Friday, May 27, 2011

Things that make you go huh

There are many things about being a mother that often make me laugh. One thing that usually makes me smile is play time. I love to play with the toys that often leave me laughing. Baby has two puzzles that the first time I played with them I was wondering what illegal substance the creator(s) were on. They look like two pretty innocent puzzles until you lift up a few of the pieces.
First one is a puzzle of a fire station, police station, and hospital:

(innocent enough)
I enjoy the mother who looks like she just found her children in the lost and found.
I love the exercise training the police are doing... um so which floor do they actually learn to do police things?
Then there is the one legged man of the fire department. (that fireman looks like he can hobble with the best of em.)
Here is another shot of him hobbling to the firetruck... (also is it just me or does that dalmation look like he is half great dane?)


And then there is my all time favorite puzzle....
All looks great on the construction site. It is pretty simple, until you get to the dumptruck....
Dumping dirt from the truck- Good! Worker there to guide him- Good! Lift up the piece and....
What the hell???? Why are they burying those poor miners??? When I discovered this I was laughing so hard I had tears.

Well I am off to look through baby's books now. I am sure there are a couple that have missed the lesson they set out to teach. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

The BIG one!

Four days old


Happy birthday (last week) to my little guy! He has made my life so happy and keeps me laughing even more than usual (maybe it is all the faces he pulls, like the one he pulled after he didn't want his cupcake when he touched the sticky frosting. The frosting on his face is from when he started rubbing his eyes after he was 'finished' with not eating his cupcake.). How did one person change this much in just a few short months? Crazy!!!!! 367 days old

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Exploring the city I love

Last week, we had some very dear friends come and visit. Like I have said on a few other posts, it was a busy weekend. We saw almost EVERY touristy thing to see... Top Pots Donuts, The Space Needle, The bathrooms at Experience music projects (very clean), Kerry Park (one of the best views of Seattle by far!), Ballard Locks, Fat Burger, The movie: Thor (surprisingly very good... and Thor is HOT!), Starbucks, Pike's Market, the Gum Wall (strangely hypnotic, but makes you crave hand sanitizer just lookin' at it), the Aquarium, The Waterfront, Gasworks park (scene of some bum fight that made it seem a little ghetto), Alki Beach (and Cactus Restaurant, YUM!), The troll under the bridge in Fremont, The outside of the Asian art museum (great place to try to have a picnic of cold cut sandwiches (did I mention my new nickname is FT for Frozen Turkey, a name I proudly earned after I attempted to chisel frozen turkey apart using the handle of a baby spoon. They can't call me resourceful!), and then when the picnic doesn't work out, close enough to a Dick's Drive in to save the day), Bruce Lee and Jason Lee's graves, Chinatown, Uwajimaya, and of course a Mariners Game (which only proved that Seattle's baseball team is at least better than the MN Twins.). After that weekend, I can safely say that we have a great grasp of what makes up Seattle. It was such a great time that I hope they can come back and visit with their cute little one (Baby Beckham, perhaps??). Thanks again Mellors for pepping up the sometimes gloomy Seattle. Seriously, it was a hilarious time!

Happy Anniversary

OK, I know have been missing in action for the last week. I promise it wasn't on purpose, I have just been so busy. We had some wonderful house guests, a few birthdays, an anniversary and trying to catch up on work. So lets start at the beginning. It was Soder and my anniversary last Monday. We have been married a crazy 7 years! I can't believe it. It has gone by very quickly. (Sometimes during the 7 years it has seemed like it was so slow, but looking back it doesn't seem like it has been that long.)
This is the point where most people would get all lovey dovey, but as Soder knows, I very rarely get that way (if I was all gushy about him, he would know I would either be hormonal or lying.) Instead I will just say that it has been real! (I know too mushy, right?) And seriously thanks for letting me yell when I need to and making me laugh when I need it. You get me, Dummy!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Happy Birthday, Soder!

Top Pots
My Soder turned the big 30 this Friday the 13th! We had a great time sightseeing with Traci and Matt, who are visiting from NE. The best part of the day, (not taking away from any of the beautiful sights or the great weather) was the party hat that I made Soder wear for the day. Space Needle
He was a good sport until we noticed that it was dying his head red from the sparkly stuff around the bottom. (I guess you don't get as good of quality as you used to from a $4 hat!) I loved that complete strangers were telling him happy birthday! It was way more entertaining for me than I think it was for him. Even with red dye around his head, I think it was a great day for everyone. Happy Birthday, Soder! Kerry Park

Friday, May 6, 2011

What Mother's day means to me


As anyone who has ever had any contact with me over this last year knows, I became a mother last May. I am very proud of my sweet little guy and know that he is the best part of me.
Over the last year, I have learned many parenting rules. (none of these came from those handy books devoted to parenting.)
And as my first official mother's day weekend starts, I would like to pass my wisdom on to you (especially to my friends who don't have children yet... this might be an eye opening event).

Motherhood is the ability to plan 20 different 'snacks' for a six hour period.
Motherhood is picking out outfits that will be changed or altered two to three times a days and that includes your clothes (baby = a messy sponge; they just spread dirty everywhere)

While eating out at a restaurant, your meal is entirely based off of what your child will nibble/graze off of your meal.

Once your child is able to eat solid foods, their meals have three courses: 1) crackers or cereal; 2) main course of food 3)some food that is tasty enough (a.k.a. 'dessert') to hold their attention long enough for you to shovel a few bites of food into your mouth.
A baby will only show love to you when their mouth is messy or their nose is snotty.

No matter how much money you spend on toys, babies will forever be more entertained with box that it came in or the paper it was wrapped in.

The super power for mothers is being able to determine what your child ate by the poopy diapers. (I am sorry that this is so graphic, but it is seriously so true)

While taking a shower, if your baby starts crying, you learn what parts need to be cleaned and what will wait, Example:shaving my legs is like a day spa event. (it happens only every so often because there isn't enough time.)
Now comes the part that sounds like a cheesy Hallmark card. While motherhood is the most rewarding thing in my life, it has also been the dirties, hardest, most tiring, worrisome thing I have ever done. And while I wouldn't trade anything for my little Baby, I want my lessons to be passed on to whoever is listening. Maybe it will help bring the whole parenting thing into focus for some other rookie/or soon to be rookie out there.

(*also I would like to give a special shout out to all the mothers in my life: My mother, my MIL, Yia Yia, Grams, and both my sisters. Thanks for always being such a great examples for me to learn this mothering thing from. Love ya! And Happy Mother's Day!)

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Welcome Back!

I made it. I went a whole week (plus some) without blogging. I survived. And now I can't think of anything to blog about. GREAT! I hope this means that I have made the creative part of my brain lazy. Now it has no inspiration.
Let's see what happened last week...
Soder's computer hard drive died. (spending money is always fun, right?)

I got paid in Starbucks to make cookies for one of Soder's co-workers. (Making 'money' is always fun, right?)

We bought Baby a new 'toy' for his birthday. It is a baby hiking backpack for him to ride in. While I don't know how much hiking we will be doing, it is great for when I want to take both dogs on a walk at the same time. (Taking a baby in a stroller with two dogs in tow is a tricky feat, one, that I will not partake in.) So this is actually a 'toy' for me. (also a great workout accessory, carrying around an extra 30 wiggly pounds has to be great weight training, right?)

My mom had her first chemo treatment and so far not a ton of horrible side effects. (she has had some, but not every one imaginable.) But a positive note, if you are looking for beanies (for when she loses her hair) if you buy them in the springtime, you can get some really great deals.

I guess it is good to be back blogging. I am sure this next few weeks will be easy to blog about, we have my first Mother's day, Soder's Bday, some very dear friends visiting, Baby's First Birthday and our Seventh anniversary. Busy, busy, busy, but in a good way.