He Keeps Me...

...terrified

I was taking pictures of the little man a few days ago, and he walked out into the hallway. It got quiet. Then, he started saying, "Cool! Cool! Cool!" I walked out in the hallway to see what was so cool.

An enormous, wriggling wolf spider that my son was picking up and poking.

Yep.

Not cool. Terrifying.

And, on top of the terror of the spider incident (which resulted in me screaming bloody murder, my heart rate slamming through the roof, and me kicking the devil out of that thing until my son stared blankly at me in shock and then collapsed in tears....mom stinks, she destroyed the "cool"), we now have yet another yucky creature that my son is obsessed with...

Yes, he learned about them in his animal book. There is very little stopping him (other than my husband's hopefully quick reflexes) from reaching out and trying to pluck one of those darn things out of the air.

...surprised

Two nights ago, we were sitting down to dinner. We held hands (actually, this involves us grabbing onto the toddler's forearms as he obliviously eats his food) and the hubbs said the prayer. Just as he said, "Amen," the toddler stopped what he was doing and shouted, "Amen!"

Blink. Blink.

Apparently, in his little Bible school, they are learning, "If you're happy and you know it say, 'Amen.'" Preciousness. Seriously. It made my entire night.

...laughing

Now, when I tell him, "It's time for your nap," he immediately replies with, "Night, night" (it sounds more like "nigh-nigh").

And when I rock him, and he's tired of rocking, he will look up and say, "Night, night."

Today, when we were in the library, he found a giant teddy bear, crawled into its lap (and after identifying its "eye," "bell" (belly), "nose," "eee-yur," "foo" (foot), and "knee"), put his hands behind his head, and screamed (yes, screamed in the dead-quiet library), "NIGHT, NIGHT! NIGHT, NIGHT! NIGHT, NIGHT!" I couldn't help but burst out laughing at how cute and hilarious he looked.

...on my toes

Today, I took little man to the library to pick out some Halloween books.

He was in heaven--seriously! His favorite thing in the world is reading, and he couldn't believe how many books were all around (and--yikers--within reach!). He ran to the bookshelves and started ripping out every book in front of him while I tried to frantically discipline him in a silent library. "No! No! Do not do that! That is a no no!" But, like most of my attempts to control my child in public, this one failed miserably.

What was I to do?

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I started just shoving those books right into the shelves--wherever I saw a gap. Those poor, poor librarians. I feel like I should go volunteer at the library or make a donation or something to make up for the time that it will take them to re-sort alllllllllllll of those books.

...from having to clean my floors

What a great son I have. Need proof? He cleans my floors. ;)

...in love

My little "Butch Cassidy" (as I constantly call him) is my gift from God! He makes my every day exciting and wonderful. The other night, he was sick, and so he came in our bed to sleep. He nuzzled right into me all night. I spent most of the early morning kissing his strawberry-blonde hair and listening to him breathe and make little noises.

The sounds of heaven.

He keeps my life in perspective. I want to be such a good mother to him, and I know that I will mess up along the way, but there is no way I could love that sweet, messy, spider-loving, book-ripping, tantrum-throwing boy any more than I do. "Oh, how He loves us so!" That is what I think every time I lay eyes on my gift from God. :)

That's One Way To Use A Spoon

The toddler was getting frustrated with his spoon. It just wasn't doing the job for his mandarin oranges. Here's his solution...

Fun In The Front Yard

Now that the weather is nice once again, the toddler and I are back out in the front yard nearly every afternoon. I cherish these sweet times together when it's just the two of us--carefree, goofing off, sharing some sugar (that's southern for giving your momma a kiss), being silly, and learning new words. This week, his "outside" words that he's been using are "acorn," "pumpkin," and "bee." Preciousness. Really. I wish I could bottle this age forever. He's just so darn cute. Okay, I'll stop gushing now and share our cute pictures. :)

Could he be any cuter? Could I be any more in love with my little mister?! I don't see how!

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How are you enjoying the nice fall weather?

Locked Out

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Nearly every mom I know has her own story of when it happened to her.

This morning, I got locked out of my house--with my fifteen month old inside!

I had gone out on the back deck to see what was causing the neighbor's dog to bark so much. (This was a waste of time--and you know this if you've ever been to my house--because that dog barks incessantly.) I couldn't figure out what the dog was barking at, so I turned around to walk back inside. Bam.

I was locked out.

The first thing that I did was stifle my panic. I had just put the toddler down for a nap, so I knew he was safe in his crib. I also stifled the thought of smashing in the back window. I quickly ran around the house and ran to my (non-dog-barking) neighbor's house. No answer. I ran to another house. No answer. And another. No answer.

Finally, I saw a woman walking down the sidewalk talking on her phone.

Picture this: Me--in sweats with a pseudo-greasy ponytail and with the remnants of yesterday's makeup on--running through some stranger's yard across the street yelling, "Ma'am! Excuse me! Ma'am! I need your phone!" She looked at me--rightly so--like I was crazy.

"I locked myself out of my house, and my baby is inside sleeping!"

That got her to hand me her phone pretty darn quickly.

First, I called my husband. I knew he was probably seeing patients, and sure enough, he didn't answer. Next, I called my dad, who was also seeing patients but always answers his phone. He picked up, and he was at my house within ten minutes.

Just one problem. He didn't have a key to my house (he will now, though).

We called Pop-a-Lock. They said twenty minutes. After thirty something minutes (and me getting furious at the Pop-a-Lock folks on the phone), my dad decided he was going to take a crack at unlocking the door. He hopped out of his car, grabbed a credit card, and within three minutes had the door open. Yay for my dad always getting locked out of his apartment in medical school and thus developing this awesome skill!

Daddy to the rescue! He totally saved my day!

The little guy was in his crib shouting for me when I ran into the house. He was fine!

I really hope that this is my last "locked out" story. But I'm sure that with only one child who is a mere fifteen months old and the fact that we want to have at least three more kiddos, it won't be. :)

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Have you ever been locked out before? What did you do?

Colds All Around

Ha-ha! I wish.

Yes, once again, sickness has struck in our little household of three. All three of us are sniffling, snotty, coughing, and a teensy bit feverish. Yuck.

When I took the little one to MDO this week, he had the sniffles. I thought it was the weather change. He didn't have a fever, so I didn't think anything of it. Then, it struck the hubbs. We figured it was something he picked up at the hospital (apparently, third year medical students get sick a lot--super). He didn't seem bad, though. The little one seemed to be over the sniffles by Friday, which was convenient since I was having a dinner party that evening.

So, la-dee-da, I was cooking and cleaning all day Friday. As soon as our friends came over, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm sure I looked like quite the picturesque hostess, trying to inadvertently wipe my nose every five minutes. Again, super.

By Saturday morning, all three of us were pseudo-miserable--except that I'd already RSVP'd for two parties. (In case you are unaware, I have two great pet peeves in life: 1) when people don't RSVP, and 2) when people RSVP that they're coming and then don't show up.) So, I decided I would go. I didn't have a fever--just sniffly. I made it through once again trying to secretly wipe my nose and not sound like a man from being so stopped up.

Then, when we woke up this morning, it was full-on sickness for all three of us. Erg. My husband is the sexiest man alive, because when I woke up this morning at 6:30 to cries of "Mommmmmaaaa!" coming out of the monitor, and swung my legs over the bed only to find a pounding headache, a nose stuffed up, and an aching body, he said, "Go back to bed, babe. I'll take care of him. You sleep as long as you want."

Um, Perfect Husband of the Year Award 2011? I think so.

So, we're all staying home today. Here's to magically getting better by Tuesday (for me and little man), and tomorrow (for my 'nearly a doctor' husband)!

So-Gal's Recipe: Pumpkin Pie

I made this scrumptious pie yesterday in celebration of the first day of fall (yippee for cooler weather!).

You will need:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup of canned pumpkin
• 1 cup of evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/4 cup of maple syrup
• 1 tsp. of ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. of salt
• 1/2 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp. of maple flavoring
• 1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract
• 1 unbaked pastry shell (9 inches)
• Whipped cream (optional)

1. In a large bowl, beat the first ten ingredients until smooth. Pour into pastry shell.
2. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes.
3. Reduce heat to 350; bake 45-50 minutes.
4. Cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!

Dada Is Home!

All day long while Dada is up at the hospital, the toddler is waiting for him to get home. At the slightest sound, "Dada? Dada? Dada?" He'll walk over to the front door, and then he'll walk over to the door to the garage. He ignores my comments of, "No, Dada isn't home yet," because he has to see for himself.

The happiest moment of his day is when I announce, "Dada is home!" His eyes light up, he stretches his arms out, and he shouts, "Dada!" over and over and over. It makes my heart warm each and every day. I think I love it just as much as he does.

Packing Up

I decided it was time to pack up the 9-12 month clothing as well as the infant toys/bedding/random assortment of things. The toddler, of course, volunteered to help. What a sugar bugar boo he is, always helping his Momma.

First, we made a really big mess.

Then, we got everything put in the clothing box.

Sadly (for the toddler), everything was eventually organized and put away.

Then, we realized how many extra hangers we had. Oh my.

And, even more unnerving, we realized how few 18 month - 2T clothes we had.

We didn't fret for long, though. We still had to move the boxes to the living room for Dada to put up in the attic.

Yay for the rare organizational days in my household!

Growing Up

The toddler has been acting like such a...well...toddler lately! Here are some of the cute things he's been doing:

~He will ask, "Wuzzat?" (What's that?) He doesn't do it all the time, yet.

~I don't turn the monitor on loud until about 6 AM. Depending on what time the toddler wakes up, he will say, "Mama! Mama! Mama! MOMAAAAAA! MOMMMMAAAAAA! MOMMMMMAAAAAA!" It's like the child thinks I've just decided to go for a week-long vacation and leave him in his crib.

~He wants to point out everything. Everything. The second I turn on the alarm to leave, "Bye-bye!" The instant we walk out to the car, "Car!" As we're driving down the road, "Car!" When we play outside, "Sky!" Every time a bird chirps or a dog barks, "Bir! Dog!"

~He can point to and say eyes, nose, ears, belly, teeth, hair. My favorite? "Mama nose." Yes, son, yes she does. Don't ever forget it. :) And like any good southern boy, he pretty much always adds an extra syllable onto whatever he's saying. For example, "ear" sounds very much like, "eee-yer."

~He is starting to pitch fits in restaurants. We've decided that unless we're doing a very loud restaurant for dinner, it's worth the ten bucks an hour we pay our babysitters.

~I introduced "time out" the other day. We'll see how that goes...

~He's obsessed with cereal bars, Colby Jack cheese, yogurt ("yo!"), apple straws, and juice ("deuce"). He calls "water" "law-ter." It doesn't matter if he's taking a bath, pointing out a pool or sprinklers, or drinking water. It's one of the fifty other things he has to point out every. single. time. he sees it.

~His favorite book is "Washington D.C." He loves the pages on the White House and the president's helicopter. If he hears a plane, he says, "Heli-caw!"

~He is beyond, beyond, beyond obsessed with fire trucks. He points them out on everything. The other day, we were leaving Walmart and one drove through the parking lot and the firemen waved at him and honked. It was all I heard for the next twenty-four hours. "Fire tuck, fire, fire, fire tuck, fire." He really didn't want me to forget. :)

I Know Why the Surprised Duck Falls

I now know what a duck feels like as it flaps innocently over a duck blind.

It is excited to feel the wind caressing its feathers. It feels the crisp cold of morning and watches as the early light unveils its first glimpse of what the day has to hold. It is exhilarated, energized, thrilled to be alive.

And then, so very unexpectedly, it is shot through the chest with a shot gun bullet and the beautiful sky, clouds, sun--the very heavens above--go twisting like a mad top as it careens with the grace of a flailing toddler about to get a flu shot through the heavens.

Ahem. We thought it would be a good idea to take the toddler and go on a family mini-vacation to Eureka Springs this past weekend. Since you can guess how that went (car sickness due to the Pig Trail (you understand if you're an Arkansan); a breakdown in the middle of Pizza Hut; an hour-long tour in a cave that wasn't suited for a toddler who happened to discover that his screaming was much, much louder underground; Mommy about to rip her actual hair out on a train that was going slower than a dying person walks; not being able to get out of our hotel room and so being forced to stay the night). I could go on. But I won't. Instead, I will leave you with our deceptively happy pictures. Enjoy. We sure didn't. ;)

[Side Note: Do you ever think my titles are weird? Probably. Google them if you think I'm crazy.]

Mum's the Word

Today, the little dude and I went and bought some chrysanthemums. They were only ninety-seven cents each. Woo hoo! The toddler was so excited about our purchase that he went all through Walmart shouting "Flowers!" (literally.shouting.) over and over and over (until a lady stopped us and said, "Oh my, can you say balloons?" and then he shouted "Ball!" repeatedly until we got to the car). Anyway, I love planting chrysanthemums, because it means that it's fall at last!

Yucky

The toddler is saying a ton of words, but one of his current favorites is "yucky."

At first, I was offended. I thought my sweet, precious son that I carried for nine miserable months and then gave birth to naturally (that's right, folks), was calling my floors yucky. Not cool. No, they're not as clean as before you were born, but they're not too bad. Certainly not yucky.

Thankfully, I was wrong. He wasn't calling my floors yucky.

The thing is....he still wants to stick anything and everything in his mouth. "Yucky" is, um, his justification. That is, we'll be playing outside, he will grab a handful of dirt and stick it in his mouth. Don't worry. He'll spit it out, swat violently at his tongue, and declare, "Yucky!" He will then walk over to me and attempt to stick whatever it is in my mouth. "Yucky," I say. Yucky justifies his curiosity. I hope we outgrow this soon. :)

And, not everything is yucky.

Funny

Sometimes, I really get a kick out of what having a son has done to me. Ahem, for example:

Last week, the toddler and I went to go visit Aunt Coco in her new apartment. We were sitting in the kitchen eating lunch, and the little guy kept pointing out the window and saying, "Cool! Cool!"

I looked out of the window and instantly said, "Look! It's a backhoe loader!"

What? Are you kidding me? Did that just come out of my mouth!?

And then, tonight we went to go pick up a pizza, and behind the building, there it was: "Look at that! Look at the mini excavator!" My husband just stared at me like I was a green alien. "What!? It's a mini excavator."

Like everyone knows that.

We cracked up laughing. Oh, the things you learn when you have a little boy!