M-I-C-K-E-Y M...O...U...Suck...E

Good morning, Internet. I'm sipping over-creamed, over-sugared coffee (because that's how I do it) while listening to Jack Johnson croon softly in the background. It's grey and gloomy outside, and the perfect morning for doing exactly what I'm doing. Nothing.

Baby B is snoozing upstairs, resting up for his big nine month check up this afternoon. I don't think there are any shots today, praise God, so I'm not too worried. I think he got something crazy like six last time. It. was. awful. I cried harder than he did. I told him that if he behaves he can go visit Aunt Aubs afterwards. He's pretty pumped. He can do a lot of new tricks since she last saw him - like stand, and clap, and grind his teeth (this drives me CRAZY).

Aubs arrived in from FL last night, much to our (and her) happiness. Let's just say that Disney is a little different when experienced from the employee perspective. My mom, Aunt Danielle (Baby B's surrogate aunt), and I all stood at the top of the escalator watching for our tanned little Disney drop-out to make her way to freedom.

And, in true ΑΔΠ style, I made a welcome home sign for her, glittering to my heart's content.

This is the pic I drew of Aubs in her rockin' Disney costume. Really, that's what it looked like - except it had a necktie that I added after I'd already taken pictures. Pretty sweet, eh?

Anyways, we're glad you're home Aubbers!

Please Pray

I have been following MckMama recently - a faith-driven woman and an excellent photographer with the creativity to nickname her kiddos Big Mac, MckNugget, and Small Fry. Her infant son, Stellan, (aka MckMuffin) has been hospitalized with heart irregularities. Wrap her family up in bloggy love and say a prayer for this sweet boy. You can leave her a personal message in the comment section of her posts at My Charming Kids.

Aaaachoooo!

Ugh. Baby B passed his germies my way. My head is stuffed up. My ears are stuffed up. My nose is stuffed up. This is not how one is supposed to spend Spring Break. I blame it all on the weather. Seventy degree weather down to thirty degree weather is an ill-fated combination. Literally.

I'm not sure about my agenda for the week. One of my main goals was to have cleaned the house and catch up on the laundry by Saturday. Which I did. Check.

I now need to deconstruct the playroom in preparation for our guestroom/office that I'm super excited about. Details to come. Clue: it involves IKEA. Get pumped.

I also need to do some lesson plans. Gag. If there was some way that I could avoid this, I so would. Perhaps, telepathically, my ideas will materialize into a Word document and will also check out any necessary trade books without me having to scour websites and wrack my brain for something ingenuitve. But, on the upside, I only have to write lesson plans EIGHT more times. Yup. That's it people. EIGHT MORE WEEKS UNTIL SUMMER VACATION. (Insert some girlish squeeling followed by skipping and twirling around in flip flops and tank tops here.)

I don't really think I was able to take full advantage of summer last year because I was warehousing a child. My temporary swollen state made it difficult to be outside for longer than ten minutes at a time unless I was shaded by a massive umbrella, while B alternately fanned me with fern fronds and spritzed me with water every .2 seconds. Kidding. But seriously, half of summer was spent waiting for Baby B and the second half was spent acquainting myself with his Royal Cuteness. Now that I know him better (i.e. loves wagon rides, sharing popsicles, and eating dirt/leaves/grass), I think summer will be full of our exciting adventures sidewalk chalking the driveway, visiting our local parks, and chasing after the icecream man. I can hardly wait.

In the mean time, I will pray and pray and pray that the weather will return to its more pleasant, warmer self. Enough so that I can open the windows, permanently shut off the furance, and stroll around our neighborhood with Baby B in tow. Sunshine would be nice too. Lots of it.

PS. Aubs is coming home from FL tomorrow and I am soooo excited. Don't you for a second think I am not going to meet her flight at the airport at 11pm tomorrow night, glittery welcome-home sign in hand!

And, because I have no other picture to tag with this post, here is a random one from THREE years ago (March 2006) of me, my sisters and my cousins from one of my bridal showers. Whoa, blonde hair!

A super Saturday :)

First, some pictures of Sweet Precious to warm your heart...

In this pic, Baby B has a paci in his mouth from when he was a newborn. It is far too small and his ample cheeks really emphasize how small the paci is.
The goose is wearing my head warmer here. Stunning.

Baby B: Mom, can I not eat my Cheerios without you snapping pictures?
Me: The day you stop being adorable, I will stop snapping pictures. So, pretty much, no.

Baby B catching a ride on his newest toy - a gift from Gramma and Grampa Saint.

I just told him a really funny joke about a guy walking into a bar. He's also modeling his newest bib from his Great Aunt Ann and Great Uncle Chris. Go, Wings!

It's been a rough morning at the Babbling Household. Baby B has a nasty, stuffy cold that even the best snot-sucker cannot combat. We have to restrain him in order to rid his teeny nose of all that icky gunk. He was up at 2:40am and 4:00am, and I eventually just brought him to bed with us so that everyone could get some sleep. Despite his midnight wakings, he still sat up and was ready to play at 7am, crusty nose and all.

But, on the up side, I am on Spring Break, so what better time to be sick than when your mamma can stay home all week and snuggle on you?

We're in for a nice, relaxing weekend at home. We spent every weekend in March thus far travelling somewhere, and we desperately needed to just stay - even if it meant making our own coffee. So, with Baby B down for a nap, Big B paging through the latest IKEA catalogue, and me writing about the mundane, we're pretty content to stay in our pjs until noon and watch Saturday morning cartoons on our cable-less TV.

O O O O O

I don't know if it's the Spring Fever I'm catching or the fact that we're going to have real, live houseguests in May for the VERY FIRST TIME since we've owned our home, but I'm just itching to decorate and renovate. If you've been a reader for awhile, then you know I catch this bug like once every couple of months and then change my mind when I come to terms with the fact that stuff costs money and money is certainly not springing up on the trees in our front yard this year. Only cherry buds. Darn.

One of my nearest and dearest is getting married on May 30th, so another nearest and dearest and her husband are going to be staying the whole weekend with us. This means they're going to need a place to sleep, unless they want to put to use the pair of sleeping bags that we got from our wedding. So, the plan to convert Baby B's "playroom" (formerly our bedroom) into a guestroom/study. Where we're going to relocate the changing table, toy organizer, and chest of drawers to is the problem. The basement is clearly not an option since it contains heaps upon heaps of junk that we've accumulated in our almost three years of marriage.

I've had my eye out for wicker baskets that can easily be stored in our TV stand and under our coffee table, but I will not pay the $15 that Target demands for such storage. Actually, I picked up four yesterday when Baby B and I went to Target, along with four summer outfits for him, and put everything back except for two $1 sippy cups. $60 worth of baskets just seemed a little pricy. If space is limited in your home, what do you do with excess toys?

Well, I better hop in the shower before my sick puppy wakes up. Have a super Saturday!

Already?

The Boo Bear has suddenly become crazy silly in the past two weeks. We laugh at him and he laughs back which becomes a vicious cycle at bedtime, prolonging the time it takes to put this child down for the night. What used to be 10 minutes is now 20 as we marvel at his ability to spring a foot in the air off of his crib mattress. It really is impressive. And funny.

He can also clap. Again, resulting in fits of giggles all around. He claps. Stops. Waits for us to clap. And then claps again. B and I could do this with him for an hour. Baby B think he's a pretty good clapper, and we agree. Probably the best clapper (and cutest) I've ever seen.

And, believe it or not, he's not so much a softie lover anymore. He's moved on to a blanket with a bunny head attached (Bunny Bear), and a blanket with a giraffe head attached (G). The giraffe has this fuzzy tail that he likes to chew on. He holds onto this tail while nursing, painting my face with his slobber - blech. Sometimes he'll try to chew on the tail and nurse at the same time. With his eyes closed.

He also says mama and dada repetively. However, he says dada in a singsong voice, chanting it happily as he eats Cheerios or plays with his toys on the floor. While mama is usually said in a fit of rage, while he's arching his back awaiting a nap. Figures, huh?

Then there's his sleeping habits, er, positions. Baby B sleeps sitting up. No lie. This kid resembles a wilted flower when I go up to check on him, folded in half at the waist with his head resting on Bunny Bear and G. What's up with that? I don't know, but it really amps up his cuteness factor.

Photographic proof that Sweet Precious is a strange sleeper:

Baby B will be Nine Months Old as of tomorrow at 5:30pm. I am going to deny that he is going to be a year old in three months, that I will not have a toddler by the end of summer, and that a year from now he will be less into clapping and crib jumping and more into Sesame Street and kicking a soccer ball with his daddy.

Sigh.

Me? Kreativ? (I really HATE the spelling of that, btw)

I mentioned awhile ago that I was going to introduce you to some of my new BFFs (that would be Blog Friends Forever for those of you who are out of the my loop). I have really loved blogging because not only do I get to babble about anything random that comes to mind, but also because I have met some very sweet people.

First, there is Nat. She blogs over at It's a Charmed Life, and I love catching up on her almost-married-I-have-a-super-cute-house life. I knew Nat and I would be good blog buddies when I read about her love of clothes and wine. If she didn't live up east, we'd totally hang out. Anyway, she recently bequeathed me the Kreativ Blog Award, which I have been meaning to write about since, oh, two weeks ago? Anyway, I'm supposed to write about seven things that I love and then pass the award onto seven other people who do the same thing.

Seven Things I Heart…

1. Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies. I just polished off the second to last sleeve. Straight from the freezer, of course. I'm not sure there's any better way to eat them. Maybe with peanut butter?
   
2. Teaching Catalogues. How much fun is it to post-it an entire catalogue of teaching supplies?! I could do this for hours. My husband budget won't allow me to actually purchase anything, but a girl can dream.
   
3. Diet Coke, Barefoot Wine, and iced tea. (This counts as one since they're all beverages, right?)
   
4. The City. I'm a little depressed that I'm going to have to wait through a season of The Hills before I can find out if Whitney and Jay hook up again, or if Allie catches slimeball Adam in the act. Love, love, love it!
   
5. Drinking coffee on the weekend with B at 7am. It makes me feel like a grown-up. Because only grown-ups have any reason (i.e. babies) to be up at 7am on a Saturday, jonesing for caffeine. Though being 26 alone might qualify me as a grown-up. I'll have to check.
   
6. Warm weather. Can it not be June already?! Oh, wait. I can wait for June. Because then Baby B will be a year old. And I will cry that he is getting too big. Can't it just be warm now, then?


7. My Boys. I seriously love them. Both of them. To pieces. To the moon and back infinity times infinity. As big as the whole universe, assuming that the universe is infinite. I love them <3

Thanks, Nat, for the award! I now pass it on to…

Carrie @ The Ossege Family

Heather @ The White House

Rachel @ Babywebbsite

Lindsey @ The Alexander Family Blog

Joy @ Mommy's Joy (A super funny read!)

Nat @ The Pettijohn's (P.S. This SUPER-CUTE momma-to-be is also a new BFF! Go check out her link, she is darling and she also gave me an award that I will post about soon!)

Amy @ From This Day Forward (Another new BFF! I love me some new friends!)

Have a happy, happy day y'all!

And, because every day needs some sweet precious in it, here is the boy child. Check out those toofers.

Almost Wednesday...

Tomorrow in kindergarten we are making dinosaurs. So, being the awesome kindergarten teacher that I am, I made homemade playdough so that we can mold and shape our way into prehistoric bliss. It's even Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade flavored, though I hope none of my little darlings choose to eat this pasty concoction. I'm sure someone will sneak a taste, and he/she will inevitably be tattled on. That's how things work when you're five. I don't need to have eyes in the back of my head (though I do) because I have 25 pairs of them to help me discover any wrongdoing committed in the 180 minutes we spend together daily.

So, anyway, I made playdough tonight and spent $5.99 on some spice called alum that I didn't even use. It would only figure that I would find recipes that didn't call for it after I had already bought it. Sigh.

Since I had boiled water in the kettle for the playdough, I went ahead and boiled extra so that I could make a delicious, springy beverage that I haven't made in years. Okay, I've never made it. My mom always made it when I lived at home and she always vowed each pitcher was the last she was making since my sisters and I always drank it up, but never made new to replace it. Ah, how I love me some sweet tea. It goes nicely with our 70 degree weather that I am totally digging. However, my pale legs and arms are not. Maybe spring break will lend itself to laying out while Baby B naps??? Doubtful, but I can wish.

Oh, and here's Baby B in his most serious state

And here's Baby B modeling a darling sweater that his Great Aunt Lynn made him. How cute is that?! Baby B thinks it tastes great too - which is mainly how he chooses his outfits these days. Supposedly knit star sweaters are super delicious :) Thanks, Aunt Lynn!

Busy, busy, busy!

Please pay less attention to my crazy hair, and the most attention to Baby B's cuteness. Sigh.

Gosh. I know. It's been forever. I'm getting over a bad case of the busies.


Me and My Dad

My final KTIP meeting was on Friday, so I spent the majority of my week slaving over my Intern Performance Record, otherwise known as hell in the written word. It's practically identical to the one I spent all of my undergrad composing, and is mostly just an excuse to waste a lot of ink and clear, plastic sleeves. It will now sit on the shelf in my classroom as a legally binding document that signifies how many hoops I had to jump through to earn my certification. But, the good news is that they (my review board) loved it and said I'm super organized. Snicker, snicker. Good thing my passing doesn't rely on a home visit because I would FAIL with flying colors. What, you don't make your bed? How could you ever educate the youth of America with all these piles of dirty laundry cluttering your workspace?!

Alas, I did pass and, drumroll please…I WAS OFFERED MY POSITION AGAIN FOR NEXT YEAR! Yay! This is such good news, and I knew God would take care of it. I feel so fortunate that I will get to spend my mornings wrangling 5-year-olds and my afternoons chasing after my sweet precious. It will also be nice to have my classroom prepared over the summer instead of pulling together a room in 72 hours. I will be moving rooms, but that is small potatoes to starting from scratch as a first-year.

Moving on…

We spent the weekend at The Lakehouse with my family and it was a much needed escape from the real world. Having someone else make our weekend coffee is reason enough to get away for me. The boys spent much of the day in the yard and fixing something called a ballast. (Can I just tell you how much I LOATHE the word ballast? And if I heard one more person so much as mention the word ballast over the weekend I was going to ballast them to the moon. BALLAST, BALLAST, BALLAST! AH!) I visited a cute, thrifty kid boutique called Sweet Peas and bought Baby B a little jumper for Easter that I'm going to embroider his monogram on. I really want to go the totally cutsie route, and pair the jumper with knee socks and saddle shoes. I mean, next year he's probably going to wear Elmo sneakers that light up or something totally tacky that I will make me gag. So, this year, cutsie it is. (I'm sorry if you love Elmo and all things cartoon. I, personally, cannot stand character clothing. I have nothing against other children wearing it, just not my own. My sister used to tease me she was going to throw me Loony Toon themed baby shower, and I threatened to disown her if she did. ) So, while I was away, B thought that it would be appropriate to build a fort for him and Baby B to nap in. What a dad :) He's so fun!



Helping Nana Swiffer.

They're probably thumbs-upping because the ballast is hung.

Baby B, btw, is getting too big for his britches, and super loved the porch swing and having Soph pull him in the wagon. It will be fun when the two of them can chase each other around the porch, playing hide-and-go-seek or flashlight tag. For now, though, I am content to watch Baby B scooch along, inching his way toward anything that might assist him in standing. Such a stinker.

I hope this post finds you all well, and I look forward to catching up this week and next. Spring Break starts on Friday and I can hardly wait! TTFN J

This is Madame Sillygoose of the Lakehouse.

I pray the Lord my soul to keep...

It is a sad week in our community. Two young girls took their lives this past weekend, acquaintances of one another. I went to church with one of them, and coached a church cheerleading team with her mother. Her little sister was on my squad. I ran into her mother just a couple weeks ago at Starbucks.

My heart absolutely breaks for these families, and I find myself thinking about the most recent encounter I had with this girl. She was 16. She asked about my pregnancy, and congratulated me. It was all very casual, in passing as we ran into one another after church service. I wonder, was there something that I or anyone could have done to convince her that life was worth living?

Despite my brief encounter with her, it is the effect her death will have on her family that keeps my mind reeling. It really makes me think about my responsibility as a parent, and the terrible burdens that face teenage girls today. In my own mind I just cannot imagine life being that bad. I could not imagine being her mother. I could not imagine the personal demons she must have faced to see death as the only reasonable alternative.

Part of me thinks that this is fake. That she is still alive. That this is all some terrible joke and that I will not be attending her funeral service on Thursday. But it is very real. And families are saddened beyond measure, souls are damaged, and life will be altered in some way for each life she touched.

So please, offer up a prayer for these families. Ask for peace. And forgiveness. And then go give your sweet preciouses a squeeze and make sure they know how much you love them and how important they are to you. Life is far too short.

*If you are familiar with these families, please do not mention their names in your comments in order to protect their privacy. Thank you.

I don't know how many times my child can define the word cute, but this clearly tops the list.

It also illustrates that Baby B is not a bitty baby anymore. I'm not sure what nickname he will get when he exceeds babydom. Toddler B? I'm thinking no.

This happened tonight after his persistent wailing led B upstairs to check on him, only to find Baby B seated in the upright position grinning an elfish little grin. I walked up to check on the both of them, and Baby B amazed us by pulling himself up on the crib rail and then maneuvering around it. Then he started blowing raspberries on the rail, and B and I could barely stand up we were laughing so hard. His talent never ceases to amaze us. If Baby B defines cute, then B and I define doting parents. It's ridiculous. I'm sure all you first time parents completey understand the complete and udder fascination with your firstborn.

Enjoy!

*My mother just drew my attention to the fact that I wrote "udder fascination." No, Baby B does not have the chest of a cow, nor would I be fascinated with that. I meant "utter." Oops!

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Babbling Couple

What are your middle names? My middle name is actually Abigail, obviously Abby is derived from that. B's middle name is Michael.

How long have you been together? Married for almost three, and we've known each other since 1998. Ay, ay, ay.

How long did you know each other before you started dating? Um, not long. Four months maybe?

Who asked who out? B totally asked me out on my 16^th birthday. Not a day sooner. Since I couldn't officially "date" until this magical age, he orchestrated this whole ordeal (involving lots of my high school girlfriends) when December 23^rd rolled around. It involved presenting me with the N*SYNC CD, instructing me to listen to God Must've Spent a Little More Time on You. B's ears are probably burning right now. He he he. Ah, young love…

How old were each of you when you met? I was an awkward 15-year-old high school sophomore, he was the older (16!) varsity soccer player. Wooed me right out of my socks. Sigh.

How old are each of you now? I'm 26 and he's 27.

How tall are each of you? I am 5'9" and B is right at 6'0".

Whose siblings do you see the most? We see my middle sister, Chelsea, and her family most often because she's the only one in town. My other sister is doing an internship in FL and B's brothers are both in school out of town.

Do you have any children together? Content with one for now – our sweet precious, Baby B.

What about pets? Leland. She's a piece.

Did you go to the same school? We attended high school together.

Are you from the same hometown? Yes.

Who is the smartest? We're smart in different ways. B's a solver and has the determination to figure things out. He's also far more street smart than I am. I'm book-smart, I'd guess you'd say.

Who is the most sensitive? ME, hands down.

Where do you eat out most as a couple? We love the Bonefish Grill. The martinis there are TOO DIE FOR. Mmmmmm.

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? The Bahamas

Who does the cooking? That would be me. But I couldn't light the grill if my life depended on it, so B takes over that duty in the warm months.

Who is more social? Me. I could make friends with a brick wall. B's more reserved, and more guarded than I am. That's not to say he's not friendly, he just has to get to know you before he wants to be your friend.

Who is the neat-freak? Please see picture two posts down. NEITHER OF US! I don't know what the deal is. I'm neat and orderly on paper, but totally not in my home. It's a major flaw.

Who hogs the bed? We're not really bed hoggers. I stay on my side, and he stays on his. We meet in the middle occasionally, but that's probably because the bed slopes to the center. We both have a tendency to steal sheets though.

Who wakes up earlier? Me. I shower and then I wake B up to do so. Actually, I call him on his cell phone to wake him up because I don't want to track back upstairs and risk waking Baby B as I pass through his room to ours.

Who has the bigger family? Um, I think I win by one nephew. My sister just had a baby, which sets the K side one up on the M side. B and I are each the oldest of three – him all boys, me all girls.

How do you spend the holidays? We rotate. If we spend Thanksgiving with one family, the other side gets us for Christmas. Our parents are within miles of us, so it hasn't posed a problem.

Do you have little pet names for each other? Um, I call him B in real life. He calls me Abigail on occasion. No smoochie or poopsie or anything.

How long did it take to get serious? Not very long. Young love is naïve like that though.

Who eats more? ME! Omigosh, I eat like a teenage boy. It's out of control.

Who sings better? I think I do??? B's not much of a singer.

Who's older? Didn't I answer this question above? B is older.

Who does the dishes? Depends on who's feeling less lazy.

Who snores? He does and it drives me bananas. If I'm sleeping and he wakes me up, I usually hit love tap him until he quits. Or I just say – very loudly – QUIT SNORING.

Who's better with the computer? It's a toss up. B works on computer programs every day at work. But I'm more savvy at blogging and Word documents and such.

Who drives when you are together? B.

Who is the first to admit when they're wrong? What, me be wrong?! Well, I never… B is pretty good at admitting when he's wrong, and I eventually come around.

Who kissed who first? It was a terribly awkward first kiss and I hate to even think about it!!!! It makes my skin crawl!!! We were 16.

Who eats more sweets? B!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Omigosh, he has a crazy wild animal of a sweet tooth. He could eat lemonheads, sweettarts, and lollypops for every meal. And don't let him tell you otherwise!

Seriously.

Random Conversation with my husband:

B: I read all about stingrays today.

A: I knew you would. (typing)

B: Wouldn't a fishtank look so cool in the spare bedroom?

A: No.

B: Why?

A: They're disgusting and dirty.

B: But stingrays have personality.

A: We are not getting a stingray. Remember Steve Irwin?

B: It will be this big. (Imagine a hand motion similiar to the 5 Dollar Footlong commercial.)

B: It does have a venomous barb.

A: Again, we are not getting a stingray.

This conversation comes after we stopped at a pet store during our trip up to Michigan. And, yes, the pet store had a smallish stingray. And, no, no amount of convincing will get me to okay this purchase.

And the only reason we stopped at a pet store on our trip up and back from Michigan is because I found the perfect place to nurse in the car in the parking lot at a Panera Bread that happened to be next to a pet store. The things we do for our sweet preciouses.

Post-Baby Bodies

One of the topics of Momversation last week was about the post-pregnant body. I guess I'm fortunate that my post-preggo body is fairly similar to my pre-preggo body. I wouldn't say I was left completely unscathed, but I think that barely recognizeable stretch marks, and little extra jiggle in the middle is mild in comparison to the crazy things that happened to my body during the process. The weight is gone, praise God. And, let's be honest, I've never made Victoria Secret look as good as I do now ;)

I was not one of those women who basked in her pregnant glow, walking on burpcloth clouds and pastel colored rainbows. Instead, my body featured an abominable 60 pound weight gain, acne similar to that of teenager, limp and mousy hair, and ankles that swelled to size of summer sausages. Hickory Farms had nothing on those whoppers. It didn't help that June was unusually hot either. We had several days straight that topped out in the 90s. It was all I could do to stretch a bathing suit over my expanding middle and wade off into my inlaws pool to take the weight off of my feet for 15 minutes.

I seriously couldn't wait to be un-pregnant. Now, don't get me wrong, being pregnant yielded the best thing that's ever happened to me. I just didn't enjoy the way I felt or looked during the 9 months of incubation.

I think I had the preconceived notion that because I was tall and thin in real life, I would be a tall, thin pregnant woman (i.e. Heidi Klum) sporting all my baby weight in a compact little bump in the front. This, however, was not the case. Instead, that weight spread generously across my face, arms, legs, and butt. Admittedly, a tear (or a hundred) was shed as the image in the mirror reflected Abby a la Air Hose. I couldn't STAND it.

The good news is that a baby and a new job have done an excellent job of ridding me of excess baby weight. Thank goodness gracious. Oh, and I have this ridiculously cute child that I would totally sacrifice another 60 lbs for if I had to. Totally, 100% worth it.

BUT - I don't not want to be pregnant again anytime soon :)

We're baaaaack... (I know, corny title)

Okay. I have the timer set for 30 minutes. That's it. At 2 o'clock I have to quit blogging and start unpacking and cleaning. Do you need evidence that my life is in complete and udder disarray at the moment? Here it is...

Don't look too closely or you might see the almost entirely empty box of Somoa (caramel delite) Girl Scout cookies that I have single-handedly polished off in the past two days.

Does it not just make you want to scream, throw in the towel, and hire a live in maid? Well, that's what it does to me. Except I'm a teacher, and the maid thing would never fit into my coupon-clipping lifestyle.

Anyway, I can't even describe the speed of life around here. It's comparable to that of a NASCAR race, but substitute the squealing tires for a squealing baby. Baby B has decided to pretty much grow up in the past week. He suddenly thinks he's big stuff because he can PULL UP ON THINGS. WHAT? Yes, he can. This weekend he just decided that sitting on the floor was not cutting it anymore, so he took to standing. So, at 8:30 last night we found ourselves repositioning the mattress in his crib. Tear. My sweet precious is getting too big.

Our weekend in Michigan was great, despite the fact that Madge, our GPS, almost took us to Canada. No, seriously. I called my aunt from the toll booth before the Ambassador Bridge wondering why I'd never paid a toll before when getting to their house. I kid you not, it said that that was the way to I-75. I have never been so lost in my life. I think we toured every street in downtown Detroit. SCARY. It didn't help that it was pouring the ENTIRE trip either. Apparently, GPSes do not account for the construction detours or rain, for that matter. However, this was a great test for our marriage and B and I were in hysterics at one point we were laughing so hard. Parenting Tip #101 - To occupy a baby while eating at Panera Bread, simply give them a crusty French Baquette. You actually might enjoy some adult conversation, though fishing out soggy chunks of bread totally might interrupt.

Oh, and the Redwings got KILLED. 8-2. Are you kidding me?! We paid $160 for these tickets and drove 288 miles, leaving behind 75 degree weather to watch the defending Stanley Cup Champions lose? Oh, yes. We did. But I did wear a really cute rhinestone encrusted Redwing tee. If you're going to be an NHL fan, you might as well be a cute one, right? :)

The best part of our trip was visiting with my Aunt Ann and Uncle Chris who so hospitably put us up for two nights and babysat Baby B. We can't wait to see them in July.

I know this is random and I haven't posted in a while, but life continues to be busy busy busy. And spending time with my growing boy trumps blogging any day.

Ta ta for now!

We're headed out of town for the weekend! Will blog soon!

PS. If you won a giveaway, it will be shipped Monday! The customized onesies will go on Tuesday! Thanks for being patient - it's been the craziest, busiest week at school and now we're leaving.

Bye Bye :)

Why he only eats biter biscuits on bath night...

Our kid is the next Picasso. His canvas - the high chair tray. His median - biter biscuits and slobber. Mmmmmm.

I will not drink that, Sam I Am!

My last KTIP observation is O-V-E-R. Thank goodness gracious. I have had the busiest past 72 hours that I've had in a looooong time. This particular observation involved being video taped, so you can imagine how much fun that was. And now I have to watch the video and "reflect" on my performance - which I'm sure was award winning with me telling kids to change their color every .2 seconds. Ick. I'm doing a Dr. Seuss unit since it is Read Across America week. Above is the banner I made that hangs as you enter the kindergarten hallway. Below is our bulletin board that I painted. The kids decorated mini Seuss hats that I will hang on it.

In other news, Baby B is fighting a nasty, snotty cold. He is nursing better, which is a HUGE blessing since I thought I was actually going to have to start going to the gym again, heaven forbid. Nothing like that Nursing Diet, I tell you.

He's also suddenly very mobile. He doesn't want to be held. And if you are holding him, he's trying to find a way to wriggle out of your arms. He inches his way across the floor and thinks that me smelling his feet and then letting out a high pitched "Peeee-eeeeeew" is hilarious. The blowing raspberries phase has ceased, and he's expanded his vocabulary to include "Da da da da da da da" which he repeats and sings for us frequently. Oh, I could just gobble those sweet cheeks up. Love him.

I also must confess what I did to extend the life of our milk this weekend. If you're a new reader, then all you need to know is that my husband, B, drinks milk with fervor. As in we go through 3-4 gallons weekly. Anyway, I purchased a half gallon of milk on sale this weekend for 89 cents. It was called Sweet Acidopholus, or something fancy like that. I tasted it and it tasted like normal milk, so I told B he had to drink it before he opened the other gallon. (I try my best to implement milk rules at our house, usually to no avail.) Not surprisingly he refused. So, I did what any clever wife would do, and topped off the normal milk with the sale milk. And he drank it up without noticing a difference. He he he... After he reads this (hi B!), I'm sure he'll say he knew all along :)

And, lastly, I must concur with my friend Rachie in saying that the ending to The Bachelor was TERRIBLE last night. And, please, Jason, why don't you cry for the camera one more time? I really liked him, but I lost all respect after what happened ON CAMERA last night. I will be tuned in to the After the Final Rose Part II tonight to see what has happened in the past six weeks though.

Off to watch The City! Have a terrific Tuesday :)

PS. Thank you, Amy, for pointing out my BaBBing Abby mistake. I totally caught it as soon as I'd published the pics. Oops!