Blogger of the Year... NOT.

My friend Shanna nominated me for a blogging award! I think it’s Laziest Blogger of the Year, but whatever, I’ll take it.

Being nominated for this award also brings with it serious responsibilities… I’m supposed to share 7 things about myself! So here goes:

1) I love the smell of dead skunk.

2) I love.love.LOVE baby drool. Maybe I should clarify. I love.love.love. MY baby’s drool. There is nothing better than a huge, wet, wide open kiss from Landry. It’s the bestest.

3) I.AM.NOT.AN.ATHLETE

- My freshman year of high school I tried swimming, cross country and soccer. All three attempts to become an “athlete” ended in dramatic fashion.

- Swim Team: after all of 2 practices, the coach decided to enter me into a Swim Meet. After my first race, one of the judges told me that if I didn’t complete the turnaround in a legal fashion, I would be disqualified from the meet. Hmmm, would have been nice if someone had taught me how to do that… The only other thing I remember is that all of the swimmers have to stay in the water until the last person is finished. Um yeah… I remember picking my head up out of the water and seeing ALL of the other racers at the end of their lanes looking at me pleadingly like “hurry the heck up, our fingers are turning into prunes!” Fun times.

- Cross Country: have I mentioned that my freshman year of high school was spent in Germany? On my first practice we started running on school property, but quickly ended up in a nearby German park. It didn’t take long before I was D.O.N.E. Gasping for air, clutching my chest, you get the picture. I ended up lost in the German park, not sure how to get back to the High School. The worst part of it were the old naked German men sunbathing in the park. Did I mention they were naked? And old? I somehow found my way back, without asking for directions, and needless to say, that was both my first and last attempt at Cross Country. Fun times.

- Soccer: my reasoning behind wanting to join the soccer team should have been a huge red flag that I wasn’t doing it for the right reasons. I wanted to wear the really cute, warm up outfits the team got to wear over their uniforms. The wind pants, the zip up jacket, etc. It was 1992… they were cool. After I was on the team, another red flag should have been that my favorite part of the whole experience was the snack during halftime. I didn’t even play that much, but I sure did chow down on those orange slices – yum! One of the last memories from this debacle was when I was actually in a game. I was running down the sideline, the ball was somewhere close by, and I could hear my coach yelling at me “What are you doing?!” to which I responded, while running, “I don’t know!!!”. Sidenote: since I joined the team a little late, they were out of the really cute, warm up wind suits! I was stuck with thick polyester piece of crap, snap up the side pants, and an awful matching jacket. AND at one of the matches, I left my bag in the dressing room with my shin guards and really cute shoes my parents had bought me and some awful little German stole my bag. I should have quit when I saw the polyester. Fun times.

All that being said, I did try out and make the Frankfurt American High School Drill Team! We performed at football and basketball games and even traveled to California to compete in a national drill team competition. The little uniforms we got to wear were really.really.CUTE!

4) My hubby is much more of a clean freak than I am! Surprise, surprise.

5) I am slightly obsessed (ok, a LOT obsessed) with celebrity gossip and all of the entertainment news shows. Ask me anything and I’ll be able to tell you. I know it’s a serious waste of brain space, but whatever, I have enough room in there.

6) I have an undeniable feeling that I WILL win the lottery at some point in my life. I just really.really.really.really hope I’m still young enough to enjoy it when it DOES happen. Because it’s going to happen. Hear that Universe? I WILL win the lottery. Thanks in advance.

7) I absolutely LOVE (humans excluded from list) roller coasters, bubble baths, Italian food, attending LSU football games, movies, movie popcorn, lemon gum, Llano wine, traveling, sleeping in, NAPS, Texas Hold ’em, brownies, blog stalking, Hibachi, Autumn, Ugg Boots, American Idol/ Brothers & Sisters/ Modern Family, my Kindle, Bob's Steakhouse, Target, Starbucks, Chick-Fil-A, Babe’s (not a strip joint), MooYah, colored pens, post-its, our DVR(s), candles, spooning (only with Blair), and Connect Four!!!

I absolutely HATE (humans excluded from list) any form of seafood, scary movies, rodents (only exception is Gizmo – Ireland’s hamster, but if he ever were to get loose in my house the sticky traps would come out!), canker sores, my feet touched, black licorice, bra/swimsuit/jeans shopping (most shopping in general), decorating, and bugs (even the “harmless” ones, they’re still bugs-yuck)!!!

I’m now supposed to nominate 7 other bloggers, but two of the blogs I visit often have already been chosen and the other blogs I visit/stalk are strangers… except for Angela! Ang – I know you’re busy, but you’ve been “nominated”! Congrats!

Dear Beth,

Since I'm 99.9% sure you're the only person that still checks the blog (I'm not sure why because you KNOW it hasn't been updated) and that any readers you might have had have given up on you and your blog, I wanted to tell you that you have NO excuse not to blog this weekend!!!

Landry is having his first sleepover on Saturday at Aunt Kris' house so there WILL be time to update the blog. And if it takes you forever, it's your own damn fault for not blogging in over 2 months. You suck.

Sincerely,
~the Beth that wishes/hopes/prays to become a better blogger

Inner Dialogue of a 1-yr old

WTF do Mommy & Daddy have me dressed in?!?!
I look like an elf.
I will NOT smile with this stupid hat on. I will not.
Even if Santa is watching.
I’m just going to sit here and try my hardest not to look cute. But that’s going to be hard… because I’m adorable even when I’m not smiling.
I’m not bragging.
It’s just the truth.

1st Birthday Pics

Landry's 1st birthday was a lot of fun and yes, a lot of work! (side note for future reference: actual date of party was Oct. 30th) But let's face it, parties those first couple of years are more for us as parents than for the kid. Landry had NO idea why all those people were in his house, making noise, acting crazy, etc. He thought it was pretty cool, but had no clue they were all there for him :)

These were little party favors I made (I totally stole the idea from a stranger's blog). They were little "s'mores" with tags reading things like "A baby no s'more, our little boy is 1", etc. I felt I needed to do something "crafty" for my baby's first b-day. Speaking of which, I could NOT find invitations I liked, so I ended up making them. It was fun and they turned out great, if I do say so myself. I even used stick glue. If you know me at all, you'd know that's a huge accomplishment ;)

Landry didn't know what to think of the smash cake... he hardly messed with it. His one chance to go crazy and he didn't take us up on it. He'll regret it.

Side note #2 - Landry started taking steps right before his 1st birthday! Took him about 2-3 weeks to turn into a full time walker, but he's officially a Toddler now. sniff. sniff. This is a pic of him after he took a few steps to me the night of his birthday party.

So much to blog... so little time

Just a few updates (pictures will follow... at some point... in the near future... I hope)

Landry
The baby will be 11 months old tomorrow! Which is absolutely crazy because it feels like just yesterday I was pregnant with him... and I loved being pregnant! I loved being able to feel him move inside me and I loved having him all to myself (selfish I know). But I absolutely love having him here to love and hold more than anything! And I'm sharing him with others pretty well :) He'll be ONE in just one short, tiny, it'll-be-here-before-we-know-it month. Very exciting and yet just a little sad. Where does the time go? He'll be off to Harvard or Yale or LSU before we can blink. So, I'm going to stop dwelling on it right now and focus on the present.

* Landry's first tooth finally surfaced about 2 weeks ago. It only took about ten and 1/2 months! I was starting to worry if our health insurance covered baby dentures...

* He had his first stomach flu about a month ago. Fun times, let me tell you. Blair was out of town for the projectile vomiting, but came back in time for the 5 days of diarrhea diapers. And I am still totally shocked at how fast diaper rash comes on! We sometimes were literally changing his diapers every 10 minutes and the poor baby still developed a bad rash. On day 5, things started getting much better, including his little bum. Sidenote: Ireland & I also got sick, but ours lasted only about 24 hours. Bad thing is that Ireland's sickness started at 4:30am at a friend's house. Kris received "the call" and had to go get her, poor thing! (that description is for both Ireland and Kris).

* Little man started eating solid foods just this past Sunday! Doesn't sound like a big deal, but it is. He actually has an Occupational Therapy evaluation on Monday, the 4th. At 9 months, we had started giving him puffs, mashed potatoes, rice, etc. but any time he felt something solid in his mouth, he would start gagging and eventually throw up. Since he hadn't made any progress, until a few days ago, his doc thought it was time to help him out a little. We love Dr. Aimee and trust her 100% and if she thought it was time to intervene, we were all about it. We're keeping the appt on Monday and will see what the OT says.

* In case I hadn't blogged about this earlier, he has been crawling, pulling up on everything, and standing by himself for a few months. Ireland has predicted he will be walking before his first birthday - we shall see!

* He has been saying "dada" for a long time, but since I don't think he equates it to Blair (everything is dada!), it doesn't count as his first word. He has starting saying "bye-bye" and waving his hands at the same time, so I think this will go down in the record books as his first official word. We think he is also saying "ball" and "uh-oh", but there is still no hope in sight of "mama" :(

Ireland
* Ireland is back in school (3rd grade) and loving every minute of it! Having an incredible teacher like Mrs. Moore helps :)

* Cheerleading started back up just this week and she was so excited! Her teacher has told her she thinks she is one of the best and moved her to the All-Star squad with the older girls :)

* She is riding her bike w/o training wheels - Yahoo!! She had learned how to ride last Spring, but hadn't practiced much throughout the summer. Now that Fall is here (hallelujah!), Blair took her back out last week and she is doing great!

* Little Miss has more of a social life than we do. She is constantly invited to her friend's houses for play dates and/or sleepovers and vice versa. I think she is having the time of her little life this year!

* Most importantly, Ireland continues to be the BEST big sister to Landry! It's so great to see how much they love each other.

Blair & Beth
* My mom finally set up the camera we bought for her computer - back in March for her b-day - so we've been Skyping for the past couple of weeks. It's actually really easy and has been really fun being able to see the family and for them to see Landry & Ireland. Now we just have to get Tammy, Blair's sister, on board...

* Football Season is here! Which is Blair's favorite season. 'Tis the season of Purple & Gold, beer drinking, friendly wagering, yelling at the TV hoping that Les Miles will finally get a clue, and trash talking between good friends. Merry Football Watching to All and to All Who Follow College Football, May God be with their Wives! (don't get me wrong. I love watching football. Or at least the teams I have an interest in. Blair has an interest in EACH & EVERY game being shown)

* Fall TV Programming is here! This is my favorite season. Except now that Mr. Landry is here, I don't have time to catch up on everything I have recorded. It seems as though I'm going to have to let some shows go, but I'm not ready to say goodbye quite yet...

Wow. Sorry this post is so lengthy. That's what I get, and my few readers have to endure, for waiting so long between posts. I will try very hard to get on here more often. Hmmm, how many times have I made that promise? I'll probably break this one too. I suck.

The Locks-Less Monster (daddy's title, can you tell?)

Our precious baby now looks like a little boy! We were trying to go an entire year before cutting Landry's hair, but we just couldn't wait (ok, a few months ago we did cut the mullet that had been growing, but that doesn't count). His hair was in his eyes and covering his ears - he was totally rocking the Justin Bieber look... but since no one in this house is particularly fond of the Bieber, it was decided the hair had to go.

Blair put his video editing skills to work again to share little man's first haircut experience with everyone. I was amazed at how good Landry did - see for yourself!

Father's Day... 2 Months Later

I can't believe I didn't find time to put up a Father's Day post back in June :(

Because I have absolutely the BEST husband and Ireland & Landry have absolutely the BEST dad! I already knew what a special dad Blair was by witnessing his bond with Ireland. But once Landry came along, I was able to experience first hand what a "hands on" dad he was going to be from the beginning and how much he adores his children.

Blair, thank you for exceeding all of the expectations I had of you before we even started our parenting journey together. Thank you for taking care of ALL of Landry's diapers for the first week he was home (and the hundreds that have followed!), for always having to be the "bad guy" and suck out his nose & get the boogies, for everything you've done to make my life as a new mom easier (whether it be a nap on a Sunday afternoon, a glass of wine & a hot bath, sleeping in on a Saturday morning, washing bottles, kicking me out of the house to get a pedicure, etc.) - THANK YOU! I love you and am grateful every day you're the one I'm on this journey with.

Everyone else, sorry if that was a little sappy to read, but I want my hubby to know how much he is appreciated! That's the only way I can be sure my naps and pedicures will continue :)

Below are some pictures taken of Landry at daycare for Father's Day. They gave Blair a black & white photo in a little frame - too cute!!!