tue tee. num num

Alex must have been hungry this morning because he went a scavenging. And he brought his various finds to me in bed.
First it was almonds. These I think were just on the couch in their big ol' Sam's Club container. Nonetheless, he carried the nearly full container all the way up the stairs and brought them to me saying, "ah mons?"
I denied him the ah-mons because in most cases, they end up getting spit out in my hand.

He wasn't happy about the denial and ended up going downstairs with Jon to share cereal (you know... his new favorite thing to do) and after Jon left for work, I was brought more spoils of Alex's treasure hunt.

This time the treasure came from up on the counter. Alex has caught on that we keep all the good stuff up there. Since he figured out how to step on the bottom rung of the barstools to look up and reach the stuff on the edge, we have learned to keep all the stuff we don't want him getting away from the edge. Luckily, he hasn't figure out how to climb all the way up the barstools!

I was awakened by Alex happily coming up the stairs saying, "tue tee! num num!" over and over. Apparently I didn't put the little container of sugar cookies from Monday far enough away from the edge. :)

Luckily I have a good little boy who didn't get into them at all and brought them to me to help him open them (even though he easily could have done so himself... he just never tried!). Cookies at 9 am are not considered a good thing at this house, so I had to deny him. He was quite sad.

He did however get to enjoy a fully frosted tue tee num num while we stood in line for an hour and a half to vote. And yes- tue tee is always followed with num num.

I have bragging rights

Last week I got a request on my Etsy store to make a 7 year old girl a mermaid costume- just a bigger version of the baby ones I made.
This is my favorite part of the request,
"She wanted to know if you could make it a solid tail so when she's at home she can look like a real mermaid...and then have velcro to open a slit on the side so she can slip her feet out to do the halloween parade at her school?"

My mom teaches 2nd grade and I can totally see one her 2nd graders saying the same thing. I thought it was adorably funny!

So mermaid tail was made in a RUSH because they found out that they needed it by Wednesday the 29th and this was on Thursday night (the 23rd), so I knew that I needed to have it done and out preferably the next morning so that I was absolutely sure it would be there in time.

I stayed up really late and made some dumb mistakes which made me stay up later, but it ended up looking great! I didn't take a picture before we ran out the door to the dentist the next morning, so I've been waiting on a picture from the lady that bought it.

She send me a little message today that said that her daughter came in 2nd place in their town's Halloween Parade for "Prettiest Costume" and that she made the front page of the newspaper!
So here is a picture of the newspaper that my customer sent me. That's my mermaid tail in the newspaper! Sweet!

My thoughts on this:

Funny cartoon!

The first time I saw this I chuckled and was instantly reminded of family parties where there was a pinata. Or our big family egg hunt. MUCH candy in either instance. Everyone had a good time getting what they could.
Yet everyone knew that at the end, all of the candy/eggs would go into a pot and it would be divided up so that everyone got the same amount.
We still got a lot of candy. Maybe not as much as we originally were able to grab, but it was enough to keep everyone happy. And I always liked that if I weren't pushy, even to the point of being mean, I wouldn't have to worry about going home with only a few pieces of candy while some of the other kids enjoyed massive amounts of it.

So, by me not jumping in and being overly aggressive because my personality is more reserved mean that I am more lazy?


Let's go back to trick or treating. I remember when I was 13 going down to the valley in my friend's neighborhood so that we could RUN from house to house and get a LOT of candy. I think my sister went with her friends/my parents up in our neighborhood on the hill. She got probably about half of the amount of candy that I did.
Now, when my parents asked me to share with my siblings (and them ;) ), it was hard to do, but I knew that if my sister had been given the opportunity and had the ability to run to as many houses as I did, that she probably could have gotten a lot of candy as well. And really, did I need THAT much candy? So sharing it was.
Often, all of our candy was put into one big bowl and we all got to eat from it.

Now in the case of this cartoon, I took a second to think about where the candy would be going to.
Certainly it's not just lazy kids who don't trick or treat. In fact, I think those kinds of kids are probably in the minority. I bet some of my candy would be going to the kids in hospitals or kids that are too sick or disabled to go trick or treating. And probably some of it would go to the some kids who maybe live in The Projects where maybe there isn't as much candy because no one really gives any out because they don't have money for it. Maybe some would go to the kid who can't go trick or treating because his neighborhood in unsafe. Homeless kids- I'd want them to have some. Maybe some would go to kids who just don't know about trick or treating because their parents never taught them.

Opportunity, education, circumstance. Three huge factors.

And thinking about giving on a religious level, I told my Sunbeams a couple of weeks ago the story of the loaves and the fishes. One boy had enough for himself, but he was willing to give it to Jesus and in turn, many were blessed.

Sadly, I have a hard time trusting people in our nation to freely give of their means. I know it's hard even for myself to recognize that I, in comparison with a huge portion of society, live in abundance. Things that I sometimes think are necessary are HUGE luxuries to many. And it's terribly hard to just stop acquiring things and stop wanting them. But as I stop thinking of myself and trying to live a simpler life, I am better able to give.

For me, if I am living a simpler life, taxes aren't as much of a burden because I don't want many things. Less want means more money left to give instead of spending on myself. Taxes become a way for me to give to those who may need some help.

So what about dependency on the government? Well, I agree that it can become a problem. Do I personally know of a way to fix it, no. I do think though that there are better and more efficient ways to do most things, so yes, adjustments should probably be made to many programs. But how can adjustments be made without costing more money (at least initially)?


Those are all the thoughts I have for now... I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

How many times have I heard demands for CANDY today? Way too many.

And we're not even to Halloween yet.

My baby boy takes after his mama. He LOVES candy. And always wants MORE.

I gave him 5 candy corns today and he was then climbing on the bar-stools to see if could at least see the candy corn and demand more of it.

Yesterday, after licking the frosting off of his cookie, refrosting it, and then eating it, he was, of course, demanding more cookie.

Today at the Trunk-or-Treat he had a GREAT time eating little "m ms" with Daddy. And when we went to go do some activities, "m m's" were demanded. No time for silly games when there are m m's around!

And while going around to each trunk, there was no interest in walking. It was all about getting that one piece of candy and then eating it. He could have gotten 1 piece of candy and been happy. But then of course he would have wanted more after eating it.

We did let him have a couple of pieces at the trunk or treat, but in the car on the way home, Alex was yelling CANDY CANDY CAAANNDDYYY! at me. A monster has been created.

We still have NI's halloween party tomorrow and then the actual ol' hallows eve on Friday. Suddenly I want there to be at least 3 people in the neighborhood handing out toothbrushes instead of candy.

No wonder the pediatrician told us last week that we should be brushing his teeth 2 times a day. She knew what was coming.

Pictures to come of Alex's awesome costume later! He didn't want to hold still tonight (m m's were far more important!)

How my mornings go

I don't get up until at least 9. Sometimes 9:30. I usually need a good half an hour of gradually waking up so that I can be a pleasant person. I just don't do abrupt wake ups.

How can I wake up at 9 and not have an abrupt wake up when I have a toddler? It just so happens that my 2 year old is a very good little boy and sleeps until 8:30.
And I have a husband who needs to get up then for work anyway. Getting Alex out of bed is a guaranteed way for Jon to get out of bed. I love that I don't have to abruptly wake up and deal with a little boy in the morning. I love Jon for doing this.

My wake up call usually starts at 8:30 when Alex runs over to my bed saying, "Mama! Mama get up!" I then have to lift him up into bed with me. Most of the time, he lays on Jon's pillow and we laugh and he "sleeps".

At some point when I have my eyes closed, Alex will pat my cheek or shake my shoulder and say, "wake up Mama. wake up Mama." It's so cute. I can't resist waking up with a smile on my face when he does this.

We then laugh and play in bed for a little while and then I am ready to wake up.

As much as I hate waking up, I absolutely love being woken up by my sweet little boy. I always wake up happy!

Another fun thing about fall in Central Texas

Migrating monarch butterflies!

It's probably weird that it makes me happy, but I always smile when a bright orange butterfly flutters in front of me. It happens a lot when I am driving and there were tons of them flying around when we were at Six Flags a few weekends ago.

Here is a video from a news station that shows a large swarm of them in south Austin.

Indulgence

I've been meaning to blog this for a while, but hadn't taken the time to get the picture onto the computer.

During a recent trip to the grocery store, Alex decided he needed to indulge himself in the checkout aisle.

After putting all of the groceries on the belt, I found Alex with this guy and he had actually opened it! I'm still amazed that he got it open. I guess when you need indulgence, you'll work at it until you get it.

Mama/Daddy Cereal

Alex's new favorite breakfast routine is to share a bowl of cereal with Mama/Daddy.
This started out as a Mama only thing. We had to sit on the same chair and he wouldn't eat a bowl of cereal without me.
In the past few days, Alex has decided to let Daddy in on the fun and has shared a bowl with him. Alex will actually eat Daddy Cereal on his own though.

This is him after his nap today. He demanded Daddy Cereal. Doesn't he look so big?!

Sorry for the poor image quality. The lighting wasn't great.

Proud New Owners...

of this little guy

Isn't he just adorable? We love him because he got the aforementioned monkey soap out of our carpet without as much effort as was originally forseen.
Jon was especially impressed with the suction power. Typical.

We're happy to have this new member join our family. We're looking forward to many happy years and lots of spills.

Damn you monkey shampoo!!!

You would be damning the shampoo if it was on your carpet too.

Alex got a cute little Curious George shampoo set for his birthday. He was obsessed with it. The first thing he said this morning when he got up was, "monkey soap!"

He liked taking the lid off, pretending to put some on his poof, and then putting the lid back on. The shampoo was sealed, so I thought that there shouldn't be any harm in letting him play with it for a few days before I hid it.

Well I didn't hide it soon enough. Somehow the seal broke and I heard uhh ohh and looked over to see Alex DUMPING out the shampoo!

Luckily, it was just a small bottle and some of it did end up on his legs and not the floor. It was also a good thing the most of it ended up on the rug.
But some of it got on the carpet. And I'm not thrilled about it being on the rug (the rug is just better for it to be on than the carpet). And it's right by our couch, which is a high traffic foot area, which means dirt. Shampoo attracts and holds dirt.

What do I do to get rid of shampoo on carpet? I don't know if I'm prepared to spend hours with alternating between wet and dry rags.

Sleeping! And the Dr.

Alex was awake until 9:45 last night doing birthday stuff. I was pleasantly surprised when he didn't wake up until 10:15.
Well I suppose he could have woken up earlier. When I went in to get him up to go to the Dr. he was just laying in his bed awake. When I said hi to him, he looked at me with a smile and said, "sleeping!".
It was a very pleasant way to start my morning.

The Dr.'s appointment also went surprisingly well. I have been talking to Alex here and there about what the Dr. does so that he would be prepared when we went for his 2 year check up.
He let the Dr. check his tummy, heartbeat, lungs, and testicles and look in his ears, eyes, and mouth without any tears. Getting weighed on the table and measured still made him really nervous and he screamed when we were trying to get him to stand and get measured. But he didn't scream when they took his temperature or measured his head, so that was progress!

He weighs 26 and 1/2 lbs (40%), is 37" inches tall (95%), and his head circumference is in the 20th percentile.
Tall and skinny!

Birthday Boy!

Happy Birthday Alex!

Yesterday was Alex's 2nd birthday! My baby boy is 2. I can hardly believe it. He's still just as cute as ever and even though I get frustrated with him, I still love him like nothing else!

He can do so much and there are so many little things that he does and says that just make me smile.
I love that he always wants me to color with him. (okay, it does get annoying, but it's still cute that he's so insistent on it). I love his fascination with trucks, tractors, school buses, trains, and cars. When we're driving he always sees these things way before I do. And the passion for driving! I didn't know a 2 year old could get so much joy from being behind the wheel of a real car. Alex thinks it's the greatest thing EVER.

I really hate that I have to be the enforcer of the rules for him. I hate to see him sad when he doesn't get something he has his heart set on. This is probably why he got to lick the bowl of red velvet cake batter today, despite the mess. He would cry a little and then remember to ask nice and would say please in just the cutest little voice. Who could deny him after he put so much effort into actually saying please?
I love his little "no thank you" and I love it when he says, "I love you mommy" every night.

Even though I hate getting up and night when he cries, I cherish those precious snuggling moments I only get during that time. It makes me laugh when he repeats what I'm saying, especially if it's a "grown up" thing to say like "dang it" or "that driver is ridiculous!".

I love his little attachment he has to his binky and blankie and that he thinks it's hilarious to run into whatever room I'm in with them and hear me say, "HEY! What are you doin' with those?!". Giggles every time. I love hearing him giggle and have to kiss his neck nearly every day just to hear them. I love finding new things that make him laugh.

Here's to many more years of laughter and funniness in our lives thanks to Alex. We love you booger boy!

Ack! Spiders everywhere!

Tonight I went out to get a bag of sand for Alex's new sand table and saw a big ol' spider on the driveway near me. I looked at it and it had some weird textured back. "Hmm...", I thought. "That's kind of strange. Well, it's a spider (a rather large one!) and so it should be smashed". And then "Oh hey! I have a big heavy bag of sand in my hands. Handy!"
I dropped it on the unsuspecting spider and then lifted it up to find thousands of baby spiders dispersing from the large spider. AGH! One of the freakiest things I've ever seen. I'm REALLY glad I didn't smash it in my house!

Well it was our ever typical Wolf Spider carrying her babies on her back, which I didn't know that they did. Here is a picture of a Wolf Spider with babies on her back. Hmm... no wonder the spider looked textured!

I actually see tons of Wolf Spiders. They are very common here. Jon killed a HUGE one last night. It was bigger than a quarter. Like just the body length was probably as long as a quarter's diameter. It was the biggest spider I have ever seen since living here.

So if you see a spider with a textured back... don't smash it if it's in your house. Just get out the bug spray and be prepared to do a lot of spraying!

Underwear!

Alex has been in his "special underwear" (meaning his Gerber training underwear) for about a week and we really haven't had many accidents. We've gone out quite a few times and he hasn't had any accidents and he actually kept them dry the whole way to Six Flags, the whole day at Six Flags, and the whole way home from Six Flags on Saturday. After that I was pretty sure that we were set to go.

And then today happened and we had 2 pee pee accidents.

Isn't potty training fun?
I won't complain though because at least he's going pee pee in the potty the majority of the time. Oh! And no poopy accidents yet, which I especially love. Not having to change poopy diapers makes the occasional pee pee accident totally worth it.

So it's been a gradual process, but I feel pretty safe saying that Alex is potty trained! Yay!!!

So Nummy!

I asked Alex if he wanted some banana bread today and he, of course, got all excited and said, "nanana bread!" and then "so nummy!" I think I've said, "so yummy" to him a few times about things, but to actually hear him say it from his own thought process was pretty funny.

Good thing I have lots of "so nummy" nanana bread on hand!

A whole lot of banana bread

So last week I got some bananas that had spots on them for .05 cents/lb. So I loaded up because Alex had been begging for banana bread pretty much every day. We love the stuff around here.
I was going to get bananas anyway just to make a loaf or 2, so I was thrilled that they were so cheap.

Last night I made 4 loaves. And I have batter for 4 more loaves mixed up. And enough bananas to mix up 5 more loaves worth of batter. If we eat a loaf a week, we'll be set until January! YUM!
Off to get more cooking!

Oh! I have one other thing to brag about!

Okay... or 2.

1- we went to Six Flags again today!

2- we got gas for $2.65/gallon!

Bragging

About my AWESOME husband.
He just got his pay raise which was good, but the cooler thing was that he was told that he was #2 in the WORLD in his company for providing proof of concepts for their customers. He was behind a guy in Taiwan or something that had 3 times as many.

So Jon is good at his job.

He told me that in 2 weeks he's flying out to do some on site assistance for the company that makes Blackberries. Cool.

So if you're anything like most people, you're probably wondering what exactly Jon does and what proof of concepts are.

Jon's company make testing software and hardware that major companies, universities, etc. use to make sure that their products, applications, etc. work and perform properly.
They often have current customers get in contact with their local field sales engineer and present something that they would like to accomplish.

This is where Jon comes in. His job is to find a way to prove that their products can accomplish whatever the customers would like it to. It's very cool. Jon is very cool.

So I just have to brag about how cool and wonderful my husband is!

And if you want to check out some great videos "sponsored" by Jon's company, National Instruments, check out this blog. Apparently it's quite popular among engineers.

Losing sight of yourself when you're a mom

This is a problem that many mom's have. As I frequent an LDS forum for moms, this has come up a lot. Many moms feel like they don't know who they are anymore.
I definitely feel this way sometimes. I remember the person I was when I was in high school and college and I feel so different now!

So of course, this called for an analysis!

Lucky for all of you who know me now, but not then, I'm sure this will be a real treat for you!

Here are some high school pictures to start things out...

These are my yearbook pictures. Dazzling, aren't they?

and some dance pictures. Gotta love those!

and just some general pictures that I had floating around

So me in high school... I was in choir and hung out with the major players in choir. You know, the ones that were above and beyond and were in show choirs and musicals and took oodles of AP classes. I was in photography (took all the classes I could!) and on the yearbook staff. I was pretty shy and had a hard time really reaching out and talking to people who didn't make an effort to do so with me first.
In my group of close girl friends I was definitely one of the sillier ones. That was the real me. Silly and funny and very carefree. However, not a lot of people got to see that.


On to college!

That first picture of me is famous, I'm sure, on the internet. Well at least on LDSmingle. ;)
I love that picture of myself. It was taken in my first week down at Snow College. The second picture was taken in my 2nd year of college. My cute roommate on the far right of the picture, Kristin totally changed me for the better. It was probably more of an evolution than a change. That silly carefree person that I was with only my close friends came out more when I was with Kristin in groups of people.

I was social and would do more crazy things in public than I ever thought I would do. Example, I wanted to learn to skateboard and so I did. I skateboarded every day to my job at Western Watts. I would even skateboard to school. It was awesome. For an institute activity I actually walked into the quiet computer lab and asked random guys (loudly and with fully convincing desperation) if they were my husband. I actually invited guys I liked over for dinner. I bid for a date with another guy I liked. And wasn't nervous at all while on it! I could actually carry on a conversation with a boy without worrying about what to say! (seriously. In high school I used to think for a while of what to say before calling a guy).

I love my college self. That is someone I look back to frequently and try to be more like that... in a less crazy more grown up version.

Here are a couple more of my favorite pictures from when I was about 21.

Here is my engaged and newly married self. (excuse the crappy cell phone pics!)

I liked the secure and settled version of myself here. I liked feeling more grown up and having a job that I loved in the industry I went to school for. Everything felt like a big accomplishment (granted, there were a lot of major accomplishments going on at that point in time!). But I feel that I lost some of my social life. Meeting others and being social didn't really matter anymore.



And then we had a baby and a little boy and my life has really been consumed with that for the last 2 years.
Last week Jon made the comment that he didn't even know that I could sew or liked it so much when we got married.
And yesterday I found my mp3 player and remembered that I used to listen to some really cool music. I had such a fun time taking my "me time" and sewing while jamming to all of my music. Every song that came on was like, OH! I LOVE this song! It was so enjoyable and made feel happier than I have in a long time. It was different than the normal and it felt good to remember that part of me that has been absent for a while.

From both of those things happening in the last week and a recent comment from my friend Amy who said her husband recently asked her when she went on a crafting frenzy what happened to the hard-A he married, I got to thinking about how I was and how I am now and if I'm happy with the person I am now. What do I miss about who I was then and what am I doing to be the kind of person I want to be in the end?

Some new things I love about myself that I didn't have "then":
1-actually passionate and opinionated about political issues.
2-confidence in my creativity and craftiness
3-a desire to keep my bed made :) (my mom is probably gawking right now)
4-my environmental self. (I actually used my reusable bags today at the grocery store!)
5-wanting to wear classic and "grown up" clothing. You know... the pearl necklaces and high heels and all. I actually never owned a pair of heels besides a lone pair of heeled sandals until last year.
6-enjoying and being able to cook a wider variety of meals. I used to thrive on pot pies, pasta roni, and totino's pizza.
7-did I mention that I love my new passion for craftiness? It seriously makes me so happy to come up with new things to make and then actually make them.


So point of this blog post (and hopefully you've made it through at least some of it!) is that it's important to evolve and grow up, but it's also important to hold on to those good traits and talents that you've picked up along the way. Try to remember things that made you happy then and incorporate them into your life now. I think it makes for a much happier mom which is always good for everyone around.

Almost done!

After many hours of working today, the rag quilt that was started HERE, is ALMOST done!!! All of my blocks are sewn together. I could technically leave it as is, but I want to do a border with some freehand stitching down the sides. I think it will make it look more finished than the standard rag quilt.

This next part is for anyone that wants to give advice and lend their expertise on quilt finishing.

And then the question of finishing the outside edge comes to mind. And deciding if the back is soft enough (it's a cotton/linen), since this is baby/toddler sized, or if I should put some minky or flannel on the back. And if I decide to put minky or flannel on the back, how am I going to attach it to the already made quilt top?
Tying would look weird and I don't think free hand quilting would work. Well... I suppose it could, I'm just not sure I trust myself to do a whole quilt with a free motion quilting. Especially on a standard (not long arm) machine. It does work in my favor that this is just a small sized blanket.

I do worry about making the quilt heavier than it already is by adding a layer and batting or 2 layers of minky/flannel.

And the edge of the border... I do want a clean edge and not just a frayed edge, so that leaves me with a few different options (that I know of). If I do a backing it should be easy to wrap around and just topstitch (I know... it doesn't look as nice, but whatever) it to the front.
But what should I do if I don't do a backing? Should I do a cording? And if I do cording, should I do the seam on the outside so that it frays?
I suppose I could just stich the right sides together, turn it, and then topstitch.

Hmm... lots of options here. Someone please give me their guidance so I can get this thing finished!!!

"Tongue Hurt"

Alex just walked over to me saying, "tongue hurt". If he's walking toward me saying that something hurts, that means he wants it kissed.
Yes, I kissed his tongue.


It really isn't as gross at it sounds. It wasn't a huge ol' smacking kiss. It was just a light little peck with very minimal contact. Thankfully, that was all he needed for his tongue to feel better!

The find that made my day

All I can say is, duh... why didn't I think of it before? The Internets and I have a very close relationship. I should have known to go to The Internets first.

After all of my upset-ness over my broken sunglasses, and taking the effort to find the same pair and having to buy a new not-as-cute pair at the high price of $12, I have found my original pair online at Aldo for less than I originally paid! AND I found a code for free shipping. They were $5 total. I ordered 2 pairs. Seriously.

I also ordered some cute flowery ponytail holders. I think I may get a couple more for Christmas gifts for all the cute girls I know. They were $2.98. I ordered one in every color. Luckily, there were just 3 colors. They had tons of cute accessories (Like these little bobby pins and this cute necklace) on sale too. I can only buy things if they are on sale. I inherited this from my mother.

Oh and I got this hat for $5. I'm hoping it looks good on me.

So if you like these sunglasses,

get them HERE.

AND because I can't let you feel like you aren't getting a good enough deal, here are some codes.

15% off JXLMGQ08
or
free shipping VIPCLUB

Enjoy! Hopefully you can end you day as happily as I did!

The mommies on the bus...

go shh shh shh.
This is Alex's favorite part to his new favorite song. This is how we got him to finish his dinner last night. The things we do to get our kids to do things....