My best friend, Melody, was at the mall trick or treating with her daughter and her nephew(That handsome little boy with her in the picture is her brother's son, Gabe.). She swears she is some weird kind of German sausage. 
Indiana is set to see Dr Bartlett (his regular pediatrician) tomorrow for a follow up on the ER visit. Today we filled his prescription for amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and he has to take some twice a day for a week. He is really good at taking liquid medication, as long as we make yummy noises at him while he drinks it. He should be just fine!
My mom bought Indy his first pumpkin for Halloween. We haven't carved it yet, we will do that tomorrow. Chris drew a silly face on it, and we let Indiana roll around with it, and drool on it a little just to make sure it was his!
It had been quite a while since I took a "white" picture. Every so often I like to take a photo of Indy lying on his white down comforter. It makes a nice simple back drop, and I think it shows off his handsomeness. There I go with that awful humility thing again. It is hard to be humble when strangers stop me in the stores and on the street to tell me what a startlingly cute child he is. And so friendly! He will smile and talk to anyone (as long as someone he knows is nearby). If I knew how to get him into infant modeling, I think he would do pretty well. What do you think?And a final note: 5 extra points if you know who Eleanor Rigby is; 5 more if you got the reference. 10 points, too, if you goggled Eleanor Rigby because you didn't know!
edit: GOOGLE, i MEANT Google!!
What are you afraid of?
After much grumbling, considerable shopping, a refresher course in ancient Sanskrit (because that is the language the directions came in) and a few "years" studying quantum physics theory and/or mechanics (because it appears that you have to use all the properties of quantum foam to comprehend all the features) ... Indiana finally has his high chair. Actually, it wasn't quite this hard. I wanted this one, because it matches all his other fishy stuff. Target had it on sale. Chris got to put it together (I smartly left the room because for some reason assembly turns Chris into one of satan's minions). Sure, it has a bazillion features, but it has enough room for Indy to grow that I will probably have them all figured out before he grows out of it.
The weather has started to turn cold. Well, cooler anyway. With a chill in the air today, Indy is "bundling up" in a sweatshirt and long pants, to go out. Today we had a lot of miscellaneous shopping to do, with several stops to make. He is getting so heavy, I am thankful for kid friendly shopping carts, and an easy-fold umbrella stroller. I found a new stroller at Target that I really want... Eddie Bauer edition, plaid, three wheel stroller, with a pivoting front wheel. Christmas is coming, hehe.
If you had fairy god parents, what would you wish for? Me, personally, I have but one wish. Eight hours of sleep without the door, the phone, or the baby making any noise! I think with that one wish fulfilled, I could probably handle the rest by myself!
Playing around with the photo shop again. My mom is so talented with her photo editing that my pathetic attempts are silly in comparison. I think I am going to have to buy a photo shop program so that I can do more than I can now. But, maybe not because now I can blame my weak software. If I purchased good software, and still sucked at photo editing, it would be my own pathetic-ness. I so do not want to find out that I just suck. Blame the software! Always blame the software!!
Indiana has mastered the skill of sitting up unsupported (that pillow behind him is because he is up on my bed and he does occasionally get excited and THROWS his whole body backwards... I don't want baby splattered on the floor on the other side of the bed). To those without children, this new skill IS more exciting than it sounds. He also has figured out how to get into a sitting position without my help! He wants so much to be walking. He loves the "hunch-back" walking (the one where you hold his hands, hunch over, and let him take safe steps with his arms up over his head). When I have him standing in his crib holding onto the rails he tries to cruise sideways, but when he has to move his hands, he invariably topples over. All this at Just six months old. I miss the cuddles already.
We have a fairly small apartment. Often times I find myself in the position of having more stuff than space. We have two full size beds as well as Indy's crib, and only two bedrooms to house them. So, the waterbed mattress is in Indy's closet, covered by a bunch of comforters. The frame and etc is in the front room closet (the closet that is behind the wall hanging that is behind Chris's Telly). The "box spring" part of that bed doesn't fit anywhere. SO, I covered it with a black and white patterned sheet (affixed with thumb tacks) and used the top bit as a shelf for his larger stuffed animals. I put it behind the crib, because, well, honestly, there wasn't anywhere else to put it, but it worked out good because it keeps his little arms and legs from poking out on that side. Now if I could just find a way to keep his arms and legs inside on the front side! (oh and if you look at the picture closer, you will see Indy is in the crib!)
We like to keep Indy's room bright and cheery and full of fishes. Today we added a new non-fishy to his wall. Indy's aunt Kathryn gets movie merchandising things through her work and was able to bring home the new poster for Madagascar which is coming out on DVD next month. I saw the movie in the theatre with Melody, and thought it was a lot of fun. It is something we will probably buy for Indy for Christmas.
Indiana delights in the attention he receives when he "helps" with household chores. My grand-mother had a saying about throwing out the baby with the bath water... I guess I misconstrued it and washed the babies clothes with him in them! Its all the same when you think about it, and Indiana doesn't seem to mind either way.
A while back my mom gave us a bunch of toys for Indy. He wasn't much interested in toys until the last few weeks, though. Among the toys my mom gave him was this "busy beads". Now he has learned how to use them and finds it amusing to manipulate the little car, balloon, and train shaped beads along their tracks. He still enjoys chewing on them, too! It is nice to have a relatively quiet toy to entertain him. Most toys you buy at the store these days have horrible lights sounds and doo-dads that will make any sane mother lose her mind within minutes!
We decorated Indy's room mainly in fish. We were addicted to the ocean wonders aquarium stuff from Fisher Price. To match it we got fishy pictures in frames, and a fishy wind mobile hanging from the ceiling. We got Fishes on sticks, fishy figurines, fishy cut-outs, Spongebob and Patrick, too. Yesterday, our neighbor GAVE her twenty gallon tank set-up (including tank, filter, hood, light, gravel, decorations, stand and fish, even fish food) to Indy for free to go in his room. She knew he loved our tank with Dante in it, and how his room was all done in fish. He LOVES his new tank. He will watch it, and chat at his fishes for ages at a time, just happy. If you see this post, Yolanda, thanks!
Indiana has gotten to that point where he no longer wants rocked to sleep. Sometimes I miss it, but really, I know it is for the best. When he starts acting sleepy (like rubbing his eyes or yawning) I make sure he is full and dry, then put him into his crib. He will play and chatter until he finds his stuffed sting ray with one hand and his other hands thumb is firmly in his mouth. He drifts off to sleep with no trouble at all. He is sleeping about an eight hour stretch, waking up hungry and ready to face a new day. He is still taking two or three naps during the day on a set schedule. Napping at eleven in the morning, two in the afternoon, and five in the evening. This schedule is of his own making and seems to make him pretty happy.
These doggy treats are supposed to stay good for a week if stored in an airtight container on the counter, or if wrapped well and frozen, they will keep for two months. Since I do not have a dog, I can't vouch for how much a dog would like them, but it seemed like such an easy healthy recipe of things that most people already have in their kitchens. I thought perhaps Jengibre (that's my moms little monster... errr dog) might enjoy them as part of her less chicken, more health food diet.
Yeah that title can be taken various ways. Get your minds out of the gutter! What I mean is that this photo is the one from the package we purchased. We got a 10x13, an 8x10, a 5x7, a bunch of wallets, and ten Christmas cards in this pose. There is a fourth pose that I wont be putting on here because we had it done for Chris's mother, we only got one of it, and she already has it. There is also a fifth pose. The fifth one was my favorite, however I wont be posting it. My mom wants to post it on her site since it was the pose we had made for her. So, if you want to see it, she would have it up at Nana Faira's soon!
This one was great. The photographer gave Indy the pail and shovel and he refused to return them to her. He wanted to eat them and bang them together. Did I mention EAT THEM? Before the next child uses them as a prop the photographer is going to have to dump out all of Indiana's drool!
In this one, he looks like an angel. 
They call them Great Grandmothers because they have enough practice at being grandmas to be GREAT at it!
This is C. Pat McGarry, my mom's mom. We lost her to complications from adult onset diabetes almost ten years ago. This is Dakota and Indiana's "other" great-grandma on my side. I am trying to come up with pictures of Indy's great grandparents from his dad's side to post, as well. If you have any pictures that make you think Great Grandma/pa (hint hint Kathryn, Tracy, Jerry, Laura etc...) we would love to have some emailed to us to share on the blog for Indiana. (to Dakotajh@yahoo.com) 
When I was growing up I LOVED Judy Blume books. I think young girls everywhere should read them. She always had such a wonderful sense of life as a pre-teen girl. The other day Chris and I were at the grocery, and I saw her name on the cover of a adult book. Well, I hadn't read one of her books since I was about twelve. I did not know she wrote adult books. So, I bought it. I read it in about 3 hours. This book runs your emotions through the gamut. From laughter to real tears; a grin, and even a little outrage I felt all of it as I read this book. So if you are of the female persuasion, and you like to read... Try this book. If you have read it already, I would love to hear what you thought.
Juliana's dog is a kisser.
This picture was taken out the window at the OHSU Veteran's Hospital on the 8th floor. Mt. Hood is the peak in the background, with the Willamette river seen in the foreground.
We stopped in on Juliana while we were in Portland yesterday. She is the General Manager of a carl's Jr up there, but will be moving to the restaurants in Bend, Oregon on Tuesday. She grew up in Redmond so its a lucky move for her. Plus, it gives us one more reason to cross the passes. Life being good to her, she won a 2005 Ford Mustang from the company for running an accident free store! They paid taxes, title, and all! And, more important, Indiana loved her!
Aunt Kathryn came over and let Indy wear her baseball cap. He was not real big on giving it back! He's just a ball cap baby!
As I sit here going through photos and sorting them into their appropriate file (where they will languish until I feel like putting them all on disks) I found a few that I really liked that I have not previously put on here. This picture was taken around 2 months ago, but I was just captured by the look on his face. I don't know what word to use to describe it. My mom says that I am over proud or something like that... No humility here... Because I am always going on about how handsome my sons are. But, really, they are both so cute, I can't help myself!
Indy was rolling around on the floor snacking on the blanket he was supposed to be covered up in. Since he was showing more "heine" than I liked, I gave him a nice pink heart. I love digital Photography because without it, I wouldn't have been able to share this photo online due to all the perverts out there. The instant upload through a portable SanDisk drive that reads our multimedia camera card, a quick trip through the photo shop, and here it is. I love being able to fix red eye, or crop out unwanted bystanders, or even cover up a little nudity before I send out my pictures to be printed. When making pictures for friends or family I can even add captions! (And some places like Wal-mart online photo center let you upload the pictures you want prints made of to their web site, and then go to your local store in an hour and pick up your finished prints!) I sure don't miss the bad old days of photography! Waiting a week for bad pictures with red eyes, missing heads, and strangers standing in your shot are all history!
My Japanese name is 石丸 Ishimaru (round stone) 久美子 Kumiko (eternal beautiful child).
Visit Evol's blog to get directions to your own Japanese Name!
I think the jackpot is up to about 340 million bucks. Do you play? Do they have powerball in your state? (I think its in 29 states plus the virgin islands) If you won it, and got the one time lump sum, after taxes you would probably still have about 100 million. What would you do with it? Even if you don't play, it IS fun to think about what you would do with that much money. Would you give money to family and friends? Would you help the poor? Would you pay off your debts, and your children's? Perhaps you would put your kids or grandkids through private university? A trip around the world that takes a year? Would you buy a pink two seat convertible Mercedes (I would!). Would you help your neighbors? Or would you not tell anyone until the story broke on the five o'clock news... And then move away so the money grabbers don't find you!?!? Or still, Would you tell your ungrateful children that when you die its all going to charity so they wont have a motive to off you? 
I do not usually advertise how poor we are. In reality we don't feel poor. Sure, we don't have a new car, and we live in as inexpensive an apartment as we can find. Indiana has a lot of clothes and things like that. Many of his clothes are clearance sale bargains! (like yesterday for twenty dollars at the local K-mart I purchased three pairs of pants and four shirts for Indy! The prices were 50% off of the lowest clearance price marked!) It turns out we are eligible (by about 2k per year) for a Habitat for Humanity home in our area. AND ThereIS a home available in our town. It seems that the people who were having it built for them dropped out of the program. So, in a weird twist there is a partially built home waiting for a family! Cross your fingers it is us! It took me over two weeks to get the application all put together, but today we turned it in. Now, we wait! 
Indiana saw the camera come out, rolls onto his side, and just stares up at me until I take his picture. When he sees either camera come out he just starts hamming it up. Dakota was the same way. Good thing they are adorable kids worth taking all these pictures!
Indiana made it to Six months old and we still love him!
Saturday is actually Chris's Sunday. That's weird. So, His friend Brian (from the newspaper) was over and they played video games. Then Melody came over, we watched a movie. I got the laundry done, and did my pilates. I made an arrangement to go to the gym with melody. She joined Curves, and says its really good. If I like it when I visit with her, I will probably join, too. If she is comfortable there, I probably will be too. On the television commercials the girls at the gym are always already thin and fit, so my big fear of joining a gym is that I will stand out because of how fat I am. I am dedicated to losing weight (I say that as I sit here drinking Dr pepper... No help there. I am going to have to give up the soda again. That's so HARD!) OH, we paid the last payment on the recliner, too! 3 left on my desk and a zillion on his telly.
I did it. I bought the winsor pilates kit. It came with a mat, a video and a meal guide. Something about 20 minutes a day 3 days per week. The meal guide has food we never eat so it will require some shopping. That means it has to wait for a payday. In the mean time, if there is any truth to the old saying "no pain, no gain" I must be doing phenomenal because my muscles ache already.
I am sort of excited. I am helping our apartments start a neighborhood watch program. We have so much trouble in and around our apartments that I have gone out and talked to my neighbors, and called our local law enforcement officials. They are sending all the information and flyers for me to get my neighbors involved in a meeting with the community outreach officers to get a program underway for us. I think it will go a long way to making this a better place to live. After all, most of us are already snooping, watching and gossiping.
Hey mom, One of these days I'm going to look into blogrolling so I don't have to go in and put in the code manually every time she finds someone new she likes. For that matter, everytime I find someone I like. Ah well, the blogs I read are worth a few minutes of typing in the template.
Well, sometimes he just gets worn out. I set him down on the carpet to play. I cruised myself over to see Daze of our lives... , since he had left me a recent comment. I looked down and Indy was ASLEEP. No tears. No nothing. Just exhaustion overtaking a small boy. I wonder if it makes me a bad mom that I am going to leave him there on the carpet, in the middle of the living room floor!?! I know I SHOULD pick him up and put him in his crib, but I FEAR the "crib-wake-up". You know the one where as soon as you lay him down his little eyes pop open and he grins at you like the monster he is. And you cant get mad, because he looks so cute with the sleepy smile. He just wants you to cuddle him. argh. I am leaving him where he is. Let sleeping babies lay. (note: normally I crop the sides and make the pictures a little more handy, but for some reason only the original of this picture would post... And I hadn't posted a picture in the last three posts, so please don't mind my dirty carpets... Its mostly baby drool anyways)
I am sure that all of you American readers KNOW that Halloween is almost here. We finally bought Indy's costume and had him try it on. I am hoping that this year Brother Duck will be willing to cart Indy around the mall for hand outs. Back in the day (yeah yeah yeah) when I was trick or treating, it was relatively safe to run the neighborhood and receive free candy from strangers. These days our local mall closes early and a couple of thousand kids cram in to get their trick or treat's from the local merchants. A few days before Halloween there is also usually a day in old town where the businesses hand out goodies, as well. This year I have been searching for something I saw in my baby magazine. Evidently "play doh" has made a Halloween pack. Supposedly there is like 20 mini Halloween sized "play doh" tubs in a bag for like 3 bucks. I would rather hand that out than candy. Besides I cant eat the left over "play doh" and I WILL eat the left over candy!
Finally an excellent picture of Dakota! This is his 6th grade school picture. I wish that my school pictures had been half this good. For some reason our school always found my worst hair day and chose it as picture day. Now, i just wonder how long it will take for me to receive my copy of his 7th grade photo. (Thank you Geneva for giving me your copy of this picture!)
I took one of those tests a few months ago. You know the kind, the silly internet test. The test I took was about which kind of TV mom are you. I was Lorelei Gilmore. I had never watched Gilmore Girls before. Well, ABC family channel (39) has it on every day, and now I am an addict. I watch all the old episodes ever week day. This is a great quasi-intellectual show that I have no guilt in enjoying. If you have never watched it, you should!
(Last Christmas Grandma Donkey bought us the greatest crib... It has a changing table, dresser and shelves built in, and converts from crib to day bed to toddler bed and then the sides swing around for conversion into full sized head board) Oh, did ya notice the picture... he is sitting up by himself! For brief periods he will sit alone, then either succumb to the excitement of it all and fall over backwards, or get lazy about the balance and slowly drift over to one side or the other, but he is sitting up at last!
My mom came by today and stayed a couple hours. We fiddled around with her blog, changing this and that. She played with the kiddo. Shortly before she left, we stuck him into his saucer and he played some more. Shortly after my mom left I noticed that he was being awfully quiet. Sure enough, he was all played out, and sound asleep in his saucer. I pulled him out and hauled him to his crib, he didn't even stir. I guess I should have my mom over more often!
After all that complaining I did about "its too big it wont fit..." Well, all I had to do was turn up the pant cuffs once and its perfect. The shirt that came with it is a perfect fit. Maybe someone's baby will fit into it when they are a year old, but it wont be MY baby!
Both of these outfits are sized at 12 mo. Do they LOOK the same size? UM, NO! So, I don't get it. Maybe I am "wonky" but don't you think that 12mo should be 12mo and a baby who is not quite 6 months shouldn't be able to wear any of it? In actuality, Indy has almost grown out of the light blue "Guess? " over-alls and is too small for the dark blue "Harley" ones. If I went to the store and bought two size 8 (which wouldn't fit me but I wont say what size I wear) pairs of pants... They would be the same size, or at least nearly, right!?!? Why are children's clothes sizes meaningless? Is it so we have to take the little screamers into the stores to try the clothes on, thus enabling the little beggars to demand more items than we planned on purchasing? Or is it because clothing manufacturers don't care if we moms have yet another headache to contend with? Some people have said "well, some babys are bigger than others" well, duh. That explains why Indy wears 9-12 month clothes, but not why clothes that are the same size are not the same size.
