And then we Cheers...

A few happy things

2012-02-09T08:00:00.000-06:00

These pants, boots and stripes.

This baby clapping as I laid him down for bed last night. He's in his carseat in this photo, but do you honestly expect me to take a picture of him right before bedtime? Please.

This treat.

Children at Play

2012-02-07T08:00:00.000-06:00

Joshie had a play date up in Cedar Falls this weekend with all his boys. I'd love to get back to Cedar Falls again even though Josh reported that this Cedar Falls is not our Cedar Falls. The Hill was a ghost town, there is a parking garage on campus, Suds (the bar for whom our dog is named) was closed at 6 p.m. on a Saturday, Tony's is on Main Street. All you old UNI kids, what the what, right? The OP, however is still there and I'd love to visit and stuff my face with pizza and breadsticks and guzzle my weight in Grateful Deads. Okay, maybe not the latter but I would for sure have one or two. For old times sake. Yes, I'd love to get back to Cedar Falls.

Dexter also went on a playdate with our friends and family, Jackson, Ben and Emma. We headed to Merle Hay Mall which was not as depressing as Southridge but still a tiny bit depressing since one of their big stores is a Staples? Say whaaat? Dexter had his first encounter with a mall playplace and he learned that it's wild and kids are crazy and his mother needs to keep her judgy eyes in check. Annie warned me about how easy it is to have judgy eyes in these places. Eyes that say, who's that kid belong to? Or OMG, figure it out.

I'm sure I got my fair share of judgy eyes too though, tsk, tsking away the little Asian teen mom who took her crawling baby to be trampled by the big kids at the playplace. Such is life.

And get this, in my struggle to get Dexter out of the car, my camera fell out of my bag into his carseat so I have no pictures to show from our little adventure. For this, you may judge away.

Eight eyes

2012-02-03T08:00:00.000-06:00

Remember how I tried out Warby Parker glasses? Well, months and months and months later, look who's sporting some new eyewear.

No more expired prescription (me), scotch taped frame (Josh), crooked (us), specs for this family. Like the rest of the world, I would definitely recommend using Warby Parker if you're in the market for new glasses. Granted, I had to pay a little more than the $95 advertised because my vision is Mr. Magoo but it still pales in comparison to what I would've had to pay at a store for frames and lenses. Plus, they donate a pair of eyeglasses for every pair that is bought. And that, my friend, is what we call a win-win situation.

When you get rid of cable

2012-02-02T08:00:00.000-06:00

When you get rid of cable, it should free up all sorts of time to finish projects, clean house, purge closets. It should. However, we decided to sign up for a one month free trial of Netflix and the finishing of projects, cleaning of house and purging of closets went out the window.

And would you like to know who burst through the door while those things flew out the window?

Tobias...and the whole fam-damily of Arrested Development.

Image from here

And Collin the chicken.

This is how we've been whiling away our time when Dexter sleeps.

Nobody's home

2012-01-31T08:00:00.000-06:00

For all you Des Moines-ians, we ventured to Southridge Mall this weekend and it was depressing and eerie. Empty storefronts, small crowd of shoppers, vast parking lot. Josh wanted to go to the Filipino store to see if he could find Ube ice cream. They didn't have any. It seems even the dessert has ~~deserted~~ left the shopping center. This is probably the first time in a decade, maybe two, that I've been inside Southridge. It was the mall of my childhood before we moved to fancy schmancy West Des Moines. What a sad state to find it in nearly 20 years later. I suppose it was appropriate timing for me to pay my respects this weekend since they are about to undergo a huge remodel. So long old Southridge, may your new adventure be your best!

11 months

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000-06:00

In the eleventh month of Dexter's life, I am feeling shocked, excited and kind of sad. The time has passed so quickly. His personality is getting bigger. He is getting bigger. He squeals and kicks his legs when he's really excited about something. He totally knows when he's going somewhere he isn't suppose to because he looks over his shoulder to check and see if you're watching. The look he gives you isn't a sheepish one, like "oops, I got caught", it's a "well, are you coming or not?" look. He loves the other boys at daycare and I can't say how much of a relief it is to be completely confident in the person that's supposed to stand in for us on weekdays.

Speaking of standing, Dexter has stood by himself a few times for the briefest of moments. I think I am more impressed by it than he is. I stay perfectly still and urgently whisper to Josh, "Psst, look, honey!" As if Dexter's a T-Rex who can't see you if you don't move or make a sound. No steps yet, he's gotten too good at real crawling and has lost interest.

He thinks handing toys back and forth to you is hilarious. He gets a big grin on his face when you say, "thank you" after he's given you the toy. He still loves to roughhouse and get thrown into the air and lets out a squeal of delight when you pretend to drop him. He also has a flair for the acrobatic as he figured out that the world looks silly when it's upside down.

The kid knows how to eat too. He hasn't really balked at any grown-up food yet. Mashed potatoes were pretty mind-blowing. I think we might have done ourselves a disservice by giving him fruits almost exclusively towards the end of his stint with baby food because he definitely shows a preference for them over veggies. Oh, well. I'm not really one to talk since I didn't discover that I like mushrooms until ten years ago, broccoli until five years ago and brussel sprouts until two weeks ago.

Eleven months, mark it down.

Conversation of the week

2012-01-19T19:00:00.000-06:00

Joshie and I were watching this week's episode of Glee. Okay, I was watching and Josh was enduring and eye-rolling. The grand finale came up featuring a perfectly Gleeful cover of Rihanna's "We Found Love", a high school synchronized swimming team that was the size of a typical high school football team with flawless choreography and one Will Schuester in a white tuxedo "walking" on water to propose to Emma Pillsbury. Will ends up diving in a very shallow part of the pool. To which I exclaimed, "He can't dive right there, it's too shallow!" To which Josh looked at me, eyebrows raised and said, "That?! That is your only problem with this entire scenario?"

Safety first, am I right?

Here it is, if you missed it.

A practice cake

2012-01-18T18:01:00.002-06:00

This is a practice cake. If there was one thing that I wanted to happen for Dexter's birthday, it would be a made from scratch yellow cake. Since I'm afraid of my kitchen, this one simple act of domesticity is a big deal for me. So big that I felt it necessary to practice before the big show which is over a month away. It took forever because I move at the pace of a three-legged turtle when I'm in front of ovens and wielding measuring cups. I referred to the recipe a bajillion times to make sure that all directions were strictly followed. I let out an exasperated sigh when the mixture didn't appear to be pale and fluffy as indicated on the recipe. And when Josh came in to help with the frosting, and I accidentally hit his arm with a steaming bowl of chocolate, I yelled at him and said "I don't know why you're in here anyway!" Good wife, Lora. So this is my practice cake. When the real deal is dished up for you, please remember the tale that I've just spun for you, smile sweetly and between bites tell me it's amazing. Thanks.

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Her's looks way more amazing than mine.

This calls for pink shoes!

2012-01-10T22:42:00.003-06:00

It was 60 degrees today. In January. In Iowa. More, please.

P.S. I originally purchased these shoes as part of my Jem costume for Halloween years ago. I've been torn about if/when I should add them to my "real" closet, #firstworldproblems

P.P.S. The answer to my dilemma appears to be yes/when it is unseasonably warm where you live.

The Hunger Games

2012-01-09T20:50:00.001-06:00

I once mentioned that I can't help but love a good series. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Twilight (am I nerd?). I'm one of those that immediately regrets finishing the book or movie because then there's nothing to look forward to. Enter The Hunger Games. I've been itching to get my hands on the series since I read about it here.

Luckily, my brother picked up on about one million of my hints and bought me the trilogy for Christmas. Yahoo! I was a little slow getting started but now I've picked up speed and am making my way through book two. Joshie has even gotten in on the action and picked up the first book as soon as I was done. Gasp! That's right, the boy who doesn't read has his nose in the book as we speak. It's that addictive. In fact, I don't know what I'm still doing here. I wish I had an Effie to keep me on schedule.*

*Yep, I am a nerd.

Ideally

2012-01-03T18:16:00.001-06:00

Instead of promising to work out, eat better, be nicer, get smarter, I have developed two lists for 2012. One is a glorified honey-do list for me and Joshie. It includes exciting projects like putting in a front door kickplate and switching out the wedding photos in our living room to reflect our current state of affairs (read: Dexter).

The second list is just a Lora-do list. In Josh's words, a "Don't talk about it, be about it" list. Items that I mention in passing, (over and over again) but then never act on. And on this list is to show up here more often. I like showing up here and I know there are a few of you who expect me to show up too-ahem, Annie. So friends, I will try to write more often and share all the amazing things that are happening in our world, like kickplates and photo frames.

Happy New Year!

10 months

2012-01-02T21:48:00.003-06:00

What up with those double digits, son? 10 months! Say it with me-yipes! I'm late again with this update. Maybe I'm trying to ignore the fact that this kid is inching closer to the Big Uno.

Two pearly white teeth on the bottom. Those suckers took a long time to show themselves!
First Christmas
First New Years Eve party
Stranger danger. Over Christmas in Dport we noticed that he just seems a little leery around unfamiliar faces.
Fo real crawling. On hands and knees like a real live baby! He's so over that army crawl business.
Still cruising too...which calls for a pair of shoes of course!

The "ball popping action" was a little disturbing for him at first but he's getting braver.

Here's those shoes I was talking about.

They taste even better than they look.

You can't tell, but he is wielding a lightsaber during the New Year's Eve party. It was passed around from youngling to youngling. Not a bad way to ring in 2012, right?

And just like that Christmas is over

2011-12-29T11:47:00.002-06:00

December went by in a hurry. What did we do? We took Dexter to see Santa and he got yelled at by an amateur photographer and promptly erupted into tears. Sorry, kid. We traveled to Davenport and celebrated with Josh's family. He sat on Santa's lap again which resulted in sad face and more tears. Sorry again, kid. He opened and crawled away from lots of presents while we excitedly exclaimed, "Cool toy!" repeatedly. Hope you all had a lovely holiday too!

All smiles before Santa

Well, this is an unfortunate turn of events

"So you're just going to watch me open this? That's how this works?"

"Hello, Christmas elf. How do you do?"

the doors

2011-12-13T22:30:00.000-06:00

Dexter loves the doors. Lowercase t, lowercase d. Not to be confused with Jim Morrison's The Doors; capital T, capital D. Although wouldn't that be something?

"Holy buckets, check this out!"

"I can open it"

"And hold up..."

"Uh,huh, just as I suspected. I can shut it too!"

Before I got sick with a mystery virus...

2011-12-12T22:34:00.001-06:00

I was doing this. Pinterest got me.

9 Months

2011-12-12T22:23:00.002-06:00

I'm quite late with this update. He'll be 10 months in just a couple of weeks!

First Thanksgiving
Loves doors
Hates having his diaper changed and hats. He despises hats.
Got all too familiar with the doctor's office for an ear and eye infection and yeast rash (yeah, he was falling apart there for awhile)
Tries to get Suds to play with him. 50/50 on whether Suds is game.
Still cruising the couch
Gave him a little bang trim at home (his second in 9 months!)
Wolfing down fruit and waffles

Remember when the Pilgrims broke avocado with the Indians (is it okay to say Indians? Native Americans?) Yeah, that's what Dexter did for Thanksgiving

And now the amazing floating Dexter act.

"Please play with me, brother"

We teach important life skills

2011-12-02T10:00:00.000-06:00

Some parents have their babies listen to Mozart, some parents work on phonics so their baby can read at an absurdly young age. Us? We do this:

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But it's so pretty

2011-12-01T21:30:00.001-06:00

This Skittles infused vodka showed up on Pinterest and I am quite curious. Josh said he tried it at our friend's wedding a few months ago and it was not the bees knees. I tried to say that I'm going to make it and prove him wrong because how can something so pretty not be the bees knees? Taste the rainbow, man.

Okay, truthfully, I will probably not be mixing up a batch because the girl that only has a couple beers every once in awhile probably doesn't have a need for infused any-cohol in her fridge. But if you're so inclined to try it and want to save me a sip, here's the how-to.

He said "Dada" first

2011-11-26T21:28:00.001-06:00

And that's okay.

Vacation with Dexter

2011-11-23T10:07:00.001-06:00

I have this week off for Thanksgiving so I've been spending my days with Dexter. It's been the longest stretch of time that I've had with him since my maternity leave. Crazy. That baby was a lifetime ago. That baby was a swaddlemonster. All wrapped up eating and sleeping through most of the day. The baby that I've been keeping company this week is not that baby at all. This baby has sticky fingers and swipes and zombie bites everything within reach. This baby sleeps laying down and wakes up standing. This baby likes to roughhouse and pretend that you're dropping him. This baby is definitely not that baby.

Perfect and Tragic

2011-11-22T21:30:00.000-06:00

I don't tear up too often but I about started to bawl when I saw this post of the below photo from Cup of Jo. So perfect and tragic all at the same time. Maybe it's the holidays or maybe it's becoming a mother and watching Dexter grow and grow each day, probably both, but I've been thinking more about my own mom recently.

Pic from here

Run ins with Herky

2011-11-20T13:21:00.001-06:00

Josh and I saw this commercial a few days ago. Worthy cause, but check out where Herky is shopping. Watch it and tell me it doesn't look like they've sent him to shop for toys at some sort of hardware store.

Also, we spotted this Herky Pillow Pet at Kohl's the other day. Tell me that he doesn't look a little like Woodstock from Peanuts.

Pic from here

Because they said so

2011-11-08T21:53:00.001-06:00

Another little blogger inspired to do that I to did: downloaded this free album of indie rock children's songs from Lunch Money after I read about it on her blog. I've been playing it in the car on the way to daycare and like to think that Dexter is bopping and babbling along to it. So far the "Original Friend" song has the most stuck-in-your-head potential.

Because they said so...I've posted about this, tried out these and did this.

This picture has nothing to do with this post. I just thought it looked a little bare and needed some creepy alien robot eyes to liven things up a bit.

Vegas aka Joshie's bday aka Jaga bomb, Jaga bomb, Jaga bomb aka girl meets moleskin

2011-11-06T16:15:00.000-06:00

We took our first long trip away from the Dexter baby a few weekends ago to celebrate Josh and his buddy BJ turning the dirty 30. We ate (Spago, Todd English P.U.B.), we drank (and that's where the Jagerbombs come in), we gambled (Josh lurves craps, I found a seat at the roulette table), we hung out by the pool. I have no photos of these events so you'll just have to take my word for it.

I also learned a valuable lesson about pretending to be something you're not. In an effort to look the part of someone that willingly stays up after 10 p.m., I decided to wear heels the first night; a practice that is reserved for weddings, work meetings and walks that are less than .1 miles. But hey, I thought, it's Vegas and I'm on vacation and I have this fancy miniskirt and won't I look so hot in these high heels in this fancy miniskirt?! And then we walked...and we walked...and we walked. And then I thought: Lora, you eeediot (because sometimes in my head I talk like Ren from Ren & Stimpy), that fancy miniskirt would be a lot hotter if you weren't hobbling around like Quasimodo! After that catastrophic miscalculation, I landed myself in flip flops and flat sandals the rest of the weekend and also was introduced to moleskin, which for some reason sounds kind of dirty to me, but it's actually just a miracle blister reliever.

One photo that I managed to take from Josh's birthday dinner.

8 Months

2011-11-01T21:37:00.000-05:00

Army crawling towards things he can't have, including Suds' bone and Josh's PS3
Crying when we take away things he can't have
Standing and creeping along the couch
Really starting to babble, has the whole "dada" thing down pat
In need of another bang trim
Cheeks get really rosy after nursing
First trip away from mom and dad or rather first trip mom and dad left him behind, more on that later
First Halloween
First baptism as a witness
First baptism as the baptized
No teeth yet

He really liked Benny's hat.

Cousin costume party. I think Dexter asked Owen what it meant to be a "Child of Christ" so as to prepare himself for his baptism the next day.

Opening gifts at his baptism. I believe everyone else has pics of the actual event.

Little photo sesh with Christine

You should just talk already

2011-10-18T21:34:00.000-05:00

After sleeping like a regular old sleep through the night baby, Dexter has been waking up mysteriously and warbling for an hour or two the past few nights. It's 50/50 whether it ends up in crying. For the most part, it's like a lilting call, like a warble. We can't figure out what's wrong with him, (other than the fact that he is clearly still puzzled about the sleepy time at night thing). There are several potential causes that have been whispered harshly in the dark between me and Josh at 3 a.m. in the morning:

1. Teething-There isn't any physical evidence of this since when I peek and poke around in his mouth all I get is a bunch of gum. However, the interwebs and other parental authorities informed me that there doesn't have to be any sign of teeth for teething to happen. Um, that might be the dumbest true thing ever. I don't like it.

2. Cold-He's been battling one for the past few weeks now. Naturally, there's nothing the doctor can do for him. Again, dumb and I don't like it. Apparently, on average they get 12 a year. Awesome, right?

3. He's a jerk. Okay, not really but at 3 a.m. our logic gets fuzzy and we're just angry. Hence the harsh whispering.

In conclusion, Dexter just needs to start talking and tell us what his gripe is. "My dearest mother and father, I just cannot sleep because I have a horrendous pain in my gummies." That's right, when Dexter talks I envision a perfect blend of polite English and babytalk.

I'm so parched

2011-10-11T10:00:00.000-05:00

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And I'm hooked

2011-10-10T21:17:00.000-05:00

Welcome back, Buffy. Okay, fine, not Buffy, Sarah Michelle Gellar. I'm all over her new series Ringer. Have you seen it? This should bring you up to speed...or confuse the heck out of you.

7 months

2011-10-04T21:32:00.000-05:00

Ack!* 7 months old!

All he wants to do is, all he wants to do is stand
Dexter does this thing that we've dubbed "zombie bites". You know in zombie movies when they are moving at a regular speed and then all of a sudden they move super duper fast when going in for the kill? That's a zombie bite. Slow, slow, shakes his head really fast, opens his mouth wide and CHOMP! He does it to toys, books, burpcloths, hands, etc.
He's got a Kung Fu grip. Dexter will grab your arm and squeeeeeze as hard as he can. I've actually yelped a few times when he's done this.
So squirmy these days, can't be cuddled for too long

Inches along like a little caterpillar. He's tried to follow us out of a room with little success. If only he could get that belly off the floor.
Had a rough start figuring out his sippy cup but is starting to chug a lug, or at least pretend to, like his dad

Had his first cold, poor guy
Good eater,(was there ever a doubt?)-green beans and carrots were just added to the menu
Still likes to read but would rather hold the book or at least zombie bite it
Loves the "Austrian Song" and "Baby Shark" song. Naturally, they are the longest camp songs I know.
Finally, thinks Suds is hilarious. Hooray!
I have a feeling he's going to wrestle a lot with Josh when he gets older; he just loves to play rough...just the way your mother likes it, Trebek.

*Clearly, I'm channeling a Cathy cartoon

Josh and Lora Day

2011-09-26T22:22:00.001-05:00

...I hope we feel like this forever, forever, forever, ever, forever, ever...

To the man that makes me the coffee Oreo malts, takes me to music festivals, shares my affinity for doing voiceovers for the Suds Suds and the Dex baby, and is first and foremost my friend--happy anniversary!

Go here, not there

2011-09-24T11:41:00.000-05:00

I went out for a little shopping spree last Saturday after I had breakfast with my former roomies, always friends. First stop was Target to pick up carpet deodorizer, (so glamorous and I can totally feel your envy radiating across the interweb). I also decided to peek around the toy section and see if I could find Dexter a couple of new gadgets and gizmos. I ended up with a couple of these toys that were on sale. However, I failed to realize that Target is kind of a madhouse on a Saturday morning. The checkout lines were packed and I was like WTF? Who gets up this early* and goes to Target? Moms. And grown-ups. And I'm one of them. Note to self, on future Saturday mornings, target Target for an afternoon visit.
After getting through that harrowing experience, my spree took me to the mall, namely Forever 21, everyone's favorite trendy but cheap, no-rhyme-or-reason-to-the-way-we're-organized-and-that-shirt-you're-looking-for-is-inevitably-at-the-bottom-of-the-pile-of-piles-in-the-back-of-the-store store. I typically steer clear of here when I'm with Dexter for the following reasons:

1. Because I tried that already and got way too many gasp, babies havin' babies, just ain't right looks (curse you, Asian genes and your ability to make me appear 18 instead of 28)
2. It is also a madhouse...times one billion

Without Dexter in tow though I bravely went in and discovered...a ghost town. Shock and surprise swept over me. Where were all the tween and teens? How could it be that I have this high school girl mecca all to myself? No lines for the dressing room? Ah, yes, that's right, it's only 10:30 a.m. The girls are undoubtedly still at home in PJs planning to swarm the mall around noon. So from now on, I will only be visiting Forever 21 in the morning lest I find myself in a predicament with a gang of young girls over a pair of jeggings.

*When I say early, I mean like 9:30 a.m. which I realize is not early at all to moms and grown-ups. Only early to me, who is still living in a fantasy world where I'm still us (the carefree just out of college kids) and not them (the responsibility ridden adults) in the us vs. them debate.

And this is when the diapers get interesting

2011-09-19T22:13:00.001-05:00

Somebody started veggies. These peas were insanely green. Like Secret of the Ooze green.

Kind of looks like guac.

Um, I've got this. No help needed. Thanks.

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Because they said so

2011-09-18T22:14:00.000-05:00

I'm starting a new post category on this bloggy titled "Because they said so". This should pretty much cover my amazing ability to do as the Romans do in the blogosphere world. So on with it...

This blog recently posted about how they "nurture the love" in their marriage, basically it involves marking random days on your calendar to "nurture the love" and then doing something unexpected and special for your spouse on said days. So I thought to myself, cute concept but definitely needs a little twist for me and Joshie. So instead of calling it "Nurture the love", I went with this-

Lucky I did, because sweet, sentimental husband that I have, said that he probably would've just deleted an email with "nurture the love" as the subject. Not exactly running high on the mush-and-gush-o-meter around here.

Isn't he the picture of surprised?

So what was the surprise? I picked him up at work and took him out on a lunch date to Gusto Pizza. We hadn't been there yet so we went all in, even ordering an appetizer and fountain pop! I can feel your jealousy. I would totally recommend the Spartacus pizza; the pepperonis on it reminded me of Powerslice pizza in junior high and high school. I know that doesn't sound like a winning ingredient but I swear it's a compliment. At least in my book. But I'm kind of a food slut. Maybe you should just try it yourself and draw your own conclusion.

This is SPARTA!-cus

The funniest thing I read this week

2011-09-16T18:33:00.000-05:00

I got a good chuckle out of this and thought you might too. From Nat the Fat Rat (FYI: Huck is her 10 month old son):

...remembering the very tall man with the bushy beard at church on sunday who noticed huck staring at him and said, "i know what you're wondering. the answer is yes. i am a bear."

Makes me giggle. Another thing that makes me giggle?

Babies in track suits...

Have a lovely weekend!

Raise my glass 9.15.11

2011-09-15T10:00:00.000-05:00

Things that are on my happy list and deserve a toast...

312. I discovered you years ago in Davenport and I remember thinking you were a nice alternative to my usual Bud Light. I forgot about you though and opted for a sweeter ale when I wanted to switch things up. I fell into the arms of Strongbow. That affair lasted many years until one day, I decided that I just couldn't go back to her anymore. C'est la vie. 312, we found each other again a few weeks ago when you were at a family birthday bash. I sipped you on the patio and was taken back to a simpler time. A time when I stayed up until 2 a.m. by choice and without consequence. A time when I was talking about engagement rings, not teething rings. A simpler time. Since that afternoon on the patio, I've found myself choo-choo-choosing you.

I've always had a thing for coffee ice cream. At Baskin Robbins, I rock the Jamocha. I could down a whole thing of Haagen Daz's coffee. I dabbled in Starbucks' brand a few years ago. And when I was on maternity leave with Dexter, Josh would make me the most amazing coffee with Oreos malt. You know how I feel about Oreos. I recently had Whitey's in Davenport recreate that magic for me on my birthday and they did not disappoint.

After our date at Americana, I was feeling like something sweet and wanted a malt, stat. We don't have a Whitey's in Des Moines but I thought the good folks at Smokey Row could get me my fix. I asked for a coffee malt and was met with a blank stare. The young girl was like, "A Smokey Row Shake?" Um, no, not really but go ahead and tell me what's in it and maybe I'll give it a whirl. "Vanilla ice cream (or any other flavor ice cream) with two shots of espresso and whip cream." Yes, please Mrs. Adams. That sounds way better than the lame coffee malt that I had originally requested. And it was. I raise my Smokey Row Shake to you, blue-haired teenage employee for not realizing that all I came there for was coffee ice cream mixed with some milk and malt powder and instead giving me my new favorite ice cream treat in the Des Moines area. Cheers.

Carb-e, diem

2011-09-13T10:00:00.000-05:00

Josh and I celebrated my birthday this weekend by going on a grown-up date to one of the newest hot spots around Des Moines, Americana. We dined on deviled eggs, cream of garlic soup, ravioli and pork loin. Garlic soup was pretty good, we stuck to the whole garlic rule-if one orders garlic, the other should follow suit. I think if we go with a group, we'll forgo the deviled eggs and soup and try our hand at the scallop lollipops. We saw a plate go by and while we think they would be delicious, I think a whole plate full would be too rich for just the two of us.

And this next part of my birthday dinner rundown is going to sound really lame, but the all-star of my plate of ravioli was the bread that came with it. It was AMAZING. Super fresh and had that melt in your mouth kind of thing going. I made Josh try it and he totally agreed. I was ready to throw in the towel and get a box for my leftover pasta and bread but realized that the bread probably wouldn't be as good the next day...so I shoveled the rest of it down my gullet. Yeah, it was that good.

Afterward, we took a little stroll through the sculpture park and met up with this creepy fellow. Very Beetlejuice.

P.S. Before our carriage turned back into a pumpkin on our grown-up dinner date, we hit up Smokey Row for a malt. More on that when I do my Raise My Glass post for the week!

I wish I would've known

2011-09-11T10:00:00.000-05:00

From our trip to Ground Zero last year.

Today is 9/11 and on this day 10 years ago, I was a silly little 18-year-old freshman girl embarking on her second week of college, completely oblivious to the fact that the tragic events that transpired that day would make an indelible mark on our country's history. I wish I would've known. I wish I would've paid more attention and knew what I was watching. I wish I would've been less of a self-centered teenager and more of an educated adult. I wish I would've honored all the lives that were cut short. I wish I would've appreciated the acts of heroism that took place that day.

Badges from Fire Departments around the nation that came to help.

Ten years ago today, I slept in my loft bed with my alarm set to a static ridden radio station. That morning, my alarm went off and I heard a fuzzy announcement about a crash in New York. I wish I would've known to listen more closely.
But I didn't know any better. I was young, foolish and didn't try to understand the events that day. I wish I would've known.

Ready for the big game

2011-09-08T20:48:00.003-05:00

This weekend is the big showdown between Iowa and ISU. Owen and Dexter are ready to cheer on the Hawks! Not sure how much clapping they'll be able to do if Dex continues to insist on holding hands though.

Bangs begone!

2011-09-02T13:33:00.003-05:00

Now you see them...

Now you don't.

Dexter got his first haircut earlier this week. Just a little bang trim to get them out of his eyes. Honestly, though-what kind of 6 month old needs a haircut? Really? We'll be doing the whole big boy haircut thing when he's a year old. Until then, he'll be growing it out like a hippie at 80/35.

6 months

2011-09-01T17:49:00.007-05:00

Half a year? Really? That's crazy.

Dexter is doing a combo of sitting up by himself and with assistance.
If he can reach it, it's going in his mouth (that's what she said?)
We think he's ready to move onto real baby food and we're going to go ahead and try our hand at making our own. We're not even going to use a Baby Bullet. Impressive, right?
Dexter loves to sing along. It's given me an excuse to sing all my old camp songs at the top of my lungs. Believe me, Josh is super excited about this.
Dex is obsessed with his feet (sicko!)
Went to his first State Fair...

State fair with Lolo

This is right before I dropped part of the corndog and got it in his hair. Bad mama.

No more Bud Tent for these boys. Just a couple of Dads at the State Fair.

A little double carrier action with Cousin Owen.

"On the teet" has a whole new meaning

2011-08-27T13:16:00.015-05:00

August is national breastfeeding month. I had no idea there was such a thing until I became Dexter's own personal cow 6 months ago. So in true wannabe blogger fashion, I've decided to offer up my own breastfeeding post. After all she and she did it and if there were a bridge I'd probably let them push me. So if boobs ain't your bag then come back another day.

My experience with breastfeeding:

I knew that my chest would get larger, (all the better to feed you with, my dear Dexter), but I had no idea that I would become the busty woman that you see before you today. Half of my tops have been retired from my wardrobe for fear that they will split in two a la the Incredible Hulk and I'm a little disheartened, (I'm looking at you, yellow and gray stripey top).

Image from here

I thought I knew what I was getting into when I made the decision to try to breastfeed. After all, I took the class and read my What to Expect book but much like labor, you have no idea until you're living it. The whole concept of having an infant attached to me for half an hour every two hours went in one ear and out the other. Yeah, that definitely caught me off guard. Especially at night. I remember googling until my fingers bled trying to figure out a way to get the kid to space out his feedings further apart after dark. Hint: there wasn't one. Like a ravenous hyena he was on me like white on rice. I just kept thinking this cannot be right. Nighttime = sleep and daytime = eat. Figure it out, buddy! And then came a growth spurt, which meant back-to-back-to-back feedings. And then came the tears because I had no idea that growth spurts actually existed, especially for just a little thing, like this guy.

I just thought he was being unreasonable. Eventually it hit me that this is just the way
it is, (or at least the way that we ended up doing it). I followed Dexter's lead and fed on demand until he got himself settled into a schedule. I have no idea if his schedule then or now is typical or totally out of wack but it's been working for us and as you can see, the kid is not starving so we're just going with it.

I have a new best friend and her name is Medela (Pump in Style Advanced). Wherever I go, she goes. Over time it has gotten less and less strange to be hooked up and essentially milked. I will admit that the first time I looked at my pump, I was a little frightened...but now we're besties. She's like Kid Sister for moms...

Except way more boring and functional looking.

Nursing is a one-woman show and I don't like audiences. I'm not comfortable enough to whip 'em out wherever and whenever, (although I'm comfortable enough to share this post? Strange), so I find myself alone with Dexter more than Josh. It gets a little bit lonely especially when we're out of town with family and friends and everyone else is whooping it up while I'm holed up in a room by myself. I try to remind myself that this nursing relationship is kind of special...and formula is too expensive for my cheap-ass. (Note: We do formula too but we try to make the container last as long as possible, so we don't put it on the menu unless I don't pump enough).

All this being said, I feel fortunate that I've been able to do this for Dexter but am unsure how long I will continue. I realize that experts recommend one year but quite frankly, I'm not sure that I'm dedicated enough, especially knowing that Dexter does just fine with a bottle and formula. On the other hand, I've also heard stories like this one, where babies just wean themselves and decide to be done with the whole nursing thing on their own and that kind of makes me sad. It just makes me realize how quickly this time is going and as eager as I am to hear him talk, see him walk and discover what kind of little boy he's going to grow up to be, it also breaks my heart a little that he won't be a baby much longer.

Raise my glass 8.18.11

2011-08-18T22:21:00.001-05:00

Last year, I started to do "Raise my Glass" posts, toasting all the things that I'm very pleased about. That lasted like two weeks, as evidenced here. I decided that I'm going to try to resurrect them though since I have thoroughly convinced myself that you are dying to read about all the things that are making my happy list.

H&M $10 jeans- I went on a little shopping trip up to Minnesota with my gal pals last month and found a pair of jeans for $9.95. I am now planning to be buried in them. H&M, won't you please set up shop in Iowa?

Hello, roommates. See you in four years for our next trip! Haha.

Emma Stone-I really like this girl. Easy A has been airing on Starz a lot and I've definitely enjoyed it all 18 times that I've seen it. It's my new Mean Girls and Emma Stone is just hilarious. I won't say she's my new Lindsey Lohan because we all saw how that went down, am I right?

Cool drinks- Joshie hooked me up with this lovely concoction this weekend.

It's a homemade iced coffee. A very sugary iced coffee. It was delicious and perhaps the best thing that happened to me on Saturday. The best thing that happened to me on Sunday was my Mango Tango smoothie from Fuel over in West Glen. Yum. Josh got a Blueberry Blitz and it was equally amazing.

P.S. Have you ever noticed how smoothies always have fancy schmancy names? Caribbean Sunset, Peachy Panther, Orange you Glad I didn't say Banana? Does that make them even more delicious?

P.P.S.Let's see how many times I can reference Mean Girls on this blog.

Would you like cereal with that milk?

2011-08-14T12:59:00.000-05:00

Rice cereal. Another milestone that moves this baby one step closer to being a little boy. A messy milestone. As we suspected, Dex liked his first taste of food, (if that's what you want to call the runny substance), just fine. He is working on getting the hang of the spoon and is still continuing his reign as the pukiest baby in town. I know our pediatrician said that the whole spit up thing is not a problem since he is gaining weight but man, it is getting kind of old, buddy! At church today, I heard a splat and I was like son of a...(I know, what a terrible thing to think in God's house), and sure enough Dexter had christened the floor. It's like that everywhere we go. We're like Hansel and Gretel, except instead of breadcrumbs we leave behind spit up. Sigh.

First feeding was a little rough.

Boji with baby

2011-08-09T13:03:00.009-05:00

We survived our first family vacation (sans Sudsy-he went to summer camp)! I have to say that traveling and vacationing with a baby is a little different than when it was just the two of us. If it was the two of us, I probably could've titled this post Boji with Booze. However, there was little of that to be had this year, which I suppose is just another sign that we are indeed grown-ups now.

Packing was a mess. You would've thought that we were moving! If Sudsy wanted to go, he would have had a rough ride since he would've had to wedge himself between the pack and play and the exersaucer. If I had to do it all over again, I would have left behind the Bumbo. (I know, like that would've greatly improved the jam-packed car situation!) I think our Bumbo works okay at home but it definitely went untouched for the majority of our trip. I believe Ben used it the most as a squishy step stool.

Beach Day One went fairly well. Dexter got very adventurous and had his first dip in the lake.

After that, he proceeded to take a nice long snooze on our beach towel. I wasn't sure if I was suppose to sit with him and watch him sleep or just let him hang out by himself at the public beach and join the rest of the group in the water. This is just one of the many is this okay? moments as I've had as a new mom. Since we were one of two other groups at the beach that morning, I headed for the water, (not without a little reassurance that it indeed was okay from the other girls) and of course by the time the older kids wanted snacks and the other girls had gotten out of the lake, Dex was still sound asleep. He ended up taking a pretty long nap on Beach Day Two too so Josh and I figure all we need to do is get him a lake to get him to nap better. Haha.

Other things we did:

Taco House for lunch
Bought Dexter his very own personalized piggy bank. Get to saving, son!
Watched the older boys ride a couple of rides at the little Arnold's Park amusement park
Ate...a lot

All the kids on our last night of vacation. Those older boys are just fascinating.

5 months

2011-08-08T17:32:00.005-05:00

Hard to believe this little boy is 5 months old already! Here's what he's been up to:

Can't stop rolling and now trying desperately to crawl
Starting to grab Sudsy's jowels (as if our eldest hasn't been through enough)
Drooling almost as much as his cousin Ditka
Thinks he's pretty cool when we pull him up to stand
Possibly needs a haircut but we're trying to hold out
Started rice cereal and went on first family vacay-more on that later

Lounging with dad

First Bix.

This exersaucer is amazing!

**Update: Dex just got mistaken for a girl while we were on vacation. Not cool. Haircut, it is!

I told you he was excited

2011-07-19T20:37:00.004-05:00

See, I told you that Dexter was excited about Owen. And it seems the feeling is mutual.

Cousin Owen

2011-07-19T18:48:00.000-05:00

2011 has brought a huge influx of baby on Josh's side of the family. First our little Dexter and now...

Owen!

I know he has a funny way of showing it, but Dexter is super excited about his cousin.

Wannabe

2011-07-18T10:00:00.000-05:00

In an effort to immerse myself in the blogosphere, I have latched onto a couple of different trends that have been posted on much cooler blogs than mine. First up, Warby Parker, which I heard about here, here and here. For those of you who don't know, I have been cursed with the eyesight of an 82-year-old. I prefer to wear contacts but recently decided that if I had a pair of glasses that I truly liked I would give them a little playtime and bench my Acuvues once in awhile. I'm also cheap. Enter Warby Parker. Pick out five pairs to try on at home for free for five days, pick out the one you like best and then order frames and lenses in your fave style for $95. Nice.

I tried on my five pairs and I believe I'm going to with the Reece.

To make sure the Dex baby is in on the sweet, sweet blog trends, Jennifer (knowingly?) served as my accomplice when she gifted him with Sophie La Giraffe at one of my baby showers,(wow, that feels like a lifetime ago!) Sophie blew up on the web way before this but like I've mentioned before I am always late to the party. A wannabe.

Add it to the list

2011-07-06T08:04:00.005-05:00

He is not a DJ and I am not a dancer. Pic from here

One more reason why I am not mature enough to be a mom. Moms don't dance onstage to Lil Wayne during a Girl Talk concert. Furthermore, moms don't dance onstage to Lil Wayne during a Girl Talk concert and then act outraged because they didn't play Lil Wayne. Yipes.

I'm gonna start a list of all the things that I do that proves that I am not mature enough to be a mom. I'll call it the "I'm not like a regular mom, I'm a cool mom" list. Nice work if you caught the Mean Girls reference.

My 15 minutes of fame did not last long. Kelly and I were motioned to exit stage right fairly early in the game. I wonder why. Maybe they caught a glimpse of my nursing bra? Was there the faint smell of spit up lingering on my dress? In any case, kicking me off stage was not a good call on their part because it sent me back to the beer tent. Yipes again. I really felt that one when Dex woke me up at 6 a.m. Maybe it's more fitting for me to call my list the "I'm a regular mom pretending to be a cool mom" list.

Another successful 80/35

4 Months

2011-07-05T07:59:00.004-05:00

This kid (and his hair) is growing like a weed!

That chuckle that Dexter was working on last month has turned into a full-blown laugh. Josh and Grandpa are really good at getting him going. Laughing hard kind of freaks Dexter out though and he gets a little startled and almost cries which makes me kind of laugh (I'm such a bully).
He's a pro at tummy time now, holding his head up like it ain't no thang. He recently rolled over from back to stomach. It was in super slo-mo though, definitely the exact opposite of blink-and-you'll-miss-it.
If Dexter was to go on The Best Thing I Ever Ate, he would proclaim, "my hands!"
Speaking of things he'd like to eat, I'm pretty sure this baby is going to be really into food which bodes well for him in this family. He is very curious when Josh and I eat and will sometimes get an intense look on his face. Creeper.

Flying with dad

Dexters wobble, Dexters wobble, Dexters wobble, but they don't fall down (when they're in a Bumbo at least).

Benny and Dex. I'm pretty sure I've seen this look on Josh's face after a good night out.

Dear Photograph

2011-06-21T22:38:00.007-05:00

This is blowing up all over the interwebs and I've hopped aboard the bandwagon too. I've fallen for this blog, Dear Photograph. The photos and reader submitted captions are fun and make me want to look through old family photos. Like the photo I included in this post.

Who touch? iTouch

2011-06-15T21:34:00.001-05:00

That's right, folks. Mama's officially a cool kid with her new iTouch. Okay, I probably just completely disproved that statement by calling myself "mama" but whatev. Anyway, that Dexter baby was so thoughtful and got me an iTouch for Mother's Day and now I come to you live from my living room couch. Pretty exciting, right?

Gotcha!

2011-06-13T10:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday!

Ha! Finally caught you on camera smiling, Dexy boy!

Here comes Hurricane Suds Suds

2011-06-09T18:47:00.007-05:00

As I've mentioned before, Suds has a terrible time with thunderstorms. His phobia has only gotten progressively worse over time, so much so that he's now anxious at the tiniest raindrop. During the last major storm, Dex's stuffed giraffe became an amputee.

It stormed here last night and during the day today. Last night Suds paced and panted the ENTIRE night trying to wedge himself into corners of the room which as you can imagine is not an easy feat for a 115 lb. dog.

Flash forward to this afternoon-I came home to a house that had been torn through by Hurricane Suds Suds. From what I can gather from the crime scene, I figure it played out like this. He saw Dex's bouncy seat and remembered how comforting it was for Dex so he tried to ease himself into it but instead knocked it over. Suds' next course of action was to hide in the corner of our dining nook and tear up his basket of toys. Hurricane Suds Suds then decided to continue this mass destruction and proceeded to shred a blanket on the couch. I found the boppy pillow on the floor with the blanket. I'm still nursing and if Suds had sunk his teeth into that u-shaped pillow, Dex would've witnessed his mother weeping angry tears. Thankfully, Suds had enough sense to leave it alone.

His next move was to the shoe closet because if there's anything Suds knows about a storm it's that you're suppose to move to the most interior room of the house if you don't have a basement. He grabbed all the shoes in the closet and scattered them on the living room floor in order to make room for his 115 lb. self. He left the shoes untouched, not a single bite mark (thank God, again that's where the weeping could've come in), and then must've realized that hey, we DO have a basement! So he booked it down there and there he stayed for the rest of the afternoon until I got home from work.

I have no pictures of the damage from Hurricane Suds Suds but if I did, they would be too horrific to share and I don't want to inflict that kind of harm on you.

3 Months

2011-06-06T20:11:00.009-05:00

Dex started smiling last month and is now working on his chuckle. You'll just have to take my word for it because I don't have any pictures of said smile or chuckle.
He's definitely a morning person. He's a very pleasant little person in the morning. Ear to ear grins, wiggling around in his little Swaddleme blanket.
The afternoon is a different story. Dex has decided that naps are his arch nemesis and won't go down without a fight.
Dexter loves talking to Josh especially when Josh speaks gibberish or uses a silly voice, which happens a lot in our house.
Like his mama, he likes to take a in a good book or two.
Absolutely loves ceiling fans; he thinks the one at Grandma and Grandpa's house is particularly funny.
Gets a little pissed off when he's on his tummy, lifting his head and kicking his legs but not going anywhere.
Exercises his right to get picked up and carried around by his Lolo ("Grandpa" in Tagalog) regularly.
According to Aunt Amy, has a look of "pure badass" on his face when he's in his carrier. I really wish I would've remembered my camera for that one.

"Yipes"

UNI Fight!

Cousin picture-still working on that holding our head up thing.

Aunt Amy's Shower, BBQ with friends at Annie and Andrew's, Family BBQ--
"I'm too old for this 'stuff'"

This one's for you, Grandma.

Blogging with baby

2011-06-01T19:55:00.006-05:00

So apparently I'm only going to be able to post once a month for the next 18 years. I'm either really terrible with managing my time or...okay, there is no or. I'm just really terrible with managing my time. Our computer has to be collecting cobwebs and dust, going untouched for this long. I can't even remember what it looks like and wouldn't be surprised if it was hooked up to the kind of printer that used the paper with the holey tear off sides. It's been that long.

Pic from here

I'm not even posting from our home computer right now. I am posting from my dad's house. I am posting from my dad's house with one hand. The other hand (and the arm that is attached to it) is holding this Dexter baby. My thought was that I should try to sneak in a post while Dexter took a nap and had other capable adults watching him...and then he woke up. And I picked him up. And now I am the amazing one-handed blogger. He's currently asleep, mouth agape, large head resting in the crook of my left arm, hair blowing in the breeze from the ceiling fan. This post was going to be about his three month update but Dex must've realized that I don't have my camera with me to upload pics so in a genius move, decided to provide me with this fodder instead. Ah, my little muse.

The beast, he stirs...

Three month update to come soon/sometime!

I need a boost

2011-05-10T20:11:00.005-05:00

Last year I cleaned out my closet and hauled a ton of stuff to Goodwill. Or at least what I thought was a ton of stuff. The majority of it was t-shirts. I methodically went through my collection and decided which ones I could part with and which ones I couldn't bear to think of in anyone else's closet except my own. I thought I did a good job. I thought that there wasn't very much there anyway since Suds did a pretty good job of whittling down my collection in the great t-shirt raid of 2007. I thought wrong. I still have stacks and stacks of t-shirts. T-shirts as far as the eye can see. A reasonable person would say, "You didn't get rid of enough, quit getting weepy over some old vacation/camp/internship/tumbling t-shirt and go through the pile again and toss some more out, Lora". That's a reasonable person. I say, let's get some under the bed storage so I don't have to say goodbye to any vacation/camp/internship/tumbling t-shirt and can start my life as a crazy hoarder lady.
Enter the bed lifts. Or should I say bed stilts. To give our bed a boost and make room for the under the bed storage tubs, Josh and I went to our local Bed Bath and Beyond and purchased bed lifts that according to the package are 7 inches tall. However, they definitely seem more like 7 feet. I need a small ladder to get into bed now.

This photo was suppose to illustrate the great distance between the floor and the bottom of the bed. Now that I'm looking at it though, it's just further affirmation that feet aren't pretty. Anyway, if my feet are dangling off the edge of the bed this much, imagine how tall the top of the mattress is. Yipes.

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T22:24:00.000-05:00

With the loss of my own mother nearly 10 years ago, Mother's Day had become kind of a bittersweet holiday for me. Bitter for obvious reasons and then sweet because we can still celebrate with and send a card to Josh's mom. Now with Dexter it has definitely taken on a whole new meaning. I'm somebody's mom. How'd that happen? I'm not old enough or mature enough to be a mom. I still shop in the juniors section at Von Maur and watch Real World! Yet here I am...

I laughed when I saw the card Dex got me. For some reason donkeys remind me of our eldest child, Suds.

2 months

2011-04-27T19:17:00.005-05:00

I'd like to reassure you that this isn't going to turn into a mommy blog, however, I'm fairly certain that I can't keep that promise because all the happenings in our world revolve around this baby right now and I don't really have any other notable thoughts (or if I did I can't remember them). Here's a two month rundown:

Dexter is turning into a real live person before our eyes instead of the milk-hungry, sleep deprivation-inducing blob that came home with us from the hospital (and I say this all affectionately), he's even smiling real smiles
His hair cannot be tamed. It's one big fluff after a bath and a matted down greasy mess after a couple of days. Doesn't this picture make him look like he just had a really crazy day at the office?
He had his two month shots and wore them like a champ in my opinion.
Dex celebrated his first Easter and like many church-goers was asleep during the entire mass.
Mom had her first beer. "Once it hits your lips, it's so good."

Dressed up in big boy clothes.

So big.

A message from Dex

2011-04-18T20:54:00.002-05:00

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Excuse my sweet baby voice.

Maternity leave musings

2011-04-18T20:33:00.006-05:00

1. I made a lot of fake friends during my maternity leave. One of them was Bethenny Frankel. I really got into her show and am now on a mission to try her Skinny Girl Margarita. Josh researched it and figured out that they don't sell it in Iowa. In the words of Jennifer, "Jason should really get on that."

2. MTV and VH1 play videos during the wee hours of the morning. Real live music videos. I got to enjoy the musical stylings of Adele, Maroon 5, Avril Lavigne and gasp! Hanson. Yep, they're still mmmbopping after all these years. However, the best one I stumbled across was Bone Thugs N Harmony's "Crossroads". It was like seventh grade all over again.

3. I've convinced myself that if I'm going to do this whole baby thing, I need a smartphone or iTouch or something with easily accessible internet. Bouncing/rocking/dancing/hopping around on one foot for the amusement of a baby makes it nearly impossible to check my Google Reader or post regularly for you folks.

One month

2011-03-28T09:35:00.006-05:00

One month thoughts:

People told us to sleep before the baby came and we laughed and said, "oh yeah, we know." We knew nothing.
Spit up is the enemy. See Dex's left shoulder. The kid is like a leaky faucet.
Poor Sudsy doesn't rule the roost anymore. Our first child has sunk into a deep depression. He also decided to act out a little; Suds-1, Dex's toy rattle-0.
"I've got nipples, Greg, could you milk me?"
Dex likes: bouncing, stairs (shout out to Jill for giving me that little idea), sitting on Josh's lap, family sing-alongs to The Avett Brothers (it's like we're the Von Trapps), sleeping through meals. Dex dislikes: sleeping through meals. I know, he's a real enigma. Things Dex is pretty indifferent about: sitting in his own filth, Suds.

Playtime should be more fun in the next few years.

And this is what tummy time looks like.

It feels good to be cheap

2011-03-17T19:17:00.001-05:00

Josh has been trying to talk me into getting a deep freeze for months and his dream came true a couple of weekends ago. He finally won me over after he found out that Hy-Vee had them "on special". The deal was buy the deep freeze for $200 and get $100+ worth in coupons and a $15 gift card. We made a family trip to the grocery store last week to cash in and whittled our $140 grocery bill down to $6.11. Yes, we were those people. The guy behind us in line was half impressed and a touch annoyed since the coupons didn't have a barcode and had to be entered in manually by the cashier (to which I say, really, Hy-Vee? Really?). So now we have a deep freeze to store all our frozen goodies and milk for Dex (oh, didn't I mention that the day I became a mother, I also turned into a cow?). Score.

It's time to put pregnant things away

2011-03-16T19:07:00.003-05:00

I would like to lose the gelatinous belly that comes after childbirth and fit into either of these dresses by summer. So it's time to put pregnant things away. Goodbye, sweet Oreos, I will miss thee.

Dresses from here.

Birth story

2011-03-11T15:06:00.005-06:00

Okay, so instead of writing a full-fledged narrative of how it all went down, I'll give you an abbreviated version in case you're curious and quite frankly I don't blame you if you're not.

First, I'd like to dedicate this post to all moms and dads who have been through the childbirth experience-I salute you brave souls. But I'd also like to dedicate this post to those who may someday find themselves in the stirrups and/or witnessing the craziness of delivery-good luck to you and godspeed.

Some women claim that they got their nesting on the day before they went into labor. Baking cookies, cleaning out the fridge, doing laundry, basically playing Cinderelly. I missed the memo on that and instead went Shopaholic-y and dropped 300 bucks at Target the night before I went into labor.
Lie #1-"I would be really surprised if you went into labor within the next week," said my doctor the Wednesday before I went into labor. Color you surprised.
Lie #2-"It's very unlikely that your water will break before you start having contractions, especially since you're a first-time mom," said my What to Expect book and my childbirth class educator. So, did I just become incontinent then? No contractions and yet I'm leaking like a faucet.
Delusion #1-No contractions yet, at least none that I can feel, but they say we're going to have a baby today. Hmmm, I wonder if I'm really having contractions already but I just have a super high tolerance for pain. Oh, young Lora. Looking back, there are so many things I wish I could tell you, but alas I cannot.
You want to put me on pitocin to get me contracting? Sure.
Sh*t just got real, son. That escalated quickly and I definitely don't have a super high tolerance for pain.
Epidural now, please.
Delusion #2-this epidural is great, take a little nap and then be good to go by the time I have to push.
Is it time to push yet?
Is it time to push yet?
Is it time to push yet?
Is it time to push yet?
I'm very sorry, Josh for everything you are witnessing right now before delivery. We are not a couple that pees with the bathroom door open so you providing "counterpressure" is pretty intimate. Part of me is embarrassed... but not embarrassed enough to stop demanding it at every contraction.
Thank god, it's time to push.
Why is Josh counting so slow?
Is this baby even going anywhere? Everyone keeps saying good job but it appears to me that if I was doing such a great job this baby would be out and not taking a leisurely stroll down the birth canal.
Finally, it's time. What, the doctor needs to go put scrubs on? Well, I'm ready to go so make it quick, lady. Otherwise, I'll just fly solo and figure this out myself.
My favorite thing the doctor said while pushing, "You need to get really angry at this baby and PUSH."
So I did.

Um, did that just happen?

2011-03-06T15:13:00.004-06:00

So a few days after I posted my poll about when you thought I would go into labor, I actually went into labor. There was something in my gut telling me that I was going to go over my due date but apparently my gut is about as intuitive as a box of rocks. So without further ado, we are pleased to introduce our newest addition to our family of three...

Dexter

There are no words to describe what just happened to our world. Well, actually there are and I'm thinking about posting our "birth story" since that's all the rage these days. If I do, I'll try to keep it clean but I won't make any promises that it won't get a little gory. I also have lots of thoughts on our newest adventure, parenthood, which I think I'll probably try to post during my time off. In the meantime, here are a few pictures from Dex's first week:

Proud papa

A little time in the Boppy

Eeyore is in charge of quality control when we do diaper changes.

My boys

For funsies

2011-02-24T16:58:00.005-06:00

We had our last baby shower before D(elivery)-Day. Dawn, Christine and Annie threw a lovely little party for some of my friends and family and friends of family last weekend. Between both of our families and our friends, this baby is going to be very well loved I think.

As my due date quickly approaches, Joshie and I are both asking ourselves the million dollar question-"When?" So I'd like to pose that question to you, dear reader. When do you think I'll go?

When do you think we'll get to meet Baby T?

37 weeks

2011-02-17T19:30:00.004-06:00

You can totally tell what stage of life I'm in by the TV shows that I choose to watch. When I was heavy into wedding plans, I was all about Say Yes to the Dress and Bridezillas. These days I find myself sitting down to watch A Baby Story, Bringing Home Baby and One Born Every Minute. I'll even watch Teen Mom 2 if I want to add a little trash TV to the mix.

It's hard to believe that we're getting so close to the end! At this point, I feel like we're going to be as ready as we'll ever be. Josh and I figured out that this week nine years ago, we started dating. I was 18 when I met Josh. Isn't that so young? Now I'm his baby mama.

Oreos, you are my bitch lover

2011-02-09T21:07:00.004-06:00

I can't stop eating them. That's all. I've pretty much eaten an entire bag in less than a week. Four days, maybe? Thought that you would like to know that for some reason, I am trying my damnedest to hit/exceed the maximum recommended weight gain for a preggo. No floating in between for me, I prefer to operate in extremes. I feel a little guilty about this...but not guilty enough to just call it quits because I definitely bought another bag when I was at the store today.

Now this is a brownie

2011-02-07T17:15:00.005-06:00

I decided that I wanted to make a sweet for Tom and Kelly's Superbowl party so as usual I went to Paula Deen for her suggestions and I landed on this deliciousness.

This, my friend, is a toffee brownie. The main/only ingredients are a package of brownie mix and Hershey's Symphony bars. This delightful baked good met both of my demands: easy to make, check; satisfies the sweet tooth, check. If fudgy brownies are your kind of brownie, then look no further, this is your brownie.

Down at Fraggle Rock

2011-02-02T10:00:00.000-06:00

Josh and I spotted this toy at the mall the other day and I almost bought it for the baby. Josh went as Boober for Halloween a few years ago and only a tiny handful of people knew what he was. Now he's so famous that he's a puppet! I wish I would've taken pictures that year, the resemblance is uncanny.

No-sleep-'til-baby

2011-01-31T20:45:00.004-06:00

Okay, the title of this post is very inaccurate since I'm quite certain that once Baby T gets here I still won't be sleeping but this is exactly how I'm feeling right now. Sleeping has become incredibly uncomfortable the last couple of nights. Part of it is having to adapt to side sleeping when I've spent my whole life being a stomach and back sleeper. It wasn't such a big deal in the beginning but now that my belly is more rotund switching from my left side to my right side requires a lot of flopping around and heavy sighing on my part. There was one night where I woke up at 2 a.m. and was still laying awake at 4 a.m. because I couldn't get comfortable. That kind of thing never happens in my world. Well, my pre-preggo world. I ended up heading to the couch and watching TV. I forgot how much I liked Monsters, Inc. Thanks for the reminder, baby.

Not coming to dinner

2011-01-24T21:08:00.005-06:00

Josh and I tried to watch "Dinner with Schmucks" this weekend and it was very painful. Excruciatingly painful. So painful that despite the fact that we had already forked over the $4.99 to Mediacom On Demand to watch the movie, we ended up abandoning it and going to bed a quarter of the way through. Steve Carell's character's stupidity was incredibly irritating. Not irritating in what eventually would become funny and adorable, just irritating. The kind of irritating that makes me want to yell, "Quit being dumb and figure it out!" I never would've yelled that at Brick Tamland. His brand of idiocy was funny and adorable. My sweet Brick.

Pic from here

Sweet

2011-01-12T10:00:00.000-06:00

Josh whipped up beignets this weekend, aka delicious little puffs of fried heaven. They're basically pillow puff doughnuts with powdered sugar, but they're French so they get a fancy name like beignets. I got the mix from World Market and it was not a bad investment. Yum!

And then for an afternoon snack, we made our very first trip to Chocolaterie Stam and continued to make some more sound investments in bonbons and truffles. Our favorite was the mocha cream, purchased in both milk and dark chocolate.

I believe the mocha cream is in the top row, second from the left. Just in case you feel so inclined to search for it at their store. Pic from here

Game time

2011-01-10T20:14:00.005-06:00

We know we're late to the party but the newest obsession around here is the Angry Birds app on Joshie's phone. I've never been much of a gamer, preferring to take a backseat and watch while my cousin and brother poured their hearts and souls onto the game console, however, there was a brief period in time (read: entire freshman year of college) that I was sucked into the gaming world. What got me hooked? Snood.

Pic from here

Looks like it's 2001 again, folks, because I'm obsessed and cannot keep my paws off of Josh's iPhone in hopes of conquering a new level. Each time I do, I can't help but fist pump. It's that serious.

Pic from here

31 weeks

2011-01-06T20:09:00.001-06:00

I had to share this belly pic because Josh said that this shirt makes me look super pregnant...

And I would have to agree. Maybe I've officially popped. This may sound weird but sometimes I forget that other people can see that I'm pregnant until I see pictures of myself and then I'm like, "oh, yeah you can see this too, can't you?"

It's really happening

2011-01-05T19:52:00.005-06:00

My glorious two weeks of vacation is up and it's back to the grindstone. I'm confident that I will never get caught up with Grey's Anatomy now. What a bummer.

We rang in 2011 in Davenport and played plenty of board games. New Years Eve is definitely a lot tamer when you're preggo. Gone are the days of whooping it up by downing a bottle of champagne. It had to happen sometime, right?

We also had our first baby shower and got lots o' loot for Baby T. Getting baby gifts definitely made it more real. I think Joshie and I had the realization that we're actually going to have a kid. A real live kid. It's really happening, we're going to be in charge of a tiny person in a mere two months. Crazy.

I definitely had three pieces of cake at the shower...

and it was the best decision I've made in a long time.

Piles of clothes for the kiddo! Thanks, everyone!

Christmas

2010-12-28T09:36:00.006-06:00

Hope you had a lovely Christmas! Here's a few pics from our holiday:

Baby's first Christmas gift. Thanks, Pauleys!

Suds opening his present from us.

A new Wubba!

A cooler for Joshie to replace the one that I, ahem, lost at Amy's bachelorette party last year.

Dreams really do come true...a Vidalia Chop Wizard. I tried to register for one of these babies when we got married but Josh said it was a waste since I don't chop anything. I said if I had one, I would chop everything, including his face (okay, not really but you get the point).

Did you get everything you wanted for Christmas?

What have I been up to?

2010-12-23T12:55:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I showed you what Suds has been up to during winter break. As for me, thus far I have:

Finished Christmas shopping
Wrapped all the presents
Went to Ankeny to spend some QT with my brother
Updated our baby registry (seriously, people just tell us what we need because I have no idea)
Tried to catch up on Grey's Anatomy reruns on Lifetime (I jumped off the wagon circa the time that Izzy fell in love with George, and I'm still waaay behind. George died?)

It's great having time off but I have to say I'm pretty excited for this afternoon when Josh gets off work. It's way more fun to have a buddy when you're on vacay. No offense, Sudsy.

Winter break

2010-12-22T11:08:00.005-06:00

I'm on my winter break right now so I've gotten a glimpse into what Suds does all day while Josh and I are toiling behind our desks.

Pretty pathetic, huh?

4th Annual Cousins Christmas

2010-12-20T19:52:00.005-06:00

We celebrated Cousins Christmas, aka Christmas with the B Team, this weekend. Annie made a delicious chicken tortilla soup, it was super cheesy and had a little bit of a bite to it, very good! We'll have to ask for the recipe. We also played a few card/board games which really put my brain to the test. I failed. I performed miserably during Taboo and wasn't very fast during Nerts (a speed solitaire game). I claim pregnancy brain. Before that unfortunate display though, we exchanged gifts.

Annie gifted me with a maternity tank top that will be perfect for New Years and this personalized Christmas ornament.

Joshie loves Williams-Sonoma so Dawn gave him a manly apron and an avocado slicer and pitter gadget for all the guac he makes during the summer.

Christmas cards

2010-12-17T09:10:00.006-06:00

We (okay, really I am) are running late with our Christmas cards this year. It was quite the process trying to take a family picture with Sudsy since we were DIY-ing it by rigging the camera up on a chair and then setting the timer. Suds needs something to focus on and with no photographer behind the camera, he was just not getting into the Christmas spirit. Here are a few of the outtakes:

Our final Christmas card pic will be in a mailbox near you soon, hope you get a kick out of it!

28 weeks

2010-12-14T10:00:00.001-06:00

28 weeks and counting...

I am 28 weeks preggo so this morning I will be heading to the doctor for my monthly check-up and the all important glucose tolerance test. Naturally this appointment comes on the heels of a weekend where all I did was eat cookies. The women in my family were suppose to get together this weekend for a baking extravaganza but since the temps dropped, the winds picked up and the snow started to fall, I opted to stay home with Josh and bake from the comfort of our kitchen. Suds could barely contain himself with all the butter that was being creamed, melted and mixed. Have I mentioned he's kind of a crackhead when it comes to butter?

Speaking of butter, I tried out Paula Deen's Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies. Paula's cooking philosophy is something I can get behind since according to her, adding "a little butter y'all" makes everything taste better and I have to say that I can't find any flaw in that reasoning. The cookies turned out well. I think that they are more fudgy than gooey maybe. Gooey, fudgy, potato, patato. It's all edible in my book.

Glee baby

2010-12-07T20:38:00.003-06:00

The baby likes Glee. I just know it. Whenever I watch it on TV or listen to one of the soundtracks in the car, he kicks around. Josh is protesting this and says that he probably is kicking me in hopes that I'll turn the channel or switch the CD but I just know that this baby is into it. He's tapping his feet along to the beat and wants in on this party. If you haven't joined in the Gleeky fun, you should!

Sugar bombs

2010-12-06T20:18:00.002-06:00

Josh has encouraged me to turn over a new leaf when it comes to my choice in cereal. He has deemed that my Peanut Butter Crunch, Honey Nut Cheerios and Golden Grahams breakfast isn't the healthiest choice. He called them sugar bombs. So this week I've been dining on his cereal of choice, Kashi Go Lean! Crunch. I've had to doctor it though since the flavor doesn't pack as much punch as my sugar bombs so I've been adding a cut up banana to my bowl of cereal. Pretty good addition. Maybe one day I'll be a grown-up and be able to eat the cereal all by itself.

Black Friday buys

2010-12-02T16:49:00.006-06:00

Black Friday treated us well. We came home with this guy...who brought along his little buddy, a 5 liter trash can. Younkers, you did it again! These look much sleeker than our kitchen and bathroom trash cans of yore.

The real excitement came when we were at Home Depot though. Last year, Josh's efforts to score a reasonably priced Shop Vac were thwarted when we made the critical error of going straight instead of turning left when entering the store. That temptress, Home Depot included another Shop Vac deal this year so hungry for redemption, Josh and I headed there at 5 a.m. to stake our claim. And alas, efforts were not wasted! Josh scurried ahead while my little pregnant self got stuck behind some cart wielding baby boomers and he managed to get his paws on the item that eluded him in 2009. Here's the best part. As we were walking victoriously to our car, a guy asked Josh if there were any Shop Vacs left, Josh told him that there were a few left and where they were located in the store. And then he turned to me and said, "That's the guy from American Pickers!" Crazy, huh? You know you're jealous!

Dancy and fancy

2010-12-01T09:13:00.002-06:00

Best lyric on the radio has to go to Pink's new song, "Raise your glasses". I believe she gives me the best advice I've received in a long time-don't be fancy, just get dancy. Nice.

Registry fun

2010-11-30T21:26:00.005-06:00

Josh and I had the day off so we decided to go register for baby stuff. We totally forgot how tiring registering can be. There's just so much stuff. Stuff that you need, stuff that you think you need, stuff that no one needs, just stuff. Registering for wedding gifts was a process but at least we knew exactly what we needed. We probably will want toast at some point in our lives, okay, we'll register for a toaster. Getting out of the shower requires some sort of means to dry off, boom, towels. Registering for baby stuff felt a little like pointing and shooting blindfolded. And since we live in a small house, we're a bit gun shy since we don't want to end up with the stuff that falls in the no one needs category.

I think we'll have to do it all over again though. My crystal ball tells me there is a Babies R Us trip in our future. It's baby mecca and we must pay homage.

He's got a gun and he knows how to use it.

Dutch Letter Bars

2010-11-29T21:21:00.003-06:00

I've been itching to whip up Dutch Letter Bars ever since I read about them on Amanda's blog. I love Dutch Letters. I first had them as kid when my parents would drive to Pella's Jaarsma Bakery and bring home a box filled with these tasty treats. Or maybe it was my aunts. I don't know but somehow they magically appeared on our kitchen counter waiting to be devoured.

So I decided to bake it up and bring these bars to Josh's family's Thanksgiving and found out that the good people of Eastern Iowa do not know about Dutch Letters (gasp!). Apparently, Dutch Letters are popular in Central Iowa but haven't found fame and glory outside of this region. For shame.

Ahem, pardon the taste test. The bars are true dessert bars. No flaky pastry like the real deal, but the almond taste is spot on.

Have a lovely Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T10:00:00.002-06:00

Pic from here

We're off to celebrate Thanksgiving. Looking forward to lots o' turkey, mashed potatoes and pie! Hope you have a good one!

Pick 'ems

2010-11-24T10:00:00.000-06:00

Always looking to keep things fresh in our marriage, our newest bonding activity is entering Josh's office's football pool each week. He's responsible for the college picks and I handle the NFL. The prize? About 120+ bucks and pride. We have yet to win but it's been fun tracking scores and checking in on games together. I'm sure that's the real reason why Josh invited me to take part in the first place. This way I would have to stop nagging him about watching football all weekend because now it's a "we" thing, not a "he" thing. Well played.

I have no method to my madness which of course means that for the past two weeks, I have been picking more winners than Josh. My picks are solely based on personal feelings and irrational logic. Recently, I (along with the rest of the free world), decided that I really don't like Brett Favre, therefore, I will probably never pick the Vikings. I don't care for this team's fans, I don't like that team's uniforms, their mascot seems cooler than the other team's, etc. and so forth. That's how I pick 'em.

Pic from here

If you give a girl a day or three off..

2010-11-23T10:00:00.003-06:00

She will redesign her blog. It started out innocently enough, she just wanted to tinker around with the header a little and remove some of the old unused tabs. It was a slippery slope, friends and suddenly she was messing around with different templates, backgrounds and colors. In true conservative fashion, after all that editing, she ended up with a white background and gray text. She did update the About section though which by far was the easiest part of the entire process. And the one thing that was not part of her original redesign plan.

Kids at church

2010-11-22T10:00:00.002-06:00

There is no other place in the world that strikes as much fear in our hearts and shakes any confidence that we might have about parenting than Sunday mass. Let's face it, little kids are crazy and are generally unable to sit still for a good hour to hear the Word of the Lord. We've seen kids who run back and forth between pews during the Homily and parents who spend the majority of their time frantically whispering to their son to stop making Velociraptor sound effects during the Preparation of the Gifts.

Now that we find ourselves with our own kiddo on the way, the thought of taking him to church makes us a bit apprehensive. I'm sure we'll find our own way to make it work, (a little brandy on the binky is probably frowned upon these days, right?) but right now staring at all these parents struggling to keep their kids entertained in the pews is a little overwhelming. With that in mind, kudos to all of our parent friends who make it work!

Pic from here

That's it?

2010-11-15T10:00:00.000-06:00

We're in the middle of refinancing. Grown up stuff like this gives me a headache because it makes me feel like I might be an idiot. People need to be very patient with me when it comes to talking about interest rates, closing costs, PMI, etc. because for some reason, my little Lora brain has a terrible time grasping any of these concepts. So when our mortgage broker started plugging in facts and figures into his idea machine and came out with a few different scenarios, the only thing I could utter was, "House payment smaller, yes?" Okay, I was a bit more eloquent than that but you get the idea.

Pic from here

So we're in the middle of refinancing and the next step in the process was to have our house appraised. Josh and I went into a cleaning frenzy and spent the better part of last week painting the woodwork that experienced Suds' wrath, vacuuming, sweeping, dusting, mopping and wiping every nook and cranny in our house. Parts of our house that haven't been touched since we moved in three years ago got a good scrubbing.

I even thought maybe I should bake something because isn't that what you're supposed to do to make it smell more home-y and less Sudsy? We should take all the junk out of this room so they can see what purpose this room would serve instead of the purpose it currently serves, which is housing all the crap that we keep hauling around with us from college and our early 20s, right? Josh reminded me that we aren't trying to get the appraisal lady to buy our house and said that I've watched too much HGTV.

So appraisal day came and the lady visited with camera and notepad in hand and poked around for all of three minutes. That's it, three little, itty bitty minutes. Name things that should take three minutes or less and I promise a house appraisal doesn't end up on that list. I should have listened to my good friend Jennifer, she warned me that they walked in and walked out in no time flat. Oh, well getting all worked up like that was probably for the best since it gave us the kick in the pants that we needed to cross off some long overdue to-dos.

Do Re Mi

2010-11-11T10:00:00.001-06:00

Pic from here

The cast of The Sound of Music celebrated 45 years since the movie was released and were on the Today Show this week. It's definitely one of my most favorite musicals so I was very happy when Meredith and Ann were able to coax the Von Trapp children into singing Do Re Mi before they went to commercial. It's the first song that I learned on the piano and probably the only song that I could still play today.

Accio Harry Potter!

2010-11-10T19:28:00.005-06:00

I can hardly contain my excitement for next weekend. You know what next weekend is, right? It's the opening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows of course. I know the movies don't live up to the awesomeness of the books but ever since Prisoner of Azkaban, Josh and I have a little tradition of making an actual trip to the theater and spending a small fortune to see each movie. So excited for movie theater popcorn, Harry Potter and his final (well, part one anyway) adventure!

Puts me in a good mood

2010-11-04T10:00:00.000-05:00

The Beatles have been ending up on my Pandora station lately and when I hear one of their songs it instantly puts me in a good mood. I remember taking road trips with my family in our super sweet caravan and singing along to "Obladi, Oblada" at the top of my lungs and thinking how risque it was to shout "BRA" during the chorus. I know, I was a square.

A little over halfway

2010-11-03T10:00:00.004-05:00

I'm a little over halfway through my pregnancy. Josh took a belly pic but I hate the way I look in it so I've made the executive decision not to post it. I don't have a glow nor have I been blessed with thick, fabulous hair as the books say many moms-to-be get. Bummer.

Instead of a pic of my burgeoning belly, you can have this pic.

According to The Bump, baby is the size of a papaya now. Meanwhile, mom is floating somewhere between she's preggo and she's packing on pounds. I think I'm slowly crawling out of the in-between is she/isn't she stage. But given my unimpressive size, the look on people's faces when they hear that I'm pregnant has disbelief written all over it. Honestly, I'm kind of in disbelief myself. I feel like since I'm over the halfway mark I should have way more to show for it. All in good time I suppose.

Hip hippo hooray

2010-11-02T10:00:00.000-05:00

Amy told us that hippos were seen in and around World Market and if we made the trek out there to hunt them down we would not be disappointed. And we weren't.

These adorable guys are little wafers filled with Nutella and some sort of vanilla-y creme. You can get the full scoop on them here. Given their cute factor, I almost feel bad taking a bite out of these delicious little morsels. Almost. He, however does not feel bad at all...

Sudsy is mesmerized.

Dragon or princess?

2010-10-24T20:31:00.004-05:00

Will Suds be playing the part of the untamed dragon while his little brother chases him around the house?

Or will he be a gentle princess who will be invited to tea with his younger sister?

Dragon, it is! After our doctor's appointment last week it looks like Sudsy will have a little boy to pal around with. What adventures will these two get themselves into?