Little Helper

Jake and Zoe were both very helpful with yardwork yesterday! We had to strip down Jake and put him right into the tub afterwards.

Dry Skin

I'm in serious need of some hand cream advice. Lately, when I look at my hands I either think "Wow, who is this old person?" or "Wow! When did I turn into an elephant?" I've really never had a dry skin issue before. Does anyone out there have a favorite lotion or cream?

Easter

Well, I woke up yesterday morning and realized it was Easter. And since that's a pretty important holiday I decided to try to make it a nice day for the family. I was all set to make Mike and Jake a nice home cooked meal. Except that we had no food. So, Jake and I set off to the nearest grocery store to go shopping. But when we got there, it was closed. That left only one more option which I really didn't like thinking about. We had to go to Super Walmart on Easter Sunday. It was a madhouse. I could not BELIEVE how many people waited until Sunday afternoon to buy eggs, and chocolate bunnies for their kids. Didn't they have fair warning that this day was coming? Don't they read the Bible or look at calendars? I was totally inconvenienced trying to wheel my cart and hyper active toddler down the egg/bunny aisle trying to snatch up the last of the eggs/bunnies before the other mom's could get their hands on them. Really, nothing celebrates the spirit of Easter like fighting with other procrastinators in the Super Walmart. An hour later, we left with our groceries Easter supplies and headed home. I made buttermilk fried chicken (which turned out really good) and mashed potatoes and deviled eggs. Do you think there is something symbolic about the fact that many people enjoy eating deviled eggs on Easter? It's like we know that Jesus rose on that day so we can just eat the devil right out of our lives or something. Dinner was good and afterwards we gave Jake his first chocolate Easter bunny. Which he thoroughly enjoyed. We also had a little Easter egg hunt in the living room. Jake got a kick out of that. He hunted the heck out of those eggs. And then he hid them again in various kitchen cabinets. Enjoy the pictures!

We're Back!

Jake and I had a really good trip to the Big A to visit my parents last week. We drove up with my sister and niece and nephew. We enjoyed lots of good home cooked meals plus a couple trips to Taco Villa and our favorite burger joint. I got to go see my first movie in a theater since August! Let's hear it for Horton Hears a Hoo. Really cute movie. We took Jake to the local zoo one day and he just loved pointing to the animals. But he especially loved running away from me and going up to every little kid he could find and showing them the animals. Looks like someone needs a friend his own size to play with. His main source of joy and entertainment was the dancing snowman at my parent's house. It's one of those things that dances if you clap or make a loud noise next to it. He loved taking people into the kitchen with him so they could make that thing dance. He broke two of my mom's wooden spoons slapping them on the counter near that snowman. They also had another snowman with a little train that went around it when it was turned on. I think Jake is a little confused about this snowman business because at the end of the week, he was clapping every time he saw this other snowman to get the train to move. And it doesn't work that way. You actually have to press a button to get it to go. Also, today he was looking at his Frosty the Snowman book and started pointing to Frosty and clapping. I'm not sure what he was expecting there. It may take years of therapy to get him over this. I got to take exactly one picture of the trip before my camera batteries ran down. Because that's how prepared I am. So, anyway, here's my sister and my nephew sitting on a ginormous turtle at the zoo.

Goodbye!

My sister and I are leaving tomorrow to take the kids to visit Grandpa and MeMa for a few days. So, I'll be taking a break from the blogging world most likely. Here are some pictures to get you through the lonely days!

Fifteen Months!

I thought I would do a little Jake update since today is his 15 month birthday. I can't tell you his current measurements because I waited too long to make his doctor's appointment and now we have to wait until the end of April to get him in. He is still little but we're hoping that he hasn't gone down further on his growth curve. There are days when he eats a lot and days when Brady gets to eat a lot because Jake slips him all of his food. But, generally we can at least get him to eat a banana, peanut butter sandwich or avocado. And did I mention chocolate chip cookies? Loves them!

Anyways, it's so fun watching him grow. He seems so big for such a little guy. He is the fastest walker I have ever seen. His favorite toy by far right now is a Mylar balloon. Mike brings them home from work occasionally and Jake just loves them. He also likes to play with cars and trucks and balls. He is fascinated with other people, especially other kids. He loves to go to the park which we get to do almost on a daily basis right now. He's climbing and going down slides all by himself much to my horror and his daddy's delight. He's aware of birds and airplanes and points whenever he sees or hears one.

The most fun thing for me has been watching his language develop. He still only says mama when he's upset for some reason. But he frequently says daddy, kitty, baby, Brady and ball. The cutest thing is the sign language though. Thanks to some Baby Einstein videos he's learned the sign for baby, daddy, ball, more, swing and tree. If you ask him where his truck is he'll go pick it up. Same thing for almost any object so we know he's aware of what's going on even if he can't say the words yet. I love it!

He is a sweet, lovable little boy with a very strong will right now. He's definitely testing boundaries and seeing how far he can push us. It's a wonderful, tiring, nerve racking, scary, joyful time in life right now that we wouldn't trade for anything in the world. Happy Day Mister!

Memories of Singledom

When I was single with no children, I remember thinking that couples were really obnoxious. Especially couples with young children. Or even just moms on outings with their young children. Completely rude and obnoxious. I realize that part of those feelings stemmed from just being really upset that for 35 years I wandered through the desert of "trying to find a good man" before I was delivered to the promised land. But, you know, part of those feelings were quite true.

For instance, when a single person is walking through the mall or down the street or something and happens to be walking towards a couple, a game of death throat chicken usually ensues. And let me tell you, the single person almost always loses. A couple will stick together and keep walking in a straight line to where they need to be without giving a second thought to the single person they are about to trample over. So, unless you're a really hard core single, you are going to move out of their way. Because really, they are too busy looking into each other's eyes to keep an eye out for you. God love 'em. This will end after a few years of marriage.

As for mom's with strollers, don't even try to play chicken with these ladies. They will mow you down in a mall with that stroller even if you are the only other person there. I used to think it was because they somehow felt entitled to the right of way because they just knew they were superior to me. After all, they had found a man and had a baby. Genetically, they had the advantage. Clearly, I was on the road to extinction. But I'm here to tell all you singles out there that really it is just because we are so tired. And somewhere in that stroller or cart there might be a baby type person who has just spit up all over himself and his mother, maybe she has it dripping down the leg of her pants, and that baby person also has a funny smell coming from his bottom. Maybe that mom knows she has exactly thirty seconds to get that child cleaned up before he starts screaming to rival a pack of wild dogs. Plus, some of us are short and can't really see over the stroller or especially the grocery cart. We do not think we are better than you and deserve the right of way. Truthfully, we are just in another world trying to remember why we came to the store and where we might have parked the car. We probably gravitate toward you because we are remembering a certain freedom that used to be but now is gone. In you, we see our younger care-free selves and we just need to get a closer look. We're sorry if we run you down in the process. So, if you're ever feeling this way, please don't waste your energy hating or despising us. Just know that your day will come. Until then, in the words of Paul McCartney and John Lennon, just Let it Be.

Playing with Daddy

Jake

This will drive you crazy

39

Amy sent me this link this morning. Clearly, I have too much time on my hands. The first time I tried it, I must confess, I only came up with 25 colors. So I came back a couple hours later to try it again and still only got 39. I feel like an artistic failure. I sat here and tried to think of all the colors in a big box of Crayons, but there was just too much pressure. I choked. Hope you do better!

I will give you a couple of hints before you click over. Apparently, nude is no longer a color. Just a state of being. Same thing for cornflower blue. No longer a color. That one made me sad because it has always been one of my faves. However, corn is a color. But Maize? Not a color. Seafoam green? Nope.

So, exactly what kind of colors are they looking for here you ask? Think fruits and vegetables my friends. And if you're really in a bind, think about ROY G BIV. He'll help you out with a few.

A little football news

Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers is retiring. I am sad. I have loved me some Brett ever since I realized that it's okay to like players from teams other than the Cowboys as long as my team loyalty lies with Dallas. Unless they're being bone-headed (firing Tom Landry, hiring Deon Sanders and Terrell Owens) in which case there have been a few years when I secretly watched other teams and wanted them to go all the way. I love to see that I'm growing as a human being. Anyway, Brett has been such an exciting player to watch and you can just tell that he loves the game and thinks it's fun.

Kind of like Peyton Manning has so much fun off the field in his Priceless.com pep talk commercials. I read somewhere yesterday that he won't be doing them again next year. I also read that Tom Brady will be doing them. I think this is a big mistake. Yes, TB is a great football player but I'm thinking he should stick to modeling in his spare time and let Peyton do the commercial acting. He's just so good at it! Or maybe Peyton's younger brother could pick up the torch and do the commercials. After all, he did win the Super Bowl this year.

This Morning