Sunday, January 31, 2010

Digital Photography at its finest

While I am no professional photographer, I do enjoy taking pictures. Maybe someday I will take a class, but for now I haven't seemed to master the digital camera. Will was flashing some big grins today for his momma. Between the delay for the camera to flash and the multiple red-eye flashes, I got some pretty goofy pictures. Baby grins only last for a second or two. I tried flash on, flash off, all the different camera settings--nothing helped. The orange light that shines as the camera focuses was super distracting to Will. Don't the digital camera makers know that kids will hold still for exactly one one-hundreth of a second for a picture to be taken? While I am a little disappointed that I didn't get a great giant-grin-looking-at-the-camera shot, these are funny little faces to enjoy.



Monday, January 25, 2010

Probably TMI, but then again, most Mommy stuff is.

Call in the decon team.

This morning started out with Luke and pee sheets. (Luke outfit #1)
Followed by a failing nursing pad. (Mommy outfit #1)
Next came a wet sock. Why is my sock wet? Oh. pee. (Mommy gets clean socks)
"(wailing)Mommy, my kitchen's wet! And the floor!" Oh. pee. And your sock, angel. (Luke outfit #2, socks #2)
Uh-oh. Don't step on that. It goes in the potty. (Mommy picks it up and puts it in the potty.)
After a quick trip to the store, a rushed lunch, feed Will. Oh crud. Vomit, vomit, vomit all over Mommy, Will, and our surroundings. (Will outfit #2, Mommy outfit #2)
Sweet, sweet nap. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. (Mommy outfit #3 because I nap in my PJ's)
Feeding Will. I smell baby poop. I will change him after he eats. Oh, never mind. I will change him now--and me. This diaper must have a hole in it. Baby poop all over Will, Mommy, and the boppy pillow. (Mommy outfit #4, Will outfit #3)

Needless to say, I am now doing that laundry I've been trying to avoid.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Mommy Points, part II

In case you're wondering how the rest of my day shaped up, it went something like this:

Blogged about my wonderful self: 2 points
Couldn't figure out why the baby was crying: -1 point
Ate leftovers for lunch: 4 points
Couldn't figure out why the baby was crying: -2 points
Picked up Luke from school--on time!: 3 points
Gave in to Luke's pleading to go play at chick-fil-a: 3 points
Called some friends to meet us there: 13 points
Home in time to make dinner: 2 points
Couldn't figure out why the baby was crying: -3 points
Couldn't figure out why the baby was crying: -4 points
Gave the baby a bath: 2 points
Couldn't figure out why the baby was crying: -5 points
Forgot to change Luke's sheets: -3 points
Never got around to that laundry: -5 points
Couldn't figure out why the baby was crying: -6 points

Which brings my total to: 4, at least I'm still in the positive

well, the baby IS still crying. . . .

Today's Score: 5

I pretty much keep a running score in my head which I refer to as my "mommy points." These are points I give myself (or take away) when I feel successful (or unsuccessful) in things related to my life. Let me give you some examples:

These are recent points I have gained/lost:
Took Luke to see Santa Claus at the mall with my 1 week old strapped to my chest: 15 points
Clipped off most of Will's thumb when trying to trim his nails:-30 points (bad. I felt awful. lots of blood.)
Remebered to change Luke's soiled sheets before it was time to get back in bed: 4 points
Short fuse (in general--I'm blaming on lack of sleep): -5 points per episode
Mopped the kitchen floor: 12 points
Made a healthy dinner: 4 points
Baby drifted off to sleep in my arms with out a single fuss: 7 points
Fell asleep and missed pick up time at Luke's school (by just a few minutes. Thank God we live so close to his school! He didn't notice I was late): -10 points

This morning I have awarded myself the following points. . .

I woke Will up an hour early because I read the clock wrong and then had to put him back to sleep: -10 points
Getting Luke to school on time: 2 points
In clean clothes (Luke): 1 point
In a cowboy shirt and cowboy hat on western day: 5 points
Will is dressed and happy(ish): 2 points
I am in jeans and a real shirt: 4 points
My teeth are brushed: 1 point
Remembered to go to the post office (and thus I get to check something off my to-do list!!): 3 points
Cut Will's fingernails without inflicting trauma: 1 point
Chose to watch my DVR'd Intervention instead of do laundry: -3 points

Hooray! I'm in the positive and it isn't even noon yet!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Baby names, part III

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know I have an interest in bad baby names. Ancestry.com has posted some new lists of names for your consideration. These are all real names registered with the census bureau.

Trouble picking a name? Why don't you try some diseases? Growing a baby is a bit similar to growing a parasite/harboring a disease in that it steals all your food and zaps your energy.

Fever Bender
Leper Priest
Cholera Priest
Rubella Graves
Typhus Black
Hysteria Johnson
Emma Royd
Kathryn E. Coli
Mumps Sykes

Are those not bad enough for your sweet little one? Try naming him/her after a sin.


Lust Garten
Greed Sister Mancini
Sloth Washton
Wrath Gordon
Envy Burger
Pride Saint
Greed McGreaw
Lust T. Castle

Okay, okay. You have higher aspirations for little darling. Maybe growing up you always wanted to be a doctor, but just never got around to it. How about projecting your goals upon your newest addition. It's a guarantee that he/she will be referred to as Dr. later in life.

Cook Cook
Governor Bush
Lawyer Low
Doctor Love
Teacher Blackbear
Judge Savage
Editor Honeycutt
Mayor Bland
Sales O. Justice
Gamble Moore

I found an article on BBC News website related to the bad baby names found in Britain. Here is a sample they provided. . .

Paige Turner
Stan Still
Rose Bush
Pearl Button
Jo King
Barry Cade
Carrie Oakey
Priti Manic
Tim Burr

That's all the time I have for this nonsense tonight.
If you want to read my other posts on baby names click here and here.

this and that

Brothers!! Luke loves, loves, loves his new brother. I love taking pictures of my boys together. Luke always asks to hug and hold Will and I usually let him. He is so sweet and will sit real still to hold him.


LUKE: Mama, what's Will's name?
MAMA: Will.
LUKE: No, mama! Its baby!
Lesson learned:
We have to stop referring to Will as "baby Will" around Luke.
Will is wearing both of us out as he figures out the difference between night and day. For three days in a row, he spent so much time awake from about 3 am til 5 pm that he slept through his baths at night.





Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Add it to the list

Add this to the list of Will's likes. . .
3. BATHTIME!! He loves it. It always calms him down and he just lays back and relaxes.

4. The swing is growing on him. Luke never liked it, but Will has taken to having his afternoon nap in the swing while I get dinner ready. Even when Luke is acting like a nut around it or loudly "fixing" it, Will just sits back and watches.



A little bit more Christmas. . .

Since today is the Epiphany, I guess it is my deadline to get Christmas all wrapped up.

Due to the bad weather over Christmas, Gramma Juli didn't get to our house until a few days later. She came bearing more gifts than Santa Claus himself. Luke really hit the jackpot with Juli. If the way to Luke's heart is through Hot Wheels, then Juli took the expressway. Luke's car collection doubled in less than half an hour! He was ecstatic. This picture is a bit blurry,(because the unwrapping had begun furiously) but you can see just how big his pile of gifts is!
Halfway through the Juli gifts, Uncle Mike brought out his gift for Luke. A bag of peanut butter cups!! Luke's favorite!! (You can see the new cars piling & lining up near Luke!)
Cousin Hayden was there too with his Mommy & Daddy. The boys seemed to have a great time together. Hayden was all smiles despite sharing difficulties on Luke's behalf. Sharing is hard, but as long as Luke got to pick which car to share everything was a-ok.


The next morning, Gramma Juli and Will got to spend some time cuddling.
Luke had to get on the cuddling action. At this point he had commandeered a LED headlamp that Gene got in a multipack of flashlights. He wore this headlamp--turned on--for at least two days until it "disappeared." But it randomly resurfaces and always goes straight to Luke's head. It is actually good for something. You know, sometimes I'm tied up with Will and Luke wants to play in a room that is dark. Ta-Da! Headlamp fixes that problem.
I just think the headlamp is hilarious and couldn't stop taking pictures of it.
Pretend like you don't notice how messy my child's face is. . .