Peas are Funny

Halloween

This year for Halloween, we decided to dress up as Ron Burgundy, Veronica Corningstone, and their little gentleman, Baxter. So I made a 4-hour exception to my "Mustache=Divorce" policy and let Alan shave the beard he's been growing for weeks. And Austin was a pretty cute little Baxter. I think the results speak for themselves.

News Team...Assemble!!!

Who wouldn't want to take him to foggy London-town??

Can you believe I let this man hold my precious baby?

You stay classy, San Diego...

Good News, Bad News

Well, the good news is that Alan and I won't be missing or craving Cafe Rio pork salads for a while. The bad news is that the reason we won't be missing them is because we both got sooooo sick Tuesday night after I made them. I don't know what part of the salad it was, but it had both of us puking our guts out all night long and pretty much all day Wednesday. It was miserable. Thankfully, Austin was just fine and happy as ever. And one of our good friends was able to come and take Austin for a few hours in the afternoon so that Alan and I could rest. And we're feeling much better today. But I'll tell you what, being THAT sick with an 8 month old and no spouse (or mommy) to take care of you...sucks. It's amazing how grateful I am today for little things like the fact that I can stand up without throwing up. Wow.

So, if you don't feel like passing out or vomiting every time you stand up today, be thankful!

And don't mention pork salads to me or Alan for a few months...

Trying to be Domestic

I try. I really do.

A part of me wants to be that super mom who cooks magnificent meals for her family without so much as glancing at a recipe. Oh, and loves every minute of it. So I try. I LOVE food, so it should be reasonable for me to like to cook food...right?

Wrong. I just don't enjoy cooking. There, I said it.

Alan and I have really been missing Cafe Rio pork salads lately. So I found a recipe online that claimed to be EASY and taste just like the restaurant version. Well, the pork and dressing did indeed taste incredible - just like the real thing. But WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE who think that was easy? They must have 3 blenders, 8 hands and 0 children. It took me ALL freakin' day to make all 20 parts to these salads. And they did taste incredible, don't get me wrong. But I think next time we'll go down to Chipotle for an average substitute. Or wait till Christmas when we can pay 8 bucks for a salad they throw together in 20 seconds.

Ah, Cafe Rio, how we miss you.

And, since it feels weird publishing a post with no pictures, here's a peek into our cafe-rio-less, but really awesome lives in Iowa.

Picking apples at Wilson's Orchard = Perfect Fall activity.

We are best buds. We hang out pretty much all day. Every day.

This is Herky, Iowa's mascot. He is EVERYWHERE in Iowa City. And yes, he is always standing in that exact pose.

I've been waiting for months to dress Austin in this vest. I wish it came in my size. Well, Alan's size.

New Sounds

So we haven't been the best bloggers in the world lately. But since not everyone is on facebook, where our son is growing up, we thought we'd post our most recent video on here. This is Austin at 5 months doing his best wookie impersonation.

Thank Heaven for Mother-in-laws

I would like to take this moment to thank Alan's mother for her foresight in purchasing a perfect baby jumper for us back in 1984. Yes, 25 years ago Clucky bought "Jumping Jacks" for all of her children to use with their future children. Now, a normal person would have thought she was crazy for buying a baby jumper for her then 3 year old son Alan. But that is why I'm grateful to have a not-so-normal mother-in-law. =-) My son absolutely LOVES that jumper, and I know for a fact, they do NOT sell jumpers like this any more. It has literally saved my sanity. You see, I have a very high-maintenance baby. If he's not sound asleep, he MUST be played with, sung to, and generally entertained. He is not good at playing by himself. Which means, I would only get 30-40 minute chunks throughout the day to get anything done. (He's not a great napper either.)

Well, this jumper will keep him occupied for up to an hour at a time! He jumps and laughs and squeals non-stop. So I can finally eat, work on Symantec projects, follow up on email, clean up my house, cook. It's amazing! I am a whole new woman thanks to this jumper.

So thank you, Clucky, for being awesome and knowing 25 years ago what we would not learn till much later. We owe you one!

Pictures and (maybe) video of the jumping to come...

Our growing boy.

I cannot believe it has already been 2 months since Austin was born. He has changed so much over the past 2 months, and so have our lives. The past 8 weeks have been some of the hardest and happiest of my life. The first 3-4 were mostly hard. I'm still mad at all the mothers I know for now telling me how hard it was going to be. Or maybe they did, I just didn't listen. But now that I've gotten better at this and he's sleeping for longer chunks at a time, life is pretty dang good. Overall, Austin is a very good baby. He smiles a lot, sleeps pretty well for an 8 week old, and is growing like crazy!! Here are some pictures from the past 2 months:

2 weeks. Adorable and exhausting. He's only sleeping for about 1-2 hours at a time.

3 weeks. Starting to be more alert and interested during awake times.

1 month. First day at Church. He's pretty excited.

6 weeks. He attended his first Jazz game and LOVED it. Jazz played the Timberwolves on St. Patrick's Day.

2 months. Already so grown up. Rock Chalk Jayhawk! (First time he smiled for the camera!)