Sharrock Blog

Gud

2012-01-07T21:08:00.001-08:00

Last week I ran into Target for something. Who knows what I went in for? There's something about that place that sucks you in and before you know it you've wasted 2 hours and a hundred dollars and probably didn't get what you needed in the first place. Anyway, I digress, I was in Target and I walked past the beauty aisle and my eye caught this:

A new line of shampoos from Burt's Bees: güd

Of course, the pretty packaging caught my eye. I'm a sucker for cute packaging with bold colors. Target had 4 scents on display and I spent at least 5 minutes going back and forth between the scents before deciding on this one, Pearanormal Activity. This scent is a combination of Pear and Acai berry. The pear is definitlely the scent that stands out the most. It's very sweet and refreshing smelling and leaves your hair smelling delicious for hours.

I bought this the same day I decided to undergo a major hair transformation- I had about 6 inches cut off into a cute, stacked swing bob. Over the last week, I've used the shampoo and conditioner exlusively. The shampoo has a nice lather and leaves your hair feeling clean without that awful squeaky feeling. The conditioner is nice and light, it makes my hair feel soft and look shiny but doesn't weigh my hair down or make it look and feel greasy. Honestly, my hair has never felt healthier and I don't know if it's because of the new haircut or the new shampoo/conditioner, or a combination of both, although I'm going to go with the latter.

The shampoo and conditioner each cost $5.99 at Target. The line also features a lotion and body wash but I didn't feel the need to buy the entire line that day. Target is the only place I've seen this scent and I think it might be exclusive to the store. The güd website does sell the other scents: Floral Cherrynova, Orange Petalooza , and Vanilla Flame and the line is a full assortment of bath and body products. Next time I go to Target, if I don't get distracted by something else shiny and new, I am going to pick up a thing (or two, or three...) in the Orange Petalooza scent.

Motorcycle Men

2011-12-22T22:27:00.002-08:00

Recipe

2011-12-22T16:21:00.000-08:00

I stayed home two days this week with a sick kiddo. He's on the mend, but I'm exhausted because I've had hardly no sleep since Monday night. Luckily I've learned how to function on minimal sleep.

I threw this together this afternoon and it's been cooking in the slow cooker- nothing fancy but goodness gracious is it yummy!

Creamy Onion Chicken

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 package onion soup mix
1 1/2 c. light sour cream (I prefer Daisy brand)
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can mushrooms
1/4 c. chicken stock or broth (low sodium)
black pepper

Pour stock/broth in crockpot. Pepper the chicken thighs lightly and place in crockpot.

in bowl mix soup mix, sour cream, & cream of chicken soup until blended.
Stir in mushrooms.
Spoon mixture over chicken thighs.

Cook on high for 4 hours.

Serve over your preferred noodle.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-12-11T15:59:00.000-08:00

I've been on the hunt for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. I like my cookies crisp around the edges, gooey in the middle, and just a tad salty to balance the sweetness. I think I've finally found it.

Crispy, Chewy, Chocolate Chip Cookies from Smitten Kitchen

These cookies are wonderful! I make two small changes. I never remember to buy unsalted butter, so I used regular salted butter. I also scaled the chocolate chips back by almost 1/2 a cup and added chopped pecans. Any time I add nuts to a cookie I reduce the chocolate chips, I think this helps the cookie have less "filler" so you get more of the yummy cookie part.

My three-year old helped me scoop the dough so we rolled the dough into larger marble sized balls. We ended up with about 46 cookies using this recipe.

Am I a horrible person if we just have cookies for dinner tonight?

Crockpot Week

2011-12-09T18:01:00.000-08:00

This week I decided I was going to step outside the box and make nothing but crockpot meals for dinner. I selected 6 dishes (5 days + 1 alternate) and headed to the grocery store and bought the necessary ingredients for my dinners.

Day 1- "The Most Amazing Pork Chops Ever" from The Crockin' Girls. This meal was quick to assemble. Basically dump everything but the meat in a bowl, stir it up, pour over meat, and cook for 8 hours. I served this meal with my cheddar mashed potatoes, sweet corn, and crescent rolls (assembled by Desmond). Overall the meal was a hit. The sauce for the pork chops was a little on the salty side, but we still liked it.

Day 2- Cheesy Potato Soup from Betty Crocker's website. This is my favorite potato soup recipe. It always turns out so delicious. Instead of the bacon pieces I cook my own bacon and while it's cooking I season it with McCormick Montreal Seasoning; this gives the bacon a peppery flavor, it's really good. I served this in sourdough bread bowls; just buy the big sourdough rolls in the bakery section of the grocery store and cut the middle out of it. Top with the peppered bacon, green onions, fat free sour cream, and a little shredded cheese- yummy!

Day 3- We ended up making plans to go see Santa so we went out for pizza

Day 4- Husband had dinner plans with the guys so I didn't cook dinner

Day 5- Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches. This smelled so delicious when it was cooking. The only change I made to the recipe was that I used beef broth instead of water & bouillon because I didn't have any bouillon & I used a red bell pepper instead of green. The meat was overcooked and ended up falling apart; I thought it tasted dry. Instead of hoagie rolls I made one big sandwich with a french bread. (Hint: Freeze your french bread until you're ready to use it. Let it thaw for about 30 minutes, just long enough to cut it in half. Leaving it slightly frozen will keep the bread from overcooking under the broiler and getting dried out. It still gets nice and toasted but the insides stay soft and chewy.) Overall, I thought this recipe was ok. It didn't have the Philly cheese steak flavor I'm used to. I think I prefer my steak pan seared. Matt liked it, but he thought it tasted like an Italian beef/Philly cheese hybrid. I might try a different cut of beef next time I try this.

I still have three more recipes to try next week. I am looking forward to getting more use out of my slow cooker.

5x7 Folded Card

2011-12-05T09:47:00.001-08:00

Blessed Family Religious Christmas Card

This season, send Christmas cards personalized with family photos.

View the entire collection of cards.

You and Me

2011-11-02T20:17:00.001-07:00

Oh how this song made me teary tonight.

You and me, happy as can be Flying through the park on our bikes On a Sunday afternoon

You and me, rolling on the floor Practicing your somersaults, cartwheels, Your donkey kicks and more…

How did you grow so big overnight How did you get so smart and bright Yesterday you were asleep in my arms Today you’re growing off the charts

I’m so proud of you

You and me, drawing pictures wild and free While the paint goes flying, Your big smile brightens up the room

You and me, reading books in bed Your head on my shoulder, Your eyes on the pages ahead

How did you grow so big overnight How did you get so smart and bright Yesterday you were asleep in my arms Today you’re growing off the charts

I’m so proud of you

10/10

2011-10-10T20:55:00.000-07:00

Baby Olivia has arrived. She was born 10/04. I can't believe my baby sister is a mommy! At first, Desmond wasn't very keen on her, but it wasn't long before he fell in love just like the rest of us.

My little boy is growing up so quickly. He's extremely smart, it blows my mind how much he picks up on and absorbs. He's definitely a two-year-old boy. He's got so much energy and there are times where I get completely overwhelmed with his tenacity. Even so, he's the reason I wake up every day and I feel so blessed to be his mommy.

Speaking of blessed, today is our 4 year anniversary. It sure feels like Matt and I have been married longer than just 4 years. I'm thankful I found my soul mate. Even through all of the frustrations and rough patches, I still find that I love Matt more & more every day.

Artist

2011-05-18T21:08:00.001-07:00

Ah you crazy boy. Tonight you and I played Memory for awhile. You are a little too impatient for the game. After you gave up on matching the cards you scribbled in blue crayon all over the fronts of each card and then threw them in a pile on the floor.

You are learning your numbers right now and you count everything. You love counting cars...even though there always seems to only be 2 or 5 cars everywhere we go.

You start daycare/preschool next week. Yaaaaay!

Love you munchkin

Problem solved

2011-05-17T17:58:00.001-07:00

Who needs an expensive fridge lock when you have an old robe tie laying around?

Shower Bandito

2011-05-12T07:21:00.000-07:00

So this morning I was taking a shower and in walks a little boy and he starts stripping down and says "i take a shower too!"

Mobile Blogger

2011-05-10T20:24:00.001-07:00

I am testing out the mobile blogger app I downloaded on my fancy droid phone.

Matt teaching Desmond how to play tee-ball

Love your face

2011-05-10T13:53:00.001-07:00

Dear My Little Love,
Mommy hasn't exactly been very diligent in updating this blog. This its due largely to the fact that between work and you, time is limited. You are an amazingly smart little boy who is so full of life. One day I will find the time to fill pages upon pages with your wacky antics. Trust me I have so many tales to tell. In the mean time, I only have time enough to share one picture that sums up why I adore you.

Xoxo
Mommy

Song for Desmond

2010-12-21T09:06:00.001-08:00

Slobbery Toddler Kisses and hugs in the kitchen
Jumping on beds, stealing noses, and tickles
Big smiley mornings and cuddling at night
These are a few of my favorite things
High Fives and hot wheels and Mr. Potato Head
Taking naps on the couch and climbing in the big bed
Waking up daddy with four hours of sleep
These are a few of my favorite things
When the dogs hide
When the floor’s a mess
When you’re being bad
I simply remember my favorite things and then I don’t feel so mad

2010-11-19T08:25:00.001-08:00

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2010-11-19T08:24:00.001-08:00

26lb 9oz 34.5in

2010-11-05T07:24:00.001-07:00

26lb 9oz 34.5in

Staycation

2010-06-29T21:34:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the Sharrock Staycation! It's been a great time so far.

We've been very silly!

We've made lots of (yummy) messes

Hung out in our jammies and relaxed

Spent a lot of time in the water.

...in the sprinkler

..in the lazy river

... in the pool

And some more silliness mixed with a whole lot of Buzz Lightyear...

To infinity....

..And Beyond!!!!!

Vacation time

2010-06-25T17:51:00.000-07:00

It's vacation time, finally!! Starting today we have 10 full days of no agenda. I'm looking forward to relaxing and having some quality family time with my boys. Other than a lot of being lazy and silly we have nothing planned. That's exactly the kind of vacation I need.

My Nana will be flying in at the end of next week and she's finally going to get to meet Des. Luckily she's used to having wild rugrats running around so my little guy shouldn't be too much of a shock.

Last weekend we took an impromptu trip to Memphis. Matt and my Dad were Facebook chatting and one thing lead to another and before I knew it we had plans to go to Memphis the next morning to see a Redbirds game. It was a fun weekend trip. It would have been better if Desmond hadn't gotten sick on the way to Memphis, but that's what happens with kids. One minute they are trying to ride the dog and the next minute they're whining and running a high fever.

A new chapter

2010-06-17T21:13:00.000-07:00

Oh, where does time go so quickly? It seems like the work day lasts forever but the evening flies by. We've been so busy doing a lot of nothing that this blog has been neglected.

It's late and I've been on the computer far too long tonight so I will just give some of the highlights over the last few (ok, 7) months.

- Desmond is officially named Danger Boy. We had our first ER trip in May when he took a fall into a brick wall at the babysitter's.
- Danger Boy climbs on everything. He is 100% pure boy.
- He is obsessed with all things Buzz Lightyear
- He is a dancing machine
- Oh, and he loves to sing, too

-And we can't forget how much this child loves the water. ANY water. Water fountains, pools, rain, baths, showers, dog water, and yes, even toilet water. He doesn't discriminate.

- In fact, he loves anything liquid. The kid can drink some juice! He's always got to have something to drink. In fact, I have to wait until he's eaten half of his food before I give him a drink or he will not finish his dinner.

- He loves all dogs. He points to any dog he sees, whether it's a real dog, fake dog, or a picture of a dog, and he says "Doggie" and then pants like a thirsty dog. ...not sure where he picked that one up.
- He loves Scrappy. I think Scrappy loves him too. He tries to love Dutchess, but Dutchess wants nothing to do with the tiny mailman.
-I think my child has an unnatural love for dogs. It's borderline weird.

- Desmond is both a momma's boy and a daddy's boy. He loves cuddling with mommy and thinks his daddy is the most awesome playmate ever. He absolutely adores Matt. Every day when we get home he goes to our bedroom and knocks on the door hoping to wake up his daddy.

I could probably go on for hours, but I won't. At least not tonight. There's always tomorrow.

(PS- Family & Friends, I started a blog for just Desmond's videos. I thought it would be easier to keep track of them that way. It's private so if you want access just let me know and I'll get you set up. )

One year ago today....

2009-11-04T13:14:00.001-08:00

Dearest Desmond,

Today is November 4^th, 2009. One year ago today was Election day and President Obama was elected to be our new president. Also, I went into labor with you. Of course, it wasn’t as easy as just going into labor. No. It had to be difficult, of course, because that’s how things are for me. Nothing is ever as easy as it should be… but that’s what makes life interesting, I suppose.

I woke up that day early with a stomach ache. I was schedule to be induced at 8:30pm that night so I took the day off of work so I could vote and get some things around the house finished. Your dad came home from work that day and we headed off to the library so we could vote and then we were going to come home, eat lunch, and go to my check up. When we got home, dad and I decided we needed to move the car seat from my car to his truck- so he took care of that while I ran in the house to get a small sandwich (peanut butter) and let the dogs out. When I got upstairs I had to go potty and within seconds my entire body felt like it was on fire. It hurt so much. I went outside and told your dad I felt really, really sick and I was hurting. It didn’t feel like labor. We decided to leave the house and go to my doctors appointment an hour early so Dr. Caudill could check me out.

(As a small side note: while all of this was happening the doctor’s office called and left me a message that Dr. Caudill had a conflicting meeting and he needed to postpone my induction until the next evening. I heard the message on the way to his office and when I told your dad, he was SO MAD. How dare Dr. Caudill have something more important than us?! He still gets riled up when you ask him about it! Try some time…)

When we got to the doctor’s office I was really sick. My skin was white and clammy and I was in a lot of pain. Your dad dropped me off at the door and parked the car while I went into the hospital to throw up (I know, TMI, well this is the story of your birth so get over it.). I felt like lying down in the bathroom and crying but I managed to meet your dad in the hall and ride the elevator up to the second floor. When we got upstairs into the office, I went to sign in and they saw how awful I looked and sent me into the back to give them a urine sample and wait for Dr. Caudill to get back from his other appointment.

When Dr. Caudill finally got into the office to see me, he didn’t even realize how sick I was. I was holding a trashcan and had been throwing up. He just kept apologizing over and over again for needing to postpone my induction. Once he stopped talking he realized that something really was wrong with me and he sent me over to labor and delivery for monitoring.

Over at L&D they set me up with a room and hooked me up to the monitoring machines and made me drink 30oz of water and pee. They tested my pee and I had a lot of protein in my urine so they kept me. (side note: 4 months later they found out that I had a huge kidney stone that developed while I was pregnant with you. It was the size of a dime and had to be surgically removed. Fun times).

I was a trooper and didn’t take any pain medicine during this ordeal. It was extreme pain. The funny part of this is that while they had me hooked up to the machines they were supposed to be monitoring my contractions. Nothing was registering on the machine when I was feeling the pain, so they didn’t think anything of it. Well, it took your Grandma G pestering and insisting that something was wrong for the machines for them to realize I wasn’t hooked up correctly and I was indeed having contractions. They were big ones, too. I guess I was in labor for over 24 hours with you, if you want to get down to it.

Later on that night they went ahead and started me on pitocin because I still wasn’t dilating. Your grandma and grandpa G and S were all there, along with Uncle James, Aunt Jessica, and James’s friend, Alana. Your Auntie Missa was working that night so she kept coming by to visit, too. It was nice having so many people there anxiously waiting for you to get here…but you were cozy and I don’t think you wanted to come out. At 3am they came in to check on me and I still hadn’t dilated so they were going to do a second dose of pitocin at 8am. They didn’t need to do that because at 5am (or so) my water broke on it’s own. At 8am I got an epidural, at almost 10am the doctor came in and said we were going to start trying to push, and at a little after 12 pm they decided you weren’t coming out and set me up for a c-section.

You were born at 12:46pm and you weighed 6lbs and 4oz and you were 21.5 inches. You were so tiny and so absolutely adored from the second they laid eyes on you. (Well, your grandma G loved you but she said she was worried you might have been a special baby because you were screaming your head off and looked funny ;) Then she got to see you outside of the glass and you were absolutely perfect and the most beautiful, sweetest baby anyone ever saw.)

But there’s more. And I’ll save that for tomorrow.

I love you always,

Mommy

Best Friends

2009-11-03T08:34:00.001-08:00

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2009-10-28T13:17:00.001-07:00

The funniest picture i have ever seen

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10/28/09- 8 more days

2009-10-28T13:11:00.001-07:00

Wow, I can’t believe my little man is going to be a year old next week. Where did the time go?! I remember this time last year I was impatiently awaiting my due date. I was wishing the time away. I was wishing my pregnancy would just freaking end. Now that it’s over and I’ve had the pleasure of having my precious Desmond for the last year, I wonder why I rushed the time away. Now time flies, like some cosmic practical joke. I can honestly say I can see time moving right before my eyes and I don’t think I like it. I’ve seen my little 6lb baby morph into a walking, babbling, loving little boy and before I can blink an eye he’s going to be a year old and then he’ll be 5 and going to kindergarten and then 18 and graduating high school, and then before long he’ll be married, and have babies of his own and I will hide under my covers and cry for my mommy. I just don’t know how my mom did this with four kids. How she watched us grow up and become independent. It’s so hard. But I wouldn’t trade it for all of the money in the world. How can someone you barely know be born into your life and steal your heart in seconds? Once you have a baby of your own you will understand.

2009-10-26T18:02:00.001-07:00

He is all boy!

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2009-10-25T13:29:00.001-07:00

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October 25th

2009-10-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

Holy October, Batman! It's been quite a busy month for the Sharrock family. The biggest highlight of the month was Desmond getting to meet his Uncle Derek for the first time since he was a wee peanut. Desmond took to him immedietly and Derek was in love. We didn't get a lot of pictures but we got a pretty cute video of the two (apparently I can't embed my video from Vimeo, so here is the link http://vimeo.com/7075635)

Little man is doing so much! He's walking great and even trying to run. His little legs move faster than he does at times, which makes him fall down. He's a trooper, rarely cries even when he hits his head (hard!). He just gets back up and heads off. He plays peek-a-boo very well. (I have a video of this, too, but it needs to be uploaded and I have NO idea how to do that!). He's been a little trouble maker, too. Right now his favorite activity is taking the DVDs off of the shelf and making a big mess with them. It's pointless to tell him no because he just keeps going back.

Desmond is becoming a HUGE mama's boy. He's starting to understand that he doesn't like it when I leave his line of sight. This weekend has been really bad for that. I'm not sure if he is teething or just becoming very dependent, but every time I leave the same room he freaks out and cries. It's making doing other things very hard. Sleeping was difficult this weekend, too. Friday night he woke up at 1am and screamed his head off. I rocked him back to sleep and put him in his crib and the instant I laid him down he began screaming again. It wasn't his normal sleepy cry, it was a ear piercing screech that sounded like he was in pain! I tried rocking him a few more times but it was the same sleep, cry, repeat so we ended up sleeping together on the couch in the living room. Saturday night was pretty much the same crying. This time he woke up around 3am and I Just brought him to bed with me. I sure hope it's just another tooth coming in and not him being spoiled. I will say that I have been letting him scream during the day. If I stay glued to him he is not going to learn that he can't always have mommy there and he WILL end up being a little brat. I've seen too many little brats grow up into big brats and then into adult jerks and Desmond will NOT be one of those people.

I've been preparing for Desmond's first birthday party. We're going to BBQ and have some family and friends over. I decided to make his cake this year. Matt and I went back and forth on what we were going to do with the cake and then I saw this super cute baseball shaped cake online and decided I could probably do that. So I bought all of the stuff so I couldn't back out. Yesterday I sat down and did a test run with the decorating. I baked a batch of cupcakes and decorated 20 of them as baseballs. It gave me a lot of good practice. I'm glad I did that because if I hadn't I wouldn't have know that the frosting needs to be a certain temperature or the design will melt while you are doing it. I also wouldn't have known that your hand head will soften the frosting so it will need to be put in the fridge periodically to keep it the right temp/consistency. I also wouldn't have know that if you squeeze too hard your bag will explode! All in all I think they turned out really well. I need to make my red dye more red when I make my next batch of frosting. Other than that I am really excited to make his cake!

Today we're going to the zoo. Ginger, Glenn, Aunt Linda, and Grandma Bailey are coming up to go with us. It should be a good time and I will post pictures later tonight or this week.

Until then, I'm off to chug some coffee so I can stay awake today.

Houston, We have a tooth!

2009-09-29T09:23:00.001-07:00

After a very, very long weekend of a lot of screaming and tantrum throwing, Desmond finally has a tooth. And not a moment too soon, because if the tantrums were just because he was becoming a spoiled brat I was going to consider sending him back where he came from! Poor boy didn’t sleep very well all weekend and, in turn, neither did mommy. Sunday was by far the worst night we’ve had in a long time. He went down for bed at a little before 9pm and was up again at 11pm screaming like a banshee. I took him to the living room and tried to console him but he was having no part in that so I finally brought him to bed with me and Matt. He squirmed and whined and he finally got comfortable in the most unsafe spot on the bed- on my left side near the edge of the bed. I made a mental note to move him back to the middle once he fell asleep…and then we both fell asleep together around 1am. About half-an-hour later, matt and I were startled awake but a huge thud and scream. Yes, Desmond fell off of our bed. I jumped up and grabbed him and held him for a few minutes until he stopped crying and then tucked him into bed between us. He finally fell back asleep close to 3am and so did I. Needless to say I had a tough time waking up Monday morning. He’s had swollen gums for, literally, 6 months so I didn’t really even think to give him orajel or Tylenol when we was sleeping. I thought he was being a crab because the wind was scaring him (which I still think had more to do with it than the teething). I found his tooth yesterday afternoon when I had to fish a piece of dog food out of his mouth and I hit something pointy with my finger.

This weekend we’re headed out to the country to go visit Matt’s family. I’m pretty excited to go, it’s been almost 2 months since we’ve been to visit. The next weekend we’re headed to PB to see my family. I’m also very excited to go home because my brother will be there! We haven’t seen Derek since January and I can’t wait for Desmond to get to meet his uncle. Last time they saw each other Desmond was a small sprout he couldn’t do anything but poop and coo. Now he’s a crazy fool that walks, “talks”, and all around causes trouble.

Going home (to both places) will not be good for my “diet”. I’ve lost about 4lbs this month and my goal is 30lbs by January. As soon as I lose 30lbs Matt has to quit smoking. We made this agreement the other day. I don’t think he thinks I am serious about holding him to it but we both need to work on getting healthier for our family. I’ve been trying to make an effort to go to the gym 3 times a week and eat healthier, especially at work. It’s slowly paying off. Losing weight is so much harder after having a baby, especially after having a c-section. I have absolutely no muscle in my abdomen and if I work out hard it still hurts and I lose feeling in my stomach. It’s a very weird sensation to be both numb and in pain!

Well, that’s all I’ve got for today. If I get time tonight I will be back to upload some videos from our Vimeo page and link some photos from our website.

2009-09-28T15:57:00.001-07:00

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Weekend

2009-09-20T07:10:00.001-07:00

I love the weekends. It's the only time I actually get to spend real, quality time with Matt and Desmond.

Saturday Desmond and I cleaned the house. You haven't done hard until you have a 10 month old housekeeping assistant. I'd pick something up and put it away, he'd get it back out and throw it on the floor. I'd wipe the fingerprints off of glass and he'd put his hands and face in the same spot I wiped. I'd scrub the baseboards and he'd stick his hand in my bucket of water and splash me. Luckily once I finished the living room I was able to "lock" him in there and clean the rest of the house a lot quicker.

We got a meat package from Kenricks Friday and bbq'd steaks Saturday. They were delicious, however, our grill ran out of gas before the steaks were done. Matt noticed it happened before the grill cooled off too much so he was able to just leave the lid closed and let them finish cooking. They ended up a perfect medium doneness. Matt's grilling skills have really improved this summer. We lived on steaks, ribs, pork steaks, chicken...basically anything we could throw on the grill is what we ate on the weekends. No complaining from me, I love it!

I've decided to boycott shopping for groceries. No matter what I do, I can never walk out of the grocery store spending less than $100. This time I spent over $160 and if it weren't for my $24 in coupons I would have been in BIG trouble. Buying diapers and formula really tacks on extra expenses. I'm going to be so glad when Desmond can start drinking milk instead. A gallon of milk costs $2 and a container of formula costs over $20. Ugh. And when will he be potty trained?! $20 for diapers for a week. Ack! It doesn't help that I have to buy things in duplicate to be able to take over to the baby sitter's too. In the long run, I'm sure it costs the same to have a babysitter or be a SAHM, but I sure wish I could be a SAHM so I could manage things more effectively. That's never going to happen. :(

One last thing. Des had his first Parent's as Teachers meeting of the school year. (Yes, he has a teacher already. Shut up with the "you're such a new mom" crap- I pay taxes and I am going to utilize the school system as long as I can!). His teacher, Mrs. Sara, was so impressed with how advanced he is. He's an early walker- and a good one, at that! He can stand up and walk across the room. That's pretty big for a 10 month baby! She did some activities to see how he was progressing intellectually- he's good at hunting and finding, he's good at putting objects in boxes and taking them back out, he's good at turning pages in books, and he's good at clapping. All of these skills mean he is on track developmentally and she said he's pretty advanced for his age. Yay, smart boy! When can I enroll him into college so he can get a job and buy his own diapers?

FWD:

2009-09-15T11:46:00.001-07:00

Desmond walking

Video of little man walking (wobbling?) at my mom's house

Memphis Weekend

2009-09-14T07:59:00.000-07:00

We're back from our Memphis trip. It was a nice getaway, I'm glad Matt and I got to spend some time alone for the weekend. It was much needed!

We started our weekend on Friday. Desmond and I had a little Mommy/Desmond time in the morning. We went to his pediatrician appointment bright and early. Desmond is perfectly healthy. The doctor says he is very long and skinny for his age group. He's 19lbs 4 oz and he is 29 3/4 inches. For his weight he is just under the 25th percentile for his age group and for his length he is just over the 75th percentile. I can't remember his head measurements but it was at the 50th percentile. He got one vaccination and he did so good. He wimpered a small bit and then he was done. After his appointment we did a little running. We went to the bank, the grocery store, and Walgreens before heading home to pack.

Desmond stayed the weekend with his Grandma and Grandpa Gebelhardt. My mom was in Kansas City for meetings and heading home Friday, so my dad met us in Sikeston and picked Desmond and the dogs up. I'm glad my dad got some alone time with Desmond Friday. I think they had a fun time.

The drive down to Memphis is a very boring drive. A lot of nothing between St Louis and Memphis. Road construction and cornfields was the bulk of our scenery.

We arrived to Memphis and checked into our hotel. My parent's got us a room at the Westin at Beale. It was a really upscale hotel and it seems the more upscale a hotel is, the less amenities they provide. I think Matt's biggest issue with the hotel was that you had a pay for Internet. My biggest complaint was that they didn't offer complimentary breakfast. I think both of those things are pretty common "perks" at most hotels. I wouldn't have even minded paying for breakfast but it needed to at least be a reasonable rate. They only offered room service breakfast so I couldn't even go down to the restaurant for breakfast.If I wanted a bowl of Cheerios I would have had to pay $6.50 for the cereal, plus $2.50 delivery and 20% gratuity off the top. Plus they would have expected another tip at the door. (I think I need to step off of my soap box now...)

Friday night we went to Silky O'Sullivan's for dinner. Matt had the ribs, I had catfish and we split a drink called a Diver. It was a gallon bucket of beer, rum, grenadine, and God knows what else. That was probably a bad idea drinking that on nearly empty stomachs as Matt got a little sick and I passed out by 9:30. Oopsie.

Saturday we got up and went to Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. The memorabilia was fun to look at. They had a wall of Johnny Cash- it had one of his suits, a guitar, and a ton of pictures of him. Matt loved that! They also had a ton of other signed guitars. We enjoyed seeing all of the Elvis memorabilia. Neither of us are particularly fans of Elvis but by the time we left we wanted to visit Graceland just to see more of the tackiness. We didn't get a chance to, but if we ever go back to Memphis we will definitely be going there. After lunch we headed out to Tunica to hit the casinos and try to pay for our trip. I've got ZERO luck and blew through my money pretty fast. Matt on the other hand puts in 5 dollars and walks away with $119 and some change. Playing the penny slots. So in the end we walked away $60 ahead. I'll admit, I was a little pissy because I don't like losing. But he did good. Yay!

When we got back to the hotel after gambling there was an entourage of people checking into the hotel. Apparently there was this "up and coming rapper" staying at the hotel. His Lamborghini was parked in the front of the hotel and he had a van bring his luggage in. The luggage was insane. He literally had 6 Nike boxes, countless shopping bags from LV, Gucci, Macy's, and unreadable stores, LV and Coach luggage.... an entire cart packed to the gills. Wowser!

Saturday night we went to the Blue's City Cafe for dinner. I had the most delicious stuffed mushrooms and we split 'The Best Meal on Beale' which was catfish, ribs, fries, beans, and coleslaw. It was all yummy. Then we headed out to Beale St. and looked around a few shops, drank at Wet Willies, people watched, and listened to a couple street bands play. We were both pretty tipsy. It was lots of fun. I wish I would have brought my digital camera because there were girls wearing clothes that were SO out there. I was cracking up. I saw two guys dressed in plaid shorts and sweater vests and color rimmed glasses. They reminded me of Carlton Banks. I got a picture of one of them. We left Beale around midnight and the line to the entrance was all the way back to our hotel- which was about 2 blocks. Good thing we went early!

Sunday we were going to get up and go to the zoo and to Mud Island but it was yucky and rainy so we checked out and headed home. I'm glad we left early so we had time to relax when we got home. We stopped in Sikeston to eat lunch at Lambert's Cafe (yum!) and pick up my spoiled babies. I missed Desmond (and the doggies!) so much. It was great to see him and get greeted with his little baby kisses.

19Lbs 4oz 29 3/4in height

2009-09-11T07:02:00.001-07:00

19Lbs 4oz 29 3/4in height around 75th percentile weight just under 25th. Hes long and skinny! Where did he get THAT from?!

Walking In Memphis

2009-09-10T12:22:00.000-07:00

This weekend Matt and I are celebrating our 2 year anniversary. We're celebrating a month early and taking a mini-vacation to Memphis. We're leaving tomorrow and will come home Sunday. I'm stoked as I'm sure he is, too. Desmond will be spending the weekend at my mom and dad's house. I can't wait to get my drink on and have a nice, relaxing, and FUN weekend with my honey. Here's to hoping we win big when we visit Tunica and hit the casinos. We're also going to visit Mud Island, the Civil Rights museum, and of course anywhere on Beale St. that piques our interest. Less than 24 hours until we leave! Whoo hoo!

Chuck E Cheese 09/05/09

2009-09-09T13:52:00.001-07:00

Catching up- the past few months in a nutshell

2009-09-09T13:46:00.001-07:00

Timeline of Desmond's "accomplishments" to date. I'm horrible at keeping records so this is all off of my memory so it's just by month as I remember it.

Feb/March- Desmond can sit up on his own. Rolling is his primary method of transportation. His personality is developing so much. He is happy all the time.

Late April- Desmond is a rock star. He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth. Crawling is going to be here before we know it!

Mid- May 2009- Desmond crawled for the first time.

June- Desmond starts babbling “Da,Da,Da”

Mid-July- Desmond began “cruising” the house supported. He would walk holding on to furniture, toys, our hands…

August- Desmond begins to boycott baby food. He still doesn’t have any teeth but insists on eating mommy and daddy’s dinner instead of that yucky Gerber stuff. At dinner time I give him a small plate of whatever we are eating. So far, he doesn’t discriminate and he loves everything. This month he also learned how to wave. He waves to everyone! He does his hand backwards which makes it funny. Of course, I’m a bit of a proud mommy so I am going to think everything he does is great!

Labor Day Weekend 2009- Desmond walked, unsupported. Matt and I took him to Chuck E Cheese for the first time. There wasn’t much he could do just yet, but he had fun nonetheless. He ate pizza and rode the car ride. He was a pro at “driving” the car.

September- Desmond is starting to mimic sounds. He can say “Uh-Oh” and it’s freakin’ adorable. He will also copy me when I blow him kisses. He doesn’t have the hand motion down just yet, but he makes the noise. It cracks me up, which in turn makes him laugh too. He’s a hoot. I am hoping his teeth break through soon because baby boy has been very cranky at night. When I bring him to bed with me he is a big bed hog. Between him, Dutchess, and Scrappy there’s hardly any sleeping room. Good thing Matt and I upgraded to a king sized bed. Otherwise he and I would have to sleep on the couch while those three turkeys got the bed!

Speaking of Desmond and the doggies; Desmond thinks Scrappy is his own personal teddy bear. He cuddles him at night. One of these days I will drag myself out of bed and take a picture of those two. It’s absolutely adorable.

Well, that’s enough for now.

Starting Out

2009-09-09T13:11:00.000-07:00

It's about time I start blogging again. So, here is my new space to talk about what's going on with me, Matt, and, of course, Desmond. I'll be back soon to post my first "real" blog- the last ten months in a nutshell.

Signing off until then,
Steph