words with friends

i'm a night owl.  i stay up late at night wasting time online or on my phone.  and sometimes i do that in the middle of the night when i return to my bed after feeding brady.  the other night was just one of those times.  it was my turn in several words with friends games.  well sometimes it's like i've hit a wall, like writers block or something, and sometimes all of my plays just come to me clear as day.  the other night it was the latter.

in quick succession, these were my plays: 

 

 

 

 

somehow in less than five minutes, i was able to hit the triple word spot in every game and score some big points with practically no effort.  it made me feel better about that morning last week when i woke up and, thinking i was mentally awake, played my word, leaving off the "w".  it still went through because it was still a word but i missed out on 20 points.  i was kicking myself and my cousin chris was just soaking it up.  i'm still a little upset about it.  because for the record, i ended up losing that game.  by TWO points.  

see, i thrive at night.  mornings.... not so much.

Randoms

Happy six months to my Brady boy!  I've been meaning to write a six month post but things have been busy and I haven't yet. Hopefully I can crank something out in the next day or two.

Highlights of today, 

we got AC. It's cold enough that we actually haven't used it yet but I feel good that we got it. I won't lie though, part of me is super sad now that I'll no longer be able to tell people our house doesn't have AC. For some reason I really loved that. Maybe I love that we live in Colorado where AC is actually optional. 

Brady had OT this morning. He may go back for one more appointment at the end of next month. But I may just email his herbalist... Um therapist (thanks, autocorrect) about his progress and decide it's not necessary. One day I'll finish that post about his arm. But basically, I'm really happy about this. 

My honey hates Wells Fargo. And he came home with this funny story about how the people there think he's really poor.  Maybe I'll tell that story sometime too. But at least this is enough to jog my memory about it. 

Abigail woke up on the wrong side of the crib after nap today and spent the majority of the following hour crying. The first part she was crying so hard she could barely get out the words to try to tell us what she wanted. It was a little sad but maybe honey and I had tears in our eyes from trying not to laugh. 

Abigail says the funniest things and it's getting harder and harder to keep track of it all. My favorite from tonight was "Brady has food on his belly!"  Maybe he was shirtless and maybe this has a little something to do with nursing and that she calls my chest "Brady's food" (her name, not mine. For the record, she never asked what it was, she just decided it all herself). So Brady's little pudgy belly now has "food" on it. Christopher didn't get it at first until I explained it to him. And I'm being just slightly vague here on purpose. Also, honey told me that tonight Abigail was in a hurry going potty so when she rushed out he asked her if she wiped. Apparently she turned around with a "dangit!" said in exactly my tone of voice. I found it more amusing than my Christopher. That's my daughter for sure. 

On our way home from OT, Brady and I stopped to pick up more Zantac and then went by Walmart for a few things. It is absolutely astounding how fast I can go places with just a baby in an infant carseat!  Freedom and ease!  

I'll be in Atlanta a week from now. Ridiculously excited about that. 

I'm a little nervous that I'm going to die running the peachtree. I'm also a little nervous for my pasty skin to be subjected to the powerful beachy sunrays. I have not prepared adequately for those two things. 

I made french onion soup tonight!  It is something I've wanted to make for a long time... like at least a year... But I was too I intimidated (and I didn't have ramekins) so I never did. I finally decided to suck it up and just try it and that it would be perfect for me to make for my honeys birthday. But we'll be celebrating with his family one night and going out to eat just our family on Friday night so I just made it early. It was delish and I ate til I was nauseous (of course). And since I had already caramelized the onions (I made the our best bites spinach pizza that needed caramelized onions) then it was really quick and easy to throw together. If you're going to take the time and effort for caramelized onions, at least make it worth your while and do a whole ton of them. Anyways, this recipe was from pioneer woman and I'm definitely going to make it again. I won't lie, I feel pretty amazing that now whenever I am in the mood for French onion soup or creme brûlée, I can just make it!  And not spending $6-8 each serving at a restaurant is pretty nice too. Makes my day. 

harold the helicopter

AC guys!

pioneer woman french onion soup!

trying out different cheese options because i'm too cheap for gruyere.  i forgot to take a picture of it out of the oven... and didn't remember til these were all eaten.

our best bites pizza.  except i didn't have naan so it's on regular premade pizza crust.

"brady's got food on his belly!"

it's five o'clock somewhere

and right here.

my watch stopped working at 5am on monday the 22nd.  let me tell you, when i woke up that morning, i was beyond confused.  it was light outside (i know the sun rises early but not THAT early!) and i felt rested, but my watch insisted i still had several more hours to sleep.  well, my phone insisted that my watch was wrong.  

i haven't had to get my watch battery fixed since we've lived here so i wasn't really sure where to go.  asking my mother in law, she said walmart will do it for just the price of the battery ($5) but that they'll tell you before hand that if it breaks, they can't fix it.  or i could take it to the mall (is there more of a pain in the butt place to go with two young kids?  i think not.  i avoid the mall at allllll costs).  

so it took forever to actually be at walmart AND remember to get my watch fixed but eventually it happened.  some ghetto cross between usher and snoop dogg tried to get my watch open but couldn't.  he didn't look very confident.  he even asked me to try and again repeated that he didn't want to break my watch since i didn't buy it at walmart and technically he wasn't allowed to work on it.  so i just said thanks and took my watch back.  i've had this thing for well over ten years... i'm not about to lose it now!

it's still 5 o'clock.

in the meantime, i kept wearing my broken watch.  when i got home that night, i gave the kids a bath and was drying my hands off when i noticed that my arm was buuuuurrrrrrrning.  like seriously felt like it was burning off.  when chris got home that night from being out of town i showed him my arm and commented that i had no idea where i could have picked up a rash like that.  so i took off my watch and went to sleep.

 

the next morning my rash was mostly gone and i put on my watch again when i was getting ready.  within an hour, it was burning again and the rash was creeping back.  i took off my watch and checked it out and... the walmart guy had scratched the back so now it had a pointy metal part sticking out that was leaving tiny cuts all over my arm any time i moved!  so then i took it off and kept it in my purse.

a day or two later we were out and i thought i'd drop my kohls to have their jeweler fix it.  luckily i called first because actually, they don't work on watches not purchased their either.  annoying.  so then another few days passed.  at home, i finally googled and read reviews for a few places in parker and ended up going to this off the beaten path little jeweler that had a tiny shop in an old home-converted-store.  he took the back off within seconds of me handing it over and had it fixed in less than three minutes.  i also asked if he would sand the back of it smooth again.  $10 later i finally had my watch back!

why do the simplest things sometimes turn out to be such an ordeal?!  after a few weeks of that, you better believe i haven't been taking my watch for granted since i got it fixed!  sooo glad it's only 5 o'clock twice a day.

my kids were a dream

my kids were a dream today.  we all slept in til after nine and honestly, the whole day just went so smoothly. we didn't go anywhere but i was super productive around the house.  i got in two loads of laundry, some random picking up around the house, and a few hours of yard work... i filled our entire huge rolling trash bin!  brady was happy (i got a full 20 minute shower while he just hung out on the bathroom floor (without a binky even!) when he was awake and went down easily for naps.  AND his first two naps were full length (2.5 hours long) and he didn't even wake up at the 45 minute mark!  and baby girl didn't get out of bed til closer to 10, went right to sleep for her nap, and played happily for an hour after she woke up.  and while she was awake she was so sweet and fun to hang out with.  all today she did this "okay" thing.  where in response to anything i'd say, she'd immediately respond with an "okay!" and i wish i could record the intonation in her voice because it's hilarious.  it actually makes me think of my lil friend lynell.  i really can't describe it any other way.  ha.  anyways, i absolutely loved it.  she's got to be the most agreeable two year old ever.  she played in the backyard while i made breakfast, we did yard work together, she watched thomas while she ate lunch so i could get brady down for nap and a load of laundry folded, and the whole time was just so much fun to be with.

i walked in her room to get her this morning and found this in her crib.  she doesn't do it all the time, but it's a pretty regular thing for her to take off her diaper when she's done sleeping.  

she needed gloves to help me with yard work.  and a shovel.  and for the record, i cleared out all the dead leaves from those irises you see.  they look much better now.  and how cute was abigail when she kept asking me about flowers and i got to explain to her how they grow and all that good stuff.  her questions are so fun.

today we broke out the sunscreen... and we were definitely sweating while we were working in the yard.  it is so crazy that exactly a week ago, it was snowing and parker was covered in a fresh blanket of white.  and apparently wednesday will be snow too.  most bipolar weather ever.

brady decided he doesn't hate tummy time anymore.  he still only likes it on a boppy and only for 5 or so minutes before he decides he's done, but, man, does that kid look so cute when he's hanging out all propped up on his elbows.  seriously adorable.

baby girl climbed on top of him.

you know your two year old is a lightweight when she can climb on your baby and it doesn't even phase him.

abigail was all about the pictures tonight, wanting to take pictures of brady and me.  she's actually getting really good.  this picture below hasn't been cropped or edited at all!

abigail wanted me to take a picture of her doing "belly time" and insisted that the burp cloth was exactly as it appears.  i told her she didn't need it because she doesn't drool like brady but she was having none of that.  

this girl loves pictures.

my honey had a rough day at work and actually passed out on our bed tonight while i was nursing brady and reading abigail a story.  so i put both kids to bed myself.  while i did this, brady got super fussy and i didn't know why and then he projectile vomited all over the place and continued to be fussy because then he was soaking wet and i was ignoring him to get wipes to clean our carpet.  and then he got mad because i had to change his clothes and swaddle him so that all sent him into a screaming fit.  this was right when i was supposed to be reading abigail her bedtime story and i ended up just getting up from her sofa to put brady in his crib but he was getting sooooo worked up that i had to just hold him and rock him.  during this time, i heard abigail go downstairs and when she didn't come up for a little while, i figured she was trying to wake chris up and had maybe succeeded.  when i finally got brady calmed down again, baby girl appeared... like this.

eating a whole fistful of pringles (actually they're the lay's stax version).  i laughed out loud and asked her who gave her those (i thought maybe christopher in his sleepy state of mind or just trying to get her to leave him alone) and she responded with a sheepish "i did" while backing away from me.  i told her it was okay and then she shared with me every time i asked for one (or two!).  she is insanely good at sharing.  i came downstairs to check out the situation and found this on my honey's nightstand.  i'm not sure how many were in the container when she found them but it is safe to say that there was no chip left behind.

and then on my side of the bed, the floor looks like this.  so let's add vacuuming to tomorrow's agenda.

 

so grateful for this day today.  it was amazing.  and really, i have the best kids ever.

ps- i'll have to tell the story later but i finally called joanne to thank her for getting me a spot in the hospital tour even though they were booked out for weeks.  i told her about how i went into labor the falling morning and probably would have had brady in the parking lot if it weren't for that hospital tour.  i'm ashamed that it took me 4.5 months to call her.  it was crazy though when i talked to her on the phone and she said "i actually saw you yesterday and almost introduced myself and said hi."  i forgot she's in the same ward as my inlaws.  anyways, i think i'm in love with that woman.

pps- if i don't get my watch battery fixed soon, i might die.  i am someone that neeeeeds a watch.  

ppps- yesterday was john's farewell talk at church... i can't believe he leaves on his mission next week.  this is emotionally way harder for me than i was anticipating... but on a lighter note, abigail's prayer today included "thank you for our church.  and for john's church and for nate's church."  i guess she had fun at their ward yesterday.  and she also thankful for "ducklings" just in case you were wondering.

Historical evidence

I really wasn't even exaggerating.

i know i've written before about the eating habits, or lack thereof, we had previously in our marriage.  well, when i was doing some organizing yesterday, i found this receipt from 7.9.09 (so weird that this is exactly one year before my due date with abigail... my how life can change quickly!) when we were living in colorado in our tiny, frozen (the heater didn't work and it was always between 52 and 55 degrees) apartment.  it's amazing how accurate my memory is.  i've included a picture of the receipt but i'll go ahead and list what we bought as well...

tortillas

FIVE boxes of cereal

frozen burritos

totino's hamburger pizza

totino's cheese pizza

1% milk

skim milk

2% milk

two cans of spaghettios

three cans of green beans

cream of mushroom soup (looks like i was making green bean casserole)

a loaf of 85 cent white bread

18 eggs

hotdogs

a container of microwaveable bbq shredded pork (for sandwiches)

peach yogurt

raspberry yogurt

cherries (i bet we were taking these to a picnic or something)

a peach (yeay!  something else fresh and non-processed!)

strawberry banana yogurt

strawberry yogurt

mixberry yogurt

raspberry yogurt

all for a grand total of $41.52

that was just a typical grocery trip so now you can understand i'm not kidding when i say an average day included a slice or two of bread for breakfast, a yogurt for lunch, and a bowl of cereal for dinner (or can of spaghettios if we're going to get fancy and have a hot meal).  this is the secret to staying thin and eating for less than $2 a day.  poverty is key.*  i have such fond memories of this time of our marriage... that poor and newlywed experience exceeded my expectations.

*my husband would kill me if i didn't mention that we were not actually impoverished.  we have never been wanting for money... we're just really frugal and were saving up to pay for his stanford mba.

Living with a boy

I haven't been cooking or eating much for the last few months. And as of the last few weeks I've barely even gone shopping. So today I was wondering why my fridge seemed so cramped. Here are a few things I found.

a can of rootbeer with half a sip of flat soda left, an empty mug that used to contain egg nog, and a mug of tap water

a taco bell bag full of wads of napkins, a few hot sauce packets, and another plastic bag... tied in a knot.

sooo glad we're using our valuable fridge space to store these gems.

ps- these things were all evicted after my enormous costco trip this afternoon.  only the strong survive.

consequences

one reason not to procrastinate?

you may find yourself out at 10 pm on a saturday night, sliding all over the highway on the slick icy roads as you take back library movies and fill your car up with gas in 22* weather.

i seriously had to laugh at that one.

sesame street on drugs

i am happy to report that after... ummm... i won't admit how long... i've finally replaced the batteries in baby girl's sesame street toy that she plays with in the car.

it was getting a little trippy.  and more than one of my young women commented on how freaky it was when it would accidentally go off when it would get jostled in the back seat of my care.

close your eyes and listen to this.  i swear you'll see rainbow colors and insist that you've been taking crazy pills.

word verification... be gone!

once again, i just don't feel like blogging tonight.  or doing anything for that matter.  maybe tomorrow i'll take pictures and edit them and post them with an accompanying funny story but not tonight.

tonight i'll just tell you that i hate word verification.  i makes me not want to comment on people's posts because it takes longer and it's harder.  seriously it stresses me out because i get it wrong so often.  sooo, in case any of you feel the same way i do about word verification, i wish you merry christmas and happy birthday... i got rid of word verification.  not everywhere... just on my blog.  i'm not that powerful.

anyways, now i'm off to sleep.  hopefully more peacefully than last night when i birthed my child, had amnesia about the whole experience, attended the debate, and realized i never sent in my mail in ballot, missing out on my chance to vote in this election.  i woke up with a whole mess of emotions going on.  although i will say that in my dream, i really really really loved my little baby boy.

a political post

who's pumped for the debate tonight?!  i have mixed feelings.  i think it'll be like watching a sports event but without a numerical score.  when it gets close, i'm going to be tense and watching through my fingers while my hands are covering my face.  i don't deal well with contention.  also, the sight and sound of obama makes me cringe in a very real and physical sort of way.  i truly wish i didn't dislike him so much because he is our president.  and probably will be for another four years.  heaven help us.

anyways, just earlier this morning i was thinking about how sad it was that even though the debate tonight will be like 30 minutes away from me, it might as well be on the other side of the world because i'm not going.  apparently none of the tickets were opened up to the public so everyone in attendance was hand picked to be there but don't quote me on that because i get my facts from facebook statuses.  i DO know one person that will be there though...

see that precious little blonde girl in front?  that is my dear neighbor and little beehive president.  this is the most adult 13 year old i've ever met in my life.  like, when i'm around her, i get super nervous about if what i'm wearing/saying is okay and appropriate.  i don't even get that way around her dad and he's in the stake presidency.  anyways, i guess these four kids won an essay contest (about why they wanted to attend the debate) and had in depth interviews with their teacher and school principle in order to qualify.  pretty awesome if you ask me.  maybe i'll invite myself to their house tonight to watch the debate since my christopher is out of town.  is it just me or are political debates kinda like the bachelorette?  they're just not that much fun without the commentary of a good friend.

ps- mitt (or "mittens" as i affectionately refer to him) gives me the warm fuzzies.  did anyone else see this thing about the doctored news clip?  msnbc trying to make mitt look like an attention whore when in all actuality he was just trying to deflect attention from himself and onto his vp.  what's not to love?

free museum day!

i was just scrolling through facebook and apparently saturday is free museum day.  follow the link and see if there's a fun museum near you to hit up for free!

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/ticket/

mitt the rich guy

in general, i like rich people.  i respect them and admire them.  i have high aspirations to become one of them someday.  so even though i'm not currently super rich, i for some reason identify with rich people.  like the romneys.  maybe because i want to be friends with them?  who knows.  anyways, it makes me so angry so hear all of this smack about how mitt romney is a bad person because he's got so much money.  what's so bad about that?!  wouldn't we all choose to have more money if we could?  let's do an informal poll right here...  go ahead in the comments section and we'll tally it up.  if you had the option to have more money (doesn't matter how much... could be 20 dollars more or 20 million dollars more), would you take advantage of that?

anyways... i read this article on mitt romney and money the other day and although it is not politically correct in the least, it was absolutely hilarious and made me laugh out loud.  and although some (democrats) might disagree with me... i found most all of the article to be true.

so here's the link.

ps- my favorite line is "may as well give the guy a cardigan."  seriously... loved it.

jumping

all day long i hear "i wanna watch jumping!  i wanna watch jumping!"

why's that?  because baby girl is really into the olympics and her favorite sport so far seems to be synchronized diving.  she likes swimming events just fine i guess but often gets bored the second after everyone dives into the pool.  sooo, diving it is.  because she also thinks it's really cool when they go into the "baby pool" which, someone help me with this... is that a hot tub or just a small regular temperature pool?!

so we've been watching a whole ton of diving lately.  my two questions are this:  first, can those little swim speedos GET any smaller?!  and second, do you study the divers' faces while they're diving?

because i thought this was kinda funny.

a dare: pregnant and dancing

i made some pretty awesome friends at stanford... my friend katt was definitely at the top of that list.  she took ellen's dare for all the pregnant women to dance behind unsuspecting strangers.  this made me (and my honey) laugh out loud more times than we should admit.  and i've probably watched this like five times already.

seriously, there is no better way to start your wednesday... i promise.

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