Tired with some Risky Business

Jackson wore his first suit on Sunday. He had the patience to let me button up his shirt and then took off. I tried to get a picture of him with sunglasses because he looked like Tom Cruise.
Colby's finishing up his last year...I mean first year (wishful thinking) of school. It's been quite the year. Jackson turned one, Sam turned zero, aaand I turned a year oldler too. 27 sounds old to me! 25 and 26 were pieces of cake. 27 is just old! Sorry to all those of you 27 or older. As you can clearly see, we've all been tired lately. Everyone except Jackson, of course. Working on weaning him off of soothers, bottles and such now that I'm not crazy pregnant and pregnant crazy (if you know what I mean). Seriously, it was like as soon as I was not pregnant (even though I was tireder) I had will power. Wahoo! And I am still weepy-ish, but things are looking up.

I don't even know if Colby knew that Jackson was sitting on him. At least he didn't until Jackson kicked him in the face.

Often, as I'm sitting or lying down and being used by Jackson as a human jungle gym, I'm reminded of those pictures and videos of lions with their cubs. Notice any similarites?


In any case, we've been watching a lot of movies when Sam is getting his bottle. Currently, we've exhausted all the Pixar movies (which has renewed my ire for Cars) and are watching Polar Express (again). I can quote "Up", "Finding Nemo", and "Toy Story" for you verbatim. I've also explored the library and found this:

It's a British TV adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Of course things go horribly wrong as our 21st century heroine exposes the plot to the characters prematurely. Jane actually marries Mr. Collins, Wickham is actually a pretty decent guy, and Elizabeth remains single, and Mr. Bingley drowns the loss of Jane in alcohol and runs off with Lydia. What of Mr. Darcy? Falls for the heroine. Everything does end up well in the end. British humor, but I really did enjoy it. Although, I'd have taken it somewhere else.
I have renewed my interest in the Ranger's Apprentice series:

And am starting book 6.
If you've lasted this far into the post: I'm working on re-teaching Jackson to clean up as well as re-teaching folding his arms for prayers. I'd gotten very slack last bit of pregnancy. In any case, sometimes I have to fold his arms for him, but he'll let me and I peeked last night at the dinner table. There he was just looking up at me as I held his arms and said the prayer grinning like a Cheshire cat. Once I was done, his grin got wider (if possible) and he was so adorable.
Jackson has always been a good sharer (although that might change). The nursery lady says that sometimes Jackson won't get any snacks in nursery because he shares it all. My little man! He's so accomodating. I'm sure the other kids reach for his snacks and take a few. He sees this and decides to help them out so he'll share. He also does this at the dinner table if he's done but doesn't want to leave yet. We've tried getting him to brush his teeth and he just loves to share!


What could I do? It was open my mouth or get a chipped tooth.
Jackson has a stepping stool that we've placed by the crib. He doesn't realize that he can move it around and crawl places (thankfully)! So sometimes he'll stand on his stool and peek into Sam's crib. If he could talk, he'd say, "Yep. He's still in there. Just checking." Sometimes he'll talk to him for minutes at a time jabbering away. Sometimes he'll shout and jabber. Luckily Sam's a pretty heavy sleeper. Sometimes Jackson will try and give Sam his soother and sometimes Jackson will reach in and take Sam's soother, try and suck on it, find he can't, run to the front door, and throw the soother on the ground by the trash can. Thanks, Jackson. But, the last two days, Jackson has taken two of his sand toys (Cars sand moulds) and gently placed them in the crib by Sam's face while talking to Sam and explaining what they are. Of course, Jackson doesn't know what he's talking about because he's never actually used the sand moulds himself. Cute nonetheless.
Jackson is also an aficionado on iphone and ipod touch apps. He loves the Flight Navigator game, Shapes for Toddlers, Baby Animal Sounds, and thumbing through pictures of himself.

Whew! That is quite a mouthful, but I've been holding all of this in for a long time! Anyway. If you actually read this far, you get 5 brownie points! Thanks for reading! Signing off for now!

Shabby Apple Giveawy

Shabby Apple teamed up with Tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com for a giveaway! Once I get my body back, I'm getting as many of these dresses as my wallet can handle! I LOVE THEM!!!

Huggies: Inside the Diaper

This is for anyone who's never had a boy and this is for my sister who just posted something similar. A behind the scenes "reality" commercial for super absorbent diapers. I'll admit that I laughed so hard I cried because learning to change a boy's diaper is something like this:

Pool Time

I still haven't uploaded the video of Jackson's b-day, but here are pictures of pool time with Daddy.

My boys!

My kids are too darn cute!
Of course I am incredibly biased.

Finally, Pictures!

This is not in any particular order:
Jackson started saying please and bubbles and while he has previously been avoiding Sam, yesterday he was reaching over their carseats to give Sam his soother and keeping his hand near Sam's as Sam was crying.
Sam has been switched to the "sensitive" formula which removes the lactose in the formula. He's had really bad stomach pain and gas and the switch to the new formula has really helped him sleep better through the night.

Pics soon

Pics coming soon. I saw this on the Idea Room. Made me smile.

Samuel Cooper Gage

Sorry we don't have the weight yet looks around 8 pounds. Time of birth was 2:37. Becca had a lot easier time this time around everything is looking good for right now.. he came out of the birth canal with his eyes WIDE open looking around. More pictures to come, he's literally been out for 10 min! So cool!

New YA Author!

I discovered this series and LOVED IT! It's been a long time since I've stayed up super-late to finish a book, but this one was really good as well as being very creepy. At the start of the first chapter it seemed like "Sixth Sense", but that quickly disappeared. It's a teen book without being as teeny-whiney as "Twilight". It's categorized as part of the horror genre and I'll admit it did give me the creeps during some chapters, which "Twilight", also categorized as "horror", did not. LOVED IT! Kelley Armstrong is a Canadian author (Go Canada) and has written a hefty amount of adult horror books mostly about werewolves. And though the covers look smutty, I scanned through one at the library. I didn't see any red flags so I think I'll be looking more into the adult series. Just got to say, definitely one of my new favorites. I will definitely be rereading these!
p.s. Just so you don't think I only go for YA, I'm tackling "When Elephants Weep" which is about animals and their emotions and that can of worms.

DownEast Basics Giveaway

I know, I know, another giveaway...BUT it's DownEast Basics! Here's the link to the blog! Good luck!

Castle

I know I've already written about the TV show "Castle", but seriously, if you haven't checked it out yet, do so. It's 40 minutes that even if you don't like it, you won't wish you had them back. It's got a very witty script with actors, such as Nathan Fillion of "Firefly" and "Waitress", who know how to deliver. Watch the pilot episode on Casttv and then watch the new episode on Hulu. Seriously, this is one of the only shows that makes me laugh out loud. If you are already a fan of "Castle" I had to chuckle over the Indy ref, the dog, and of course, the elevator! Loved it!

Easter Quake

Nothing like an Easter Egg roll! The chandeliers were swinging 4 inches and the quake lasted for 10-12 seconds! Now I feel at home!

A Dangerous Purchase

I love Nordstrom Rack. Even though I'm still very pregnant I bought two dresses that are my goal to fit into. I didn't even try them on until I got home and even then one didn't fit over my belly. A dangerous purchase! I will point out, though that I plan on dropping 10 lbs in ten days.

Hobo Pants and Quilts

Here's my dear friend Becca! We've been friends since 6th grade and were known as Becca2 (squared). In any case, she's such a good friend and is the one who came to visit and on her vacation from RN-ing, ran to the hospital and doc's office twice with me for the boys! We still had fun and what a great friend to put up with it all! And did I mention that she also helped organize our kitchen, swept and mopped AND vacuumed AND made the BEST stew I've ever had (Kielbasa Stew, I'm in love)! I've valiantly tried to keep it as clean as it was when she helped, but I must admit, the sink is suffering!

I also made these pants from a tutorial by Ikat. Well, I've already made one pair and this one was my next project if the first pair went well. It must have been beginner's luck because the second pair looked good until I put them on Jackson. Colby said, "He looks like a clown! He can't wear those!" I said, "I agree, but he's wearing them." These ones had a lining and I had to unpick the legs twice before I finally got it right. I've already made Jack Jack a pair of shorts out of an old shirt of Colby's and that worked well (I'll post pics as soon as I get them). For some reason, in my pregnancy addled brain, the lime green and orange would look cute. Oh, well. I did use some old buttons from my mom's collection so the pants are special even if they are ugly! My little hobo!


Here's my first rag quilt (thanks Laura for the instructions)! It went to Shelly who visited with Ben and a big congrats again on the baby!

No Baby Yet

Two more weeks!

Rustic Fruit Desserts Book Find

I was at the library and saw this book called "Rustic Fruit Desserts: Crumbles, Buckles, Cobblers, Pandowdies and More". The cover looked good enough to eat so I picked it up and tried the Apple Rhubarb pandowdy. Now what is a pandowdy? It's basically a pie with only a top crust in a 9x9 pan. It's not supposed to look pretty. But it tastes fantastic!!! Here's the recipe (Sorry no pictures of my creation but that's the pandowdy on the cover). I used a frozen pie crust and just stuck that on top. This is the perfect dessert to combine spring rhubarb and winter apples.

RUSTIC FRUIT DESSERTS BY CORY SCHREIBER AND JULIE RICHARDSON
Apple and rhubarb pandowdy (REALLY GOOD)
Baking time: 45 to 50 minutes serves 8-10
1 T unsalted butter for pan
frozen pastry dough
3-4 tart apples, peeled cored, sliced ½ thick
1 ¾ lbs rhubarb trimmed and sliced (or thawed frozen)
zest and juice of 1 lemon
¾ c brown sugar
2 ½ T cornstarch
1 t ground cinnamon
¼ fine sea salt

Preheat oven to 425. Butter a 9 inch pie pan or cast iron skillet or a 9 inch baking pan. Take out frozen pastry shell to thaw for at least 10 minutes.
Toss the aples, rhubarb, lemon zest and juice in large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine all other ingredients. Add dry ingredients to fruit mix. Toss. Transfer to baking pan.
Top the fruit mix with the pliable frozen pastry dough. This is a rustic dessert, so there is no need to spend any extra time making it look fancy; the beauty lies in its rough look. Cut a few steam vents in the crust; then place the pandowdy on a baking sheet to cllect any drips. Bake for 20 minutes then turn down to 350 and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes or unitl the crust is golden and the fruit is bubbling around the edges or vents.
Cool the pandowdy for 1 hour before serving with vanilla ice cream.
Storage: Covered with a tea towel, the pandowdy will keep at room tempereature for 3 days.

To my dear friend B

What a friend! I don't know anybody else who would take time off of their nursing job, to go on vacation and ironically end up nursing some sickies and then in the end call it fun! THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH! I had a great time and am sooooo glad you came! It meant the world to me!

Croup

A late night/early monring trip to the hospital confirmed it. Jackson has croup. They gave us some steroids to reduce the inflammation in his throat and since it's viral, we'll just have to wait it out. Oh well, in a couple of days my good friend B will be with us and she's a RN. Yeah for meds and nurses! We were just going to have a gab-fest anyway and you can do that anywhere!