Wino Wednesday

By far my favorite Pino Noir is Francis Coppola's Directors Cut:

It's easy to drink and goes with EVERYTHING.

I hope you enjoy!

Weekend Adventures

This weekend was very busy for us. Friday night I venture out with Tiffani for Mom Hour at Mad Potter. I can't show you what I made yet because it's a surprise for Lee. I will post the finished product when I get it back... We had loads of fun and I needed the girl time for sure.

Logan was up and down Friday night so we got to "sleep in" until 7:30am since we were so tired. Come to find out he had "upset stomach" so his diaper was atrocious.
This lead to the worst diaper rash this kid has ever had.

EVER.

We battled it all day, on top of getting a hair cut (his 3rd!) and a new baby monitor. His crapped out on us and now we have a super cool one that you can even move the camera if you need a better angle - from the handheld! Sorry, I am a geek...

After his nap we hit White Oak Bayou for some bluebonnet photos...

Looks like someone is going to be blonde like his momma!

After that we went to Grandma's for dinner.

Sunday we went shopping for a new hat for dad and new shoes for Logan. He ended up with some fancy schmancy shoes for Easter (but really, for all the time).

Honestly, I only spent as much as I did because they velcro. Putting Logan in a modified head lock to tie his shoes every day is not on my list of favorite things.

At ALL.

I spent the rest of Sunday in the kitchen during Logan's nap cooking for the week. You can read about that over at Sticks To Your Ribs (oh yeah, remember that site? sorry....)

I hope you all had a great weekend too!

Product of the Week

It's product of the week time again!

This time it's baby related but it's something that I am really enjoying.

Momo Baby Skidproof Placemat

Amazon.com

We don't use the tray on the high chair since it's huge and our kitchen is small. Therefore I bought 2 of these and they help protect the table and stays put. Sure, Logan can peel it up when he is bored but as long as there is food on it, he's great.

It has lost a little of the initial stickiness that it started with, but it hasn't affected it staying on the table.

 Now for eating out, I still go with the stick down pads, but that's another story.

Enjoy!

Link up!

Wino Wednesday

This week I need to give credit to my fellow wine-lover - Kelly - also known as my Sister in Law.

Every Sunday (for the most part) Kelly comes to dinner. Her job is to bring wine.

She brought over a lovely bottle of Pinot Grigio that I have yet to find another bottle of.

Entwine was featured on Food Network and it's lovely. I am eager to try the other bottles, but so far I was impressed with the light crispness of the Entwine Pinot Grigio. She said she found it at Randalls, so maybe I need to duck in one soon and see what I find.

Seeing how Summer is almost here, Pinot Grigio is a MUST HAVE.

Sick Baby...

Let's just say, since Christmas, things around here have been off and on in terms of health.

Logan's cabinet during a sick spell

Logan had an ear infection pretty much every other week once Christmas came and went. By February I was at the end of my rope and scared of the sudden fevers of 104 degrees. We tried scheduling an appointment for Logan's ears through the pediatrician, but the couldn't see us for 5 weeks. WHAT? So we found another ENT and got right in.

On Feb 29th, Logan had tubes in his ears. While we were there, they found an ear infection. That means he had 8 in 12 months,  5 since Christmas.

On March 9th we went for his 15 month check up and the pediatrician was like "Um, I don't see a tube in the right ear and it's full of fluid!"

ARE YOU FLIPPIN KIDDING ME?

Thankfully, when we saw the ENT, the tube was still there and he vacuumed all the fluid from the ear. Whala! Logan is fine!

In all that time, Logan finally started walking pretty much the week of the ear tube surgery and is EVERYWHERE! He talks constant gibberish and should hopefully pick up new words now.

Moral of this story, if I have lacked in blogging or my content has been weak, it's because I am worn out!  Now that he is healthy and happy and back to sleeping well, I am going to dig back in and start blogging again!

Thanks for all the understanding. You guys are awesome.

Hiatus

I apologize for my lack of blogging lately. Things have been super insane around here.

1. Logan got tubes on Feb 29th and he did amazing. You would never know he had anything done by the demeanor he had all day long, aside from a little extra drowsiness.

2. On March 9 we had his 15 month check up. He is 31" tall and weighs 25 pounds. This puts him around the 75th percentile. OH and the Dr said the tube in his right ear had fallen out and it was full of fluid... so here we go again...

3. Work is stressful. This always happens when home is busy/stressful. So by the time I leave my job and I am a bundle of nerves, I get home to more action. By 7pm, when Logan is in bed, I am a pile of mush and nerves.

4. Oh hey I have lost like 15 pounds and now wear a size 4. This happens when you are always tired and not always hungry. I need to lose 10 more before July but for now I will just try to stay the same.

5. The home busy life seems to always cause me to be a total wreck at work and I start forgetting things, making small mistakes, etc. Then I am extra stressed trying to get back into the groove and let's just keep repeating #3 in an infinite loop.

6. I started selling Sentsy in November and it hasn't been what I hoped it to be. Granted, I put zero effort into it because - well did you just read all that? I am trying to throw a party at the end of the month and hopefully that will kick start me.

With all the above complaints, I will say this - this year marks 10 years with Lee. We have been through highs and lows and I can say I could not have picked a better man to spend my life with. Together we have this wonderful child - challenging as he may be at times - and we have a nice comfortable life. I feel blessed and thankful and try to take the challenges in stride.

But sometimes it's hard.

So I have a glass or three of wine.

I will try to be back next week. Please be patient as I get my groove back. I miss blogging and I miss reading blogs. I appreciate the understanding (and prayers!)

Switcho Chango

The other day I was on Facebook and saw a fellow mother from the daycare complaining about a supplies fee. She pointed out that we already have to pack lunch and bring diapers and wipes, so what "supplies" are there?
I was a little more rational in the fact that they wash clothes when they get dirty instead of sending home wet gross clothes. They wash blankets and other stuff you leave there. So I could see a supplies fee for stuff like that.
Then she went on and on about the new Administrator and how unhappy the staff is, etc. This worried me a little because - unhappy staff means unhappy kiddos.

Basically all this made me sit back and evaluate exactly where we take our son for 9 hours a day.

It's a little on the dingy side.

They are giving it a face lift, which will help. It's also located in a portion of the neighborhood that's a little on the... transitional side. The next building, which is for 2-5 year olds, is located across from a Stop and Go type of place. Nuh. Uh.

I remember the first time I toured it, I called Lee and told him "I don't know, it's a little old and dingy" and then he went by on the way home and said he really liked it. However we were pretty desperate to get a place because Infant Care is hard to come by. I loved the lady that was with him, Lucy, and I felt like she had his back.

Now I feel we have let the year go by just on auto-pilot. Don't get me wrong, I have had hard days leaving him and he had a hard transition this last time to the Toddler room. I have never felt like they aren't sweet to him. In fact in the last room (6-12month) I could tell they just loved him.

Ever since he went to this Toddler Room, I haven't been as happy. I also feel like Logan is a little behind in the language and fine motor skills and I don't see that they really work with him that much. It's almost like it's more Child Care and less Learning. Know what I mean?

So I am now obsessed with looking at new daycare's and I have narrowed it down to 2.

The #1 choice is Big Little School, which is in a pretty convenient place for both Lee and I for drop off and pick up. It's highly rated and looks pretty snazzy.

#2 choice is The Childhood Center. This is located a stone's throw from my office, which would put drop off and pick up almost 100% on my shoulders, and would require the poor guy to endure traffic with me everyday.

What are your thoughts? I will take any and all advice!

Play Gym

Around the time Logan was 9 months, we started to explore our options on giving him something to do besides destroy play in the living room. I mean how can we compare to a room like this?

First we tried Little Gym, but that was a little far from our house and the time was pretty early. So we moved on to the next choice: Gymboree.


I want to preface this post by saying I have nothing against Gymboree. I think it's a great outlet for kids to play and learn. 

So, this last Saturday we headed out to play and we were excited since it would be Logan's first time going since he started walking. We thought he would have more fun and be able to participate in more things.

This actually meant he wanted nothing to do with circle time and was all "eff you guys, I am going over here." You know what? Fine with me. It's 9:30am, I have had one cup of coffee and a crappy night of sleep thanks to this cold. Have a great time and call me when you are through, buddy.

About half way through the session, Lee decided that we are done with this program - seeing how there are less expensive ways to let Logan "free play." I translated this into "we will have more money for you to buy all those things you see on Pinterest." So I agreed.

As Lee sprinted walked to the front desk to cancel, I looked around at the types of mommies that were in the room.

I consider myself pretty damn laid back. Yoga pants with a t-shirt and flops is my normal weekend attire. If my kid doesn't want to eat what I made for dinner, I simply open him up a can of chicken noodle soup and some gold fish and drink some wine. No boogie wipe? That's what the corner of my 1995 Jimmy Buffett concert t-shirt is for buddy!

But these mommies.. they are a sight to be seen. I narrowed it down to 4 types of mommies that bring their kid to a Play Gym.

1. Comparison mommy: "OH! MY! GOODNESS! Isabella has been walking since she was 10 months!!! How about your baby?" - this mommy wants to go play by play through your and her child's life, while mentally keeping a score card. She actively engages everyone in conversation while the kids are playing and we all try to avoid eye contact. All the while I am standing there wishing for coffee to sip and throw in her face to make her shut.the.hell.up.

2. OVERENTHUSIASTIC MOMMY!:  This is the mommy standing by her kid screaming "GREAT JOB RICHIE!!!" while he gums a rubber ball and drools. I am all about encouraging your kid to do great things and letting him know you are proud, but I am not so much into doing so in front of a room of 15 women. This mommy is usually cornered by Comparison Mommy.

3. Mommy of twins: nope, don't even try to talk to her. She doesn't have time. She also doesn't appreciate the statement "Wow! Twins! I bet you have your hands full!" I wish at this point she would punch Overenthusiastic Mommy in the face. I would buy her and her mother (who has to come with to wrangle one of the kids) a coffee.

4. Not Quite Awake Mommy: This is me. I show up, plop my kid on the mat, and watch him take off. I stay close so he doesn't throw himself off a slide, but otherwise don't force him to do very much. We go up and down slides and through tunnels, but mostly just walk around the room and throw things. All the while, I am dreaming of the Starbucks Drivethrough afterwards while Logan is rewarded with a snack cup of teddy grahams.

What about you? Which Play Gym Mommy do you despise?