November 8, 2009
Jude had no interest in carving the pumpkin. Liam, however, was mildly interested.
I made Jude an owl costume.
Spread your wings and fly little owl.
Jude with Jason and Joshua getting ready to go trick-or-treating.
Daddy takes Jude to the door.
Jason and Jude
Halloween sure was fun this year!
October 29, 2009
This was Jude’s first trip to the pumpkin patch at Sweetberry Farms. We drove out there with our friends Aron and Sarah and met up with Joe’s aunts and his little cousins. Jude was hesitant at first and only wanted us to hold him. But, he soon warmed up and did his best to try to pick up pumpkins that were almost as heavy as he is. We enjoyed some tasty pumpkin ice cream (surprisingly good) and strawberry popsicles. Joshua and Jason wanted to do the corn maze, but since Jude is just a little guy, he was content to pick out a pumpkin and look around. It was a great trip and now we just need to carve our gourd.
Picking a pumpkin.
With Joshua and Jason.
I like his little expression.
Scarecrow Jude.
“No more pictures!”
Nah, but I can drive a tractor.
October 18, 2009
My sweet husband knew how much I wanted to see this movie. So he planned a date night for us. He had one of his aunts to watch Jude for us so we could see Where the Wild Things Are at the Alamo Drafthouse.
We have not been back (as a couple) to the drafthouse since the “Baby Day Debacle” right before Christmas. We enjoyed some pizza and popcorn (and beverages for Joe) while we watched the movie.
I thought it was great. I loved the visuals, the music, and the emotionality of the story. I told Joe I thought it was the best movie I have seen thus year…granted I rarely go to the movies since Jude was born. I even cried a little. It also made me think about the little boy that Jude is growing into.
So I highly recommend it. I also enjoyed people watching at the drafthouse and getting to have a grown-ups night out with Joe.
October 1, 2009
Here are some pictures of Jude the last time we went to visit my mom. He had so much fun going up and down the stairs and didn’t want me to help him walk down the driveway, even though the incline made it hard to keep his balance. He started to run away from me down the sidewalk and his sandal fell off…but he just kept on going.
October 1, 2009
So, in case you don’t know, I have H1N1. Yep…it sucks! Actually, I’m starting to feel better, but I am on doctor’s orders to stay home until Monday.
It started with a cough and a terrible headache. I rarely get headaches…honest…I usually don’t even have headache medicine in the house because they are so rare. Well, I got this terrible sharp headache that was so bad it actually made me wince every time it proceeded to stab my brain from the inside. But, I didn’t have a fever and I didn’t feel fatigued. I mean, I was hot and cold, but I didn’t find that too out of the ordinary considering the weather, humidity, and the crazy cold air conditioning at work.
But, Joe, in a moment of intense insight, reminded me that it was in our child’s best interest for me to at least go to the doctor to find out what was wrong. Well, they swabbed my nose and confirmed I have flu A, which the doctor told me multiple times “Yep, you have swine flu.” I asked if I should still get my flu shot next Tuesday, to which she replied, “Yeah, that’s the seasonal flu shot. Go ahead and get that. You have swine flu.”
So, to cheer myself up, I made candied salted bacon from this recipe. There’s gotta be a silver lining to having this stupid illness. I mean, I’ve been wearing a hospital mask during the hours that Jude is awake, which has led Joe to call me “Jacko” (which I guess, makes Jude “Blanket”).
I’m actually on the mend. The headache hasn’t gotten any better, but the achiness has gone away and I am not sweating as much. I’m looking forward to being over all of this.
September 19, 2009
Just in case you were wondering, here’s the new car. Joe likes to point out that my hair looks crazy. But, in my defense, it was that Saturday that it rained like crazy, so I take no responsibility for what humidity does to my hair.
September 13, 2009
The Volkswagen dealership has a kids area. This kept Jude entertained for about 30 minutes. For the next three hours, he preferred to crawl up stairs, run into random offices, tap on glass windows, and hang out inside a minivan.
September 13, 2009
Now that Jude is over a year old, we’ve purchased convertible carseats for him, instead of using the infant car seat. Well, yesterday we bought a new car, so today, I decided I was going to put the new car seat in the new car. It darn near brought me to tears of frustration. This car set business is very overwhelming for me. I wanted to use the latch for installation, but you can’t install on the center seat using the latch. I didn’t want Jude in the outbound seats, and he needs to stay rear-facing until he outgrows the weight limit. Of course, those convertible car seats are giant and my car, in particular, has a very small back seat.
The house next door to us is for sale and of course people are coming to look at the house while I am sitting in the backseat of the car in the driveway (in my pajamas, no less) referring to car seat manuals and all around looking crazy. At least the weather wasn’t 100 degrees while I was attempting to do this. So, it basically took me two hours, taking out both the car seats to compare whcih car each one would work better in, and rolling up a blanket to get correct installation in both cars. I was sweaty and irritated by the end of it. Hopefully I won’t need to adjust or move anything for a while.
August 2, 2009
So, I have a horrible confession…we haven’t given Liam heartworm medicine for almost 6 months. I know, that’s pretty bad. We keep him up-to-date on his shots and we love our dog, but it was pure economics. After Christmas, we were really broke. To get Liam heartworm medicine, our vet requires he have his annual check-up in order to purchase another year of medication. So, it ends up being $130+ once you pay for the visit fee, the test, and the medicine. Quite frankly, we just didn’t have that much extra money, considering we are still paying the vet for Liam’s hospitalization last year.
We kept saying that once we had the extra summer school money, we were gonna get Liam all squared away. Then, I realized that we could take Liam to one of the non-profit animal wellness clinics in Austin and save some money on the office fees. So, Friday we took Liam to get tested for heartworm (he’s negative, yeah!!) and purchase a year’s worth of meds. Everything cost us $55, so we saved at least $60-80, by not going to our regular vet (whom we actually really like).
But, here’s the price we did have to pay. Apparently the day we went must have been the training day for their volunteers, because the waiting room had more volunteers in it than pet owners. They proceeded to make small talk with the owners, and made their rounds around the room, as I am sure they were instructed to do in their volunteer training. People asked us what our dogs name was, if they could pet him, etc.
But, here is the annoying part. Not one, not two, but five different individuals came to talk to us with almost this same script:
Superhelpful volunteer: So what are you here for?
Me: Oh, we are getting him heartworm medicine.
Superhelpful and suddenly annoying volunteeer: Oh, that is so great what you doing. It’s so important to give them heartworm medicine. Good for you.
Me: ———
I know that wasn’t an accurate reenactment, but it was very patronizing. I wish I could convey the tone of condescention. I know they intended to be helpful and encouraging, but the implication was to go to this place, you must be poor, uneducated about animal wellness, and maybe even a lazy owner. They also wanted to point out that Jude didn’t have shoes on, like he was some ghetto-baby.
It was a weird feeling. I wonder if people who get public assistance get treated like that? I certainly hope that I don’t treat the families I work with like that. It just made me feel stupid and irritated. I don’t think I should have to explain to strangers why I am there. But, in the end Liam is fine and I think I will continue to buy our medication there, since it is cheaper than the vet.
July 28, 2009
Sometimes it seems like the only time I can accomplish anything around here is when Jude is sleeping. So, here’s my one hour today to get some computer time in.
So, a few weeks back, I made homemade peach-mango ice cream in my Cuisinart ice cream maker. It was really easy and it came out pretty tasty. I really wanted waffle cones to go with my ice cream, but I lacked the necessary equipment (our waffle maker is too deep for waffle cones), so I made the next best thing…homemade ice cream cones and “cone bowls.” They were delicious.
This past Sunday was Joe’s 31st birthday. We had a really nice day to celebrate with him. We went to brunch at Moonshine with some friends. It was really delicious and worth the wait. Joe enjoyed some mimosas on the patio and Jude attempted to enjoy some mimosas.
Later that evening, we met up with Joe’s family for dinner at Cheddar’s. Joe’s aunts gave him such an awesome gift; copies of old photos, including some of Joe’s baby pictures. It was really fun to look at them, since these weren’t the same baby pictures that we already have. Dinner was really nice and calm and they even brought some cupcakes to celebrate. Here is a picture of Jude enjoying his cupcake.
