Wordless Wednesday - New Hiding Spot

Food from 'home'

Although I live in Illinois now, I was born and raised in Ohio.  Grew up near Cincinnati and went to The Ohio State University (yes, The).  Although I love where we are now, there is plenty I miss from home - family (most of my family is in Ohio), Ohio State, friends and then there's the food.  I guess when you grow up eating certain food regularly, when you can't have it anymore on a regular basis you CRAVE it! 

Even though I can get the sauce in jars to bring to Illinois, I miss LaRosa's pizza.  I miss Graeter's ice cream - seriously, can someone get me a turtle sundae, please.  And above all, I repeat, ABOVE ALL, I miss Skyline Chili.  It is my favorite food, hands down.  I worked at Skyline (can you say Skyline chili chick, Alisha?) for many years in high school and college and before I moved to Illinois had probably never gone more than a week without eating it.  I was one of the happiest ladies in the world when I discovered I could actually get it here at the grocery (although it's not the same).  Just the smell brings me back...yummy.

Well, I'm happy to now be able to share that with lil' man.  Over the weekend, he tried it and it's official, he's my son.  He LOVED it.  There's some hope that he may have a chance to be a Cincinnati boy after all. 

Baby's 1st Cincinnati chili 3-way:  spaghetti, chili, cheese

Baby's New Toys

So I recently talked here about how my kid is hard to entertain.  However, I think I figured out the trick....

1 - plastic serving spoon

1 - DVD case

1 - baby sock

1 - DVD player baby-proof cover

(In the background) 1 - toy box full of unused toys.....

That seems to be all that is needed to keep entertained over an extended period of time.  He has spent days carrying around this spoon, dragging it everywhere he goes.  The DVD cover thingy was ripped off the entertainment stand about five seconds after it was put up and he has spent weeks entertained by that.  The DVD case is a more recent find out of a large basket in our living room, but I can tell they will be long lasting friends.  The sock - he has spent all weekend dragging it around like it was his favorite stuffed animal or blankie. 

So what should I get William for his first birthday?  Maybe I can dig out some measuring cups or an old t-shirt to play with....hehe

Poop

I'm not going to sugar-coat it....this post is about poop. Not mine, I promise - does that make it any better? Just baby poop in general.

I think the first time I ever kinda figured something was definitely disturbed and wrong with parents of the world, I was in about 5th grade and I was taking a Red Cross babysitting class of some sort. One task we needed to do was take a list of 100 items/questions that a potential parent might want to know when they returned home and I had to pick just three that you would consider 'most important.' OK, I got this - how hard can this be. I selected my three and we went around the room and said what we picked. Pretty normal picks - when and how much did baby eat, what time did they go to sleep, etc etc etc. You get it. The instructor pointed out a question that no one had selected - How many (and types) of poopy diapers.

WTH? That's disgusting.

She's joking, I'm sure.

She's not laughing. Oh dear heavens, she's serious.

OMG, parents of babies must be seriously messed up that they care about poop. ("hehehe, she said poop" - probably what I would have said when I was like 11). Don't you just hold your breath, change the diaper, triple wrap it in a plastic bag, throw in outside garbage can and spray Lysol over the whole house? Who takes the time to look at it or even care that it occurred? Ewww.

Then as I grew up, I heard parents talking about poop but I just basically tried to block it out. Poop? ("hehehe, she said poop" - I was very mature for my age) That's just nasty.

Then I became pregnant and hubby and I diligently went to our childbirth classes. Hand out after hand out was provided about breastfeeding and labor signs and ....WTH! Poop. And this handout was the mother of all handouts - color pictures of all the imaginable types of poop you can imagine. It's just what a woman and man want to see when they are already scared shitless (pun intended) that they are getting ready to have a baby, but then they are handed pictures of poopy diapers to make it just a teensy bit more real. Yeah, you think you are ready with your cutesy little nursery all set up and your hospital bag packed....BAM! Poopy diapers in your face - not so ready, right? Now commence panic attack.

Then little baby comes and it's all cuddles and sunshine and rainbows. It doesn't take but a few days to realize that poop is slowly becoming a very important part of your life. Besides the fact that you are changing a poopy diaper eight times a day. You are now worried about minute detail. What color is it? How much? How often? What consistency? You feel pretty comfortable at first and then....BAM, out of no where the color changes and you call the pediatrician's office at 3am to ask why the poop is suddenly green and they reassure you that it's normal. Or you find yourself texting your friend once a week, worried that your daughter's poop has changed, yet again and you think something is seriously wrong when everything is just fine. (oh yes, Stefanie...you totally do this hehe).

Like it or not...poop is here to stay in the front of your mind for good. At least until potty training.....

NOTE: If you do not have kids and you are still reading this, you are probably staring at the screen in horror wondering WTH is wrong with parents of the world - I know, I've been there. When you have kids, you will understand and then you will think "Oooooh, THAT'S what that girl was talking about!" Just you wait.....

I Can Read

1. Imperfect Birds - Anne Lamott
2. Operating Instructions - Anne Lamott (definitely recommend for any mother's out there)
3. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
4. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
5. The Audacity of Hope - Barack Obama (audio book)
6. Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
7. The Green Book - Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas Kostigen (definitely a book I would recommend for anyone interested in going green)
8. Firefly Lane - Kristin Hannah
9. Baby Proof - Emily Giffin (audio book)
10. Healthy Child Healthy World - Christopher Gavigan (go out and buy it! wonderful resource for keeping your family healthy while living a green lifestyle!)
11. Heart of the Matter - Emily Giffin
12. Bossypants - Tina Fey (Hilarious!)
13. Prey - Michael Crichton (audio book)
14. Julia's Chocolates - Cathy Lamb
15. In Defense of Food - Michael Pollan
16. One Day - David Nicholls
17. The Help - Kathryn Stockett (Loved it!!)
18. Dismantled - Jennifer McMahon
19. Always Looking Up - Michael J. Fox
20. How to Talk to a Widower - Jonathan Tropper (I will definitely be reading more of this author!)
21. Queen of Babble - Meg Cabot
22. One for the Money - Janet Evanovich
23. Lisey's Story - Stephen King
24. Two for the Dough - Janet Evanovich
25. Room - Emma Donoghue (Fantastic!)
26. Three to Get Deadly - Janet Evanovich
27. Matched - Ally Condi
28. The Giver - Lois Lowry (just as amazing as I remembered it)
29. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J.K. Rowling (audio book)
30. The Last Time I Saw You - Elizabeth Berg
31. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling (audio book)
32. The Book of Joe - Jonathan Tropper (up next)
33. This is Where I Leave You - Jonathan Tropper (up next)

I couldn't resist reading The Giver again since it has been a favorite book of mine since I was younger.  I am also determined to read the Harry Potter series.  Since I tackled a long road trip to Ohio and back, I decided to start those as audio books but I'm intrigued enough that I can definitely see myself continuing.  It's a worldwide sensation, I think I should at least see what the fuss is about since I hadn't previously read any of them or seen any of the movies - no I do not live under a rock.  The next up books with be some more Jonathan Tropper books.  I just loved How to Talk to a Widower - loved his humor, loved his sensitivity, loved his style.  Yes, please. 

Any recommendations on anything you have read lately?

Wordless...umm...Friday

OK, so not so wordless and it's not Wednesday, but whatev - I do what I want.  :)

My mother-in-law took this picture while her and my father-in-law took lil' man to go buy some shoes.  I feel like such a horrible mother because this picture just makes me laugh when my son is clearly not happy.  But seriously....adorable and hilarious!  He definitely did not like shoes....

"If you cover them up, how will everyone see how cute my toes are!"

Heartbreak....

I have had heartbreak before when I had a fight with a dear friend and we didn't speak for weeks.  I have had heartbreak when I didn't get a job or grade I worked for.  I have had heartbreak during a rough breakup from a guy.

Although so many of those things were significant at the time, nothing is capable of making my heart hurt more than when my little man looks up at me with his sick and watery eyes and his red and dripping nose and his sniffly and coughing cry.  I know he doesn't feel good and I can't do anything about it.  I can't explain to him why he feels so yucky and that he will feel better before he knows it.  I can only cuddle with him and let him rest his head on my shoulder and sing him a lullaby and rock him and hope that for a few minutes he won't think about how bad he feels and hope that he feels a little bit better tomorrow...

Lakehouse Fun (in pictures)

William's 1st  boat ride

Driving with Grandpa

Cuddles by the lake with Grandma

Loving with Aunt Melanie

Chillin' with Uncle Jordan

Fun on the dock with Abbie

Dippin' toes in the water

Mommy getting some giggles

Roadtrip with a little one

Had a wonderful long weekend spending time with the family in Ohio at the new lakehouse!  William had a blast and so did I.  It's such a wonderful thing to be able to spend time surrounded by a big family!  Since it's football season, Adam had to stay home so it was William and me on a long road trip.  Although this is not my first road trip with William by myself, it is the first time we have traveled now that he's getting more restless and harder to entertain.  I learned a few ways along the way -

1. Have a bottle handy - it was such a nice thing to be able to hand lil' man a bottle when he was getting hungry and fussy without taking a long stop along the way.
2. Have toys handy - when he's in a car seat for such a long trip, it's so nice that he can keep himself entertained when he's not sleeping.
3. Turn off any packed toys - I learned this on the car ride to Ohio when several toys would go off every time we hit a bump in the road.  I can only take so much.  HA!
4. Pack a handy "front seat bag" - Bottles, baby food, snacks/drinks for yourself, diaper bag - all things that are handy so you don't have to dig thru the trunk during a pit stop.
5. Wear easy pants to get up and down with one hand - This is really only necessary when you have a kid that doesn't walk yet.  Ever wonder how people go to the bathroom when they have a little one?  Yeah, me too.  HA!
6. Get a good book on CD - Great way to pass the time!  I started the Harry Potter series and it made me actually look forward to the drive!
7. Drive safe - Get sleep before you go, don't get distracted and stay safe with that little one in your backseat!