GOTCHA!!!
You thought I was talking about the baby didn't you? (We had our big ultrasound on May 29th).
Mr. Baseball and I decided not to find out the sex of our precious little one in the slow cooker, so you can either be bitter like someone who reads my blog (and shall remain nameless), or just go with it, be happy with us, and be completely surprised come October 24th. Thankyouverymuch.
Actually, I have a new sister(in-law). My little brother Daniel got hitched on Sunday, May 31st outside at a Botanical Garden near Charlotte. The wedding was beautiful (and hot) and very sweet.
Something that was not so beautiful was the Redhead's meltdown that he had when Mr. Baseball tried to take him to the bathroom. I guess I should mention that he has a terrible fear of public bathrooms, he always has. It has something to do with the echoeyness (a new made up word) of it all. He always asks if the toilet has a "nice quiet flush" and will begin to shake violently if they flush automatically or if they're just loud in general. Usually, I just firmly tell him he has to go potty and we somehow make it through. I guess the Redhead thought Daddy would be softer than mean old mommy. Needless to say, I could hear the screams of protest as I rounded the corner of the hallway where the bathroom was located. Eventually everything came out okay once Daddy took him to the travel potty in the car, but he was ruined for the afternoon after that incident. It was naptime, so he was tired, hot, hungry, and in a strange environment with lots of people he didn't know. Only one thing could make it better...
We've been a bit absent from the bloggysphere lately, but its all for good reasons.
I've been pampering my only child while he's still the only child, taking him to numerous parks, to the zoo, and just spending a lot of time outside in general. Its been therapeutic for both of us.
Before I get to the cute pics of my little man, I feel the need to update on the pregnancy. Things are still going well - we're almost 17 weeks (and almost halfway there!). I think I have felt the baby move, but its very sporadic. May 29th is the big day when we get to find out if Baby Homer is a boy or girl. Last doctor's visit, the heartbeat was 162 bpm which is indicative of a girl, but we'll see. Every time I ask the Redhead if he wants a baby brother or sister he always says sister. I hope he's not too disappointed if it is a boy!
Now, on to the good stuff. Yesterday we spent the day with my sister, Sarah and Baby Jack (who is now 5 weeks old!). Of course I didn't get a picture of my sister and I...we were too busy snapping pics and video of this precious moment.
No, he wasn't shoving the car up Jack's nose,
This past Saturday, we had a family birthday party for the redhead (whose real birthday was Oct. 3). Mr. Baseball's mother, sister and her 2 kids, my parents, and my sister and b-i-l were all there. The weather was great so we decided to grill out and eat outside.
On Tuesday morning, we ventured to the beach for some sun and sand. This was the redhead's first time at the ocean and no sooner had I put him down on the sand and placed our bag in the "perfect spot", and off he went (regular diaper still on).
On Friday, August 8th, Mr. Baseball's vacation officially began. Instead of sitting on our butts at home, we made another road trip to the NC coast to visit Mr. Baseball's family. His mother, sister, and her family all live near the beach, and his dad and a friend were driving up from Florida to see the grandkids (the redhead, C-man (12), and Tinker Bell (6)). It was to be a fun-filled trip with lots to see, do and eat. I'm still full from all the food we ate. Ugh.
On Saturday, we took a trip to Airlie Gardens with "Mimi" (Mr. Baseball's mom), Princess Buttercup (Mr. Baseball's sister), C-man, and Tinker Bell. It was hot as MESS, so we didn't stay that long, but we did see some really cool bottle art and mosaics while we were there.
On Tuesday, the redhead and I were working on the hubby's Father's Day gift (I'll show you after Father's Day what I did - he does read my blog). I was doing most of the work - what good are 20 month olds with craft projects? - and I guess the redhead felt neglected since all my attentions were upon the project at hand because he got really whiny. Once I got to a stopping point, he said "up" and held his hands up to me. I scooped him and bear blanket (the all important security item) into my arms. Recently the redhead and I have done all kinds of dancing, so I started to sway to the music with him. The Whitney Houston version of "I Will Always Love You" began playing on the radio and we continued to sway. He laid his head on my shoulder while Whitney serenaded us with her ever so fantastic voice. I was singing quietly to him (he likes that) and looking into his sweet little face when Whit started singing this verse:
Father's Day gift: $18.99Before you get any big ideas about what I might mean by "follies", please know that our Friday nights are usually spent at home. After the redhead goes to bed at 7:30, We usually get wild and crazy and...play games, watch tv, or put in a movie (in which case I always fall asleep before it ends). This particular Friday, we went channel surfing and came up with some real gems.
First, we landed on Discovery Channel's Man vs. Wild. If you're not familiar with this show, it features Bear Grylls, a Brit, and a survivalist who's done just about anything there is to do - summit Everest, drink his own urine, almost get attacked by a lion, eat scorpions and lots of other repulsive fare in an attempt to survive in different climates and environments.
In this particular episode, Bear was in Siberia. If you've watched the show before, I could just end here, but I know some of you would be mad, so I'll keep going. Bear was bundled up real nice, head to toe, when he came upon a river. Now, any sensible person would turn around and go back to a nice warm shelter. Wait...any sensible person wouldn't find themselves stuck in the boonies of Siberia! So, like I said, Bear came to a river. This river was not very wide, but it had a strong current. He might have been able to make a jump for it, but remember, this is Man vs. Wild. It wouldn't be tv worthy if he jumped fully clothed to the other side. So, what does Bear do? He proceeds to take off all his clothes, stuff them in his ruck sack (which he then throws across the river to the other side), and prepare himself to jump in the freezing cold Siberian river. He does explain that once he jumps into the river, he's only got seconds to swim across and get out before his body systems completely stop. I was hoping for his sake, he wouldn't die. Imagine coming across a frozen, naked, man...DOWN BY THE RIVER! Sorry, I couldn't resist.
See Bear jump. See Bear swim. See Bear climb out of freezing river. See Bear jump up and down to get warm (thank you little fuzzy box for not revealing Bear's cubs).
My man and I both looked at each other and I could tell we were thinking the same thing...
SHRINKAGE!! YIKES!
Bear does recover from his chilly swim and moves on to a place where he meets some villagers. They all go out and kill a yak. As Bear explains, its part of their livelihood. They happen to leave this yak for Bear to use in his survival game. Bear first cuts the coat off the yak and wraps it around himself to get warm. Next, he goes for the liver and eats it raw...ick. Then he goes for the eyeball, which he then proceeds to eat. I won't describe what happened when he bit into the eyeball. I will say that it was about enough to make me yak (no pun intended)!
After surfing some more, we found the great 80's flick Can't Buy Me Love starring Patrick Dempsey. I know he's McDreamy now, but back then, he was definitely McDorky. What a great movie though. I love me some 80's!
Next, we came across America's Funniest Videos. This is one of the only shows that can actually get me to laugh out loud. The particular video I loved was of a raccoon. For the record may I just say that raccoons are creepy little burglars. The raccoon in the video was sneaking through a pet door ever so stealthily. Was it going to steal some dog food? Cat food maybe? Oh no, it was more interested in interior design. It actually stole the doormat. Yup, took it right back through the pet door. Hilarious!
At this point, Adam and I had headed back to the bedroom to brush our teeth and finish finding random things on tv. I usually play Sudoku before bed while Adam channel surfs. Adam happened to find Steve Wilkos. For those of you who may not know, he was Jerry Springer's bodyguard - the guy who used to break up all those extremely real fights! His show is almost as bad as Springer's (which BTW, I never really watched). We didn't really watch the show, but we did get a good laugh at what the show was about. It was called:
On Saturday, Adam's mom arrived for a weekend visit. She had not been to the mountains in years, so we decided we'd take a day trip to Blowing Rock. We left home around 10am and arrived in the mountains around lunchtime. We enjoyed a lunch at the Blowing Rock Grille, followed by a walk to the lovely little park in the downtown area.
On our walk up to Main Street, we passed by the Inn at Ragged Garden. The setting is most picturesque and beckoned to me to take pictures.
Downtown Blowing Rock is really beautiful and just like something you would see in a movie. I particularly liked the hanging baskets they had on the lightposts.
Wesley particularly liked the "eee-da" (swings/slide) at the Blowing Rock park. He also liked the fact that he could wander easily.
Wesley and his Mimi (Adam's mom)
Even though we were only in Blowing Rock several hours, we had a wonderful time. And the redhead was so great in the car which made the day even more enjoyable. I have been experimenting with the settings on the camera. I'll leave you with one of my favorite pics of the day.
