Party Time

It's Birthday Party Time!
What the heck is this thing on my head??




AHH! Got Presents?



My very own VACUME! Woo Hoo! Now if I can only keep big bro away from it!




Ok.. I'm going to touch this cake.. anyone watching me? You see me right? I'm going to smash this cake... why isn't anyone stopping me? Hello? Do you care?


This is pretty tasty! Much better than jar food!




Even Cole is feedin me some icing goodness :)




I own this cake.





I came, I saw, I conquered CAKE.





Happy Birthday Blake!

Yesterday's Birthday BOY!

This was at our Spanish playgroup meeting last night. The kids sang Feliz Cumpleaños to Blake.

A year ago today...

I was 38 or 39 wks pregnant and went to the doctor. There wasn't any advancement in dilation or effacement but I asked my doctor about induction and he agreed. He set me up for the next morning at 6 a.m.

Who can sleep with that on your mind?! I remember getting up around 3 or so and watching t.v. The Winter Olympics were going on and Curling was on. My favorite!

I also remember thinking that I had better get some rest/sleep because it'll be the last time in a long time. I didn't realize at the time that the "long time" would be 12 months! Blake still stirs/wakes up in the middle of the night for a bottle. I can probably count on one hand how many times he actually slept the entire night.

That's what I'm worried about now. I know his doctor will want him off the bottle now. People have crutches.. for some it's shopping, or smoking, or double-fudge brownies. Mine, is chocolate chip cookies (warm). Blake's is a bottle at 3 a.m. and I know it's my fault, and I'm an "enabler" but if I know that a bottle is the ONE THING that will definitely put him back to sleep, then I'm doing it. Because my other crutch.. sleep. Man! how I love sleep.

In hindsight.. My pregnancies between the two boys were about the same. The deliveries, although both induced, were very different. Blakes was a cake walk (that includes recovery). With Cole's being so bad, but also being the first, I had nothing to compare it to. After having such an easy time with Blake, I realize now Cole's was really rough. The delivery and the recovery. Especially the recovery. I had a really bad episiotomy with Cole and lost a lot of blood. I was in a lot of discomfort at home with him.

BUT Cole was a good baby. and he was sleeping really well through the night at 6 wks. BUT then Blake was and still is a good baby and even though he doesn't sleep through the night, he didn't go through the screaming fits from about 8pm-11 or 12pm for weeks like Cole. So there are so many trade offs between the two. They're so much a like, but so different.

Blake is constantly jabbering. Sometimes I think he's trying to sing. Ryan mentioned tonight that he seams to be a lot more talkative than Cole was. I agree, but it's also hard to remember too. I'd like to compare video's of their first b-day party!

Speaking of which is Sunday at 4pm. I'm fixing Lasagna and I ordered his cake Monday at walmart. They give you a free x-tra small round cake just for the birthday baby for "first birthdays"

I'll post pics.

Valentine's R.I.P.

It's been two years since my grandparents died. It doesn't seem like it's been that long. Cole was only 15 months old. I had received Valentine cards in the mail for Cole from them on the Saturday before (Valentine's day was on Monday). I had planned on calling them to thank them and I didn't get around to it because we were in the process of packing up the house/closing/moving, plus I had class that day at USI.. I planned to call Sunday or Monday. I talked to grandma on Friday and she asked about the new house. Asked how Cole was doing. They adored him. So much.

I think that's what bothers me most. They thought Cole hung the moon. He was everything to them. It completely made their day each time they saw him. I think Cole was the main reason grandma was able to pull herself around and get better when she was in the hospital the year before. We kept telling her to get better for Cole's sake, and she did. And I see now how much they're missing out on him. I see him do things or say things and know that if grandma and grandpa were here, they'd get the biggest kick out of him. And now there's Blake. whom they've never met, but would've adored just the same.

Last Sunday we had a break in the weather and it was a nice sunny day. I took the opportunity to put new flowers on their grave. I'm the only one who does that since Dad's never been back since the burial. I sat in front of their grave and told them about Cole and Blake.

I believe they can see Blake and Cole and are watching them grow up. I know they are with us in our hearts, but it's still very hard.

I was very close to them, but I still feel like I missed out on a lot of things with them. Grandpa would've loved talking to me about politics, and the town's heritage. We've talked about all these things before, but not at the capacity that I'm at now.

Valentine's Day will always be a dark day for me now. I have absolutely no enthusiasm for the holiday anymore. I got the kids some things, and cards. I'm not going to ruin their day. But it won't ever mean the same to me.

Football Fun

Blake and Cole sporting their Raiders gear.

This is Cole in his "first" Raider's outfit.

This is Blake in that same outfit.

I think Cole is older in his picture, but they have the same shaped heads. Blake definitely wins for having the most hair. The boy has two haircuts under his belt before his first b-day. Cole was a little over a year before he had his first. It's amazing how time goes by so fast!

My new favorite politician!

This is my t-shirt design. I saw someone with a poster that said Barack the vote and I thought that was so clever! 'Rack on!

My Lil' Marathon Runner

Blake is all over the place. He's getting up and taking off to anywhere he pleases. He's even taken on running laps around the house. He'll do around 5 laps around the dining room table, then he'll move on to the living room where he'll make circles in there.

His birthday is just a couple weeks away!

Talk about a hot mess.

This Anna Nicole Smith stuff is right out of an E! True Hollywood Story. First the controversy over the inheritance from her billionaire late husband. Then the pregnancy and birth of her daughter, followed immediately by the death of her son. The controversy over his cause of death. Then the lawsuit over the paternity of her daughter. Then I think last week someone in her camp was being questioned in the death of her son.. meaning that maybe it wasn't an accident. Early this week I heard about the lawsuit over TrimSpa. and then she dies.. leaving behind a little baby and a MESSY custody battle I'm sure. And also, apparently, little Danielynn is the sole heir to a HUGE fortune that Anna potentially leaves behind from lawsuit number 1 with the Marshall family. Who will have custody and who will have control over that money?

Again. it's a hot mess.

I feel really bad for the baby. She's an innocent bystander in all this.

Happy Days are Here Again

We're on our LAST CAN OF FORMULA! Woo-Hoo! After 12 months of making trips to Sam's and spending Lots-o-$$ on Enfamil, we've finally reached the new chapter of Whole Milk. *cringe* When this can is gone, my days of powdered formula are over.

That's at least an extra savings of $65 a month... if not more.

Colts Win!

The Colts won! Woo Hoo!!

I watched most of the Super Bowl last night. I did take an hour off and watched ROME on HBO (well worth it, I might add!) Flipped back in time to see the rest of the game. One thing occurred to me when the game ended. Security does a pretty good job at keeping the fans in the stands and off the field, but maybe the should focus on the Press. MY GOSH! Manning and Dungy couldn't move. It was like a mob. a mob of crazed photographers and tv anchors with microphones.. only I think the photographers whooped up on them too. It was INSANE.

What happened to the days of the Team huddling together, high-five'in, back flips and jumping up and down, confetti flying, fireworks a-blazin'? Instead of celebration (in the few short minutes left in the show before they go to regularly schedule programming) we say Peyton hardly able to keep his balance because of the mob cramming cameras in his face.

One other random thought, I never realized how freakin tall he is until the coin toss last night. He towered over everyone.

I really like him. Not because he's an excellent player (although, it doesn't hurt), but because he seems to be a pretty stand-up kind of guy. Funny too.. doesn't take things too seriously. Joe Namath compares Peyton to himself in the younger days. Doing "funny" commercial endorsements and just having fun with it.--not the standard tough gatoraid commercials.

But what I really like about him (and his brother) is they put their money where their mouth is. During Katrina they stepped up and got the ball rolling for sending aid, money and help to the gulf. Plus they went themselves and helped out. -- Awesome!

Final Harry Potter installation!!!