Raindrops on Roses. (Not Really--5 Other Things.)

Hopping on the train to bring you my 5 favorite things (for now) Thanks to Grace for hosting since Hallie is off gallivanting and enjoying life. I actually think Grace is gallivanting too but apparently hosting from afar. 

1. Nuby cups. Since the big birthday is coming up the cord is being cut with bottles. But alas C has no interest in hard spout sippy cups. The nuby cups are perfect. And since we bought a 4 pack at Sam's Club for $5 I will say the price was right! I'll probably buy another pack just so I'm not washing cups every ten minutes but I am glad these ones work! 

2. Ball pits. I love them. It has been my life's ambition to have a giant ball pit in my home since I was younger. Now I am a long way off from that but I did get a small tiny ball pit for Cs birthday with 125 balls and I am SO excited. In fact I'm letting him get it this weekend since I can't wait. Dreams are becoming reality. 

3. My Macaroni and Cheese Pot. This pot is magic. It deserves an entire blog post. But suffice it to say, I have had it forever and it is the only remaining piece of the set that I think of when I think of my parent's pots and pans. Which is dumb since I've had it a million years. (Like 7) And they're on like their fifth set since then or something. I love this pot. And while I do make other things besides boxed mac and cheese in it, I flat out refuse to make mac and cheese in anything but. 

4. Robert Francis Weatherbee by Muro Leaf. This is not a picture of my copy. But oh my gosh it is just the best book ever. Humor. Simplicity. Parenting philosophy. Okay not really on the last one, but sort of all at the same time. If you are lucky enough to stumble upon a copy of it... buy it! 

5. Story of my life. I am absolutely the person who laughs at completely inapropriate times. Funerals especially. I luck out that I laugh silently. And shake. And as long as I have Kleenex I can pretend I am just really upset. But yep. I am that person. Always. Husband is a BIG fan. Not really. 

Friday Quick Takes: 3

1. So...  this morning it's cold and rainy. Which is better than cold and snowy so I'll take it and don't think I'm complaining Mother Nature! So as I turned on the heat, because it wasn't that cold last night, I decided it would be a good morning for scrambled eggs for breakfast.

2. C apparently took the "you're almost a big boy" convo from last night to heart because he had his first finicky "I don't want to eat this even though I like it and would have eaten it yesterday" meal. Luckily I didn't make too much.

3. It's possible C is having an Alexander day. (Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad.) He bumped his head pretty good just a minute ago. Now the poor baby just wants to snuggle. He decided that he didn't want to be a big boy yet I guess. Which is just fine with me.

4. I watch The Today Show. I didn't start watching The Today Show until after the whole mess with Matt Lauer and Ann Curry. I have no idea what went down. All I know is that all this business of them trying to make Matt more relateable--the Matt dancing thing... nobody cares. It's true.

5. I'm not really a sports person but I've been trying for about a year or so to watch different sports when they're on television in case I'm missing something. So far I can safely say I care not for: NASCAR, golf, MMA fighting, basketball, soccer. I am neither here nor there for pretty much everything else. Except for...

6. Horse Races! Last year in my uber pregnant stage I watched both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. Then when I had a teeny tiny C we watched the Belmont Stakes because I was invested. So here we are at the Kentucky Derby weekend again and I am very excited. It's really really fun. It's horses, and dress up and a sport all in one! And the sport part takes a total of 2 minutes. I really enjoy it. So get your seersucker and your hats ready to go!

7. Going back a minute, The Today Show is ridiculous but all this Psy music has in fact cheered up my little bad day boy.

Have a great Friday! And a stellar weekend!

Theme Thursday: Play

Another Thursday. This picture is brought to you by the word play.

This was taken over the weekend.

Nothing is more fun than a stick to a baby. They tell you when you're about to become a parent that they'll make their own toys. People say it all the time. Now if only I'd listened. Either way, this stick and others provided a healthy dose of fun. And fiber when he tried to eat it...

Okay. So head on over and visit Cari, link up your pictures of play and gear up for Mom next week. SO many options with that one!

May Day

I cannot believe it is already May.

Such a busy month: May Day, my parent's anniversary, FIL's birthday, Mother's Day, my grandma's birthday, C's birthday, my brother's birthday, Memorial Day, then my dad's birthday. 

Plus the normal things and a few extra things too. It's a good thing I love it. 

Today Husband got me a May basket with daisies, a Crunch bar (my latest groove) and a box of cereal bars for C. It was a fun treat! 

Here's to a glorious May!! 

Quick Takes: II

Oh Friday Again.

1. I am tired. We stayed up WAY too late.

2. This has been a crazy week. Monday my brother was here, Tuesday was Husband's birthday, Wednesday was ear infection day, Yesterday we stayed up too late and cleaned, today C and I have a lunch date, Tomorrow we are going to an ashes scattering. My little homebody self is cringing and just wants a normal day!

3. Today C is 11 months old. I can't even stand it. The countdown is on.

4. I wish I had something witty or interesting to say. But I don't. I don't think.

5. I have made a new life goal of going to all the Presidential Library Museums. I went to one last year and besides the fact that there were no books at this supposed Library it was really interesting. (My little naive self was expecting... a library.) The one I really want to go to is Reagan's. But I can tell you right now I will not be going to California anytime soon.

6. I am on a quest to make diabetic or low sugar banana bread. I think C would like it, but I don't want him to have as much sugar as in my favorite recipe.

7. It's going to be beautiful this next week. I can't wait.

Have a good weekend!

11 Months Old!

AH! He's 11 months old. How can this be?!

Not new this month but never really recorded:

• If you load a spoon up he will put it in his mouth then drop it on the tray for you to load up again.
• Climbing stairs like crazy if you let him or he makes a break for it. 

New this month: 

• First ear infection
• Can identify Pig and Cow from his Little People Farm and Noah's Ark animals with surprising accuracy. Elephant and Sheep with slightly less accuracy. And those poor other animals on the farm and ark (Zebras, giraffes, lions, horse, goat, chicken, farmer and Noah) they are just for chewing. 
• Had a growth spurt and is 29 inches! (I think but there was definitely a growth spurt as overnight his jeans didn't work anymore.)
• Weighs 21 pounds. 
• Ranges from 6-12 to 12-18 item clothes depending on what it is and what brand. 
• 9 month or 12 month pajamas. The one pair of 6 month pajamas that was hanging in there got kicked out with the growth spurt. Children's Place 12 month pajamas are still too big. 
• Babbling and responding
• Pointing and reaching at things he wants
• Occasionally signs "more." We are not really baby sign people but have sort of taught "more." 

Theme Thursday: Sky and Other Things That Are Going On

My house is a MESS. I need to clean it this morning. But it's so beautiful out that I am having a hard time convincing myself of the fact. I mean, how can I possibly be expected to handle high school cleaning on a day like this:

I stuck my phone out the door of my screen porch.

Alas, it is overdue. I try to clean a little every day so it never gets out of hand. But I didn't get to yesterday. So now it's out of hand. Yesterday C was not himself. Cranky before his nap. That happens though. Then he proceeded to scream on and off the rest of the afternoon. This has never happened. The only thing making him even remotely happy was being snuggled. So while I was perfectly contented to let the house go ala this:

I was still worried. At 4:10 I called Husband home. Not too early but I needed him to see for himself that this was not normal. At 4:15 I called the doctor. Then we took him to convenient care. Poor baby has an ear infection. One ear full blown, one ear almost there. I suppose I should be thankful that it took him until the last 2 days of 10 months before he got go-to-the-doctor's sick but it still broke my heart. 

So I need to get cleaning while he's cheerful. We also discovered he has a love for country music. I have all of 11 songs on my iPod--not really our genre of choice but something about the beat and the twang makes him bop to the beat with a big smile. So it's cleaning to country music morning over here. After this discovery was made I downloaded a few more songs. Now I am in 1992 and rockin' to Achy Breaky Heart. Oh yes I am. 

Link up your sky to Clan Donaldson and thanks Cari for hosting! I bet you have sky to take a picture of! Also a pretty awesome excuse to put Channing Tatum's picture on your blog since he is in talks with Fox to be in a Guys and Dolls movie opposite Joesph Gordon Levitt. And let's be honest, he'll probably be Sky Masterson. ;)