This post is more for myself than anybody but I wanted to make sure I wrote down somewhere all the things that Pman is doing at a year. He's not walking. or cruising but he's crawling like a banshee and pulling up and standing a few seconds by himself when he finds something so fascinating that he needs both hands. He's more into his vocals these days and says:
dada
mama
good
hi
bye bye
ba ba (bottle)
pop pop (take your pacifier out and throw it in the crib)
cracker

and he's close to saying Cheerios.
It's really a fun time for us all-watching him grow and learn.

When I was pregnant with Pman one of my biggest concerns was how the LB was going to feel once he was born. Was he going to feel like we abandoned him? Would he feel left out? Would he be really jealous of the baby and hate him and wish he would go away? I think it's a normal feeling to have with the 2nd child. You have gotten so used to your life with just the one, your daily routines, that you can't imagine incorporating anyone else into it.

Well, I had the baby and I think it was probably me that needed to adjust the most. The LB hung on to J for the most part. He figured it out when I was in the hospital I guess, that Dad was doing everything for him now. and it didn't seem to bother him. It just bothered me that he didn't want to hang out. He liked the baby and all and was awfully sweet to him-more so than he is now. and that's just it. I keep telling my friend who is about to have twins that the feeling goes away and you find a new normal. and part of that is true. You find a new normal but that worrisome feeling never went away. It's still here. Every time I have to stop playing with W to tend to Pman. He gives me a look, like hey, mom, we were rockin' and rollin' over here and now you're leaving. I get the same look when I scold him for taking something away from the baby and every day after bath time when I have to leave W still wet and wrapped in a towel to get Pman crying from the hallway because he can't keep up with us. and it makes me sad for him. It makes me sad that he won't ever remember when he was the Main Man around here.

LC and Justin Bobby?!

I just have to say 'Yuck!" and I thought that was what LC has been saying all along about Justin Bobby, Audrina's long time crush on The Hills. She said she liked boys who bathe and he definitely doesn't fit into that category. So why, oh why, LC have you strayed to the dark side or should I say dirty side?

Read here for more.

I'm having an affair...with a younger man

I never thought it would happen but it did. It took me totally by surprise especially because he's kind of bald but I find it kind of cute, I have to admit. He laughs a whole lot although when he cries, he crieds hard so we have a lot in common. The crying thing and that we both love food-salty food. He likes sweets, like I do, but nothing is better than a salty scrambled egg or a pizza. I haven't k nown him long. Only a year.

I feel like I have known him forever. It seems like just yesterday that he was stuck in my belly all breached and everything. My Pman.

I cannot believe he is 1 year old!

This affair really took me by surprise because the other 2 men I am having a love affair with are older. I swore there would only be two men in my life. Up and down, I swore it. But overnight Pman and I bonded. And I cannot tell you how it happened or why I just know that it will be forever. My other 2 men can talk and walk and have our own special bonds but Pman and I share a bond over food that cannot be compared.

My baby is growing so fast. Just yesterday he was nursing and today he's eating meat and eggs and cheese and potatoes and cous cous...well, don't leave anything in his path because he will eat it. But enough about food. He is sweet and silly and handsome and passionate. He is everything I could ask for in a baby and I can't believe he is growing up. His hair is growing over his ears, he has the cutest darn snaggle toothe you have ever seen and has an uncanny knack of making W giggle like he's never giggled before.

Happy Birthday Sweet Pman! I love you with all of my heart. Thank you for being one of the men of my dreams.

Love Mom

J and W have downstairs playing and I just have to say that W can kick a ball. Man! I am impressed. He always seems like such a baby to me. Especially when he's around other kids, whether they are younger are older. He looks young and innocent, like my baby and he acts young and innocent. But tonight for some reason when they were kicking the ball around he grew up for a few minutes. It was weird. He was standing taller and he was kicking that ball with all of his might. He was yelling "Pow!" and saying how he was "going to kick it tru the air!". and he did. No grounders here. All of the balls he kicked were hard and fast and caught air. He's going to be the man. J doesn't like soccer. For some reason he's more of a football player. He always ribs his brother about his nephew playing soccer-who btw is a REALLY good soccer player. But I think he may have a change of heart once his baby grows up and kicks everyone's ass on the soccer field.

SHUTUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All I'm asking for is a little freakin' quiet around here. It's 2:25pm and the boys have both just stopped crying and dare I say it, gone to sleep but the noise is still here. Out on the street the city is doing something with a big frackin' hose that sounds like the world is coming to an end. No wonder Pman couldn't go to sleep. I want to believe that they are doing something necessary but for some ODD reason I believe that it's something completely idiot. Does it surprise you? Living in New Orleans. There is always something stupid going on and it's usually during naptime.

A day late...

Happy Birthday, JoJo!
I meant to write a tribute to JoJo on her birthday yesterday. and it was a big one I can't believe it. JoJo is my sister-in-law. She is the big 3-0 now and I still can't believe that she is so young.

Aaahhhh, to be young again.

If you knew her you would think that she was older than her 30 years, not because she looks old, because she doesn't, but because she is mature and level headed and has a work ethic that rivals J's (that's huge). She's got a good head on her shoulder, is calm and collected and doesn't get all wound up about stupid things (like I do) She runs a successful business-Drama Kids International-if you are at all interested in signing your kids up for the program. That's the other thing, she's great with kids, yeah and they are not even hers. That's a huge asset. She takes these kids and develops them into great, confident actors.

I think the best part about her is that she is handy. Oh, that goes a long way in our family because we don't have many "handymen". and every family needs one of those. JoJo is ours.

Anyway, she's great. and we love her because she's a jolly good fellow.

Hope you had a great day and have a great whoopin' it up night tonight!
LoveMe

I just yelled at the Little Buddy. He wouldn't get dressed and J was in a hurry to leave early. So I yelled at him. It was the only thing that would get him to take me seriously. I feel awful and guilty . Just another reason to feel like a bad mom. But a few minutes later he was over it. He looked me in the eye again and smile and then he gave me a big hug. Oh, my sweet baby W. If only I could get over the guilt as quickly or at all.

Not enough time to do anything else AND blog

Nola Notes went on an internet hiatus for a week. I can't imagine but I can imagine how much I could get done. If I weren't online now I would be making my bed, picking up toys, organizing the office, finishing the decorations for Pman's birthday, folding clothes, cleaning the kitchen or brushing my hair. The last one goes by the wayside a lot-usually the first to be dropped off the to do list when I need to drop something.

I feel like I have 100 things going on when really it's only 2. My sweet baby's 1st year birthday and shopping for a wedding in a few weekends. I'm not a multi-tasker-I know we've talked about it before-so having 2 things on my plate makes my stress level go up. Not to mention the state of the stock market and all that is going on there although I do my best to not think about it while shopping for a fall wardrobe since I haven't really bought anything of substance since Pman was born.

I got sucked into the same shopping trap the other day that I always do. I am so frantic to find something to wear for all of these wedding festivities that I rush, rush, rush and buy the first thing that looks good on me. It was this dress. and I have to say I looked smokin' hot! I thought so and so did the saleswoman (so she said). I brought it home, gave J one of my weekend fashion shows that he so loves me for and he just smirked. He said he didn't like the fabric. That's all? You don't like the fabric, I thought? Men don't know anything about fabric so I wasn't worried until I talked to L.

"Oh. Ohhhhh. I know exactly the dress. Is that really you?" She told me she bought an earlier a version of the dress a few years back (well, she said she had 3 of them) and that she never wore it because although she looked damn good in it-it's really flattering, I have to say-it was just too cheesy to wear. Damn! She was right. I was telling my mom the story. She was laughing and J was listening. I said I didn't want to look cheesy. He said, or like a yat. Great. The truth comes out AFTER I already decided to return it.

So I've returned the dress, bought another one and am returning the 2nd one today. J told me it wasn't flattering. What is wrong with me? Has my sense of style gone out the window-just from being a mom?

Nola Jewelry

I don't usually tout a lot of products on here. but I was scrolling through Decor8's blog and I noticed that one of her sponsors had NOLA in the name so I checked it out. I was impressed. It's called dejarnette new orleans It's a jewelry design website with really unique designs. Many people make cool jewelry but being that this seems to be a NOLA site AND she had cool things I thought I would share it with you. There's a few necklaces that I absolutely LOVE including the ones made from vintage chiffon ruffles. It's sooo not me but for some reason I am totally intrigued.

Couscous lover

Pman takes after me in the food department. He loves it. He relishes it. He gets giddy at just the sight of his highchair. He doesn't want to be spoon fed. He wants to savor the experience all on his own-to feel the textures of the food. Squoosh it in his hand, up against his face. He wants to know it, learn everything about it. So everyday I try to give him a new food, a new sensation. Today it was peas for lunch and couscous for dinner. I have to say that he's a couscous lover. Here he is saving a few grains for later.



And while Pman is eating, W is wearing his sunglasses at night.

Sorry for the poor quality photo. My camera is on the fritz and isn't going to make it through the week.

No rest for the weary

It was a long, fun weekend and by 9:00 last night I was ready for bed. As I checked my email one last time I glanced behind the computer and saw it. The frickin' notice to make play dough-a room mom duty. I said I would do it (be a room mom) and would be superb at the role so I lumbered wearily back downstairs to make the home made stuff. By the end of it all I was skipping back and forth from the kitchen to the den to let J know just how proud I was of myself. It worked! My green play dough is now waiting at school to be mushed and prodded and probably eaten by all of W's class.

I just got back from the cardiologist. I feel kind of stupid but I am glad I went. I am getting more tests done because of the history of heart disease in the family but in so many words he said it was from carrying Pman around. He said a lot of women who have babies that are old enough to be heavy but not yet walking get chest pains. Interesting, eh? So looks like at the least I can garner some sympathy from J and the rest of the fam for carrying around 21 pounds of heft day in and day out.

But he's almost there. He's a bit late for this family but I can tell he's about to start walking or atleast pulling up to his feet instead of just his knees. Now he pulls up to one knee and one foot. Come on, boy! You can do it, if just for mama's heart.

and if you are in the market for making play dough, here's the recipe:
3 cups flour
1 1/4 salt
3 cups water
6 tblsp. cooking oil
6 tblsp. cream of tartar
vanilla extract or mint (optional)
food coloring (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Then mix until creamy with a hand held mixer. Dump in a pan on the stove and let it cook on low until if forms a lump. Dump it on the counter, let cool and then knead away. Store in an airproof container.

You don't need to stir it at all. Just let it cook.

Clancys, How to cheer up a boy, Heart attack symptoms

I've been really tired this week. It's been a hard one kid wise. W is in a non sharing obstinate mode and Porter must be teething so is super whiny. Always up my butt crying after me. It's very draining. I was really looking forward to last night. J was coming home early to take W for a hair cut and Pman and I were meeting them for dinner out. Yay! Yay!

or not.

J called around 3pm to say that he had to change the haircut. I thought I was going to cry. I am surprised I didn't. Maybe because before the tears started falling he said, "Be ready at 5." Turns out he planned a night out for me. Wahoooooo! and wait, this is the best. He called the babysitter!!!! What a guy. and he's mine!

We had a fabulous time. We went for a drink at Houston's because there is nothing else open that's not full of smoke at 5. But my wine was delicious. We had a great time and then we went to Clancy's!

..........

When I picked up W from school the teacher told me that he was sad for a bit on the playground. He was crying under the play structure. Both teachers tried to hug him and he didn't want any part of that. and then his friend A came to the rescue! She went under and started hugging all over him. The teacher was worried that W didn't want that either but she said he cheered up right away and A got him to come out and play. Doesn't that just warm your heart? I cried when I got in the car. I'm not sure if I cried because he was sad and wouldn't tell anyone why, or because of the sweetness of A or because of something unrelated to that, which brings me to my heart attack.

..........

Since Gustav I've been having chest pains. I thought it was heartburn at first but now I get them at any time of day or night. and it's always different. Sometimes it's a sharp pain, others it's a tightening of the chest (like today which lasted at least an hour) and sometimes it feels like heartburn. I'm a pretty healthy person. I eat super healthy (except on Sat. and Sun.) so I just can't figure it. It's got me freaked out because my grandfather died really young of heart disease. My dad asked me if I was having shortness of breath. I wasn't until he asked me. Now I am wondering if this is all in my head. Oh, and my hands are numb sometimes too. Anyway, not to worry. I am going to the Dr. next week. It's really nothing to take lightly, either. So see below if you are having signs of a heart attack. I got this off of americanheart.org

• Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
• Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
• Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
• Other signs may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness
  

The new 90210

I missed the first show and I obviously missed a lot but am still addicted only after watching the other episodes. A few quick notes:

1. The brother-he says something on the first episode (I saw it on "previously on 90210") about how everyone in Kansas knew about his "adopted" story. Hello!!!!! You're black. You're parents are white. You don't think they are going to figure out your story in L.A.?

2. Brenda. She's looking pretty damn old. I am not an advocate of stuff like this usually but she's on 90210-get some botox. I do have to say that she is probably the best actress on the show.

3. Love Annie. Cute, likable, real.

4. Annie's mom. Wish I knew her name-you know the lady from Full House-like her but feel sorry for her that she's playing the mom.

5. Naomi. Kick her off the show. She sucks.

6. Ty. blah. He ekes me out. Looks too smallvillish and plastic.

7. Kelly. Glad she's back but what teacher wears a shirt cut down to her coochie?

8. Nat. Why oh why did they have to bring him back!?!

9. Brandon. I wish he were the father of Kelly's baby. Maybe Nat could sell Peach Pit to Brandon. That would kill 2 birds with one stone. Nat out, Brando in.

One of those days

Mama is tired. I feel like I sound like a broken record and I am trying to be conscious of how many times I say it to W. but I am, tired. I don't know why. It's been a rough week. I know I have a great life but this week has just been very trying in the kid department. I need to take out my book and see if W is supposed to be acting like this. He doesn't really want much to do with Pman and gets really pissy if Pman gets near any toy that is remotely in his line of sight. He's taken to throwing things at him. Is this normal? Yesterday I put W in time out a few times for not sharing with him but then I was worried that he would start to resent P. Today I was being silly with W after their bath but stopped for a second to bring Pman into the room and when I got back W was all frowns and wouldn't even make eye contact with me. I don't know what to do and it is draining me. My friend S said that maybe because W has to share at school all day long that he doesn't want to have to share when he gets home. I get it. I do. and I even took Pman upstairs a few times so that W could play without anyone in his face or knocking down what he's building. and he seems to appreciate it. So I she's hit the nail on the head. It's just that I can't take Master P away every time W wants to play. What to do!!!!????

My friend LC is pregnant with twins. and you know after all of these years of being obsessed with The Hills I am just realizing that she and Lauren Conrad have the same initials. Of course they are different with some similarities. They both always look hip but The Hills LC doesn't haven't cravings for Little Debbie Fudge Rounds. Anyway, that's besides the point. She's having twins and kind of freaking out. She hasn't gotten used to the idea yet. She's having them in a few weeks. But the point of this post is to let her know how great it will be and to apologize for being the one to remind her of the true misery of having a newborn baby. She went through it with me. I cried and screamed and was totally and completely depressed. Not to mention I was fat and nursing and dying for my wine and some fun in my life. On Halloween of last year Pman was only a few weeks old and I got to escape with just J and the Little Buddy to her house for some Halloween fun. I think she and her family might have been horrified at the amount of wine I drank. I was on a downward spiral. I may have hit rock bottom although J thinks otherwise which is a whole 'nother story.

So, dear LC, I am sorry that I put you through the misery while I was living in my own private hell and I am even sorrier that you will have to go through it all over again. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. For me it's this:

and you too will see the light once again even if it's double vision.

New Template

I am so burnout on all of these blogger templates. I am not satisfied and wish I was technically savvy enough to create my own. But for now, this is what we've got. This is the new look of the moment.

It was a very exciting weekend over here. Pman said his first real word. Well, technically Mama is his first word.He's been saying that for awhile now, mainly when he wants something oh and he says Hi. It sounds more like "Aaaaah" but it's really hi. but Saturday he said "Pop Pop" in plain English. I am still giddy over it. Pop Pop in the our language means pacifier. It's also a verb as in "Pop pop your pacifier" meaning spit it out. We got this family word when W was a baby and he had to take his pacifier out of his mouth before he left his crib. So it went from being a verb to being a noun. Anyway, I was getting Pman up from his nap and I said, "Pop pop" and threw the pop pop back in the crib and he repeated me as clear as day. A happy day.

Have you been to Houston's in a while? A casual fine dining chain for those who have never heard of it. Anyway, they are trying to make it a bit higher end but it's still a chain nonetheless. They were a bit miffed from the start at having to put us at a table rather than a booth because Pman is too wiggly at this point in his life to sit in a booster seat. We need a highchair where we can strap him down. Then this guy takes our drink order and I ask for a water for W. I asked for something like a plastic to go cup, something that he can't spill or drop and break and you would have thought I asked for a freakin' cow. This is how it went.
"Do you have a kids water or just a to go cup for him?"
"Actually, no we don't."

We are in freaking New Orleans where people have to go cups stocked in their house in every closet and every drawer imaginable. and Houston's doesn't have a plastic cup. Well let me lend you a few. I have them coming out of my ears. and there is nothing kid friendly on their menu at all. Now this doesn't bother me as much. It's our own fault that our kid is a picky eater. But to not have a frickin' cup that a toddler can drink out of? Am I being unreasonable? The whole thing pissed me off. So he brought our drinks. and there was a straw in every drink except for W's. I mean really. I'll stop now because maybe you're not interested but I can no longer tout this place as a good restaurant. Our salads sucked anyway and I am still amazed at the prices. I think the bill was $50 and that only included an appetizer, 2 entree salads and an order of french fries. and at a chain restaurant.

We went to MiLa on Saturday. They have been getting a lot of good press lately and I was intrigued. So we went and I have to say it was unbeleivable. Now, if you know me by now, I am a stickler for service. and there was one thing that pissed me off when we first arrived. It was early. Not one other person was in the restaurant. The host was this big obese football player looking guy. but he spoke so softly that you couldn't hear him. "Speak up!", I wanted to say. He sat us at this back table behind this random curtain. I sat, thought about it, got up and asked if we could sit somewhere else.
"No."
"No?" I swear this always happens to me. I show up at a place with no one esle in the whole restaurant and they tell me that all the tables are full. I get it. they have it mapped out but I know from my limited restaurant experience that you can work around this when it is only 6pm and you haven't even sat one table of the first seating.
"No." he whispered. "All of the tables are reserved."
"And everyone who is coming reserved an exact table?"
"Yes."
I stared at him ready to perform the broken record technique.
and he caved. Thank goodness the waiter was very likeable and really went out of his way to make me forget the ass.

So my supper was the most steaming hot, juicy sweetbreads over truffled grits. and then I had the double cut pork chop with Israeli couscous and greens. The dessert menu was awful. Just kind of wierd so we didn't partake but the whole experience was incredible save for the minor incident at the beginning. I highly recommend it. There's a reason why they are getting so much national press.

It's getting LOUDER IN THE HOUSE!

Naptime was almost over. I could hear Pman stirring, cooing a bit. As I neared his door I heard W. I had this strange anxiety wrenching reaction run through my body.

How did the LB get out of his crib and into Pman’s room?

He was chattering away although his words were indecipherable. Then I peeked my head in to see just Pman sitting up talking up a storm. It’s usually the loudest right after his nap or after he’s eaten. And it’s usually just babble or AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

(W thinks this is hilarious so he always responds with an outside voice AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!” and this can go on for 30 minutes.)

But the past few days Pman is really coming out with some well articulated sounds, which is why I mistook it for W talking to him behind closed doors.

Oh, the joys of boyhood. W is a calm, quiet boy but with the addition of Pman and school he has really come out of his shell. I always prided myself on that fact. The fact that I didn’t have to deal with the rambunctious ness of boys but it seems to be changing. I fear now that my house is going to be one where mothers of dainty little girls will not want to hang out.

Baby Steps

I'm back. I feel like since Gustav I've been in a flurry of homemaking. Does that make sense? Well, you get it, don't you? We got back to a messy house, full of dust and dirt and debris and brown leaks from the windows and once I got all that together with some help of course-I just couldn't stop! and now I am on a mission. To organize myself, my kids, my house, my life. and by golly I am going to do it. But baby steps mind you. If you would like to join me, I need all the support I can get.

First step: Take baby steps

My first baby step project is the office.
You know those shows where they go to someone's house and you are always appalled at the amount of crap they have. How could ANYONE live like that!? Really. I always think that buy judge lest ye be judged (is that right?) whatever that person living in that crap is me! I should take some pictures. I will. I will post those later. Now keep in mind that with my baby step goals it's a tad bit better so you can only imagine what it looked like before. When we first moved in over a year ago we used the dining room as a catchall room. When I got so embarrassed that people were seeing all of the sh-- downstairs I just transferred it all to the office and the back house. That's how I got to where I am now.

Holly Homemaker

Holly Homemaker, here! or you can just call me Nola Mom.

I am so proud of myself. Everything around here is slowly falling apart. I don't know if that comes with the territory of owning a house or it's just my house. I tend to think it's just this money pit but who knows. The latest catastrophe is that our Roman Shades in our bedroom are falling apart. The string popped and they've just kind of been hanging around. No pun intended. I thought about just getting new ones made but they really are too beautiful to throw away (they came with the house) So TODAY I decided to get my handy ladder out and tie the strings back together. I retied the string at the bottom, strung it up through the loops to meet the top end and tied them together. I had to get to the tippy top of the ladder to do it and I was scared. Really. I am not handy and I don't know how to do alot of things but I was bound and determined to figure this out. Turns out I can buy a whole new string for Roman Shades. Who knew!? You're probably not sharing in my enthusiasm right now but for someone like me who just doesn't do anything around here for lack of knowing how, this was a big step. I'll keep you posted. I know you'll be hanging by a thread!!!! waiting to find out what happens.

Facebook: Are you a Fanatic?

I’m a Facebook fanatic (FF). I can’t help it. After several months of being a member I am a total junkie but like on day one I have no idea why. I mean, I have reconnected with some total blast-from-the-past friends which has been fun but otherwise I just don’t know. I have written about it before but it’s still on my mind. I think because I have been abandoning my Nola Mom duties and feel very guilty about it. They say that something isn’t a problem for you if it doesn’t interfere with other parts of your life-well, Facebook falls into that category. I even dream in Facebook-it is crazy-like I dream about typing in my status or dream about that someone else has added a “friend” But I guess I did the same with blogging when I first got on the bandwagon. If anyone can explain the addiction, why I just can’t stop, it would be greatly appreciated.

I went to a fundraiser, golly, I’m old, a few weeks before Gustav. J was talking to this guy he knew. A mutual friend of ours walked up and this guy says to her, “Oh my God, I’m addicted to Facebook!” and the sad thing was that I knew he looked familiar….from Facebook!!!! I swear to you that I ran into at least 3 acquaintances whom I would have otherwise ignored had they not been my “friends” on Facebook. Maybe it’s bringing me out of my shell a bit. I know I can come across as a total bitch when in reality it’s just a bit of lingering shyness and insecurity leftover from my teen years but Facebook has made me BOLD!!! Okay, I’m being a little silly but there is some truth to it.

Please, please, please, if you are a FF like me, chime in and let me know why you too are one.

We're back from our evacuation from Gustav and we arrived to a relatively undamaged house with electricity and a delightfully fresh refrigerator. We learned from a neighbor who stayed that we were only out of power for about 9 hours so the icebox didn't reek of pooky week old hot food.

There was a lot of cleaning up to do, still is, but we were able to fill 9 bags of hefty bags between the two of us. W did his best to help out. Of course he had to stop for a cookie break.




I am glad to be back to being a NOLA Mom and hope it lasts at least through the week.

All we've been doing is watching Gustav, eating, sleeping and bit of drinking. I'm too tired to write right now. I am sorry to disappoint my fans but I we will be back soon. Maybe even in a matter of minutes.

Deja Vu

This is so crazy. Here we are after a long ass day on the road evacuating, we finally made it to North Carolina. It's total deja vu. My parents just left for church. The boys slept in really late so we didn't make it but it was a reminder of the anniversary of W's christening. It is 3 years to the day that we christened him here while we were evacuated from Katrina. He was barely 2 weeks old. It's even crazier that there happens to be another storm on the way. I really wanted to go so that I could pray to God in his own house that the result is not the same as it was 3 years ago. But I will still pray and hope that he will forgive me that I am praying at home rather than at church. I hope he will answer my prayers.

What a total bugger, this Gustav crap. I don't think I can do this one more time.

I haven't even had my coffee today which I think is making the stress worse. I went and got it but couldn't drink it and that's another whole post that will take a few minutes to write. I would have some wine but I have to have some of my wits about me if we have to take action quickly.

So, here I am. Waiting.

Big Mouth

Pman is blowin' and growin'! these days. He does all the normal baby things that you read about. W never did. He kind of was on his on schedule. and he never ever ever put anything in his mouth.
I think Pman may be different, ya think?


It's been a learning experience for J and I. We've learned very quickly that we cannot leave anything on the floor and tgat we have to comb all surfaces for small things. He'll put my shoe in his mouth when I'm not looking. It's very frustrating since we could give W anything to play with, a cork, a bottle top, money, whatever, because it absolutely never went in his mouth. So I spend my days figuring out what is interesting enough for Pman to eat.

Brothers

The past week or so the boys have been really enjoying each other. Of course, sweet W has always kind of taken care of Pman but they seem to be truly bonding. Master P laughs incessantly at W's antics and W gets his share of laughter from Pman's silly doings. A most common refrain we hear is "Pman is funny." Which he is. and "doing!" which means Pman is doing something really funny. Tonight it was Master P who had the giggles as W was playing the peekaboo game with him.


I pray every night that J and I have the wisdom and knowledge to know how to encourage this brotherly love. W often helps me soothe P when he is upset. If he doesn't do it automatically I always enlist his help. I hope by encouraging this behavior now it will continue into their manhood. and if they have each other to go to when they are men I will be the happiest mom around.

The greatest post

I just read the greatest post from Nola Notes' blog. It explains so well how only a mother can know exactly what her baby needs. It gave me the goosebumps. Please read it and tell me you agree.

People are REALLY freaking about Gustav now. I still don't have the itch to evacuate. For some strange reason I feel like we won't have to so here I sit. Not doing anything. We have no water. We use a frickin' water pitcher that I can't stand but that's another story. We have no snacks. Well, I did buy goldfish when I had to make a mad dash to the grocery right before nap time but that's it. I am SURE we have soup because J buys a buttload every time he goes to the grocery. (I am sure I have written a post about his soup buying obsession but I can't seem to find it.)

J told me to get wine in case we needed to hunker down for a tropical storm. We have wine but I guess he was talking about good ole drinking wine because the bottles we have are from my dad that we know are good but are scared to drink them because we don't know just how good. Anyway, You think I would have done that first thing but my friend C who is freaking out went and bought a "few jugs". Jugs? Who cares. We'll just have to go to her house after we drink what we have here. So that's it. What I do know is that I am going to enjoy myself if we do have to leave. I am going to drink and whoop it up and not stress out about any of it since last time I got the short end of the stick having just been 10 days out from a c-section.

and besides the fact we won't really know anything until it gets into the Gulf and that won't be until at least Saturday. So go into a freakin' frenzy if you have to. Jam up into the grocery stores with everybody and their mother which never made sense to me. I mean if it's coming you are going to leave, right? If it's not than water and soup shouldn't be a problem and if we get the side effects of it, enough to leave us without drinking water and such-aren't you just going to go somewhere that has water? Anyway, maybe if you know something I don't know, I'd appreciate it if you would let my lazy ass know as I sit here at home with no water, a bit of soup and no wine.

Hurricane Gustave

For the love of God, Gustave, go away! I mean, I just can't handle another one of you. Seriously, though, for some reason, knock on wood, I have a strange feeling he's not going to bother us. I hope I just didn't jinx us by saying it but it's what I feel and I have to go with my gut. J says he's still too far out to tell where he's going so it looks like we will just have to wait until the weekend to find out more. But do me a favor-don't stress. There's nothing we can do and I don't want the stress of running around preparing for another hurricane. Just be aware and pay attention and hope for the best.

I was catching the tail end of Everyday Italian with Giada De Laurentis on the Food Channel the other day and I started to drool. I couldn't quite catch what it was because of her affected Italian accent (which drives you crazy too, I am sure) but it looked delicious. Turns out it was an Eggplant Timbale.

The pan is lined will grilled eggplant and then filled with smoked mozzarella cheese, ground beef, penne, and peas. Can't beat that.

This photo is courtesy of the Food Network

Does this just make your mouth water or what? I am going to make it and I will let you know how it comes out. If you decide to cook it before me, let me know if I should even waste my time.

Holy Tantrum

I think school is wearing the LB out. Once we got home I wasn't quite sure I picked up the right kid and I felt like I was on a show about kids who throw violent tantrums. It was crazy- a lot of crying and screaming-yes and no was the answer to everything including whether he wanted to watch Elmo. W never uses Elmo and No in the same sentence. I figured he was so tired that he didn't know what he wanted but he wouldn't willingly go upstairs so I carried his 30 pounds of dead weight to his room and into his bed. He immediately started humming his pacifiers at me.

Wait, What? Who are you?, I thought as I ducked the oncoming fire of pops pops.

I gave him a chance, picked them up and put them back in the bed thinking that if he threw them out again this would be a good chance to just get rid of them altogether. All of this was accompanied by violent, blood curdling screaming and running across the crib to throw himself up onto the other side. I was really scared he was going to hurt himself but there was no soothing him. Now, you have to understand the only other tantrums W has thrown have been mild ones in which he cried non-stop. Other time he would simply go straight on me when it was time to leave or go somewhere. So this craziness was totally out of character. After about 20 minutes of this I heard him say, "Please, Mommy." over and over again. At this point he had calmed down enough to talk to me straight. He was in his crib, pants and socks off, blanket and monkey and bunny rabbit and 5 of his pop pops that he only gets in bed, all on the floor. He asked me politely to turn his light on, which I did and then he asked for every item one by one.
Blue pop pop, please.
Yellow pop pop, please.
Green pop pop, please.
Other blue pop pop, please.
Blanket please.
Monkey, please.
Bunny rabbit, please.
Socks on, please.
Pants on, please.
Back in night night, please.
By this time I was sweating but the tantrum was over and he quietly went to sleep.
Talk about a Holy Tantrum.

Ear PIckin'

This is probably a post of which J wouldn't approve but it's very near and dear to my heart so I have to do it.

I love to pick at ears. My own and my boys especially. W's ears secrete an amazing amount of wax. I don't know why. I treasure the ear picks the doctors have and would do anything to have one. I don't stick anything in their ears except for my pinky fingernail. I know it's dangerous so I don't even use cuetips. Just the occasional wash with the wash rag and my fingernail. W used to not tolerate it too well so I made a game out of it. I pick his ears and say, "EEEEWWWW!" and show him what I got and he then says "EEEEWWWW!" back. The greatest moment though was the other day when I picked a mound of wax out of his ear and he said, "That's a good one!". He's a man after my own heart.

I just hope that he doesn't pass it on to other kids. If your kid knows mine you may want to encourage him to cover his ears when W is around because he seems to enjoy it as much as I do. You never know when he might stick a finger in your child's ear. But all in all, it's good for the community. It takes a village...... to keep ears clean.

Subscribe to Nola Mom

Okay Nola Mom fans! Exciting News! You can now subscribe to get Nola Mom by email or through your browser. It's convenient and easy. All you have to do is click the Subscribe to Nola Mom link at the top of the sidebar. I'm a bit sceptical because it supposedly skews my sitemeter traffic numbers but I'm willing to sacrifice my numbers for you, my friends. For the untechnical saavy it means that you get an email whenever I post a new entry. You gotta love it! So click away and join the other subscribers.

Whoopin' it up weekend

Whew! The weekend is over and I'm alive but barely. It was an unexpectedly big one. Friday night we did the usual Friday night supper with RaRa and Dodo. We always whoop it up in a tame kind of way with kids. Saturday we went to Emeril's first for drinks and appetizers. THE BEST MARGARITAS you will ever have, before going to the Chairish the Children Fundraiser for the Children's Museum. We were fully expecting to leave early so we could go eat somewhere afterwards. I mean who really intends on whoopin' it at a fundraiser? Well, we did and big time. Let me just say our Sunday was very unproductive. We did a lot of eating and sleeping.

We ended up at Superior Grill again today. We haven't been as regular since I got deathly sick a few months ago but we're back at it and lovin' it. Here's W eating his Guacamole. (I'm having a problem with my camera lately. All of my pictures all blurry)



So needless to say I am feeling pretty happy after a fun weekend. Life is good. Except for hearing W screaming while his dad washes his hair. Is anyone else having this problem? It's a new phobia for him. He screams and cries and hyperventilates no matter how you wash his hair. It's very unnerving. We welcome any tips.

Back to school

It finally came...and went. The first day of school. I was giddy and still am. It was all very different from last year. He cried and cried and cried and I had to pick him up early for a few weeks until he adjusted to time away from Mom. This year he couldn't wait to get there. He could hardly pose for the First Day of School Photo he was so excited.


Knowing how he is such a picture ham I knew it was going to be a good day when he couldn't wait for picture time to be done and he could go "To the car!!!" as he says. He couldn't get there fast enough but at least I got an "I wuv you, Mommy!" on the way.

When I picked him up he was sweaty and joyful and said he "had a lot of fun at school and on the playground".

Super Room Mom

I returned a phone call about 30 minutes ago.
"Hey Room Mom", she said.
"What?! Are you kidding?"
She wasn't.
Our kids will be in the same class at school this year. We had discussed what we would be willing to do. That was, help out the room moms if they needed help for any holiday parties. The Room Mom position was a slim possibility. ONLY if no one else signed up for it. So C had the last time slot at orientation today. No one else had signed up and yes, she volunteered us to do it.

and let me tell you. I am going to be the best damn Room Mom the fishies have ever seen!

Do you know me? If you do, you know that it will take quite the effort on my part. I'm not the most positive kid on the block. If you're a fan, you probably already know that. Don't get me wrong. I think I am a pretty good mom when it really comes down to it. But a Room Mom? I quit the Jr. League if that says anything. I have no idea what this Room Mom thing entails but I am deciding from this moment forward that we will go down in the history books as the best. You just wait. Before you know it I will have a new blog. Roommom.com It will tell you how you too can find that inner Room Mom in you.

Happy Birthday, Little Buddy

I cannot believe that he's another year older, my Little Buddy. He truly looks like a little boy now-definitely not the baby he was. But he will always be my baby. I know you are probably really sick of hearing me say it but it's true. I sit around rushing him to grow up-to walk, to talk, to hold a conversation, to socialize, to go to school but in reality I cry every year several times on his birthday. and I crying now as I compare these two photos. In the first one he is one. You're my sweet and adorable Baby, Little Buddy. Don't you forget it.

I just read Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life Boys and I want to read it again. But there is one section that made me cry )if you haven't gotten it by now I cry ate everything) and I think it will stick in my brain forever. It is the section “Dan with Mom: Making Room for Other Relationships”. Dan said his mom “maintained a respectful demeanor through my high school experimentations with romantic relationships, and she maintained this poise even well in to my college days, even though I knew she had strong negative reactions to some of my more politically strident, counterculture girlfriends.”

He never knew about her feelings about his girlfriends until after he got married. When he ended any relationship she never questioned him. “When I asked her about all of this recently, when I told her that I appreciated how she had handled my relationships with my girlfriends, I was again a little surprised by what she had to say: “When I realized that all I would ever have was sons, I figured that I needed to get along with whomever you married or I could lose you. You know the old saying: ‘A daughter’s a daughter for all of her life, but a son is a son ’til he marries a wife,’” she said. “I didn’t want that to happen.”

“And so she had maintained her calm through the years and the girlfriends, offering a reliably nonjudgmental response with only slight variations-never a cheering section, never a harsh judgment. She made it clear, though never in words, that the girlfriends I had were my choices-not hers-and that if she was biased in her sentiments, she was simply in favor of me.”

This section really hit home with me. I think because I am already ready to hate any little you- know-what who is not good enough for my boys. I am kind of joking but hardly. And when I read this I just knew I had to quickly change my perspective because I will just die if I lose my little buddies. And I know it will be my fault.

Now of course when I see my Little Buddy with sweet girls like this, it will be a softer blow.

I have tried my best to correctly quote the authors of the book. It’s been awhile since I have taken a writing class so I was just trying to remember how to do all of that. I have a great respect for them and don’t want anyone to think that I am taking credit for writing anything above.

Keep away

The other morning W and Pman were hanging out on the floor of my room. I was trying to catch an extra few z's before J left for work. Pman was playing with an old batteryless cell phone my dad gave W. W doesn't like P to play with any toys especially his so he took it and slid it across the floor.

"Go get it!", he said to P.

P got up on his knees and slowly made his way across the room to get the phone. After much effort he go to the phone only to have W take it away again and yell, "Go get it!".

They did it a couple of times. P didn't seem to mind which is why I didn't intervene but W was falling down laughing. Poor Master P. I think that's only a glimpse of things to come, at least until he outgrows the LB and turns the tables on him.

The Green Limousine

W and I took our first ride together on the streetcar today. We rode on down to Camellia Grill and had lunch. We didn't have to wait long for the limo to get there thank goodness. He was getting kind of impatient.



It is the first time I have gone since the storm and I have to say it was better than ever. I had a Camellia Grill Special. Again a first after many years. It was all I ate in high school. I even painted a picture of my favorite sammy in art class. He of course had a grilled cheese, french fries and pickle as he does wherever we go but he was especially impressed with the pickle.


It was "wee wee weeeeee!" all the way there and just a look of delight all the way home. (I guess it should have been the other way around-ha! get it? wee wee wee all the way home!) Anyway, it was a great date before my little boy grows up and turns the big 3.

Hot summer in New Orleans

There are days when I just can't get it together to get both boys dressed and ready to go to the pool. The thought of it makes me want to get back in bed. We have a great time once we are all there but getting there and 'getting gone' are too much. So the past week we've been lolling around the blowup pool, me included. They don't really seem to mind. There are many perks.
1. we can have it all to ourselves
2. we can come and go as we please
3. we don't have to share our buckets and shovels
4. we can pour water on each others heads and laugh loud and hard and splash as hard as we want
5. I can be a total redneck and keep Pman in his swim diaper and don't have to worry about his bathing suit sagging or anyone else judging us (well except for you, dear fans).

J told me one day that to get a recipe shown on America's Test Kitchen that you had to subscribe to Cook's Magazine, which I have always liked but it kind of pissed me off. I forgot about it. I have way too many other recipes that I want to try to lose any sleep over it but....it still sat wrong with me. That they just couldn't share their recipes with the common folk like the food channel and any other businesses concerned with good PR do.

Then I read the post from Appetites about their claim of copyright infringement over a stupid potato salad recipe that some food blogger modified. It made me even more peeoed and I don't think I can watch the show anymore. It makes me sad because I really like the show and enjoy the magazine and even bought their cookbook for J a few years back.

Baby Milestones

I've failed miserably as a mom. I haven't kept up with the LB's milestones as much as I should have. Katrina reeked havoc on my intentions. Not that I didn't document them. Every new tooth, and crawl and step is written somewhere. Either on this blog, in one of the million random notebooks I have around the house or on a piece of paper. It's written down but I don't know necessarily where. I am trying to be better with Master P although I don't even have a baby book for him. Out of the stationery business, out of mind. But I will do it here for now. At the end of 9 months, Pman FINALLY has a tooth-or atleast half of one. AND he finally crawled today on July 29th. (I didn't think it would ever happen especially after W crawled at 6 months) if only 3 steps or whatever you want to call the hand to knee motion. 3-and then he got back on his stomach. He crawled one step early this morning but the 3 steps came this afternoon when W was sleeping. I had a hunch it would happen when big brother was not around to bug the hell out of him. and it did. He was hell bent on getting W's golf club and it obviously warranted a few crawl steps. YAAAAY!!!!! So we are moving along and let this be the official recording.

Anniversary dinner at August

We went to Restaurant August the other night for our anniversary. We also went last year and did the tasting menu but I was pregnant and I was at that really full point in the pregnancy. Because of that I didn't enjoy it and had to sit there in envy while J got the wine pairing with his. I wanted to go back thinking that we would do the tasting menu again.

It really is such a beautiful restaurant. They had huge arrangements of yellow lilies everywhere! They smelled delicious but I could only think that a restaurant that is truly about fine dining shouldn't distract the nose and palate with such a strong flowery smell. similar to waiter's wearing perfume or cologne. But no matter. We were seated far away from the flowers (although I could still smell a hint of them) and near a window. The service was impeccable if a bit too fast. We wanted to enjoy a leisurely dinner and really we were out of there in less than an hour an a half. But who knows, if it were the other way around I may be bitching about that. We decided against the tasting menu. It didn't really jump out at me so we decided to get 2 apps and 1 entree each. This is what I ate:

Baby beet salad with bacon, quail eggs, fried black eyed peas and crabmeat ravigote
This was possibly the best, most well-balanced salad I have ever put in my mouth. I was worried about the lack of salt on the table for my quail eggs but I paired each half with a big honkin' chunk of bacon and a beet and that was the last time I thought about the salt

Besh's signature Black and blue gnocchi
I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the portion because I am always wanting for more of this decadence. It was as always delicious although the gnocchi were not as light and melt in your mouth as they have been in the past.

Filet with porcini mushrooms and greens
By the time I got my steak I was stuffed. We were hoping for a reprieve between this course and the last. Time to digest our food and rev up our hunger once again. But here it came, fast and furious. The steak was cooked exactly as I asked. No surprises, a tender steak with mushrooms and greens. I could only eat half and the busboy came back to ask if everything was ok. This happened last year during the tasting. We didn't eat all of one course and the busboy said the kitchen was going to ask why. He seemed a scared to bring the plates back. A bit of arrogance in the kitchen, you think? I know, especially with no salt on the table but I guess they have reason to be.

Ok. But that was about the food. Now I have to talk about something else. If you're not bored, see the next post for my opinion on the state of fine dining today.

Tonight was the night that I was going to transform W into a good eater. I am sooo tired of making 2 dinners or just 2 dinners that require preheating the oven and waiting 30 minutes for the pizza or the chicken nuggets. Tonight W was going to eat carrots and noodles. I steamed the carrots while he was napping and tossed them in butter and salt. They tasted like candy. The noodles I tossed in butter, parmesan cheese and salt and they were delicious. and I gave him 4 potato chips for a lagniappe.

He ate the 4 potato chips. and I didn't give in. He wanted more chips. "After you have 1 carrot and 2 bites of noodles."
He wanted yogurt. "After you have 1 carrot and 2 bites of noodles."
He gave up. He wanted to get down. I made him sit at the table until he had 1 carrot and 2 bites of noodles. No dice, mama. I started to cave. I told him he could get down. Frustrated I told him, "I don't care. If you're not hungry you can get down"
5 minutes later. I want a nana. "After you have 1 carrot and 2 bites of noodles."
J came home. I gave him the speel. The broken record technique.
I went running, came back and J went running.
"I want a nana."
"you can have a nana AND yogurt covered raisins....IF you have 1 BITE of carrot." At this point I had shown my weakness. The war was his to win but I still had some fight left in me. I told him I would take a bite of carrot if he would take a bite at the same time. There I sat with a carrot in my mouth trying to get him to take a bite from the other end. Hysterical laughter, from W. I HAD HIM!!!! or so I thought. I crawled around the floor like an idiot chasing after W with a carrot hanging out of my mouth. Thank God J was running. The story goes on but how did it end, you ask?
He had 4 potato chips, a bowl of goldfish and a banana for dinner.

Decorating nightmare

I want to puke every time I think about decorating this house. I can pour through magazines and show you a bunch of oh so sophisticated rooms that I just love but when it comes to actually pulling it all together-well, I suck. I hired a decorator after Pman was born and she sucked. I spent too much money on a whole lot of nothing. Now it's been a year and half and it's high time we stop living like this. I feel like I'm in college although we don't have any futons, thankfully. I think J had one when we got married but that went out with his bachelorhood.

So anyway, I scour the web for ideas and went to my favorite shop when in Cashiers but after the last fiasco I am dead scared to buy anything. I am frozen from fear. I can't even buy a pillow. But I have become reacquainted with decor8 on the internet. I don't necessarily like her ideas but her blogroll and sidebar links have a lot of good resources. Not that I am buying from them because as I said before, I'm scared. I also remembered Hable Construction. They have cool hand printed fabrics and pillows for the more casual rooms. Great stuff for that beach house in Cabo San Lucas we will buying (right, J?). and maybe our family room.

Venus would be disappointed

I have a new found love for Venus Williams after I saw her beat her sister's ass at Wimbledon. She was kind and gracious to her and Serena acted like such a shit. She pouted through Venus' speech and was really just a sore loser. Anyway, I've taken up tennis again. At one time in life I was pretty good and since being back I have started to have fantasies of me kickin' butt on the beginner tennis circuit. Until today. I went out to play with Uncle RaRa and he ran me ragged. My poor fat ass was running back and forth, huffing and puffing but I have to say I was proud. Then it hit me. The nausea-oh the misery. I just knew I would throw up and when I started seeing spots I kind of started to panic. It lasted about 5 minutes-I won't bore you with the details. but damn, it's gettin' hot in hea! I think between the heat and not having yet had lunch, I just couldn't hang.

I know it was such a rookie mistake. Venus never forgets to eat, ha!

I know I’m not nice. I don’t claim to be although a dream of mine is to be described as “joyful”. I know that’s pretty far fetched too but I’m not rude. I can be, like most people and probably come across as such more often than not but I really do make an effort to meet other moms with kids my same age. In the park, at the pool, at the mall or coffee shop and it seems all I come across lately are rude ones. I know I blogged about this when W was a baby. I thought maybe it was a “new mom with first child syndrome”. I thought I was coming across moms with their 2^nd children so they didn’t really give a crap about us new moms. They thought maybe we were too giddy and excited for their experienced and jaded selves. But being a mom with a second child now I find that I am not like that. I get so excited to come across other moms with babies who are Pmans age. whether they are first timers or not. I ran across one last night. I asked her how old her baby was. Same age as P. Yay! Let’s talk about milestones, I thought! Her baby was clearly walking and moving around where Pman is just barely sitting and not even crawling. She scowled at me and moved on. Whatever. It seems things never change.

I know you're sick of hearing it. I know J is sick of hearing it and I am sick of saying it. That I am starting a healthy way of eating. But today, I really am. There was a small kink in the plan this morning. We went to the mall. It was our outing. Sad, isn't it? But I figured W would enjoy playing in the fountain and I could get a wedding gift for someone who got married almost 6 months ago. He loved it. I had him run "really, really fast" around the fountain a few times to make sure he got good and tuckered out. S and her baby girl met us and we fed the babies then walked over to Cafe du Monde to get coffee. There are no other coffee shops in the mall-ANYONE WANT TO MAKE FORTUNE OPEN A PJ'S IN THE MALL-so I had to settle for a $4.00 iced cafe latte with whole milk. It was delicious-anything with whole milk would be-but I think $4.00 was a bit steep. This ain't the French Quarter. This is Veterans blvd. but I guess they figure they have a captive audience. So that was my slip. Otherwise I have been really good all day.

Yesterday, I made Dr. Ann's homemade granola minus a lot of the nuts she calls for because I didn't feel like buying pine nuts and the like for $17/lb. It was really easy. I took slivered almonds, sunflower seeds, walnuts and oatmeal. Then I mixed it up with about a quarter of a cup of honey and a tsp. of vanilla extract. Then I baked it in a 325 degree oven for 20 minutes, stirring about every five. Deeeelicious. I had it this morning with a fresh peach and skim milk. J didn't enjoy it as much as I did. But I am sure it will grow on him.

I've also decided not to take a free day for two weeks which is going to be hard. Free days are a carryover from my long ago Body for Life but they make such much sense. They kind of get you through, keep you going, make you feel like you are not totally depriving yourself of anything good. But lately they have been getting me off track (I've been taking free weekends) so I am going to forgo it for awhile.

I know my fans are really excited about my diet dilemmas but I am sick and tired of it and think about nothing else so I wouldn't be true to you if I didn't post about. I will be a hot mama once again some day. I'll spare you the details for 4 weeks. By then I will be able to give you a good update. Doesn't mean I won't share my healthy dishes and recipes with you. I might even take a photo of my shrimp fricasee tonight. Stay tuned.

Finally sitting

Yay!!! Pman can finally sit for extended periods of time. It makes it much easier to get photos of the two boys. Now we have to work on his expression.

Facebook

I do not get it. I am a fairly new member and I am trying to figure it out. But I just can't. The sad thing is is that it's like crack. I am addicted to it. I sit and wait and wait some more-for new photos, status updates, whatever. I'm like a dog waiting for a bone. If you are not familiar with the Facebook phenomenon I will try and explain it to you. But I am not making any promises that you will understand it any better than I do.

You see, you have friends. Only your friends can see your stuff. And then I guess by using six degrees of separation theory Facebook sends you pictures of people you may know and then you can 'friend' them too. The first few days I was a member I was 'friended' by people that I wouldn't even email. I thought it was so weird. Now I am that crazy stalker trying to get more 'friends'. I am just trying to keep up with the Joneses. The Joneses have something like 400 'friends'. I barely have 17. and that took an effort.

Anyway, my point is..I sit and wait for these status updates. Let me give you an example of a status update:

Jane is just finished taking a dump.
Bill is going out to dinner.
Amanda is about to go party with her friends.

That's what I sit waiting for. and when there is an update. Wahooooo! I get so excited. But pissed at the same time. Pissed that I have checked this stupid thing 10 times in the last 30 minutes and even more peeoed that I am excited that I just found out that Jane just finished her business.

If anyone can shed some light on this phenomenon for me, I would be most pleased.

Today we went to the coffee shop. It's been awhile because we've been doing a lot of swimming but I needed a break from exposing my pale white fat thighs in a bathing suit so we did coffee instead. It doesn't have the same allure to W as it did when he was 18 months but he enjoyed his cookie just the same. When it was gone he used one of my techniques on me.
"Five more minutes", he said. Meaning that it was almost time to go and he was giving me a warning. 2 minutes later he said,
"Les go"

There was a mom and kid (probably W's age) having coffee and bagels. She rushed him on out of there after she had slathered the bagel with cream cheese. He could barely keep up as she rushed out the door and he dropped his bagel cream cheese side down. He was sad and she hadn't realized what had happened until she saw my face. So she walked back in, said, "I told you to use 2 hands!", picked up the bagel, took a napkin and gave the top layer of cream cheese a once over. I was horrified. Like she couldn't either a. get another one or b. get the other half out and slather it with the cream cheese. Where was she going in such a rush?

Then I remembered...the day that W was shaking his bag with his newly bought muffin. It fell out and skidded across the floor. Boy, I was peeoed. I told you not to shake it!!!! So I picked it up and promptly picked off the top of the muffin. I wasn't in a rush. Nope, no place to go either. So there you have it. Here I was judging this poor lady and I had basically done the same thing 2 months earlier. Judge not lest ye be judged. Is that the expression?

What a week

I mean, what a week. I didn't think I'd make it through. We had to drive back from N.C. and that took us 11 hours and 6 min. door to door. and on top of that I had to say goodbye not only to DeDe, the Bachelorette but also to the Real World Hollywood gang. A really hard week. I am not sure what to think about DeAnna's outcome. It all seemed a bit staged but I haven't thought about it much since. The Real World on the other hand...God, I love it. Since I was 20 I have said I would do anything to be on it and I still haven't changed my mind. I am steadfast in the belief that I would make for good tv. But I guess now I am classified as an "aged mother" which is what the doctors classify me as when having a baby. But I don't feel like it when in the context of the Real World. I can still whoop it up with the best of them and I know I would be one of the best characters on the show. I swear, I may be 37 but I can hang with any 20 year old if my life depended on it. The partyin' and the drama and the fun and the bonds they make.....OH MY GOSH! I can't stand the thought that the Real World passed me up.

I'm serious.

Oh say can you see

We had a fabulous 4th of July in the mountains of North Carolina and I am so glad we made the 11 hour trek up there and back. Flying is such a hassle although driving is much more tiring, I think making a road trip was the way to go.

W had a ball-swimming at the lake, going on a hike, riding in the golf cart and hanging out at the inn and at Mimi and Papa's.

The highlight of the trip for all of us, I think, was at the Friday night barbecue where we saw the most beautiful fireworks while the symphony played. I never thought that fireworks could give me that much joy until I saw them through the eyes of William.

He took it very seriously when they played the Star Spangled Banner. Here he is with his hands over his heart.

"Finger Food'

I made the most delicious dinner last night. It was a recipe from this last issue of Gourmet Magazine for Chicken tostadas. and it turned out just like the photos. It wasn't quick like they said, a lot of prep but well worth it. It was so easy though that I am using the chicken and sauce again tonight and mixing it with pasta instead of making tostadas. It was very versatile.

I had to use a jalapeno pepper in place of a Serrano Chile because our supply of Chile's is pitiful around here. But it still worked.

I know that Uncle RaRa and I devoured ours. We used our hands and just chowed down. It was quite messy but scrumptious. J is a Midwesterner and I have found that they (sorry for generalizing and please feel free to put in your 2 cents if you think I am wrong) don't like to eat with their hands. You know, we grew up picking a lot of crawfish, shrimp and crab so it's just second nature to me. I even think J eats ribs with a knife and fork. But believe me, some things are just easier when you classify them as finger food. Then you can go to town without any utensils getting in the way.

We went to Commander's yesterday for Uncle RaRa's bday. He sent us home with a chef's hat for W. W thought Master P would enjoy wearing it.


Today we just played outside in the backyard. We were going to Daneel park but P took a long morning nap so W and I went outside to play with the new water guns.


I pulled out the trusty Mexican blankets from J's bachelor days and let Master P hang out with us when he woke up. It was actually a blast.

Here's Master P relaxing.

and W taking a rest in between water gun fights.

For baby Kate

Another friend just had her new little baby. Welcome to the world Baby Kate!

Having my second baby was an exercise in patience. It was hard and I don't know how I got through the first few weeks (well, yeah, I do. with the help of J, W and my friends and family) but now I can't imagine not having Master P in my life. Anyway, the point of posting is that hearing of the new life entering into our world made me nostalgic for a tiny little baby. Not for long, just for a second but there's nothing like a little baby looking up at you so hard. Sometimes the intensity of the gaze makes you think that they've known you forever and others it's like they are desperately trying to figure you out. Whatever it is....what I do know is that babies are miracles.

I haven't shared a photo of P man lately so thought I would. Here he is in all his chunky baby glory. (We have a gazillion hand me down bibs. This day he was "Jack")

More about Toxic bottles

I finally gave in and bought some glass bottles. Only because when I was at Babies R Us the other day I noticed that Dr. Brown's were now in glass. I am still not totally sold that the plastic ones are poisonous and if it's true it's kind of hard to avoid it all... What with plastic sippy cups, plastic bowls, plastic water bottles, AHHHHH!!!!!!. I figured that I would buy 4 and atleast alternate them with the evil plastic ones to eliminate Master P's exposure to the toxins. They are still sitting on my counter in the packaging waiting to be sterilized.

Alleluia moment Number (I'm just guessing) 100

I have a lot of Alleluia moments. I'm sure we are way past Alleluia moment number 100 but I decided to start keeping track of them and thought 100 was a good number. You can read about another moment. and another one. We had one last night.

W is not an eater. and all of the experts who give advice on "how to get your kid to eat" don't know anything. I can't make it look pretty or make it fun by making funny faces with ketchup or make it "fun" by giving him something for dipping. None of it matters. He won't even try a bite. Most things I know he would like but he won't even try it.

I tried to trick him last night by calling the pizza (Amy's pizza), cheesy breadsticks. He loves the ones from Reginelli's. He was not fooled once he saw the tomato sauce oozing out and messing up his fingers. I panicked and like always rushed around trying to find a way to make it more appetizing for him. I know this is the reason he's a picky eater. It's my fault. and I did it yet again. Until I was just too tired. I cut it into squares and put it on the ottoman and rolled it in front of his easy chair while he was watching Elmo (this is awful, right? Letting him watch it totally in front of the tv on my new furniture) and left the room. A few minutes later I peeked in and there he was with tomato sauce all over his face smiling. I came out of hiding and he said, "Good!". This was the Alluluia moment! I could hear the angels singing. He ate the whole personal pizza. Now I know it's not the best thing he could be eating but that Amy makes a mean pizza. The crust is whole wheat, the tomatoes organic and well, W could not have said it better, "Good!".

I am so tired of making grilled cheeses. I am even more tired of making the real chicken nuggets from Whole Foods that take 30 minutes so Amy's pizza was the next best thing. I'll say it again. Alleluia.

Microsoft Life Cam

For Christmas I got my parents a Microsoft Life Cam
so that they could see the Little Buddy and Master P while they were away. We finally got it hooked up and OH MY GOSH! I feel like I'm on the Jetsons. It is so much cooler than I ever thought. My dad got his end working after a lot of hoo-rah and he popped up. W was sitting on my lap and immediately said, "Papa!". Now I don't look too attractive on the Life Cam but I am definitely hooked. I highly suggest it especially if you have family who can't see your kids often enough.

An early father's day cheers.

I just finished reading Kate F.'s blog, one of my favorites and it reminded me of my fabulous dinner I made the other night. So New Orleans and so good albeit a big rich. J didn't enjoy it as much as I did being a midwesterner and all but it sure brought me back to Saturday morning's when I was a kid and my dad would make fried green tomatoes for us.

The reason I thought of making it is because my tomato plant is producing a buttload of tomatoes and 4 of them we picked off weren't ripening to red so I just fried them up with yellow cornmeal, salt and pepper, that's all and made Shrimp Remoulade to go on top. I wasn't sure that the Remoulade was up to par (I had to make 2 batches) so I didn't plate it as I envisioned with the shrimp on top of the tomatoes.

But cheers to Dad for raising me to be a good ole fried green tomato fryer. One of many, many, many reasons that I love him.

winners, losers, boozers, lookers and hookers

Some new words to add to W's vocabulary. I have "I love this bar" by Toby Keith on a cd and W picked up the words quickly and pretty much it's all he likes to hear. I guess I'll have to stop playing it when he's old enough to know what the words mean but for now it's actually kind of funny to hear him singing it with such gusto. and then say, "Sing it again!"

What are we up to? Not much and you'd think I were super busy what with this lack of posting. J and I went to Cancun and had a blast despite the "tropical storm". The boys had a great time with Uncle RaRa and Aunt JoJo, Mimi and Papa and Jessie and G. I worried about leaving them for nothing. W didn't even want to talk to us on the phone. I was really worried about Master P being pissed at me when we got back. We left W for the first time at this age and he wanted nothing to do with me upon our return. They grew so much while we were away. Seriously. P was so much bigger, clapping and babbling nonstop. and W was talking so much more too probably because everyone else can't read his mind like we do.

So the summer's here and no one is going to camp and we are left to our own devices. So far it hasn't been too bad. OHHHHHHH!!!! But the big news is, is that W pee peed on the potty!!!!!! Yes, all on his own. We were about to take a bath and he said he wanted to pee pee on the potty. I rolled my eyes and thought, yeah right. So we pulled out the potty and lo and behold......I was speechless. Then I started yelling and jumping up and down. It was quite the event.

Anyway, I try to plan my days. If you are in the same boat as me, with nothing to do, it's the best way to go so you don't lose your mind. I plan something for every morning. If it's a simple morning activity like going for coffee or going to the playground then we come home and paint or do something else. But it is definitely nice to know what we are going to do. Our options are...
swimming, Parenting Center (although we haven't yet done this because they are well for the first time in eons and I can't stand the thought of having them sick again), going to get coffee and a cookie either at the coffee shop or after driving the car at the grocery store, playdates, Children's Museum. I'll add the park in there if it's in the early morning. Story time at the Library is always good too.

I'm under the weather-Zicam seems to be working-so I'm signing off now. I'll be back more regularly over the summer.