Yum Yum Mum Mum

We recently discovered Mum Mums and Carson LOVES them! They are great practice for him feeding himself. They are just little rice cakes that dissolve easily. They are the perfect size for him to hold on to. Everynow and then, he bites off a little more than he can chew and needs my help, but for the most part, he's got it down. I'm thinking he should be the model on the box! :-) They also come in Original and Vegetable flavors, so we'll have to check those out too. I'm thinking they may be a life saver when we're on the plane on Friday!

1st Crawfish!

Can I get an Amen?!?

One of the best things about living in Southeast Texas is CRAWFISH!

Andrew's parents drove down for the afternoon to enjoy the first batch of crawfish of the year...and to help rearrange the living room. :-) Andrew's a crawfish-cookin' expert. They were PERFECT!

Somebody was sleepy, but loves sleeping in his Wannie's arms...

Make Ya Smile Mondays!

Mushy Ritz crackers, anyone?













Outside Fun!








Happy Monday!

Friday Faves! - Updated

Five things that popped in my head this morning that ROCK!!!:

1. Weekends at home... ahh!!! It's STILL busy season, so any little break I can get is welcomed. Last weekend I was a single mom, but somehow I managed to get way more accomplished than when Andrew is here. I missed him, of course, and don't know how single moms do it. I think I attribute my getting stuff done to just actually committing to FINALLY check some things off my "Home Projects To Do List". I refinished a small desk, painted the shutters, painted a chair, pulled weeds, and got to spend lots of time with the little man. This weekend I have a a couple other painting projects planned and hopefully can start on a sewing one as well.

2. HEB Sushi - I know it may seem gross to some people to buy sushi at the grocery store, but I LOVE HEB Sushiya! I just am sure to eat it the day I buy it. I've never gotten sick. :-) Yum Yum!


3. Amazon - If you haven't signed up for Amazon Mom, check it out! I buy just about everything on Amazon these days. No tax and free 2-day shipping. You can't beat that! Not to mention you can get some AMAZING deals. LOVE IT. (too much) I like to buy stuff just to get packages in the mail. It's fun!

4. Carson's new car seat - It's still sitting on the living room floor, but it's beautiful. It's even prettier in person than it was on the computer. I just like looking at it. :-) I can't imagine if we had gone with a normal size infant car seat at the beginning. He would have been out of it in 4 months and this post would have been a long time ago. I also can't imagine how a 35 pound baby could possibly fit into his carseat now, the Graco SnugRide 35. Carson's close to 25 pounds (I'm guessing), and the straps seem to have come out all they are going to come out and I can barely get him in there anymore. Add 10 pounds, NO WAY! I think part of his problem is that he's just about to the height limit of 32". Heck, he may have passed it. He was 29" two months ago. His head isn't over the top, so I figured it was still okay.
We went ahead and went with the Boulevard for my car since it's older. I'll take any extra protection I can get. If we like this seat, we'll probably get the Marathon for Andrew's truck. THANK YOU to Wannie and Papi for the car seat!!! :-)

5. Fresh berries - I love blackberries. I love blueberries. I love strawberries. Fresh is a must, frozen only works if you're making a smoothie. What's super cool is that we will have our OWN fresh strawberries this year! We do have some red ones now, I just just haven't taken a new pic. I ate the first strawberrry out of our garden last night. Delicious!


Happy Friday Everyone!!!

Almost forgot two more AWESOME things....
1. Having family an hour away that can watch Carson when I go to Houston. Carson has so much fun at Wannie & Papi's house. Well, not really at the house because he hits the town when he visits! Pictures from all over Houston on Carson's first big shopping trip with Wannie & ViVi to come later! They literally shopped til he dropped! [Hi Mom... wish you were closer so you could do the same thing. :-( sad face]
2. Fried fresh bass filets and homemade French fries (i.e. our dinner tonight!!!... jealous???)

"Hi"

Carson just might be voted Nederland High School's "Most Friendly" some day. He has it down that when he meets someone new he says "Hi." Of course, it sounds way cuter coming from him in that sweet, drawn out baby voice. It doesn't have to be someone new either. I just walked into the living room and waved at Carson and said "hi" and he said "hi" right back to me. Anytime Jill would wave his hand, he would say "hi". We went back and forth three times with me saying "hi", then him saying "hi". He's getting the waving thing down too. It's more with "hi" than it is with "bye" though. So sweet!!! Now, if we can just get him to say "Howdy!" :-)

Who'd a thunk???

Well, my TheBump.com weekly e-mail for Week 35 has confirmed what I already was pretty sure I knew:

Blue, green, or brown?

Baby's eye color is pretty much set by now, and his vision is almost fully developed... .

Looks like we made a blue-eyed child...Who'd a thunk??? :-)

For those who have never stared at us up close, I have hazel eyes and Andrew has light brown (but no one ever sees them because he lives in sunglasses!). I come from a mom with brown and a dad with light blue. I will note that a lot of people on my dad's side are blue-eyed. I think both his parents are. Andrew comes from a mom with blue (I think they are more blue/green) and a dad with brown. His sister, Amanda, is the blonde haired/blue-eyed one in their family. I guess since neither one of us got the blue eyes, the recessive genes decided to stand up and represent! Carson's eyes are definitely more a "true" blue versus a blue-green or an ice-blue.


Who'd a thunk?!?!

Venison Jerky!!!

Carson has not quite mastered real food yet. He's perfectly content with pureed fruits & veggies, and he LOVES oatmeal. I've practically had a heart attack twice because I thought he was choking on a puff and a small piece of banana. They seem to go to the back of his mouth too quick and get stuck. He can eat the puffs if I break them into 2-3 pieces, but when I do that they are so small that he can't really pick them up. If he does, they get stuck on his fingers and he "loses" it. It "disappears" and he doesn't keep trying to put it in his mouth. The other morning he seemed interested in my toast with jelly on it, so I let him suck on piece for little bit to get soft before he swallowed. He seemed to really like it. That concept of eating made more sense to him. I still don't get why a child who puts everything else in his mouth doesn't put food in his mouth. Oh well.

So anyway, Andrew got back from the deer lease today with some fresh (well, is it really?) venison jerky from the little meat market in Stonewall. We brushed off some of the pepper and let Carson have a taste. He LOVED it! Something with FLAVOR!!! YAY!!! Who'd a thought that Carson would LOVE venison jerky?!? Then we let him hold it and he just was smacking away. It was hysterical!!! I really should gave gotten the video camera out. He was just gnawing away. This was actually pretty soft jerky compared to some out there. I think this actually might be good practice for him chewing. Good times!










I don't think he actually ate much. I think he just gnawed the flavor out. :-)

Make Ya Smile Monday

Anyone that knows Lucy, or the Magoose as she is affectionately known to me, knows the is a complete NUT when it comes to playing fetch. Her Flippety Flopper (Frisbee thing) is her crack. She's crazy. She always follows us around and drops it at our feet so we'll throw it to her. Well, she did the cutest thing. She dropped it at the foot of Carson's walker when we were outside. Unfortunately, I think she was a little disappointed when he didn't pick it up and throw it to her. He looked at it like he knew what to do, but I think it will be a little while before he's able to throw it to her.




If these don't make you smile, you have problems. :-)

Friday Faves!

It's Friday, and I'm in a great mood! My brain has had to work too hard this week, and I'm ready for a weekend of nothingness. To kick it off, here are five things I'm loving at the moment that don't have to do with my precious kiddo and handsome husband. Those are always my true faves!

Five (not obvious) Things That Have Made Me Smile This Week:

1. My beautiful Black Lucchese boots! I had always wanted a nice pair of black cowboy boots, so I splurged and bought these with my birthday money a few months ago. They are no longer stiff and fit my feet just perfect. LOVE THEM! Oh, and I love the smell of leather. Yes, I will pick up things (purse, shoes, belt, etc.) at a store and smell them. But since I don't get out much, I just smell my boots.




2. Feeding the birds. Andrew built two little bird feeding ledges on the fence (the other is outside Carson's room) and every morning I go and dump a cup of crushed corn out there for the birdies. I love watching the doves, black birds, chi chi birds, and occasional blue jays come and eat. I can see the feeder from my desk, so I almost feel like I'm outside during the day (except I have A/C!).


(If you look closely, you can see a dove (and my ugly, not-yet-bloomed crepe myrtle and weeds in the yard).

3. Blogging. I wish I had started sooner. We all seem to get so caught up with being a mommy, wife, working, and life in general that we don't often make time to just reflect. Blogging has been my chance to sit back, look at our little life, put it in writing and pictures, and share it with the world (or the handful of people who actually read it and care). Since I haven't really had much time to pursue any hobbies lately, blogging has been my little mini-hobby. Love it.

4. Cookie dough. Who actually buys the fundraiser cookie dough to actually make cookies? Not me. :-)


5. Making the bed. I was never forced to make my bed every morning (or maybe I was supposed to and never did... don't remember) and never really have been a bed-maker. I used to go through little spurts where I'd make it for a couple days and I always really liked when I did. So, for some reason, now it is part of my daily morning ritual. Before I go sit down for work, the kitchen is clean and the bed is made. I walk past our room all the time, so to be able to look in and see a made bed just seems to make the whole house seem more put together. It takes 2 minutes, so why not! I think one reason I actually make it now is because I downsized the pillow situation. Seriously, who needs 10+ pillows on the bed? Nobody. It may look fabulous in a Pottery Barn catalog, but it is not practical.

Okay, so I kind of like this Friday Faves idea... you may see it again!

Happy Weekend Everyone!

I Know These Are Supposed to be My Friend, but.....

I CAN'T STAND THESE THINGS....GROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I know they supposedly kill mosquitoes, so I should like them, but they totally gross me out...and they seem to be EVERYWHERE! They magically sneak in our house and seek out wherever I am. Every night I have been sitting at my desk when one creeps in out of nowhere and touches me on the arm or something. Then, it starts circling my computer. Of course, I can never find anything firmer than an single sheet of paper within arm's reach so that I can take the sucker OUT. What's even grosser is that I'll catch Shooter or Lucy eat one. If it's flying anywhere near their head, it's done for. Gross.

I have never been grossed out by bugs, I'm usually the one volunteering to squash them. I mean, I was one of two official bug killers in our Girl Scout troop back in the day. Roaches still top the list though, and I will jump on top of furniture if I see one of those big nasty ones. I am the biggest weenie when it comes to roaches, but anything else I'm cool with. Thankfully, our quarterly treatment from Security Pest and Lawn seems to be working. I think I've seen 2 roaches in the three years we lived here, and all were before we started getting treatment. Unfortunately, mosquito killers don't seem to fall under treated insects. At least they don't bite. I am not looking forward to mosquito season...which lasts just about 11 out of 12 months a year down here. Oh, and Dallas people...you don't know mosquitoes. They are like small birds in our next of the woods.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

No one is pinching the little man today! He's sporting his big boy green polo from Auntie Mamanda!

Gettin' There!

We definitely do NOT have a crawler yet, but we're making progress. We've come a long way from the days of screaming tummy time. Carson still isn't a big fan of tummy time, but if we are creative enough with ways to distract him, he'll stay there for a good while. His "Scout" dog toy, Mardi Gras beads, the remote, playing "Where's Mommy" over the side of the bed, the monitor handset (he loves the lights), and the dogs have been pretty good distrations so far. He's even gotten strong enough to be on his hands and knees for a few minutes if we put him there.

See... check me out!


I can tell it's becoming less awkward for him. The first few times I pushed his knees up under him, he was very confused and did not like it. The last couple of days he's stayed up for a pretty good while. He's even rocked back and forth a little bit. When he goes forward though he just crashes onto his tummy. When he's sitting up playing with his toys and one gets away from him (especially his blue ball from his little cousins), he leans as far as he can forward until his tummy is touching his legs, or is on the ground if his legs are wide enough. I'm still waiting for that full lunge that launches him towards that little ball. I can tell he wants to.

Ooh...this looks interesting


Crash!


This is hard work!



I'm going to be the cutest crawler ever! :-) (Or at least my mommy thinks so!)