Ketchup

It's time to ketchup or catsup or catch up...

• Here's a pic of Miles' first cereal bottle. He gobbled it right up! We attempted spoon feeding him some on Sunday afternoon. We got a video of it, but forgot to take any regular pics! DOH. Will have to see if hubby can get that video clip for me...

• We are all over the place in clothes these days. Some 0-3, some 3-6, some 6, some 6-9. Guess it just depends on the maker. I made him a t-shirt with an iron on that I got from Hob.Lob eons ago - like before he was born. It is a UPC code with "priceless" underneath. Its a 6 month t-shirt but we put it on him on Sunday and it barely goes over his fat head and is almost too small for his belly!


• Miles is laughing hyterically now. It melts my heart! I can give him kisses all over his body and he giggles at every nibble. Daddy can do the "boo" game and he squals every time and sometimes even tickling him everywhere does it. It's so awesome to hear and it brings a tear...(there's a country song in there somewhere...)


• Miles LOVES to stand up! Either in your lap or on the floor. And lately, you can stand him up holding onto the ottoman/coffee table and LET.GO and he stands there like a big boy! No wobbles! WHAT? Mom saw me do it on Sunday and was like, you're gonna have a 9 month old walker if you keep up that training...Training? I am not pushing the issue. I am just helping him in a position that he loves to be in. I think he likes to be "taller" so he can see more around him! It only has me a little worried because I have read that some babies never crawl and go straight to walking! When we were at JCP one time for his pics, there was a 10 month old there walking around. It looked so strange because he was so small - like a little mini person standing there!


• For the first time since May, we got to take the boat out! It's been having some electrical issues...the wires in that thing are daisy chained together so if one thing goes out, more than likely it will make something else go out, etc, etc. You get the picture. So first it was the gas gauge (hello, might need this when we're 10 miles down river), then the radio (Ok I can live without it cuz we can use iTunes), then the engine...ok this is enough. Anyway, Deano and his friend took it out weekend before last to tinker with it and think it's finally ready. We took it out to this river. It's a nice place to relax. And house look and people watch...I have a feeling there's some waterfront property in our future... It was just me and my boys. Miles took a nap and we took some deli sandwhiches and BEAVER.NUGGETS from Bucc.ee's!!! YUM-O! And look...Dean is already teaching Miles how to drive. I think he was more interested in how that throttle worked though...GO FASTER DADDY!

• Here's Mr. Miles weekly pic - Week 19. Holy CRAP - this means I will have a 5 month old on Friday. WHAT? This photo session was quite amusing as he kept grabbing the monkey and pulling him over on top of him!

Don't you just want to squeeze and hug and kiss and love him? I do. ALL.DAY.LONG.

Bad Decision

What do you breastfeeding mammas have to say about this?

http://blogs.wsj.com/juggle/2009/08/31/can-pumping-at-work-get-you-fired/

Q&A Answers

I didn’t really get too many hits on this Q&A thing. So either everybody out there knows everything about me or you think I’m boring and don’t want to know...

Regardless, here’s the answers to the questions I got…

Stacey Queen asked: how do you guys make your own wine? Where did you learn that?

Dean actually started doing this BK (Before Kim). It’s really quite easy. We buy grape concentrate from a local wine/beer making shop.We also bought our supplies from there as well, like the 6 gallon glass jar, bucket, mixing spoons, siphon…. In the concentrate box comes the juice, any additional ingredients it needs i.e. yeast, etc. and INSTRUCTIONS! You follow the steps accordingly. Usually, but not always, it goes something like this (very layman’s terms here):

1. Sanitize everything
2. Pour 6 gallons of water into bucket
3. Add juice and other ingredients and stir
4. Add percolator to top of bucket (not really called that, but that’s what I call it) it allows air to escape from the bucket while the yeast is fermenting. It makes a bubble, bubble sound you can hear throughout the house.
5. Wait X number of days for this phase. Maybe add more stuff
6. Transfer to 6 gallon glass jar
7. Put on dark shelf and wait X number of days for it to get ready
8. Siphon from glass jar into bottles
9. Cork bottles, heat bottle tops/covers onto bottles and add labels. I order ours here. They are much better quality than we could print at home.
10. ENJOY!

Martha asked:
What is you and Deano's favorite song?

I think there are a bunch of them. But since he is a musician, he usually only pays attention to the tune itself: notes, tone, rhythmn, beat. I like the words. But we both equally suck at names of artists and songs. “Our” song is Tim McGraw’s Watch the Wind Blow By. It would have been the song we danced to at our wedding had we remembered the damn CD and taken it to Jamaica…DOH

Where did you all get married?
Engaged on top of Pike’s Peak, married on the sunny shores of Montego Bay, Jamaica

What do you like about where ya'll live?

Pearland, Texas. It’s a burb of Houston. Growing like wild fire. Seems like there is a new store opening every week! We are in a new neighborhood with houses still being built. COME ON CUL DE SAC - we have one lot still empty. Lots of great neighbors, kids programs, decent schools. Super close to everything Houston and family...

What would you change?

About myself – my weight
About my husband – not a thing
About my life – wish I would have met Deano sooner so maybe I could squeeze out another baby. :-) Pun INTENDED

nancy asked:.

would you eat human meat? Think of craziest circumstance like you are in a country they grow human meat for consumption, so everyone does it. Would you try a bite?

First of all..EWWWWW. Why would you come up with something like this you weirdo? Just kidding. If it was “grown” for human consumption, that would freak me out. I mean, could you imagine being friends with someone and then later realizing they were “from the farm” and you ate them? NO. That is why I couldn’t be in FFA and raise a pig or chicken or rabbit. They eventually end up on someone’s plate and no thank you I could not have eaten Ally McSqueal (cousin’s pig from FFA) And that only makes it worse when you name it….

coke or pepsi?

Coke. I drank Pepsi growing up at my grandparent’s house. For some reason we only drank Coke with Coke floats, but Pepsi is what we had for soda. BLECH. I can’t stand the taste anymore although it does make me miss Grandpa…

last CD you bought/listened to?

See above answer to Martha’s question about favorite song. IF we bought CD’s who would we buy? We could walk into the store and ask the sales guy, “hey who plays this song – dun, dun, dun, dun-dun-dun, dah, daaah” (Dean) or me, “What song has these words ‘Mom caught me smoking and she says NO WAY’.” YEAH. We listen to Pandora or the radio or the music channels on U-verse. But we have lots of CD’s from yesteryear. His – mainly jazz, mine – mostly stuff too embarrassing to list here…

pizza toppings?

Cheese, pepperoni and extra sauce. Please and thank you.

What shoe would you buy if you could buy ANYTHING?

Does it mean I’m not girly if I am not THAT into shoes? I mean really….in order to answer this question I am going to have to Google something and that means I really don’t want to buy it, just looking for a cute answer…HOWEVER, since Rodeo is coming up and we’ll be at the fairgrounds doing our volunteer duties, it will get me in my cowgirl spirit. And that always makes me long for my days of Ropers and Rocky Mountain jeans. My Ropers left via garage sale many moons ago. But I could really dig me some of these beauties….Perhaps an early birthday present from my love...

Crafty McCrafter #2

I found this really cute idea on Photogrl's bloggy....so I signed up.


And now....it's your turn!


Here's how it works....The first 5 people to respond to this post will get something made by me, especially for you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make but I hope you will.
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. They say I have a year to get it to you. But I promise it will NOT take that long!
4. You have no clue what it's going to be. It’s a surprise to both of us at this point.

The catch? You must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog.

Milk = Milk?

Who da thunk it....I have been having some milk supply issues lately. As in, not enough for Porky Miles. He is taking about 6 oz at a time from the sitter (you know since el boobies don't have a gauge on them, it's hard for me to know). But when I am pumping at work, I'm still only getting 4 oz -that's total - from both. It's been bugging me so I have been drinking like 3 super-mondo-using-the-cup-from-the-hospital 48 oz'ers every day, but still no change really.

Well this morning LaRay said she had a gallon of milk in the fridge that is going to expire this weekend and to help myself if I wanted any. So in addition to 48 oz of water before the 8AM pumping, I had about 8 oz of whole milk. Now, I don't know of the "whole" was the key ingredient or what, but this morning I got 6.25 oz! (And yes, the .25 is noteworthy!) I was so impressed with myself. So imagine my dismay to only get a measly 2.5 at lunch. BOO Is milk the magic to more milk?

Anyone else notice that when you actually DRINK milk, it makes MORE milk? Or was this just a fluke, leftovers from what Miles didn't take at this morning's feeding???

Speaking of Mr. Perfect - here is his 18 week picture! Can you believe he is almost 5 months old?

Another question, anyone else taking Fenugreek for milk production? Have heard stories both ways on this. Also I think I read it takes 6 weeks to take effect, so that won't help my problem, you know...TODAY.

Dean's band started back up yesterday. They practice every Tuesday and host about 2 concerts a semester. It's a community band out of this college. His old college buddy is the band director there and the band is made up of current students, former students, former professionals, current music teachers, and old farts who do it for fun. (Dean that wasn't for you. You are in the "former professional" category....**) Beins' that my Bunco group meets first Tuesday of the month, I have now had to drop out to take care of mah baybee on Tuesdays... Kinda sad...I'll miss those Drunko nights...., I mean Bunco nights. I am still on the sub list though - for that group and 2 others (all in my neighborhood) so hopefully I'll get the call soon so I can see my girls.

This pic cracks me up. #1 - the saying is priceless and #2 - the look on his face makes me think "Whatchoo talkin' bout Willis?" heehee

Well that's all I can think of for now. Working on a couple posts/projects: crafty mccrafty, modeling chocolate, and of course that Q&A...

Here's another pic of Miles in his jumperoo. LOVES that froggie! It totally mesmerizes him. When we face him to another "station," he turns back to this one every time!

**Our dear friend SI, has a "signature" on her gmail account. Past president this, current director of that, etc. It cracks Dean up so he thought he would compose one for his personal email account as well. Looks like his trumps hers big time....check it out. You didn't know I was married to a celebrity, did you? :-P

Dean
Bachelor of Music
University of North Texas
*Esteemed Member Of UNT one o'clock band
http://www.unt.edu/

Past-President Bowling Club
Sam Houston High School
http://hs.houstonisd.org/HoustonHS/

Phi Mu Alpha member
http://sinfonia.org/

Previous Owner-Dean's Piano Service
http://www.deanspiano.com/

ITIL Foundation Certification
http://www.itil-officialsite.com/home/home.asp

Former Trumpet Player for:

Four Tops
http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Four%20Tops.html
Glen Campbel
http://www.glencampbellshow.com/
Jerry Lewis
http://www.jerrylewiscomedy.com/
Carol Channing
http://www.carolchanning.org/
Ray Price
http://www.raypricefanclub.net/
Jimmy Dorsey
http://www.jimmydorseyorchestra.com/
Jimmy Carter
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/jimmycarter/
Ringling Bros
http://www.ringling.com/
Debbie Reynolds
http://www.debbiereynolds.com/
The O'Jays
http://www.theojayshomepage.com/
Steve Allen
http://www.steveallenonline.com/
Sarabanda
***Two #1 hits on top 10 pop charts
http://www.descarga.com/cgi-bin/db/8444.10?sstp938Z;;198
Marty Robbins
http://www.martyrobbins.com/

Television Appearances
Channel 13 Houston
Noon Show in Oklahoma City
Numerous Commercials TV and Radio

Albums

Rickenstein
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350141079708&print=all&category=306

Sarabanda
http://www.descarga.com/cgi-bin/db/8444.10?sstp938Z;;198
NTSU one o'clock Lab '79 (band nominated for Grammy 4 times)
http://thempm.wordpress.com/2008/10/18/lab-79-north-texas-state-university-lab-band-ntsu-jazz-lab-bands-1979/

Las Vegas Appearances:

Dunes
http://gloriouslasvegas.com/2007/07/09/history-of-the-las-vegas-dunes-hotel/
Imperial Palace
http://www.imperialpalace.com/casinos/imperial-palace/casino-misc/hotel-overview.html
Sahara
http://www.saharavegas.com/home/
Mint
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mint_Las_Vegas

Topsy Turvy

* I have been a very bad blogger lately. You would think with my new "fancy" iphone that I would be blogging more since I don't necessarily have to have a pc to do it now, huh? Must be pure laziness....or it could be that I am having a fantastic time with my little boo-boo so I don't want to take time away from him to blog! HA!

I can't believe I forgot to tell you some BRU drama from our shopping experience the other day. I had a bag of crap stuff gifts that I needed to exchange for other much larger purchases such as the stroller in above linky. Seems like BRU has taken on EVIL.TARGET's satan return policy. Weird, since I returned a whole boatload of crap stuff gifts after the shower in Februrary and was given store credit for them. According to customer service manager (ooooh) BRU is now working under TRU policies. Funny, I always thought them one in the same anyways? But apparently not, and apparently policy has changed since February. Anyway, I had some duplicate things and other things I didn't need that I merely wanted to get store credit for. Apparently the answer is a big, fat N.O. Not without a receipt or a purhcase on your registry in the past 90 days. WTF? That doesn't even make any sense? So all I need to do is buy something from my registry and then you will take this stuff back? (was thinking this, didn't actually give away my evil plan.) But what? And really I am supposed to get receipts for crap that people gave me 4 months ago that I am just now realizing I won't be needing/using? That is impossible?! Some of the things I don't even remember who gave them to me? UGH. So now I have a bag of crap stuff gifts that will be going to the next baby-mamma-to-be that I know - HI KIM AND/OR STEPH!!! heehee

I mean really, who needs 6 color-changing-temperature-telling-ducks? which is how many I would have if the policy hadn't suddenly "changed." BAH!

And how could I have forgotten to post a pic of my topsy.turvy/whimsical.cake? I signed up to take a whimsical.cake.class with my friend Kim. If you remember, she is the one I took all those Wilton.classes with last year...she has turned it into a business, while I am still doing it for friends, family, and co-workers. ANYWHO...she ended up not getting to go because she is 7 months pregnant and had some bleeding that morning. Doc said to stay home and take it easy. So there I was...the lone person taking this class "for fun." SERIOUSLY! Someone asked the class who was taking it for fun and I was the only one to raise my hand! Everyone else was talking about their customers! EEK - talk about nervous pervous! So here is my 1st topsy.turvy cake. It is supposed to look like its going to fall over....that is the point. However, I am glad I snapped this pic in class, because by the time I was home, my topsy.turvy was....well, topsy.turvy for real. The edge of the bottom tier fell off, thus causing a slight cave in on the next layer and so forth... oh well, it still ate well!

I am now a "professional" cake maker I suppose. I should be, hell that class cost $150! It was totally not what I designed. She had us sketch out what we wanted before starting, even colored with map pencils! The middle layer color was airbrushed on - just so we could play with the air brush machine. Me? NOT.A.FAN. Could be because I sat on the back row and the machine was behind me. 12 people all used different colors so my boogers....yeah, they were rainbow.



Speaking of cakes, I am excited to be hosting a diapers.&.beer shower for my friend Kim next month. I am going to be making a practice cake beforehand. I mean, hosting a shower for a professional baker, the cake has got to be Dy.no.mite, right? So I plan on making a baby.rump.cake like the linky one. So work peeps - it's coming soon!

Also I have been reading about No.Fail.Sugar.Cookies which is the bomb sugar cookie recipe because the cookies don't shrink or swell so they are actually the shape of the cutter. I also want to use rolled.butter.cream to cover them. It's like fondant, but buttercream and you can cut it out using the same cutter and just glue it to the cookie, then make the accents with royal.icing. A friend from work is having foot surgery this week so I am going to work on making him a cookie bouquet of these as a "Get Well Soon" present....

Miles had his first taste of rice.cereal last night. We added a bit to a bottle of BM. He gobbled it up and had no issues. Thank.the.Lord! This little guy just takes every change we throw at him with a grain of salt. He is SO.PERFECT! Haven't I said that before? :)

Here's a pic of Daddy entertaining him while waiting in the doctor's office last week.

And here's his 17 week pic...18 is on the camera....at home... sorry for the crap quality. He was ready for bed time so I had to use the phone to take it since I didn't have time to locate the camera.

And finally....this is Miles helping Mommy with the laundry yesterday!

P.S. I am planning on finally answering that Q&A post this week - PROMISE!

My son

My son, who sleeps through anything!