Not much to report

except the fact that W must be teething. At first I thought he was sick. His nose is running like a faucet, he's drooling like a dog, he keeps chewing on his finger, his bottle, anything he can find and he had a 99.9 temp. But I think he must be teething because he's also chewing up food but then spitting it out. Wierd.

Off to watch Survivor. Very excited. Hasn't been much tv on that both J and I can watch together. Top Design was great- a new found love. and Real World was too. and HOW ABOUT THE HOOVER BUCS!!!???? for all you Two a Days fans. I was on the edge of my seat. Oh and I cannot forget The Hills. I am so so soooo sad that next week is the Season Finale. So don't miss it! I have a feeling Heidi isn't going to go through with the big move. BUT you'll have to wait until next season to find out!!!!

Not much going on right now. The Little Buddy has been really funny lately. He's learned how to sniff flowers and thinks it's hilarious when we do it. He's pretty smooth at walking up and down the steps at Mimo and Papa's but won't do it at home. He seems so big lately and I know he's just going to get bigger. I can finally make out a few words, barely. "Gol" for Goldfish and "dey dey" for thank you. So we are making progress.

I gave him yogurt covered raisins from Whole Foods the other day. and he is a fan. I find that he eats the best while strolling through the store. I usually get a pack of string cheese and open it. He usually has a banana and now the raisins. Don't worry, we pay for it all.

I think I wrote about this issue a year ago. The bitchy moms you see that have no interest in saying hi or even smiling. The only thing I can think is that a. It's not her first child so she has no interest in new mom friends (not that I'm trying to make friends at the store) b. Her toddler is very trying and she is just really tired or c. She is just a bitch. I've been to a new class several times and afterwards I've seen the same mom at a different grocery store. Both times she barely acknowledged me. I am sure that if I had not given a smile and said hi she wouldn't have even nodded in my direction. Whatever her excuse, be it a. b. or c. -it doesn't make for a nice impression. I just don't get it.

W has been getting very upset lately when I tell him "No, No" as he tries to push another kid out of the way to get to something. Trying to teach him the concept of sharing and it's just trying to me. But I got an email from Baby Center on 19 month olds that said this:

Other developments: Craving an audience, preparing for a sibling
Though your toddler's desire to be the show-stopper 24/7 may have waned a little bit, he still enjoys an audience. Expect repeat performances of any antics that get a response from you. He thrives on adoring adult attention, and may wither if you scold him. If you tell him not to do something in a harsh or impatient tone, he may cry and come to you for a hug since he needs reassurance that you're not angry with him.

It's always reassuring to know that his behavior is 'normal'.

Animal Lover, Not!

Let me preface this entry by saying that I myself am not a true animal lover. Now, don't get me wrong. I don't hate animals and of course our beloved, Ingersoll, will remain in my heart forever (out black lab that we had growing up) and I loved him like no other. But in general I am not a huge fan of animals. I'll look at them and talk to them but I don't really want to pet them or want them sniffing around me. What I am trying to say, or admit, is that it is probably my fault that W isn't yet too fond of animals.

We had a busy weekend. Saturday we went to my alma mater's alumnae Easter Egg Hunt. Besides screaming bloody murder when Mr. Easter bunny tried to hold him for a photo op...he had a ball. And he didn't really like that Mr. Easter bunny was stalking him while he was picking up eggs either. You would have thought Mr. EB got the hint when he screamed at him. He didn't.

But besides that he played hard and picked up a load of Easter eggs, loved the playground and we couldn't tear him away from the "Little Gate Village", I think that's what they call it. Now for a shameless plug, if you are in the market for a program for your toddler I highly suggest it. I have never seen the facilities at Little Gate until yesterday, but they are impressive.

Here's W with Mr. Easter Bunny.

This afternoon we went to the coolest birthday party. It was a petting zoo. They had goats and sheep and rabbits and pigs and alligators and horses, oh my! W and J got a chance to go into the walk-in cage. W pulled the rooster's, tried to pull the mini alligator's tail and even road the turtle. Here's a shot of him riding off into the sunset. Okay-not quite. He was crying again. Maybe we can get over our aversion to animals together.

Then he sat on the pony for a few seconds. Enough time for a photo op. But I won't show you the picture, because you get the idea. He was crying.

But just so you can see how much fun the kids had and what a great idea it is for a birthday party, here's another friend holding the small alligator.


W much preferred riding off into the sunset in a traditional form of transportation, the car.

Beep! Beep!

A day in the life of W

Today I thought I would take pictures of a Day in the Life of the Little Buddy. I got some great photos. The plan was to share them with my fans but today really wasn't all that exciting. A bit more boring than usual so I will just post the highlights.

Here's W putting on his shoes. Close, but no cigar.

We finally got out the door to meet friends for coffee talk and ran into more. That's always fun!

We went to the park then came home to read W's books out of his READ Nola backpack. His idea.

He took a nap, not a long one. I fixed him some egg salad and blueberries. Wouldn't eat any of that but he will always eat a nana.

He can play for hours stuffing the tips of my running shoelaces into the holes so I got the colander and spaghetti idea from Parents Magazine. If your baby likes to do fine motor skill things like that you should try it. It took up a good 45 minutes.

We played out back for awhile. Then Papa came to visit, thank goodness, because he was tired of his boring ole Mama. W didn't waste any time letting him in the door.

They strolled around the block. He must have needed his hands because "Look! No hands!" We need to get him a Jazz Fest "How ya gonna clap?!" strap.

After their stroll we lounged in the sunporch. He is fascinated with fans, especially the one on the sunporch.

and seems as if Papa is too.
And now good night, it is time to sleep. Nigh Nigh.

The Presidential Wave

Have you ever noticed how President Bush waves? I never have, but W (my W) did today. He was on my lap drinking his milk while watching Fox News. I don't usually watch the news because if I don't have a show on I have waaaay too many backed up in the DVR. Anyway, it happened to be on and I was too lazy to change the chanel. They had a segment on Bush-can't really tell you what about-but he was walking across the lawn waving. W waved too. At first I wasn't sure what he was doing. Then they replayed the scene. and replayed it and replayed it. And the Little Buddy waved and waved and waved again. Perfectly. Not with his fingers moving up and down but with his whole hand rotating side to side. He had it down from the first wave. I've always said that he was going to be the President of the United States. Well, he's on his way. 1st step-mastering the Presidential Wave.

Nothing like a Love Pat

I remember spending a lot of time with my New Roads Mimi. Both of our grandmothers were Mimi so we designated them New Roads Mimi and Vicksburg Mimi because of where they lived. Anyway, we spent a lot of time with New Roads Mimi-or atleast that's how I remember it. They used to ship us up there on the bus (my mom swears she never did this) and we would stay for a week while my parents probably whooped it up big time back at home. Anyway, I loved going to visit and I still have such vivid smell memory from being there. Del Monte green beans still brings it all home to me. We played cards a lot, we got to drink a coke (they weren't allowed at our house), we watched the Price is Right and at night, while we watched Lawrence Welk she would either tickle my legs or give me love pats.

I thought of this today while I sitting on the floor in my closet. I don't know why I was on the floor but W came up to give me a hug and sit in my lap and I found myself giving him love pat. In response, he put his head up against my chest, wrapped his arm around my back and gave me a love pat too. and then another one. It was the sweetest thing I've ever felt. and looking back on those visits to New Roads Mimi's house, I wish I would've given her a love pat back so that she would have felt the love the way I did this morning when the Little Buddy gave me mine.

Bluefly

I'm sure the fashion obsessed already know about Bluefly but I'm a little slow on the uptake and just came across it. Great shoes!!! I'm so excited-I found a pair that I wanted to buy at a local retail store but they didn't have my size-at 40% of their price!

Fun fact: W doesn't love beef tips

L had told me many times how delicious the beef tips were at Langenstein's. Not the kind that were already packaged over noodles but the ones they keep all the way to the back in the freezer. She was right. So I thought for sure W would like some noodles with the gravy. Lately I've been feeding him supper over at Mimo and Papa's. He plays hard and then he seems to like to eat more in the highchair that they bought. I packed up the gravy and the pasta and presented them to him. He was only interested in stirring them up. Fine, he does that for awhile and then usually comes around to the idea of putting them in his mouth. He fed me some. Then fed me some more and during one of those times I caught him with his mouth open so I loaded some in there while he was distracted. Talk about pissed off. He poked out his lip like I had really hurt his feeling and began wailing. Poor Little Buddy. I felt bad for tricking him. Papa felt sorry for him like any good grandpa should and gave about 10 stale gingersnaps. That was his dinner.

Taking a breath

Every night, especially on nights when he is laying on his back and I can see his face, when I check on the Little Buddy before I go to bed, I truly have to take a breath because I think that he is the most beautiful baby in the world. And every night I want to give him a million kisses while he’s sleeping but I’m scared I will wake him up. And then I think to myself, “Does every mother think this about their baby?” Because I just don’t understand, not how they can think that their baby is the most beautiful baby in the world because that’s what mother’s think, but how can anyone think it with more intensity and awe than I think it?

Want your photo on a Kleenex box?

Okay I just discovered this blog and am finding really great things on it. Here's another one. You can have a box of Kleenex made with a personalized photo and text on it. How cool is that? For only $4.99 plus shipping. Is that the greatest ideas for the grandparent who has everything?

Starbucks free coffee

Oh! I forgot-and Pop Candy reminded me that Starbucks is giving a free cup of coffee tomorrow. I vaguely remember reading somewhere that it was in honor of moms but I could have made that up.

Tyrie loses it on Real World

Okay-Tyrie was out of control and I can't say that I didn't see it coming. He lost it early on in the season and then the producers kind of tabled that side of him. He's a nice guy-I think he means well-he just has a liiiiittle bit of a temper problem. If I were Jazzy I would kick him to the curb.

As for Jen and Darnelle (Stephen's friend), I think he's way too normal for Jen. I think he just wants a little somethin', somethin' if you know what I mean?

A new look

NOLAMOM has a new look...in case you didn't notice. I am feeling kind of sassy and wanted a change. I really want to figure out how to design my own template but I'll just have to add that to my list of "Really Big Projects". and I was tired of seeing my template on every other blog that I read. So here's a temporary new look. and it may just change again. I'm going to keep you on your toes, fans. Don't want you yawning while you're reading the blog.

The Little Buddy is almost 19 months old! I cannot believe that that much time has passed since he was born. I can't believe that that much time has past and I am now 6 pounds overweight. Weight that I didn't have 4 months after having him. So I can't really say that I haven't lost all of my baby weight. Because I did. I just gained lazy mom weight. That's not my point. My point is that W is such a big boy. He still is my baby and most of the time I think of him as a baby but there are certain times that he just seems so old.

Like when I put a bubble on him that I bought for him when it was still warm. It's 18 months so it still fit him but he looked a bit obscene-what with those long legs toddling around in a bubble. I had to take it off- quickly.

Or when he is eating a piece of string cheese or a banana and holding it himself. That always gets me.

Or when he walks down the steps at Mimo and Papa's holding their hands.

Or when he laughs really loud because he know it will get a really loud laugh out of me.

Or when he tries to buckle himself into his carseat.

He's doing so many things that make me realize that one day he won't be a baby anymore and I am doing all I can to make sure I notice everything. I don't want to miss out on one minute.

I love Daylight Savings Time!!! When we came home from Mimo and Papa's this afternoon it was still light outside so we didn't have to frantically run into the house away from all the boogey monsters and J can play with W outside in the backyard when he gets home even if it's not until 7-although his bedtime will inevitably cut that short.

W was a bit hesitant to walk down Papa's stairs holding his hands today after his spill coming down the drain's step on Saturday. He whined a bit but by the end of the afternoon he had come around. You think the little tikes forget things like that but wouldn't you remember falling face first onto a brick patio? Luckily, he was okay except for his new fear of walking down steps.

Thought I would share a photo of my pride and joy in front of my newly planted petunias. The petunias look kind of pitiful-but they're not, I promise. My mom told me to plant more but I was scared I would crowd them and they wouldn't grow.

Mozilla Firefox

Popups ruled my life. They were driving me nuts. J finally put Mozilla Firefox on this computer and it has made all the difference. Papa if you are listening you need to do the same thing. When I was on your computer the other day I kept getting stopped by popups. It's a browser, like Internet Explorer and for some reason it doesn't let as many pop ups in. That's as much computer speak as I know.

What a weekend. The weather could not have been more beautiful and although it is overcast today, the temperature is my ideal temperature-68-70 degrees. I felt so productive yesterday because of the weather. I finally found someone to clean the old house so I didn't have to do it myself. It was a colossal mess-dust up to the eyeballs-and needed a good scrub down before we put it on the market. One day that will happen. So I let the lady in early in the morning and then Winky and I went with Mimo and Papa to Home Depot to buy a whole bunch of petunias to plant in the planters around our yard. W loved the Home Depot-especially the fountain. He played in that forever and destroyed a petunia plant when he was plucking it from the plastic container. Shhhh. Don't tell. He felt a little hot but I didn't think anything of it.

By the time we got home he was half asleep but still eating his goldfish. I started my gardening while he was taking a nap and J finished taking everything out of the shed at the old house. FINALLY! It's empty. The only thing left to do is walk the Mardi Gras latter back over here and get rid of our old Weber barbecue pit. I am sure I have given this advice before but just in case you missed it.

What you have in your house is always more than you think it is. Don't make the mistake of thinking you can move it yourself. If you have movers let them do all the moving.

So W woke up from his nap fire hot with red cheeks. His fever was 102.3. Mimo has been sick but he hasn't been around her. I guess he caught it from her via Papa. Anyway, once he was up and about he was in great spirits. Played with the hose, the dirt, hide and seek with J in the yard. I guess the Tylenol helped because by the time he went to sleep he was much cooler. I am praying that this will be a short lived virus.

So my petunias are planted as is the basil and rosemary. Now I just have to be religious about watering them. The backyard looks great. All the leaves have been blown by this new great yard guy and it's a backyard in which we will be spending many a cocktail hour.

Little Laughter on Magazine

A friend gave me the heads up on the new spring stuff at Little Laughter. They used to have a website but I can't pull it up. But here it is anyway, just in case it gets up and running again. As I've said before, it's hands down one of my favorite children's stores. She was right. I got the Little Buddy some cute red sandals for the summer and two cute sun suits. I would've gotten more but I used complete self-control. And then you can stroll right across the street to shop for yourself!!! at Azby's. Which I did. I bought a top for myself and some new sassy patent leather heels. and talk about spring shipment-it looked like the store had been emptied out and refilled with all new clothes for spring. I sound like an ad, hunh? Well, I'm not getting paid for it. I'm telling the truth.

Papa came over this afternoon to visit us since he hasn't seen the Little Buddy is so long. Mimo has been under the weather so we haven't been over to see them. I opened a bottle of wine since it was 6 o'clock. He didn't want me to but I did anyway. I found something in the bar and popped it open. I vaguely remembered that he gave it to us for Valentines. Well, he said it was delicious and went in to see what it was so he could get some for himself. He didn't remember what it was or where he got it. After he left and John came home, we remembered, at the same time.

On our year of dating anniversary I gave it to J with a poem saying that it was to be open on our 5th year of dating anniversary. I guess I didn't want to jinx us by saying "drink it on our first year wedding anniversary". So we have been waiting. and waiting and waiting. Every month I ask J if it's time to drink the darn bottle.

I am so bummed. Completely bummed. Not that it won't be enjoyed on this random Thursday night, but I am truly upset. I looked online to see if I could find another bottle to buy. It's now worth $85. I think I bought it at $50. I never save wine. We pretty much buy it and drink it so that it had gone up in value was pretty cool to see.

So a toast:
It's been a great 5 years
and I have to say
that I wouldn't want my life
to be any other way.

I've got a sweet husband
and a really cute tot
who I love and love
a really whole lot.

So let's drink this wine
and celebrate us
To 100 more years
of love and lust (didn't have anything else to rhyme, not trying to be kinky)

The Hills

I feel like I'm one of them. That's the only reason that can explain why I get so passionate when watching The Hills. If you didn't see it Monday you can catch it on a rerun this week. But Heidi is such a bitch. That was such a crappy move on her part. I was just kind of starting to like her at the beginning of the season but she has become so self-involved. I just want to shake her-hard.

We went to Daneel park yesterday and this lady had a big ole standard poodle running around. She swore that he was friendly but I let her know that W gets freaked out by dogs so she was nice enough to keep him away.

sidenote: my pet peeve (this will probably make people mad) is when people let there dogs run wild at Daneel Park. It's not a dog park-it's specifically geared for children and there is dog poo all over the field and I've seen many a dog snap at a young child who wanted to play with it. Not to mention the fact that W is a little freaked out by snippy dogs. Audubon park or the fly or city park I think are better suited for dogs.

Anyway, W seemed really intrigued and walked right on over to the dog. The last thing I want is for him to be scared of dogs. I'm not a huge animal fan but I do like dogs. We had Ingersol forever but he was old and sweet, didn't bark and didn't really jump up on people. That's the way I like them. But my goal is to get W comfortable around dogs especially because of Cousin Jude, Aunt Jojo and Uncle RaRa's beagle. He pet the dog, looked at it sideways, petted him some more. All in all a big success. A big step in W's world of animals.

Check out #467 on Rookie Moms website. It's about keeping in touch with your friends. I feel like it's so hard to keep in touch with friends. Everyone is doing there own thing, busy with kids, fundraisers, work etc. I thought this was a smart idea, although sad that it's come down to this.

W and I got locked out of the new house for the first, and hopefully, the last time today. We had just gotten back from the park and we went out back to water the bed that the sprinklers don't reach. I didn't put on his sweater even though it was starting to get chilly because I figured we wouldn't be out for long. He was kind of cranky but wouldn't eat the turkey burger I fixed him but he was satisfied with a peanutbutter cracker. W loves the hose so was helping me in my watering duties. He got a bit wet but no big deal and then dropped his cracker in the water.

I told him it was time to go inside so he promptly followed me to the door only to find the back door doesn't have a handle on it. I guess I've never noticed because I don't usually shut the door behind me when we're outside. But today, I guess after having gotten our electric bill I was being energy conscious, I shut it. No handle. Darn! Oh, and aren't our brand new gates with deadbolts that we just had installed last week sooo safe? So we were locked in. Really locked in, no getting in, and no getting out either. I went around to the side gate to scream for the neighbor across the street-she's the only one I know well enough to scream to- but she didn't come out. I climbed onto the wall thinking I could pull W up behind me but it was too high so I waited for passing cars hoping to flag a stranger down to use their cell phone (really safe considering this crime ridden environment we live in but I had no choice). W thought is was a hoot seeing his fat ass mom scramble oh-so-gracefully up the wall. But after a few minutes being down on the ground, he wasn't laughing so much. Then I saw her. The neighbor!!! "Heeeeeyyyyyyy!" I yelled.
"Hey! What's up?"
What did she think? I just liked to hang out on the wall. I guess to her defense she doesn't really know me. Maybe she thought I was just the new kookie neighbor hanging out on the wall.
To make a long story short....she called J at work. Told him the situation. So I crawled down and waited patiently for him to come home. and then I saw it. The handle on the back door. It does have a handle. I was trying to get in the wrong door.

J will be mortified that I am writing about this but I have to. Have you ever heard anyone say that they have to go #2 everytime they enter a book store. I have, and it's true for me. Not just book stores, but libraries, video stores and Hallmark stores. Any place that I want to take my time and peruse the selections. Maybe it's gross, but it's true. Today I took him to the library. I am in desperate need of reading material so I thought since the library is pretty close and it's free that I may as well take advantage of our tax paying dollars. So W and I trekked over to the library this afternoon and joined. I told him the "quiet rules" and we headed upstairs to see what we could find. As I walked back through the stacks, W didn't follow. He stood right at the top of the stairs. I could still see him so I figured he was okay until I heard the grunt...and I saw the strained look on his face. He hasn't yet figured out either that BM's are taboo to the rest of the world so he doesn't look away in shame. In fact, he will stare you down, which he was doing to some highschool kid sitting at a computer facing W.

And I thought, "Isn't that always the way. I'm trying to take my time, to liesurely pick out a good book and now we have to leave." But I guess if it hadn't of been him, it would have been me:)

I have a new week resolution. To blog everyday and to be productive-get atleast one box unpacked, call the electrician...again, redeem my bookstore gift certificate. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Joe Horn

I'm not a huge football fan but I am a Who Dat and was pretty saddened by the loss of Joe Horn. My brother was a Sommelier at this place he used to frequent in Mississippi so I feel like I know him, that he's my man, I mean he drinks Cristal. But I have to admit, it doesn't surprise me. What little I know about football and free agents and stuff like that, I know a bit of the Saint's history. They can't not do something to screw it up, right?

The Little Buddy's friend hurt himself this morning and was whisked away to the doctor. Luckily, he is okay but gosh, it was so traumatic. They are just so little and so fearless and don't know how to protect themselves. So there were a lot of tears of worry and a lot of tears of relief today but I think now the scariest part is trying our best to protect them but not so much that they turn into Mama's boys.

Then I started thinking of things that can happen to them. And my mind goes crazy and that will be never ending. But for example, soon we will have to worry about other mean boys hurting them. What if someone is picking on them? Or someone beats them up or pushes them down? Don't mess with my baby, believe me. A friend with older kids once told me that when a kid is mean to her kid she just wants to "kick their ass". And if it happens around here, I think I just might.