Nuts...

Just so you know, whoever thinks Mick Jagger is sexy...well, those people are just complete morons. He's like the anti-sexy.
BLECK! YUCK!

Pirrahnas!!!

Why yes, that would be my fleshy thigh that Gage is sinking his teeth into.

Apparently NOTHING feels better on teething, sore gums than a little Mommy-meat.
:)
(Hey, I already told you I was magic!)

So, we had a good ol' time playing "Pirrahna" on the couch last night!


(yes, that's my hand on his forehead...I'm trying to back up to avoid being bitten!)

"I'm coming to get you, Mommy!"



"I gotcha!"

Thanks Memma!

Memma gave Gage an Easter basket...well, really, I think she intended for him to get it on or a little closer to Easter...but Daddy left it in the living room...just in his reach.
So, he had a TON of fun with the eggs that open...


And he loved the candy treats inside. He hasn't really had much candy...ever...so, it was all pretty new to him. There were pink ones that he didn't like...but he carried around & ate on this green candy egg for a while...






I love Easter candy...
And I think Gage does too!

Do You Believe in Magic???

So...I'm magic.
I don't know when I became magic, I just know that I am...
Or, at the very least, my kisses are magical.
Just ask Baby Gage.
When he falls, or bumps his head, or steps on something...He makes a bee-line for his Mama & my magical kisses.
My kisses apparently calm, cure & heal. Who knew?
I don't know when it happened...but I love it.
I love it that he runs to me when he hurts.
I love it that he cuddles & snuggles with me to feel better.
To me, it just is one of the best things about being a mom.

I'm magic.
I've got Mommy Magic!

Just Because...

Make an on-line slide show at onetruemedia.com

Just because...it's been a while.
This is the little montage of Baby Gage for the 1st year of his life.
I really abandoned this project many months ago & have not finished it. And, the more I think about it---the more I don't like the last song. I think I picked it at random.
Anyway...here it is...again.
It was fun to watch after not seeing it for so long, and to just see how he has changed, and yet at times looks the EXACT same...it's just bizarro.
Oh! My Little Boy!!!!
I just want to hug him, and squeeze, and never let him go!

Earning Your Keep...

"Why, no Gage...you're NEVER too young for chores! Now get out there & blow those leaves!"


Gage really has a great time when we're all outside (" 'Side") doing yard work.



And then, we broke out the bubbles.... OH WHAT FUN HE HAD!
After that, it was straight into the tub!







Lots of fun...

Camp Pitch a Fit !!!!

Soliciting Advice...


Our son is 18 months old, and is now starting this AMAZING fit throwing. A single fit may involve one or all of the following: kicking, screaming, crying, pinching of Mommy, pulling on Mommy's clothes, rearing his head back to the point of almost falling out of Mommy's arms & sometimes throwing himself to the ground.
It's TONS OF FUN for me.
I understand that he's frustrated due to his limited vocabulary & speech skills...but I also know that the fits often occur not when he can't communicate his wants, but rather when he does not get what he wants.
So...the question is---WHAT DO I DO ABOUT IT??? My pediatrician says to ignore it. Guess how well that works!!?? Not well at all. And really, how easy is it to ignore anyway when he's dangling from my pants & screaming at the top of his lungs? My husband says to spank him.
That seems to break my heart, and I'm afraid that it is teaching my child to hit (a nasty little habit that he picked up shortly after the introduction of the "spanking").

Any Advice???
Is there a boarding school anywhere for toddlers????

Blueberry Breakfast...

So, yesterday morning...I gave Baby Gage a jar of "Blueberry Buckle" baby food as part of his breakfast.
He is pretty much done with jarred baby food....but occasionally I can get him to eat a fruity flavored one....



But, I guess that pretty much says it all.
He ate quite a bit...but played with the rest.

Yes, that was fun to clean up.


"What????"



:)

I've been MIA...

Sorry I haven't blogged much lately...

My Uncle was killed in a car accident, and I've been busy with that since Friday morning...

Dad sent me his obituary this morning...

Steven A. Cox
COX, STEVEN A. Age 63, of Dallas and most recently Krum, Tx, died in a tragic automobile accident on March 22. Steve was born on March 18, 1944, grew up in Dallas and attended Sunset High School. His parents are A.R. and Laura B. Cox of Dallas . He went into the Navy after graduation. After the Navy, he worked for Braniff Airlines, Trinity Industries, Comp USA, Compudyne and Metro One Couriers. He leaves behind to cherish his memory, his wife Carol Cox, parents A.R. and Laura B. Cox, daughter Susie Cox Bonatti and husband Vince, their 3 children, Benjamin, Laura and Andrew, son Steve Cox Jr. and wife Natasha, their 2 daughters, Audrey and Emma, brothers Kerryn and wife Pamela Cox, Jim Cox and family, Al Cox and family, along with many other loving family members and friends. He was an extremely kind and wonderful person with a very, very big heart. He truly loved his life, was very proud of his family, and very devoted to all. He loved staying in touch with old friends and keeping memories alive. He could always be counted on whenever and for whomever needed him. This world will be a different place without him. There is great comfort knowing that he is in Heaven, already making new friends, yet still loving and watching over his heartbroken family left behind. We are so grateful for our memories and for having had him in our lives. He will be sorely missed by all.

...and then it went on to talk about funeral arrangements...
So, I think it was pretty nicely written...I think my grandmother wrote it. I could be wrong...but just reading it...I think it's her wording.

So, please keep his wife & children & parents in your prayers...and please also pray for the other driver. He was 28 years old, and had two very young children (youngest is only 7 months old). The last update that I got, he was still in the hospital & going in for surgery...I know his family is struggling with all of this right now too.

YouTube Update.

I think I fixed it.
I'm new to youtube...cut me some slack.

"Party Like a Rock Star!"

1) This was yesterday afternoon when I got home. Gage was super excited to play around in the front seat...he would honk the horn & crank up the radio...he was "Partyin' like a rock star!" (according to the rap that was blaring at the time.)
2) Now that I've figured out this whole YouTube thing...I may be posting videos ALL the time. ....and i can't wait!

Dancing Baby...

Baby Gage LOVES to dance! Loves it! He'll dance to anything. Here's the music to some TV commercial...within seconds, he was up on his feet dancing along...
Oh, and forgive me. I have no idea how to switch it around to be right side up.
Everyone----turn your head sideways & watch this!


I swear, it so reminds me of this from years ago...


Who knew? I'd have the dancing baby!!???

The New Nursery...

So, at our house, we switched rooms with Baby Gage. And now, now we are painting the new nursery.

I decided that I want to stripe the walls.
I'm not sure if this is going to be a lot of wasted time or not.
I'm not sure if it is going to look waaaaaaaay too busy in there or not.
I'm not sure if I'm going to like it or not.
But, we're going to bust our rears trying it...and if it sucks...I'm going to prime right over it & paint it a solid color.

So, the colors for the walls will be yellow, green, & white.

And...Gage was such a..."helper"! Well, I should say he IS a helper. Every time we go in there to work on it a little...he's right there...helping.

He helped himself to the primer when our backs were turned for a second!
He saw the paint on his hands, and it FREAKED HIM OUT!

He just wanted that stuff OFF!

Here we are...primed all over. We've got the tape to mark off the top (solid color) & bottom (stripes). Here, we've penciled in the stripes...


And...taping off the stripes...we stripe, and then rub the tape with paintable caulk for a more perfect line...(it's worked in the past...but man, it's been a pain in the rear for this project! So many stripes!!!)

Damon did the set on the left.
I did the set on the right.
I hate caulking, and caulk hates me.

And then we tested the yellow at the top.
(we're going to paint the ceiling too...so disregard the uneven line...)
It looks pretty tame in this photo...but in person, I think the yellow may be too bright. And, I may opt for the green at the top. I haven't decided yet.


I'll keep the blog posted of the progress.

Gage Loves Luggage

So, when we got back from SLC, we got home at like 10 or 11 at night. We really kind of dumped our suitcases wherever...but, we both had to work the next morning, so we had them all open & just had crap strewn everywhere.

...which of course, Gage loved.

This super-mega-large suitcase was by the front door. (Please note the Hawaiian print. I love it. I bought it in Hawaii for fun. It's large & we always know which suitcase is ours when it comes down the belt!)

So...Gage put his diaper bag in the suitcase.
Then he crawled in the suitcase with his blanket.
:)



And he laid down, and took his milk right there.
It was pretty cute.

Goodbye SLC...

Soon, it was time to leave...
And there we were...with ALL of our bags...
Checking in to get out of Utah...

And back to Dallas...

..where I noticed THIS! I had NEVER noticed this before, and was laughing in Oklahoma about the tornado shelter signs with their restrooms. Well, wouldn't you know, it's the same in Dallas...I just never paid any attention!

And then we FINALLY made our way home.
The 1st thing I wanted to do was shower.
The whole time while I was in Utah, I felt like the water was just too soft to properly rinse all the soap off.

Anyway...that was a random vent. All in all it was a fun time.
:)

Salt Lake Art Center

On Wednesday, our last day in SLC, we went to the Salt Lake Art Center.
It was free, which was a total surpise. A pleasant surprise!



We saw a collection of a few different artists...but, I must say...that my favorites were by Andy Warhol!

We saw Andy Warhol's:
- Albert Einstein (who I find visually interesting for some reason...)
- Gertrude Stein
- George Gershwin
- Martin Buber
- Franz Kafka
- Louis Brandeis
- Sigmund Freud (what a treat for me!)
- Sarah Bernhardt
- The Marx Brothers
The media: silkscreens on paper.

And then...then, we saw a video installation with sound, by artist: Bill Viola.
Work: "Ascension", 2000.

It was the scariest fucking thing ever.
1) I'm afraid of the dark.
2) I am afraid of drowning.
3) I am REEEEEALLY afraid of drowning in the dark.

I hate to spoil the surprise for anyone who is about to hop a plane to SLC to check this out...but basically, you enter a room...a very, very, pitch-ass-black room. There is a bench in the room....not that you can see it well at all. You CANNOT see the corners of the room. You have no idea where the room starts or stops. But in front of you is a video monitor...so large...that the person on the screen appears life-size. And...is he drowning? Is he floating? He's basically just in this water...his body is vertical, but you see no stop to the water, so it's not like his head is above water. And there is sound...and darkness...and to me, images of drowning. Oh it was just awful.

And yet...powerful. I mean, it stirred emotion (FEAR) so quickly...

So, that was part of our trip.
Glad we stopped in there....

Wednesday...

So, first we went to lunch at this place called Costa Vida.

Fast food, but AWESOME.
We don't have any of those around here, so I was just mega-impressed. Everything was so good!
I fully support anyone who would like to open one up in Dallas. If you build it, I will come there & eat lots & lots!

After that...back to downtown...to check out the Capitol building during the daytime!


And the Cathedral of the Madeleine




I was also impressed with the architecture of the Salt Palace




I enjoyed a lot of the architecture there.
:)

Pics from Soldier Hollow!

3/13/7...after our scenic drive through the Provo Canyon....we ended up at Soldier Hollow (FINALLY!)

Why did we go there???
SNOW TUBING, OF COURSE!





So much fun!

So, you get there...you grab a tube... you go to this little lift system that takes you the majority of the way up the hill....


After that, you get your husband to lug your tube up the rest of the way...afterall, he's already going that way & he's got his too...it's filled with air...it's not like it's THAT heavy...


And then you go down! You can go solo, or in pairs...or as a super-huge connected group...whatever you want...It was fun!

Here's the view from Soldier Hollow:


And then...as we were leaving...I saw deer.
This was my first time to just see deer in the wild.
I've seen them at the zoo & stuff...but never just out in the wild unfenced.

There were 3 of them: a small, a medium, and a large. In the picture, you only see 2...that is because the big one was quick! He'd already crossed the road.

:)

Tuesday 3/13...Scenic Drive...

BACK TO THE VACATION UPDATE!
So, on Tuesday, 3/13, we took a scenic drive through the Provo Canyon.
Originally, when we set out to Soldier Hollow, we had bad directions & ended up at the Slate County Juvenile Detention Center. Um....that wasn't it.

Then, we called & got more/better directions.
Soldier Hollow Guy: "Drive toward the canyon."
me: "the what?"
SHG: "the canyon."
me: "No I don't see anythinyg that looks like a canyon, but I'm from Texas. I wouldn't know a canyon if I were in one. When you say canyon, I think of two things: a large interchange of highways or the Grand Canyon. I see nothing that resembles EITHER of those things."
SHG: "Then just keep going straight. You'll know it when you see it. Call me when you get to the canyon."

So...of course, Damon & I were like, "WTF?" We went over a bridge...we're looking down to make sure it's not a canyon down there that we might miss.
"How does HE know that we'll recognize the canyon?"

And then we started seeing this...

[and I fully expected to see GIANT Teletubbies rush over the hill..."Eh-Oh"]



And then we knew...we were in the canyon!

He was right...you'll know when you're in the canyon.

And there was a frozen lake in Provo Canyon...


It was just such a beautiful drive.

All of the rock formations were just HUGE...and I would look up at these mountains of rock & think back to my Earth Science class, and how I once knew what the different kinds were from just looking at pictures...and now, now that I would like to recall that information, it's just gone. I can't seem to find it anywhere in my brain!

But, I still enjoyed the drive...

More Firsts.

So....yesterday we had some new "firsts"...

For the 1st time, Gage brought me a book that he wanted read to him. Sure, he's brought me books before, thrown them to me, taken them away from me...etc. This was the first time he willingly sat through the whole story, and then sain, "'gin" (as in, "again"). We read the book at least 3 times in that sitting...

The book is called, "How Many Kisses Goodnight". It's illustrated by Eloise Wilkin, whose work is very well liked by my mom. So, that's why I bought the book in the first place!

Anyway...the story is about a little blonde girl named Jaclyn.
She is getting ready for bed...she takes a bath & brushes her teeth...her mom brushes her hair, and then her mom tucks her into bed.

It's a sweet little book, and Gage loves it.
In the book, there is a little stuffed pig doll. So, for the very first time yesterday, Gage said "pig".

And...he said "shower."
And, he has a phrase: "m'weeeeeng"...that would be, "my swing."

He's growing up so fast!

This one's for the telemarketers out there...

So, I recently read someone vent about telemarketers calling...so annoying.

So, here's a classic line, thanks to me & my Mamasita:


"Would I like a __insert credit card name here___?
Sure....if I can swipe it in your ass!"
After that, don't hang up. It's more fun to wait for a response.
:)

You Might Be In Grad School.

You know you are in grad school when....


...you receive an email with the following phrase:
"I amalgamated some of the major assumptions..."

No Patience & Thought Bubbles.

For some reason, I've had NO patience lately.

Even just now, I want to talk to a person at a certain company. Instead of company employees, I get the answering service.
Okay. It's okay. It's the weekend.

So she asks for my name. I give it to her.
"Is that with a 'Y' or an 'I'?"
thought bubble: does it really matter? I mean, seriously. Will it affect anything? who gives a crap? Just type it...whatever. GAH!
"And your last name is again?"
thought bubble: no, it's not "again." if you want me to tell you my last name, ask me to repeat it...but don't ask me like that. don't you know that I don't have any patience today?
"And what is this regarding?"
me: "oxygen."
"Oxygen delivery?"
me: "okay."
thought bubble: no, it's really not for oxygen delivery...yet. I need to ask some pricing info for someone else, but I am already going to have to explain the situation to the person on call when they call me back...so I don't want to explain it to you, and have you ask me 25 stupid questions about it since it's a rather "unique" situation.
"Would you consider this an emergency?"
me: "No."
"So, do you want them to call you back today?"
me: "Well, I don't consider it an emergency, but if I have to call it that to get a return phone call TODAY, then yes...I guess it's an emergency."
"What's the patient's name?"
me: "It's not one of your patients. It's a new referral."
"Yes, but what's the name?"

...and here's where my thought bubbles start popping out of my mouth.
me: "It doesn't matter what his name is. I want to talk to someone about getting some PRICING on oxygen tonight."
PAUSE.
me: "Do you want my callback number?"
"I guess."
And then I gave my number...

And then I got a call back from an IDIOT who quoted me a price that he pulled out of his rear end!
me: "Really? It cost that much?"
thought bubble: "So how much do I get back for 'pain & suffering' or 'wasted time' for dealing with you & your dumb question answering service?

See what I mean? Lack of Patience. I should be nicer. Or at the very least, a bit more patient.

3.17.7

Still working on school work.
"F*YOU, 3 HOUR PRESENTATION!"


Oh, and Happy St.Patty's Day.
From me...and the Hoff.

Yummy, Yummy Research.

Right NOW!

Right now...I hate grad school & love German chocolate cake.
More coconut por favor.

Overwhelmed...

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed today.
I was up past midnight last night working on school stuff.
That may not seem THAT late, but 5am rolls around REALLY QUICKLY when you've been up that late.

I am still not done with my portion of the THREE HOUR PRESENTATION.

Just mentioning a THREE HOUR PRESENTATION leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
I am so....not looking forward to it.
In fact, I'm full on freaking out about it.
I'm not usually freaked out by public speaking...but for some reason, in this class....I'm freaked. I'm freaking. I'm freaking freaked.

Miracle Question...if a miracle happened, and...what would be the 1st thing you noticed being different?
1) My homework would be done & my presentation would be over, and I'd be holding a paper with a big red A on it!
Solutions: do the homework, wait for time to pass, and maybe you'll get a big red A.
hmph.

Thursday.

I'm back in DFW.
I would love to blog, but I won't allow myelf the guilty indulgence at this time.

I have some serious work (and schoolwork...) to get done.
When I'm finished with that...then I may blog.

TTFN: Ta Ta for now!