Off to Grandpa's

We are taking off for the trip to Grandpa's today. My Grandpa's house. Most of the day will be spent in the car, listening to books on tape, curious how long Little Guy lasts before he says "Enough! Let me out!". It brings back memories of road trips to family from my younger days.

"Are we there yet?"

"How long are we staying?"

"All my friends are at home."

OK, Little Guy may not be ready to say these items. He still thinks it great to hang out with your family.

However there are other young adults in the my family. Like me when I was younger they are looking for more friend time and less family time.

I look at the sweet little beings they once were and wonder, at what age does it become uncool to be off to Grandpa's. And then I wonder, at what age does it become cool once again to be off to Grandpa's.

And then I wonder, how will I handle it when Little Guy says he does not want to spend as much time with Big Poppy and I.

Finally, when I start to sound like a grown-up. Yikes!

I Got One

Do you have a little hero?

My Inner Teenager

Big Poppy indulged my inner brat teenager this weekend. After my obsession with the Twilight books and my concern over who would win in a duel between Mitch and Edward, Big Poppy played chaperone and suffered sat through New Moon.

Per the norm, the books outshine the movie. As long as you are ok with that going into the show there is no problem.

However, my inner teenage would not allow me to forget my true age. At what point did it start to feel slimy when a young man does not have his shirt on? When did it become wrong to look? I am thinking the next time I want to enjoy a movie with young men in it, I will need to retrain my mind instead of just my heart of my inner age.

Or, maybe a vodka gimlet before the movie will help me forget how much younger the actors are in the show.

Half Birthday

Little Guy celebrated his half birthday on Thursday. We decided to keep the occassion on the DL but somehow the peditrician found out about it anyways and invited Little Guy in for a small party.

After wowing Little Guy with her charm, the doc got down to business.

Here are the vitals at Six Months:
Height: 28 1/2" (97 percentile)
Weight: 20 lbs 10 oz (90-95 percentile)
Head: 43.5 cm (50 percentile)
(Here is a refresher of the vitals at four months - there are links to earlier months too.)

Little Guy is tracking perfectly. He is reaching all milestones right on target or slightly ahead. However, we did get a reminder not to carry Little Guy so much anymore. This will help him achieve crawling. I can not say I am a big fan of letting Little Guy become frustrated on the floor but I will do it.

As you can see, Little Guy has no clue of what is about to happen next. It is a good think the memory is short when it comes to shots otherwise I am sure he would not be so happy right now.

And then the dreaded shots happened. Little Guy was confused on what just happened.

But within minutes he was ready to roll again.

However, last night he was a bit tuckered out and fell asleep early (and on the couch).

3,650 Days

If you ignore leap years, it has been 3,650 days since I traded in my Miss status to become a Mrs.

3,650 days ago we looked like this.

365 days ago we looked like this.

The simple joys and sometimes the not so simple joys make all the difference in the world.

3,650 days ago we said "I Do".

365 days ago we said "I Do" again.

Today and everyday - I Do Love You!

Over the Top

One of the great things about me is I have great friends. They keep me in the loop of what's cool and what's not. In the eye's of one pretty happy mama, my blog is cool (or at least she let's me think it is!). If you did not guess from the picture, despite sporadic postings I was honored with the Over the Top! award on Sunday.

Happy Mama was given this award by fellow Yankee fan, The Treat Girl.

Now is the time to pay it forward.

The nut's and bolt's of this is:

1.) Thank and post URL to the blog that gave the award.

2.) Pass the award along to 6 brilliantly over the top blogs (blogs you love!) Alert them so they know to receive the award.

I'm nominating these 6 blogs:

1. Liz over at Mom-101 - she's got something and I like it!

2. Who can argue with Vodka Logic? I can't, in fact I might agree with Vodka Logic, or is it vodka logic?

3. There is a new mommy of a little girl - you should really stop to read the discussions she has with her husband.

4. A guilty pleasure is reading other people's secrets at Post Secret (though some make me sad I love the ones that make me smile)

5. In need of a smile, check out Kel at A Hesitant Housewife

6. Catherine at Evolving Mommy


3.) Copy and paste this quiz… Change the answers, ONE word only!!

1-Your cell phone? silent
2- Your hair? dark
3-Your mother? gone
4-Your father? gone
5-Your favorite food? Mexican
6-Your favorite drink? water
7-Your dream last night? forgotten
8-Your dream/goal? love
9-What room are you in? pool-table
10-Your hobby? exercise
11-Your fear? loss
12-Where do you want to be in 6 years? home
13-Where were you last night? couch
14-Something that you are not? irrational
15-Muffin? sure
16-Wish list item? bathroom
17-Where did you grow up? Midwest
18-Last thing you did? ran
19-What are you wearing? pj's
20-Your TV? off
21-Your pets? dog
22-Friends? Excellent
23- Your life? Awesome!
24-Your mood? joyful
25-Missing someone? sure
26-Vehicle? Audi
27-Something you are not wearing? socks
28-Your favorite store? Cosco
29-Favorite color? red
30-When was the last time you laughed? minutes
31-Last time you cried? days
32-Your best friend? fun
33-One place you go to over and over? Target
34-One person who emails you regularly? RCJ
35-Favorite place to eat? home

Did you learn anything about me?

Supervisor

Little Guy has many talents. After his painting debut, Little Guy indicated he was ready to work on a bigger project. For a few hours this weekend, Little Guy was our painting supervisor for a volunteer project.

Here is Little Guy yelling instructing us to get back to work.

Sistine Chapel Worthy

With a puppy named Jeter and a Mom and Dad who are interested in sports, I assumed Little Guy would become interested in

or

or maybe even

but after seeing Little Guy's first art project

I wonder if he is destined for

Now I Might Be Bragging

Start spreading the news,

I'm leaving today.

I want to be a part of it -

New York, New York.

These vagabond shoes

Are longing to stray

And step around the heart of it

New York, New York.

I want to wake up in a city,

That doesn't sleep,

To find I'm king of the hill- ah-

Top of the heap.

My little town blues

Are melting away

I'm gonna make a brand new start of it

In old New York.

If I can make it there,

I'd make it anywhere

It's up to you,

New York, New York.

New York, New York!

I want to wake up in a city,

That doesn't sleep,

To find I'm king of the hill,

Head of the list,

Cream of the crop

At top of the heap.

My little town blues

Are melting away

I'm gonna make a brand new start of it

In old New York.

If I can make it there,

I'd make it anywhere

Come on, come through,

New York, New York.

This was for you SoyBoy.

I'm Not Bragging, I'm Just Saying

27 is better than 26.

www.don'tlikepeas.com

As a baby gift, we received a Beaba Babycook along with a Cooking for Baby cookbook. I cannot describe how excited I was with this gift for a couple reasons. 1) It had been my idea to make Little Guy’s baby food and 2) I never knew there were actual products out there to make the mashing easier. These can easily happen without a Beaba Babycook or a baby cookbook but I like knowing there are three lovely ladies who knew me well enough to think I would be interested in making Little Guy’s baby food (I had not shared this with anyone).

Recently I was able to try out the Beaba Babycook. The amount of time, effort and money involved in making your own baby food is nothing. If you are lucky like me, someone will help you with the “start-up” costs. If you are smart like some of my friends, it will dawn on you all the tools you need are probably in your kitchen already. After a few uses, I already love my Beaba Babycook but you can get the same results with a blender or magic bullet.

I love peas. I mean I LOVE peas. I could probably eat them every day and not tire of the taste. I do not eat them every day because Big Poppy says, “I eat them.” Little Guy is going to fall into “I love peas” side of the coin if I have anything to say about it.

The debate began with Big Poppy getting Little Guy. Do you notice what the bib says?

After Little Guy's first bite it appears he is enjoying his first taste of peas.

I might even say Little Guy loves peas.

Though I will be the first to admit he is not ready to feed himself yet.

Making the pea puree was super easy.

Steam the peas to retain more nutrients. Then blend/puree with nothing or a little water or formula, depending on the consistency desired. You can freeze in an ice cube tray and then transfer to a bag for up to three months or enjoy it all now. See how easy it is.

Puppy Love: Halloween Style

There once was a little puppy, a happy little puppy he was.

I mean, he was a really, happy, smiley little puppy.

The happy little puppy was getting bigger and bigger every day. The happy little puppy wanted to crawl like the happy big puppy.

The happy big puppy told the happy little puppy he would need to eat a lot of bones to become big enough to crawl around.

The happy little puppy wished for more breadstick bones to eat and eat in hopes he would grow up strong and learn to crawl like the happy big puppy. In swooped bat girl to save the day.

Carrot fingers and putrid punch were made, along with pizza mummies and breadstick bones and hotdog zombies.

The little happy puppy ate his breadstick bones and tried to crawl but it did not happen tonight. By the end of the evening the little happy puppy was dog tired.

Little Guy is not eating breadstick bones or drinking putrid punch yet. If you would like to give this a try check out Family Fun. Here a couple quick recipes in case you have difficulty finding the recipes.

Putrid Punch

1 13-oz. package lemon-lime Kool-Aid

1 cup sugar
8 cups water
1 can frozen orange juice concentrate
4 cups ginger ale
Worm cubes (ice cubes with gummy worms frozen inside)
3 scoops orange sherbert

Empty the Kool-Aid package into a punch bowl. Add the sugar, then the water and stir until dissolved. Stir in the orange juice. Just before serving, add the ginger ale and worm cubes and float the scoops of sherbert on top. Before long, the punch will be green and infested with worms.

Pizza Mummies
English muffins
Pepperoni
Pizza Sauce
Sliced Black Olives
Cheese Slices

Heat the oven to 350 F. Spread pizza sauce on each English muffin half. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning, if desired. Place one or two pepperoni's on the bottom half of the English muffin. Set two sliced olives 1/3 of the way up on the English muffin (these are your eyes). Rip the cheese slices and lay the strips accross the muffing for the mummy wrappings. Bake for about 10 minutes (until the cheese melts).