The Camera

Mama says: Oh Henry, look at how cute you are!! I love you in your overalls!

Henry says: Well, it's about time you got the actual camera out to take my picture! Enough with that fancy iphone. I need to be photographed with a flash...and a zoom...and a...wait, what is that? I think I need a closer look.

Mama says: Henry, you are so good at lunging forward now! Look at you my big big boy!! You sure did get over here fast.

Henry says: It's so tempting...what is it? what is it?? Still need to get closer to see...and to maybe...

Mama says: Henry, stop eating the camera cord!

Henry says: NOM NOM NOM. OH man. This is delicious. Worth all the effort. It's official. Camera are WAY better than iphones!

PS. I ordered pictures from snapfish the other day. I hadn't loaded them in nearly five months. The grand total number of pictures...337. THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTY SEVEN. They came in a big box rather than a pictures sleeve. I wont wait five months again...I wont wait five months again...

337...can you tell he is a first child?

PPS. Any guesses on what color these eyes are going to be? We have no clue.

Work Work Work

Sorry I have been MIA for the last week. I honestly looked at my blog and couldn't believe it had been so long since I posted. It didn't even occur to me. How sad for little bio girl. Anyway, the reason for my lack of blogging attention is that I have been working my tail off for the past few weeks. We have been so busy That I have had to go in the last several Saturdays just to try to stay afloat. That on top of working late during the week and the baby getting up in the night and you have the perfect recipe for a cranky over worked exausted mama biologist. I am an absolute joy to be around.

So... I gotta go. Heading in to the lab now since this snow is only going to get worse. I will be back soon with a real post. Just wanted to let you all know I haven't forgotten you entirely...

**now I would add a picture to brighten the mood, but all pictures lately have been taken on my phone... And it's all the way in the living room. Gotta be like 50 feet away. Too far.**

**exausted**

Best Mario Player EVER

The other night Nick and I were sitting around playing the new Mario Brothers game on the Wii. If you have a Wii and you like the old original Mario games go buy this. It is awesome. Anyway, I have always sorta prided myself in being a good Mario player. I am not a fan of a lot of video games, I like the puzzle games and I like Mario. Anything more complicated than pointing the your guy to the right and jumping over bad guys is just too difficult for me. But Mario, Mario I can do. It is completely on my level! So when we got it for Christmas I was so excited to play. I ask Nick if he wants to play with me and he says he will just watch. I prepare to dazzle him with my amazing Mario skills. For years I have watched him play games and here it was. My moment to shine.

I roll through the first couple boards okay, but then things get dicey. I die. Several times. In the exact same spot. I can see Nick getting antsy. He wants to take the remote. He wants to beat the board. But he wants to allow me to learn. I make it though. I am proud. Nick doesn't seem impressed by my dazzling though. I trudge on. I get to the end of the first world! The castle! I am so amazed!

Then it happens. I enter the castle and I get to work. The thing it, it is taking me quite a long time. Even I can see it. But, you know, I am working it out. I am moving along. I am going to beat it...eventually! But Nick has reached his breaking point. He asks if I need help. I toss him the controller. Because, well...yes, I could use some help. Then this conversation occurred:

Nick: *flying through the castle with ease* You are the worst Mario Player ever. In the entire world. The worst.

Me: *HORRIFIED* I am NOT! I am GOOD! It's just that Boo usually beats the castles... (trails off...not much more to say. clearly this explains it all)

Nick: YOU ARE THIRTY YEARS OLD?? You need your older sister to beat the castle at the end of Level ONE? WORST. PLAYER. EVER.

Me: *thinking that actually now I have a husband to handle the castle so really I am just fine thankyouverymuch* Whatever. I am awesome at Mario. I know it.

Nick: Sure you are

So....Maybe I am not the Mario master that I remember being. How every sad for me. But, turns out as long as we take turns while playing, every single board gets beat. Who really keeps track if I beat any or if I always die and Nick beats them all. As a TEAM, we are Mario masters! DAZZLING!

Not interested in video games? Here is a picture of Henry to make reading this post worth it!

Henry says: Seriously Mama? You couldn't even beat the world one castle? I will be schooling you at Mario in no time.

Mama: Go to your room Henry.

Words

I walk into the room and it starts . "mamama, mamama, mamama". Louder the closer I get. A huge smile breaks out on his face. I reach for him and his arms go up. Reaching back for me. I say "mama". And he says even louder, "MAMAMA!!". He hugs my face and smiles.

I say "Papa". He whispers back "papa". He likes the sound. He starts popping his little lips. "pop pop pop". Another smile. Proud of himself.

We say "bye bye" as we wave our hand. He looks at his own hand. "babababa" he says as he watches his his own little hand open and close.

I see these things, and I know he doesn't understand yet. He doesn't understand the words, so they may no be real talking, but they melt my heart just the same.

Email Issues

I have a serious problem with giving out my email address. I have no idea what is wrong with me. I used to have a yahoo account, but after several years I was getting twenty emails a day and eighteen were spam I decided I was done. No, it was not even spam. They were legitimate companies that I had KNOWINGLY given personal information to. Then, even though I freely gave these people my information, I would get irrationally annoyed with the situation. The thing is, I love getting email. LOVE IT. So it is just so disappointing for it to turn out to be total junk.

Anyway, I got my gmail account to fix the problem. I could then give my yahoo adress to all the random companies I don't care about and save the gmail for the important stuff. Like blogging and comments... You know, the good stuff. The problem is, I am an idiot. The plan was great in theory, but I seem unable to NOT give the gmail account. Even when old companies have yahoo I find myself changing it. WHY?? Do I need an email a day from Slones Market? Barnes and Noble? My vet?? Okay, the vet just reminding me to take Ellie and get her shots. That one might be helpful, bur still. STILL. This morning I had nine emails. One was real. I have tried to "unsubscribe" but it is clearly just a pointless link on these emails. Icould mark them as spam... But it seems sorta mean seeing as how this is all my own fault. Anybodyelse have this issue? Any ideas beyond a new email? I am so sick of being all like " mail mail MAIL!!... oh. Just pointless crap"

The Evil Coffee Table

I was sorta hoping to avoid a parenting fail that resulted in Henry knocking his head into the coffee table all together. I mean, no new mom WANTS their baby to run their precious little noggin into anything hard and pointy. But, knowing myself and my lack of attention to detail, I figured I could never make it past the walking phase. Still, I must admit that even I was surprised to find that my level of unawareness (it's a word) is so high that I actually let my child knock his head into the table...before he is even crawling. *shakes head in shame* Let me explain.

So, Henry has entered a rather needy phase. Not terrible, he just has a rather short attention span for things and if he was given his rathers he would like to be held at all times. Even when sleeping. Now, obviously we cannot comply with his wishes (although I am pretty sure his grandparents choose to never let that sweet butt touch the ground) so we are finding new ways to keep him entertained without actually doing nothing but holding him all day. One way it to multitask. For instance, right now Henry is sitting in my lap while I type. We are both pretty happy about it.

Still, there are times that I must put him down. His office works sometimes, but he is a little tired of it. This had led to new inventive ways to allow him to self entertain in a safe environment. One of these environments is on the floor. He is sitting up really well now, so I feel comfortable enough sticking the boppy behind him for support and loading the dishwasher or changing the laundry. This was my plan last week, and I thought it was going really well. I set him down on his butt, looked all around him and decided there was no danger, surrounded him with toys he could entertain himself with, and and went to work on chores.

Let me tell you, the coffee table was not close. NOT CLOSE. I mean, our house is pretty small, so you can't really get away from the coffee table in the living room, but it was a good two feet away. I really looked at him. He couldn't fall back, there was the boppy! He couldn't fall forward, he will catch himself, plus there is only feet and floor there. SAFE! Wrong. I am in the laundry room and I hear this...this *THUMP*. Then I hear. "Ah.... AHHHHH.... YAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" I think, "Oh no...he hit his head on the floor" Then I go in the room. Oh lord you all. His head. His head was stuck under the coffee table. Did you hear me? His head was STUCK UNDER THE COFFEE TABLE. And he was trying with all his little might to get it out, but he was pushing UP while pulling back, making the entire thing worse. He wasn't even crying. HE was really like, "WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH MY FLIPPING HEAD??"

So....so...my heart sorta burst because "MY BABEEE IS STUCK!!" and then I ran over, pushed his head down, and then pulled him free. Then I saw the mark. It wasn't pretty. Large red bump where the initial fall occurred, then another inch of redness where he managed to wedge himself in there good and tight. And all of this happened because it never occurred to me that, even though he cannot crawl, this child sure as hell can LUNGE for things. Like blocks. That I put out of his reach. Out of his reach and REALLY near the evil child eating coffee table. Giant fail for Mama. Poor baby.

Haiti

I don't think I have ever mentioned it on the blog, but I actually went to Haiti for two and a half weeks on a mission trip back when I was a junior in high school. This trip changed me. Made me realize how very very lucky I am. I drove down the streets of Port-au-Prince and saw such incredible poverty. The children were begging for money and food in the streets. The families were living in little more than cardboard boxes of homes. As soon as you are outside the capital city limits the roads turn to dirt. often with large holes dug in them as road blocks. Filled with cars on fire and men with machetes. Fences of broken glass protecting homes. Truly a different world.

I remember the trucks, called "tap-taps" we used each day to take us to the orphanage in Port-au-Paix. The children at the orphanage, so innocent. The church that we built, providing the people of the city a place to worship and a true sancutary. I remember the families who lived outside of our compound that loved the mission so. They would braid our hair and sing songs. There were children. So many children.

I remember sleeping on the roof of the missionary, under the stars. I remember Orion's belt. I remember the rain each night, and covering myself with a poncho to stay dry. I remember the bug bites and the dust. I remember going up in the mountains and seeing the rural parts of the country. The beauty of it all. Such tragedy in an absolute paradise.

I remember the rolling black outs because there was not enough power in Haiti for both Port-au-Prince and Port-au-Paix to have power at the same time. I remember the fights that broke out when the power was turned off for New Years Eve. I remember the fear. The fact that we were not allowed to leave the country for two extra days because of the fighting. Even at seventeen, I remember the lack of government control. The lack of structure.

Haiti is a different world. A world in need. I hope everyone can take a little time to pray, and if possible to send money. Money to help the children. To help the families. To help a nation in need. I cannot imagine how crippling this earth quake was to these people. People already living in a world like nothing we have ever known.

Our mission trip was located in Port-au-Paix. Everyone I knew and the orphanages and churches where I volunteered are safe from harm. Many others are no so lucky.

Eight Months

Dear Henry,

What an amazing month this has been! You had your very first Christmas, and oh how you loved it. Santa brought you lots of wonderful presents because you are such a good boy. You went to meet Santa and have your picture taken, but I have to tell you that you didn't much care for him up close. I think you really prefer for him to stay up at the North Pole and just drop in with gifts while you are sleeping. That arrangement worked much better for you.

I wasn't sure you would be interested in your present this year, you are so small, but I was wrong. You loved every second of opening up your gifts! You wanted to touch and taste and play with every single present you received. And you received a lot, my sweet boy. Not only Santa brought you presents, but so did all of your other family. You had five separate Christmas events and you loved each and every one. It was amazing to see how much your family surrounded you with love and gifts on this first Christmas. You are a very loved and lucky little boy.

Other good things have happened this month besides the holidays. You got your first two teeth in! You are so cute when you smile and I can see those two tiny little teeth poking up from the front bottom of your mouth. You have also become a pro at sitting up on your own. You can now sit and play with your toys with little to no assistance. We stay close, just to be sure you don't fall and bonk your head, but you are needing that help less and less. You are growing into such a big boy.You are rolling over, but still don't seem to care for it much. When you are on your stomach you try to crawl, but don't seem to know how to get up on your knees. A skill you will learn soon enough. For now, we like that you stay in one place. Makes it easier to grab you up for kisses!

You are so interested in everything around you. You love to touch, to feel, to taste. You reach out and grab even the smallest of objects and have such attention to detail. Necklaces are a favorite because you are constantly being held. You are very good with your toys and love to play with your train and your blocks. You have several stuffed animals that Papa plays with you with all the time. That is your favorite and you will just laugh and laugh. Along with laughing, you are making lots of new sounds. You growl a lot, which is very funny to everyone. You are also doing this sweet purring noise, which melts my heart. You blow raspberry's and babel all the time. You love making any noises you can.

Sweet Henry, I love you so. This month has also brought loss of loved ones, and that has made me realize even more how very precious you are to me. You own my heart little man. I do not know what I would do without you.

XOXO

Mama

It Took Nine Months to Put it On...

So, I have made a decision. I have joined Weight Watchers. This isn't some crazy unheard of thing for me. I actually went to weight watchers back several years ago. Back when I thought I was big. Ahhh hahaha. When I signed in at my first meeting last week the woman actually asked me if I wanted to keep my goal weight the same as it was back in 2005. I laughed. hard. Then told her to go ahead and add twenty pounds to that. Seriously. My new goal is TWENTY POUNDS heavier than my goal weight in 2005. Still, it's all about baby steps, right?

In truth, my goal weight with them is not my true goal weight. It is just my pre-pregnancy weight. A weight that as of my first meeting last week I am 8.8 pounds away from. Doesn't sound bad...until you take into account that I have been 6-10 pounds away from it since two weeks after Henry was born. So close, and yet so far. So I decided I needed a little help.

So my weight watcher goal is my pre-pregnancy weight. I will then once again be a lifetime member, because last time I went I lost like 20 pounds and became a lifetime member and it was FREE for me to go and I was all like, "I will ALWAYS go and I will from now on be SKINNY!!!" And then one day I stopped going....because I was tired of feeling guilty about eating ALL THE DELICIOUS FOOD...and then I put on twenty pounds...and then I got pregnant. So anyway, my first goal is my pre-pregnancy weight, and then my second goal is my infertility weight. Another ten pounds. The other half of the 20 added pounds? Well, that is just chalked up as I-am-now-older-and-married-with-a-baby weight.

But for now it is the baby steps. I went in today and found out I lost 2.4 pounds over the past week. Even with the funeral and the visitation and the family and the food. 2.4 pounds. It feels nice to be doing something about the weight. To be taking control. This past week I have realized HOW MUCH FOOD I EAT. People, I eat ALL THE TIME. And that just needs to get under control. I will never give up the food I love, but I can remind myself to use just a touch of self control. I can get back to a size I am more comfortable with. I am honestly not big now, and I know that. But I am not happy with my body. I don't feel like myself. I don't have to be where I was five years ago, but I do want to be comfortable in my own skin. To be able to wear my clothes and feel like I look like myself. I am ready for a change.

The old saying is that it takes nine months to put on pregnancy weight and it takes nine months to take it off. That gives me a month to loose this last 6.4 pounds. I think I can do it.

How about some pictures?

So we are doing better around here. Ready to start talking about other things. The only problem is that I am sorta at a loss for which post comes after all the sadness. So, I am opting for pictures. Enjoy.
Here are me and Nick at Candice's New Year's Eve Party! We are being grown ups. Out doing grown up things...until one thirty in the morning! I know. REBELS.

Some of the girls at the party. (and that concludes the Pictures I took at New Years)

Here is the family over at Ryan and Arielle's for the UK vs UofL game. We kicked tail. (Henry looks so tiny here!)

What? You want baby pictures? Oh, okay. Here is Henry playing with some Lego's in his crib. Papa is very safe and surrounded him with couch pillows.

Looking a little out of control with his Papa. And very naked considering it is like 1 degree around here. Don't worry Nanny, he had socks on I am sure.

Oh, and guess who has teeth??? Not even just one, but TWO of them??

Henry says, "WHO MAMA WHO???" ...." "Oh right...me"

(This picture totally applies to this info because you can see said teeth on the bottom of his mouth in this picture. NO, that is not spit glistening off his gums. TOTALLY TEETH.

Sorrow

I am sorry I have been absent from the blog. My heart has been heavy this week. On top of the tragedy of my cousins death, a very good friend of mine has a nephew who is the exact same age as Henry, and he died of what looks like SIDS. He just laid down to go to sleep at daycare on Monday and he stopped breathing. These two families has lost their sweet boys. My heart aches for their mothers. Eight months or twenty one years, they have lost their baby boys. They both had loving supportive families. Big sisters that adored them. Cousins the same age that were close like brothers. My heart is heavy for all of them. So this week I am holding tight to my sweet Henry. Spending every second I can with my baby. So thankful for every moment.

We have the visitation and funeral over the next couple of days. I will be back to blogging around Sunday.

Heartbroken

I had things to blog about today. Posts to write telling you all about our last few days. Our vacation from work. Our time with family and friends. But none of that matters now. This morning I got a call that my cousin has died in a car crash early this morning. I have spent the morning filled with sadness. Heartbroken for our family. For his mother and father struggling to understand the loss of their only son. For his sister who has lost her only sibling. I have thought of Henry. Oh my parents, my sisters. Of how sudden everything can change. I am just so sad.

3D

So we went to see Avatar today. I am not even going to go into a review about the movie because...well...lets be honest, is their any doubt that, after all my nerdy confessions of Sci-Fi love, I could possibly not adore this movie? I loved it. LOVED IT. Moving on. The point of the post is not that I saw the movie, but that I saw the movie...in THREE DEEE. (I spelled it out like that for infuses. Please read it in the James Earl Jones voice).


So, just for a little back story for fun, when my dad said we were seeing it in THREE DEEE I was all like, "Awesome" and then someone said something about the glasses and I was all like, "hold up. We have to wear GLASSES?" and seriously Nick did the slow head turn look of shock and said "Um, YEAH. How did you think we could see it in THREE DEEE without glasses?!" And I said something like, "Well...I figured a special screen came down or something.." and he rolled his eyes at me as if to say I was a fool. I though the special screen was pretty good considering what I HONESTLY thought was that they made magical 3D film. I mean, everyone sits in all these 3D movies in GLASSES?!?! It's 2010 people. It's high time to find a way.


Anyway, back to the original point. Once I knew there were glasses I wasn't as excited. I envisioned the paper cut out red-eye-blue-eye affair. I have a rather large head and thought the entire thing might get a little annoying. Oh man, was I wrong. This is what I got instead of old red-eye-blue-eye...
Pretty cool, right? They are totally just glasses! Way better than trying to keep cardboard behind my ears for three hours. I am pretty sure they actually brought Edward Cullen in to help design them and everything. Come to think of it, I think they should actually advertise that point a lot more. People might go to THREE DEEE movies a lot more often if they knew they would come out looking like Edward.
*picture of Edward Cullen included...just to prove the glasses are basically identical. Although he may pull them off better than me. But come on. He's a vampire.