Still Sick

Well, we're all still sick around here. Jason is even home from work today. He seems the sickest of all of us but he was remarking how it's nice that we're all sick together and can be sympathetic of each other while we lay around. I agree, I guess. My throat is much worse today but that's really the worst of what I'm dealing with. Easton slept well last night despite all the stuffiness. I am SO glad about that 'cause it meant I could sleep better too. Here is a video of Easton, you can hear just how congested he is. Funny.

Okay, so as I was mid-blog yesterday E did his mere half hour nap. I knew that wasn't enough so I "made" him take a second one. I was exhausted myself and wanted to snooze as well. I started him off in his crib but he got really mad after awhile so then I brought him into bed with me. I used to relish napping with my snuggly boy. Not anymore. Well, if he'd sleep I might still like it. Instead I brought him in with me and he was laying next to me on my pillow. I kept my eyes closed pretending to be asleep myself but he kept sticking his fingers into my eyelids. When I got him to stop that he moved on to squeezing my schnoz and telling me, "nuuuuu" (E speak for nose). Later he moved on to playing with my hair, so while it starts off as sweet as it sounds it usually ends in a painful yank. Eventually he gave up on laying down all together and tried climbing our iron "headboard". He got stuck back in his own bed after all that. Not cool. I had to go in and rub his little head again till he fell asleep then I was free to take my own nap. Ahhhh. Jason had to wake us both up at 5. Whoa.

Well, today Easton pulled another half hour nap and that was it. I tried and tried to get him to go back down but he wasn't having any of it. I don't know why I continue to find it so frustrating but I do. I need to get over it.

With everyone feeling crappy around here we've been treating ourselves to dinner out. Last night we went out for BBQ where Easton flirted so shamelessly with a woman at a nearby booth. It was pretty cute. Except for the hacking wet cough and snot face. The woman didn't seem to mind. But, Easton didn't like us cramping his style when we'd make him get his face wiped. Sorry, bud, but no one likes a slimy moustache. Anyway, that was last night, tonight I ran to Fuddrucker's for take-out. Yum. It's been really nice not having to cook. Or clean up.

Hopefully we'll be doing better tomorrow. I think we're planning on skipping Circle Time. Jason is going to try really hard to go in to work for at least part of the day. I don't have a choice but to keep being a mommy, sick or not. Good thing I don't feel all that bad. I can still function even if I'm being a little lazier than normal. Easton is being such a good sport about it all. He sits and happily watches TV show after TV show with us, occasionally he'll get up to play with something or other or he comes over to cuddle briefly. No wonder he only needs a half an hour nap, he's not doing anything to tire himself. Although he did get his first black eye today from hitting the edge of the coffee table on his way off the couch. Ouch. I don't know how well you'll be able to see the shiner in this picture. It's his left eye and the bruise is on the upper edge of the cheek bone. He also has a bruise on his forehead on that side (bonking the floor for fun) and his cheek on that side (no clue what that's from).
Well, it's getting to be bedtime again. I should wrap this up for now. Adios!

An Eventful Day

Easton is friggin' sick again! Ugh! It's nothing severe...I guess with his recent 9-10 day bout with a tummy bug his immune system is a little run down. Not to mention he's stopped getting much in the way of antibodies from my milk now that he's mostly weaned. Darn. Anyway, he woke up yesterday all stuffy and congested. Jason wasn't feeling his best either. J's throat hurts in addition so it makes me wonder about E's. He can tell you lots of body parts now, but "throat" isn't one of them. Then, this morning I woke up with my own beginnings of a sore throat. The good thing about Easton when he's sick is that he's still basically the same ol' kid...he might eat less and sleep a bit more but he maintains roughly the same temperment and energy levels. Sometimes it's hard to believe he probably doesn't feel well based on the way he still runs around non-stop.

I'm supposed to start my "job" tomorrow. I had to call them and tell them we're germy over here but it was up to her if she still wanted to bring Baby John. I still have to take care of Easton so I'd be fine watching Baby John, or I suggested she could bring him later in the week instead. They're going to discuss and get back to me. I don't have a feeling yet on what they'll decide.

So, even though Easton was a little under the weather, we still let him play in his inflatable pool in the yard for the first time yesterday. It wasn't super hot out and the water was cold, he would get all goose bumpy when the wind blew but he still had fun. Click here for a video montage. Check out his little crack! Ha ha ha. That's last year's suit but I didn't put a swim diaper under it to just play in the yard for half an hour. Our grasss isn't the softest you'll find either so he's wearing his aqua socks. It was fun...I look forward to doing it more when it's even hotter and less windy.

What else? Oh yeah...Easton got his leg stuck in his crib slats yesterday. It was very sad at the time. He's got a big welty-looking bruise on either side of his knee as a result. He started crying hard from his crib so I peeked in and found him stuck in a sort of a Karate Kid pose...you know: his leg stuck up in the air between the slats and his little arms up in the air hanging on to the rail to take some of the weight off his stuck knee. Since it all turned out just fine it's kind of funny when I think back on it. Mean mommy, I know.

Oh he also climbed up on the couch by himself for the first time yesterday too. We weren't watching it happen and Jason said, "Oh! Look at him!" and he was standing on the love seat, very proud of himself. It looked like he stacked a couple of throw pillows on the floor in order to get up there. He's not tall enough to reach from the floor. The constant adventurer. That's E.

Okay, so now that I see my new picture in my profile I don't think I like it. My face looks very round...in a fat way. Hmmm, I'll think about changing it.

Well...Easton is up now after a half hour of napping. Shoot. Doesn't he know he needs his rest right now? No he doesn't. And, he probably can't breathe even with the humidifier working in there. Darn darn darn. Off I go...bye!

I Ended So Abruptly

Wow, my post yesterday afternoon sort of just ended...didn't it? We had plans to go to PF Changs for dinner last night. But then Easton only napped for 45 minutes so we moved our reservation up (we were hungry!!) and I had less time for my blogging. Oh well.

So, back to all that yesterday. After my mom and sister (Lauren, 15) babysat so I could go to J's gig, Lauren spent the night with us. She likes to stay here from time to time. Easton really enjoys her so that helps. Her and Jason have a cute bond too. Not to mention I like her as well. I took the cutest picture ever of Easton and Lauren and we all passed the camera around so we could see it. Seriously...it was an adorable picture...but, something went wrong and now it's gone. I was so bummed. I still am. It was a great picture of each of them. Lauren was sitting on the floor and Easton unprompted came up behind her and put his arms around her while he peeked out over her shoulder. We all loved it and now it's gone gone gone. Here is the second cutest, it is a distant second mind you:
Hey, I tried to change my profile picture...is it showing up for you guys? It shows up for me if I click on "view my complete profile" but otherwise I see either the old picture or the Photobucket error logo. Hmmmmm...blogging can be a tricky business for me.

I'm also changing my "Same Time, Last Year" picture. No video this time 'cause there really isn't one. That's surprising, huh? Anyway, the picture is from when Auntie Jesh and Uncle Tony came to visit from Texas over last Memorial Day weekend. That is my sister Jessica in the picture with E. She is 2 years younger and about 100 pounds skinnier than me. Okay, so that's obviously an exaggeration. But, she's thin. Sometimes she gives me her fat pants. Why am I even talking about this? I don't know...I'm done.

Okay, so back to the whole weaning thing. Easton is doing really well. I continue to offer him my milk when he wakes at 6 but I don't think he's really getting anything from me anymore. However, I do enjoy the snuggling and that it helps him go back to sleep...currently. That will end soon too. It always does. The bad thing we've noticed without me nursing him regularly is that his eye with the clogged tear duct is doing worse. I used to massage it during nursing sessions since that was really the only time he'd let me. Now, without the massage his eye is starting to get all gooby and gross again. We're going to have to figure something else out. J was surprised at how much of a difference the massaging made. Not that it helped to open the duct...that looks like it'll require surgery. Darn. But, it did keep his eye looking cleaner most of the time. Now we're thinking we might attack the eye during TV time. Who knows?

He is eating really well lately. Perhaps its due in part to the weaning or perhaps its due to getting over his illness. All I know is I like it. Well, it's kind of annoying since he just likes to graze all day and it's hard to find suitable foods for him to graze on. I mean, if the kid eats any more goldfish I think he'll turn neon orange. He likes bananas but refuses to feed them to himself now. Yogurt can get messy...See!? It's hard. Oh, funny story though, the other day while I was getting my haircut/make-up done Jason was giving Easton some string cheese and E ate a ton of it! The trick? Jason would put a piece of cheese on one of E's toy trucks and then he'd roll it to him, E would eat it and roll it back for a refill. How hilarious is that? I thought it was great! Leave it to my boys to think of such things. Whatever works, right?

Okay, so to wrap things up, yesterday the family that is giving me my "job" came over to see our house and go over a few details for Baby John's care. It sounds easy enough although him and Easton may be on opposite napping schedules and it sounds like Baby John isn't always the best napper (like E). We'll just see how it goes. I start Tuesday at 7 or 8...I can't remember. I think they changed it to 8. Good thing I'll be home anyway, right?

Our dinner at PF Changs was delish as usual. I ran out of food for Easton like a dummy...I forget about this newfound appetite. He ate maybe 2 grains of rice and 2 bites of my Mongolian beef. He couldn't have any of J's Kung Pao Shrimp due to the peanuts (which we still aren't giving him). He really enjoyed the cheesecake later, though. We all did. Mostly he ate the strawberries that came with it and then he mashed up my fortune cookie (still wrapped) so he enjoyed eating little bits of that as well. Here is some video from our dinner last night. Hopefully this is a less abrupt ending to my blog. I hated leaving it that way yesterday but that means I'm way too obsessed with this blogging thing. Anyway, enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Back in Black

My font, that is. I think there will be enough fanciness in today's post without making the text a fun color. To kick off the fanciness, here is a slideshow from our family zoo day on Thursday. I'm borrowing Britten's idea of putting it within the post.

I'm sure many of these pictures will show up in the album before long as well as a scrapbook page or two.

So, back to Thursday...our zoo day was fine, we didn't go skipping hand in hand through the zoo like I'd imagined (okay, not really). Easton ended up being a little bit of a crank pot. We made the mistake of letting him out of the stroller and after that he didn't want to go back in. He had only taken a short nap that day and it was hot so he wasn't in his best of moods. Oh well. We did take him on his first carousel ride which he enjoyed. It was cute to see him hold on to the pole so well. After the carousel we ended up calling it a day...we had seen just about everything we wanted to anyway. Click here for video clips from the zoo experience. No nifty music this time. Anyway, we came back up to our neck of the woods and headed to the "cool park" for our picnic. It was nice and Easton enjoyed feeding the geese afterward. Click here for video...listen for his little giggle.

Yesterday (Friday) Jason was off again as Day 2 of the 5 day weekend. In the morning Easton and I headed out to breakfast with our friends Susannah and Max. The boys shared their food with each other...mostly E didn't have a choice but to "share" with Max who kept taking it, but whatever. They're little. Click here for some breakfast buddies video. After breakfast we took them to the cool park but Susannah thought the playground was too crowded so we let them run around in the grass. Max didn't have any shoes!! It was the first time she let him walk around in public (Max only recently became a bi-ped) and she learned how exhausting it can be to chase around a toddler that has selective hearing. Welcome to my world! We didn't let them run around for too long...they kept going to the edge of the lake...yikes!

J worked on the new chest of drawers while Eastie and I got to go out and have fun so to make him feel better (even though he wasn't sad) for missing out we brought him a refreshing cherry limeade. Yum. In the afternoon I had an appointment for a haircut. It was at the mall and since J was home with E I left early for some solo shopping and decided to get my makeup done at Clinique. This is me after they loaded me up with makeup and I got my hair cut--she also blew it straight for me.

I was running unknowingly late and J was cutting it real close in order to make it to his sound check for his Battle of the Bands gig. Oops. I was in trouble...sort of. He made it because they were running late. My mom and sister came up for the evening so I could go to the gig. Twelve bucks for them to play for only 25 mintues. Oh well. I got to see my man rockin' the bass. Fun. Here's some video. It is during Entropy's (the band's name) "hit" song: Take One for the Team which is offensively about how every once in awhile a guy's gotta hook up with the big ugly chick in the group of otherwise hot girls for the sake of the "team". It actually cracked me up even though I s'pose I should've been offended (it's hard to offend me though)...the song ends with a rousing chorus of "fat girls need lovin' too." Classy. Good thing it didn't work out on J's end for him to join them permanently. They put on a good show. Very high energy compared to Rainbox. The singer always takes off his shirt. If I looked like him I'd take mine off too. He's a gymnastics instructor and even did a back flip in the middle of the set. Neat-o! The guy was all over the stage I was often afraid J was going to whack the dude in the head with his bass. He never did although it looked close.

I'm glad I got to get out. That's a picture of me in my groupie bassist's wife get-up. My sister ended up spending the night with us. Easton adores her. I'll share pics later. We're trying to get to dinner here shortly so I'll be wrapping this up for now. Ta ta!

Green and Blue Today

Well, today's post is going to be in my high school colors. It was 10 years ago today that I graduated. Whoa! Our actual "class reunion" isn't until August. I still talk to my childhood best friend but she is the only person from my class that I actually keep up with. Samantha is a pal from high school but she graduated the year before me.

Well, since it's early yet I don't have a ton to talk about...our power went out this morning while I was updating Easton's album...I was on the last of 11 pictures. Bummer...all my clever captions--GONE. Oh well. They really weren't that clever.

I went for a head-to-toe mole inspection at the dermatologist today. He shaved off 2 of them but thought they looked benign enough. I'm supposed to go in yearly given the amount of moles I have plus my family history. The ones he took off were not ones we wanted to just watch for the rest of my life. No biggie. I stopped for some Starbucks on the way home for both J and I. I had a headache ever since I woke up and thought the caffiene might help. It did. I probably had a "hangover" from my whole 2 drinks last night. Wimp.

Eastie is currently down for his nap and after he wakes we'll be heading to the zoo. I'm looking forward to it. We're planning a picnic for aferwards. Yippee! I love family days!

OPERATION: SELF-WEAN (aka "DON'T OFFER, DON'T REFUSE") Day 2:
Oh, and Easton was up at 6 again this morning so I offered to nurse and he did go back to sleep. I really don't think he's getting much from me but it the routine of it or something was enough to help him go back to sleep for a couple more hours. Before his nap we were rocking with his head on my chest and twice he lifted up his little head and signed "milk" but I pretended I didn't see and he didn't push it and put his head back down. It made me kind of sad to ignore his simple request, if he had insisted by lifting my shirt or something I would have totally agreed. But he let it go when I didn't respond and went to sleep shortly after I put him in his crib. So, technically I guess I did "refuse" but I see it more as "distracting". It makes me feel better to think of it that way so I will. So there. :)

I'm sure I'll have plenty of zoo pics tomorrow so stay tuned!

SOOOOOOO Long

Woo hoo, I just keep going with all the fancy schmancy, don't I? (Britten, we're getting too carried away with all this!) Anyway, an evening post? That means J is at rehearsal, right? Right. He stayed for the bedtime routine and off he went. So, I'm just chilling with my second Mike's Hard Lemonade of the evening. The prospect of weaning has turned me into a little bit of a wannabe boozer. Just slightly...I've just been "good" for so long, ya know? No worries...I won't get carried away. Not lil' goody-two-shoes ol' me. Okay, enough of this--on to the good stuff.

THE "BA" STORE
Yesterday after my post Easton and I headed to the grocery store for a quick trip. In the parking lot he recognized it as the place with all the balloons and he started chanting "Ba Ba". Then, in the store he was being SO incredibly loud. He was shouting "BA" as loud as I think he could. At first it was funny because he was so excited. There is all sorts of stray mylar balloons floating along the ceiling...leave it to a toddler to find these things. Anyway, later I started asking him if he could whisper "ba". He thought that was quite amusing and kept shouting it. It was to the point where he was starting to embarass me. "BA! BA! BA!" and I don't know why but he eventually got mad at me and flung himself backwards like he likes to do during tantrums. Good thing he was buckled in the buggy. The checker did give me a look. I did not like it. I give those looks to other people at Wal-Mart (not really). It wasn't quite one of his real tantrums...thank God...I have a feeling the humiliating public tantrums aren't too far off after this. Super.

AND NOW LAST NIGHT
Well, let's see, I still have to talk about last night's family stroll. After a large dinner for Easton we headed out on our walk and on the way back home decided to stop by the little park nearby. You should have seen Easton when he realized where we were going. It was too cute, he was SOOOOO excited. He just shrieked and giggled and flapped his arms about. We let him out of the stroller and he took off for the playground at a run. The sun was in his eyes and he was going uphill but he maintained a steady trot. I loved every minute of watching him. Oh, to be so excited by those kinds of things again. On the way home we let Easton play with someone's sprinkler. He got such a kick out of the spraying water. I can't wait to let him run around in his swim trunks in our yard. He certainly got soaked in the sprinkler last night but it was worth it. Then he pushed the stroller home nearly running yet again. Once we got home we all sat down for some strawberry shortcake and Easton didn't want any! Huh?!?! My kid didn't want dessert? With strawberries!? Oh well, so much for being painstakingly certain I got "non-dairy" whipped topping. More for me!

THIS MORNING
Moving right along to today...well this morning Easton had a smorgasbord breakfast: blueberry muffin, lefse (a Norweigan tortilla-type thing make with potato instead of flour), banana, blackberries, and milk. I have discovered for sure that he will not eat banana anymore if I cut it up for him. He only wants to eat it like a big boy and take bites off the actual whole banana himself. Fine. Except I wanted to eat my breakfast at the same time and didn't want to continue holding it for him. Good thing he was interested in plenty of other foods. And now I won't waste anymore bananas by cutting them up for him.

RESUMING DAIRY
After his big breakfast my little stinkerpie was soon signing "eat" again. Great! Boy has his appetite returned with a vengeance...wonder how long this'll last? Anyhoo, I didn't want him eating more goldfish already so I lined up 3 acceptable alternatives: string cheese, Yo Baby yogurt, and a cereal bar. He picked the yogurt and ate half of it. That was our first venture back into the world of lactose. So far so good.

At lunch I had myself a piece of string cheese in the hopes that he'd want some bites too. He did. In between bites he literally ran circles around me. I sat on the living room floor and he laughingly ran laps around me. We both thought it was a riot. Okay, so he had more dairy with the cheese. Then guess what he ate: PASTA! I heated up some leftover baked ziti for myself and he was gobbling it up with me. Meat and cheese for The E there! What has gotten into this kid?

We're holding off for another day or so before resuming actual whole milk. We thought we'd start slow with cheese and yogurt and see how he handled it. It's looking promising. Yay!

THE 5 DAY WEEKEND BEGINS
So, today Jason said he felt like it was his last "real" day of working at his current place. Even though he goes back for 2 days next week it won't be to do much. Sort of like the last days of school where you go clean out your locker and sign each other's yearbooks. I'm really looking forward to his weekend. Zoo tomorrow, remember?

TODAY'S "OUT OF HOUSE" ACTIVITIES
So, like I said before, we get bored hanging at home all day. Today we went to our usual Wednesday Circle Time at the library. Easton was much better and quite outgoing. He even got up to dance during dance time and he clapped along! He sat mostly still for the stories. His favorite part was the pet rats someone brought to go along with the stories. He got to pet them lots and lots when the other kids left. Kitten and Kitta were their names, I thought they were dumb names but no one asked me. Anyway, Eastie got to feed them sunflower seeds and he was being crazy obnoxious making "eeeee eeeee" sounds and frantically trying to pat them. He wanted to lift the cage that one was in. Finally I had to say, "Easton you need to calm down or we'll have to go 'bye bye'" to which he stopped and said, "bye bye" to everyone there...even the rats and we took that as our cue to leave. He made that easy, huh? Usually he is so timid and well behaved in those kinds of situations...I guess all it takes is a little girl dragging you around at the playground the day before to make you beef up.

The library was our morning activity, after his nap we went to the mall. We walked around, I made a hair appointment, I got my rings cleaned, we shared a brownie, then we made the trip to the pet store. He has loved it there the few times we've been. Laughing adorable belly laughs at the animals. His favorite is when the "pets" paw at the glass. It makes him laugh the hardest. I love taking him there. It makes the other shoppers smile to see him enjoying it so much. It makes me so happy when I feel like he's a bright spot in a stranger's day, know what I mean? Alright, well, after the pet store we stopped at the indoor play place. Just like last night going to the park E got so giddy when he realized where he was going. He took off running and never really stopped. He was being so independent and had a blast. Eventually he ran out into the mall and I used that opportunity to wash his hands and pack him back up to head home. What a day, what a day!

OPERATION: SELF-WEAN (aka "DON'T OFFER, DON'T REFUSE") Day 1: Well, he woke up at 6 and I nursed him, I offered even. But it worked to get him to go back to sleep for another couple of hours even if I didn't. However, when he woke up for the day I bypassed our rocking chair time and simply went about the rest of our day minus the nursing. He didn't bat an eye. Same thing with before his nap, I used to offer breastmilk. Today we just rocked quietly for a couple minutes, I put him in his bed and he went to sleep. Yay! It really wasn't until we started his bedtime routine that we sat in his rocking chair and I offered the sippy. He didn't want the sippy, he wanted my milk...so I didn't refuse. He gave a couple sucks then said, "bye bye" and covered me back up. He did the exact same thing on the other side. Funny. We continued with the rest of the routine after that and he had some sippy milks. Easy enough. I think tomorrow night we'll skip the rocking chair part all together...he'll be less tempted to "ask" for milk then since we usually only nurse in the rocking chair. We'll see how it goes. So far I'm very pleased.

OOOOOOOOOOOkay, I think this was more than enough for today. But, I have to find something to fancy it up...I mean besides the purple color. Oh, here's video from the other night. We're not sure what Easton is saying, could it be his name? could it be "yes"? or "that"? What's your vote? Click here for the video.

Our Morning at the Park

I think I can safely say Easton is all better. We'll re-start dairy tomorrow most likely and go from there. All I can say now is that this kid has got the friggin' munchies. He keeps on signing "eat eat eat". Mostly he wants goldfish, but at least he's eating.

This is him being silly last night after we blew up his replacement tub:

This morning after blueberry muffins (which Easton ate along with goldfish and banana and milk) we got dressed to go the "cool" park. We were there for nearly an hour and a half! Some preschool class was having a field trip type thing with their parents so it got a little crowded but Easton loves people watching. He really does. He mostly wanted to swing and look at all the bigger kids. Earlier when we got there it was just E and a couple other tikes. He crawled through one of those tubes with the other kids and all 3 of them came out with wet legs. Now, it rained last night so I'm hoping that's all it was, but you can never be too sure of playground puddles. One of the kids was a 12 month old brut who was easily the same size as my 16 1/2 monther. Urg. But, his older sister was about as premature as Easton and she's just now 50th percentile at age 3. I doubt Easton will ever be 50th percentile, but merely on the charts would be nice.

Anyhoo...Easton also met a 18 month old girl who was one tough cookie. She dragged Easton back to the moist tunnel by his overall strap. Then she pulled him down and took his hat! Her mom intervened saying, "just because your brother beats you up doesn't mean it's okay to bully other people." Ha ha ha. Easton didn't seem to mind at the time and made it look like he was having an okay time, but he cringed later when he saw her coming back over. We need to get out more. He can't be letting some girl beat him up. Even if she is older. And bigger. But everyone is bigger. Later on some older boys were being so sweet to him and wanting him to play with them. Easton thinks he is a big boy already so he was glad to join in. The kids were asking his name and how old he was. They were trying to entertain him in exchange for smiles. I love when the older kids are like that. They were being "fwends".

As naptime was approaching we decided to head back home. Once we got in the door I stripped Easton...thanks to the suspicious puddle...and he got wiped down just in case. He ate some cereal bar and milk while running around in his didy then I put his P.J.'s back on him for his nap.

I'm not sure what our plans will be for this afternoon but we've got plans for the rest of the week: we're planning to go to the zoo with Jason on Thursday afternoon to kick off his 5 day weekend. We'll go after nap time and the zoo doesn't close till 6 so we can get some time in. I'm looking forward to it! Tomorrow (yes, I realize I'm going out of order) will be Circle Time again. Then, Friday morning we're planning to go to the park and out to breakfast with our pals Susannah and Max while J stays home and probably works on the furniture. I love that the weather and illness season lets us get out of the house more these days. Easton does so much better when we're not simply sitting in the living room all day. I do better too. He can be a handful when he gets bored just like any other kid. Even if we just go to the grocery store he has fun. Thankfully entertaining him is still cheap! I hope that lasts awhile!

Oh, while I'm thinking about it...a terrible thing occurred during yesterday's windy afternoon:
I was so bummed. It was some of my containers I planted on Mother's Day. The big one was snow peas and the little ones were daisys and morning glories. Darn, huh? Nothing was even sprouting yet so I'm not as sad as I could have been. My inside windowsill garden is doing well, though. See:
Well, it's lunchtime again. Catch you up later!

Breathing a Sigh of Relief

Now, I'm not usually one to get ahead of myself so I certainly don't want to start now, but I think Easton is over his bug. I'm still hoping it was just a bug...we'll see for sure when we re-start the dairy in a few days. Anyway, he's been symptom free for going on 3 days now...yippee! Plus, his appetite is SOOOOOO back. He's been munching all morning: banana, Cheerios, and his soy milk for breakfast but he kept signing "eat" to me after that so he munched on a cereal bar, goldfish, and more milk while we played and watched his signing DVD. I'm so glad. I hope that it's not a dairy allergy, of course, and it's looking like it was indeed a bug because it didn't go away immediately after stopping lactose. I know that's no guarantee so we'll just have to wait and see.

As for weaning, well, I'm not currently trying after all. He still doesn't nurse all that much anymore but I want to give him my milk right now if he'll take it. Especially since we can't do yogurt and cheese right now for other sources of protein. Maybe, just maybe, I'll switch to the "don't offer, don't refuse" tactic once we resume dairy (assuming he tolerates lactose). I'm not in a huge hurry to wean but I think I'm finally ready if that makes sense. I don't feel too sad about the prospect anymore. I'm not ready to force him to wean, that's for sure...but, if he's ready then I'm okay with it too. I think. For now. :)

We have exciting news from Jason this morning...he has 2 floating holidays left at his current job and they won't let him cash them out...so, he'll be taking them! Sweet! I think he said he'll be enjoying a 5 day weekend. Me likey. A lot. He starts with Bill Gates on June 1st. With him not being able to do his 4 ten hour shifts per week anymore I like the idea of a long weekend with him home (probably spent finishing our new 7 drawer chest). I think he'll be coming earlier in the evenings which is nice, especially with the long days of summer. We enjoyed going out for post-dinner strolls last summer and can look forward to them again this summer now. Last night J was in the mood for a "delicious beverage" so we decided to walk up to Sonic for a cherry limeade. Easton just loves being out of the house anyway...especially if it's out of doors. So we went. And, hopefully we'll continue with similar jaunts all summer.

Speaking of last night, this is a picture of me from before bed:
I picked up a lovely pinkish hue at Thorntonfest. I know I need sunscreen all the time. I put it on my face. Then we slathered some all over Easton. Then I smeared my shoulders with the little bit left on my hands. See? Lovely white finger marks on otherwise perfectly pink skin. I'm a dodo head. Why do I do such dumb things from time to time? I need sunscreen...it works...I should use it...all over. This is why I need a good self tanner. I don't tan otherwise. I don't even like to try to tan since both my mom and my dad have had different types of skin cancer. See...a dodo head...that's me...like I said.

Oh well, it's time for lunch for me while Eastie gets his beauty rest. Need to give the love of my life a ring too. Did you notice I took down my Rainbox video? It kept stopping and starting, cutting out...it annoyed me. So I switched to Jack Johnson since the song reminds me of my own Curious E. I also switched the "Same Time Last Year" picture and video link. And my book. Busy morning. Till next blog...

Sunny Sunday

Well, yesterday I gave my brief review of "The Da Vinci Code". Today it's time for my "Brokeback Mountain" review. Maybe it's just me, but I don't see why this movie was nominated for so much. It didn't really stand out to me. Anyway, there were two reasons I wanted to see this movie: 1.) Heath Ledger 2.) all the Academy Award nominations. Unfortunately, Jason didn't want to see it with me so I had to wait for the video which was just fine. Okay, I don't know why Heath was nominated as Best Actor for this. He is always a great actor if you ask me, I will watch him in anything. However, I couldn't understand him. I had to keep turning on the subtitles just to see what he was mumbling about. He wouldn't open his friggin' mouth. I guess that was part of the character? Or is it the result of an Aussie trying to do cowboy-speak? Well, whatever. Another complaint with this "love story" was that I wasn't feeling the love. At first it just seemed like the two dudes had nothing better to do while herding sheep one summer, and I'm supposed to believe they're in love? I dunno...passion maybe, but love? Not so much. Oh! And what was with them trying to span 20 years of their lives? I was so not believing Heath was a 40 year old man with a 19 year old daughter. Again, not buying it. Overall I thought it was an alright movie. I'm glad I saw it. I just didn't see it as the great epic Hollywood was making it out to be...is this just me?

Moving right along...I stayed up waaaaaaay too late last night watching the movie, then finishing my book, then deciding to just go ahead and wait for J to get back from practice. Then when he did get home he needed a snack and to catch up on my and his cousin Britten's blogs. So I didn't get to sleep till after 1 am. Easton was up before 7 a.m.! Yowsa...I'm tired. Easton ended up nursing really well this morning (so much for weaning, right?) and then went down for a nap after breakfast. Today has ended up as a 2 nap day. That's fine, I think he needs the rest, plus he has no energy from food to do much else just yet. He's getting there. I think he's probably on the mend now. His appetite is better but still not great (not that it is ever "great") and he's not having any more vomiting or diarrhea. I hope we continue with this trend and he can quickly gain back the weight he's lost. Poor little fella.

After his nap Easton was throwing fits from boredom so we headed out to Thorntonfest. It was so hot. We mostly walked around and Easton got a balloon. Even though we tie balloons to him or his stroller he still grips the string in his little hand. The first balloon he had sprung a leak so J sucked out the helium. Here's video. I tried but failed miserably (hence my smiling yet emphatic "No" at the end). We got him a second balloon that is still attached to the stroller in the garage. We wandered around some more and saw they were doing some sort of ameteur dog frisbee competition. We stopped to watch for a bit then I wanted my favorite fair treat--roasted corn on the cob--before we went home.

After Thorntonfest Jason mowed the lawn and E and I ran some errands, his inflatable bath tub popped last night and we wanted to get a new one. We feel like only filling a little tub each night saves on water. And time.

E is currently napping again and J and I are off to have a snack. Have a lovely day!

Okay, I just re-read this post and now I have to apologize for being so ultra boring today. Sorry. Here's a picture to try to make up for my dullness.

A Better Day

Well, we made it all day without any vomiting or diarrhea! Woo hoo!! I'm not certain we're in the clear just yet. When he woke up this morning he was on the verge of puking twice but everything stayed inside despite a little regurgitating. Then he also had a
bit-o'-'rhea in the diaper he wore last night but it was minor and who knows exactly when it occured? Anyway, he did seem somewhat improved today symptom-wise. I do hope it continues. It came to my attention that my post last night may have come across as a little intense. Sorry about that, I guess...I'm really not that sorry since it's how I was feeling about things honestly, and being the honest kind of gal I am I thought I'd share, maybe that wasn't my bestest idea ever but oh well...too late now.

So...moving on...this morning Easton was up at 4:30 and I decided to try nursing him since he hadn't had much of anything and I thought he might be feeling hungry. He did better nursing than I thought he would. But, he was up again at 5:30 and I was thinking, "Uh oh, the milk isn't agreeing with him" but he was fine, just cried for a sec then went back to sleep till 8:45. "Problem" with that was we were supposed to be at my mom's (45 minutes away) at 9:00 so she could E-sit during our movie date. Oops. We called her and she was fine with waiting a bit. We headed down there just a little bit later and made it to the 10:45 Da Vinci showing. Before noon on the weekends it is only five bucks a piece. Yippee! Now that's what I'm talking about!

The movie? Well, J and I both read the book first. The movie followed the book fairly well but obviously had to skip lots of the history and details. I'm not sure I would've liked this movie too much if I hadn't read the book first. Jason's description was that it was "a compressed version of the book". Right-O. Movies of books usually are, aren't they? Ha ha ha, he's new to the whole "book before movie" thing you have to remember. Anyhoo, I thought the beginning of the movie was quite exciting and followed the book rather closely but towards the end it got a little duller (just a little), and started to stray from the book a bit more. The moment they reveal who the "Teacher" is could've been more exciting, but I'm no director. It was also cheesed up a little with some of the Ron Howard "Beautiful Mind" glowing symbols (I'm not talking symbolism...I mean actual symbols). At one point we were like, "okay, we get it already". But, we were watching the movie with all the Early Bird senior citizens and maybe they needed the symbols to glow? Who knows? It was obvious from their reactions that many of them hadn't read the book...sort of fun, I guess. So, that's my review. Jason gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars. I think I'd have to agree. Although I would have said 3 out of 4 so technically I thought slightly higher of the movie. Details schmeetails.

Well, after the movie we called my mom to have her, Easton, and my sister meet us at my mom's favorite breakfast joint even though it was after 1 o'clock. We traded cars and it was the first time she put Easton in his car seat. Whoa. Bless their hearts, being the 'Kristin-fearing' babysitters they are they did everything in their power to keep E from cat-napping in the car because they thought that's what I'd want. Awwww, how sweet. But, then E was very tired and restless at breakfast. First he sat in a high chair, then next to us on the booth seat, then in a booster seat, then in a seat that clips to the table. We were there for maybe 45 minutes. See, I told you...restless. Plus he didn't eat much: a few bites of J's fruit and some waffle and a bite of potato.

He conked out in the car on the way home and then thankfully continued to nap once I put him in his crib at home. Then, he woke up with a solid poo!!! I even called J to come see that's how excited I was to see formed stool...how gross is that?! He was a little cranky right after his nap. We had the bright idea to try switching to Pedialyte from apple juice. But J did pick out apple flavored Pedialyte and he drank some of it. Some reputable info I found online suggested 3-4 ounces an hour for a kid his age. Say what?!?! I don't even think he had that much clear fluid today TOTAL. Oops, but what can we do? Eventually we had the idea to have smoothies for dinner in the hopes that Easton would try some. My boys were hovering (not really) in the kitchen as I whipped them up and Easton started saying, "Nana nana" as I peeled the banana so I let him have as many bites as he wanted of that then he helped each of us slurp on our smoothies. Once he had some food in him he was more like his regular ol' self. I even heard J utter, "No no no don't stand on the kitty cat."

After our liquid dinner (we were full from our late lunch/brunch meal) we opted to head out for one of our family walks. Thorntonfest is going on in the nearby fields. I think they're doing fireworks tonight. They better not wake Easton like last year is all I have to say. He needs his rest right now. Jason is at rehearsal tonight otherwise we'd probably watch them. I can hear the bands playing even as I sit here but Easton doesn't seem to hear that, although I'm sure the fireworks will be remarkably louder. We're planning to head over to Thorntonfest during the day tomorrow ourselves. Fun fun fun! Well, before you go you should enjoy this lovely family self-portrait from our walk tonight. Gotta love those timers, huh? I'm off to watch the second half of Brokeback Mountin'. G'nite!

Not Out of the Woods Yet

Well gosh-diddly-arn (that's my Ned Flanders), Easton yakked again this afternoon. He is still somewhat dehydrated despite inhaling the apple juice. Once he woke up from his nap I offered him some cereal bar and his new chocolate soy milk. He was willingly having both. Then we were heading up the stairs and he started doing his pre-puke cough so I whipped out a hat to "catch" it just in time. So, darn, he's not better. Frick. (That's my Elliot Reed from Scrubs.) Okay, well, then the hat didn't catch it all. Some dripped on the floor so we climbed up to get changed and get a wet rag to clean up the stairs. We were both up when all of a sudden: Thump thump EEEEEEEEEEEE! Easton fell down the stairs. Double frick. He shrieked because he was scared and then cried for, like, 2 seconds and was fine. Oh thank God! I was already feeling pretty bad that he was puking again. It is slightly possible that he was simply gagging on cereal bar which made him puke but I think it's more likely that he's just not better. I wish I could say otherwise.

Then, just as I sat down to type this Jason brought E up for a diaper change and I asked if he'd pooped and he said, "No but he keeps telling me 'dia duh'" Well, once he got Easton "opened up", whaddya know...he did have some more diarrhea. Darn darn darn. I'm not sure what to think. He's having only apple juice again mixed with a few goldfish. That seems to be all he can currently handle. Crap. He's getting even thinner. He tummy is less round and the tabs on his diapers are closer together than usual. His little bum feels less padded too as does his shoulder blades when you pat him on the back. This sucks. Bad.

Anyway, just wanted to update so we can all keep praying for him! Thanks everyone!

We Had a Field Day

So, Easton woke up around 6 this morning, I wasn't sure what to do so I ended up nursing him but he only wanted a little. Then I put him back in bed and he actually went back to sleep till 9. At that point we needed to head down to my mom's school (45 minutes away) for her Field Day. She is an elementary school P.E. teacher and so every year they have one of those days where most schools run 3 legged races and 50 yard dashes. Hers are non-traditional and they're more team relays and shooting water bombs with sling shots. The kids love it. Most parents appreciate the non-competitive nature of it all, a few (Dads) complain. :) This year her "theme" was the 50 states. It is very involved. She works hard on it.

Anyway, we got there and said hi to my grandparents who were there running a station then we found my mom zooming around on her golf cart before a parent came up asking if the school had a stretcher, "huh? what?" Yikes is right! So, one kid took a tumble on his neck and was having some neck pain and they were having him lay still. Nobody seemed to really have a handle on the whole situation and my mom was trying to get details about what had happened. I told her to just go check it out herself and I'd find out about stretchers, etc. Well, when I got to the kid my EMT training kicked in. I was disappointed to see these adults and substitute nurse simply standing and bending over the poor kid laying on the ground reminding him, "Don't move your neck" and talking about him rather than to him. The kid's a scared 9 year old, people. I had to act, I set E down and went to sit cross legged at the boy's head while helping to hold his head straight for him. His name was Darius, he was a Nebraska football fan, he'd play quarterback if he was a football player...someone needed to just talk to the kid while keeping an eye on things at the same time, ya know? Anyway, they had already made the decision to call 911 so I told them they (the teachers and substitute nurse) really shouldn't move him if the medics were already going to come anyway. I didn't think the kid was seriously injured or anything, they just didn't want to take any chances, of course so they called 911. I just helped keep him still and distracted him till the lovely firefighters got there. Once they got him in the ambulance he started crying (see how much I was helping? kidding, kidding...). I felt really bad for Darius. It turns out he just had a neck strain, whew. I was just disappointed in how some people were handling it, one dad was even taking pictures! Okay, I know I'm a scrapbooker myself and all, but that's just wrong. While I was helping tend to Darius, Easton rode around in the golf cart on my mom's lap. He sucked down another 10 oz. of apple juice while he was with her. Even though I didn't do much, Darius sure made me miss my EMT stuffs. Go figure.

Here's a few movies thrown together from today. I must warn you it's not the most exciting footage you'll ever see. It's Easton playing outside with some balls then inside with some balls. Some of the high schoolers that was there helping out were nice enough to play with Easton so that's who the strange guy is in the 3rd clip. My grandma (E's great-grandma) is the lady in the 4th clip. The quality of the inside vids isn't great but oh well...now that you're thoroughly warned here it is. Here is a few pictures too:

So, while at Field Day Easton and I shared a popsicle and rode around in the golf cart so my mom could be certain everyone saw him. He still isn't interested in eating today and he zonked out in the car on the way home. I was worried he'd be done napping for the day after we got home but I took a shot and put him in his crib (after removing the balloon from his ankle) and he went right back to sleep. Whew!

I am excited for the weekend, well for tomorrow mostly. We'll be heading back down to my mom's and she's going to watch Easton while we go to the 9:45 am showing of The Da Vinci Code. My mom told me she heard it was dull though. Oh no! We're still going. I hope it doesn't deter Jason from reading the book first in the future. He says this will be the only time he's read the book before seeing the movie. The book was really exciting so I hope the movie comes close! I'll know tomorrow and keep you posted. After the movie we'll be taking my mom and sister out for my mom's Mother's Day brunch. She thought she'd be too overwhelmed with planning Field Day last weekend so we planned for tomorrow. That worked out okay for me because I got to spend my Mother's Day celebrating with my own little family.

Alright, well that should be enough updating for today. Have a lovely Friday!

Better or Worse?

It's hard to say if Easton is improving or not. On the one hand, he hasn't thrown up for 2 days now. But he's had diarrhea instead. He was fairly lethargic again this morning, it was J's day off and we spent most of the morning laying around watching TV on a pile of pillows on the floor. Easton wasn't interested in eating anything...he had maybe 6 Cheerios and some apple juice.

E did take a 3+ hour nap, though!!! He woke up refreshed and more energetic. He even ate some grapes and gobbled up Goldfish this afternoon. Yay! It's also worth mentioning that he drank about 12 ounces of apple juice today. He normally doesn't get to have juice but we wanted him to stay hydrated and he went to town on the juice. I don't think all the sugar is really going to help stop his diarrhea but we'll worry about that tomorrow I guess. If he's still being a juice-head I'll water it down a bit and hope that's enough.

Speaking of Easton and eating, it's also worth mentioning that I might be using this lack of appetite as an excuse to wean. He has refused to nurse 3 of the last 4 times he normaly would have. So, since I'm okay with him weaning now if he's ready, I think I'm going to stop offering breastmilk and see how it goes. Tonight as part of the bedtime routine I was trying to give him his sippy of chocolate soy milk and instead he pulled up my shirt so I gave in but then he really wasn't that interested after all. We'll see how it goes, with him not eating too well right now I reserve the right to continue nursing him if I feel like it :) hee hee!

And oh, duh...I realized that the powder we put in his milk to make it chocolatey is dairy based...um, durrrr! So, we still gave him small amounts of dairy today. Oops! Tonight after he went to bed I ran to the grocery store to buy chocolate flavored soy milk. Then we'll start at least 2 more days of being completely off dairy. I had to buy an entire half gallon, I sure hope we'll use it...I might have to make myself a bunch of milkshakes to use it up later. Oh well, if I have to...I just don't like to waste food you know.

So, it was nice having Jason home today like it always is. He probably won't be able to do his 4 tens once he moves to Microsoft which is a big bummer if you ask me, but I guess we'll deal. It's just been really nice to be able to do family things on weekdays when places aren't as busy or for me to run to a doctors appointment or something while he's available to hang with The E. I guess it'll be nice to have him home a little earlier in the evenings, though. But, I will miss the day off and I think he will too.

Tomorrow is Field Day at my mom's school (she's a P.E. teacher) Easton and I are planning on making an appearance because she loves to show off her only grandbaby. Because of our outing tomorrow I felt like I "needed" to use some self-tanner on my legs. Mistake. The tanner I used was leftover from the Susan days (she's Jason's ex-wife for those of you who don't know). Needless to say, it was old. I realized it was a bad move about halfway through one leg...I couldn't stop then! So, I did the best I could then had to use lemon juice to wipe a bunch of it off once the color started showing. I did throw the rest of it away...I won't be using it again. Why oh why did I do that? More trouble than it was worth, that's for sure.

And in final news today, I made another scrapbook page from our park outing last week (the same one I made the Sunshine Day movie of). It is a fairly blatant scraplift of my good buddy Kirsty. I just really admired the way she could get so many pictures on a page and still keep it looking sharp. So, I copied her like I often do. Hope you like my version too!

Post-"Doctor" Update

First of all, thanks to a few of you for checking in on E today...Kirsty's 2 comments, Britten's email, Samantha's call. That meant a lot to me, and to Jason for that matter so THANK YOU!

APPOINTMENT RE-CAP
Yeah, I'm trying the sub-headings again. We went and saw the PA and Easton didn't cry at all. I guess he's only afraid of his regular doctor and nurse. He even sat nicely on the scale to be weighed. Normally the other nurse has him lay down for that part, he liked sitting much better so I'm glad I asked if it we could try that way.

So anyway, she checked out his ears and throat, listened to his little heart and lungs, listened to and pushed on his tummy and declared all of those to be just fine. She even said one of his ears looked "Perfect". Oh, and she was only able to look in one nostril but I'm sure the other one was fine. Eastie didn't like holding still for that part too much and she didn't push it. Basically, she's not sure if he might just have a mild form of this tummy virus that's been going around or perhaps if he's developed a dairy allergy. Nooooooo, please no! Either way, we're supposed to stop giving him any dairy (and citrus) for a few days and see if it helps. Then, we're going to re-introduce it and see what happens. Apparently when we have a virus the "stuff" in our stomach that helps us digest dairy and citrus can get worn down. So, you can potentially develop a temporary intolerance for those things when you're sick. I'm really really hoping its merely a virus, with as picky as Easton is and the way he refuses non-dairy sources of protein I really don't know what we'd do if he was allergic. Keep your fingers crossed with me!

I'm just hoping he starts feeling better soon. He was a little dehydrated today with fewer wet diapers. He was also real low energy tonight and really isn't eating much at all. This afternoon he had half a grape and at dinner he had only a few sips of apple juice. He did drink his chocolate soy milk without batting an eye, I guess he didn't notice anything was amiss. That's good!

CAR SEAT CONVERSATIONS
So, Easton was only 18 pounds 14 ounces today. Still not 20 pounds. We're (I'm) waiting until he's officially 20 pounds before we turn his car seat around. I'm sure he's strong enough and ready and certainly willing but the recommendation is to be both 1 year old and 20 pounds before you turn them forward facing. And, being the rule-follower that I am, that's what we're doing. J thinks we could turn him around now and we probably could but rear-facing is safest anyway, he's just lucky I'll agree once he is 20 pounds :) But, gosh...that seems like such a long way off and he gets so hot with no AC to blow on him. Easton just needs to get healthy and start eating better. We need to fatten him up fast.

THE 'BRARY BULLY
So even though he's not 100% I still took Easton to Circle Time today. The bully was there and we learned his name is Samuel. He wasn't a trouble maker today but his dad annoyed me instead. When we got there he noticed Easton's outfit and said, "Oh, I love rompers." How girly. And, yes, E was wearing a one piece thing today but he looked cute and I would never call it a "romper". If it wasn't the bully's dad it probably wouldn't have phased me a bit. Maybe he really did mean it in a nice way...perhaps to attempt to make up for the bullying? Oh well. Easton wouldn't sit still towards the middle of the second story so we left. He was disturbing the other listeners. They did do a dance before that story with a little plastic shaker egg and he was so cute shaking it about. I guess he wasn't ready to sit still after the short dance. Crazy guy.

GUESS WHO'LL BE WORKING FOR BILL GATES
Yup, my man J was offered a new job with Microsoft! He's starting out just as a contracted employee and not technially an official Microsoft man to start but they think they'll be able to bring him on soon as an official non-contracted guy. They are in a hiring freeze at this place because of the recent merger. The really cool thing about all this is that they sought Jason out. He wasn't even looking for a job! It's all moving really fast which is a little nerve racking for me but what an opportunity, huh?!

THE FANCY PANTS BAND
So, partly due to the recent huge change in Jason's life (um, I'm referring to Microsoft if that wasn't an obvious transition), he's decided not to play in the new band. Mostly its an issue of "too many irons in the fire". I'm happy if he's happy. Although, the tour would've made me unhappy I have to admit. He's still going to play an upcoming "Battle of the Bands" gig with them but that's it. He's at rehearsal now as a matter of fact. I honestly don't mind these late night rehearsals too much. They affect me a LOT less than his old band's "Sunday at 3" for 3 hours practices. With the late night ones like now he's here to help do Easton's bedtime routine then off he goes and I have the night to blog, watch a movie he doesn't want to see (like tonight's Brokeback Mountain), or simply go to bed early! I think I'll only watch part of Brokeback Mountain and then hit the sack before too long. Good night and thanks for checking in!

I'm Worried About Easton

Okay, he's continuing with all this puking...just, like, once a day but still... It is very strange. I don't know if he's developed an allergy to something, picked up a random puke-once-a-day virus, or if it's something worse. I'm such a worrier that I asked some of my mom friends about it and they suggested calling the doctor. Well, the phone nurse now thinks he should be seen. They always say that though. So, we're heading up there for a 2:15 appointment with a physician's assistant. I normally don't like appointments with PAs but we've never seen this one so maybe she's good? Here's hoping...

I just want to get to the bottom of all this. He just can't afford to lose any weight, not to mention yakking once a day is no fun for anyone. Although Easton seems the least phased by it than the rest of us. Crap. I hate this. I don't know what the appointment today will accomplish but we're going nonetheless. For "sick" visits like these they don't even like to do naked weights and we're curious if he's hit the 20 pound mark yet (I doubt it...J thinks perhaps he has).

Anyway, this is all I have to say for now. I might post more later. Keep him in your thought and prayers please!
Kristin

The Zoo was a Zoo

So, we headed down to the zoo today as planned. I guess everyone else had plans to do the same thing. You see, with it being towards the end of the school year and all I s'pose its prime field trip time. It was CROOOOWWWW-ded but we still enjoyed our couple hours there.



Of course everything got called "doggie" but he was into looking at the animals and then watching all the people looking at the animals. I'm so glad we have the pass now where we can just go for a bit and not worry about seeing everything each time. Easton's favorite things were the little goslings wandering freely around the zoo with their Mother Goose and then the sea lions. They did a little feeding/show and he laughed out loud at the sea lion antics. Cute. Oh, and he can also imitate a perfect peacock sound now. I'm telling you...he's gifted that way. He cracks me up and he knows it.

Oh yes...before I forget...HUGE news from yesterday. Our little guy impresses me daily. Okay, he was in his little play area but then peeked out and told me "die duh". I said, "You need a new diaper?" and he did his excited nod. Meanwhile I was subtly checking for a poo and didn't think he'd had one but if he's going to tell me he needs a new didy I'll play along. So, he went up the stairs and then laid on the floor of his bedroom since I guess he couldn't climb up to lay on the changing table. Well, wouldn't you know it...he had squeezed out a little raisin of a poo! And he told me! I know, phenomenal, right? I was so teary eyed in an excited way and I called Jason right away. Meanwhile Easton was on my hip repeating, "die dah, die dah". Yay! I also called my sister and my mom to share the big news too (those stinkers don't/can't read my blog).

And in entertainment news...Whoa! Grey's Anatomy. If I wasn't a fan before I am now. So much going on in those 3 hours. Meredith and Derek?! Callie and Sweet George O'Malley...Izzy and poor Denny...Yang and Burke (don't get me started on all her inappropriateness, I was so mad at her). I'm excited to Netflix the DVD so I can get alllllll the back stories on everyone. Okay, so that's more than enough about that, that's not why people read my blog. But anyway, thanks for stopping by!

I Think I Need Sub-Headings Today

Gosh, there's just so much material to work with right now, I really do think I'll experiment with some sub-categories.

MOTHER'S DAY RE-CAP
So, I had a great second Mother's Day. Easton and Jason were such gentleman and made me feel really special yesterday. E wanted to be the first to wish me a happy mother's day so he woke up at 1 am crying. Then again at 3. Great. At least he slept till 9 am to make up for it. Or did he make up for it? We were counting on going out to an early breakfast to try to beat some of the crowds. No such luck with him sleeping so late. We waited at least half an hour but I suppose it could have been worse. My breakfast was delish as I'd hoped. Mmmmm, gotta love IHOP.

Then it was back home where I had some gifts waiting for me. A new bread box! Yay, my counter is so less cluttered without packages of bread, rolls, and bananas falling off the toaster. Then, I also got the zoo membership I'd requested. Woo hoo! Eastie and I are planning to go tomorrow. Wasn't that a great gift? What a great year-long mother-son thing, huh? Glad I thought of it Ha ha ha. I also got a really touching letter from the love of my life. He is currently "off" cards. He has a way with words so it's better coming from him anyway. It totally made me tear up. It was really sweet...glad I married that guy.

After present time I decided I wanted to finally plant my container gardens so we headed outside where the boys played, Jason called his own mom, and I got my hands in the dirt. Easton joined me eventually for some fun in the soil. What a mess! But fun.

Nap time was supposed to be next. I nursed E and he was quite drowsy but then out of nowhere he threw up!!! It was an easy clean up so I still layed him down but he didn't want to sleep anymore. Not good. He ended up yakking again all over which required a bed and wardrobe change and then a bubble bath for destinkifying purposes. Eew. Finally he went to sleep for a good nap. Poor guy, I don't know if he was sick again/still or if it was something else.

Dinner was from the crock pot. I made my own Mother's Day dinner. J would have made it if I would have asked but it's really no biggie. I also made chocoloate chip cookies for myself for dessert. We had originally talked about an ice cream outing again but with E's questionable stomach we decided not to risk the rich creamy ice cream. Instead he got bites of cookie, minus the chocolate...you know 'cause that's "safer" right? We're silly.

Before long it was off to bed yet again for The E. What a great Mother's Day! Here's a collage from the day's events. You'll notice I'm wearing my new favorite shirt again. It's kind of fancy so it makes me feel special...is it sad that a shirt can make me feel that way?


But wait, there's more...

MEMORABLE MOMMY MOMENTS
Okay, just a few Easton anecdotes:
- yesterday he was so sweet and came over to me saying, "Mah, Mama, mah." "Mah" is what he currently calls a kiss (it's the sound he makes). So he came over and initiated kisses! It melted my heart!

- also yesterday we were about to go down the stairs but Easton had a book with him, he got down on all fours to go down the stairs like he does but quickly thought better of it and went to put his book away on the shelf in his room! He didn't just leave it there...he put it away where it goes! Hallelujah, is he my son or what? Happy Mother's Day to me, my toddler put something away! On his own!!

- the other day Easton was eating a graham cracker in the living room. All of a sudden he wasn't eating it anymore. I asked him, "Where did you put your cracker?" To which he responded by opening up the lid of his farm and showing me the cracker inside. Goofball! But I was SO pleased that he understood.

- last night we watched the "Mama" montage Jason made for me last year. Easton started singing along!!! He's never "sung" before! But he made some singing sounds and would sometimes sing "mama" at the parts where it said "mama". We were so tickled. It was great! Gosh we sure love that guy!

MY LITTLE GENIUS
He continues to impress me with his smarts. Today he was signing nearly complete sentences, people! It was another chocolate chip muffin morning (in my defense I do put flax in them to make them nominally "healthier"). Well anyway, after a few bites Easton shook his head "no" to the muffin then signed "fish". Since I'm looking forward to the day when he can tell me what he's willing to eat I jumped on the chance and got up to get the bag of Goldfish. He did his excited nod when he saw I understood and proceeded to gobble up some Goldfish. When there were no more on his tray he signed to me, "All gone. Eat. More." I was aghast! He never speaks that completely. This is crazy! Although, eventually he started throwing them so at that point I took them away and told him in my best Supernanny voice that "throwing food is not acceptable". I sure told him. Goober.

Okay, he also says "diaper" now. It's taken me a couple days to be sure. It started when I asked him, "did you have a poo poo?" and he answered with "duh duh" and headed towards upstairs (for changing). We usually call diapers "didys" around here and that's what I think he's saying. It sounds remarkably similar to what he calls animals. But, he's proven that he knows "diaper" now. We bought a new pack at Wal-Mart today and he said it then too. I'm telling you, peeps, he's a smart one. At least we think he is which is really all that matters.

In the mornings (or afternoons if we're feeling lazy) I can tell him, "Let's go get dressed" and he'll head to his room and open the closet. Usually he goes for the dirty clothes basket in there...what does that seem to say about me as a parent? Yikes! :) Really he just likes to play with it (you've seen the pictures before) while I pick out his outfit. But, anyway...I just love how he understands pretty much whatever you tell him these days. Even if he can't really communicate back.

But, oh wait, he can: this whole signing biz is better than I thought it would be. Now that he's actually doing it, that is. He is a signing maniac. He has sort of invented his own signs for "all gone/all done" and "drink" which is different than milk, mind you. But, still...we can communicate with him on a whole new level which is the whole point but, like, a week ago (or whatever) we didn't have this ability. A ton of parents sign with their kids now but I hope it catches on even more. We need to learn some new signs to keep up. This is where we go to learn them: http://www.commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm It's ASL like we "require" and there is a friggin' ton of signs. I think I'm going to learn some fruit signs next, because he calls them all "banana". Sometimes he tells me "nana" when he's hungry but he doesn't want a banana, he wants apple. Hopefully he can learn some way of differentiating. Whoa, big word for me. Well, anyways...I really think this is all for today. It's all for now anyway. I'm hooked on this whole blogging thing. I've got the blogging bug.

I'm about to change the video on the sidebar...the Easton one, not the Rainbox one. The next one will be from 5/17 of last year. It's his silly shrieking one when I "hide" the toy. The picture is from today (5/15) last year. He's pretty much always been able to bear his weight on his legs so we propped him up standing in his crib. Enjoy...

Happy Mother's Day!

Most of the visitors to my little blog are moms themselves so I just want to wish all of you a

It's my second Mother's Day and my boys are taking me out to breakfast. IHOP. I picked. They were willing to take me somewhere "fancier" but I love their cheese blintzes with strawberries. Yummy yummerson. I'd pick IHOP breakfast any day and since it's "my" day they have to oblige, right?

For Mother's Day I am hoping for a zoo membership and also for Jason to snap a winning photo of me and my little one today. Stay tuned...And again, a very happy day to all the mothers! I'm honored to be one of you.

Mommy's Eve

Well, I think Easton's tummy bug is gone. He slept 12 hours straight through last night (woo hoo!) and woke up completely happy and seemed back to his usual self. He even ate normally today (for E). Whew!

So, because we were all healthy (minus E's sporadic cough) Jason wanted to do something today. He said, "Isn't it 'free day' somewhere?" Why, yes...every Saturday is free at the art museum. And off we went. Little did we know how lame it was going to be. Floors 2-7 were closed till October because they're building another building. So, the only thing on Level 1 was an "exhibit" about the new building plans, models, blueprints, and other boring things. Ick (if you ask me anyway). Next, we headed down to the basement and they had a tiny kids area where we helped Easton color a disc to spin on a top. He liked the coloring and got marker all on his hands. He also liked the spinny top. That was about all there was to do. Seriously. Boresville. *snore*

Because the musuem was so dull and we had already forked a whole $1.50 into the meter we thought we'd stop by the enormous Denver Public Library. My goodness that place was huge, but again...not much to do...not that we expected to find loads of fun at a library, it was just something to do. Moving on, we thought we'd let Easton play outside at this park (where they held the March of Dimes walk) but, without all the organized activity going on that park is just plain sketchy with some iffy people. Needless to say, we didn't even let him out of the stroller and simply cruised on past to the car.

Darn, so we came on back up to our neck of the woods and stopped for a Mother's Day Eve lunch at a place called Tokyo Joe's. I had really been wanting to try it. It was okay just nothing special--unfortunately. The idea was good, just not the execution. Too bad...I was wanting something mighty delish. I'm looking forward to my special Mother's Day meal out tomorrow even more now.

Our afternoon and evening was same ol' same ol'. E took a nap. We had dinner. The boys played fun games. I did some laundry. Oh, but Easton was cute playing "Baby Net" with Jason. After they stopped E got all the "equipment" back out to play again and got in position. Jason gave in and E did this (click it for video). He's also pretty cute in this video taking a dive into the pile of pillows.

Just as a side note, Jason was leaving to go mow the lawn this morning and asked Easton for a kiss. Easton got up off the floor and gave his daddy the request smooch. It was too sweet. I love when he's willing to give kisses. I asked for one after that and he just blew me one. Still cute...I love being a mama!

Sick Again?!?!

Oy, do I feel like a horrible mother tonight. All day I was complaining about Easton's behavior...now it looks like he might not have been feeling well. Poor guy. This morning I noticed the burp cloth he cuddles when he sleeps was all moist and nasty. I didn't know when he'd thrown up other than between when I put him down last night and when he got up this morning. No big deal though, occasionally he still has reflux issues. I thought nothing of it.

Then, he had two mushy poos today (sorry, TMI right?). Anyway, while the mushiness is fairly unusual for The E, that alone didn't make me think anything yet either. Ummm, duh Kristin...add his behavior today on top of all that, the part about him waking up whining twice during his nap, and the fact that he wouldn't eat much at all--well, a good mother might have noticed something was up then. Nope, not me. It took me until he yakked all over me at bedtime tonight for me to finally figure it out. Bad, bad mommy.

I feel awful because E probably feels awful. We had just gotten him all ready for bed, Jason was about to leave for practice and I was settling in the rocking chair with Easton for a few quiet pre-bed minutes. Then, ...yuck. I was SOOOOOOO glad Jason hadn't left yet. Easton and I were both a mess. J got E cleaned up, I got me cleaned up, started the wash and brought Easton the glass of water J requested for him. I need a shower now but I'm just trying to stomach the stench of myself until I'm sure E is asleep. I would hate for him to need me when I was unavailable.

I don't know how he's potentially sick again. He's always been rather healthy and I like to think it's 'cause I'm such a germophobe. We've had to relax a ton now that Easton is mobile and independent. I guess that's how he picked up his cough (which he still has) and now this. I suppose whatever he's got right now could be a result of the cough/cold or perhaps a food "poisioning" issue (very doubtful though). Man, I hope it ends soon...he can't stand to lose any weight. Plus, being sick just plain sucks. For all of us.

Well, onto happier notes. Our ice cream date was a success. I didn't realize how many of my favorite flavors have nuts in them until I tried to pick one for us to share today. We still aren't giving Easton nuts. Anyway, I decided on mint chocolate chip since he loves York Peppermint Patties as much as I do. It was a hit! Last time he had ice cream he thought it was too cold, not this time. We sat outside and ate. He sat in his own chair like a big boy and I offered him licks of ice cream cone. He kept signing "more". Click here for video.

This signing business is really pretty cool. I'm glad we've restarted it all again because he's really caught on now. He is SO proud that he's able to tell us something like "milk" and we understand and respond. He signed "fish" today when I showed him the sign and asked if he wanted a goldfish cracker. Then he'd keep doing it for more. Yay!

So, anyway, after the ice cream I decided to take him back to the park from yesterday since we were being happy friends again. We had fun of course. Here's more video.

I'm just so bummed I missed that he might be sick. I feel awful and smell awful. I guess I should go shower off all the chocolate milk puke. Blech. Good night!

This is Feeling "Long" Again

First things first, it appears Easton is having an "off" day today. It pains me to admit it, but I think he is happier without me around right now. He didn't want to get out of his crib this morning. Fine. I gave him a couple of books and came back after a few minutes. Then, he threw fits all through "breakfast". I put that in quotes because he really didn't eat anything. So, we moved on to the living room to play and he kept up with the 'tude so I gave up and tried putting him down for a nap. Apparently he didn't want that either so I just let him play upstairs here on his own while I also did my own thing. We checked in with each other occasionally and he was much much happier that way. Leaving him on his own like that for the amount of time I did makes me feel rather guilty but he did much better so I guess it was okay? He'd come visit me from time to time and we'd watch a clip on the computer or I'd poke my head in on him if I hadn't seen him in a few minutes. It worked out okay I s'pose. Right now he's down for his real nap and I sure hope he wakes up out of this funk.

It also seems that his super sleeping streak is over. Darn. I know all good things must come to an end, but it was nice while it lasted. Yesterday he woke up early, then only took a short nap. Oh well. After his nap though, we took him to this really neat-o park near our house (we had to drive there, though). He even wore a hat!! He took it off and threw it a couple of times but he wore it almost the whole time! And we still had fun! Of course I took many pictures and videos and made one of my "famous" montages. Click here to see it. On the way home he was so worn out he fell asleep right in the middle of doing this (that was a link to click). We heard him doing it back in his carseat and he stopped so suddenly that we peeked in the mirror and he was asleep! His little finger was still on his lip! We woke him up thinking if he was that tired we'd put him down for a real nap when we got home. Nope, even though he had such a short nap earlier he wanted nothing to do with a second one. Too bad. But his mood was fine till bedtime.

But, I was exhausted towards the end of the day myself. Worked out well for me because Jason offered to make dinner! It was the mexican pizza on a Boboli crust I was planning on making but it was nice to not have to do a durn thing but eat it.

Easton gobbled it up too. He loves taco flavored meat. He'll beg for bites of our burritos and stuff. Hey, if the kid wants meat we're more than happy to oblige. That pizza was SO good. I ate half of it by myself last night. And had some beer too. Yum-O! Oh, that reminds me. I discovered a new "chick beer". Jason and I tried to think of something clever to call beer for gals but failed miserably: "broads brew" and "ladies lager" were our only real attempts. So, anyway, it is a very light beer with a honey raspberry flavor. It is Spanish Peaks Black Dog Honey Raspberry. I bought myself a little six pack of it. I'm glad it was good.

Finally we have nice weather on a Friday but Easton and I aren't able to take advantage yet. We're waiting on a UPS delivery of a big speaker cabinet for J's bass. So far it's not here. I hope it comes by the time E wakes up. I'd love to be able to take him outside somewhere if he's still being a mini-punk this afternoon. It'll probably come while I'm in the shower. Such is life, ya know?

Well, I'm looking forward to the weekend. J's got new band practice tonight and tomorrow night. Then of course Sunday is my second Mother's Day...yay for me!

UPDATE
Okay, E's being a little bit of a poo head still. He woke up whining twice during his nap but went back to sleep after a few minutes. Grrr. Hate days like this. Maybe he's getting it out of his system so he can be Super All Day on Mother's Day. Wishful thinking never hurt anyone.

My real reason(s) for updating were that I forgot to mention Easton has a new word. "Up". Jason told me he was saying it yesterday but I never heard. Then he said it to me a few times today. It just sounds like "Uh" and it's accompanied by the arm motion for "up" too. Woo hoo!

So, the other reason is the new "feature" in my sidebar. It was Jason's lovely idea. Sort of what Easton was doing/looking like at this time last year. Right now it's a cute picture from exactly one year ago today. Pre-toofers and all. If you click on it, it's a short video of him rolling over. He could roll over way before we finally got a video but oh well. The video is from May 9th...the day he turned 4 months old.

Alrighty then, now that I've got all that straightened up I think Easton and I are going to go out for ice cream. Maybe he'll be my friend if I can bribe him with a yummy treat. Oh, J's speaker came...the doorbell rang not 2 minutes after Easton woke up. Whew...we're free!

This Has the Potential to Be Long...

Okay, so much to say today. Well, to start have you noticed I changed my music video? It is a Jason Setzer original performed by his former band, Rainbox. Fancy, huh? The quality isn't great, I know, and they have the camera on the bass player during J's solo. Oh well. I'm glad to have it.

Speaking of Jason and music...this fancy pants band he's been playing with has asked him to join and he pretty much has. But, as a bass player! Now, Jason is musically gifted and can play a variety of instruments, I've just always known him as a guitar player. And an amazing one at that. Click here for a video montage of my talented man rocking a few guitar solos as proof. Anyway, I've never heard him play the bass in a band, just around the house. Apparently he fancies himself an even better bass player than guitar! I did not know that till the last few weeks. Impressive, huh? I guess he's got some nifty unusual style in addition to just plain talent. But, this band liked him and he's in. The "issues" we're having now are that this band has an upcoming tour. It's only a week, but still...a week without my J is LONG. Not to mention a week without a break (for me) from Big E. Argh! A week just seems too long to both of us. Now we're just trying to figure out what to do. The prospects are quite exciting, this band has a pretty large following, even if it is just local for now. I'm very proud of Jason and these opportunities he's earned.

So, on to other things in the Setzer fam. Well, after just one and a half viewings of the new signing DVD, Easton is correctly doing 3 of them. He's doing "milk" the right way now (he used to do his own version), he is also doing "more" and "eat". Yay oh yay! He also tried doing "cat" this morning. It's awesome. He's being SO fun today. It's Jason's day off and my boys just have a blast when they're together. It's the sweetest thing. Click here for some fun video from today.
So, these are my new eyebrows. I took them in for some spring cleaning this morning. The lady asked me if I wanted her to do my lip too. Feeling only slightly offended I said, "No thanks, being blonde and all..." To which she said, "You sure?" I still declined, even more offended. Once I got home Jason confirmed I made the right decision. Apparently my 'stache is not even noticable. Whew!

Oh and also to get me ready for summer.

The color is Electric Orchid. I just love the names they come up with for nail polish.

Okay, I think I'm all set for the day's blog...it wasn't as long as I thought it might be. Thanks for stopping by!

My Feet Feel Funny

Ha ha ha...Jason left the house this morning in his slippers! It wasn't till he went to hit the brakes at a stop light near our house that he noticed something "off" with his feet and he looked down and saw his bright purple LSU slippers still on his feet! He briefly contemplated wearing them for the day, but once he thought about the jewel color he turned around for home to put on some more acceptable footwear. Sure gave me a laugh this morning, though.

So, you may notice the new book in my sidebar. I admit, I judged a book by it's cover. It looked appealing at the grocery store so I wrote down the name and got it from the library. I really don't know much about it yet, I'm just glad to be done with that last book. I hurried up and finished it last night so I could return it at Circle Time today.

The munchkin bully was at Circle Time today too but we made sure to steer clear of him. The only other interesting thing at Circle Time was when the leader was reading a book about rabbits and raindrops to the kids and E saw a picture of a rabbit and shouted out "doggie". It was sort of funny because the other little rascals were being very quiet and good, and they probably use the right word for rabbit too. Oh well. He's younger than those kids.

We also got a great DVD while at the library this morning. We already watched some of it before naptime and Easton was much more interested in it than the dumb one we got from Netflix. This DVD has other little ones doing the signs and saying the words too. It's pretty cute. Plus they have a nice lady demonstrating the signs as well so you know what the proper "non-kid" version is. My mommy friend Erin told me about it and her 19 month old is apparently a great signer. It was important to us to do ASL signs with Easton. There are other books and vidoes out there that have some other sign "language" for use with your baby but we wanted ASL. Maybe with these videos he (and we) might pick up on some more signs. We can always hope. If not, then at least it's "educational" entertainment. We started signing with The E when he was 6 months old but he never really did any himself even though he knew what the signs meant (but he also knew what the spoken words meant too so what was the point?). Anyhoo, we sort of gave up on signing when he learned to speak or otherwise communicate all the words we had initially tried to teach him (mama, dada, ball, milk, eat, more, cat). Now I think we'll try again, I'm especially hoping he can learn to sign what he might be interested in eating. I'm getting tired of wasting food.

Speaking of food, I need to make myself some lunch and call my hubby back. Ta ta!

16 Months Old Today

Okay, this is probably just going to be a big ol' brag on my amazing son so that is your warning :) My book on development only goes through 12 months so I don't really know what he's "supposed" to be doing but I can tell you what he does do. I have an Amercian Academy of Pediatrics book that says what he should be able to do by the end of the second year. Well, we're not even halfway through the second year and he's been walking for almost 6 months now, he can walk backwards no problem, he can spin in a circle till he's dizzy, he can run (even if it's a little wonky looking), he can kick a ball, he can stand on tiptoe, he can throw a great tantrum, he can communicate somewhat, he's starting to use a spoon, can follow instructions (when he wants to), can climb just about anything that he's not too short for...okay, so he's developing just fine is my point. He surprises us with something new just about every day. We absolutely love who he is becoming.

The other day we made a list of all the words he can say (his own version of, anyway): ball, mail, mama, bye bye, night night, down, banana, doggie, juice, no no, uh oh, and all gone. Those words he'll use correctly and unprompted. He overgeneralizes a little now (it's common for this age, apparently) and he calls all animals (and babies) "doggie" and he uses "banana" for apples and grapes too. Just like he currently calls us both "mama". He used to say "dada" but stopped. There are a few other words he used to use just fine but for some reason he doesn't anymore: more, cat, bonk, and bam. Strange. Every once in awhile he'll throw in another word (like "jump" or "nose") but it's not one of his regular words. He has other ways of communicating like a few signs, or he makes sounds: a couple animal sounds, car/truck sounds, tongue clicking, "mmmmm" with a lip smack if he's hungry, or he'll saw "Awww" when he gives a hug or cuddles. Sometimes I can't believe how much we're able to communicate with each other these days.

Today at the store he said and waved "bye bye" to the people checking out ahead of us. And that was unprompted too. He's so darn cute! While we were driving in the car I heard him start laughing so I looked over at the car next to us and the woman was making silly faces for him. How fun! He's such a blast to have around most of the time.

I'm feeling like such a proud mama today if you couldn't tell. Here is another musical movie montage I made of him in his toybox yesterday. It's nothing fancy, sorry. Check him out at the very end being a big faker. It was too funny not to laugh. Big fake sad boy.

Mondays

After a weekend with Jason home, Mondays usually require a bit of an adjustment. Easton and I often like to have a special Monday breakfast to help with that. Today was no exception: chocolate chip muffins. Yummy! Then, we spent some time playing, making the bed, having a snack before it was naptime yet again. Once he wakes it'll be time for more playing, trying to get him to eat, trying to start whatever it is we're having for dinner...you know, life.

While Eastie is napping I was able to grab a quick shower and watch "Grey's Anatomy" on TiVo. I'm definitely liking it more. The 2 episode season finale starts next week. I wonder if they'll have re-runs this summer for me to catch up on?

Since I have nothing else to say today I'll wrap it up but leave you with my new little digi-scrapped page:

We had some fun this morning spinning around in the office chair. I tried to get him to spin the chair with me in it but he just wanted to sit on my lap to spin together instead. He'd put his little cheek on my chest and snuggle while we spun 'round and 'round. Love that little guy!

On My Own...Again

Well, the fancy pants band from last night invited Jason back to jam again tonight so he went. I did E's bedtime routine by myself this evening and he went right to sleep (whew!) so now I'm flying solo again. I wish I was feeling a little inspiration to digi-scrap but I'm not. I think I'll read my book. It's obviously not a real "page turner" otherwise I would have finished it long ago. It's finally getting a little better now that I'm over halfway through. I doubt I'll be continuing the series.

This afternoon we had our friends Samantha and Brian over for dinner. (Hi Sam!) That's E with his head up Samantha's pant leg. :) Easton really enjoyed them, they're going to be great parents someday. Samantha was even nice enough to put food on E's tray all through dinner. And he gobbled it up! He loves showing off for company, though. It was the first time E had met them, even though they live nearby we haven't seen one another for 2 years...right after J and I got engaged was the last time. It's sad, really. Not one of my girlfriends ever even saw me pregnant. Okay, so I was only pregnant for 7 months (and 4 days) but still...

Brian was sweet to play with Easton too, he also rescued him from a leg trapped in a stool...what a hero!

We had a nice weekend overall. I'm sad that it's over. It's been a busy weekend for us socially, compared to our normal weekends. I had fun but also miss some of our quieter family time and my time with J in the evenings. Oh well...it's an excuse for me to go to bed early tonight, right?