Happy Birthday, Paul!

Yesterday was my dear hubby's birthday. He'll agree that it's appropriate that this birthday wish is a day late, after the day we had yesterday.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

1. Paul has a great sense of humor. On the day we met, he tried to show me his underwear.
2. He's a wealth of (mostly) useless knowledge. Well, he has a lot of useful knowledge too. As a kid he had a book of amazing facts, and I think he still remembers every single detail. Mitchell can ask the most absurd question, and Paul has an answer!
3. He makes fun of me when I say something wrong. Believe it or not, this doesn't bother me. I know I say things wrong, and it's kinda funny. He giggles and corrects me. (You ought to hear me pronounce dinosaur names.)
4. He loves food almost as much as me. On our first date, neither of us touched our food. I was glad we got over that quickly! Paul is adventurous when it comes to food, which is a good thing, as I like to try new things too. Heck, on our honeymoon, we watched as our waiter went into the courtyard and killed a chicken for our lunch. And, today, he's going to cook cabrito for his birthday.
5. He cooks, cleans, does laundry and grocery shops. Yes, ladies, my man does it all. He also bathes kids, changes diapers, changes the litter box, takes out the trash, puts gas in my car ...
6. He loves our kiddos more than anything. When they hear the alarm beep as the door opens when he comes home, they run to greet him and get scooped up for hugs. He reads them stories (complete with voices), plays on the floor and even does "wrestle mania" with them almost daily.

Happy Birthday, Paul. I love you. Looking forward to many, many more.

More Than You Wanted to Know (Tag)

I've been "tagged" by two friends. It's like chain letters when we were kids - or those emails that want you to send it to 50 friends in the next 50 seconds, only this one doesn't involve any hoo doo curses or anything.

One tag wants to know 7 random things about me, and the other wants to know 7 strange things about my first month as a mother. I don't know how to cleverly combine the two, so here are both.

Seven Random Things You Didn't Care to Know About Me:

1. I've never lived alone. And, I've only lived in two cities in my entire life (both in Texas).
2. My mother has told me I have sausage toes, ET fingers and a giraffe neck. Gotta love anyone who tells you like it is.
3. My first pet was a gray poodle named Pierre. He was my mother's dog as a teenager and died when I was in elementary school (very old!). Not surprisingly, my first word was "puppy."
4. I love to cook but hate to bake. But, my baking skills are getting better.
5. I cannot draw or sing to save my life. Yet, I sing to just about every song that comes on the radio. I was asked by a choir director to not sing during a musical - instead he encouraged me to lip sync my lines.
6. My first job was at the YMCA. I helped with daycamp finances and had to tell parents they couldn't bring their kids the following week because they didn't pay on time. Fun.
7. I've never worked retail or waited tables.

Now for Seven Things About My First Month as a Mother:

1. I was one of those hormonally crazy breastfeeding mothers who cried because the milk wouldn't come in, the baby wouldn't latch, the TV wasn't on the right channel ...
2. Mitchell came home from the hospital and spent the first night in the bassinet in the living room with me. Then, after that, he slept in his crib in his bedroom with his door shut. He never slept in our room.
3. Paul and I high-fived once after Mitchell pooped. He hadn't gone that day and we were worried, so it was a celebrated moment when that little rice-looking goo came out.
4. Mitchell passed billirubin crystals in his urine, so I panicked when I saw weird peachy stuff in his diaper.
5. I probably called the nurse line at least once a week!
6. I kept very precise feeding and pooping records to show to the doctors during our twice-a-week visits. I think I just recently threw them away when we moved into our current home.
7. "Failure to thrive" are possibly the scariest three words to tell a new mother.

There you have it - 14 things about me you probably could have lived without knowing. I saved all the nitty gritty for the follow-up emails I'll receive from my stalker fans (wink, wink).

Whitewater Adventure

So Mitchell was going potty and had been in there a long time, which is nothing unusual. He also flushed over and over again, which is also nothing unusual.

Then, he comes running out of the bathroom in pure panic!

"I put a big ball of paper in the toilet and now water's running out of it!" he exclaims with pure fright.

So, I did what any good former homebuilder employee would do - I turned off the water to the toilet. Then, I quarantined the boys in my bedroom and started the oh-so-fun task of cleaning up all that water.

There must have been an inch or two on the floor!

As I was cleaning, I asked Mitchell how much paper he put in.

"It was a ball bigger than my head," he answered, kinda proudly but still with that tinge of fright.

I soaked up four big towels' worth of water then grabbed the mop and mopped up about a third of my mop bucket's worth.

Ah, motherhood. Never a dull - or dry - moment!

An aside: I knew this moment would come from the time he first noticed how the toilet worked. I'm amazed it's taken this long!

Pumpkin Patch Kids

After church this afternoon, we loaded up the kiddos and headed to the Pumpkin Patch. This year, we went to Milberger's Landscape and Nursery, a wonderful local nursery. They had a nice selection of pumpkins - plus a few huge ones - and a hay maze. The boys had a blast (though it was hard to coax a smile out of Mitchell!).

Mitchell and Noah on a giant pumpkin

(Don't tell them - it's fake!)

Noah relaxing with some pumpkins.

He could have sat on that bench all day! (I love this photo!)

Mitchell on a giant Jack o'lantern.

(This was as close to a smile as we could get.)

Mitchell and a goblin guardian of the maze.



Noah heading into the hay maze.

Mitchell running through the hay maze.

Frick & Frack, Together Again

Since I stopped working, Mitchell stopped going to his daycare everyday. And, he's missed his buddy Devin everyday! Yesterday, we went to the annual fall festival, hosted by the old daycare, and these two picked up where the left off, making silly faces, jumping all around and throwing out all the potty words in the 3-year-olds' dictionary!

And, Noah got to pet a bunny!

Potty Humor

This morning, while brushing his teeth, Mitchell passed a little gas. Here's how the conversation shook down:

Mitchell: Did you hear that tooter, Mommy?
Me: Yes, it was loud.
Mitchell: Did you think Daddy was here?

I just cracked up and couldn't stop laughing! We laughed for what seemed like forever.

It was the (funny) start to a great day (I hope - we'll see what his teacher says when I pick him up this afternoon).

First There Was Evite ...

I'm all for emailing people with information. I'd much rather type up an email than call 10 different girlfriends to set up a girls' night out.


So I saw this story on CNN.com. Seems that after you Evite someone for a great night out, you can warn them that the fun may have given them an STD.



This group, inSPOT (Internet Notification Service for Partners or Tricks), has created e-cards you can send anonymously, informing your friend that they might need to go to the doctor after your date.



I feel like Phoebe Buffet when she was possessed by that old lady - now I've seen it all.



I'm not sure which e-card is my favorite. I'm kinda partial to the "I got screwed while screwing, and you might have too." The "You're too hot to be out of action" features a nice, sexy back. But, I think my absolute favorite is this one:

I applaud inSPOT and organizations like it to encourage people to come clean with those they may have infected.

I know, I'm sort of poking fun at it - my inner conservative (no matter how small she is) kinda raised an eyebrow when I read the story's headline. Once I went to inSPOT's website, I realized that it really is a great idea and a great service. It's bad enough to try to break up with someone, but to drop that kind of bomb on them ... Glad to know there's an e-card for that. (Hallmark's probably kicking themselves for being beat to the punch!)