Monday, October 31, 2005

Devil Take Him!


Again with the misquoted cliche! But it sure looks like the devil is about to run off with the dragon baby. Actually, we do our trick-or-treating at the local mall. Safe, dry, yada yada. Brother Duck was there handing out candy! The earring is fake, the horns are real.

My best friend is a WIENER!!

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.
She looks like a garden variety WIENER to me!! She had a little note pinned to her "bun" that said she wasn't a hot dog, and a little red ribbon pinned to her like a tie, representing ketchup! Only Melody!
Oh, it might be time to update my fear post. i now fear giant weinies following me in a mall! Scariest thing. EVER.

Recuperating

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!

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Survey Says: Bacterial pneumonia

After just a half an hour in the waiting room, twenty minutes of cubicle time, and a couple of chest x-rays later, it was confirmed that Indiana is indeed sick. The hospital gave him about a million gallons of penicillin and a prescription for more that will hopefully make him well again very soon. I have to call his regular doctor in the morning to make a follow up appointment (he has to been seen again within 48 hours). My poor baby!

My first pumpkin

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!

Although this isn't the "best" picture of Chris, I must comment. I have been killing myself doing pilates nightly. I must be the only person to sprain an ankle doing it, but there it is. I sweat. I swear. I work hard at keeping up and learning to like this horrible 20 minute nightly torture session. I have yet to lose any weight, but I keep doggedly at it. Chris comes to me this morning and blithely informs me (while munching on a chocolate square in one hand and gulping down a coca-cola in the other)... "Hey Hun, my pants are getting too big! lookie what I can do!" (and proceeds to pull off his jeans without unbuttoning or unzipping them) The big jerk. He does no exercise, lives at Burger King for lunch, and HE LOSES 5 pounds. I wonder if that is a cause for justifiable homicide?

White Picture

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?

What I Fear...

It seems that Monica and Caroline are doing a Halloween fear post. I really had to think about it but here are the top Five:

  1. Something "bad" happening to either of my sons. (notice the superstition is such that I cant even say exactly what bad means... But most of you could figure it out)
  2. Losing someone I care about (other than my sons that is a separate fear but my husband, my parents, or certain other friends and family members)
  3. Car accidents. I am the worst passenger, ever. I make that "hissing" noise all the time. (it isn't death I worry about in an accident, its the pain.)
  4. Mice. No, not the pet store variety. I like the little white and brown ones you can buy to have as a pet. I fear the little home invaders that live out in the field behind our building. The ones who BITE.
  5. My own funeral. I always have said I want to be cremated because honestly I think if I died and my husband hosted a funeral, complete with casket, church and priest, no one would come. What a testament to my life. Eleanor Rigby's got nothing on me.

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?

Saturday, October 29, 2005

High Chair Bliss

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.

I LOVE the Eighties 3D

On the nostalgic side... Has anyone else been watching the danged I love the 80s stuff on vh1? I admit it. I am a product of the 1980s. I wore parachute pants. I had pictures of Michael Jackson on my t-shirt. I had lots of rubber bracelets. My best friends and I single handedly supported the company who made aqua-net. Anyways, they have been running a commercial for a DVD-board game called "name that tune 80s edition". We bought it. Advertising works.

PJ

Happy Birthday, PJ.
We miss you.
We were richer for having you here.
Heaven is richer, for having you now.

Weather

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.

Fairy God-Parents

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!

Friday, October 28, 2005

My Baby!

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!!

sittin' around

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.

Is this innovative?

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!)

Thursday, October 27, 2005

the 6 words of DOOM!

BATTERY TOO LOW TO TAKE PHOTO
Sigh. So much was going on today. Daddy played ball with Indy. Our girl Jessica brought her baby by for the first time in ages and the two boys laid on the floor together. The neighbors came over and made Indy giggle up a storm. The batteries are on the charger and I promise more pictures tomorrow.

oink oink oink update

The piggys next door told the neighbor in #1 they would be gone Monday. The property managers told me the piggys would be gone on Tuesday. The piggys knocked on my door on Wednesday at seven thirty in the morning to say they were moving out that day. The maintenance people told the neighbor in #2 that the would be changing the locks on the piggys apartment on Thursday morning.

This morning I watched the maintenance folks change the door knob on that apartment and hand the new keys to, (drum-roll please...) you guessed it... THE PIGGYS! They are STILL HERE!

Madagascar!

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.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Laundry Day

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.

Busy Beads for a Busy Boy

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!

Good Morning!

Indiana got up bright and early this morning. I should have known, really, since he went to bed at around 9 PM last night. So, we woke up and he is crawling around the living room like a demon. He already has his toys spread all across the floor. He just crawls and rolls and wriggles around the floor dragging toys and leaking drool.
Indy has also become something of a ball player. We have some nice video of him giggling uncontrollably as he and his father play with the ball together. We have a Hi8 video camera and I haven't gotten any of it transferred onto disk yet, so showing the videos will have to wait.
Last night, a couple of the neighbors came over after Indiana was in bed. It was cool to hear them say how nice we keep our home. Yolanda was particularly impressed, saying that it doesn't look (or smell) like I have a wiggling baby running around here! The real secret to that is that I pick up after him every time he takes a nap or goes to bed, we use a diaper genie, and I have lots and lots of incense, powders and sprays. It drives me crazy when someone else's home smells like a diaper, so I am extra careful in my own.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Same Old, Same Old!

Some days there just isn't anything to say. Indy went to bed on his own the way he has been. Chris is still going to work at 5pm. I had to call the police on the crappy "haven't-moved-out-yet" neighbors, They Suck!" SO, everything is the same as it has been. Which I suppose is good.

Monday, October 24, 2005

Something's Fishy!

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!

Bed Time

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.

Confidential to Jengibre

Spoiled dog! Actually Chris came across this recipe to bake your own doggie treats:

Mongrel Munchers:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups quick whole oats (rolled)
1/2 cup chopped unsalted peanuts
1 large ripe banana (mashed)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 sup unsweetened applesauce

preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
stir together flour, oats, and peanuts in a bowl
in a separate bowl stir banana, applesauce, and vanilla extract
add the first bowl of dry ingredients to the banana mixture and stir
roll dough into walnut size balls and flatten on ungreased baking sheet
bake 15 minutes or until lightly golden
cool on rack before serving

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.

UPDATES

Just a few updates:

Doctors: Chris's appointment was all screwed up. They only did some of the stuff they needed to do, so now we wait for another appointment, which can take ages. I often think the Veteran's administration would rather he have a heart attack and die so that they wouldn't have to care for him anymore than actually treat him. I get so frustrated with them.

Powerball: hooray! Someone from southern Oregon actually won the three hundred and forty million dollar jackpot! I think this is the first time an Oregonian has won it. There are 29 states and the US Virgin Islands involved in it.

Army: Kathryn is doing great! She met the goals the army set for her weight loss and is going to be able to join up! She has lost around thirty pounds. She has gone from a size 22 to a size 16. We calculated her BMI and body fat and it appears she will be ready to ship out for basic training in December.

My Dad: My dad and his family have joined the 20th century by finally purchasing a computer and getting online. I giggle when he pointed out that it is the twenty-first century now. He might never catch up.

Last Thing: don't let this update post make you miss the three new photographs below! We finally got our pictures back from wal-mart and they are worth scrolling down to take a look at. (There I go with that humility in the face of Indy's awesomeness!)

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Nice Package!

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!

Beach Bum

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!

Angel Baby in the Clouds!

In this one, he looks like an angel.
Looks can be deceiving!
The woman who took these pictures for us at Wal-Mart did an exceptional job with Indy. He grinned and giggled for her, where moments before he was pouting and whining. He was never out right screaming, though, so I guess that's good!

5k

Thank you for your interest!
"The State of Indiana" just passed the 5k visits mark.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

What do YOU need?

Bored? Looking for something to do? What do you need? Well, actually I was cruising blogs, hopping around and I found The Glamorous Life and a fun thing to do. Go to Google and type in "your name" needs and see what YOU need.

I, personally need (according to Google):

Needs to get back to her true calling
Needs some help in moving some fliers to their destination
Needs encouragement to join in and socialize
Needs something less stressful, more flowing
Needs coffee

the indirect needs seem to include mortgage brokers, a purple chair, an education, a lovematch, and a budget.

I am pretty needy, huh!

Great-Grandma!

They call them Great Grandmothers because they have enough practice at being grandmas to be GREAT at it!
This is, of course, my father's mother. She lives just a half an hour drive from us, and Indiana seems to take to her. We enjoy visiting her every few weeks so she can keep up with how fast Indy is growing, since she does not have a computer.
Also, every time we go to Wal-Mart, her home is only 15 minutes further. Today we went to give her copies of the new pictures. I will be getting those pictures on here in a few days.

Great-Grandma Part II

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)

Books

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.

Friday, October 21, 2005

Nacho!

Juliana's dog is a kisser.
Indiana is a kisser.
Put them to together.
Instant Puppy Love!

Actually, I should feel bad because they were killing each other with tongues out and all I could do was laugh and say "hey, someone get the camera!" instead of doing the "good" parent thing and grabbing the dog. But, if I had don't the good parent thing I wouldn't have this great picture. And also, haven't you heard a dogs mouth is cleaner than ours? And I didn't actually SEE the dog licking anywhere else first. hehe.

Room with a view

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.

Juliana

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!

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Ball Cap Baby

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!

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

I just like this one!

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!

Mama's Little sweetheart

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!

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Who Really Rules the Roost!


My mom gave me this old picture.
The dog's name was Major.
I do not know the bird's name.
shows who is running things!
I just thought it was cute.

NIN

This SHOULD give you a pop up window showing the video for Indiana's favorite song!

The Hand That Feeds by Nine Inch Nails

Indy will drop whatever he is doing to listen to this. The song "grew on me" after a while (thank goodness since I have to hear it like 50 times a day). Why couldn't he just be a Beatle fan? Is that too much to ask!?!?

Japanese name

I was cruising blogs and found this neat Japanese Name generator at Evol's blog It was a fun random stop, and the name Generator was neat to play with. This is Indiana Jones in Japanese:

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!

Monday, October 17, 2005

Powerball

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 think Chris plans on buying ONE ticket. I don't remember the last time we bought one.

Habitat for Humanity

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!

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Knock on Wood!

Two nights in a row, at around 8 pm, Indiana has fussed. I dropped him into the crib and in about two minutes things have gotten quiet. This is night number three. I am nervous. I am ready for the yelling to begin, the "rock me rock me rock me I'm TIRED" screams. I sit poised to head for his bedroom, where he is lying, semi-conscious in his crib. I am PRAYING that he will drift, unaided by the rocker-recliner, into sleep. He has been sleeping from 8pm to about four or 5 in the morning. After a quick bottle he goes back to bed for about four more hours. So, eight at night to eight in the morning, getting up only once... I am SO happy. I usually get up to potty more than that!

Adorable Baby? Yeah!

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!

Half Year Anniversary

Indiana made it to Six months old and we still love him!

That also means the blog is 6 months old.

And also that Chris has been on his "new" job for six months.

And, Finally, that I haven't had a full nights sleep in about 10 years, errr six months.

Happy Six months to Us!

(picture from PBS kids program: Between the Lions)

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Busy Day

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.

New Blog

My mom, with my help, is starting a new blog called captured tinkerbell. We are inviting family and old friends to share their pictures and memories of the family, McGarry's, Ward's, and all! Should be interesting... If you are a friend or family member with something to share, be sure to stop by there and leave a comment with your email address so we can invite you to participate! We would love to hear from you!!

Friday, October 14, 2005

Winsor Pilates

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.

DBZ

There is a new dbz on TV now. It's
on at 1030 pm on cartoon network.
Chris is excited.
Sigh.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Neighborhood watch

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.

Snail Mail Spammers update

http://sanseveria.blogspot.com/
this is where i got the original... dont know why my link to it wouldnt work, but his does. His site is called live from antwerp. he has links to all over the place.
http://www.vertical-visions.com/_temp/postagepaid/index2.html
this is the page... maybe if i try without the funny word bit!?!?

Faira

Hey mom,
I updated your list of blogs on your site.
I think they all work.
Maybe.

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.


Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Piggy Piggy Move A Way!

Oh the piggies who live near me suck. BUT, life just got infinitely better. Today, as Kim from #2 and I were valiantly battling the filth from #17 that spills over into her and I's lives and porches, we met Dave (the interim manager.) on the sidewalk. Now Dave is the guy who managed our complex under the old owners. He is filling in until the new person is ready to take over. We will miss him. Anyways, he was standing around waiting to give the valid tenant a notice. There were several people in and out of her apartment, none were her. He waited around long enough that Kim and I got tired of trying to out wait him to eavesdrop. He would not share with us what it was. Yolanda from #1 was sitting on her back porch when the crack-head from #17 got home. Dave handed the psycho girl the notice and walked away. Yolanda watched as she opened her notice, sat down, dropped her head into her hands, turned and yelled into her apartment at her slacker, loser, loud, friends, (and I RELISH this part) "You bitches got me EVICTED! Now what am I going to do?"
YAH RAH RAH RAH CHEER CHEER RAH RAH HOORAY YAH!!!!!!
(some days you have to post 5 times!)

Tired? Ya' think!?!

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)

Snail Mail Spammers

Revenge on the Snail Spammers
Do you get a thousand of those snail mail spammers... Like pre paid visa card applications? I lifted this link, from "live in Antwerp" (which I cant seem to find the link for at the moment... ) I'm not organized... Anyways, I Laughed, then I grinned evilly thinking about which of the junk snail mail fellows I am going to be sending a package to in the near future!

Surprise weigh in

WIC called today and told us that Indy will be 6 months old soon (duh) and we had to see them sometime this month. As luck would have it they had a cancellation today, and could we be there at 1pm. Yep, we can. And we were.

Indy is:
27 3/4 inches and 18 lbs 6 oz
The dietician we saw told us that he is excellent healthy. He has even "slimed down" some. Actually what that means is that his height is catching back up with his weight. He is eating wonderfully, and everyone is thrilled with his progress. Including his personality, which he showed in abundance!

Wonderful News!

for those of you who have been reading here a while, you might know that i often recommend blogs i like, not only in the side bar, but in posts. Today i went to look at the pictures at one of my very favorite sites to visit (i used to read it but then babel fish went wonky and it wouldnt translate) and found a miraculous button: SEE THIS POST IN ENGLISH! well, now i can read his blog again! so, if you havent clicked on my links (shame on you!)... check out my favorite netherlands blog
he has some interesting stuff going on, including a bomb from world war two being discovered in his neighborhood and now you can read it in english, as well as enjoy his great pictures.

a special thanks also to JJ and Helen for teaching me how to do the neat little "click this word and go where i want you to" thing!

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

To Sleep Or Not To Sleep !?!

A knock at the back door is always welcome. Doubly so when the person knocking is Brother Duck and his dad. They visited for half an hour or so, Indy slept thru the whole thing. In fact, Indy is still asleep. I keep going in to check on him in his crib. I am a little nervous. It is 815 pm. I am watching the new Gilmore girls. At 5 pm when I was watching the Gilmore girls rerun, Indy went to bed for an afternoon nap. He is still breathing... But I am starting to think that perhaps I should go to bed. If he is going to sleep thru the rest of the night, he is going to be up EARLY!! Maybe I should wake him up now, so that he goes to bed at the right time. grrrrr this whole sleep thing sucks.

edit: At 845 I woke him up. I wasn't willing to get up at 3am just because he got his sleep schedule screwy. So here it is 1030 at night and he is standing in his jumper, sort of tired, but not cranky, which is nice. I think I am going to let him play himself into a coma. Probably put him in his crib around 11. I know that's late, but he sleeps until almost noon, so its all good for me!

Halloween is coming!

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!

Monday, October 10, 2005

Hee Haw

I almost forgot... Today is grandma Donkey's birthday.
I was not going to say how old she was, but she said I should mention that she has had one fewer birthdays than Dakota's dad.

They grow up Fast!

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!)

Gilmore Girls

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!

HE DID IT!

WOOT!! (if you recognize that exclamation, I pity you. If you don't, I can't explain it. Suffice it to say that Woot is a good thing, well an exclamation of positive feeling anyway.)

I will admit that I was a non-believer. In fact I was an anti-believer. Sure, I read the same literature and surfed the same web sites that you did, but I wasn't a believer. I even bought a few books, but none covinced me it could happen to me. I was positive that I was destined to spend eternity in the recliner. I do not have anything against the recliner. It is Blue. It matches the couch. It stretches out nicely. I have spent many a night in it. Pardon my rambling, I am just SO very happy. Tonight IT happened. I dropped Indy into his crib, awake. Wide AWAKE. He cried for about 5 minutes. I did to. All got quiet. I just KNEW he had choked to death, hung himself on a toy, or otherwise found a way to "off" himself. He was sound asleep. He put himself to sleep. In less than 5 minutes! I am a Believer. And, yes I AM singing the monkeys song in my head... "Then I saw (his) face, now I'm a believer! "(hehe)

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Crib Notes

It finally had to happen. We put it off, we procrastinated. I admit it. It was a step from infancy towards being a kid that I was dreading. It could be put off no longer. We lowered the mattress in the crib. Indy was grabbing the rail with one hand and trying to pull himself up to sitting. Sure he wasn't trying to jump out yet, but if he can try to pull himself up like that, he can accidentally do a header out onto his bedroom floor. With our gene pool, we don't need anything to help him be more retarded. (I'm kidding, it is in poor taste, yes, but it is funny if you think about it) And as sop to my wounded mothers heart, we didn't put it on the lowest rung. I will save that for when the rails come off and it converts into a toddler bed... That way I can cry twice! He is getting big FAST, and on pace to grow taller than his big brother by next year... Sorry Dakota, some short jokes are too good to pass up. I guess that gives you a free "fat joke" at my expense whenever you want it (but just ONE)!

(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!

nite-nite

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!

Just roll up the cuffs!

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!
Indy's daddy wanted to buy a new "Papa Harley" outfit for pictures to send to his dad, and this is it. I do NOT want my son to grow up to be a biker, but he does look good in the clothes!

Saturday, October 08, 2005

One Size doesn't Fit All

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.