interview with a rock star

I got to interview my favorite rock star yesterday...

this baby rocks

this baby rocks, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

Look at this chunky monkey. He was very chatty today. Well, after he woke up from an apparent 5 HOUR nap. Haha!!

He's had a lot of new stuff lately that I haven't had time to blog or scrap. We have been trying rice cereal for a couple weeks now. Just this week I had the sitter giving it to him also. She seems to have better luck getting him to swallow it. I think he's too tired with me... or just holding out on me! But we will keep plugging away at it.

He's learning to use his hands, too. He's so funny to watch. He plays with his binky. Plucks it out of his mouth and plays with it until he drops it. Then he will grab bib, toy, burp cloth... whatever is near... and stick it in his mouth. But watching him with the binky is the best. He will eyeball it in his lap and work forever on getting hold of it and guiding it back to his mouth. Usually it's upside down or backwards and he still attempts to cram it in!

He almost sits up on his own. It won't be long. He is so strong. It is so cool to see him develop core strength. He likes to do his ab workouts in the evenings, raising straight up from a reclined position over and over. I couldn't even do that after I had him... pregnancy wrecks your abs!

Last night I read him a few books and then we sang and danced to Peter, Paul, & Mary. He loves reading... I am so glad, as I have that huge collection of books started! We sang "I love rock and roll music" and "Puff the Magic Dragon". He went crazy for singing along to the songs. That's what I'm talking about... growing up on books, music and legos... just like his mama did. (We're still another year from starting legos... oh the things we are gonna build then...)

I can't get enough of these photos. This one is totally "my parents are so weird". lol...

Ok, I'm committing. I signed the pledge to buy handmade this holiday season. Etsy is the place! Recently I bought this print which I framed and hung in my bedroom. And I love this quilt I got for JT just before he was born. Otherwise I have held back. But if you're on my Christmas gift list this year... watch out, it's gonna be a Crafty Christmas. muhaha.

how many days til Christmas?

Yay... it's Christmas season!! I think I have all my Christmas cards ready to be mailed. I finished them up tonight. Obviously, having them finished this early in the game means I didn't write anything meaningful and sentimental in them. They all feature a darling picture of our little Christmas angel, so I think folks will overlook the lack of sentiment. (Next year... words, I promise.)

Now I just need to get the Christmas music loaded back onto my iPod.

highchair baby

highchair baby, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

I assembled JT's highchair today. He sat in it this evening and had dinner with us. He squealed with delight when we first pulled him up to the table. He loves the vantage point! We fed him some rice cereal with a spoon. He might have swallowed a few granules of it.

Oh, and he isn't totally sitting up on his own yet... but close enough that he can do 10-15 minutes in the chair as long as he's strapped in.

He really likes when I spin his binky like a top... the tray table offers plenty of space for binky spinning. Endless entertainment. Who needs toys? :-)

thanksgiving used to be my favorite holiday

Tonight, in between folding clothes and running the sweeper, John informed me that "thanksgiving used to be my favorite holiday." LOL. Apparently, it's not as fun when you have to clean house and assist with the meal preparation. JT sat and watched us run around the house like crazy people... John sweeping the stairs and me cleaning the living room floor. "What's going on around here? Are we having company or something?!"

You know what I like about hosting Thanksgiving dinner? The house will still be clean Friday through Sunday and I will be off to work to enjoy it. Anyone hitting the stores on Friday to start Christmas shopping? I'm thinking I might... JT wants to see the mayhem. Tee hee.

making seasons bright

So what if he didn't make the finalists for the Gap casting call?! What do those people know about cute babies anyway?!


Our friend Bryan took some amazing pics of JT for our Christmas cards at the open house on Sunday. Awesome, awesome shots that we are just drooling over!

Autism Society of America: Urge Congress to override autism funding veto

Autism Society of America: Urge Congress to override autism funding veto

Ok, I admit, I didn't vote last week. I was pretty ignorant of the candidates and issues, so it would have been pointless. BUT, I am interested in increasing funding for autism research AND getting insurance providers to cover some of the diagnosis and treatment.

I really believe it's a disease that is treatable, if not preventable or curable! There are two little boys dear to my heart who stand to benefit from this... so it was worth 10 minutes of my time.

Will you help by writing to your representatives also?
Find your House Representative here.
Find your Senate Representative here.

thanks.

not the mama

We had a fabulous weekend visiting family. I didn't take a single picture. Too busy being "in the moment." JT was so sweet this weekend. He charmed everyone. He laughs so much lately. And he is much more into watching people and examining things than he has been. I love watching him discover the world... I am so excited for every new day with him.

I love being a mom. There is a unique "feature" between me and JT where sometimes he just wants his mama. He did that a few times over the weekend. He'll be really crabby, but if I just hold him for a second, he calms down. I have to say - I love that feeling. Oh, I love it for myself, but I also like that he has someone (or something) that makes him feel at ease. That's something everyone should have, don't you think?

Of course, it brings to mind that show Dinosaurs from back in the 90s. LOL. Perhaps my family were the only people who watched that show during its short run on tv. (We probably only watched it because we got like 4 channels where we lived. So this dinosaur baby refers to the dad as "not the mama". Sure, you're the dad and you're great, but you're "not the mama". Haha!

now roll over!

Guess who rolled over today? Miranda wrote in his journal that he rolled over on his own. At first we said, "oh no! It's the first time and we missed it!" Then we thought, it was probably on accident. Because this boy doesn't roll over. We have been trying it every day. He hates tummy time and when I roll him back and forth he looks at me like, "that's nice Mommy, I will not be needing that skill."

So after his bath tonight, we popped him over on his tummy. He put his leg out and rolled onto his back. What?! Just like that? Like he has known how to do it all along?!

JT is so strong. He was going crazy in the tub. We know that bath time is over when the tub is completely empty of water after he splashes it all out when kicking his duck.

He's awfully cute. But hmm, now I have to readjust all my habits... no more leaving him on the couch or his changing table. And look out when he figures out crawling... we will be chasing him all over. Aaahh.... changes are coming!!

Little Monsters contest entry: shy monkey babe

JT is featured on the Pregnancy and Baby blog... haha! I entered him in the contest only because the prize is a data storage device, something we could totally use to store all the photos I take!

Pregnancy & Baby Blog » Blog Archive » Little Monsters contest entry: shy monkey babe

I mean, I can't help it that he's so cute... :-)

JT's first Halloween

JT's first Halloween, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

We had fun. Check him out! :-)

I forgot to mention, I didn't make it past the second round of Last Scrapper Standing. I wasn't terribly disappointed. It was the week that John was out of town and JT and I were hanging out. So I was plenty busy otherwise. Plus, I was using that time to dream up the ideas that I'm implementing now for Thanksgiving. I'm also doing a scrappin' project at church this week, so there was some preparation to do for that. The demo layout I did for the church project is pretty cool. I'll share it after the event. Here is round two of Last Scrapper Standing. The challenge was to scrap 7 random facts:


Nana Sparkles surprised us with a visit this evening. We went for a walk. The weather is supposed to turn cooler after tomorrow, so JT and I are soaking it up while we can. We also lose daylight savings time this weekend, so it's gonna be getting dark on us in the evenings.

JT loves admiring the sky and the trees. The trees in our neighborhood are SO colorful. I tried to take some pictures the other day, but I'm not sure that I was able to capture it.

JT's Aunt Jen is coming to visit this weekend... we will probably be doing some crafting. I told her to bring stamps and stuff for Christmas crafting. I don't usually make my own Christmas cards, but I use a TON of homemade gift tags. I've been making gift tags since I was like 10 years old. My grandma was a whiz at making tags from last year's Christmas cards. Hmm, maybe I should post a how-to. It's like the easiest paper-crafting you could do. :-)

Here is a mosaic of fall photo inspiration from around flickr. What is inspiring you these days?

going batty

Today was a non-stop, action-packed day! I got NOTHING on my to-do list done and I will have to play catch-up this week. But it was good.

Becka called after church to see if we wanted to go to Boo at the Zoo. I had planned to make chili, clean house, and run errands while JT watched the Steelers with his dad. But it was SUCH a nice day... I felt like I was being a bad mom to deny the little guy a day in the sun... so we went. It was awesome.

And it's not many days that we see so many friends in one day. We ran into Allison at the zoo with her fam. Amy stopped by in the afternoon to bring John a birthday card. And Jenny and Robert dropped some stuff off in the evening. JT is feeling pretty well-loved right now. (It wore him out -lol!)

Last night I finished up the Thanksgiving decor project I started earlier in the week. It's letters that spell "thanks" for our mantle. Check out more details on Flickr. I'm loving these letters. Plus, the mantle is the only part of the house that got cleaned this weekend... only because I wanted to admire my finished work. Now, if I could just get the rest of the house in order, I could really get on with the decorating!

Here are some creepy "flying foxes", aka bats, to get you ready for halloween...

paper leaves

paper leaves, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

I'm addicted to the flickr mosaics. For this one, I was actually searching for some ideas for a project I was working on tonight. none of these actually resulted in any assistance with the project... but there was some cool stuff that got me completely sidetracked! Maybe this will inspire another project.

Oh, and my paper leaves project turned out SWEET. Can't wait to show it to you. I'll photograph it in the daylight. For now, I'm t-i-r-e-d.

n-night.

sweet little baby-pie

halloween JT, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

He is just so dreamy... JT cried a lot with the sitter this week. I can't figure out why except maybe he misses us. He has been wonderful in the evenings and all day today. We took him out to dinner last night and tonight and he was just good as gold. He laughs and coos and plays with his doggy and just goes along with whatever.

Yesterday evening after we walked, I carried him around the yard just looking around. It was gorgeous out, very still and you could hear peepers... probably the last peepers to hear for a while. So I whispered to him as low as I could, "Do you hear the peepers? Listen... Peep. Peep." He got very quiet and would concentrate for a minute then he would smile GREAT BIG and not make a sound... then he'd concentrate again... I really think he was in tune with what we were listening to.

His sitter has had him sitting in his bumbo seat a lot this week. So he is sitting up pretty good with just a little bit of help. And this afternoon he was working as hard as he could to lift himself up to sitting from a reclined position. It is pretty amazing to see him developing such strength.

I'm thankful that he is such a good sleeper and has taken to sleeping in his crib... but at night I get a little bit of separation anxiety and I just want to climb in and sleep there with him! (Obviously, I won't fit... and we're too paranoid to let him sleep in our bed.)

Christmas Spirit

Christmas Spirit, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

I'm thinking Christmas... here's what's inspiring me!

felt

felt ornaments, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

I bought some felt last weekend... I might be feeling felty crafty. I've been working on a little Thanksgiving decor project this week. The hardest part of it is finished... hopefully tomorrow I can get to the fun part and be done with it. Maybe I'll have photos by the weekend!

And then I can start on the felt. :-)

i.am.so.full.

I just put my little guy in bed for the night. I am so full of love for him right now! His daddy has been gone most of the week, so it was just the two of us. Uh yeah, I should be ashamed to admit it was the first time I was ever alone with my own child for more than one day. I'm lucky - John loves taking care of JT, so we share him pretty equally.

The house is a disaster... I think I picked up two piles today and created 12 more. AND THEN, we were upstairs playing today and a shelf full of picture frames fell down!! So my house went ahead and undecorated itself. Ugh. I got that mess about half cleaned up. Oh well.

Adrienne and I went shopping on Thursday evening. I started my shopping for Thanksgiving stuff. I decided to not be cheap this year. Haha. I figured if we are always hosting, I should invest in some decor items that will make it special. I gave myself a budget of $100. So I found this platter at Crate and Barrel. I love it. I know, it's nothing fancy, but it's cool.
Today I found some other stuff at Kohl's for $50. I'm talking matching tablecloths for the two tables, some candles, a big pumpkin centerpiece, and some festive towels. (My kitchen towels are DISGUSTING - been doing a lot of dish washing since July!) So that leaves me $15 to finish up with some garlands and crafty stuff... hmm, hope that's enough!


As evidence, here is decorating scheme from the last two years. It features mismatched vintage tablecloths and a vase I made in a pottery class that leaks. I still like that vase... pretty sure it will make the cut this year also. I rig it up with a plastic cup so it will hold water. I'm creative that way. hehehe.

Sooo, I'm having company for coffee in the morning bright and early, so I should really think of going to bed now. Night all....

inside Penzey's

inside Penzey's, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

I finally made it to the Penzey's store here in town! Theresa made a request for a gift box that I needed to get before the weekend. I literally got there with only 10 minutes to shop around. I'll have to go back. I'm not any good in the kitchen, but I could fall in mad love with this place. It.is.delicious.

Of course, I didn't get out of there without something for myself. I picked up a jar of their special southwest seasoning to make my taco salads taste scrumptious.