My Blogger Consultant

I called Blogger support today to ask if they could send someone over to redesign my blog.


This is who they sent:


He was quite knowledgeable and very friendly. After some consultation, he created a new header and new background for me.


He was very intent on his work.


When he was done, I asked him how much I owed him, and he said that all he wanted was some juice and doughnuts. What a deal!!

Kitty Love

Gino's obsession with Henry provides countless hours of entertainment in our household!

My 5X Meme

Thanks Gini, for tagging me with this meme. Here goes:

5 Things in My Bag:

I am still at that point where I am using a diaper bag. I got this gorgeous bag from a local baby boutique here in Vegas and have received countless compliments on it--so I haven't tried very hard to start using a regular purse again (plus I still need to haul sippy cups and a few diapers, so why change what works?)


So, the things in my diaper bag are:

1. a few diapers
2. a big handful of Peppermint Patties (from my Mother's Day gift). I try to keep a few sweets in my bag for when I can feel that my blood sugar is low.
3. My gorgeous Tommy Bahama wallet--hand-tooled leather, pics of Chris and James (no cash mind you--I never seem to have any, LOL)
4. A little elephant of James' (there was a zebra too, but he must have headed back to the herd).
   
5. Lip stuff--I am a Burt's Bees and lip gloss addict.

5 Things in My Room:

1. On my bedside table is one of the beautiful hand-hooked coasters from a set that my Mom gave me years ago.


2. A tall pile of assorted throw pillows for the bed (they are supposed to be ON THE BED, but the bed needs to be MADE first, and that doesn't always happen, unless we are headed out for a trip, and that way if something happens to me, my family won't come into my room and realize what a terrible bed maker/slob I am.)


3. A wedding picture of Chris and I. He looks like he is 16!!!


4. The overnight bag from Laughlin that I have yet to unpack.


5. Chris' Mom's rocking chair.


5 Things I Have Always Wanted to Do:

1. Become a good mandolin/guitar player.

2. Have a little working farm with a draft horse, a cow, a few chickens, a lab, some sheep, a great vegetable garden, a red barn and an old red pickup.


3. Help build a home for Habitat for Humanity.

4. Live in Vermont (or at least in the woods on a lake in the middle of no where with no neighbors, no traffic and lots of peace and quiet).

5. Make a great pizza like my Mom.

5 Things I am Currently in To:

1. Playing with James and enjoying every wonderful moment that I can with him.


2. Day-dreaming about my daughter (what will she look like? Will she have Chris' gorgeous, shiny, thick, curly, black hair, or my super-fine, mousy brown hair? Will she look like James? Will she be a super-easy baby that never cries and sleeps thru the night at 6 weeks like James did? Will she grow up to be an actress or a mechanic?)

3. Trying to keep my grocery budget under $75 a week and still put great meals on the table.

4. Trying to keep from constantly yelling at Gino to stop chasing Henry.

5. My tomato plants.


5 People I Want to Tag:

1. Katie
2. Stephanie
3. Mom
4. Tara
5. Fager

(The last three should have blogs but don't, so just e-mail me your memes!)

James' First Train Ride

We took James to Laughlin, NV for a little adventure on Saturday and Sunday. There was a car show there, so we booked a room at a hotel for Saturday night and made a weekend out of it. When I was researching the area online, I found out that there was a little passenger train at the Tropicanna Express, one of the casinos in town, and I knew James would be really excited to ride it.

We got to Laughlin at about noon and headed out to look at some of the cars on display. It was hot, so we stopped for an old-fashioned lemonade--James LOVED it!


There were beautiful trees up and down Main Street, and we tried to stop in the shade as much as possible. Here is James saying "Tree!!!"


Here he is looking all grown up and breaking his mother's heart. He prefers to wear his cap this way and I think it is adorable.


Here is James and Chris waiting at the train station for the "Lucky Lady" to roll in. I don't think James really knew what was about to happen at this point . . .


Hey kid, smile why don'tcha?


Ok, here he is hearing the train start to come into the station. OMG look at that face!!!


At this point his eyes got SO BIG and he wanted to run towards the train.


"Choo choo!!!"


What do you think is going on in his head? Ok, he's been playing with his trains and train table every day since Christmas . . . is it sinking in that he is actually on one?


Here's our little family enjoying the ride . . .


He loved it so much and cried like crazy when we got off. The next morning we rode it a bunch of times and so he was able to get his fill of train rides.

Here is is at dinner Saturday night, deliriously happy and tired.


Did I say tired?? (Yup, still has the binky, or "ginky" as he calls it!)


Krispy Kreme's for breakfast the next morning. He asks for "donuts" every day!!


Just a note--if you ever decide to stay in Laughlin, give us a call and we'll let you know the inside story, which is that other than the train, the place is pretty much a DUMP. Oh well! Live and learn!! It was worth the skanky hotel room and the nasty, stomach-churning buffet to see the look on our boy's face the first time he saw that train!!

Mom . . .

I love you.



HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

It's Great to be Home

I just came home from a few days working in Oklahoma City. I missed this kid sooooo much!!

"I DID IT!"

I usually take James to one of the little playgrounds in our community a few times a week. Yesterday afternoon we went for a walk/playground visit combo. I grabbed the camera as we headed out the door and boy, am I glad I did. Not only do I get to share our playground escapdes with you, but I also caught James doing a totally new and priceless thing on video!!

I know you are just trembling with anticipation to see it, but let's start at the beginning.

Here is James on the walk. If I have to go somewhere in the car with him and we walk by the Baby Jogger he gets SO FRUSTRATED because he wants to get in it and go for a ride. LOVE THAT!!


He is practically busting out of the harness to get onto the playground slide when we stop. Here he is on his first trip up the stairs.


Headed up to the middle-size slide . . .


Here he is saying his little mantra, "R E A D Y . . . S E T . . . GO!!!"


I love it that this makes him so happy. He needed a little happiness after his sad day on Sunday.


OK, love, love, LOVE this next picture. I don't even know how I got it. Since I discovered the sport shot setting on my camera, I just snap like a bizillion pics and hope that I get something good. I think this might be my new favorite. (Except that it makes me a little sad, because he looks like he is 12.)


Ready to head down the slide again . . . can you tell that I had already pinched those cheeks like 100 times that day???


So, today was really the first day that he has gone down the slides by himself. He usually asks me to hold one of his hands, but not today!! When he got to the bottom I almost died when he did this little jumping thing and yelled "I DID IT!!!" (That's what he is doing in this pic.) Holy crap. I can't stand it.


And here is Mister Silly, saying "HEY!! Come and play with me!!!"


Ok, and now for the part you have been waiting for. James' first time on the biggest of the little slides, all by himself, no hand-holding from me, and the "I did it" jump at the end.

I've Got a BIG Problem . . .

. . . with my hunk.

NO, not this hunk:

This one:

I'm not kidding--this really is one HUGE hunk, see???

Oh please, someone help me. I lost two pounds this week. How is that possible, when my meals have consisted of a piece of one huge hunk, a bowl of homemade Oreo ice cream, and a few handfuls of Skittles?

A Too-Tired Sunday

Nothing I did today could really make James happy. It was that kind of a day for him. I held him, and snuggled him, and told him I loved him, but he was still pretty much sad and tired all day.

I just set him up for his bedtime ritual, with a blanket and a comfy chair and Little Bear--and I threw in a stuffed puppy for good measure. And then I took this picture and it broke my heart. Love you buddy. Feel better tomorrow.


And Gini, so sorry, but Henry has taken a particular liking to Garrin's ride-on-toy. He naps on it every chance he gets. I'll have to pry it out of his little claws when I bring it over on Tuesday.

The Gilcrease Animal Sanctuary

Since Chris is out of town, James and I went to the Gilcrease Animal Sanctuary yesterday. The last time we went was March of 2007 and James couldn't walk back then, so I figured he would enjoy running around on his own power.

First up--the albino peacocks. BOY are they NOISY--but very beautiful.

Next were the goats. James kept saying "Sheep!! Ba, ba!!"


Here is a beautiful red parrot--JUST like the one on Diego. James was very excited to see him.


Here is one of Mommy's favorites--a cow. I just don't know what it is that I love about cows so much--they smell so sweet!! (Ok, I'm a farm girl, I know. They really do smell sweet though, for those of you reading this and saying "Yea, RIGHT!")

On second thought, maybe this was my favorite part--the miniature horses. And that little donkey is just so adorable! We bought treats to feed the animals on our way through the sanctuary--think the little guy on the left knows I have a bag of Cheerios in my hand?


OK Mom and Dad--James LOVED the chickens. They have TONS of them--barred rocks, Polish bantams, Rhode Island Reds, and several roosters that looked like our old crazy Macho Man.


What does a rooster say?



More peacocks.


And just for a little perspective, here is a pic of James from when we went last year:


I have one question: When did my little baby turn into a little boy???!!!