My Favorites (A Mommy Blog)

From my last post you wouldn't know it, but there were some really good pics from our photo shoot for our Annual Christmas Card. These are some of my favorites...

Martha was just taking a few test shots to test our lighting & I was fixing G-Man's shoe. Have I mentioned that I LOVE this sweater. If they made one in my size, I would totally have one.

This face: round cheeks, Daddy's ears, sinful blonde hair, that nose. I just love him!

I love close up shots. I forgot about those eyes. Anyone who has seen the G-Man in person knows about the eyes. Oh & can you see that little bit of drool running down his chin?

Hubby is off camera trying to make our sweet boy smile & laugh.

There's that smile again.

I love the angle of this picture. I love that he is chewing on his fingers, cause that is what he does a lot lately. Do you see the mud on his pants? Jumped right in a mud puddle on our way over to the trains.

Can you see me in the background making sure our wee man didn't fall off the train?

I love how rusty the car is.

Love this angle of all the caboose-es (caboosi? cabooses? oh, whatever)

Ok, even though we bickered from the time we left the house, we still got a pretty good one of just Hubby & I. I really do love him, even though I would never admit that it really was too cold to be outside for pictures.

MckMama's giveaway

Okay people, I've resorted to desparate measures. I've been stalking this blog for a few months now: http://www.mycharmingkids.net/. She has giveaways. Today she is giving away one of these HP TouchSmart 600! You can head on over to her website to see how to enter yourself. If I blogged about it, I got another entry to win...so here you go!

Christmas Card Pictures (The Rejects), a Mommy Blog

In anticipation of mailing out our annual Christmas Card, I invited our dear friend Martha to take some pictures of us. The original date was for Sunday (rained out), which we moved to Monday (you guessed it...rained out) You gotta love Texas weather. We decided on Thursday. Turns out the high yesterday was 43 degrees. Fastforward to 4 pm at the train station.

I was already a little grumpy from wardrobe issues. (You know those days where all of your clothes shrunk a couple of sizes in the dryer & you can't find the right outfit)

I had pictured in my head one of those pictures...you know the one. Where you look at the family and see how they are oozing happiness. Their clothes aren't matchy-matchy, but look great together, hair is great, all looking into the camera & smiling. You know the ones, right.

Well, if that's what you're looking for, run quickly, it ain't here!

Here's just a few outtakes from our photo shoot.

This is me telling Hubby to "Just spit out your gum...like this!"

Me: "Nice tongue action, there Son!"
Him: "Ope, Ope" (translation: open the door please Mama)

Considering that we fought/bickered all the way to the train station, this seemed forced.

"Mama, I think my forehead is stuck to the train rails."

On a side note, isn't this a great sweater?

This is pretty much what he did the whole time...running in circle & trying to dart out into traffic. Makes for great action shots, but Christmas Card Photos, not so much.

In an effort to get the G-Man to smile, I thought we'd try the

"Show Martha your teeth, G-Man!"

This is the result. Looks kinda scary. Remember that episode of Friends where Monica & Chandler are trying to take their engagement pics & he can't smile. Kinda like that. Never mind.

Me: "Put him up on the bench, he can't run around up there."

Not good either. Darn. Wow. I really didn't think this would be this hard.
By the way, the reason why he is standing like this is because he just took a huge poop in his diaper. Sigh.

"Oh look, a flower!"

Ok, so this is cute, but a Christmas Card, nope.

G-Man bailed after this picture. Just look at the expression on Hubby's face. He looks like he could kill me, right.

Per his request we WILL be making arrangements next year for an indoor location in the event of actual winter weather coming to Texas.

My exact words when we got in the car were:

"Well next year, HONEY, we will do Christmas Pictures in the dead of Summer in my bikini!"

Martha, are you ready for some Photoshop? (For the bikini pics?)

I love this Man (Mommy Blog)

You see this man...

Holding this baby...

The baby with the very sleepy, droopy eyes... Yeah, that man. He's a really good man. (Sorry honey, I'm feeling mushy today & when organizing photos, I came across these from last year.)

He wasn't just doing this for the camera, he's like this all the time. You see he feeds him, bathes him, snuggles with him and puts him down 4-5 nights a week while I'm working. He's better than me at this & I'm not kidding.
He is the best Daddy....EVER. Oh and he's a pretty great husband too.

If I could make a list of everything I wanted in a great parter, this is him:
Best Friend...check.
Great Sense of Humor...check.
Likes a lot of the same music/movies...check.
Plays the tickle 'CLAW' with GMan...check.
We can talk about ANYTHING...check.
Check, check, check.

Wordless Wednesday (Almost)

An inch lower & we could say "Say NO to crack".

Random Tuesday

This is toast with apricot preserves, apple chunks & red bell pepper. I have it for breakfast sometimes.

What? You don't eat red bell peppers with breakfast? Dipped in Green Goddess dressing?

(This is day 10 of my black eye, pretty, huh?)

Where, oh, where is G-Man?

Well, I'm right here, Mama! I'm hiding under my bank-sie.

Maybe I should have said: "Where, oh where are my pants, Mama?"

(We are potty training, people! It involves being naked from the waist down for a good portion of the morning)

Here I am being cute while sporting Mama's glasses. She calls me Professor Hill.

My vocabulary gone through the roof this week. I repeat everything my Mama, Daddy & anyone else says. Some newbies are: News, Football (of course), glasses, poot (don't ask), sausage.

Until next time....peace out!

Not Me Monday (Mommy Blog)

I'm here again to tell you about things I would never do. You all know that I'm a mature, elegant lady who would never be caught dead attending a movie about vampires, werewolves and the like. That's why when a friend/co-worker needed a date to see New Moon, I most certainly told her "No" & that why would I go with all those screaming teenage girls to see a movie at MIDNIGHT?

Well, she twisted my arm & here you go.

That's Me & 'The Baby Catcher' waiting for the movie to start.
I gotta say, I knew there would be teen-boppers (as my great-grandma used to say) but I had no idea that there would be lots of 30-something women there to. If you were a 30-something man & you were looking for a woman, the midnight showing of any of the Twilight series is the place to be. Okay, enough of that. (Oh, I will NOT be watching Eclipse on June 30th at midnight either.)

Next up, I never curse. Not even Shoot or Darn, ahem....cough. Last night when opening a bill from our last visit to the Pedi's office & found that the charges were wrong & said "I need to call Dr. L's office & have them fix these D**M charges." G-Man drove around the corner on his ride-on toy & said plain as day....."Damn". I have really got to watch my pristine mouth around the kiddo. You know, since I never curse & all.

****Updated****

Oh, I forgot the one that made me want to do this week's Not Me Monday in the first place...I did not take GMan to Sam's this past Saturday & proceed to feed him lunch from all of the wonderful ladies handing out samples. His nutritious lunch would NOT have consisted of the following: a crab cake (who knew?), 2 little smokies dipped in bar-b-q sauce, white cheddar cheese on a cracker, dried cranberries & almond trail mix.

In our defense, we ate a late breakfast, so this was just an early afternoon snack. I felt like Homer Simpson for just a second...DOH!

Lost in Translation, Episode 1

With G-Man's ever expanding vocabulary, sometimes its really hard to understand what the heck he is saying. So here's a few words that need some translation:

Beep = This is a multipurpose word used for Dip (as in Ranch Dressing, Ketchup, etc.)
Beep = Also used for Jeep (Daddy's mode of transportation)
Shoes = Shoes
Shoes = Also used for Tools (aka a screwdriver)
Shoes = Also used for Screw & screwdriver. He is fascinated w/ screwdrivers lately
Manny = Any variety of tools.....keep up folks.
Bank-sie = Blanket
*(This is the cutest thing I've ever heard & watching him walk around the house with a blanket that is lamb's wool trimmed with silky satiney material is just over the top)
Boo = Blue
Meem = Green
Back = Black
Yeyow = Yellow
Mink = Pink
Aye = Red (Don't ask, we correct him every time for the last 4-5 months & it doesn't change)
Onge = Orange (Said like you would say Duck a l'orange. You know, he's French like that)
Juice = Juice, except he says it with a D, so it comes out.....douche. Cracks me up every time.
Choo-Choo = Train, duh.
MicMos = Mickey Mouse. This one took me a while to figure out....call me dumb.
Noonels = Noodles
Eeeeooooo = Fire trucks, but has evolved any vehicle with lights on top of it.
Toast = Ghost

Check in for more new vocabulary words later.

A day at the Park

See this? Looks a little daunting for a wee tyke of 20 months....don't you think?

Well, with some careful guidance from dear 'ol Dad, I navigated it pretty well. Just watch the skill involved...

Look, Ma!

Wow, I'm really high off the ground!

Hey, I made it. I think I gave Mama an ulcer.

Does this remind anyone of the scene in 'A Christmas Story' where Ralphie can't remember what to tell Santa what he wants for Christmas & the Elf pushes him down the slide. Yeah, it was kinda like that.

Now this slide is a little more my speed.

Just wait 'til I can really drive, Mama.

I wonder what this big green thing is over here?

Maybe I'll go down the really big slide by myself.
I've turned into quite the daredevil today.

I am beginning to love fall days at the park. Mama & Dada, can we go again tomorrow?

No Hair November (Mommy Blog)

I have a friend/co-worker named Cameron who has a daughter named Kailyn. She has been diagnosed w/ Hodgkin's Lymphoma. She started chemotherapy treatments & her hair started thinning. A friend decided to hold a fund-raiser called 'No Hair November' to raise money for Kailyn & her family. Local hairdressers came together & donated their time to shave heads for a $10 donation. Kailyn decided to take control & shave her thinning hair off.

Here she is in front of an audience of people...

Kailyn & Cameron.

Soooo, Hubby was complaining about his long, luxurious locks & of course I had to tell him about Kailyn. He agreed to shave his head for her.

Here goes....

No turning back now.

Did I miss a spot?

Here's a family photo. If you look closely, you can see a faint bruise/puffy spot under the G-Man's right eye.

He took a tumble down the stairs & landed on the edge of the concrete step. 1st black eye. Anyway, I think Hubby looks handsome with his head shaved.

Not Me Monday (Mommy Blog)

Finding some inspiration from MckMama, I am, again, going to participate in Not Me Monday. You can hop on over to her blog to see what it's all about.

While waiting for my Hubby to get his head shaved for charity I did NOT, while grabbing for G-Man's hand cause him to fall down about 5 stairs...concrete stairs & bust his right eye. Wow, I'm a terrible mother. He was going "Up" (which is actually down in G-Man language) the stairs, walking around to the handicapped ramp & going "Up" (remember that's down) again. Repeat about 10 times. I was trying to get him to grab my hand since the handrail was way too tall & when he waved me off of him, he lost his balance. Longest fall....EVER. He hadn't even finished falling when I snatched him up & hugged him tight & made sure he didn't bust out any teeth.
A sweet woman (thank you so much, whoever you were) gave me some ice to put on it. But as you mamas of 22 month-old boys know, he wouldn't let me near him with it. Hubby kept calling him Clubber Lang (from Rocky) Have I mentioned that I feel like a terrible mother.

I did NOT tell him while he was running in circles around the driveway & screaming that "if you come in the house, I'll give you some M&Ms". I would NEVER offer candy as a bribe especially when I'm really tired & too lazy to walk out to the driveway & pick him up so that he can do his 'Lift Arms & Slide' You know, where they lift their arms up over their head to slide out of my grasp. This is a new maneuver he is perfecting. Drives me crazy. It's like trying to grab a greased pig. (Which, by the way, I've never done before but I can only imagine)

Previously he used the 'Limp Hippy' where when you try to take his hand, he just goes limp on the ground. You know, like a hippy protestor from the 60's?

Happy Halloween!

Well, it's that time of year again & as many of you know, it's Mama's favorite time of year. We met over at Nana & Papa's & they made something called 'popcorn balls'. They've been making them every year since Mama was little.

Here's Dad forming one of those tasty, buttery, caramely goodies now.

Here's Nana being silly.

Here's the finished product!

We had family dinner, then we ate carrot cake. It looked like a jack-'o-lantern.

I'll have the piece with the candy corn on the edge.

Mama finally found a cute costume for me. Introducing....

The Little Engineer!

Looking at the almost full moon.

Here's Thomas! I got to put some candy in here. I have a new favorite treat.

M&Ms

I stole M&Ms from Papa.

I sweet-talked Nana into opening the packages....

then I'd pick them out 1 by 1.

By the end of the night, Mama & Daddy said I had eaten waaayy too many. I got a little grumpy when Daddy kept shoooing me away from the candy bowl.

And they kept me up late because of something called Daylight Savings Time.