conversation

Aidan: Oh my gosh! It's a roly-poly.
Me: It is! Where do you think he's going?
Aidan: He's going to Target.

Here comes trouble

Here's the update on Wesley's crawling progress: he's repeatedly getting one leg underneath his body, pushing up, flopping down onto his belly and then flailing his limbs about him in a desperate attempt to take flight, doggie paddle or do something that gets him moving, since the legs are still failing him.

I have a feeling that this one is going to be the kind of kid that originally inspired childproofing. I can already see the gleam in his eye...

woe was me, cried the mommy

Potty training sucks. I'm sorry in advance if the word "poop" offends your sensitive ears... but we've been stalled at this no-poop place for weeks now, and I had a realization today that our potty episodes remind me of a labor & delivery room. I'm literally holding my son's hands and coaching him while he grunts and cries. (he's scared, not in pain -- don't worry!)

I've even bribed him! When Aidan goes poop in the potty, he gets to go to Target and pick a baseball bat, a brown football, or a basketball hoop. This morning, I actually told him to keep his "eyes on the prize." I'm a bit amused in my embarrassment. We're getting closer, I can sense this... eyes on the prize, baby. Eyes on the prize.

Snopes.com - learn it, live it, love it. Please??

My friends are incredibly important to me and I love to talk to them about all manner of things. BUT!!! If you are forwarding politically charged emails, especially if they're ridiculous in nature (i.e. conservative propaganda) please, please, pretty pretty please take a moment to remove me from the "To" box. It will make me so very happy.

Politics is a pretty tough topic to bridge among friends, even good ones. So if you're not 100% sure that (1.) the information you're sending is factual, and (2.) I won't get my panties in a twist in a fit of righteous indignation, please refrain from passing along that "ah-ha!" email. You won't change my mind, so let's just agree to disagree for the sake of our relationship. (But really, if you're gullible enough to believe all the rubbish that ends up in your email inbox, maybe you should work on that.)

Thanks, friends.

I Kissed A Girl

Okay not really... but I heart Katy Perry's new single, and since I loved her last one too I think I will be purchasing this album when it goes on sale on June 17!

I am S-M-R-T

Since my blog is so widely read (rolls eyes) I decided to add a list of the books that I'm reading or am working toward reading. I'm a book geek, I admit. Mostly I did it because I had to get creative with blogger and I wanted to see if I could do it. There was more than just pointing-and-clicking involved this time, people. I am pretty proud of myself! It took a while of me throwing extra " and = and 10px's and four-letter words into the html code in hopes that SOMETHING would work... and something finally did. I think it was that last f-bomb that I typed in there at the end. HTML is hard, y'all.

aww, it's baby beer

Mike stopped at the grocery store on his way home today to get a few things for dinner. Beer is on sale for Memorial Day weekend, so he grabbed a six-pack of Corona while he was there.

We sit down for dinner, and I think to myself that the beer looks so dainty in Mike's masculine hands. No, I realize... the beer just looks dainty. It's a 7-ounce beer bottle -- it's even called "Coronita" to celebrate its petite cuteness.

Needless to say, Mike feels sheepish. "Maybe this is why they were so cheap," he explains. "I think I need another beer to wash down this beer."


It's one beer for the price of two!

near death experience

Everything's okay, no need to worry any longer... but stuff got pretty hairy for a while yesterday. Luckily I managed to subdue the massive snake that crawled into my house and reeked havoc. It almost ate me, I swear.




Okay, maybe I elaborated a bit to make myself feel better.

So it was a baby gartner snake that was probably just as scared as I was when my damn cat brought it inside to play with it. YES, it was rolled in a ball, not moving, and I covered it in a giant tupperware and stuck a piece of cardboard under it, carried it outside, and sprinted back inside.

Just because I started crying when Fig first brought it inside and called my husband in a dead panic doesn't make me a wuss. I did not sign up to live in the country, people. And I have issues with snakes.

end of school year blues

Aidan's last day of school was today. I doubt he grasps it, really, but I sure do. I liked his teachers a lot and was sad to say goodbye to them, but I am more choked up about bidding adieu to my free Monday mornings. Goodbye to my brief but uninterrupted stretches of productivity. Goodbye nail appointments that don't result in me apologizing to everyone around as my toddler runs amok. Goodbye quiet mornings snuggled on the bed with Wesley reading a book.

Hello, summer. We rang in the change by having lunch with one of his classmates Taylor and her cute mom Leslie. (says Aidan: "Taylor loves me. Addison loves me.") Then we came home and celebrated in style with a toddler meltdown that evolved into a dual toddler-infant meltdown resulting in a major mommy timeout and finally sweet, sweet naptime. Afterward, we had some much needed bubble time and Aidan ingested a little bit of bubble solution while he rubbed the bubble wand all over his lips. (technique maybe?)



Oh and by the way, I had enough of the imaginary spider itchies and had Mike put some anti-bug juice on the lawn. Don't hate me. I don't want them gone entirely, but it would be delightful to somewhat reduce their population so I'm not having arachnaphobia-themed dreams at night.

I'm not going to neglect all you who really only care about seeing pictures of my children!!

Since I know I'll irritate family members if I don't post plenty of pictures of my kids, here are some new ones:

Wesley taking a sink bath!

Aidan trying his hardest to make play-doh "noodles"

Finished product

Spiders and Snakes and 'Coons, Oh My!

Um.
I didn't know what I was signing up for when I moved to this house, apparently. No one told me that this quaint little town on the south end of the valley was infested with wildlife. Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of all things nature-y and green, and I am among the people who get sad and kind of angry with society when another retail or housing complex is erected on top of a nice open field.

HOWEVER...

Snakes are not okay with me. Everyone who knows me is aware of my immobilizing fear of the little (or big, gasp!) things. I glance down on a walk and see a brown, shriveled pod from a tree that has fallen on the ground and I nearly pass out from the shock. Then my heart starts pounding as if I had a brush with death. I place the blame squarely on my brother's shoulders, but that's a story for another day.

The hard part comes when I try to hide my fear for the sake of Aidan. I don't need him growing up thinking they're bad or scary... just that they are things that will warrant a major grounding if brought into his mommy's home.

And that goes for all the other country fauna that we keep running into. Voles? They're almost cute in a wild-gerbil sort of way, but apparently troublesome little buggers. I've seen raccoons in my neighborhood and I don't even remember them from when I was growing up in a much more rural place than my current town. And the spiders... OOHHHH the spiders. Ugh.

I took this picture today to try to illustrate the spidery craziness that is my yard. I kid you not, the entire lawn is covered with webs, they are hanging between every flower in my garden, and if I go to sit in a lawn chair chances are I'll get covered in the sticky things. Blech.



I hope I don't offend any spider lovers out there. I really do love nature, I just sort of feel like I need to buy a pair of wellies to walk around in my yard.

a note to my fans

To all of my loyal readers... (well to the couple of you out there anyway),

I love that you love that I am trying to love my blog again, and I need you to show that love via posting comments, not texting me (although I love the texts too). It boils down to me needing to feel validated and loved by having obscene amounts of comments because it gives me great delight and many hearty chuckles to read them. So shape up or ship out! (but don't really, because if the two of you left I'd be writing for... well, me. And that's no fun)

Sincerely and with love,
Anna

P.S. I am still figuring this all out so I'm posting this video of my sister's engagement as a learning excercise. Also because I deeply enjoy all the off-color, off-camera remarks made by the peanut gallery that is their HERD of boys. (count 'em, there are 7 of them!)

I sure hope this works.



P.P.S. I'm a super-star!

2 children for sale

Priced to move -- act now and they could be yours! Both in near-new condition, and from a non-smoking household. They come with matching outfits and a box of diapers. Call with questions, serious inquiries only.

All sales are final.

mild obsession

Okay I lied, it's more like a rampant obsession. Am I the only one having somewhat inappropriate dreams about Edward from the "Twilight" series by Stephenie Meyer? I certainly hope not, since I just bared my soul to everyone. Pre-ordered book 4? Check. Cleared schedule for midnight showing of "Twilight" movie on December 12? Check. Downloaded movie poster as desktop wallpaper? Check (seriously, people -- I'm not proud of this. I may need help.)

Have you read this book? Seriously, if you haven't yet you should really move that to the top of your priority list (tip: put it waaaay higher than laundry). And don't listen to my mother -- I love her but she obviously doesn't know what she's thinking in regards to these books.

Oh and I totally lied again. Somewhat inappropriate... teehee.

Look ma!

Look at the new layout! Oooh, ahh... I did it all by myself, too. I think I'm pretty much the most talented pointer-and-clicker blogger.com has ever seen. And it only took me half the night... so needless to say Mike's a bit perturbed with me right now. (I love you honey!)

Anyway, I'm not very good at this blogging thing, am I? Does anyone even READ this anymore? For some reason I highly doubt it. I'll try to do better... maybe my snazzy new layout will help.