Tuesday, March 31, 2009

I FEEL good.

(In my best James Brown impersonation...which is NOT good I can assure you)

It is so nice to feel good again. All Praise Antibiotics! No snot, no fatigue (other than Russell deciding to get up at 5:30 this morning...) and no sinus headache! Yay! After two full weeks of being sick, this is the best. thing. ever.

AND yesterday, as I was nearing the end of all the uckiness, I even made progress on my dissertation! Yay X2!

So, when will you get cool/cute/funny baby pics and a REAL blog post that isn't just about the state of my illness. I'll see what I can do about that asap. But in reality, I've been sick for two weeks, I need to do laundry, I need to vacuum, I need to do dishes...

...maybe I need to lie down. :)

Friday, March 27, 2009

Tough week

For the last two weeks I have been sick. With increasing discomfort as the weeks progress.

My dissertation does not go well either.

So, bear with me if posts are a wee bit less frequent for a week or two. Or at least until I get an hour where it doesn't hurt my head to sit in front of my computer.

Until then, there is an awful lot of cute baby here to peruse...

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Morgan update

Just so you all know, the lovely and vivacious Morgan, after just under a week in the hospital, was discharged yesterday and is doing fantastically well. It'll still be a few weeks until she can go to school, but she is up and moving and we are all insanely impressed at how well that little girl has healed up.

I am very happy for her.

In related news, a PSA: should you ever send something by Amazon, double-check the address. Thankfully, my folks live in a town where everyone knows everyone else, because when I sent a package home for Mo, I put the wrong number in the street address. Replaced a 2 with a 1...a small mistake, but most obnoxious.

Mom will head down the street to pick up the package from her neighbor later, but I feel like a dummy. Go figure.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Babies in high chairs: Part II

Russell is learning to use a sippy cup. Mostly this means that Russell is learning to turn a sippy cup over so that he can pour water (or juice, or formula) on the tray of his high chair. Occasionally, he even gets some in his mouth!



Sunday, March 22, 2009

Pic of the day: Flip Flop F(l)un.

I'm bigger than daddy's flip flop.



One day my feet will be so big.



Trying on daddy's shoes. I don't think they fit.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Auntie Sarah's Scarf

Yes, more knitting.

Yes, I am still working on my dissertation. But a girl would go crazy without her 15 minute breaks, and I had a couple of projects sitting around on the needles that I have been working on 15 minutes at a time in an attempt to finish them.

I wish I could've gotten a better picture of it, but here's the best I got.



This one, I cast on (that's knit-speak for started) almost a year ago, and it shouldn't really have taken that long. I've just been...busy. But it's done, and it's pretty, and it is being sent to Auntie Sarah ASAP.

(I hope you like it Auntie Sarah)

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Things you can't prevent.

I am a neurotic person. There, I said it. I worry unnecessarily about many many things, but I do everything in my power to stop myself. Usually I can calm myself with a simple: "you are being irrational, that won't happen."

But what if it did?

Let's take yesterday as an example. I got a call about 2:30pm from my mom telling me that my niece fell out of a tree and was impaled on a tree branch/stick and was being airlifted to Boston.

[News stories about it can be found here and here. The second site has a video link on the page too. They interview my stepfather and his mother.]

Now, as far as I know at this point, Mo is fine. Or, as fine as you can be given the circumstances. (She had surgery last night to remove the 7" stick, which had pierced her liver, but otherwise did no significant damage.) She's still in the ICU pretty drugged up and she won't get out of the hospital for a week or so, but she'll be back to normal in no time.

As a parent, this gives you pause.

It's irrational to think that I could ever stop Russell from horsing around, playing rough, or taking a tumble. I mean, kids climb (and fall out of) trees, it's the way it is. But to know that one random freak accident could do them serious harm...that significantly impedes my abilities to be rational in the face of my irrational fears.

Accidents happen, kids get hurt. Freak accidents tend to make the news with increasing regularlity these days, and I have to remind myself that these are still relatively rare. (If they were commonplace, they wouldn't be news...) Heck, in the last 24 hours, I've heard four different stories about my dad falling out of trees, off of ranger stations, and off of overpasses. He's fine. Most of the time, kids are fine.

I don't intend to keep my kid in a bubble, in fact, I'd fail if I tried. What I will do is tell him I love him every day, love every minute I have with him, and hope that he never has one of those freak accidents that doesn't have a happy ending.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

It was just another day.

Feb 26 2009.

I had a cute baby who demanded my attention. I had a digital camera. I think we all know where this is going.

Reaching for toys is so cute.



Hey Mommy!



Me and My Monkey. (Mommy made him for me at Build a Bear for Valentine's Day!)



One great portrait.



It makes him happy when I take his picture. It makes me happy too.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Remember the Grapefruit Tree?

Yeah. My dead brown thumb strikes again. At least this time is wasn't lethal (yet).

See for yourself:

Grapefruit tree on January 13




Grapefruit tree on March 2


Huh. There seems to be less...um...foliage. I was told at the nursery that overwatering a grapefruit tree will kill it. I have a history of neglecting to water my plants, so this sounded like a match made in heaven. This time, I *intentionally* let the soil get good and dry before I watered it again. I'm good right?

It turns out, that when dealing with citrus, they'll survive fine with little water, but if they get too dry, the next time you water them they get all confused and all the leaves fall off. Gah!

The proper procedure is to water evenly every few days. Especially with a container grown citrus, because they dry out faster. Wish someone had mentioned that. So now, I have a bit of a Charlie Brown Grapefruit Tree.

I know it's not dead since, 1) it has a bunch of new leaves (since I started watering it properly) and 2) it has a ton of blossoms. It smells fantastic. It just doesn't provide shade the way it used to. Let's call it, shade challenged.

I just want to keep it alive long enough to get a single fruit from it this year. One. Single. Grapefruit. Is that too much to ask?

Saturday, March 14, 2009

3.14

Happy Pi day to you all. Yay for Geek Holidays!

I believe we will be having a dinner pi(e) and and dessert pi(e) this evening in celebration. We missed Darwin Day this year, so I suppose it's only fair we celebrate the other major Geek Holiday.

If you have Pi(e) today, or do anything else to celebrate, leave me a comment.

PSA : one click could save a life.

Trick question: if you could help save lives without doing any more than clicking on a link, would you?

You can.

The Breast Cancer site donates at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on 'donating a mammogram' for free. I've even made it easy and added a button on my sidebar to take you straight there.

This doesn't cost you a thing.

When you click, they display ads from their site sponsors. 100% of the money from these advertisers goes to the site's charity partners, who fund programs to provide mammograms to women in need.

So, every time you stop by to check in on the cutie-pants, click on over to the Breast Cancer Site. It takes only a second, and could help save a life.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Crashed!

After a long hard play, you need a recharge. Sometimes however, you just don't have the time (or the inclination) to let go of your toys before you crash out.

Notice he still has Monkey in in left hand.


Still clutching big green monster's scale.


And holding on to his FAVORITE toy, Justin's wireless mouse.


Play hard. Nap hard. That's Russell's motto.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Did you know the zoo has animals?

When the family came down to visit a few weeks ago, Russell, mom and I went to the zoo. It was a beautiful day, and we just wandered around and looked at the exhibits.

This time, Russell noticed that there were ANIMALS! Not all of them mind you (the green metal railing around 80% of the exhibits was fascinating too.) but he did start to understand that we were looking at animals.

In particular, in the children's part of the zoo, the animals are more accessible. They are usually only behind a fence with a few rails like a barnyard, so kids can see them better.

Russell spotted the Xebu. He got this big grin on his face. Then he spun around in my arms and hugged me tight as if to say, "Oh my gosh momma, don't look now, but there is a big animal in that pen and it's gonna get me!". It was really cute.

He also got to pet the goat in the open goat pen while Grammy Nason held him.









Mom also took a great pic of Russell and me in the Monkey exhibit.



The zoo is more fun every time we go. For both of us.

Monday, March 9, 2009

No more dingos sleeping on the bed...

...if only.



Hey, you interrupted the dog's beauty sleep!

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Daylight Savings, Schmavings.

To my family and friends outside of AZ. Remember that AZ doesn't do the whole daylight savings thing...

...so, for instance, if you are in the eastern time zone, our time is now three hours off of yours, not two, until daylight savings is over.

Pretend we live in California, without the earthquakes, until October.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Babies in high chairs: Part I

You know it's law to take pictures of your kids eating right? I mean, I'm just following the rules...

He had finished dinner, and wanted to play with the (somewhat messy) bowl. At this point he already had peas all over him, so why the heck not?







This last one is dangerously cute.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

More knit things for Russell.

I finally finished Russell's jacket. It's a good thing too, because if he doesn't wear it soon, it's gonna be too warm for it. Right now, it at least is cool enough for a sweater in the mornings and after sunset.

I thought I'd show it (and him) off a bit. I think he's awfully handsome in it.











I've sworn that the next time I start knitting a garment for him, it will be at least two sizes bigger than what he currently wears, giving me a chance of finishing it without the mad last-minute "if I don't finish this now he will never wear it before it doesn't fit" moment. Let's see if I can keep to that.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Pic of the day: At home baby portrait.

I realized today how far behind I am sharing some of the great pics of Russell we have. So here is some catch up.

On the 29th of January, I took a series of portraits of Russell wearing one of the sweaters his Grammie Georgi made for him, and they came out pretty well, if I do say so myself.





He's such a fantastic kid, I think he even enjoyed the photo shoot.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Two realities. Same planet.

The email from Jet Blue yesterday (paraphrased): Due to a Winter Storm that will bring heavy amounts of snow, your flight has been cancelled.

The weather in my backyard today, which is more or less the same as it was yesterday when I got the email.




Seriously.

It is very hard to accept that in NY they have gotten 15 inches of snow and are looking at getting far more. It's gonna be 90 here today.

Clearly,I am not a Phoenix native, I'd be used to this sort of thing.

So, my trip to NY was canceled. Molly and I had a conference call instead. (She held her end from home, because all classes were canceled at Stony Brook and her road wasn't plowed yet as of 11 am...I still have a hard time with this.). We got a ton done. Saved me a trip, which can't be a bad thing. Everyone wins.