Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man

bake me a cake as fast as you can!

Pat it,

roll it,

and mark it with a "C"

and THROW is in the oven for Carter and me!

Movie Review: The Women

I LOVED this movie. The husband hated it. Don't watch this movie with a man. It's a ladies' movie through and through - with an all-female cast. I laughed so hard, and also cried. There are so many amazing actresses in this movie!! I highly recommend watching it with a group of girlfriends, or alone. But not with a man. Because they will whine from beginning to end with phrases such as "is this stupid thing over yet?" Hypothetically. Because that didn't happen in my house or anything. ;-]

What Kind of Drinker Are you?

Tell me. Because I want to know. Are a wine-o? A beer guzzler?

Personally? I can't stand beer. I can't stand the taste or the smell. Blech!! Beer breath is the worst! I have tried many types of beer in my drinking career (which started at age 19 by the way, I was a good girl), ranging from "regular" beer to the flavored stuff.....which STILL tastes like beer. I'm not falling for that trick any more. It's a waste of money for me to even try it anymore. And no, I won't do irish car bombs either - someone once tried to con me into that. If there is beer involved in ANY drink, I'm not goin' there.

And I don't do wine either. Again, I have tried MANY types of wine and I just can't find one that I like. I WANT to like it because it would be nice to have a glass of wine with the hubby while we cook dinner.

What you WILL find in my hand most often are the foo-foo drinks. Daquiries, margaritas, etc.

However, having said that, I LOVE me some shots. Not straight shots of tequila or vodka though. I'm talking about shots like "birthday cake" or "lemon drop" or, my personal favorite, "Washington Apple" (see below)

I'm picky on my shots (just like with food). I have to know what's in them. I don't like when people buy me random shots and then tell me to "just drink it" because I prefer to know what poison I am about to ingest!

Random Fact #55

I can't stand bananas. (the lady in my office is eating one now and I want to gag)
Ugh. They are gross. They are slimey and I hate the mushy noise when people eat them. Blech! I can't do anything banana-flavored either. Although, I do love banana bread....when it's warm, with lots of butter. And I can also do pineapple-orange-banana juice, but only if it has coconut rum in it. :-] Hee hee. Other than those two exceptions, I refuse to eat bananas. The child LOVES them, and every time he offers me one, I smile through the urge to hurl and politely tell him "no thanks, it's for you!" and he shoves it in his mouth.

Learning

Learning is the name of the game at our house these days. If my child is going to live up to his genius standards, I better start early! (As I type this, Carter is lying in his crib. He is supposed to be going to bed, but all I hear is "ya ya ya ya ya". Too cute!) Anyway....so.....where was I? Oh yes - we were learning.

So, one of the things we are working on with Carter is matching. He has a block set of farm animals, and Farmer Joe. The blocks have little handles and come out of the main wood piece. You (or the child, whoever wants to play) is supposed to match the picture on the block with the picture on the main piece. Carter does really well with this. He can't quite rotate the blocks so that they fit flush in the main piece, but at least he puts the block directly over the matching animal, or Farmer Joe. Second, he is big into reading. We have two baskets full of books (the hard, cardboard paged ones for now) and he loves to read each one, back to back to back to back.....get it? until the baskets are empty. I'm especially proud of the "I Spy" book because he can match up the "I Spy" item with the matching item on the corresponding page. He's so freakin' smart!
The last thing we are working on is eating brownie/cookie bars. Weird thing is, he needed zero direction on this task. He knew exactly what to do. Considering his mama's blood is running through him, I was not at all surprised that he handled dessert food so well. He makes a mom proud! :-]

Rockstar OUT, Acrobat IN

Carter found his new calling in life.

He would like to be an acrobat.

He runs down the hall at me, squealing like a banshee the whole time, and launches out of my arms, skyward bound.

And laughs the whole way down.....and then runs back down the hall to repeat the fun.


I approve of him being an acrobat - but only if I can catch him on his landing.

Addicted to the Bottle

The spray bottle, that is.Apparently I don't give him enough to drink in the sippy cup. At least he isn't drinking out of the toilet.

Should I schedule an intervention?

Anticipation

It's no secret that the child loves bath time. I can start the water, and he will come running like a screaming, wild banshee across the house.

And now? He doesn't even wait for me to pick him up and set him in the water. He tries to scale the tub and get in himself. The anticipation kills him!

(and he's going to kill me for taking these pictures when he's about 15 years old)

Completely Random

So, as I was lying in bed last night, I started thinking about my sleeping habits/patterns and then wondered if they were weird.

I sleep on my sides. Every now and then, I will sleep on my stomach. And in rare instances, I will sleep on my back.

I have to face the opposite direction of the hubby - I cannot sleep facing him if he's facing me. It's a weird quirk of mind - I don't like sharing air or having people in my bubble.

I don't like to be touched while I am sleeping. I can cuddle before going to sleep, but once I have reached the point where I am committed to actually falling asleep, I push the arm off of me. For two reasons: (1) I just don't like to be touched while I am sleeping and (2) the hubby twitches in his sleep and it drives.me.nuts. I am a light sleeper, so any movement wakes me up. So I refuse to be entangled in his arms, legs, whatever while we are sleeping.

I have to be completely covered by the blankets - like, up to my neck. It weirds me out if any limb is uncovered.

And I still sleep with a blanket. Mostly to prop my head up out of the pillow. I can't stand sinking down into a pillow - especially sicne I sleep on my sides and the pillow inevitably ends up covering my face. So I put a blanket under my head to prop me up. It's my baby blanket, by the way. That my grandmother made for me before I was born. And she's gone now. So it's all I have left of her. And it's falling apart horribly. But I can't part with it.

So tell me - do you have any strange sleeping habits?

Seriously?

These cookies?

Yummiest thing on the planet.

A Day in History

Barack Obama's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2009 in Washington, D.C., will be like no other, as millions of Americans descend on Washington—or gather around television sets at home or computer screens at work—to witness history. They'll listen to the first African-American president address the country at a time of immense challenges—an economy in distress, a growing health-care crisis and a world in turmoil. But before those problems are tackled, Inauguration Day will offer a time to pause, to look back on Obama's historic journey to the White House and to anticipate his administration with a sense of urgency—and hope.

Two of a Kind

Carter and I took a nap together yesterday and Eric thought it was fitting to snap a pic of our bed head when we got up.

Another Haircut Under Our Belts

Friday evening was haircut time for the family - we all needed trims and cuts. So we headed over to Ashley's lovely salon.

We let Carter wander around a bit to get used to the place - haircuts are just not his cup o' tea. And that's putting it mildly.

We even started in on the snacks early. And offered him a lovely massage - he wasn't into that at all. He will learn. You just don't turn down a massage!

We got back to Ashley's station and Carter got a snazzy cape! But I don't think it was foolin' him. He knew something was up.

So, Ashley started with the spray bottle. He was quite leary of this.

Until we let him drink from the squirt bottle - it was clean water. And this picture below is the last one I was able to get during the haircut process. Bloodcurdling screams ensued and I had to put the camera down and it took all three of us to get that haircut done!! Sheesh!

He was NOT happy. He wonders why we keep doing this to him. BUT..............................

Then that handsome boy in the mirror came out to play!

And someone's mood improved greatly.

And he forgot allllll about that dang haircut. Until next time.

Random Fact #54

Have you missed these? Have you missed learning little odds and ends about me?

Probably not.

Random Fact #54 - I don't drink coffee. Never have. Have never tried it. Have no desire to try it. Don't like the smell..........unless it's like a vanilla french roast or something sweet. Because I'm all about sweet.

I'm just not a caffeine person. Don't need it. Doesn't help me "wake up" any faster or slower than normal. If noon rolls around and I'm feeling like a zombie, I will drink a Mountain Dew. I don't do tea either.

Is that weird?

It's that time of year!

It's that time.

Time to endulge in a little piece of heaven.

What am I talking about, you ask?

Girl Scout Cookies!!! Since I have lived at my house, not ONE Girl Scout has come to my house. I have to seek them out every year - usually at their tables set up in front of local stores. I used to be a Girl Scout myself, so I feel the obligation to support this program.

Well this year, my friends, a Girl Scout came to me! She is the daughter of my daycare people and I brought the form to my work and sent out e-mails to work people and friends and family. Please support this group!! For those local readers of my blog, I have an order form if you would like to order. It's a good cause and dang those cookies are good!!!

SIX

I have been tagged on several blogs.
The rules of this game are to pull the 6th picture from the 6th file on your computer. I have no pictures saved to my work computer, so this one is coming from home.

This picture was taken during a random, possibly intoxicated, photoshoot on the last day of our honeymoon, on our way to dinner.

I'm not going to tag anyone specific. Anyone that wants to play along is welcome.

I can't even imagine

***disclaimer***

This post is going to draw on a very raw subject. If you want to stop reading now, I will not judge you. I'm just handing out the warnings now.

I have thought about doing a post of this nature for quite some time now.

I came upon a blog through another blogger friend of mine. It's written by a mother (the father sometimes makes guest appearances) who has three little girls, and was pregnant again. Early on in the pregnancy, they learned that there was something wrong with the baby and there was virtually no chance of survival. It's a heartbreaking story because these people are true believers in god and are left wondering why their baby girl was taken from them. The story of the baby girl's journey is beautifully recounted by the mother on the website. And just recently, she posted a video containing pictures and video clips from the day the baby girl was born - the family surrounding the bed, the three little girls (now all big sisters) on the bed with the mother, wanting to touch and play with the baby girl. They knew time was not on their side. No one knew how long the baby would live after birth. They ended up with a couple hours before the baby finally stopped fighting. But watching this video, as a mother, I see the mother smiling and I wonder how she can do it. I cannot think of a greater pain in this world than to hold your child and know you are going to have to bury it. No parent should have to do that. I cry every time I visit their blog because I'm a mother and I know the depths of my love for my child. I cannot imagine anything happening to him. But knowing this woman's story (and so many other parents out there who have gone through this exact same thing), I just want to wrap my child in a bubble and keep him in my arms forever. My husband has personally gone through burying a child and I can't even imagine the strength he had to do that.

My heart really goes out to this lady because I don't know how I would be able to make that choice upon learning the baby has a condition that would prevent it from surviving upon birth. I hope I never have to make that choice. And I hope that no one I know has to make that choice either because I don't think there is a greater torture on this earth.

Here is a link to the blog - I invite you to check it out, though you certainly don't have to. I simply share this story with you because it has moved me more than I thought it would. Possibly because I am married to someone who has gone through the same thing.

http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/

Movie Review: Shawshank Redemption

Ok, so I know this movie has been out for-ev-errrrrrrr, but I have never seen it. And every time someone hears that I have never seen it, I sort of get chewed out!! So I finally put it on our Netflix queue and we watched it. I LOVED this movie. It's amazing. What a story!! Morgan Freeman is one of my favorite actors and he was brilliant in this movie. If you haven't seen this movie (which, I'm sure I was the last human walking this earth who had NOT seen it), GO GET IT. Watch it. And love it.

I Wanna Be a Rockstar

The hubby got a PS3 for Christmas, along with Guitar Hero. One guitar wasn't enough, so he bought another. So now his little protege play together....sorta.

He likes it, hey Mikey!!

This kid loves to rock out!! This is one of my favorite pictures I have taken in a long time. The face is just priceless! Seriously? Does he have enough attitude in this picture? Dada is totally smiling for the camera and Carter is thinking "psshhhhhh, I totally taught HIM how to play."