Friday, December 30, 2005

Cooper's growing vocabulary

On the very day my mom and I discussed perhaps doing a word of the day for Coop to help him increase the number of words he can say, I arrive home yesterday to find he has learned a new word - JOSEPH. It is so stinkin cute to hear that little 16-month old say his brothers name. On Christmas day, he learned to say SHOES and HUSH. Hush was totally by accident. I was kidding around with Coop and jokingly said, "Cooper, tell Daddy to hush". So on command, what does my boy say, but "hush". Luckily he didn't pick up any profanity from yesterday or this morning!!

It's probably broken

I admit, I'm not exactly graceful. If it weren't for the years of dance and ballet lessons, there is no telling what a mess I would truly be. Anyway, last night I was rounding the corner out of the laundry room when I abrubtly stopped in mid-step by a large metal object on the floor. Admitedly, I wasn't watching where I was going, but who the heck takes off the cover of a computer and leaves it off! I proceeded to yell out a few not-so-nice words while my husband starred in disbelief that I could be that stupid. Yep, I can. I examined the toe that took the brunt of the impact, and it was swelling and tender, so I thought to myself if it isn't broken, it's jammed pretty good. I don't like to do things half-ass!

This morning, I got up, I drank coffee, knitted, got in the shower and began my day as usual. Cooper got up, so I got the husband up before I went to get him. Cooper and I spent a few minutes in his room, and we gathered a few important items before we left his room (Speckles and Blue). As I exited his room with him in my arms, I rounded the corner out of his room and BAM! The same bumb toe runs right into the vacuum cleaner. This isn't a new plastic light weight vacuum cleaner, but one of those 1970's models that weighs a freaking ton!! Anyway, I once again yell out a few obscene words and hop around - while my son laughs at me (pain is funny to him) and Don looks at me like I'm on drugs! He says, "what the hell is the matter with you?". I have no clue. Now, I can't blame anyone but myself for the location of the vacuum cleaner. I vacuumed the hallway after we moved the dog crate earlier this week, and by leaving it there, I had every intention of vacuuming another room. If my toe wasn't broken last night, it definately is now.

Note to self - pray for forgiveness for the foul language.

Thursday, December 29, 2005

And I was...

In a Past Life...
You Were: An Albino Dancer.
Where You Lived: Ontario.
How You Died: Hung for treason.
Who Were You In a Past Life?

Let's catch up



I had so much fun with Cooper while I was off from work. So much fun that I totally forgot to blog! So, I will attempt to catch up. On Christmas Eve, our next door neighbor, Gilbert, dressed up as Santa and as you can see, Cooper didn't really know what to think about this. Don took this picture and I think it was the last picture that the camera worked. All of a sudden the flash stopped working, so we have to send it back. A real bumber since it was my Christmas present from my husband! Oh well, it's no ones fault but Don was very upset about it.

On Christmas morning, Cooper didn't really know what to think. All of a sudden, Mommy and Daddy were up at the same time (unusual) and there was a Batman play tent and a wagon in the living room! He wasn't into opening presents, he didn't really understand what was going on. But he had fun.

Tuesday night I had a date with my husband. We went and ate sushi and went to have a few drinks with some friends (his friends really - I just met them that night but they were all nice).

There has been lots of family drama, but I just don't feel like digging that stuff up again, but I'll back-track when I need to on future posts.

Tuesday, December 6, 2005

Finished Projects


I have finally finished one of my projects on my giant list of things to do before Christmas. This is a scarf I made for my friend Melissa. She provided the yarn and I just knitted it up. A bag of yarn is like a blank canvas. I have finally started taking pictures of my projects, so hopefully I will be able to keep track of what I have made for people.

Monday, December 5, 2005

It's beginning to feel like Christmas...


I love Christmas - not only is it the celebration of the birth of our Lord, it is just a joyous time of giving and sharing, wearing coats, hats, mittens, boots and drinking hot cocoa - not so in Texas this Saturday. It was 89 degrees outside this Saturday! It was all wrong. It's supposed to be cold - or at least cool. Not so on Saturday as Don, Cooper and I went shopping and I came home sweating - and I was wearing capris and flip-flops. That's just not right. No flip-flops at Christmas. I had to laugh, as my mom sent this picture of the snow at her house. So on Saturday, she was shoveling snow and I was cranking up the AC! We now have a cold front in and another one on the way! YEAH!

Thursday, December 1, 2005

Feeling Guilty...

Around 3:30 PM yesterday, the MIL called me to say that Cooper had just gotten up from his nap and was hot. She said he had a fever of 102.0. I really didn't think it was a big deal, because she can't really work or read the thermometer anyway, so I was sure that she was wrong. I asked her to give him some tylenol and told her he would be fine. I checked back about 30 minutes later and she said he was still running a fever. I told her that I would be home soon.

I really didn't think much of it - she didn't say anything else about his behavior or the way he was acting or anything else.

I got home and took a look at my little boy and was shocked. He indeed had a fever and really didn't feel good. He didn't play or anything last night. All he wanted to do was sit in mommy's lap and put his head on my chest. I felt so guilty that I didn't realize that my MIL was actually right about something!

He's doing much better today - back to normal.

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Thanksgiving


As I was working away on Monday or Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I called my husband and we chatted for a bit and I started to go over the schedule of events for Thanksgiving. He interupted stating, "oh yeah, dad called the other day and he wants us over there at noon". Ah, you couldn't have thought of that earlier?!? MEN!

That put our schedule a little too packed. Last year, we didn't have dinner at our house, we just hopped around and we hated it. We got home and had no leftovers to eat. So at the last minute, we decided to have dinner at our house on Wednesday night. I think that will be our new tradition. This way we have leftovers and still go to see all the family.

Didn't Cooper look cute in his Thanksgiving outfit - made especially for him by his Nana.

Even though I have been knitting things for Christmas for well over two months, I am starting to feel overwhelmed. I think that I will just knit year-round and people will just get what I have on hand!! Ha ha. We know that won't happen.

Poop

In an effort to catch up on many, many blog-worthy events that have happened recently, the most blog-worthy event is regarding my son's poop. On a daily basis, my mother-in-law thinks that my son is constipated. (I pray daily that he doesn't learn to be like her!!) She asks every day about his bowel movements - which is good for his overall digestive health, and for that I am grateful. However, she really gets into it. A couple of weeks ago, my husband IM'd me and asked me to make a doctor appointment for Cooper so that we can find out if Cooper's poop is normal. My MIL thinks it's too small and too hard?!? I laughed and suggested that we just pull some research from webmd, but alas, my husband had a valid point - his mother won't (can't) read the information. So, I called the doctors office and talked with the nurse. I asked specifically about the size, frequency, consistency, etc of his poop and also explained to the nurse that for the sanity of my dear husband, I need to get these questions answered and to have documentation of said conversation. They were wonderful and complied completely - after laughing - and they thanked me for the laugh - the office had been tense that day. She blew it all off and didn't want to talk about it when I got home that night (even though I had printed off information from the American Academy of Pediatrics Subcomittee on Constipation). That is just her way of wanting to be right).

Just yesterday, Cooper needed to go to the doctor for a skin irratition (ringworm) and this time, I drug my MIL with me. After the PA diagnosed Cooper's current problem, I very casually asked about his poop. MIL just started shuffling Cooper's things around and trying to act distracted as she was embarrassed that I was calling her out. It had to do it. It was not my intention to make her feel bad, but she wouldn't lay off. So now, hopefully, my son will be able to poop without having her freak out!!

Monday, November 7, 2005

I really, really hate snakes!!

Hate is such a strong, over-used word. But when it comes to how I feel about snakes, it just isn't strong enough.

Yesterday was one of those days where I was in the mood to clean. I picked up and dusted the living room, cleaned the kitchen and dining room, and after Cooper went to bed, I started on my closet. I pulled out all kinds of clothes, made piles for laundry and re-organized my shoes for the fall season (even though it's going to be 85 today!). I was just about ready to start my laundry and about to step off my bed, when I saw him - A SNAKE. I let out a blood-curtling scream for my husband. He didn't exactly run as fast as I would have liked, but he showed up. I was standing on the bed screaming snake - and he casually picked it up in a blanket saying, "it sure is" like I could mistake a snake for something else? He proclaimed that it was just a little gardner snake - no big deal - but a HUGE deal to me. I'm not sharing my space with a snake - no way - not even if he pays rent - nope - no snakes. Don took him outside and did something with him - don't really care, but came back and comforted me for a bit. I was hysterical shouting that more could be here and we (he) had to make sure that no more snakes could ever come in the house. Now, I often complain about my husband - but not today - my awesome husband then went through each and every piece of dirty clothes on the floor and moved them to the laundry room. After about 45 minutes or so, I finally got off the bed and put my feet on the floor (only after my husband checked under the bed too).

By now, it was my bed time. I put my jammies on and curled up in bed and tried to sleep - to no avail. I'm not sure if I slept at all. Every few minutes, I would flash the flashlight on the floor and make sure there wasn't a little snake-party going on down there on my bedroom floor. And wouldn't it just figure that was the one night that my husband didn't snore!! Just my luck.

So today, my husband is inspecting each and every side of the house to make sure another little snake can get in.

Friday, November 4, 2005

Lot's of Stuff to Blog about!!!



Halloween was great! Cooper came to my office and had a ball. He was in his day costume first - Pirate Cooper.
Then in the evening - we had Monkey Cooper. Each costume was cute and he zonked out at 8:15 - a whole 1.5 hours past his little bedtime. But it was great fun.

On to other important information to share. Yesterday, I worked a long, hard day. But it was a beautiful 80 degree, sunny Texas day. I came home and made dinner for the three of us. I relaxed for a bit and then decided to give Cooper a bath before bedtime. I was undressing my son, and realized my mother-in-law put TWO PAIRS OF SOCKS in my kid. It was 80 degrees outside - why in the world would she put two pairs of socks on him? Poor baby had sweaty feet all day, probably because her feet were cold. Oh and she still thinks that he is sick. This is after I took him to the doctor last week and the doctor gave him a clean bill of health. This doctor has had four years of college, four years of med school, another few years of residency and internships galore - and my crazy mother-in-law who dropped out of high school in the 9th grade still thinks he's sick! I think she's the sick one!!

I will blog plenty more about my MIL - but on to today. I got ready in a timely fashion this morning (that hardly ever happens!) and even had enough time to toast a lovely cinnamon raison bagel with just the right amount of cream cheese. I kissed my husband, kissed Cooper and left the house and left the bagel on the counter. Man, that sucks. I was hungry and really wanted that bagel!! I hope that is not an indicator of how the rest of my day will go!

Monday, October 31, 2005

Oops - Forgot to Blog!

I just can't for the life of me remember to Blog! My life is almost not blog-worthy. Today is Halloween though. I am very excited as we have lots of activities at work. Cooper has a lot of plans already and he can't even say "trick or treat" yet! Don is coming up to my office and bringing Cooper. Everyone at my office is so excited to see him. He's such a big boy now.

I made Cooper a hat this weekend. As I watched the weather reports, I realized that Cooper needed a hat for the cool weather. I knitted one up this weekend - I finished it late last night. When Cooper got up this morning, I tired it on him and was proud of my work. But little Coopie hated it! He pulled it off right away. Oh well, he'll go through that phase, then there will be the "mom, can you make me ______" phase and then there will be the "mom, please don't make me wear ______" phase. Then, we will cycle back to the "mom, can you make me ______". I can't wait for that day!

Well, that's all for now - but I'll have pictures after all the halloween festivities.

Monday, October 10, 2005

Still swimming


I'm just going to try this to see if it works. I can't for the life of me figure out how to put pictures with my posts. I'm just not computer saavy!

I may have figured a little of this out. Here is Cooper helping Mommy make a bigger mess of her yarn. He thinks he so funny. What an awesome little boy.

Fish out of water

That is exactly how I feel about trying to get through and feel my way around learning to blog. Knitting, I understand. Cosmetics, haircare, skin care, etc I understand. But this computer stuff, just baffles me. I've been reading a couple of knitting blogs recently, and I really enjoy it, so I thought I would give it a try. I've been knitting for a couple of years, but I still very much feel like a novice.

Last Christmas, my mom and I picked up our needles and began knitting again. When I returned to work wearing a scarf that she made and one that I made, some of my coworkers wanted to learn how (and a couple of them just wanted me to make them one). A couple of days later, we began what we now call Knitting Lunches. I taught most of them and now we have several that meet once a week for a Stitch 'n Bitch over lunch. It's great fun!

I have a 13-month old little boy at home, so my patterns have to be very simple for now. Nothing that I have to really follow closely until he gets a little older. Which is fine by me. He attempts to help me knit, and sits in my yarn baskets in the living room. He's just too precious.

My latest obsession is dishcloths. I think everyone on my list is getting a basket full of them. I have stolen this idea from my mom - but our gift-giving list doesn't overlap that much, so it won't be a big deal.




Anyway, I hope I figure this blogging thing out and can post some stuff without getting too frustrated.