Go hug Alice

Alice needs a hug. Please keep her in your thoughts today.

Crap

I hate being tagged. :-)

What I was doing 10 years ago: I was in my last year of college, living in a townhouse in Bowie, with two other girls. I had two jobs...one at a plastic surgery office, and the other at a mental therapy office.

5 things on my to-do list today…
Get some policies mailed out at work.
Pick up something for dinner.
Order a photo for my mom from my wedding (two years ago!)
Find out how to join our local pool
Empty the dishwasher

5 snacks I enjoy…
Baked Cheetos
Muffins
Cheese and Peanut Butter Crackers
Cookies
Ice Cream

5 things I would do if I were a billionaire
Pay off my mortgage
Put money away for Carter
Travel to Europe
Buy a nice house and employ staff (housekeeper, personal chef, etc.)
Quit my job :-)

5 bad habits…
Too much TV.
I eat a lot of crap that's not healthy
Wasting time doing nothing
Procrastinating
Picking at Carter's boogies and earwax

5 places I’ve lived…
Owings Mills, MD
College Park, MD
Bowie, MD
Arlington, VA
Fairfax, VA

5 jobs I’ve had…
Deli Cashier
Receptionist
Grocery Store Cashier
Public Relations Gal
Office Manager

I won't tag anyone, but am pretty interested in your answers. Respond in the comments!

Cloth Diapers

In case anyone was wondering how our foray into cloth diapering is going, here's our update. Well, MY update, since Chris refuses to use them. :-)

We've used the FuzziBunz, BumGenius, and Girl's handmade ones. I think the BumGenius may be my favorite, even though it leaked on us the other day. That may have been my fault. I like the FuzziBunz a lot too but the snaps sometimes undo themselves. And Girl's are super cute, but maybe more work than I'd like. I'm lazy. :-)

Here's a pic of Carter in his FuzziBunz today. Cute, right?

A brush with fame

Carter and I went to Whole Foods on Friday. I was looking to see if his organic baby food was any cheaper there than I got it on sale for at Safeway. We walked in and saw all these lights and cameras and a board that said they were filming and by entering the store we allow ourselves to be shown on tv. Cool, right?



So we walk in and see them filming a segment and the star was Emeril Lagasse! Sweet. Carter and I stood in the produce section and watched for a while and during a quick break, Emeril looked over at us and waved. I took this picture right after that happened.

This next pic is him working on the next scene with his costar. They were filming a show called Emeril Green for the new channel, Planet Green. I don't know why my Whole Foods was chosen, but it was very cool that they were.

So, that was our brush with fame. Very exciting.

Why Carter is So Skinny

He "runs" like this ALL THE TIME. He's a maniac.

Happy Anniversary, my love

Two years ago, I married my best friend. One year ago I was pregnant with our son. Today, my life is complete. Happy Anniversary sweetheart.

A few pics from this past weekend. My brother, SIL Holly, and their kids, Sydney and Ryan, flew in from Tucson for Passover. I was so excited to get the boys together. Ryan's a few weeks younger than Carter and I was dying to see them interact.

Sydney was so cute with Ryan. She calls him Little Man and loves going up to him and talking to him in a singsong voice and touching his head. I'd say, "touching his hair" but he's got my brother's hairline. :-)

Here's our little dude chilling out in his stroller at Annie's Playground. Bella, Sydney and Brandon had such a good time running around. We chilled in the shaded area with Carter and Ryan, who slept the whole time.

Carter and Ryan hanging out with Mr. Sunshine. They loved playing together.

I love Ryan's meaty thighs. They're enormous and awesome. Carter looks like such a little stick next to him!

Hanging out at MomMom and Zaidy's house playing Bingo with Sydney.

The boys playing on the floor together. They had a blast. Carter kicked like a madman and swiveled his hips, doing his best Elvis impersonation, and Ryan played with his feet.

Yelling at Grandpa Lawrence, who he met for the first time.

Baby and Me Swim Class

Carter and I are signed up for a swim class starting May 9th. That gives me 2 weeks to find a swimsuit. God help me.

Pics from this weekend to be posted later. Carter had a blast meeting his cousins and aunt and uncle.


Edited: I've cancelled the class after reading I'm Not Skippy's comment and doing some online research. I'm not willing to risk it.

He's here! Tucker Scott was born around 7:00 tonight. Congrats to Heather and Brian!!!! Can't wait to meet the little dude tomorrow!

Vacation's Over

After one year and two months, my period has officially returned. Fabulous.

How's that for more information than you wanted to know?

Crusty Eye

Carter woke up this morning with a swollen crusty eye. He couldn't even open it. Poor thing. I tried wiping it away with a warm, wet cotton ball but there was so much crusted on that I just gently had to pick it off enough for him to pry his lids apart.

Went to the doctor and he has some sort of bacterial infection. I have to put Erythromycin on it four times a day for the next few days. Needless to say, he doesn't enjoy it when I do that.

So, I had to stay home from work yet again today since he's contagious. Lovely.

It doesn't look so bad in this picture because I had just cleaned it up and put the medicine on, but you can definitely tell which one's the bad one.

Five Months

Carter is now five months old. I can hardly believe it. He's got so much personality now. He's like a real person instead of, to quote Angelina Jolie, a blob. He grins and squeals and talks. Still no real giggles though. He's eating rice cereal, peas and green beans. He loves to eat. His little mouth opens wide the second he sees me pull a spoon out of the drawer. He is *thisclose* to flipping over from back to belly. We work on it every day.

We're having sleeping issues and it's been driving me a little mad. I had a 4 a.m. pity party last night. All I could think about as I held our screaming child was that I was so tired, I felt like shit (I have some sort of throat infection), and I was hungry. I can hardly find time to eat anything anymore, especially dinner. I cried and felt sorry for myself for a good half hour. Then, I just had to leave Carter in his crib and let him cry because I just couldn't take it anymore. He cried for about 20 minutes and fell back to sleep, all the while with his Mama crying in her bed along with him. I fell back to sleep and woke 45 minutes later with him yelling again. Again. It had now been 5 times that I'd gotten up with him. This time, I nursed him and brought him into bed with me (Chris had just gotten up for work). He was quiet and beautiful for the next two hours.

I have our babysitter keeping track of his naps for me, and we're going to sleep train him (for real this time) next weekend. This weekend we'll be in Baltimore so we can't do it then. I just can't take it anymore. Chris sleeps through the screaming and it drives me crazy. There's no point in waking him to handle things because I'm already awake. You know? Plus, like most men he gets frustrated quickly when Carter won't quiet down, and I think the baby senses that frustration and it makes him cry even harder. Plus, he's used to being soothed a certain way and Daddy doesn't do it the same as Mommy.

It's hard being his only nighttime comfort. It really is.

Today, I got a bit of a break. I stayed home from work to nurse this stupid throat thing and took Carter to daycare. I slept for 3 hours. It was heavenly. Then I tried to clean the house a little but I'm exhausted after a half hour. Stupid sickness.

And now that I've made this post all about me and not my beautiful birthday boy, I will go pick him up and cuddle with him, because at the end of the day, I just love him so much. He's my world. The 4 a.m. pity parties are worth it.

Oh, and Erika, will definitely be posting as soon as that little baby arrives. She's scheduled for an induction on Saturday if he/she doesn't show by then.

Taking the plunge

I think I'm going to be taking the plunge and starting to use cloth diapers. I've ordered a couple of different ones, so we'll see how it goes. We'll still use disposable at night and at daycare, but I'd like to do cloth part time. Girl has inspired me. She has some super cute ones in her Etsy shop.

Knowing me...Carter may take his first poop in one and I'll be done with them. :-)

Update

Miss Hayleigh's surgery didn't correct the problem she was having, unfortunately. But this little girl is such a rock star. Click here for an update from her momma.

Strange question...

But it's been bothering me.

How come Queen Elizabeth's husband, Prince Philip, is just a prince? Doesn't he automatically become King because she's Queen?

Royalty confuses me.

Our neighbor

I've heard him/her barking all hours of the night but never was able to see him during the day. Yesterday I heard him barking and looked outside and there he was, just hanging out on a log, barking at the dog in the building next door.

Makes it look like I live in the country, doesn't it?? Yeah, not so much. I just happen to have a condo that faces a little bit of woods.

Chris saw some deer in our parking lot once. Weird.

I'm not ready for this...

Carter has the tiniest little white spot on his lower gums. He's growing up too fast!

The best news ever!

My friend D? She's pregnant!!!! I'm overcome with joy. Just absolutely overcome.

Thank you, Norah, for helping your mama heal. You're sorely missed.

My A-ha Moment

I finally figured out what's been causing Carter's red, sore bum. It was weird because it would get all inflamed for a few days, and I'd treat it with gobs of A&D and it would get better, and then it would come back again.

On Tuesday, it hit me. Tuesday morning his butt was looking almost normal again but when he got home from daycare that afternoon, it was beet red. That's when I realized the problem...he's allergic to Desitin! I gave his sitter a tube of Desitin to use on him so that's what he gets at daycare, and that's why it clears up on the days he's home with me. Duh!

I've now supplied her with a tube of A&D and made sure she's using the "sensitive" wipes on him, and it seems to be clearing up already. Poor guy. He has a clueless mama.

Um..

Wow. That's all I can say. Just...wow.

Happy birthday, my love

Happy 30th, baby!

Note to Self

Do not let Carter play in his Johnny Jump Up right after a meal. He will projectile vomit all over you as soon as you pick him up.

Request

Please pray for my friend and her daughter today. Thinking about you, Hayleigh!