baby shower

Have I mentioned that I'm going to be an aunt? Did I mention that I get a baby without any of the pain, recovery, late nights, or full time worry?! I'm pretty darn excited that my brother and sister-in-law are having this baby for me. So happy, in fact, that I threw Theresa a shower!

Family and friends joined us at Broken Rocks Cafe and Bakery in Wooster. It's a gorgeous restaurant with amazing food. Glen, the owner hooked us up with a great menu of sandwiches, soup, and salads. We just ate, chatted, and opened presents...

Theresa looks awesome. She has a sick schedule between teaching high school and taking classes for her master's degree right now. I would be asleep at the table if it was me!

I'm not even pregnant and I have been too tired to finish all the projects I had in mind for this baby. I did manage to pull together a few purchased things and some handmade. I made a blankie and a scrapbook for baby. There's also a wooden bunny teether in there from Little Alouette. So cute!

To top off the event... we had dessert. Strawberry shortcake and chocolate custard. YUM!

Wooster has such a great downtown. I think several of the ladies sneaked off to shop before or after the shower. There are a couple yarn stores, a scrapbook store, and a bead shop to name a few of the cool places.

I can just imagine the summer days we'll spend strolling around, sipping lattes and shopping... with my little niece in the stroller... oh, did I mention my prediction for the baby is girl? I'm pretty sure of it. Heee!

blog analyzed

Some analysis of my blog reveals that I am type ESTP, a "Doer":

The active and playful type. They are especially attuned to people and things around them and often full of energy, talking, joking and engaging in physical out-door activities.

The Doers are happiest with action-filled work which craves their full attention and focus. They might be very impulsive and more keen on starting something new than following it through. They might have a problem with sitting still or remaining inactive for any period of time.

Oh, I get it. I like dream up and start projects, but not finish them. Sounds about right. Find out what type you are.

My blog is gender neutral, with a slight preference for female. Predictable, since I mostly talk about babies and scrapbooking (with the occasional post about basement remodeling or composting).

It is written at a college reading level. I think that means "unnecessarily complicated sentence structure" or "can't form a cohesive thought" or "too many run-on sentences that are technically correct grammar."

And it's worth about $2258.16. Bah... not going to retire on that.

Happy Thanksgiving. I leave you with a pic from last year... whoa. What a difference a year makes when it comes to babies!

a year ago

We met my friends' little baby girl, Grace, tonight. I didn't get to hang out with her much. In fact, when she started crying, I handed her back to the friend who'd had her (this gal doesn't even have kids... but she seemed to have it figured out).

This baby has me thinking of another little baby who was rocking our world this time last year. In fact, these pictures were taken on this very day in 2007:

cottage cheese

Now there is a blog post title I never thought I'd write. Hehe.

The boys are both asleep and the house is totally quiet. An hour ago I could think of nothing but sleep myself, but now I'm relishing the quiet time. I will regret in the morning.

JT is asserting his independence lately. I guess when you learn how to walk on your own, you are pretty much on your own, right? Bah.

He has been turning down new foods not so much because he doesn't like them, but because they arrive at his mouth on a spoon handled by his mother. He'd much rather feed himself. Oh, but wait. He can't use a spoon. Minor detail.

So last night after failed attempts to feed him some cottage cheese. I just let him have the bowl while I finished my dinner. Once again, I thought, "I will regret this, I'm sure."

He picked up the bowl.

Stuck his hand in it.

He scooped up some cottage cheese. And ate it.

He did this 3 or 4 times. "Sweet... he got some more nutrition in him," I think to myself. Then he performed a scientific experiment testing a hypothesis on gravity.

He finds once again that gravity is always at work and everything he lets go over the side of the high chair does indeed hit the floor. And the wall. And the carpet.

We decided to go for a walk after this. I think there is still some cottage cheese around here...

on the move

Two things to report: Flickr now has video. AND... JT can crawl!

Saturday, documented

Saturday was "document your day". I think I faded out on taking photos in the afternoon. I want to do a scrapbook page about it... we'll see if I get to it! I am halfway through writing down what happened yesterday. I am stalled out because I can't remember what we did in the evening. lol!

But in brief for the blog... here's what Saturday looked like:

JT and I played for 3 hours Saturday morning. Geesh, he sure gets up early! 6:30am, just like the weekdays. Here he is almost figuring out that the ball goes in the hole at the top of the treehouse. He is just catching onto cause and effect with some of his toys. It's amazing to watch.
When John got up, I showered and met up with Ellen and Amber (and kiddies) at the Hilliard baby stuff sale. Love this event! We stood in line so we could get in on the action from the opening bell.

Here is the crowd inside the gymnasium. JT didn't go with me because it opened right at his nap time. Since he won't nap in the stroller, I did the event without him.

That probably worked out in his favor though, look at the pile of stuff I got him! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was over these toys. Everything you see here cost me $33. For some perspective, the octopus alone is about $25-30. Hopefully these toys are high on imagination and low on lead.



And here is something I saw on the way home. Not something you see every day... a life-size doll on the corner! She was advertising for Little Darlings, a second-hand store trying to get the attention of the folks leaving the sale. Oh, trust me... I like Little Darlings store also!


Here's where the day gets away from me... we went to the YMCA and signed up for a membership. We took JT swimming in a COLD pool. We got chocolate dipped strawberry blizzards on the way home. JT took a nap. John went to work for a while. I cleaned the yard sale bounty and took a nap. When John got home we scrounged for leftovers for dinner. JT was in a crabby mood because of his teeth. He and John cuddled and read books. He isn't usually a cuddler, so this was some precious time. I sorted through about 2 weeks of mail. (I've been on a bit of a postal strike.)

After JT's bath, we retired to the man cave. We watched Michael Clayton and I started a craft project. I went to bed early for a Saturday night because I knew the weather was going to be good today and I didn't want to miss any of the fun!

Ok... will have to tell Sunday stories another time. Ta-ta for now.

this baby...

baby in the toy bin, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

...this baby got me up at 6:30am
...this baby has the most infectious smile
...this baby gets more attitude every day
...this baby played with me all morning
...this baby is growing way too fast
...this baby went swimming today
...this baby got a bunch of new toys today
...this baby eats like it's going out of style
...this baby makes kiss noises and zerberts
...this baby reaches for me
...this baby is the center of my world
...this baby can whistle
...this baby is going for a walk when he wakes
...this baby has been asleep for over 2 hours
...this baby needs to wake up.
I miss him.

finishing up the week

I love his long eyelashes. *sigh*

JT is clapping this week. It's his new thing. He wakes up clapping and claps all day long. I picked him up from the sitter today. He jabbered all the way home. It sounded like singing. There were lots of funny faces to go along with his songs. haha!

There was a ton of drool today. We are on the lookout for a new tooth. He has been stalled at 2 bottom teeth for a while now. Not that I'm complaining. He likes to gnaw on us... we aren't looking forward to more teeth until we can put the kibosh on that.

Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday. I'm ready for a break. I'm always ready for a break though! One more look at those eyelashes and I'm off to bed. *sigh* *sigh*

the emperor's new clothes

Here it is, the obligatory "baby getting a sink bath" photo:

I'm still working through sharing photos from two weeks ago... there were a lot, it seems. At least in the future we won't wonder what we did in March 2008.

My Aunt Sandy sent JT a box chock-full of fun clothes. As you may have noticed in his St. Patty's day pic, the kid is growing out of clothes left and right. These clothes were so fun. Cute shirts and little playsets for summer. I love, love, love the troll shirt. He wore it today! Didn't get a picture of him wearing it... will have to do that. We also need to take our 52 weeks photo for the week...

Until next time, beware of trolls...

easter happiness

John and I got baptized this morning! We both accepted Jesus into our lives a long time ago, but just made it official today. It's also our 2 year anniversary for attending our church.

My dad was here to celebrate with us. He and JT spent a lot of time playing.

The Easter bunny got into our house somehow and left a nest for us in the living room. Here is JT checking it out... wearing a sweater Aunt Joan knitted for him:

Later in the day, JT actually spotted the Easter bunny passing through the back yard!

After a sensible lunch, we let JT sample the peeps the Easter bunny brought. The jury is still out on those.

We colored eggs. Well, really, I colored some eggs. And I will probably spend this week eating them. I feel some egg salad coming on.

Joy of joys, the sun appeared today and it wasn't quite so cold outside. So we went for a walk at the park and played at the playground.

It was a great weekend... maybe the best Easter ever. :-)

captain destructo

We call him Captain Destructo now. JT likes to bang his toys... on hard surfaces, against each other... anything that is noisy and destructive.

Earlier this evening we took him out of his bumbo because he's just a danger in it. So he was tipping the bumbo over and rolling it all over the floor. I think we're just going to retire it already!

Here he discovered playing with the big people chairs. Mind you, he can't even crawl yet:



I also taught him to howl at the moon like a wolf tonight after we read a book that had a wolf in it. His howl is pretty wimpy, but we'll keep working on it. (I am an excellent howler.) I want to make sure he learns all the useful things first!

love the snow

Staying up late crafting is catching up with me. I'm off to bed soon.

For tonight, I made JT some fruit cubes to last a couple weeks. The pears are so delicious... juicy! And we are going to experiment with an apple/kiwi blend. Don't make faces, it's actually very good (yes, I tried it).

And now I leave you with JT's reaction to the snow:

should.go.to.bed.

I should really be in bed right now. I'm so tired! But I'm trying to upload some photos for printing so I have something to scrap this weekend. The girls and I are getting away for a weekend crop. I am so jazzed for it. I will miss my boy terribly, but I really need this time. Good friends, good scraps, good times!

JT's new foods this week are asparagus and peas. His diet was a little lacking in the green department. John fed him the peas tonight while I was getting my wig busted. He said JT loved them. Oh well, sorry that I've been neglecting to feed you peas thus far!

His nanny wrote in the journal today that he made a few motions like crawling. Hmm, we're skeptical. He has shown so little interest in it. He better not take it up while I'm gone this weekend... I'll cry!

It is a busy week. Busy at work and lots to get done in order to go away for the weekend. And the new project ideas are swirling in my head at a fast pace. I want to sew along with the pot holders and a table runner for March. I'm thinking that since I'll have my craft area cleaned up and all the scrappin' out of my system, I can get out the sewing stuff next week.

it's good to be king

We visited Uncle Bill and Aunt Theresa in Wooster last weekend. JT showed them all his new tricks: waving, biting, drooling, etc. JT also got to know his cousin Bailey. Maybe we are bad parents... but we let him have the full experience of doggie kisses. JT was amazed that there is a being out there that gives wetter kisses than he does!

We also introduced JT to fine dining.

Oh wait, that's not the photo of fine dining, that was the fast food on the way home. heehee.

On Saturday night we dined at South Market Bistro. The food is phenomenal. They feature seasonal produce and local ingredients. The chocolate fondant was out-of-this-world delicious. JT went with us. He was so good... charming everyone he met.

No pictures from the Bistro, guess I'll have to go back sometime soon!

52 weeks with my kid

Mama and JT in the snow, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

Ok, I'm taking the challenge... 52 weeks with my kid. One photo of me and JT every week for a year. Sure, starting in February is a little random. I was feeling non-committal in January though. :-)

We were lucky enough to have some daylight today and John took our picture. But I daresay it will more often be me doing a self-portrait. At least history will know that I was involved in my kid's upbringing. I mean, to look at the photos so far, I appear completely absent.

The little bugger still has a bit of a head cold. He's cheerful as can be though. You got love a hacking cough and runny nose with a big grin on his face.

He's waving all the time now. The other morning (when he woke up in bed with us... 3 binky retrievals and we opt for co-sleeping...) he waved at John and then at me. Upstairs on his changing table, he waved at his reflection in the mirror. Then he waved at a 2 foot tall Smokey Bear that my grandparents got him for Christmas. He is across the room from the changing table... JT has been eyeballing him only recently. And now it's tradition to wave at Smokey when we're in his room. And I ask him, "What does Smokey say, JT?" And in a very deep voice I answer for him, "ONLY YOU can prevent forest fires!" Lol... it's sure to be his first full sentence!

think or swim

You didn't think there was only one video from swimming, did you? Watch out, this one might make you dizzy...




John set JT beside me tonight while I was sitting with the computer on my lap. JT started banging on the keyboard, of course. He managed to open a new Firefox tab and navigate to the site thinkorswim.com. Haha... ironic. (I have no idea how or why that site - it's not something either of us had been to previously.)

sea legs

JT got his sea legs today. He goes crazy in the tub at bathtime. He kicks all the water out of the tub for no good reason most nights. So we decided to take him where there is a lot more water.

How do you think he liked it?

just chillin'

I wish I was just chillin'... I am so tired. We just watched the end of the super bowl. That was the first time I'd sat down since mid-day. I spent the whole day making baby food for JT. We were almost OUT completely. I bought a bunch of stuff last week on Thursday and didn't get to make it up until today.

Here is the work in progress:

And here is the freezer full of goodies:

Many thanks to Ellen... the food processor and the white ice cube trays are all on loan from her. She also gave me the great idea for mango-applesauce. JT loves it! Today I made up several new foods for him, including cauliflower, carrots, and spaghetti squash. His new food over the weekend was YoBaby yogurt. The vanilla is delicious.

Oh, and I should mention... the baby food is freezing right now in our BRAND... NEW.... REFRIGERATOR!!!

The best feature? Ice and water in the door. Good-bye ice cube trays and water filtration pitcher!

Caesar... salad.

We had PF Changs takout for dinner. You know what that means... lettuce wraps, mmm-mmm.


Caesar... salad., originally uploaded by brungrrl.

Hey JT, you look like Caesar. Caesar salad!!

C'mon, lettuce go get a bath. :-)

play, play, play!

JT has been in bed for almost 2 hours now... I miss him! He was fun and adorable all weekend. He's teething pretty fiercely which causes some grouchiness, but overall... much happiness. The drooling and gnawing of teething has not been in vain, his first tooth came through this weekend!

On Saturday JT played with Ally and Nicholas most of the day. We walked in the park and played on the swings... it was beautiful outside! There was a LOT of baby laughter that day. We gave Ally the fleece blanket I started on around the start of the new year. I have a few more blankies lined up for the sewing machine... I'm pretty excited about how this one turned out and looking forward to some more:


John, JT and I spent a lot of time just playing. He is sitting up on his own really well now. He is launching backwards less every time we try it. :-) So we make little "baby nests" of pillows and toys and let him go to town.

So here's looking forward to another week of play and laughter... and no more growing up!!