halloween candy?

White chocolate anything.

6. Tell us about a scary nightmare you had.

I can't think of anything.

7. What is your Supernatural fear?

Aliens. Nuff said.

8. What is your creep-crawly fear?

Bugs. All bugs.

9. Tell us about the time you saw a ghost. Or heard something go bump in the night.

I have never had a scary experience with a ghost.

10. Would you ever stay in a haunted house overnight?

I cannot stress how much I would never do this.

11. Are you a traditionalist Jack 'O' Lantern carver or do you get creative?

I love being creative, however at our new house, we don't seem to be able to have real pumpkins, because the squirrels eat them. Yes, that's right. Squirrels.

12. How much do you decorate your house for Halloween?

A lot. A whole lot. I have plans to start on the graveyard next year. I really only bothers Cory when he has to mow around the stuff.

Another Busy Weekend...

2007-10-28T17:38:00.000-06:00

Oh yes.

After four fun-filled hours of solo toddler wrangling, this is all I can offer. I am ready to pass out, but I have to spend the evening writing birthday invitations for Moose's upcoming birthday.

Why am I solo? Cory is currently driving to Chicago for BMW training. Darn the new cars, every time a new model comes out, he has to go be trained on it. Oh well, we can do without him for a few days. Luckily, this time, he'll be home for Halloween.

Well, I had a ton of pictures to upload, but blogger is taking too long, so you only get one for the moment. Sorry about that, at least it's a funny one.

I had planned to write a bit about my new TMJ mouth guard, but honestly? It isn't bothering me much anymore, so when I get a chance, I'll take some pictures of it, and give you an update.