Tabloid Tot

"Ugh, I  HATE the paparazzi.  

Go bother Paris Hilton and leave me alone!"

We watched ants and played with rocks

Somebody got to crawl around the backyard 

for the first time today.  

Hope my laundry detergent is up to the challenge.  

Take that, Fisher-Price!

Who needs fancy toys when an envelope from the California DMV is so enticing?  I opened today's mail and Nate went crazy for the envelopes.  He was super excited and played with them for a good 5 mins. straight (that's the equivalent of 13 hours in baby time).

Making Friends

Nate is more interested in Avery's mom

Avery says 

"Back off buddy! I don't kiss on the first date"

Sam

Avery

Wesley chillin'

Choo Choo

Nate's 1st trip to an L.A. rite of passage -- Travel Town

Kinda looks like Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond

Someday he'll be able to climb aboard

Look out!!!!!!!!

Two months from today Nate will be:

The Lightbulb Just Came On

I discovered a couple new things today:

1) I cannot arrange flowers.  In the past, I'd blame it on the fact that I didn't have the right size vase.  Wrong.  I now have a plethora of vases -- I just don't have a talent for arranging flowers and I'm willing to accept this fact now.  So when I have a dinner party in the future, I'll be purchasing a nice orchid plant for the center of the table.

2) Bumblebee tuna is not the same as Starkist.  We made tunafish sandwiches for lunch and the Bumblebee tuna was, without going into too many details, yucky.  And to add insult to injury, the top of the can "exploded" and tuna ended up all over my t-shirt.  Said t-shirt has left a lovely odor in my laundry room.  Can't wait to smell that tomorrow morning over breakfast....

3) It's difficult trying to convince a 10-month old that spitting (spraying!) a mouthful of food is unacceptable.  Despite my serious face, he thought it was fun to eat, talk, and spit at the same time.  

4) Men can change.  Case in point -- Lee used the Dustbuster to clean the crumbs out of the oven.  (Hey, I don't question the method -- the fact that he cleaned the bottom of the oven is enough for me).

Cell Block 313

Nate "Destructo" Cook: Serving 5 to 10 in the pen.

Don't Mess with Texas

We're back!  Everything went fine -- Nate did really well on the plane and we had a nice visit with Lee's extended family.  It's a huge amount of work getting in/out of an airport with a baby and just traveling in general but we managed....have to admit that I'm happy to be home tho'!  

Nate is standing in his crib now...Heaven help us!

With his Uncle Lamar.  Big guy and little guy bonded really well.

A new customer of Continental Airlines.

Up, up, and away we go

We're off to Houston for 4 days to introduce Nate to Lee's family.  So no posts until we get back.  This will be Nate's first time on a plane.  Our little traveler won't be thrilled with being stuck in his carseat for 3+ hours.  Pray for us!

Sewing Bee

On a recent trip to Joanne's Fabrics, I spent a good hour or so looking at the pattern books (Lee and Nate were bonding at home).  I must be itching to sew because every page of those books made my heart skip a beat.  But I'm a lousy seamstress -- haven't made anything with a zipper or buttonhole in years.  That kinda limits my options.  Anyway, here are some of the things I saw:

Lee & Nate DEFINITELY need to have matching western shirts at some point! He he

Couldn't resist this little cutie.  LOVE the outfit too.

Oh my gosh, I can't stop laughing at the flying monkey.  Seriously.

One more thing for Mother's Day

I love this clip -- saw it a few months ago and I still think it's adorable.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Did Grandpa know about this crush?

I was sitting in my kitchen the other night, waiting for my banana bread to finish baking, and I looked through my recipe box to kill some time.  There's a bunch of recipes I salvaged from my grandma's stuff when we cleaned out the house last year.  The name of this one tickled me so I kept it -- I wonder how old it is?  It also sounds REALLY yummy and refreshing on a stinkin' hot day like today (seriously, this is MAY???). 

  

Banner Day for Nate Cook

"Firsts" for Nate today:

HIGH: Eating Cheerios!  Yippee.

LOW: A giant poop in the bathtub.

Way to keep me on my toes, Nate.

Saturday at Descanso Gardens

Calgon Take Me Away

I played hooky from church today so that Nate and I could go to the PCC swap meet.  This antique swap meet is held every 1st Sunday and I try and go once a year at this time because the weather is nice.  My mom went with us and I told her that we'd pick her up before 8:30am.  When you go to a swap meet you gotta get there early -- it's just part of the treasure hunting.  So when I've gone in the past, I've just gotten up, thrown on some clothes, put my hair in a ponytail, skipped putting on makeup and wore a hat and sunglasses.  It's kind of expected that when you're treasure hunting that you look sorta grungy :)  Fast forward to today -- Nate's in the Pack N Play while I'm tinkering around in our bedroom, getting ready as quickly as possible.  I look in the mirror and then it dawns on me.  What I see before me isn't somebody grungy one day a year to go to a flea market -- this is my look EVERY day now that I have a baby.  Oh. My. Gosh.  I was wearing the same t-shirt and jeans I've worn a zillion times since Nate was born.  I almost always pull my hair back in a ponytail.  And who wants to waste makeup on a 9-month old?  I'm grungy everyday.  This is so sad. 

So to summarize how I feel and look lately.....this is how I'd like to look:

  

But this is reality:

Ah, Beautiful Sonoma County

I've been feeling nostalgic for past (adult only) vacations.  So this afternoon I put together a short video of our trip to Sonoma.  Yes, that trip was 3 years ago -- better late than never.  When I made movies in the past, it took me weeks to edit them (ask Lee).  Now, with Nate, work, etc., I've learned to prioritize and I was able to hammer this out in 2 hours.  Enjoy!