tradition: more than family

The weekend is, sadly, coming to a quick and exhausted close.

Karl and I (and Nate?) hosted our annual friends christmas party this year. It is in its fourth year of existence and the dirty santa presents continue to get more and more amusing! I do love how some traditions extend to more than just family, because, let's face it, sometimes our friends ARE family.

We coupled the party this year with an anniversary celebration for our dear friends kristen and JR. The ever-so-talented Leah created this:
(um, wow, right? AND it tasted A-mazing.) (If you didn't figure it out, Kristen and JR got married in Vegas.) She also supplied us with other varying forms of desert deliciousness including something called Elf Bites which are like these little mini, super-itty short bread teensy tiny squares of heaven.

Here are some of the females in attendance:
The Happy Couple, married Christmas Eve 2004, with their "wood" 5 year gift:
Nate conked out within the first hour of the party and didn't make a peep all night (even when the Weezer concert began happening around 1 a.m. in the Living Room.).
Audra with her Opposum that she won and proceeded to carry around petting all night (with the creepy tail wrapped around her arm!) The tag on the possum said that they are "friendly, non-agressive creatures" which, according to the majority of our party guests (who have, apparently, combated possums head to head, er, mostly with brooms) this is NOT the case. Whatever the case is they are a little creepy, yes? The tag attached to this little guy was SO ridiculously positive that I imagine there is a creepy possum loving population out there advocating to change the images of possums EVERYWHERE.
Elizabeth taking her pick of the pile (additionally, her Trash the (wedding) Dress pictures from the Arkansas State Fair are on her site. If you have a minute, you should REALLY check them out.)
Right before our final guests left:
I feel like the party was a SUCCESS. i had some pre-event jitters prior to the start of the party, which is weird because we entertain pretty frequently. I guess I just felt the CHRISTMAS PRESSURE here too, because everyone there has definitely seen my house DIRTY.

OH, AND AND, if you didn't believe me about the whole I'm a TERRIBLE wrapper thing, allow me to present to you Exhibit A:
THIS WAS MY FOURTH ATTEMPT and after half a roll of wrapping paper (the same ONE roll of wrapping paper I have had for, oh, three years!) I quit!! There was still a ripped corner, and I had neither scotch tape nor bows. I might need lessons.

it's official

yesterday:
October 09:
June 09: (N's first birthday, Brooke about 20 weeks, Maddox a newborn.)
Jenny's baby shower in April 09. (there are two inside babies here.):
October 08:
We are multiplying.

well lookey there, the grinch mananged a tree

Yep.

Thar she is.

Christmas Tree 2009.

Straight from the Home Depot. (We literally bought this thing in, ohhh, 15 minutes. EFFICIENT.)

This is my take on tree decorating (when I do it. I think this is the first tree we've had in a while? I can't remember...I know we did not have one last year.):

1. real. 2. lots of lights. 3. old school, non-matchy match ornaments like this:
4. ridiculous tree topper such as this elf humping sitting at the tip top.
also, i did buy a few of these star garlands, but used them on the curtains. i'm thinking of keeping them up year round cause i kind of love them.

So, it's up! Does that mean we are done with Christmas now?!?!

As for the presents under it, well, we haven't bought any yet. Sigh. I AM THE WORLDS WORST PRESENT BUYER. Seriously. Some people are NOT talented gift-givers and I admit to being one of them. I'm also not that great at receiving gifts either. I'm also REAL REAL bad at wrapping gifts. Sigh. SEE?!? THIS IS WHY I AM BAD AT CHRISTMAS. (Having visions of Karl and I shoddily wrapping gifts on Christmas Day LIKE EVERY YEAR.) If we could skip the whole present aspect, I think I might just love Christmas.

Also, thank you for all your coffee recommendations and thoughts. I will be trying ALL of the suggestions. ::off to brew some RIGHT NOW!::

Rhode Island: neither a road nor an island. Discuss.

So I, um, have a confession to make. Maybe not a confession but more of an admission... or a SHARING if you will...a discussion for the group (you being 'the group,' my internet friends).

Here goes:

At (almost) 29, I have started drinking coffee.

All my life, I have scoffed (it's true!) at coffee drinkers. I wondered if they really NEEDED that beverage to get them going... if it truly MADE A DIFFERENCE in people's mornings or late afternoons. Also, I have somewhat of an addictive personalty (soda, cigarettes, sunflower seeds, fingernails) and little will power to resist so I have always been wary of the espresso bean. Plus, well, I think coffee tastes like ass.

UNTIL a few weeks ago.

(and I am sure the more hard core of the coffee drinkers out there will mock me and this story.)

I'm not a huge Starbucks person (because, well, as mentioned, I HATE(d) COFFEE!). And it's ridiculously expensive. I would get the occasional frappachino b/c, well, they kind of taste like a cold candy milkshake with lotsa (fattening!) whip on top. Who wouldn't like that? Anyway, my mom, THE COFFEE DRINKER OF ALL COFFEE DRINKERS, sent me a Starbucks giftcard when I mentioned this occasional habit to her. One morning before Nate's Little Gym glass (It's always on Thursdays in the early AM; girls night is Wednesday night, so I usually need a little pick me up and sometimes a breakfast soda just doesn't cut it!). The fated words were spoken (and I quote!), "Would you like to try our new Caramel Brulee Latte?" I said YES because my throat hurt and warm sounded soothing and blah blah blah. It was the most amazing thing I have ever tasted (well, that's a little much but it's REAL good.) and I was all LETS DO SOMERSAULTS and then GO CLEAN THE HOUSE and RUN FOUR MILES. Over the next two weeks, I frequented good ole Starbucks every day. (There are a surprising number of Starbucks in Little Rock!) My gift card ran out and I started to use my own funds! Addiction started!

Yesterday, I decided ENOUGH and went and bought some coffee at the store. I'm not lying here when I tell you I had to have Karl dig out the coffee pot out of the very back of our pantry. (and that it is a sad little four cupper.) I believe we have only used it once? twice? And only because company was in town. Karl brewed coffee this morning (because, clearly, I don't know how! working on that!). I definitely bought some flavored kind of bean and i put lots of milk and some caramel vanilla creammate thingey. honestly, i am not sure if it could even be considered "coffee" when I was done doctoring it, but it did the trick. Addiction is a GO!

so, suggestions of brands and flavors to buy? IMA BE A (two-headed?!?) COFFEE QUEEN. (i know, what?!!)
yes, i realize the utter ridiculousness and dullness of this post and pictures. it's just IM ALL HOPPED UP ON COFFFFFFFFFFEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

un-pc parenting

Santa on the pjs and a book about Indians? (clearly, it's the I book!)

Gasp.

I shall remove both influences immediately.

And, SURPRISE!, a picture of nate not sleeping! (aw, he's a good sleeper; just of the i-only-need-ten-hours-total variety!)

Even after we did this half the day:

i have been busy trying to not die and catching up on the freelance work that is turning out to not really be worth my time! we are in town this weekend - though nate and i might be making a quick trip (mmmmmmm QuikTrip! i'll get that too!) to Tulsa to meet Parker sometime REAL SOON.

tree. tree. tree. tree. tree. tree.

Well it sounds more like 'teeeeee' when nate says it but whatever.

Trying to keep nate distracted with water colors quickly went awry.

My mother-in-law and i started this felt creation LAST YEAR for nate - an advent / 25 days of christmas calendar for itty bitty everyday gifts to celebrate and get excited (like, uh, cars he already owns? individual crayons? grapes?). we weren't in a rush to get it done b/c, well, he was only 6 months old at the time so we didn't think he would notice. Honestly, he probably won't notice too much this year, but we are going to give it a go. Needless to say, today, december 1, 2009 (JUST UNDER DEADLINE!) i finished it! (like, literally, just now. the fabric glue is still drying as i type. i was hoping none of the pockets would slide off as i photographed it upright for this blog post!)

it was copied inspired from this pottery barn kids thingey - we thought we'd try it ourselves. i kind of love it a lot. i free-handed and cut the tree and mary kay stuffed it with batting and stitched it up. we each made pockets - about half and half. it's definitely not perfect and looks like a home made crafty craft, and that is why i love it the most. i hope nate will love it for at least a few years! suggestions on what to put inside all those pockets?

this post is mama-licious, eh?

Requisite Post Turkey Day Pictures

I took a little blogging hiatus to fully concentrate on our mini-break. Karl and Nate and I headed to St. Louis on Wednesday to spend time with my family. Here are a few snapshots from the day - our total people count was 29 people (plus two in utero...so 31?) The food, of course, was delish and the company, of course, amazing. Pretty sure I put on a couple pounds! We aren't sure when we will get back to St. Louis so we were trying to make the most of it! I think it was the first holiday in a long time that EVERYONE was there. No sick babies, no sick adults.

This is what used to be the "kids" table (and maybe still is in the eyes of the "adults"). Now most of us have spouses and kids of our own.
An attempt at a group shot:
the family patriarch, sleeping through the chaos:

the little females of the family love karl, particularly this one, wendy. i like to think she is thinking "stop looking at my man" while this shot was captured.
However, on Friday night I started feeling crummy; must have caught something because I am unable to breathe out of my left nostril and have THE MOST ANNOYING COUGH EVER. I’ve been hopped up on Benydryl (it has the opposite effect on me; I get hyper!) since then. I was also super jealous of Karl’s night out with new baby Kelsey. I was too snotty and didn’t feel comfortable being around a newborn – I would never forgive myself if she got sickly. Plus, I woulda cut someone if they had come over sick to see Nate when he was that little… so, VERY SADLY, I stayed at home with my parents. LOOK HOW CUTE and WEETLE:

so here's the thing

I would love to show you pictures from our Friday day at the park with Nate and his friend Nash. It was such a great day weather-wise and company-wise. I would have loved to capture via digital the boys eating rocks and sticks and giggling at each other like MAD every time we said the word YUCKY.

But I have no pictures.

I would love to show you pictures from the Zac Brown Band concert friday night (1. because it was awesome. and 2. because we were THERE.) I would love to show you pictures of our pre-dinner double date at the oh-so-delicious Sticky Fingerz Rock n Roll Chicken Shack. I would love to show you pictures of my cowboy boots and us jumping up and down during a song about fried chicken and cold beer. I would love to show you a picture of our post-concert Kroger run for more beer (like we needed it), frozen pizza (now we did need that), and collasal peanuts (in that order.) i would love to show you pictures of us waltzing in to our house to wake up a sleeping sweet Melissa who so nicely took care of Nate for us. I would love to show you pictures of myself passed out on Nate's batman couch on the middle of my living room floor. (i am confident this would have made QUITE the picture of maternal responsibility.)

But, alas, I have none.

I would love to show you pictures from our little family's Saturday (Karl took the early shift after aforementioned passing out.). We hit the park, snuggled in bed, and tried a new restaurant.

But, nope, no pictures HERE either.

I would love to show you pictures from Sunday. I would love to show you Nate gobbling up pizza with his Uncle Matt. Or I would show you the wonderful spread of food at our friendsgiving party at the St.John/Short household. I would love to show you some food coma pictures of our friends - eyes closing, jeans unbuttoned, moaning and groaning (isn't that just the picture of thanksgiving? yep, pretty sure that's what the Pilgrims envisioned.) I would love to show you pictures from a worship service Karl and I went to - we had drinks, we listened to music, we talked about connecting with each other and with our city.

But, ah, I am sure you are seeing the pattern now - no pics of any of that either.

All my camera has to show from this crazy busy week and weekend? Three frames of Nate in the bathroom climbing on the toilet. Um, what? I mean, it is where he was born and all BUT this is simply unacceptable. PARTICULARLY b/c my goal of the week was to TAKE MORE PICTURES of things other than my child. (::headdesk::) i have been scrolling back through my old photos (mostly for upcoming way back wednesday posts that i somehow always manage to MISS!) and there are tons and tons of group shots and silly shots. we still attend these group events. we still love all the same peoples (and many more new ones!). NEED pictures. STAT. when i am old and gray, I don't want to forget ONE of your PRECIOUS faces. Sometimes we get so busy BEING we forget to commemorate I guess!

i hope everyone had just as wonderful of a weekend (and managed to capture at least a little of it via camera?).

dear internet doctor friends (yep that's you!)

I need help with a diagnosis, my internet pseudo-docta friends.

I have been having this problem for awhile now. (like, uh, months.) (maybe 4? 5?)

It all began when I left my wedding rings off one summer day (oh glorious summer sun I miss you and your tan-giving, cancer-causing rays) and my ringline (which was a nice, pale white) got sunburned. Me? Tan. Ring Finger? Burned in a perfect line. It itched. It peeled. It went away (mostly). I finally put my rings back on. And THIS happened:

and keeps happening over and over and over. i leave them off, let it heal, put them back on, and BAM. Bright, angry red ringline. HEEEEEEEEEELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. i have worn those rings (both are white gold) for years without so much of an itch.

SO BASICALLY what i want you to tell me is: 1. i don't have to see a doctor 2. it will go away!

no, really, what should i do?

(i know this is a VERY exciting saturday night post. weekend recap will, in fact, be more entertaining (hopefully!)

illness and the antm finale

Wednesday is our standing girls night/antm watch party. I would like to share last nights menu:

ahem.

feta cheese dip, cream cheese and dill dip, fried green beans, beenie weenies, two little ceasers pizzas, sweet potatoes casserole, pimento cheese dip, banana pudding, chocolate peanut butter pie, pumpkin cake/bread, a few boxes of chinese food (eggrolls!), and, um, is that all?

It was the best. I adore random potluck style, uh, meals (?) where no one talks about what they are going to bring. Big Fat Win.

AND it was a killer episode of ANTM to round out a super boring cycle of a show most people have stopped watching. (we are die hard! cycle 13 ya'll!)

I am recovering from some sort of illness of the throat, ears, head variety. Being sick with a very healthy, very active child is quite the challenge. (the STOP CLIMBING ON THE TABLE! commands have become very half hearted from my position of sad on the couch.) When i get sick (and, honestly, i'm not really sick sick just a little sickish.) i just want the world to leave me alone so i can curl up and sleep for two days. Then, I want to wake up, eat an entire Skeezers pizza, and shower. Then, I'm golden. Good to go. Good as gold. Ready to get back on the horse. Back in the game. Back in business. Uh, Back in the saddle? Ready to run? (What cheesy catch phrases am i missing here?)

how could you not want another of these guys

thanks for all the babylove comments on my pregnancy thoughts... i like to document thoughts like those so i can laugh at myself five kids down the line (teasing!). we had a pretty low key weekend here in the great state of arkansas. we didn't get a whole lot accomplished, but it felt nice...kind of like the calm before the storm. (the storm being HOLIDAY TRAVELING MADNESS!)

this weekend we did have:

one skinned elbow... blood and everything! there's a cute little scab!
one slip in the bathtub resulting in a head bonk.
one scraped knee - more of the strawberry variety.
one basketball to the face.
a variety of other trips and tumbles.

i wouldn't say GRACE is his strong suite.

i'm getting much better at just cringing when these tumbles occur; though some of them still make my heart pitter patter unnaturally. i try desperately (and often fail) to let go of some of my, uh, over protectiveness when it comes to little running man. he is still somewhat of a cautious little fellow, but these days it feels like he throws caution to the wind more often! UP ON THE COUCH! TO THE TOP OF THE SLIDE! RUN RUN RUN RUN AWAY FROM MOMMY!

we are working hard on boundaries and safety issues, but, uh, gulp. please god keep away the gushing blood and broken bones, uh, forever, or, well, at least another few years. i think i MIGHT be ready to handle it then.

also, please enjoy that first picture IMMENSELY and tell me how awesome it is because i had to LITERALLY sit in dog shit to get it. like, it was on my pants. the POOP was on the seat of my pants. (clearly, i didn't HAVE to sit in it; it was a cleverly-placed surprise!) thanks neighbors! if your dog finds it's way under my tires next week, SO SORRY! (clearly, i would never deliberately hurt their GD dog so don't get your panties in a bunch, but COME ON. who lets their dogs POOP in other peoples yards? and, yes, i am positive it is their dog.) Dog, Gun, Bang. (again, that was a joke people but i do want it OUT OF MY FRONT YARD WHERE I PLAY WITH MY ONE YEAR OLD.)

ahem. that got a little more ranty than anticipated.

anyway, our holiday storm begins sooner rather than later:

this coming week we have a concert, two birthday parties, two friendsgivings, and then on to the REAL turkey day. i am holding off on any christmas decor until after thanksgiving. we are contemplating the tree issue - i mean, is it even feasible to think that nate won't pull the tree down on his head or break/remove every ornament i attempt to place? we don't believe in fake trees, so i guess we have time to decide!

my bloggity bloggy blog goal is to take more pictures - and not just of Nate - this holiday season, so hopefully i will have some new fotos to share soon!

IM IN FULL ON OVER EXERCISE MODE

ALL THE ENDORPHINS ARE MAKING ME TYPE REAL LOUD.

IM REAL AFRAID I AM GOING TO BECOME THAT GIRL.... THE ONE WHO CANT STOP BRAGGING/TALKING ABOUT HER WORKOUTS.

sorry, i'll tone it down.

here's the thing about me: i HATE to diet. ok, it's not that i hate it, i simply SUCK at it. i don't think i have EVER done it successfully. (i'm not sure i have ever even tried that hard.) when it comes to food i have ZERO self control. (that's not entirely true.) and ZERO desire to do things like COUNT CALORIES or ADMIT MY PORTION SIZE might be a little, ah, SKEWED. additionally, i am not a big fan of sweets (I KNOW!) so things like candy and chocolate and ice cream sit untouched in our house for months. for some reason i feel like this gives me a free pass to eat all the soda and chips and bread i desire (SAAAAAALTY YUM YUMS.) in mass quantity. (oh. and cheese. mmmmmm cheese.) (and and and BEEEEEEEER.)

(maybe that is why i can't fit in the jeans i bought three months postpartum. who loses all their baby weight and then gains 10 or so back!? THIS GIRL!)

so when i'm feeling a little squishy, I MUCH PREFER TO OVER EXERCISE!! (like a lot.) (this morning i ran three miles and then at lunch i went to a cardio sculpt class which included a mile run as, ahem, a warmup.) i rejoined my old gym and re-started classes (gah - i love classes! group workouts are where it's AT!) this week to get me in full swing.

(i won't tell you about the part where i can barely sit down on the toilet b/c it HURTS SO BAD.)

(and that i can hardly pick up nate without cringing.)

(or that my abs may or may not be broken.)

(or that i totally love it when i am SUPAsore like that and get to creak around all day complaining and then slather myself in nasty ass icy hot and taco up in the covers to feel the burn!)

(this is the part where i tell you a secret, internet and friends!)

(and i won't even use parenthesis.)

(are you ready?)

(sure?)

OK, OK:

karl and i have been (shhhhhhhhhhh) discussing the POSSIBILITY of another baby in 2010... well, maybe another baby but more likely another pregnancy in 2010 and a baby in 2011. we are just talking about it, mulling it over, trying to decide if this is the "RIGHT TIME" (HA!). i will say this: he is waaaaaaaaaaay more ready than i am. (shocking i know since it's my body that gets to do all the basting and, uh, expanding and then all that sweating and pushing.)

anyway, hence the increased motivation as of late! i refuse to give up my body (cause that is what you do.) as is. REFUSE. plus, i want to be able to work out during my next pregnancy as much as my first. and I was in MUCH better shape first go round.

so, there it is, friends. I SAID IT OUT LOUD. i might possibly kind of sort of maybe a little bit be ready to think about this whole pregnancy thing more seriously! (ish.)

what do you think? we'll make another cute kid, right? i'm thinking it's a boy.

don't you do it

the minute you put a blog up about your dog never knocking your child down and your child going to sleep like a dream, two things inevitably happen the next day. 1. dog... BAM...baby on his butt. 2. big crocidile tears from the nursery before nap AND nighttime...extra snuggling required!

that'll teach me.

naterpataternatertatertot, er, nate

JESUS this kiddo just gets more FUN each and every single day. the deeper entrenched i get in this whole parenting gig, the more i think: this is so much harder/easier than i thought it would be! i think the age Nate is right now (16 months, 1 week, 4 days in case you have forgotten... which i know, of course, you wouldn't!) is such a challenge and such a joy. Gah... the whining... gah... the throwing of the food/ball/sippy...gah... the getting up early... gah...the nasty, nasty nappies...gah... the fits... gah...the inability to wash one's own hands/dress one's own body....gah... the faceplants into the floor (ok, admittedly, those are mostly funny). BUT OH... the joy:

i mean, who gets this jazzed about a Sonic drink?

For your Sunday (er, Monday morning? Tuesday?) reading pleasure, I'm going to attempt a few Nate-isms as of late:

Nate wakes up like clockwork at 6 a.m. It matters not what time he goes down (generally around 7:30 or 8 p.m.). When he wakes, he says "da-dee da-dee" over and over and over and over, occasionally punctured by the sound of the mattress crinkling as he holds onto the crib rail and JUMPS over and over and over and over until karl goes into get him. (clearly, he has figured out "mama mama" is NOT the morning person!) (also, he's in a REAL big daddy phase.)

Nate goes down for both naps and nighttime like a dream. (Well, in his crib anyway... out of town or in our bed is a whole other story! He has never been a good co-sleeper like i dreamed he would be... too thrashy...wants his own space.) I hope he never figures out how to escape artist out of his crib b/c i have NO IDEA how we are going to get him to sleep in an actual bed without falling out 14 times a night.) Generally, there are either no tears or a minute or two of whining, and then he is out. (I still do turn on the white/wave noise of his Sleep Sheep!) There are no more bottles (wah for me!). The removal of his bedtime bottle (about two weeks ago) was nothing. He didn't even appear to notice. He still has a little milk before nigh-nigh and will only drink out of the straw-sippys - that is how he has always been. I don't mind but they are kind of a bitch to clean!

Nate still eats pretty much anything (except tomatoes) that we put in front of him. His current favorites are pumpkin muffies from panera (ha!), waffles, chicken fingers, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, yogurt, cantaloupe, mandrin oranges, apples, corn, uh, cheese, and, uh, pretty much whatever. we are working on using forks and spoons. he likes them but isn't quite there yet. he will give them up after a few minutes in favor of his fingers. (also he smashes his jelly toast violently to his face and gobbles it from the inside out. it's REAL cute.)

I could not even begin to list the words and concepts Nate is grasping. Yesterday, we were reading a book with a picture of a football in it and football was also on the tv. He pointed at it, said fou-ball and turned around and pointed at the tv. It was a pretty cute little connection. He can tell you his name (which sounds like "NAH") when asked (well, depending on the asker) and will hold up one finger when you ask him how old he is. He giggles when you ask him his age...he thinks that question is particularly hilarious as he did it last wednesday at our weekly girls night at the house and all us girls went bananas laughing and cheering for him.

Nate will pick up a "bu" (book), bring it over to me or karl, turn around and scoot his little butt backward into our lap. Such a big kid! We have been reading a lot as usual. Any book with a do-ggie in it (Biscuit goes to the Pumpkin Patch! Where is Clifford! Go Dog Go!) is assured to be a winner. Most dogs these days are referred to as Arlo - apparently it's an easy name for Nate to say, so all dogs (and some cats) are "arlo arlo." Generally, the second thing Nate says when he awakens is "arlo arlo." To credit him, Arlo does let Nate hug him and kiss him and occasionally crawl all over him, and never once has knocked Nate down (even accidentally in the yard!) or moved so much as a muscle as Nate does it.

Nate is REAL INTO helping us with chores, which is both a blessing and a curse. He will follow both of us around to "help." He feeds the dogs ALMOST on his own. And by that I mean he mostly drops dog food EVERYWHERE and the dogs run around after him panting b/c Nate prefers to feed them kernel by kernel (kernel? nugget? pieces?) while running around carrying their bowls and laughing.

He loves playing ba-ball (basketball) as we have a net on our street. This entails him carrying the ball to the net and handing it to me to shoot baskets. It's quite fun. Honestly, I am pretty sure Nate could spend every waking minute outdoors. In the past week, we have definitely been OUT more than in which makes me REAL scared for winter. (Park date, anyone? We prefer Allsop if you're local!)

He goes to Mother's Day Out on Mondays and I do, uh, other stuff. It's nice to be apart. I won't lie, I sometimes fantasize about being at work (especially since Karl has started something new and exciting - JEALOUS!) or doing a million other things I could be doing without Nate attached. And sometimes I think, depending on the opportunity, things might change, (who knows! i like both working and staying home!) but, overall, I feel good about where we are right now.

I MEAN LOOK AT THIS GOOFBALL GOOBER FACE (oh, yes, goofball goober. i'm trying to replace things like FUCKING ADORABLE and such as Nate, ahem, becomes my little parrot. Erm, wish me luck! My next Nate-ism's might include Nate's first curse word(s)!)

god i miss the bacon

two years ago TODAY we were living (for four glorious days!) in a private villa (spoiled!) in puerto vallarta with a cook and a bartender and open air showers and potties (imagine peeing with THIS view!) and hot tubs and rack of lamb and mosquito netted beds and piles of delicious bacon every morning. we were there for this beautiful, gorgeous wedding:

(look: tan! skinny! smiley! well rested!) (i'm sure we had our complaints at the time!)

today i wished jenny and jeff a wonderful anniversary, and we reflected on the massive amount of wonderful, positive changes (Baby Nate! Baby Maddox!) that have taken place in our little lives since then! it's both hard and easy to believe that nate was just a little sesame seed at the wedding (oh the nausea!) (i think PV may have been the root of my mexican food aversion while pregs!)

the recent weeks alone have proven to be a HUGE transitional time for many of us:

ahem:


Jenny just started a new job this week, Brooke and Paul are about to burst out a baby (well, i guess Baby Parker will be doing the bursting), Melissa officially set a date for her impending LA move (one way ticket PURCHASED PEOPLE!), Karl is in the first week of his new job for our family... it's been a big few weeks! i know i have talked to all of these girls recently (er, okay, today! one in person, one via phone, and one via gchat) and we have all been semi-negative about this or that or the other everyday thing (what can i say? it's fun to bitch!) BUT THESE ARE SOME EXCITING, AMAZING times and it makes me hap-hap-happy to share my times with them and their times with me and all our times with our corner of the internets. we are lucky (and driven) people. (aside: thanks for listening and thanks for sharing your own corners of the internet. the way we connect feels drastically different than DAYS OF OLD. being connected keeps me sane!)

sometimes when i get caught up in the day to day with nate or karl or the GD dogs, i really have to remind myself to look for that positive and appreciate every phase as it's happening. (more livelaughloveliveinthemomentbullshit ALERT!)

AND dear god, what is it going to be like in TWO MORE YEARS? 2011? (hopefully the internets won't EXPLODE or OVERLOAD and I will still be blogging/present online in my little corner of the internet!)

(p.s. on a completely UNRELATED note, is anyone else freaked out about saying (like actually speaking outloud) 2010 - do you say twenty ten? two thousand and ten? ten? one zero?)

(ex: IN THE YEAR ONE ZERO...)

hootie hoo hello

homecoming FAIL

so homecoming itself was kind of a BUST but it was a great, relaxing weekend overall!

we took these guys to the kennel on friday afternoon where we were informed that they would need flu shots to be boarded (and the vet there could, of course, give them the shots for a, ahem, small fee.) I find it entertaining that my dogs have access to flu shots at their vet but my child does not at his pediatrician's office. something is wrong about that, yes?

the whole weekend was a pretty clear example of the many things that have changed since we have attained PARENT status. nate had a rough night of sleep in a new, exciting environment (read: he kicked us in the face all night long!) he is a TERRIBLE transfer baby (like from the car to the bed) so he woke up when we arrived and didn't want to go back down. He was up early to watch me and jenny complete the Tulsa Run! (a 5K - or 3.1 miles for the running-challenged) we ran with a chip time of 33:00 exactly - split time of 10:38! our goal was to break an 11 minute split so GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLL! it was a pretty challenging run - with a massive uphill late in the 2nd mile. we tried to pick out people to pass (little goals) as we huffed up the hill. i will say we didn't run terribly fast but we passed lots and lots of people. MOTIVATING. the winner of the race was 12 and several 6 year olds finished before us. UNMOTIVATING.

after the race, we changed and headed up to campus. the game was at 1 p.m. and on halloween weekend, so i attribute a partial fail to the university of tulsa. who wants to tailgate b/w 10 a.m. and noon-thirty? i know there were so many people there but i saw NONE of them b/c our total time on campus was about one hour.

Maddox and Jenny are cute, right? Jenny bought this duck costume FOUR years ago on one of her baby buying binges! How appropriate that it fits, right?

after an hour, the lack of nap and temptation of a football we wouldn't let nate have led to THIS:


which was REAL awesome. he did this pretty much the whole way to the car and then fell asleep the second we put him in his carseat. jenny and i went back home with the sleeping babies and shared a celebratory adult-beverage for finishing our race!

brooke joined us and the three of us relaxed and made dinner and spent some much needed quality time together.

we went to bed at 9:30. it was also daylight saving so REALLY we went to bed at 8:30 p.m.

we were up and dressed and at our breakfast destination (6 adults, two babies, and one inside baby!) by 8:00 AM.

by 8:39 AM karl and i were on the road home.

HAHAHAHA.

i got nothing.

it's been raining.

and raining.

and raining.

oh, and, uh, raining.

i still don't have a halloween costume for nate. i have some options.

this week we have been laying low (b/c of the rain and b/c of the multitude of sick people around us. STAY AWAY germs.)

we are unable to jump in leaves or go to the park. even when it's not raining, the parks are too wet to play!

this week karl and i also participated in the GREAT CEILING DEBATE 2009 which was one of those thrilling arguments in which married folks participate. basically, the contractors fixing our ceiling could NOT match our swirly, funky ceiling pattern that someone hand painted in 1950 something. they tried and tried and tried and took pictures and got a variety of tools. it just wasn't working. i won't tell you what 'side' karl or i took but i will tell you that our ceiling now has a nice, pretty smooth finish. it doesn't match the rest of the house but it doesn't look like shit either! THRILLING people. absolutely THRILLING. (much like this blog post!) i bet you wish you were there. the poor men painting were here so much that nate started referring to them as daddy. (teasing.)

the weekend is supposed to be rain-free but i am not holding my breath.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

today is the last day

for six years, karl has worked as a business analyst and then a developer for some variation of the company: stephens/staffmark/cbspersonel. he has had four bosses. he has had no less than six offices/cubes. he has worked on several floors of the downtown stephens building (most recently 17) and then moved to their current office in west little rock. additionally, since, uh, 2006 (?) he has been freelancing web design for our (his!) company, Simple Click Design.

today (today!) we close that chapter (though he still will be working on selective freelance projects). Karl is moving on over to Capsearch.com. Capsearch is a web-based research utility providing lobbyists, legislators, educational institutions, businesses, and associations with real-time information on changes in legislature and state government. It is formerly affiliated with my old employer, Arkansas Business. Here is an article about breaking ties and about Karl joining. I won't go into a terrible amount of details, but they have received funding from several wonderful sources and have a great amount of support. This product has proved to be successful in Arkansas (after just a year!) and i know they are raring to get it out to other states.

(if you skimmed all that read here: it's an internet startup!!)

we are all pretty pumped about the transition (though some days it's makes me want to vom out of nervousness; apparently, i don't handle big changes all that well). The offices are back downtown - the home of both our our careers here in Little Rock! i will be so happy to have an office down there again!

additionally, i am picking up some freelance work here and there (some from my former employer in fact). Nate is going to Mother's Day Out once a week and I am looking forward to contributing some cash money right before the holidays! (which are FAR FAR away. clearly.)

what do you do when there is major change in your family? like i said, i kind of want to vom, but instead believe i will play to role of Good Wife and throw some energy into decorating his new office! suggestions welcome. i'm thinking taxidermy with a hint of post-it.

muddy buddies

this weekend i participated in (among other things) a MUD RUN! It is an annual 5K in Little Rock - costumes required. we didn't have a lot of prep on the costumes so we decided upon superheros with kiss style makeup. the race is basically a three mile run and and then you go through a little balloon arch (yea! balloon arch! always a sign the RACE IS OVER! woo hoo!) and then the last tenth of a mile is an ENORMOUS mud pit. the weather was perfect but that mud was FA-reeeeeezing. we took our shoes off to hop in and our toes were numb within the first hundred yards. there were mud puddles up to about my mid-thigh/waist. the three of us pictured above (keely on the left, waynette on the right in the last image) held on to eachother and flung mud everywhere. keely and i eventually opted to crawl - which was REAL fun and much easier. i kind of felt like a stripper (an awesome stripper who keeps her clothes on) i'm not going to lie. i also felt real badass running with a cape on. i think it made me FASTER! the only downside of climbing out of the mudpit was having to get nakey beside our car to put on dry clothes.

(many thanks to melissa p.h. who got up with us and rolled nate around in the stroller while we raced on.)

more photo recaps of the weekend to follow...