December Doings

It's been a busy December! Leo has been bringing home enough Christmas crafts to last us till Easter and Gus is doing new things every...well, every three or four days!

First, we are totally saving water because they can now bathe together. Gus is still a little unsteady so we have to be extra careful and hold his fat little arm. And Leo runs extra water so I guess we're not actually saving the earth with this system.

But talk about efficient, I can carry Gus AND the laundry in one trip. I remember doing this with Leo too. (Bonus: I get a little workout in!)
Frank is trying to follow in his friend Aaron's footsteps by getting famous by having a video with daddy/guitar + baby dancing go viral on YouTube. So far Gus isn't ready for millions of hits.
Gus had his six month appointment and Leo came along to ham it up. He is wearing the patch that they use for the baby eye exams. He, of course, thinks he is a pirate. Gus, of course, thinks he is a weirdo. (Notice Leo also brought his own shot needle along!)
Gus weighed in at 17 pounds, 2 oz. He's now in the 50th percentile which means perfect, right?
Leo loves to wear this Santa hat. When I walked in to set him free from "relax time" he had it on and even posed for a pic. The other night I went in to check on him and he was sleeping in it. So cute!
Merry Christmas, y'all!

Blog Blurbs

When I used to write a blog every weekday, I'd always ask Frank the night before, "What should I write about on my blog tomorrow?" and he'd say, "You could write about the pressures of writing a blog." And I'd say, "Nobody wants to read about that!" But now, every time I start to write a blog I feel like I should apologize for not writing more often. Kinda like in the Catholic church, "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been two years since my last confession." (What about the people who go every week? Do they have to apologize too?)

Forgive me, blog readers for I have failed you. It has been over a week since my last post. And forgive me again because I do need to say that I'm currently too busy getting ready for Christmas and all its' shenanigans (no offense, Baby Jesus) to write an actual blog. Instead, I'll give you smatterings for all the blogs that are floating in my head.

Old Mom's Tales: It's cold and flu season. We're right in the thick of it. And I know, I just know, that people are going to say things like, "I let my kid go outside without a hat so she caught a cold" or "I went to get the mail and my hair was wet so look at me now--sick as a dog!" Do these people never watch John Stossel and his helpful myth versus fact reports? Since I'm the only one, I'll pass on the good news: You DO NOT get colds from being cold! They really need to change the name of that cureless disease.

A fellow ranter: Okay, her blog is WAY bigger than mine so it's silly of me to even compare but I recently started following www.peopleIwanttopunchinthethroat.com She writes about well, people she'd like to punch in the throat. Like if I were writing that blog, I would write about the people who think they get colds from being cold. Or the lady at Walmart who I had this interaction with:

Me: I'm going to need gift receipts for all of these items. They're all going to the same place so can I just get one gift receipt or do I need separate gift receipts for each?

Walmart lady: You can do either.

Me: Then I'd like to just do one. So it's okay if I have some other items that aren't gifts too?

Walmart lady: Yes.

Me: So these bananas, for instance, (setting bananas on conveyor belt), can they be on the same receipt as the gift receipt even though they're not a gift?

Walmart lady: Yes.

At the end of the transaction I said again, "And just wanted to remind you that I'm going to need a gift receipt."

She then hands me a receipt. I said, "Thanks. And where is my gift receipt?" She said, "This is your gift receipt." There was then a lot of back and forth about how this is a "receipt" but not a "GIFT receipt." It had prices on it therefore, how is that a gift receipt? She then told me I would need to get gift receipts for each item and I would have to go to customer service to do that. O.M.G. I mean, could I have been more clear? She should be grateful that she was sort of hideous looking and that's why I didn't go off on her.

So anyway, this other blog about punching people in the throat would have something like that. And on Facebook she'll mention some people she wants to punch in the throat and inevitably people comment and say how mean she is and how "if she doesn't have something nice to say..." Seriously? These are people FOLLOWING her on Facebook! What did they expect? As one person commented, "You're following a blog called "people I want to punch in the throat," not 'butterflies and rainbows.'"

Facebook funnies: recently there was a list somewhere about stuff white girls love to post on Facebook. Some of my faves were posting about having the best husband in the world while said husband is sitting right next to them, making their post the lyrics to any Kings of Leon song and this one which I'll paste:

Write angry letters to companies (Dear EZ PARK, I hate you!), unorganized groups of people (Dear slutty freshmen who think that leggings can be worn as pants…), and non-entities (Dear unseasonably cold weather, WTF?!)

I have a few of my own to add to the list:

--Add "sigh" to the end of a post (Folding the laundry again. Feel like that's all I ever do. Sigh.)

--Say they're "Lovin' Life!" or "I love my life!" or "Life is good!"

--Use their children as their profile pictures. Now, with this one I could potentially offend LOTS of people but let me explain:

--I'm not saying it's BAD, I'm just saying I've noticed that this is something white girls like to do. Now, for me, I have a policy. I do not have a profile picture that I'm not in. Well, once I had the 3Day logo and another time I had Angela from the Office during Doppleganger's week. But other than that, I am in the photo. I mean, it's MY Facebook account, not my kids'. My kids may be in the picture (and they usually are because I rarely have a photo taken alone anymore) but I am always there too.

Wooh, these mini blogs have turned into one long blog. I will try to post again before the end of 2011. And if I have nothing to say I can always go back to "The Pressures of Writing a Blog."

Merry Christmas, Y'all!

--

A Blue (Ridge) Christmas

Last weekend we rode the Santa Express train from the mountains of Blue Ridge, Georgia to the North Pole. Once at the North Pole (which is surprisingly just a 30 minute hop from Blue Ridge), we picked up Santa and he rode back with us, visiting with the children along the way. Our tickets also got us a story from Santa's helper, some caroling and visits with Santa's buddies--Rudolph and a freakishly skinny Frosty. (Wish I had pictures of that creepy character).

Here I am with Santa...I mean Gus! It was his first train ride.

This was Leo's third Christmas train ride with Santa. He did one in Durango in '09 and the Blue Ridge one last year. He is clinging to his ticket :)
Ready to go tot he North Pole!
We thought Gus would sleep on the train but no...
Not when there was so much to see!
And to suck on!
All the boys on the train.
Leo's thinking, "Does Santa know that I've been naughty?"
Gus says, "Some old dude with a long white beard wants to hold me? Whatever."

This picture tells two stories: 1). He must be so tired to fall asleep while watching a Thomas video and 2). We stopped by the yummy chocolate place in downtown Blue Ridge after the train ride.

And here is just a cute Christmas pic of Leo and his buddies, John and Etienne. They have recently discovered the wonders of candy canes!

Holiday Albums + Celebrity Perfumes

What do these two things have in common? EVERYTHING!

The other day we were listening to the Jimmy Eat World Christmas album. I thought, "What made Jimmy Eat World think they should do a Christmas album?" I mean, James Taylor, sure. It just doesn't seem like a rock band who writes its own songs would want/need to perform holiday songs.

So my theory is that bands/singers who make Christmas albums think it's easy, quick money. Then they act like they really love the genre but really think it's kinda cheesy.

It's exactly the same with celebs who peddle perfumes. When I heard my buddy Jennifer Aniston was launching a scent, my first thought was, "Yes, I think I WOULD like to smell like Jen!" But then I thought, "Why would she, a super successful actress who is constantly making movies (albeit some not so great), need to push perfume?" And then you can fill in the same theory: CELEBS who make PERFUME think it's easy, quick money. Then they act like they really love the genre but really think it's kinda cheesy.

I saw Sarah Jessica Parker on Oprah once, talking about her perfume. She was all, "I have always wanted to do this!" No way. Her manager said, "You should do a perfume" and she said, "No, that's so cheesy. Plus, I have way too much going on" and her manager replied with, "It's super easy money. You don't really have to do anything but smell it and make sure it's not gross." Then SJP said, "Sign me up!"

Little trivia: Which singers have done both a holiday album AND a perfume? (Answers below. I can't make them upside down but wish I could.)

Jessica Simpson

Mariah Carey

Christina Aguilera

There are probably more but these are just ones I guessed and looked up and confirmed. Now, if Jennifer Aniston made a Christmas album, I would probably buy that.

Gus has been here six months

We cannot believe our baby has been here for half of a year! People keep telling me that they feel like it's flown by and I feel that way too. I'm trying to really cherish every moment with Gus. It's easy to do because he is such a good-natured guy. I also feel like this last month has brought the most change in Gus. Since he's older and more wakeful, we're getting to know him better. It used to be that he slept most of the time and when he was awake he was happy and cute. But now he's awake more of the time and well, he's still happy and cute. Sure, the kid cries but he gets over everything really quickly.

Here's what Gus does lately:

--Rolls everywhere! He could get across the entire house by rolling. If we turn our heads for a second he's across the room. I'll put him down on the floor in our room while I'm getting ready and the next thing I know, he's almost under the bed!

--Babbles and squeals: I think he will be an early talker like his big brother.

--Sports two bottom teeth.

--Eats sweet potatoes, rice cereal and as of last night, broccoli. I actually gave him broccoli to pick up. I would have never done that with Leo. But there was Gus on the eve of his six month birthday, picking up broccoli.

--Loves peek-a-boo. This is a sure-fire way to get him to laugh. Either that, or zerberting his cheek. He's an easy audience.

--Eating our faces. If you hold him close he will come at you with a wide open mouth, ready to devour you. We love it!

--His big brother. Now that Gus spends time in the exersaucer, he is at a level where Leo can interact with him. Gus loves it when Leo talks to him, sings to him and even wrestles with him. He laughs and laughs and just loves to watch Leo.

More pics of Gus, the BBE!! Notice his shirt says "Chillin'." So appropriate for our laid-back Gussy.

Grubbin' with Gus

Gus is eating food now! His friend Pascal's mom told me she was just going to do the same feeding plan with Pascal as she did with his older brother, Etienne "because it worked." As for me, I am going to do the opposite of what I did with Leo because it, well, didn't work :)

I'm not certain I'll avoid having a super-picky eater but I'm going to give it my best. With Leo, I didn't let him start chewing food until he was like 22 months old. Or as Frank says, "You still have him on a liquid diet." I was so scared he would choke that the dude was eating baby food long after he was a baby. It was a little embarrassing. So anyway, I've got a book and a steamer and some food storage trays and I'm making my own baby food this time! And since I'm sure I'll tire of that quickly, little Gus should be onto chewable food within a few weeks.

(Here's a picture of Leo right before we baked some cookies. Didn't want to leave him out and since the topic was food...)

Here's Gus' first rice cereal feeding. Frank looks like Super Dad, doesn't he?
Frank is feeding Gus with the spoon that he used when he was a baby!
So glad Leo has his stethoscope handy, just in case.

Gus loved it so much that we brought out the high chair!
Now he's trying sweet potatoes (that I made)!
Don't be fooled by his Halloween outfit. This did just take place within the last few days. But the outfit still fits and is comfortable!

Gus' impatient side came out when we fed him so he insisted on having his own spoon in addition to Frank's baby spoon.

And here's just a cute shot of lookalikes Frank and Gus (or "Captain Hook" and "Cubby" since Leo, I mean "Jake" insisted that we play characters tonight. "Dizzy" took the picture.)

Notice Cubby's cloth diaper. Between making baby food and using cloth diapers, I have become so crunchy these days!

November in a Nutshell

Here we are on the eve of December 1st and I don’t even have my Christmas decorations up yet. I’m drowning in deadlines, laundry, bills, cleaning, kid-drama and oh, a lot of fun too. Here are some pics to prove it. No time for amusing anecdotes, I’ll just list out the events: the zoo, riding the Pink Pig, Thanksgiving (with Grandmother, Grandpa Ron and Tia) and Texas beating A&M on our last game in the same conference. The last pic is Gus smiling about the win!

Gus and his buddy Tyler out to dinner: