Let's talk about how I could be the next official Mega Blocks spokesperson. Saul is kept entertained for 30+ MINUTES. That in itself is a Christmas Miracle.
Or let's talk about how the weather has been mild, therefore allowing me to have precious, quite moments alone ... outside.
Or we could talk about that awesome post-nap bedhead.
Or long johns under precious khaki pants.
I could talk about my new addiction of (dark chocolate) hot chocolate with marshmellows, but there's not much need for explanation there.
I have 2 Christmas morning pictures. I might keep those for myself and family because they're just so precious.
Love y'all. I hope you had a very Merry Christmas.
Every single year, I hear this song, and mentally (or physically?) do the motions we made up to this song over 10 years ago. So Haley - this one's for you!!
p.s - Can I get an amen for 1) this was when CHRISTMAS was priority and they talk about God sending his love and 2 ) the '90s were awesome.
I did manage to take some photos of Saul playing with Christmas lights all fancy-like, however I haven't had the time or desire to upload them to my fancy computer. Netbooking it today.
As I was looking through my phone, I saw a few to share.
Yesterday, he wanted to take a super long nap. I had to wake him up at some point because I didn't want him to be mad at bedtime because he wasn't sleepy.
Once I woke him up, it was ON. He was very angry with me for disrupting his precious slumber. One of the most epic meltdowns to date ensued.
Too bad he's still insanely cute when he's crying.
This was during a momentary break in the meltdown. Check out the super puffy face. I want to squish it.
After about 30 minutes of non-stop chaos, I gave up. What could I do, you know? He wasn't calming down like I was telling him to. You know what I did?
I put his little behind in the bathtub. Seriously turned his baby frown upside down!! WIN!
Christmas Ornaments. Two years ago, Todd and I made every.single.ornament on our tree because we were too poor to get ones we liked. They're all covered in twine, moss, bark, feathers, and leather.
It took us WEEKS, but we had such a good time every evening drinking tea, listening to jazz, and being creative together. It's one of my favorite Christmas memories.
Saul won't keep his hands off. He'll grab the little lights between his index and thumb and say, "Hot? Hoooot!" It's so precious, but his curiousity doesn't stop there. He loves the ornaments, too. I've decorated and redecorated the tree about five times now.
Because I'm pretty sure one of the cutest sights and sounds ever is a baby with a snotty nose eating a banana. The cute eating noises are magnified times 10. Oh, my precious little man.
I'm already daydreaming about next year's garden. Seriously???
I'm on the Bonnie website looking at stuff I can try to grow in the Spring. I'm thinking about how convenient it would be to have fresh garlic out in my garden right now. Onions, too. Todd wants me to try to grow Mirlitons. Until a week ago, I wasn't even quite sure what in the world that was. I've tasted one, and to be honest, I'm still not sure what it is, but I'm up for the challenge.
Winter ... please hurry up and be over. Spring - let's do this!
I am in one of those moods where I am completely humbled by my God.
Nothing out of the ordinary, but I am just so blessed. I have to share it.
I'm sitting on the couch watching cooking shows, drinking an afternoon cup of coffee and folding laundry. My sweet family's laundry. Folding cute pajamas with dogs on them and thermal shirts my honey lives in on the weekend. I hate laundry, but it's so much sweeter today.
I am so thankful for this life. We have so many positive things happening right now, and the Lord is just working in so many beautiful ways in our lives. I can tell you, we have waited ... and myself, I haven't been so patient. We've literally had moments of falling to our knees in tears and gnashing our teeth, crying out to God to intervene!! He has heard our prayers, and He is blessing us.
But here's the thing - we've been blessed all along. It's so beautiful.
I know Thanksgiving was last week, but I am so thankful for everything.
For my sweet man, who has taught me that the simple life IS sweeter and more fulfilling than anything. For his patience with me, and the sometimes much needed kick in the behind. He believes in me and tell me how strong I am. He is so amazing to me. I can't believe I'm his.
And for my little buddy. This sweet child is my second best friend, and I am so proud of him. He is keeping me young and aging me at the same time. Such a perfect balance. My sweet son, you make my heart burst with a love that I've never known. It is so overpowering. I am so thankful that the Lord gave that exact little boy to me to call my own. My son. My firstborn. I am so lucky.
For the past few months, all I've read on blogs is how much everyone just SUPER loves fall. I am so not one of those people.
I don't particularly like layering clothing. Pumpkin-flavored-stuff is just marginally OK to my tastebuds. I'm not exactly a sugar plum fairy when it comes to holidays.
I would much prefer it be warm all year round. Call me lame. Call me boring. Call me a grinch. I don't care.
I guess I'm kind of lazy, too, because I'm not looking forward to ALL the traveling that's involved with fall and winter holidays.
I would so much prefer sitting out by my garden swatting mosquitos and lighting a million citronella candles in my sundresses.
Y'all, until last night, I pretty much thought time out was a load of bunk.
But seriously - IT CHANGES LIVES!!
Saul has hit a phase where he's being very ugly and not very nice (at times). I think he's just testing limits and pushing boundaries. It's so normal, but very frustrating.
Last night, we were playing with his blocks as a family. Todd and I were making these castles for him to knock down, but he got impatient and wanted to knock it down NOW. After a few "No-no's" he started doing it to spite us!! NOT MY PRECIOUS BABY BOY!!
Todd just scooped him up and sat him about 2 feet away from us and said, "Saul, you're in time out until you can play nice." That was it. He was shocked!! He just sat there and whined. I felt bad because the kiddo looked super sad. But he waited. Todd and I continued to play until about a minute passed.
Saul was settled and we let him play. I think he needed to figure the whole thing out, so (weird) he started being ugly again. Boop! Back to timeout he went!
After that, he was good! He totally understands!
I've had to put him in time out twice today for doing things he knows he's not supposed to (aka touching the TV and touching the computer). He has his own corner and everything. He just sits there. I only make him sit for about 1 minute because I don't want him to forget what's going on an why, so 60 seconds is perfect. It's actually pretty cute to see him sitting there ... (I even took a photo -- Bad mom.)
I'll cut to the chase, here. Saul was the cutest kid ever for halloween. He was .... ALFALFA from Little Rascals.
Omg. Can you stand it!?
Is it just me, or is he way too beautiful!?!?
Halloween night, we went to our friend's restaurant for their Halloween Party since Saul is still too young for the concept of trick-or-treating.
Todd was John Denver, and I was a Gypsy ... except everyone kept calling me John Denver's Groupie? Then they laughed at me and said that if it was socially acceptable, I would dress like that all the time. SO true.
Saul and I with Joe - the owner of said restaurant. The whole staff was dressed up like zombies. It was awesome. Saul didn't even get scared!!
Family Photo for Y'all!
Hope you had a Happy Halloween! Look forward to photos from our recent hike. It was epic.
I love blogs. I love to read them and look at all the pretty pictures people take.
However, I don't watch videos on people's blogs unless it's something cute like somebody's kid doing something cute.
That being said, I'm posting a video today.
Todd is a football fan; a New Orlean's Saints fan, to be exact. And because of him, I have fallen in love with the Saints. Seriously. Drew Brees, their quarterback, is probably one of the most caring, good-natured, down-to-earth, and genius men out there in modern football culture. See? I feel like I actually know the guy.
As you may or may not know, in 2009, the Saints won the Super Bowl ... and it was awesome.
Drew lead the team in a pre-game chant that is one of the most well-known chants in the league. Verizon made a commercial that features the chant. I see it on TV, and I tell you what, when I watch it, I AM PUMPED!
Seriously, I'm like jumping around, doing the chant, and I'm yelling to Todd, "YEAH!!! LET'S DO SOME LAUNDRY!!" It gets me so stoked.
Is it just me or is someone always sick around here?! I guess it's the changing of the weather. That's when we all catch something. It's on the verge of annoying.
However, what's not annoying is how we've been spending the last couple of days. We've been hanging out here
Actually, that's not true. We aren't quite that awesome. We have, however, been vegging out in on a pallet in the living room. Saul and Todd have had a cold bug the past week, and so I've been nursing them to health and working my tail off with work. Bleh.
Saul has also fallen in love ... with rockin'. YEAH. But not like ... rock n' roll. Like literally, rocking.
We pulled these guys from the basement. The little rocking chair belonged to "Papa Ken," who SO SWEETLY passed it down to little man to use. The rocking horse was Todd's when he was a baby (I think? Momma Jules is going to have to weigh in on that one. That's what Todd said.)
Anyway, Saul has been rocking these thangs like he's been doing it his whole life! With rhythm, even! It's seriously so cute.
And finally, last week was my man's birthday! He turned ... A YEAR OLDER. He's a little photo op from our mommy-and-daddy-only-two-hours-out date.
He might be old (har-har -- NOT), but he can still whoop at some billiards. Our secret obsession.
And I'll leave you with a nice little photo of me and the Munja Man eating some pink popsicle to make his throat feel better!
While still trying to find both time and place for photo editing and blogging, here's a few more camera snapshots of the things going down around here.
Cutest Pj's ever
Oh, how boys will be boys. I found this "creative masterpiece" after Saul had his pre-dinner bottle. He usually plays in the kitchen drawers while I cook.
For his birthday, Nana and Pop-Pop (My mom & Step-Dad) bought him this tent. This tent has absolutely saved my sanity the past week. I put down lots of blankets, pillows, books, and blocks. He LOVES it. Often, I can find him playing here and doing his best to wreck any/everything that is nicely set up.
Saturday night, Todd went out and got Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. We opened the box and told Saul to pick one out. He picked up a whole original glazed (that's my boy!!) and took a HUGE bite right out of it!!
Oh, you know. Just relaxing, watching some Sesame Street ... sitting on a German Shepherd's neck. Whatev. Theses two LOVE each other. It seriously melts my heart into a big blob of goop.
A really dark picture of Saul playing with blocks.
Bathtime. Always a hit. He's also decided he likes bubbles, which is new. He never liked them too much before.
That's all for now. I know, disappointing ... but it's okay because there's lot of pictures of little man.
So life has suddenly picked up the pace on me. While we've been adjusting to full schedules, blogging has been slack.
Since the (re)appearance of the TV, that's meant that I have no computer desk/home office area. . Boo. That means that I have had no where to edit photos. That also means that I'm having to blog on my netbook, which is really NO good for blogging.
However, I have acquired a iPhone-wannabe phone, and downloaded an app for totally trendy photos (seen above).
What we've been up to - eating, learning to climb, washing hands, generally just being hyperactive (if you're Saul), bible study, doctor's appointments, and I've been busier with my work than EVER.
Speaking of schedules, Saturday, we'll be meeting up with Kimberly Card for a little professional photo loving. Hopefully we'll get some great shots of Saul. I was talking to Todd last night about how one of my major regrets is not getting newborn shots of Saul. Oh well. When #2 comes along, that'll be first on my list.
Well, there you go. A little update to keep you going.
Oh, and PS. my garden is poo-poo. I'm over it!! Let's just fast-forward to next spring so I can try again, okay?
Todd and I were outside harvesting what's left of the garden. I'm talking Todd's head off while picking cucumbers when I hear coughing.
I look down.
Saul is spitting and there's a tiny red pepper coming out of his mouth.
TALK ABOUT HORROR!!!
I literally THROW the cucumbers, yank him up, do the mommy-finger-swoosh to get the thing out.
He gags a little bit, but nothing got swallowed (THANK YOU, JESUS!!).
We run inside and the only things we can think of to give him is milk. Milk will help, RIGHT?!
I'm shaking so hard and crying a little bit. Mom-guilt, you guys. I'm like, "Ohmigosh, Todd! I wasn't looking!! He was right in front of me and I WASN'T LOOKING!!"
Todd, who loves peppers almost as much as he loves me (almost), is half-laughing at me, saying it's okay. Things happen. He didn't choke. He's alive. It'll hurt for a minute, then it'll go away.
You know what? Todd was right.
Do you know that that child hardly cried at all?!? He didn't puke. He didn't cry really hard. He just kinda kept moving his mouth weird and around his mouth got red. He was just really excited (and by really, i mean kind of) by getting to drink a ba-ba an hour before dinner. He seemed more upset that Mommy was shaking and crying.
It obviously hurt, because ... homegrown Tabascos are really, really hot. But I'm so proud of him. Within 15 minutes, he was running around yelling and laughing again.
I even called Poison Control just in case (aka I'm a crazy first-time mother) and they laughed at/with me. I think he was more laughing AT me. He said it's no big deal. He might have the scoots. He'll be okay. Put Maalox on his mouth if it stays red (but don't give it orally. Babies can't take it), but generally, peppers are food. They aren't poisonous. Umm... Duh.
Whew.
I just still feel SO bad.
I think this classifies as a Grade-A Parenting Fail.
Yes. That's right. We didn't even have one up. It was packed away for the past six months.
I have a love/hate relationship with TV. Not to sound snooty, but I've always thought of watching TV as being a very .... American pastime. Once I moved out of my Dad's house, I didn't even own a TV. I think at one point I might have, but watched TBS only back when TV antennas worked.
Anyway, when I started dating Todd, he wasn't a fan of TV either, but he had a nice, new plasma TV (are they even called plasma TVs anymore?? HD???) that hung on the wall for the sole purpose of football season.
And then ... we fell in love ... with the TV. Ha. We discovered all the learning and documentary channels. We never got on any of the big series like Lost or American Idol or any of those cult-following-type shows. (Not to say there's anything wrong with those shows) But every night, we were SO excited when there was a new episode of "I Survived" or "I was Bitten" or "I'm Alive" (... are you sensing a trend?)
And of course, there was football. After being a super cheerleader for the better part of seven years, do you know that I had NO IDEA what in the world was going on out there? Todd fixed that fairly quickly.
Then Saul came along and I indulged a little more when he would nap since I wasn't working.
Once the TV was gone, I'm not gonna lie, it was boring. But I got used to it. I found Mommy blogs. I've been very proud to say that Saul has only seen TVs at other people's homes. Even when we did have one, we never let him watch it.
But ... when the DirecTV guy came and set us up, Todd sat down with Saul in the floor while he drank his morning milk ... and they watched Scooby Doo.
You guys, it was precious.
So now Saul is down for a nap and I have a monumental amount of laundry to fold (my housekeeping arch-enemy) and I'm practically giddy! What will I watch?!? Everyday Italian with Giada?? Bevery Hills 90210 (because even with 90's hair, Brandon Walsh is soooo cute)??? A documentary on inner-city school's art programs!?
