Halloween Fun!

For Halloween, Lila and I took Jordan and Allessandra trick or treating. We got some Carl's Jr., went to the mall and loaded up, then came back home and took them in the wagon all over the neighborhood. I am fully aware that our costumes this year were a big, huge FAIL. Jordan was supposed to be the baby frog, but he wouldn't keep the hood on (he kept screaming, "No, help, it hurts, it hurts!") so he appeared to be wearing pajamas. And I know I don't look like a mommy frog, but I had limited time to come up with a costume. So... comments on the post are not welcome. :)

In other news, Jordan and Alessandra are now betrothed. They kept kissing each other in the wagon. And they hugged alot and shared french fries and chicken fingers in the backseat.

When we got home, I let Jordan eat all the candy he wanted, which meant that he was up until 2 a.m. jumping on the bed. He also took the time to sort his candy by color and line it up on the couch for easy access. I'm STILL finding Skittles in random places.

Last Day of Summer

We spent the last day of summer at the park, having fun before it gets too cold and rainy. Jordan had tons of fun. He likes to sprint around, yelling "Run fast!" He also loves to climb around on the play structure. I am one of those bad moms that lets him climb up the slides, but he's good about getting down when other kids want to use it the right way. He's a very social little dude, always makes friends, but I mostly feel creepy taking pics of them playing together unless I know the parents.

Older Women

Jordan putting the moves on a five year old at the park. They ended up playing tag together. 

The Boy In the Box

Jordan loves when Daddy gets computer parts, because then he can play in the boxes! This one had to be confiscated pretty quickly though, because he was trying to eat the packing peanuts.

The Lost Summer

I took very few pictures of Jordan this summer. I just didn't think about it, for some reason. We had a lot of fun though. Jason bought and fixed up a boat, we took it out a few times and Jordan loved it. Jason got some new tattoos, too. Our neighbor does them, and they worked out a couple of trades. He started school, and should graduate in 2012 if all goes according to plan. I finally started submitting pieces I've written, and I'm on my way to freelancing full-time.

New Articles

So, I promise I will start posting pics soon. I am just lazy! However, I do have some new articles out....
Painting When You're Pregnant
Secondhand Style

Check These Out!

Two articles printed in the Joy magazine in two months....one even made the cover! Check them out here and here.

And I promise I will post pics soon, this summer has been crazy!!!

Cover Story!

My first article published in the Joy magazine made the cover! It was also published on the website. There's a link to it here. I can't even begin to tell you how excited and proud I am about this!

Poo Poo in the Potty!

Our little man went potty on the big boy toilet last night. I was getting him ready for his bath and he told me, "Potty, mama!" and pointed to the big toilet. I sat him on there and he tinkled... just a little trickle. Hopped off, flushed, and said, "Bye bye, pee pee!" Hopped back on... trickled again... flushed again.... repeated about 27 times... after a while, he was ready to poop, and did so quite successfully. He kept leaning down and looking between his little legs to make sure something was coming out. When he flushed, he told me "Ew, stinky! Bye bye, stinky poo poo!" and waved. He went 2 more times after his bath, ad went to bed with a dry pull-up. Jason says he wasn't nearly as cooperative today, though.

I Am A Professional Writer!

I sold two articles to the newspaper here, and they're putting them in one of their magazines. Don't worry everyone, I'll post links to the actual articles as soon as they come out, and Mom, I'll remember to send you copies! I got $100 apiece for them, which isn't too shabby! And they've already said they'll buy two more, so I've got those going on. I am officially a professional writer.... now all I have to do is ramp it up to full-time.

Doctor Visits!

Jordan had his well baby check up last week. He is doing great. He's right on track for all his milestones, and exactly in the fiftieth percentile for height and weight (his head is still in the eightieth percentile, though, lol). In case you're wondering about actual VALUES, he's 28 lbs and 33 1/2 inches.

When the medical assistant measured his height, she marked it wrong (he was laying down and wiggling) so we had to bring him into the hall and stand up to be measured. All was well, at first. Then, somehow, he simultaneously got his diaper off and got away from me, and started sprinting down the hall toward freedom (and the big fish tank in the lobby). He was mad when I had to bring him back in the room to get his shot. He didn't like being poked, but they hooked him up with all the toys he wanted from the treat box, and that made it better.

He had his first dentist's appointment. He did really well, there, too. He has all his baby teeth except for the last set of molars, and she said we're doing a good job of brushing. He had a dinosaur that he kept "attacking" her with while she cleaned his molars a little bit and put the fluroide sealer on, and he got a Spongebob sticker and a new toothbrush.

A Fun, Fun Day

Jordan's second birthday was wonderful. He woke up in SUCH a good mood. I sang the happy birthday song right away... then I did the version with "You look like a monkey, and you smell like one too!" He began singing "Monkey, monkey" and doing this cute little wiggle. He was really good all day, and I'm pleased to report that it did not rain. We did the party at the park by our house, because that's his favorite place in the world. Because Mommy is a spazoid, things started to fall apart at the last second (we were almost late to our own party!) but Mandee snagged a table for us, a good thing since there were about 100 other parties going on at the same time! I also managed to forget the camera FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, how is that for negligent parenting, but again, Mandee and Grandma to the rescue. All the pics below are theirs... but I'm pretty sure I have permission to use them on this blog. :)

Wagon Rides

Grandma got Jordan a wagon for his birthday and created a beast! He thinks he needs to be driving around town in it 24-7 now. Maybe it will whip Mommy and Daddy into shape! Notice the cupholders... on the other side, the bench seat lifts up to reveal a secret compartment for snacks. The day of the party it was so great, all the kids were piling in there (sort of like a clown car). Nico is a little speed demon and pulled the babies around really fast, which they loved. But he looked pretty worn out at the end!

Presents!

The Invitations

I am now, because of this invitation, a PhotoShop wizard (well, not really PhotoShop, I used Gimp, but it's the same thing). It seriously took a whole day to do, and it would have been way easier to buy invitations. But, it was a learning experience for sure, and I'm happy with the results. All the party details DID appear on the original invitations. I just don't want some creepy weirdo to find it online and start stalking us!

The Cake

So, I made a pirate ship cake for the party. It was MUCH easier than the dinosaur cake I did last year, and I think equally cute. HOWEVER, it was not sturdy at all. I had to freeze it to put it together. Then, at the park, when it thawed, the whole front part of the ship just collapsed. It looked like a cannonball hit it- there would have been no survivors if it was real! I did have fun making it, though. And it was kind of tasty.

My Baby is TWO!!!!

Well, not yet. But he will be in one hour and twenty nine minutes. It's so unbelievable!!! I don't remember much about the day he was born (very drugged, I was) but the next few days he was so tiny and vulnerable and froglike. Now, he's a huge, running, screaming, adventurous, sweet, funny, BIG BOY.

The party preparations are all complete, I'm just hoping we don't get rained out. And I have to admit I am exhausted already, because I had a late night and then an early morning trying to get everything ready. Planning an off the hook toddler party is a lot of work! I think even my wedding required less effort!

Pictures will be up, soon...

Swimming In The Big Pool

We went to Grandma Terrie and Papa Alan's house for a Memorial Day BBQ yesterday. Jordan loves going over there, especially when his cousins are there! Papa had cleaned out the big pool and it was still a little cold, but he and Jason brought the kids in to swim! Jordan didn't like it at first and cried, but they put him in a bumper boat and he liked it much better. Rayden, of course, is a big girl and did great the whole time. Parker was in a bad mood and just melted down, so he got kicked out. :) I'm a neglectful mommy and didn't bring the camera, but Grandma was on top of it, so here are the pics she sent me of Jordan!

Fun On the Beach

Jordan loved the beach! He kept running up to the water so the waves could get him and laughing. He also loved playing in the little pools left when the tide went out. We had to watch him carefully, because there were live crabs in many of them! At one point he kicked a crab, flipping it over on it's back, and yelled "Hi-ya!" I was so afraid he would get pinched, but he didn't. He tasted sand, and apparently did not like the texture, because his next step was to wet his hand and rub his tongue with it to get the sand off! He thought the water was pretty yummy with all that salt in it and kept telling us "MMMMMM! Good, good, good!" as he did it again and again. Little weirdo! We then went to a little restaurant and had clam strips, calamari, and fries. It was ok-not great- and expensive. But all in all, a fun trip. I do wish I'd brought back some driftwood though! I have a couple crafts that I need it for. :)

Aquarium

We went to a big aquarium. It wasn't as cool as I thought it would be, but we did get to pet sharks and starfish, and look at some sea lions. The white one is 31 years old! I thought that was pretty cool, I assumed their life expectancy was much shorter. The other cool thing was the giant shark mouths that you could go in. The skeleton one is an actual cast from a megalodon, a prehistoric shark.