10 in 2011

It seems like good movies come out in groups. We will go months without anything worth me driving to the theater for, but then all of a sudden there are so many that I can't get to the theater in time to see them all. Here are 10 that I am looking forward to this year:

1. Sucker Punch - March 25 (it doesn't exactly have a riveting plotline, but the graphics appeal to me)
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 - July 15 (I still need to buy the last two DVD's!)
3. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 - November 18 (I can't find a trailer)
4. X-Men: First Class - June 3
5. Green Lantern - June 17 (Can't get enough Ryan Reynolds!)
6. Cowboys and Aliens - July 29
7. The Hangover 2 - May 26
8. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - May 20
9. Captain America: The First Avenger - July 22 (I really enjoy graphic novels made into movies)
10. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - December 21 (no trailer available yet)

A Whale of a Story

Wednesday, a whale beached on the west end of Galveston Island. It is strange to me that whales come so close to Galveston. I've heard stories from fellow scuba divers that you can easily see whales if you go to the Flower Gardens about 100 miles off the coast of Galveston. I guess it's one of those, you gotta see it you believe it things.

A friend of mine from college (pictured above rescuing the whale) currently volunteers with the Marine Mammal Stranding Network here on the island. Whenever there is a beached animal, she takes off work to go help out. When this got called in, she was one of the first on the scene. She had to hold the animal out of the water for an hour and a half before the truck arrived with the appropriate transport materials. Whales have to stay wet, or else their skin dries up. Also, it is hard for the animal to breathe out of water because they don't have the buoyancy in the water to help support their weight anymore. That is why it had to stay in the water until the transport arrived.

When they originally approached the animal, they believed it to be a baby sperm whale. They were hoping to find the mother off the coast so they could reunite her with the baby. They were worried it would be a difficult task because of all the fog we've had recently, and particularly that day.

After bringing the whale back to the holding tank at the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, they realized it was an adult pygmy sperm whale. No one has ever successfully kept one of these in captivity and 90% of beached pygmy sperm whales do not survive. Generally, if a whale has beached, it is because there is something wrong with it already. At the end of the day, they decided to euthanize the animal.

Lauren said she was exhaused after a day of dealing with the 1000-pound whale. She said this was only the second time she has encountered a beached whale on the island in her 6 years volunteering with the network. They most frequently get dolphins that they rehabilitate, then either release it or give to a facility that can house the animal (think Sea World). More often, the stories end happily. This just wasn't one of those cases.

Courtesy of Travis' Grandma

Travis is the little guy third from the right.

I got this photo via email from Travis' mom's mom last month and thought I'd share it. It was accompanied by this note:

Here is a picture of Travis around age 3 at Christmas with the children's choir. This is when he reached over and took the microphone off the stand and held it up to his mouth like he was going to say something. You could hear him breathing softly into the microphone, but he remained quiet... then someone got the choir director's attention (the red head sitting in front) and she tried to retrieve it. As he gave it to her very willingly, he dropped it and it clunked very loudly down behind the communion table to the floor, where she had to work to get it. This picture was taken after all that.

I am constantly amazed how great most people's memories are. There is no way I would remember something like this is such great detail. Which is why I take so many photos! Between Travis as my memory rolodex, this blog and photos, I am able to retrieve stories with "ease".

Recovery

Travis is doing SO MUCH BETTER. Every day he makes huge steps in recovery. From the time he got home from the hospital, until the following evening, he only got out of bed to use the bathroom. We brought him food in bed and he watched TV all day. He did come out to sit with us for about 20 minutes on Saturday morning.

That night, he came to the dinner table and ate with us. He only sat at the table for maybe 10 minutes before the pain got too strong. The pressure of his organs on the suture site was too much to take. That night I only had to get up once to give him pain medication.

Saturday, Aiden did not want to go to sleep during nap time. He left Mr. Lion at daycare all weekend, so he was having some trouble relaxing. After an hour and a half of struggling with him to go to sleep, I finally thought to pull out the travel crib. I was so exhausted and just wanted to take a nap (awake from 4:30am - 10pm Friday, then up every 3 hours Friday night). I couldn't do that unless Aiden was sleeping too. Thankfully, he went right to sleep in his travel crib.

Sunday, Aiden and I went for a walk to the park, to help wear him out for nap time. I didn't even want to mess with him fighting it, so I put him straight into the crib. Travis got up and walked around more frequently. He ate lunch and dinner at the table with us, but he spent the rest of the time either sitting on the couch or laying in bed. He also developed a taste for Angry Birds on Rich's phone.

Monday morning I got up with Aiden, we ate breakfast, then I dropped him off at daycare. On my way back home, I picked up some breakfast burritos from this great place in Galveston. I was hoping it might get Travis' bowels back on track. Having Aiden at daycare gave me the day to focus on Travis and catching up on laundry. (Six loads!)

Tuesday I brought Aiden to daycare again. I cleaned the house in the morning, then Travis treated Brenda and I to pedicures that afternoon as a 'thank you' for taking care of him. I told him it was one of the perks of having a wife, but he wanted to do it nonetheless. It was really nice to relax for a minute without having my brain pulled in a hundred directions. What should I make for dinner? What's Aiden getting into? What time is it - does Travis need medication? Does Travis' ice pack need to be refilled? I'm hungry... I'm tired... Aiden's hungry... Aiden's tired... Travis is hungry...

We got the salt scrub and hot towel treatment. I couldn't believe how relaxed I was when I left that place. It took every ounce of energy left in me to get my body to work after that. I dropped Brenda off at the house and then continued on to the island to pick up Aiden. The Ramby's brought us pot roast for dinner, which was amazing. It was nice to not have to cook and also nice to shake things up a little after the monotony of recovery.

Wednesday? Back to work! I had a lot to catch up on, since I missed a large part of a study. So tired... I think I'll go to bed soon...

Pain Monster

I feel like Travis had a c-section yesterday and we brought home his little pain monster bundle of joy.

I kept having flashbacks yesterday of my time in the hospital when I was induced. Then when we got home, we had to get up every three to four hours to feed the pain monster. And by feeding, I mean stuffing Travis full of Ibuprofen and Hydrocodone.

I'm having serious baby flashbacks here, people. Travis even had a "FALL RISK" wristband just like I did!

Oh and besides giving him pain meds, I also had to change the ice on his ice pack. That reminded me of making formula bottles by the glow of the nightlight. I periodically tried to feed Travis yesterday evening and then through the night, but he was to nauseous for most of the offers.

So, the schedule yesterday didn't go exactly as planned. They made it sound like he'd be out of there by 10, but he didn't actually check out of the hospital until the afternoon. We got to day surgery on time and they gave Travis a gown and socks to change into. They took him in back at 6:20 and then I sat in his post-op room while I waited. I had my own bathroom, TV and reclining chair to "relax" in.

At 8:30, his doctor, a cute little woman in pink scrubs, came in to tell me how the surgery went. She said it all went exactly as planned. Throughout the five minute talk, she said "He's got GREAT anatomy," three times. Uh, what does that mean?! She said it the last time as he was walking out the door. WEIRD.

Soon after the doctor left, Brenda came from dropping Aiden off at daycare. I had assumed they would bring him back right away for his "recover period", but by the time 9:20 rolled around and he still wasn't back, I started to panic a little. I went out to find a nurse and he told me that they would keep him for close to an hour in the recovery room outside the operating room. He told me I could go visit him there, so I rushed down there with Brenda.

Travis was really groggy, but he wasn't loopy. We were only allowed one person at a time, so I went in first. I stayed for a couple minutes, then let Brenda go in. After a few more minutes she came back out and said they were going to be bringing him up soon so she would meet us there. At 10 o'clock, I walked up to the room with him getting pushed on the bed by a nurse.

We spent the next several hours waiting for Travis to "void". AKA, pee. At 1:30, he needed some pain medication, which meant he had to wait at least an hour before he could go. Even if he peed. At 2:10, he finally had to go to the bathroom, so the nurse unhooked him from the IV and I helped him. The pain he incurred during the walk, most likely crossed with the anesthesia, made him really nauseous. He breathed through it, thankfully. He was terrified of vomiting after an abdominal surgery.

When I got him back to the bed, I called for the nurse. The CNA came in to hook Travis back up to his IV bag. While she was hooking him up, I ran out to fill up his ice pack. When I got back, the nurse was gone and Travis asked me to check his IV because his back was getting wet. The nurse hadn't unclamped the line AND she turned some valve the wrong way, causing his back to get soaked. She gave him new blankets and then ran out. I think she was embarrassed. I was irritated.

By 3:30, Travis' nausea was gone and he'd stayed long enough to let them know he didn't have any serious adverse reaction to the pain medication they gave him. We were talking with the RN when Travis realized he had a heart monitor patch stuck in his arm pit hair.

REALLY?! The guy's not enough pain? Now we have to yank a sticker out of his arm pit hair?! It took 5 hard yanks before the thing finally came out. Travis was a champ. He didn't even flinch. Or maybe the pain meds were doing their job.

I went out to pull up the car, while Brenda waited with Travis and the nurse. By 4 o'clock, we were on our way home and Brenda was headed to pick up Aiden from daycare.

The rest is history!

Today's Schedule:

5:30 am - Arrive at hospital.

6:45 am - Surgery begins.

7:00 am - Brenda drops Aiden off at the daycare.

6:45 - 8:45 am (approx.) - Travis goes under and I plan to ignore the real world by immersing myself in a fictional novel.

8:45 - 9:45 am - Travis' recovery period as an in-patient (I really hope I get to be around for that part).

9:45 am - Discharge from the hospital and then we're on our own!

I still have no idea if Travis has any food restrictions after the surgery. If he does, and it's not something we already have at home, then I will make a trek back out for food. I'm REALLY hoping they send him home with his pain killers. I really don't want to immediately run to the pharmacy.

I'm planning to wait until the very last minute possible to go pick up Aiden from daycare. It sort of sucks because his daycare is on the island and we don't live on the island. That means I'll have to drive back down to pick him up at the end of the day. That said, I would prefer to do that than have to take care of him all day at the same time as I'm dealing with Travis.

Eek! Wish us luck!!

Monkey

When Travis and I were trying to pick out baby bedding for Aiden's nursery two years ago, we felt like our options were limited. We didn't really like much of the pastel colors and we really wanted something a little more bold. When I was looking through our options online, I was strongly drawn to safari decor. We ended up with monkey bedding and the hopes of a safari theme in the nursery.

For our baby shower, Alexa continued the monkey theme. We ended up with a lot of monkey gear to bring home. Last night, I piled all the portable monkey items on the futon in his bedroom and stuck Aiden in the middle of it. It's borderline ridiculous.

You can see the Valentine's sock monkey in the top right corner of this photo...


Love it!


Travis' mom got in yesterday afternoon. (Thanks Brenda!) She is staying with us for a couple weeks to help take care of Travis, Aiden and the house during Travis' recovery period. His surgery is scheduled for Friday, although we won't know the exact time until they call us the day before. The hospital called on Tuesday to tell Travis that the surgery should take about two hours and he is not allowed to take Tylenol or Ibuprofen for a week prior to the surgery. Three days before the surgery they finally decide to let us know that? Thankfully, Travis doesn't think he's had any. Phew!


Then yesterday, they called again to ask how he was feeling.


"Fine," he says.


"Are you taking any pain medication?"


"No," with a lilt at the end, as in 'why are you asking me that when you told me I couldn't have any yesterday?'


"No pain medication?! How are your sutures?"


Blink, blink... "Uh, I haven't had the surgery yet."


"Oh. Well sorry about that! We'll call back later then..."


My faith in this hospital dwindles daily. I know it is a teaching hospital, but COME ON PEOPLE! I purposely did not deliver Aiden at that hospital because I did not want to have some student testing out their abilities to hit a vein while I was in labor. I'm quickly regretting not bringing this up to Travis when he went in for the check up on this hernia thing.

A Special Dinner

Monday night, for Valentine's Day, Travis and I decided to spend the evening at home. In the past, we have always tried to go out for dinner. Auntie Ariel offered to watch Aiden, but was unsure of her schedule, so we decided to go ahead with a night in.

Aiden had pizza and cauliflower for dinner. Then for dessert, he got a heart-shaped brownie. He scarfed that thing DOWN. I also got him a black and white striped sock monkey with a red heart sewn on the front. It was really cute and Aiden loves monkeys. As soon as he saw it sitting on the table when he got home, he started saying, "Ah ah ah ah!" That's his version of 'Ooo ooo ooo, ah ah ah' for the sound a monkey makes. Another sentimental reason for the monkey is that is an endearing term that Travis has for Aiden: Monkey. Haha!

Travis and I exchanged gifts while Aiden was eating dinner. I got him PJ's and flip flops from Old Navy, plus some Valentine's candy. Travis got me a bunch of gardening gear. I've wanted that stuff for years, but I'm really excited to get it now that we're about to start a veggie garden!

After Aiden went down for the night, Travis and I finished making our dinner. We went all out! Steak, crab, asparagus and pesto bow-tie pasta. We enjoyed our favorite bottle of Pinot Noir. We love the Robert Mondavi Reserve. That is usually what we get to celebrate Valentine's Day and our anniversary.

After dinner, we had turtle brownie a la mode. It was awesome. I'm pretty sure I gained 10 pounds from eating that meal. We sat there for a couple hours, just catching up on daily things. We actually don't do that very often because we are usually both so tired by the end of the day (after Aiden is fed, bathed and asleep and then dinner is cleaned up and chores are completed), that we would both prefer to just sit and veg out for 20 minutes before going to sleep.

We really should make an effort to do this more often that Valentine's Day and on our anniversary!

Excellent Weekend Weather

This weekend was AWESOME. Travis had Saturday AND Sunday off! It worked out good in a way because I had to go into work for an hour on Saturday. When I got back (right as Travis was laying Aiden down), I ate lunch, then we both worked outside for the rest of the day. We did a few home repairs and then Travis started working on an elevated garden. He built the framework for that and for a compost pile. We still need to get soil to fill the garden, but we have already started filling the compost pile.

We decided to put it on the opposite side of the garage from the house. That way, we can block it off from Callaway. We did that for two reasons: 1) I don't know if Callaway will try to dig in it and I will be really annoyed if he makes this harder on us somehow, and 2) I don't want him peeing on our veggies. I read that it is best to have a south facing garden, so this was an ideal location. It is 6' x 12' and we are planning to make it a salsa garden. We are going to try growing some from seeds and some from seedlings that we'll buy directly from the store. I'd also really like to plant a lime tree next to the garden.

Hopefully it all goes smoothly. Ariel and Robert started a veggie garden last year and it has done really well.

We recently began recycling. I feel best about recycling plastics. I know it's irrational, but I can't stop thinking about the plastic island in the Pacific! I am amazed to see how much plastic we go through: shampoo, dressing, milk, yogurt, cleaners, lotion... the list goes on! We're extending this new recycling kick into the world of compostables. Then we can mix it in our garden!

While Travis was working on building the garden, I washed my car. When I finished that, I walked around the yard and pulled some weeds. The weather was too nice not to be outside enjoying it.

When Aiden woke up from his nap, we sat outside while he ate his snack. Then we watched Dada working for a bit. Aiden was very interested in all his tools. It reminded me of when I was little, following my dad around when he did work around the house or at various job sites he ran.

When Travis was done working, he stayed outside to play with Aiden while I went inside to do some cleaning. There were a few chores that were long overdue. It's always nice to come home to a clean house, so I was actually happy to have had all that child-free time to attack the house.

Sunday morning we went for a walk, then laid Aiden down for his nap. He slept for a full three hours before we got him up to go get his hair cut. We stopped at the mall so I could get the battery changed in my watch. After that, I dropped Aiden and Travis off at Toys R Us so I could go pick up PJ's for Travis at Old Navy for Valentine's Day. On our way home, we stopped for some super greasy food at Five Guys Burger and Fries. It's new around here and we'd heard good things about it, so we wanted to give it a try. It was a little too greasy for my tastes, but Travis LOVED it.

It was a great "last" weekend for us. Travis is having his hernia surgery this Friday, which means that we have several laid back weeks ahead of us. I look forward to having lots of Travis-time, but I'm not looking forward to his pain. Eek!

Happy Day of Love

Our son and his toddler bed were a little interesting this weekend. This was the first time for him to sleep in the bed during the day, aside from the very first time we set it up last Sunday. When he laid down in the bed all week at night, he didn't really try to play for very long. I'm assuming that's because it was too dark to do anything. But during the day! During nap time! That is a different story all together.

Saturday was horrible. We took all the toys we could out of his room, covered his window with a thick blanket to help block out the light, then let him try to sleep for an hour. Whenever he got up, we would go in silently and lead him back to bed and then leave. When that didn't work, Travis finally sat next to the bed and held him down. He cried for 10 minutes straight, but then finally calmed down enough to sniffle to sleep. Travis left him before he had fully fallen asleep.

Sunday was a complete 180. We took all the toys out before we closed Aiden in. I decided to let him give it a try on his own for 30 minutes on his own. I went in a couple times to lead him silently back to bed, but after 25 minutes there was nothing but silence from his room. Gooooo Aiden! Seriously, awesome moment in parenting.

Sunday afternoon, we took Aiden to a kids' hair salon. Since things didn't go so smoothly the first time around, we let the salon have a go.

Here's the shaggy mullet before:

Unfortunately, they didn't have much better luck than we did. Aiden could NOT STAND that some stranger was touching him.

He kept leaning away from the hair stylist, screaming "No!" Poor kid. The whole thing took no more than five minutes, but I'd bet anything that Aiden would rank it in the Top 5 Worst Moments of His Life. Right up there with vaccinations and being held down at nap time.

Since this was a salon for kids, Aiden sat in a car during his hair cut and got to watch an Elmo movie. The two of those together were not enough to calm this boy for a five minute hair cut. What has the world come to?

Aiden at 19 Months

I wanted to show off this photo of Aiden wearing Aggie gear. I think this might be the first Aggie clothing he's ever worn. Hm. He may have had a onesie when he was a newborn. Anyhoo, I pulled this shirt out of the "next size up" bin that we have in the garage. It has to be from Logan since his parents are fellow Aggies. =D

Aiden DOES NOT like getting dressed to go outside. He always runs from me when it's time to put on his coat. And FORGET a hat and gloves. In the past, that hasn't been an issue because it is rarely cold enough to need either of the aforementioned. For the past week, we have been going into freezing temps off and on, so it has become more important.

Every morning, I put on my coat and hat while he watches, making a big show of it. FINALLY, yesterday he showed some interest in wanting a hat on. I threw his hat on and quickly shoved him out the door, hoping he would forget he had allowed cloth on his head. The trick worked for about two minutes. By the time we reached the garage, his hat had twisted slightly. Since he was wearing a hat with ear flaps, he could see one of them in his peripheral vision. Suddenly, he'd had enough of the hat and tore it off.

This morning, I did the same coat and hat show. Again, Aiden wanted to wear his hat. This time, Aiden got mad every time the hat started to slide up off his head.


He was saying "Cheeeeeese!" for this photo. He just started saying that. It makes me smile every time.

I was starting to feel like Aiden's speech had hit a plateau. Now he seems to be climbing again! He recently started repeating words that we say. We've been trying it for months, but he only copies us 50% of the time. Lately, he's been working with us closer to 90% of the time. He still has his toddler moments when he says "Noooo" or he ignores us completely to keep playing with his toy. We've been reading his color books and he repeats the majority of the colors. We are working on phrases like 'thank you', 'please' and 'excuse me'.

This past weekend, I went to a moms brunch with Alexa. I was telling them that I was wondering when Aiden would start using phrases. So far, he has stuck to one-word demands or requests. Then, this week, I realized that he does say 'thank you' and 'excuse me'. I don't know how those slipped me by.

I felt like we hit a huge milestone Wednesday night though. Travis was playing hide-and-go-seek with Aiden. When he was having trouble finding Travis, I would walk around with him saying, "Where's Dada?" Then I would point to a corner and have him look for his dada. After a while of me doing this, he copied me word for word, gesture for gesture. "Where's dada?" he says clear as day with his shoulders shrugged, palms lifted towards the ceiling. LOL! I immediately looked at Travis and said, "Did you hear that?!" I totally called Daddy out on his hiding spot, but I couldn't help it!

Parenting is SO worth it.

Abusive Music

... But impressive...

Super Bowl Sunday

After Aiden's fateful nap, we headed to Galveston for a Super Bowl party at Ariel and Robert's house. We were REALLY hoping the Bears would make it, to make the game a little more interesting. Since they lost to the Packers, we decided that if anyone should win, it would have to be the Packers. They were good enough to beat the Bears, so they should be good enough to win the Super Bowl. Plus, my dad's family is all from Wisconsin. That's how we chose which team to root for. Ha!

We just happened to have a green and yellow outfit for Aiden to wear. I think we got it from Logan? Either way, it was cute!

I brought cold spaghetti (a family recipe for pasta salad that involves Salad Supreme), grape jelly meatballs and buffalo wing dip. I think next time I'll try it with the mozzarella cheese and ranch dressing. That sounds pretty awesome.

Everyone that came brought food. There were chips with at least four different dips, buffalo wings and sausage. There were a good amount of people there who all took turns playing with Aiden. Aiden relished the attention.

Travis, Dana and Anthony:


Zhenya, Kostya and I:

Robert and his friend Caleb:

I didn't get my camera out until after Aiden had gone to bed, so I only took these three photos. Sometimes I'm good with the camera, sometimes I'm not! That means there is no picture of Ariel. =(

I didn't get some good conversation time with Ariel. We usually can't talk very much because Aiden is taking up my energy, or there are lots of people around which limits our conversation topics. It was nice to have just her and I for a few minutes!!

My one mistake was staying there until 11 o'clock. I was so tired the next day. I hate being tired. It was worth it though!

Vulture Park

After a week long of freezing temperatures and a couple days of freezing rain, I was ready to get OUTSIDE. I don't know how I ever survived up north - stuck inside for months on end. Yuck!

So! When I saw it was supposed to be 65 degrees on Sunday, I quickly made plans with the Ramby's to meet at a playground. The Yeager's had recommended it to us, saying that it was great for toddlers. Aiden has problems playing at the playgrounds near our house because he's not tall enough to get up the first step by himself. The park we went to on Sunday was wonderful!

There was one downfall. The park was FILLED with black vultures. Ugly things. And LARGE. Birds freak me out a little, so I was feeling anxious when we pulled up to this:

I was relieved to find the playground was on the opposite side of the bayou from these guys. I wasn't sure if one of them would try to make off with our son.

We had a few minutes to run around the playground before the Ramby's arrived. Aiden LOVED exploring this new play set.


We woke up a little late, so we decided to go to McDonald's for breakfast. I had the Fruit & Maple Oatmeal. Uh, it was amazingly delicious. I couldn't believe it. I need to try to make it at home! We also enjoyed some McD's coffee. Not gourmet level stuff, but it hit the spot nonetheless.

Aiden was so excited when he saw Blair running over from the parking lot.

Skylar was wide-eyed and bushy-tailed when they showed up. I am fighting off a cold, so I tried not to touch her or any of her gear. It wasn't until after I had done it that I was scolding myself for trying to help Alexa. I hope they don't catch whatever we have!

We left the park with a bag full of shoes for Aiden and a toddler bed. THANK YOU RAMBY'S!!

PS - Happy birthday Rachel!! =D

Toddler Upgrade

Our friends Chris and Alexa have a son named Blair who is 15 months older than Aiden. He recently moved from sleeping in a crib to a twin bed. He totally skipped the toddler bed. Chris and Alexa bought a toddler bed with all the intentions of having him move to that first. But, as it turns out, Blair would have nothing to do with it. He went straight to the adult-sized bed. So funny!

That meant, they suddenly had an extra bed in the house. Guess who got it. Aiden!! We decided to just go for the gusto and set the bed up as soon as we got it home Sunday morning. While Aiden was eating his lunch in the dining room with me, Travis upgraded his room from a nursery to a toddler room.

Blair was even willing to give up his Cars bedding that fits the bed. Thanks Blair! Aiden LOVES his little bed. He can climb in and out ALL BY HIMSELF!!

We sat him in his bed and told him it was time to settle down. We read a couple books, then asked him to lay down. He nuzzled in all comfy-cozy as we closed the door. That's where the fun ended.

He laid in bed for about 15 seconds before hopping out of bed and running to test the door. He can't open the doors in our house yet, so he was unable to escape. We heard him run back to the bed and climb in. We waited in anticipation of what he would do. After another 10 seconds, he scrambled out of bed and ran back to the door again. This time he knocked. He waited a moment, with no response, then began to play with his books. We decided to give him some time to try to work it out on his own. Unfortunately that didn't happen. We had to go in numerous times to tuck him back in bed. He pulled out a bunch of books and all the blankets from his dresser (that was a first). It was a mess.

Then we tried sitting in there with him. Travis laid in the bed with him and he seemed to relax.

After about five minutes, he was done with that. Travis and I were desperate because we really wanted him to get some rest before we went to Ariel and Robert's to watch the Super Bowl. We broke down and got out the travel crib. Aiden curled up in the that crib and fell right to sleep. Sadly, we had to wake him up two hours later so we could get on the road. He usually sleeps three hours, so that was a bit short.

In the end it, sort of worked out. We put Aiden to bed over at Ariel and Robert's so we could watch the end of the game. That meant that by the time he got home and back in that toddler bed for the night, he was out for the count. We switched his pillow case back to his old one, so he would have some reminder of his old bed. We got ready for bed, then checked on him one more time before we laid down for the night. Aiden was passed out, still in the bed.

When I got up this morning, Aiden hadn't moved. The only difference is Mr. Lion was on the floor. I was interested to see what Aiden would do when he woke up in a bed he could get out of on his own free will. Sadly, we never go to see that. He was so tired, I had to pick him up to wake him up this morning.

I'm a little nervous about how he will do tonight, since he will getting into bed before he is exhausted. The only redeeming point is it will be dark when he goes to bed. That will make it difficult for him to play with his toys and destroy his room once we close the door behind us. If he doesn't freak out about it, I might turn of his night light during this transition.

I can recall many of a night when Ariel and I would get up and play in our room after we were supposed to be in bed. Good times for us - not so much for our parents.

I was talking to a mom the other day about the crib to toddler bed transition and she said her son did really well with it because he LOVED his sheets. He didn't want to leave them. The Cars bedding doesn't have much appeal to Aiden at this point since he has never seen the movie. The question at this point, is do I buy the movie Cars or do I buy Yo Gabba Gabba sheets?

Time with Aiden

I went to the grocery store yesterday after they let us out of work early. Since Aiden's daycare was closing by 2:30, I had to pick him up first. There were no cars or baskets available in the store, so I had to carry everything while Aiden walked. This is the first time we've ever tried this. I had my arms full with a gallon of milk, spaghetti, steak and a bottle of ketchup when Aiden decides to stop to point at the puppy on every bag of Cottonelle bath tissue in a display.

Needless to say, I left the store with a headache.

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This morning, Aiden and I followed our weekend routine since I have off from work and his daycare is closed again (due to the ice). The only difference is he slept in until 8:30! Holy cow, can you believe it? I couldn't. I freaked out, thinking something had happened to him. I ran in to check on him and once I saw he was breathing, I closed the door. I got his milk and cereal ready before I woke him up. I changed his diaper, then we sat in our bed and watch cartoons. After he'd finished his milk, he rolled over and laid on me while he ate his Cheerios.

That is the FIRST TIME Aiden has ever cuddled with me. It was awesome. I really hope he does it again!

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Aiden is in SUCH a good mood today. It's probably because of all the sleep he got. LOL! I couldn't ask for a better day off at home! I think the only thing that would make it better is if Travis were home with us. I sure this good mood lasts because I'm hoping to go grocery shopping this afternoon, if it warms up enough to melt the ice.

Dioramas

I don't watch most of these shows, but it was still an interesting video. Some Belgian cable company made this commercial about their shows.

PRIME BIG SERIES - SMALL SCREEN from steven huybrechts on Vimeo.

Annoyed

I do work on a timeline. If I start something at work on a Friday, I have to follow up on Monday. If I do it Thursday, then that means I have to come in over the weekend, which I would prefer NOT to do.

This wintry mix is putting me in quite the pickle. We are supposed to start something big at work tomorrow morning. BUT, Aiden's daycare just called to inform me they are closing early this afternoon and will also be closed all day tomorrow.

Taking this afternoon off, should not be difficult. I will get all my work done this morning so I can get out of here early. Tomorrow will be more of a problem. I'm going to see if Ariel will watch Aiden. But, what if the weather really is so bad that I shouldn't be on the roads? I have to drive over the causeway to get to the island, which is a really large bridge. Bridges usually form ice in this type of weather.

Ugh. Stupid pickle.

This area is not equipped for such weather. We don't have snow plows or salt trucks to deal with snow and ice. Also, all the plumbing at our house is exposed underneath in our "crawl space". That means pipes are easily frozen. I left the faucets dripping last night and also when I left the house this morning. I didn't do that the night before and nothing horrible happened, so hopefully we'll be okay.

Two of my friends had their pipes freeze Tuesday night. Then when I was walking out to my car I came across a house with water pouring out from underneath. When I looked under the house, it was a lake. No one was home when I knocked on the door, so I called Public Works to report the burst pipes. It was stopped when I walked by this morning.

Stay warm my friends! And enjoy this video.

Calgon, Take Me Away

Aiden seems to be doing much better in the anger department. It's still not okay, but at least he's not trying to pull off my skin every other minute. I made sure to spend lots of time on the floor with him last night, playing with toys. He was in a great mood the entire time. Maybe this is a sign he needs a live-in play buddy? Ha! Soon, but not just yet.

One of his canines has broken through the gums, so I'm hoping that's a huge culprit here. He hasn't been eating well for a week or so, but last night, he ate like we'd been starving him on purpose. It was awesome to see him happy to eat again. He's been sitting in a booster seat with us at the table for a couple days now. It's fun, but I worry about needing the seat when we have guests over. I'm thinking about switching his high chair into a regular seat, so we have all the seating possible.

I started giving him probiotics in his morning milk this weekend. I'm not sure that it is helping just yet, but I'm pretty sure it will take a while to balance out his natural flora. He's still pooping in the bath tub at every bath. (Although, I don't think I've mentioned that on here before.) Alexa pointed out that the warm bath water might be softening things up and relaxing him enough to let it go. Makes sense. But it would be great if he would stop doing that. It's gross and that means we have to deal with letting all the water out, cleaning the tub, then filling it back up. Gah.

It's cold. I know it's not as bad as up north, but it's cold. It was 26 degrees on my drive into work this morning. According to the weather channel, it was 20 degrees when I woke up, with a wind chill of 9. Just so you know, we are not equipped for such temperatures. Our water heater is in our unheated garage. That means it has to work extra to remain heated. Then the water has to flow through underground pipes and in the exposed pipes under our house. Needless to say, it takes several minutes for the water to warm up on the faucet side of things. We put a blanket on the water heater a year or so ago and I know that helps a bit.

This wind is a little ridiculous. I was grateful when Travis pointed out that our house was on the first block with electricity this morning. I guess the wind took out a bunch of power lines. Half of Galveston island is included in this. I was all excited to actually make it out the door on time this morning, and then I didn't have a flat tire. Yay! Only problem is that every stop light on the island has been turned into a 4-way stop. It took me forever to get from one side to the other.

Speaking of tires, Travis had me put on my repaired tire last night. So now I can change a tire with confidence! It wasn't that hard. I think my only problem will be getting the lug nuts off. It took a lot of jumping and kicking for me to get them loosened. Travis informed me that this was a good way to break off a lug nut stud. You win some, you lose some.

I heard Chicago has 13 inches of snow and counting. My mom is stranded at my aunt's house up there this week. (Fun place to be stuck!) My dad has 8 inches of snow so far and it's still falling from the sky. He went without power for a while, but that's back on so everything's coming back up to temp. My brother's got a snow day from school, but it sounds like the entire county is having a snow day. Stay warm folks!

So far this morning...

Aiden and I got out the door about 15 minutes late this morning. That quickly turned into an hour late.

As I was pulling my car out of the garage, I noticed that I had to press on the gas more than normal to get the car rolling into reverse. I didn't think too much about it and got on the interstate. I was getting up to speed with the rest of traffic and realized I was having some trouble controlling the car. It was raining so hard and the wind was so crazy, that I was unsure if it was the weather or my car acting up. After a couple miles, I bright yellow pick-up truck pulled up next to me, honking. I looked at him and he yelled something about my tire, so I quickly got off at the next exit.

Down here around Houston, we have these roads that line most interstates called feeders. I decided I would take the time to get onto a feeder in case my tire needed to be changed. There are much less cars driving on the feeders than there are on the actual interstate.

I hopped out of the car to check the damage, and sure enough, I had a flat tire. The rear driver's side tire was completely flat. It didn't explode or come apart. It was just flat. I called Travis to see if he could help me. I understand the basics of changing a car tire, but I don't have the confidence that I could get the lug nuts back on tight enough to drive on. That scares the crapola out of me.

Thankfully, Travis was able to come put on the spare for me. Unfortunately, the sky completely blacked over and was in the middle of a torrential down pour when he arrived. Of course that means the rain was flying almost horizontal to the ground, because Galveston never has a normal, light rainstorm. It's always the equivalent to a monsoon.

When Travis finally go to us, I got out of the car again to show him which tire it was and help him get the spare tire out. I was hoping to lessen the amount of time spent in the rain. He yelled to me over the rain to get back in the car so I wouldn't get too wet. It was too late. My butt was already soaked from the minute I spent out in the rain.

Turns out, I had a screw in my tire. Travis kept my tire so he can take it to get plugged today. Travis is saturated from the waist down and on his right arm (the side the wind was blowing into).

I had to stop at McDonald's and buy Aiden a crappy breakfast since he missed breakfast at the daycare. Then when I finally got into work, I forgot my umbrella and my delicious lunch that I was really excited about (chicken and hummus pita). I park five blocks from work, so it's not worth going back for. It wasn't raining by the time I got to work, so that's why I didn't think about the umbrella. Hopefully it's not raining when I get off this evening. I guess the lunch thing sort of works out since I am planning to meet Jenna for lunch at the cafeteria.

When I got on the elevator at work, another man got on the elevator with me. After the doors closed, there was a good 20-second pause before the elevator lurched upward. We both looked at each other, a little panicked, wondering if we were going to be one of the "lucky" ones to get stuck on this particular elevator. Thankfully, it moved on and I didn't have to add another catastrophe to my day.

These elevators still have not been repaired or replaced since the hurricane. The university got funding last year to do the necessary work, but for some reason it still hasn't happened. The guy on the elevator said something that helped brighten my day.

"Since the hurricane, my wife and I have conceived a baby, delivered the baby and now he can talk. And they still haven't fixed the broken elevators on campus?"

Thank you for cheering me up, Stranger.