hapiness is...

Relaxing with a good book and a yummy cup of tea while the kiddo is napping.  I have a huge list of chores much easier done without the ankle biter's "help", but some "me time" is so much more perfectly wonderful.

my little helper, kind of

 Liam is kind of obsessed with the watering can.  When it's empty he tries to bring in his car with him.  But he gets annoyed because he hasn't figured out a way to get himself and the can in AND close the door.  When the watering can is full he never waters the plants.  He'd rather jump up and down while holding it so that he gets drenched.  Then he wants to be held.  Of course.

 Like all toddlers, Liam loves water.  However, his favorite water toys are the plastic plant separators that come with a plant six-pack.  He won't let me throw them out.

 I never have to worry about the strawberries from our garden going bad because Liam (and sometimes Jeff) eat them right away.

The only time Liam likes to pretend to water the plants is when the watering can is empty.  Maybe it's because he can run all over the yard with it and not worry about it being too heavy.  Who knows.  My little backyard help is always entertaining.

murphy's law

1. The minute you decide to paint your nails (for the first time in probably a year) your child will wake up from his deep sleep nap two minutes after you put on the final coat.

2. If you leave the bathroom for a moment with your child in the tub he will immediately pull the shower curtain in the tub with him while he rubs the toilet brush all over himself.

3. You attach childproof locks (that your husband can barely open) all over the house because your child gets into everything.  And your child quickly figures out how to open them.  Then puts out all the tv remotes and hids them and takes out the batteries.

I'm pretty sure Liam is going to grow up to be some kind of evil genius.

something deep fried would be more appropriate

This is the billboard for this years California State Fair.

I get the bear because it's the California bear.  But the (wannabe rapper) carrot?  Really?  I doubt there are any carrots at the fair deep fried or otherwise.  This would be a more accurate representation of the fair if the carrot was replaced with a deep fried twinky. 

Dora trailor
This is kinda awesome.

future wino

Liam loves bottles.  I mean like wine and champagne bottles.  When he sees one within his reach (even in the park when the bottles aren't ours) he wants to run over ti it, grab it, and bring it over to give us.  Umm, thanks?

can I take a shower now?

I've been reading Wild for my book club.  Jeff knows it as "that book about the crazy severely unprepared girl that goes on a several month long hike".  Anyway, a combo of that plus watching the REI commercials where dirty people hike in really dusty deserts makes me want to take a really long shower because the people are all so gross.

That's it.  My little tangent.  I swear I'm not afraid of germs or anything.  But going more than a week at a time without a shower sounds icky.

you only wish your kid was this smart

 Let me preface this by saying that I only left Liam by himself for a few minutes at a time today while doing random chores. 

Today Liam managed to (while only being left alone for 2 minutes or so at a time)
1) take 12 keys off my laptop (they are still off because I can't figure out how to put them back on, it is super awkward to type)
2)climb onto the kitchen counter and open his tupperware container of crackers I just made and eat half of them
3) get into two closets and try his best to empty them, and take the batteries out of every remote control
4) try to climb bookshelves and take my books off the shelves

and he also did a bunch of other things all in a two hour or so period, but I've forgotten some of it because of my much needed second glass of wine tonight.

the only way anyone could make me go for a long walk with a bad cold in the middle of the day in July

Today Liam saw his stroller sitting in our entryway and got really excited.  He grabbed onto it and started jumping up and down and making happy sounds.  Having a bad cold makes me want to sprawl on the couch all day drinking tea, but he was just so cute I couldn't say no to going for a walk.  Even around noon in July.  Ugh.  So I caved.  I said "Ok ok" and went to get us both hats.  Liam got really excited and ran to our shoe cabinet to grab his flip-flops.  He threw them into his stroller, then ran into the living room to grab his favorite stuffed animal, Mickey Mouse.  Then he ran over to his stroller and waited next to it until I was ready.  It was so cute!

conversations with Jeff

Jeff: I have a parrot on my shoulder.  But it has no feathers and is in fact a little boy.

-----------

me: (in a completely kidding manner) What if I wore my dress with mermaids and starfish on it to go see "The Little Mermaid" show next week?

Jeff: what kind of crazy person has a dress with mermaids on it?

me:  Uh, me?

(side note- it is a very busy pattern that isn't obviously full of mermaids and starfish, I am not a completely crazy person after all)

never fails to crack me up

Jeff and I have been sick all weekend.  Luckily I don't have work this week, so today I am having a super lazy day with Liam.  Well, I am having a super lazy day today while Liam jumps all around the house like a crazy monkey.  I decided I should put a movie on, so I picked Iron Man 2 because I figured maybe Liam would like it too.  And of course he did.  When Tony Stark put on the Iron Man suit Liam looked at me, smiled, and started clapping.  I kid you not.  He never fails to crack me up.

my husband is a nerd

actual bit of conversation form today, while Jeff was digging in Liam's diaper bag for a snack.  Jeff never seems to be able to find what he's looking for in the bag, while I can instantly find what I want in it pretty much every time.

Jeff: You should paint like outside of this bag to look like the TARDIS.

me: huh?  Why?

Jeff: Because this bag seems disproportionately bigger inside than it should.

oh so true, but still funny

Love it!

tv parents today suck

Been a bit bored lately, and I've been watching some tv.  I've realized that either tv parents are nothing like real parents, or parents today suck.  I'm so hoping to not be like tv parents.  Generally their downsides involve having their kids not feel comfortable talking to them about important issues, being morons, or being absentee.  No matter what though, tv kinda makes me feel like the Wonder Woman of parents, so woohoo!

Am I the last to know?

So I was finally convinced to read the first Fifty Shades of Grey book, not knowing by the way that the books are rather raunchy.  As I was reading it, I kept thinking that the book was pretty much Twilight with sex instead of vampires.  So am I really the last person on the planet to know that the Fifty Shades trilogy was originally an online Twilight fan-fic?

can't hardly wait!

So I know I'm not the best at blogging regularly, but next week I won't be posting at all.  Jeff and I are going on a several month early 5 year anniversary trip to Las Vegas!  Yay!  I'm so excited.  I'm pretty sure I'm the only one I know over the age of 21 who has never been there.  I'm kind of nervous though, because we are leaving Liam with my parents, and we've never left him with anyone for more than 8 hours before.  Let's face it, I'm pretty going to have some sort of panic attack in the airport because I miss my baby.

aah, the easily amused

Liam is officially the most easily amused baby ever.  He has spent the last hour on the back window seat alternating between playing with the light switches (he can reach 4 from his perch) and jumping up and down starring into the backyard.  Oh, and stomping around trying to make his footsteps as loud as possible.  He is seriously having the best time ever.

I am personally a huge fan because he can't reach anything he shouldn't, and therefore can't get into trouble, and also he doesn't realize that he can get down onto the floor by himself (I know this because he regularly gets down off of taller furniture) but he doesn't want me to know he's stuck because that would apparently wreck his coolness factor. 

I leave him there for a while then so I can get some things done, and its ok because he climbed up there himself in the first place, and he giggles all the time playing on the window seat, so I know he's happy.  Win win. 

good to know

I can't wait until next week when Jeff and I go to Vegas for our early 5th anniversary trip.  Yay!  I decided to go onto TSA's website today to see if my razor and sunscreen would be allowed in my carry-on.  Liquids weren't really even mentioned.  What was mentioned were ridiculous items like pool cues, blasting caps, cattle prods, etc.  The list gets more idiotic as it continues.  I actually recommend it.  Its a fun read.

TSA Prohibited Items

not undeserved

This is what I saw when I got out of the shower today.  Liam had climbed on top of the dining room table...and gotten stuck.  He is a pro at climbing, but the dining table is just a bit taller than everything else he scales and climbs back down.  Just tall enough for him to get stuck.  Ha.  I've got to give him some credit though.  Liam put on a big display (as soon as he noticed me) of pretending he really wanted to be up there, and wasn't in fact very bored and annoyed at being stuck.  He really is my kid.  Wow.

I recommend...

Any female who is a mom or wants to be a mom should see What to Expect When You're Expecting.  I know its been in theaters for a while now, but I only saw it yesterday.  It is spot on on the whole pregnancy thing, from great experiences to awful.  Of course, my own experience was most similar to Elizabeth Bank's character (I'll give you a hint, hers was not the super awesome fun time pregnancy).  I laughed so hard in a few scenes that I actually snorted a few times.  I kid you not.  And that hasn't happened for a long time.  Nice husbands or boyfriends might see the movie with you (and possibly enjoy it), but mine is not one of them.  Oh well.