LOVE

A CGI Disney short that was made to look like the old school hand drawn movies I grew up with:

Orlando

Okay, so I didn't go to the gym.  I enjoyed sleeping entirely too much to work out.  I didn't make my step goal two days.  It was hard since I was sitting for 8 hours three days in a row.

The travel itself was SUPER easy.  I checked both of my bags, so all I had to tote around was my small carry-on shoulder bag of entertainment.  A few days before we left, one of my co-workers recommended downloading a movie to my iPad to watch on the plane.  The concept of having to entertain myself had never entered my head.  So on the flight to Orlando, I watched Snow White and the Huntsman.  I thought it was pretty good.  I was worried about it since Kristen Stewart only seems capable of grimacing these days.

I flew on the same flight with 3 of my co-workers, so we all carpooled in a taxi to our hotel.  We stayed at a Hilton, so it was really fancy.  I had a room to myself, so I immediately unpacked everything after checking in.  After my first night there, I was ecstatic when I got back to my room to find the bathroom cleaned up and my bed made.  Housekeeping!  I totally forgot about housekeeping!  That's a luxury I miss most.  

There were many times I think they went overboard with the tidiness.  There were no trash cans in the conference.  There were hotel employees walking around constantly taking people's trash or finished plates.  We had a 15 minute coffee break in the morning and afternoon.  Every time I was at the coffee table, I felt like I was waiting for the employees to finish wiping up a drip of coffee, or grabbing someone's discarded sugar packet.  We're only out for 15 minutes!  This can't wait??

Also funny - they folded all paper products.  The toilet paper was folded into a triangle point.  They must have someone walk through the bathroom every hour or so because every time we had a bathroom break, the toilet rolls were folded again.  The tissue paper dispensers had tissues fluffed to look like a flower on top.  The paper towels were folded neatly.  It was nutso.

The hotel and conference center was on Disney property, so I could see Downtown Disney from my room.

In the evenings I hung out with various members of my group.  The first two nights we went to Downtown Disney for dinner. The third night we stayed at the hotel and had sushi.  The last night, I went with some new friends I made at the New Member Meeting and Opening Session (for the rest of the conference) to Universal City Walk for dinner at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville.

The landscape was beautiful - this golf course was visible from the foyer where we ate lunch.

The pool had a lazy river, a giant slide and beach-like access.  Bummed I never had a chance to take a dip.

One of my friends called this the Torture Conference.  There were all these beautiful views outside each window, but I barely got to go out and touch it.  HA.  Maybe I will find more time when I go back for another conference in February.

The pre-conference itself was great. After this trip, I am confident in saying biosafety is where I belong.  I am honestly interested in what this job entails.  I am so glad I found my niche.  I thought the classes were interesting.  The only one that didn't grab me was Fundamentals of Biosafety, but that's only because it was old news to me.  I already knew everything they talked about in that class.  !!!  How fantastic is that?

The whole thing was great for networking.  I met lots of people at facilities we have to deal with frequently.  It was interesting to talk to people who have a similar job position to me, but have a different role based on what their institution specialized in.  The whole thing was a great experience.

The one thing is I missed my family dearly.  I talked to Travis every day, but there were a couple nights I didn't get to talk to Aiden because I wasn't available until after his bedtime.  I was thrilled we got to talk via FaceTime twice (hooray for free wi-fi).  Travis kept the kids alive and the house intact.  In fact, he even got out of the house with them over the weekend.

The spent Saturday morning at Froberg's Farm, a farmer's market.  You can barely see it, but Aiden has a toothpick hanging from his mouth. 

They picked up pumpkins that we are planning to carve this week.

Travis got a lot done really.  He took Friday off and got new tires put on his truck.  Then in the afternoon he had professional cleaners spruce up our carpets.  They look FANTASTIC.  I came home to a clean car and a full gas tank as well!  Travis was even able to find time to purchase a new pair of sneakers for himself.

I had fun, but it's nice to be home.

Disturbed

I used to really like a lot of Stanley Kubrick's movies.  But since becoming a parent, I've found my tolerance level for disturbing footage has shot through the floor.  He does have a way with drama though.

Marvel

While I know this is iffy for a 2-year-old (rated PG-13), I CANNOT wait to take Aiden to see The Avengers this weekend. Three of his favorite characters in one film.  I've been trying to rent Thor for months now, but it's never available at Redbox.  I had to drive out of my way to find a Redbox that had it yesterday.  At least I found it!  Aiden was nervous for the first 10 minutes, which has me a little worried about seeing the Avengers in a loud theater.  I guess if we have to take breaks, we can.  I'm still excited!

Dad's Chili

Yes, it's dark and blurry, but it is a rare photo of the three of us together.  (Plus Toby - can you spot him?)

Saturday, Aiden and I went over to Ariel's so I could hang out with my dad while Aiden napped.  Travis had to work that morning, so we made plans for him to meet us down there for dinner.  Aiden refused to go to sleep on time, so he only got half a nap in before I had to rouse him.  The first day my dad got here he announced that he would be taking us to see The Lorax when it came out. (Side note: Did you hear Zac Efron dropped a condom on the red carpet premiere for The Lorax???  AWKWARD.)

It was the perfect movie to see in theaters with Aiden.  We took him to see Puss in Boots (his first movie in theaters) because we really wanted to take him to a movie and that was in theaters that weekend.  This movie was more his style.  He was held captive for the majority of the film.  Only a couple times did he unfreeze to laugh or point at the screen.  My dad loved it.  Auntie Ariel bought him popcorn, but he was more interested in her peanut M&M's.  Kid loves M&M's - all kinds. 

After the movie, we went back to Ariel's house for dinner.  My dad made chili.  I miss his chili.  I need to write down the recipe before he leaves.  Chili from the north is more soup-like than the thick beanless stuff they make down here (okay, there might be a bean or two, but it is mostly ground beef).  I like them both, but I miss the northern version.  My dad settled my sweet tooth with brownies for dessert (that's why I'm so smiley in the photo above).  Aiden was being horrific by this point.  An hour-nap was not sufficient for a late night, so we headed home.

It was an ideal weekend.  Aiden didn't come wake me up until after 7 each morning.  I've been trying to teach him not to come in until there is a 7 in the first spot on the clock.  It worked this weekend.  I'm hoping it continues to work.  At first I thought he just happened to sleep in until the appropriate time for me.  But Sunday morning, I got up to go get him some milk and a cup of cereal while he watched cartoons in our bed, I noticed he had turned on the lamp above the clock in his room.  There were a bunch of books spread out on the nightstand like he'd been reading there by the light of the lamp awaiting 7 o'clock.  Again, I'm not sure if this is blind luck or if he really is beginning to understand time. 

The other reason the weekend was so great is I did not plan anything in the mornings.  That meant I didn't have to rush to get us ready immediately after waking up.  It was GREAT.  I need to make more of an effort to do this.  I'm just too tired to be running around all the time.  It was also nice to be around the house in the so I could catch up on simple things like dishes and laundry.  Note to self.

Monster Jam 2012

Doing things without Aiden are becoming increasingly difficult.  I'm not exactly sure why it's any different than it was a year ago.  Maybe because we used to do more stuff in Galveston and that's where our babysitters are?  Not sure.  So when I had TWO nights in a row without Aiden this weekend, I started to feel pretty guilty. 

Saturday night, Travis and Aiden went to a monster truck show with Chris and Blair.  They left before 5 and didn't get home until almost midnight, I believe. 

I was ecstatic to learn Aiden chose to wear the ear protection courtesy of the Ramby's.  Travis has a pair of adult ear muffs, but they are as big as Aiden's head.  No wonder he was willing to wear these, but always refuses ours.  We might need to invest in a pair before the next loud activity.  It sounds like Aiden had a blast.  Travis probably had as much fun as he did.  He came home with tons of photos and videos on his phone.  When I asked Aiden what he like the best about the show, he said the Spiderman truck (of course) and the popcorn.  I don't ever let him have popcorn because I'm irrationally terrified he will choke on it.  Meh. 

The next day, Aiden spent a good portion of the day driving his monster truck toys all over the place.  He has the Gravedigger monster truck, which I didn't realize was an actual truck.  Gravedigger was at the show, so that worked out!  Travis showed him how to run over his other matchbox cars with the monster trucks.  Oh boys.

I, on the other hand, suddenly had a free evening and wasn't sure what to do with myself.  I decided I wanted to do something I can't normally do when I have Aiden.  I ended up going to see a movie with a bunch of girls from work.  We saw the second Sherlock Holmes movie at one of those theaters where they serve you dinner and drinks at the same time as the film.  None of them had ever been to a theater like that, so it was a lot of fun.  A bunch of us got a Groupon that included one ticket and a large popcorn for $5.  GREAT deal.  I shared my popcorn with a girl who didn't get a Groupon because a large popcorn is entirely too much for me.  It would be perfect for Travis and I.  My friend and I barely made a dent.  Granted, we also ate other food.  I got bruschetta and she got cupcakes. 

After the movie, everyone came back to my house and we chatted for an hour before they continued on the road back to the island.  I had a really good time.  I only went to the bathroom three times while we were there.  HA.  One of those times, I saw a man walk into the men's room carrying a mug of beer.  I decided he must not have wanted to leave his drink unattended.  You know, roofies and all that.

At the end of the movie, the servers brought out the bills for everyone.  An elderly woman in the row in front of us whipped out a lighter so she could read and pay her bill.  I don't know why, but that seemed so absolutely outrageous to me.  Did she not have a cell phone to light her way?  Perhaps it didn't cross her mind?  Or was the first thing she thought of her tinderbox?

Before Travis made plans to go to Monster Jam, I had arranged for him to keep Aiden Sunday night while I went to a friend's house for a birthday dinner.  We had Monday off for Martin Luther King Jr Day, so we opted to celebrate on a Sunday night.  Our plans were quite dorky, so try not to judge too much.  We all brought food and planned to watch Aladdin. 

Aladdin was one of my VHS tapes from when I was a kid.  My mom brought an entire box of Disney VHS tapes on her road trip this Christmas.  I finally convinced Travis to figure out how to plug in the VHS player we've been keeping around for just such an occasion.  Travis was always asking if he could throw out that thing.  My response?  "But what if we need it?!"  So glad we kept it. 

Sadly, things didn't work out exactly as we had planned.  My friend's cassette player ate my Aladdin tape. It didn't tear the tape, so we winded it back up.  I haven't had a chance to play it to make sure everything is all right.  Hopefully all is well.  It was pretty funny though because I couldn't tell you the last time I had to wind up a destroyed cassette.  Good times.

Since everyone had Disney on the brain, we opted to watch another Disney movie: Lilo and Stitch.  I have watched a good portion of that movie several times recently because that was another movie in the box from my mom.  Aiden really likes that one.

Dinner was great, and I wasn't home too late.  There's a little more fun left in my weekend to share, but I'll save that for later. 

Mommy's Nights Out

It's been a busy week.  I feel like I'm running around at work trying to keep up half the time.  Then the other half of the time there is NOTHING to do.  That's typical in a lab though.  Your assays need to incubate for a certain amount of time and there's generally only so many things you can clean or tidy up on during the incubations. 

I think the reason it's getting on my nerves so bad this week is because I have had some headaches from hell.  I talked to my doctor about it.  She said it could be pregnancy, it could be the Zofran, or it could just been from my previous neck problems.  The difficulty is that I'm limited on what medication I can take to treat the headache.  In the past, ibuprofen has always worked will for me.  Sadly, I can only take acetaminophen while pregnant.  It doesn't help.  These headaches just barrel on through my day.  It makes the nausea worse.  So when I turn my head, I feel sick.  Or maybe the nausea is causing the headaches?  Gah, I don't know. 

I've also been pretty busy after work this week.  Monday night I went on an impromptu girl's night out with a friend from work who recently quit to work at another hospital in Houston.  She's been having a rough month and I haven't seen her for a while, so I went out even though I had prior plans for a girl's night out Thursday.  We went to get pedicures, but I forgot my wallet.  So I just sat and chatted while everyone else was pampered.  Then they all went out to dinner and thankfully bought my meal.  I totally owe them!

Last night I went with a few girls to see Breaking Dawn on opening night.  I knew it was a bad idea, but I did it anyway.  Didn't want to miss out on the fun.  One of my friends from work has a movie theater membership card so she was offered tickets to see the 8 pm showing.  We got to the theater an hour early, thinking we might not get awesome seats, but I figured we wouldn't get front row.  I thought wrong. 

Lucky for us, no one was in the front row yet, so we were right in the middle!  It was horrible.  I got dizzy during several scenes.  There was one scene with subtitles - I had to turn my head back and forth in order to read it.  I actually didn't finish reading a few of the sentences because I couldn't turn my head quick enough.  Ridiculous.  I stared at Edward and Bella's pores the whole movie. 

I think I liked it.  I know most of the movies are cheesy to a certain point.  And Bella and Edward can be just plain awkward at times, but that's how the characters are in the books.  The difference between the movies and the books is that you get to read about the internal struggle of the characters.  During the movies, you just have to watch it on their faces.

Our biggest joke last night was that Jasper is the constipated vampire.  He always looks like he needs to take a giant crap.  But the books explain that he constantly struggles with the need to drink Bella.  He's struggling with hunger, not digestion.

Overall, it was good.  I would like to see it again from a better seat.  I do plan to buy this movie eventually.  I need to buy the rest of the Harry Potter movies and I think I still need the last Twilight movie that came out.  I'm a little behind on that.  Later, later, later!

Busy Bees

Aiden and I had a full three-day weekend.  Unfortunately, it was Travis' weekend to be on call.  So he had to work Friday and Saturday morning.  I didn't want to stay home the whole time, so I made plans for Aiden and I to get out of the house.  Friday morning, we went to a park we've never been to before.  It had lots of structures for Aiden to play on and there were several trails and ponds.  First I let Aiden run around with the other kids on the playground.

I am really annoyed that I can't get these photos to load upright. It would probably be fine if I did it from my computer at home, but I won't have time to deal with it later.

The structures seemed to be aimed at various age groups.  The one closest to the parking lot was the least scary one for me.  It was low to the ground, with lots of virtually risk-free things to play with.  The one furthest from the playground (there were 4 structures within walking distance) was the one Aiden liked the best.  It had the highest slide that he kept climbing to and going down.  I call those types of slides tornado slides because it spirals all the way down.  It prevents the kids from shooting off the end when they get to the bottom.

After the playground, we walked over to the nearest pond to see if we could find any wildlife.  We saw three turtles and a ton of dragonflies.  We walked down one trail for a bit, but then had to turn around because I was getting hungry.  I get more panicky that usual these days when I get hungry.  I live in constant fear of setting off the nausea.



One of the serious downsides of my fear of hunger and the resulting nausea is that I find myself eating out more often than I'd like.  Generally, I only eat out zero to two times a week (including breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner).  The fast food grease makes me feel really bad about myself and I find that I don't get enough fiber in my diet when I eat out frequently.  But for the past few months, I have been eating out two to four times a week.  If I am out of the house and I get hungry, I don't wait until I get home.  I immediately pull into the nearest drive thru and proceed to shove face.

So, Friday when we left the park, I realized it was already noon.  We usually eat lunch at 11:30 and Aiden naps at 12:30.  I wanted to go to the grocery store before we got home, so I opted for eating out.  Again.  I didn't know the area very well, so I just drove until I saw something easy that sounded good with Aiden along.  Cici's Pizza!  Ha!  Travis hates going there because he said he always ends up spending hours on the toilet after that place.  I don't know if he's serious, but if I could have that side effect, I would be GRATEFUL.  Pregnancy is not the best on an already iffy digestive system.

Turns out, kids 3 and under eat for free!  I only had to pay for myself, and it's not an expensive place to start with (salad, pasta and pizza buffet).  That helped with the financial guilt that I usually feel after eating out as well.  Aiden was so spoiled this weekend.  We went to the park, we had pizza for lunch AND he got to watch cartoons while he ate lunch.  That rarely happens at home.

After lunch we went to the grocery store, then headed home for nap time.  I'm trying to get Aiden to go down for nap time on his own.  He does fine at night when it's dark in his room, but it's always been a struggle during the day when he can easily see all his toys.  I have to go in his room every 5 minutes to tell him to stop playing with his toys and get back in bed.  It's so time consuming because that takes 30 minutes to an hour.  We've been going in and laying on the futon in his room so he would stay in bed.  Half the time we fall asleep in there too.  But we need to stick with it this so we can have our noon time back!

Friday night I had a couple girls over from work for dinner.  I made lasagna for the first time and I think it turned out pretty good.  We watched Bad Teacher.  It was okay.  I had a hard time getting into the love interest at the end because I didn't think they made a good couple.  It was a comedy though, so that didn't entirely ruin it for me.  Travis put Aiden to sleep, so I got a little break there. 

It was a busy day, but it was nausea-free.  That made it awesome.

I'll get around to it someday

I am SO behind on my photos.  I promise I will get to them.  But not today.  Today I plan to add to my to-do list with trick or treating photos.  I'm super stoked to see if Aiden appreciates trick or treating more this year.  Last year he grasped the concept of going up to the door and holding his bag open for candy.  Maybe we'll be able to get him to say "Trick or treat!" this year.  Maybe.

Getting Aiden to wear a Halloween costume has been an exasperating experience this year.  He absolutely refuses to wear any of his pirate accessories.  Instead he looks like a bum in sweatpants and a button-up that he's about to outgrow.  Travis calls him a businessbum.  We got him to wear some of the accessories at Landry's costume birthday party two weekends ago.  But I couldn't get him to wear ANY of it at the Texas Renaissance Festival on Saturday.  We're going for Plan B tonight.  He has worn his cowboy costume a couple times this year at daycare without too much of a fuss.  So we told him if he wants to see Blair and get candy tonight, he has to wear his Woody costume.  It's not exactly the same as Woody's outfit, but he calls it his Woody stuff.  So that's what we call it as well.

This morning Aiden wore a spider shirt to daycare.  I didn't feel like forcing him into a costume ALL DAY today, so I just went with a Halloween-ish outfit.  He is having a Halloween party at daycare, so I signed up to bring a fruit tray.  Since we are not allowed to bring homemade goodies, I just bought a bag of Smarties to hand out to the kids.  Aiden loves those and they're not too messy for the teachers and parents to have to deal with.  I'm a little bummed I couldn't make something to bring.  I keep meaning to ask them why store-bought-only.  Maybe to avoid allergens?  Or to prevent undercooked food?

I'm going to attempt to get out of work half an hour early today so I can get up to the Ramby's house at a decent time.  Alexa's making chili and trick or treating starts at dusk.  Travis is driving up separately since he doesn't get out of work until 6 and his work is between our house and the Ramby's house.  I need Aiden to be easy tonight.  I know that's asking too much, since he generally fights everything we ask him to do.  I can hope though, right?

This Sunday was a super lazy day and I adored it.  We slept in, then watched Harry Potter in bed when Aiden got up.  We ate a late lunch and played in the yard.  It warmed up quite a bit on Sunday, making it perfect for playing outside.  I haven't done bulk laundry in a month, so I spent a good portion of the day standing in the garage folding laundry.  The kicker is I'm still not done.  Aiden loves to play outside, so he didn't mind one bit.  I also grabbed the gardening shears and pruned back the oleanders that were threatening to take over the side of our house.  Aiden and I collected pecans that had fallen from the tree in our front yard.  I'm hoping to find time to make a pecan pie out of them this year.  It will take forever to husk all those pecans, but it would be fun to say I did it just once.

We ate lunch outside and then laid Aiden down for his nap.  I took advantage of the down time and napped at the same time.  I was super unhappy to wake up to my alarm two hours later.  We ate a quick snack and hopped in the car to go to Target.  We needed a few groceries and to get food for tonight at the Ramby's.  We did a walk through the Halloween costumes to see if Aiden would wear any of the $20-$30 outfits they sell.  He picked out Buzz Lightyear and a dinosaur costume but refused to try on either.  We didn't want to waste our money on something that Aiden most likely would not wear, so we decided on the cowboy costume we already had at home.

We bought food for dinner at Target, rented Megamind and went home to finish off our lazy day.  Megamind was super cute.  Will Ferrell does the voice of the main character and he killed it.  I keep finding myself saying, "Potato, potato, tomato, tomato."  Watch the following clip to see what I'm talking about.

Parenting Stories

When Aiden and I get in the car in the mornings to go to daycare/work, I let him bring a cup of water and a snack cup of dry cereal.  He usually has cereal leftover that he eats during the ride home.  That way he's not miserably cranky when we get home and I have a minute to make dinner before a meltdown.  The water, however, is generally too hot to drink in the evening after a day baking in the car.  But the other day, he had Goldfish crackers for some reason and he was asking for a drink of water.  I felt bed for him with his dry, cracker mouth so I tested out his water.  It was cloudy that day, so the water was only warm.  I decided to go ahead and let him have a drink.  I handed him the cup and told him he could have a drink of it, but it was hot.

He took a drink of the water, took the cup out of his mouth and stared quizzically at it for a minute.  Then he looks at me and says, "Coffee?" 

The kid thinks any hot beverage is coffee.  Cracks me up every time.

Continuing with Aiden's tendency to generalize everything, he thinks all skulls are pirates.  He has a book about pirates and we've watched Pirates of the Caribbean a few times.  He's noticed the skull and crossbones on the black pirate flag, so now he associates it with pirates.  With Halloween being right around the corner, there is an abundance of skulls around.  He is constantly screaming, "Pirates!"  I look around for a pirate only to find a skull of some sort.  At least I know what he's talking about now.

He also wants to go to the store every day after daycare.  Sometimes when I need just a few items, I'll run by Target on my way out of town.  Aiden loves it.  I'm not sure why.  I guess we frequently stop in the toy section for a birthday present and he gets to play with everything.  Maybe that has something to do with it. 

To go to the store we have to pass a statue.  So when he gets in the car, he starts screaming, "'Tore! 'Tatoo!"  Most of the time, I have to say, "No, we're going to go past the trains and then go home."  Statue and store, or trains and home.  Funny what my life has reduced to.  ;)

Tangled

A couple weekends ago, we went over to the Yeager's for dinner. We celebrated Zach's birthday with some yummy chocolate cake. Aiden was so excited about all of Luke's toys that he absolutely refused to eat dinner. Because of the heat, they have brought all Luke's giant backyard toys into the house: a trampoline, a play house, plus all his regular toys (chair, table, etc). Aiden's not one to turn down sweets and because it was a special occasion (he never gets desserts), we let him have a small slice of cake.

After we ate, the baby sitter showed up to watch Kenley while the rest of us, plus Scott, went to watch a movie in the park. This month's showing was the Disney movie Tangled. Luke wasn't very interested in the show and Aiden wanted to be wherever Luke was, so the boys ended up playing on the playground the entire time instead of watching the show. We had a lot of fun, but I still want to see the rest of that movie!

I think the guys were grateful that they weren't forced to sit through an entire Disney film.

I got bit by a fire ant that night, so I took a Benadryl before bed. Travis got up with Aiden in the morning so I could sleep off my Benadryl coma. Sadly, he found Aiden covered in the chocolate cake he must have vomited at some point during the night. Apparently sugar on an empty stomach, topped with running around in the heat equates to an upset toddler tummy.

Lazy Time

I've been feeling a little drained from this whole flip-flop job situation, so I haven't been up for much. As of today, my salary is covered through August. Whenever September comes around, the highest bidder wins as far as I'm concerned. I really prefer to be in control of my life and this whole not-knowing-who-or-where-I'll-be-working-next-month thing is taking it's toll. Looks like it'll be another month of not knowing.

Due to my lack of enthusiasm at the moment, I spent a lot of time watching movies this weekend. Sunday, we left Aiden with the sitter and met Ariel and Robert for dinner at Chili's. After dinner we saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. I'm a huge Potter fan, so of course I recommend it.

Throughout the rest of the weekend, I watched movies when I had time. Those films include: Eat Pray Love, Prince of Persia and Did You Hear About The Morgans? I was not disappointed with a single one of them. So I guess I recommend them as well!

I watched a portion of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie with Aiden on Monday. He really liked it. I'm hoping this will be our segue into potty training. We have a pirates potty book and corresponding stickers. It would be nice if we could find some way to get him excited about this whole using the potty thing. He's such a stubborn kid. I have a feeling he will fight it all the way to the end. I still haven't pulled the potty back out of the closet, but he has finally started showing some of the signs that he's ready. SOME. He knows when he's got a poopy diaper. Sometimes he'll get me a clean diaper, the wipes and the baby powder. He doesn't claim to be very aware of peeing though.

Maybe I'll pull the potty out again in a couple weeks. We can decorate it with stickers and make a big deal out of it.

Pixar vs Disney

Speaking of Pixar, I came across an article the other day that pointed out that there is not a single Pixar movie with a female lead. Think about it. There are sidekicks (Dory in Finding Nemo, Jessie in Toy Story), but no leading females. They get close in movies like The Incredibles, but I still felt like the dad was the main character in that movie.

I know that Disney cartoons seemed to favor girls with all the princess movies (Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid), but at least they had some male leads (Pinocchio, The Jungle Book, Robin Hood). Although, now that I think about it, I do recall a blog post by a friend where she points out that the relationships those princesses have are not exactly good lessons to teach our chidren. Belle falls in love with a beast that holds her hostage in his castle. Ariel gives up who she is (a mermaid) to be with the man she loves (with legs).

See what I mean? Let a man treat you like crap and change who you are to be what he wants! That's how you will be happy!

Well, I suppose when I think back on Disney films, that's not what I took from them. I liked the princesses with their flowing dresses, frolicking through the woods, oblivious to the danger that was always after them. I think my favorite princess was always sleeping beauty. She had a strong voice and all the animals loved her. That's what I remember. Being outside. Ariel under the water, Jasmine on a magic carpet ride, Cinderella and the pumpkin. Oh and the fairies were fun too.

And even though Pixar is short-handing the ladies, I still love their movies. They entertain me as a parent, as much as they entertain my son. It's WAY better than having to sit through an episode of Thomas the Train.

Only 7 more weeks!

I especially love that the first thing they do after they wake up is check the roof of the building.

More Movies, Less TV

I don't recall if I've mentioned this yet, but Travis and I are planning to cancel our satellite TV after March Madness. We're waiting for the basketball thing to be over for Travis. Obviously. Since we rarely find the time to watch TV these days and are really far behind on all the movies that have come out since Aiden was born, we're planning to get either Netflix or Blockbuster. I'm leaning towards Netflix because I am interested in trying out the streaming video feature. We just plug the computer into the TV and voila! Instant movie!

I'm freaking out a little because AT&T's U-verse has decided to put a bandwidth cap effective in May. If AT&T is doing it, will the other Internet providers follow suit?! And if so, how will that affect the ability to stream movies on Netflix?! Ugh, decisions, decisions...

Either way, we're getting rid of our TV package in April. I will be sad to lose instant Elmo/Buzz/Blue's Clues/etc, but I should rely on TV to keep my child happy anyway. He already watches too much TV at daycare. Don't get me started on that.

This is all good timing because I have MORE movies to add to my to-watch list:

• Paul, in theaters this weekend (those guys make me LAUGH)
• Water for Elephants, April 22 (this one looks pretty, beyong the fact that Robert Pattinson the lead male)
• Bridesmaids, May 13 (girl's version of Hangover, with Kristen Wiig in her first starring roll)

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)

My Boys and the Sea

Wow. I have been really bad about posting lately. That's what happens when I'm busy at home AND at work. No time, no time! Oh and you can blame Alexa for giving me a 100 books to read. I know Travis is a little less than thrilled about that. ;)

Aiden seems to be recovering from his ear infection nicely. We will have another three days of antibiotics left, but he is no longer walking like a drunk man and doesn't cry every 10 minutes. That's a serious improvement in my book!

Aiden has made some language advancements lately that are SO FUN. He just started pointing at things and saying "uh dat". I'm pretty sure that means "what's that". His favorite items to point at are lights and fans. I'm thinking he might have a slight fascination with electrically-run things, like his father. Ha! Most of his words at this point are his personal jargon. I can tell what he's saying because I've learned that he uses them at certain times or places. And I think that 'mama' and 'dada' are taking on actual meaning to him. Wahoo!

This weekend was tiring, but much better than the last two. No fevers or sickness. THANK GOODNESS. I had gone up to Alexa's house on Thursday to go through some books she's getting rid of (nesting has officially set in at the Ramby's), so I had a lot to choose from this weekend. So on Friday, after Aiden went to bed, Travis went out to mow the lawn and I decided to take it easy with a book. It was amazing. I love resting. Sometimes I forget to do it and then have to remind myself to chill out.

Saturday morning, we went to the beach first thing. We were only there for a couple hours. Aiden would have enjoyed more time there, except it was nap time so we had to head home. I am so excited Aiden had fun this time. He kept walking back into the water. It was hilarious because the waves would throw off his sense of balance and he was constantly falling in the direction the waves were moving. I wanted to sit down and have a snack for a moment, so I got out a shovel for him to play in the sand. He loved that too. Best part for Mommy was he didn't try to eat the sand. We'll have to get him a sandbox soon!

Travis and I drove separately, so he could go to work. There was a fundraiser run on the beach and his company had been asked to set up the lights the day of, and then take them down the day after. Saturday was the day of, so he and a co-worker made three trips to carry the lights and a generator and set them up. Unfortunately, his co-worker lost his keys, so they had to wait for a friend to come unlock the van. When the keys weren't in there, they called a locksmith to make them a key.

When they were finally finished around 6:45, the woman running the show asked if they would stick around to turn on the lights at 7:30. Travis originally thought he'd be home in the afternoon. Ha! Anyway, while they were waiting to turn on the lights, the EMS arrived. The sand on the beach was really soft, so he didn't want to drive down onto the beach. He said that if someone more capable would drive it down, he'd be okay with that. He just didn't want to be the one to get it stuck. Travis jumped at the chance to drive an ambulance and he loved every minute of it. Of course, he got it stuck 10 feet from the wet sand. A gas-powered golf cart was all it took to help them out of the soft stuff.

Travis came home electrified. No pun intended. Or was it?

Sunday morning, Travis left to pick up the lights. Aiden and I played out in the yard with the water table (I put bubble bath in it this time). The best time of day to go outside at this point is first thing in the morning. So that's what I try to do with him every weekend. To give you an idea of what we're working with, right now, at 8:52 in the morning, it is 84F (cooler than normal actually) with 85% humidity, making the heat index 97F. It wouldn't be so bad if it cooled down at night. But it doesn't. It feels like this all day long. Well, I guess it gets worse from noon to 4pm. Hooray for Texas summers.

Sunday was my dad's birthday. He got his gift just in time on Saturday, but saved it to open ON his birthday. I talked to him for a while in the morning. Travis got back in the afternoon, just in time to get Aiden up from his nap and feed him his snack.

We played inside with Aiden until it was time to bring him to the babysitter's. Sue, the babysitter, asked that we bring him by more often so he could get used to her. I think it's working because he didn't cry at all this time. She also said that this was the best visit they'd had so far. I'm sure it helps that he's not sick this time, but either way I am glad. Travis and I took a few hours for adult time and went to see Inception with some of my work friends. I thought it was an excellent movie, but you really have to pay attention so you don't get lost. It had one of those endings that leaves you wondering what it meant, instead of just telling you outright. Normally that annoys me, but this time I'm not sure.

Travis and I have realized that we really like Leonardo DiCaprio. He always does great movies. Part of that could be that he always chooses to work for great producers. Or they choose him? Not sure, but I do know I like his movies. I'll have to remember that...

Ramby Retreat

Travis and I tried to keep this past weekend as low key as possible. For one, we had a crazy previous weekend filled with lots of activities due to Aiden's birthday party, 4th of July and family being in town. Two, Travis has a herniated disk in his lower back and he really needed the rest. He has decided to go back into work today, so I wanted his weekend to be one of recovery.

I'm trying to think and I honestly cannot recall what we did Friday night. It was that memorable. I'm pretty sure I read (currently on The DaVinci Code and loving it) and Travis pulled out an old Playstation 2 golf game to play.

Saturday we had omelets for breakfast and then chicken salad sandwiches for lunch. Aiden is eating everything these days. It's so fun introducing him to new food, which is pretty much everything.

For lunch, I met up with Rachel and her friend to see Eclipse (finally!) at a movie theater/grill. I LOVED it. It was definitely the best one thus far. It gave more insight into more of the characters' backgrounds and we delved into the heart of THE love triangle. Ever since I saw Twilight, I've had a problem with the actor that plays Edward. When I read the book, Edward was much more manly and good-looking than Robert Pattinson. Sometimes I have to sit back and remind myself that Edward became a vampire when he was 17, so it only makes sense that he is not a big, buff man. Still, that's now how I pictured him in my head.

I supposed Robert Pattinson wouldn't be that bad, except that he always comes across as whiny. I'm sure that is supposed to be his I'm-in-emotional-pain face, but that's not what I get from it. The great part is he toned that face WAY down in this film and for that, I am grateful. Rachel also made an excellent point that the movie does not do a very good job of making you want Bella to get with Jacob. While reading the book I was always torn between the two, even though I knew Bella needed Edward more. Okay, okay. Enough of the Twilight Saga talk...

I rushed home after the movie. Since Travis' back is injured, I don't want him running after and picking up Aiden any more than he has to. When I got there, Aiden was being is new regular cranky self, so I had to relieve Travis. That night we rented Legion. I always find apocalyptic films intriguing, but I was a little disappointed in this one. There were some scary parts (which I am not a huge fan of), I thought the graphics were good (unlike Wolfman, which was stupid), but it was lacking somewhat in the dialogue. Eh. Still good for a laid back Saturday night.

I told Travis that I am going to start renting some movies I want to see. He doesn't have to watch the movies with me. He can go play his video games, work in the garage or watch whatever he wants on TV. I just got so frustrated at the RedBox on Saturday when I saw how many movies that are out, that I know Travis will not want to sit through. He does not like dramas, romance or independent films. All of which are my favorite genres. I like action and comedies, but they are not the bread and butter of the film world.

An-y-hoo! Sunday was awesome. We spent the morning at home. We let Aiden play outside for a little while (this walking thing is awesome!) and went for a walk (should have brought the mosquito net for Aiden). After Aiden's nap, we headed towards Kemah. We had damage to the gazebo we bought for the birthday party, so we wanted to exchange that. After making a quick stop at Walmart (I NEEDED What to Expect the Toddler Years), we continued on to the Ramby's. Or Ramby Resort, as I've decided to start calling their home.

We went swimming in their pool and spent the entire evening sitting on their back porch. It didn't feel that humid, although that could have been because we were all wet from the pool. Aiden had a BLAST playing in Blair's water table. So much so, that they let us borrow it for the summer. Aiden just splashed and splashed and splashed! He started this new game in his last bath. I'd much prefer that he keeps that to the outdoors, although that will be really hard to control with our new tantrum-toddler.

Travis and I have decided to take Alexa's advice and postpone weaning Aiden off his bottles for now. He is already dealing with a lot with this move to the new classroom and resulting drop of one daily nap. Plus, we're pretty sure he's working on cutting another tooth. It is just too much at once and there is no reason to push him so quickly. We'll give it another go after he has transitioned into this new way of life.

Why does Taylor Lautner have to be younger than my brother?!

Seriously - his GQ stuff is hot. Check out my favorite werewolf's moves...

I am currently re-reading the 4th installment of the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn. I read the third book in preparation for the movie that is set to release June 30th and couldn't just stop there! I heard they are splitting the last book into two films. As I am reading Breaking Dawn, there are many times when I think the actions in the book will have trouble being translated on screen. The first three films are PG-13 and I know they'd like the last film to remain PG-13 so fans of all ages can attend. It will be interesting to see how they deal with this.

As for Eclipse, the movie, this is going to be awkward. This is the first film where both Edward and Jacob are in Bella's life significantly at the same time. I can tell I will be cringing A LOT when Bella does things she "shouldn't". Ugh.

Only 12 days until Eclipse releases! AHHHHH!

My First

This was my first Mother's Day as an actual mother. Last year at this time, I was pregnant and that felt real. BUT, I did not yet know my son, or the extreme sense of connection that I would feel for him. This Mother's Day had an entirely new meaning to me. It makes me sad to think of all the years that I did things for my mom on this day without understanding the extent to which she felt about it the holiday. I guess that is just the cycle of life. I don't doubt that Aiden will love me (or already does), but I don't think he will understand the breadth of the feeling I have until he has children of his own.

This year it was a weekend long celebration and I LOVE EVERY MINUTE OF IT. I made plans to meet the Luck family for a potluck barbecue at the beach with JR's family. That morning, Travis decided to fit in blowing the attic with insulation. Chris R. came over to feed the machine, while Travis crawled around in the cramped quarters of our attic space with the hose. There were a few hiccups (the originally rented machine did not work, one hose got severely clogged, etc.), so Travis was not ready to leave when we needed to. I would have waited, but since I figured Aiden would not last long, I wanted to get out there before his afternoon nap.

Fortunately, Travis was able to meet us down there just an hour or so later. The location they chose to have the BBQ was right on the beach, so we parked right next to where we were sitting. I will DEFINITELY be going back to this location next time we visit the beach. It was so much easier than attempting to cart everything with you in one trip from the Seawall down to the water. We were able to go back and forth from our car with ease.

Since the last trip to the beach with Aiden was not very successful, I did not have confidence that we would stay longer than a couple hours. I was sure to put sunscreen on Aiden before I even got him out of the car. I, on the other hand, decided to forgo the cancer-prevention. I thought, eh, just a couple hours, I should be fine without it. Well, two hours turned into ALL DAY. It may have been cloudy and windy, but don't let that fool you! I AM FRIED. JUST in time for our trip home. Through the airport. With our luggage for two adults and a baby. With shoulder straps. Ahhh! Stupid me. I really should have applied sunscreen once Aiden fell asleep for his afternoon nap. As they say, hindsight is 20/20.

Anyway, the day was wonderful. I think the lack of full-exposure sun helped keep Aiden from getting cranky. We ate lots of food, while Travis and I passed Aiden back and forth. We played horse shoes and bags, but did not get in the water except for our feet.

After the beach, we went home to shower, then came back to meet everyone for dinner at a Mexican restaurant that we haven't been to in a long time. Aiden was such a trooper. He made it all day long without breaking down once. I'm sure it helped that he never got any sunscreen in his eyes! It was really great to catch up with Sara and JR and to see how much their kids have grown. I took a bunch of photos that I will get up later.

Sunday was a fairly laid back day for us, just the family. Travis got Aiden up, grabbed his bottle and laid him in bed with me, so he could run out to grab us kolaches and that horrific gas station cappuccino that is my guilty-pleasure. During breakfast, Travis gave me my Mother's Day gifts. Expensive gifts have never been a part of our relationship, so I was shocked to find my gifts came in two small gift bags: Victoria's Secret and Jared's. Aiden and Daddy got me new perfume, Sexy Little Things Noir with a cute little aerosolizer, and blue topaz earrings. The blue topaz is because that is my favorite stone, not because it is Aiden's birthstone.

While Aiden took his morning nap, Travis worked on replacing our hole-filled aluminum screens with nylon solar screens. Travis is taking off our storm shutters, which has been a source of anxiety for me. On one hand, they are great. The one time we have had to evacuate for a hurricane since living in this house, I was able to walk around to each window and turn the knob to close the storm shutters.

On the other hand, if there is a fire, we have no alternate escape route. I was also worried about the direct sun light affecting our electric bill, but Travis solved that problem by purchasing screens that block out 90% of the sun's rays. It has changed the ambiance of our house dramatically, as we have switched from warm daylight to a cool blue light that filters through the screens. I also believe that the storm shutters are an eye-sore. They make the house look extremely dated.

I already feel secure in our decision to remove the shutters. The house looks SO MUCH better, meaning it should be a little easier to sell the house in a year. I can't wait to see how much the combination of attic insulation and solar screens will affect our electric bill. It's been a green-weekend at our house!

Anyhoo, when Aiden woke up from his nap, we grabbed his lunch and a blanket and headed to the park. We stopped at Wendy's on the way for an easy-on-the-go picnic food. I do have to say the meal itself was very disappointing, but the time by the pond was worth it. Aiden had a good time crawling around the blanket with Travis, tinkering with his toys. We only stayed for an hour and then headed back home.

Travis worked on the screens some more during Aiden's afternoon nap. Another plus about taking off these shutter is we now can reach the outside of the windows to clean them. They were bad. I feel like it is so much easier to see out of our windows now. During the day, the windows just look black from the outside. At night, they are like any other window. I was amazed to notice just how tall our neighbor's pine trees are, now that we can see without the shutters. Travis replaced five out of fifteen of the screens. I think the rest should go pretty smoothly.

For dinner, we grilled the rest of the fish Travis caught weeks ago (we had frozen half of it) and steaks. The best part, is Aiden ate what we were eating. He tried speckled trout, Parmesan rice, green peppers and onions. This new level of eating is SO EXCITING as a mother. I love giving him new things to try. I never would have thought to offer him onions, except that I read it recently in a magazine. He took it on like a champ!

Aiden had some trouble falling asleep, so Travis ended up rocking him to sleep in the hammock. We rounded the evening off by watching the movie Sherlock Holmes (probably would have been better if we hadn't needed to pause the movie several times) and eating Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies. I couldn't have asked for a better day with my boys!