All up in the kool-aid, dont even know the flava

Avoidance

Big Life Decisions were made today. But, since it is late, and I am tired, I'm going to talk about something else.

Do you have  a Ci Ci's pizza where you live? It's a pizza buffet chain. We decided on a whim to take the kids there today for lunch.

Poor Poor Decision.

I think we should have turned around and left when we first walked in and saw a variety of low level scuzzy people. When did CiCi's become a hang out for low lifes?

Then we definetly should have left when we sat down at a table, and the patrons next to us starting screaming because a ROACH was walking across their table. If that wasnt bad enough, they FLICKED the roach at our table.

Yet we stayed. But- oh yes- we did at least move to the other side of the restuarant.

(I'm re-reading what I've written, and I clearly realize we should have made a fuss about the roach issue and left immediately. What were we thinking??)

At least the pizza was good.

So, in an effort to get you to forget our poor restuarant choices, let me share some pictures of my son and Alfred. Chillaxin.

 

There now, does that make up for my very poor lack of judgement with restaurants?

Family Visit

On Saturday, my aunt and Grandmother came to see Jackson for the first time. They hadnt seen Emma since January, and I think they were amazed at how much she had grown and learned. I don't know if Emma remembered them, but by the time they left, she knew them well enough to mention them by name several times.

We went over to J's parents house Saturday night for  a big Ole Family Dinner. We cooked.

Before they headed back on Sunday morning, I made cranberry scones for breakfast.

The visit went really well and I know Emma had a great time playing with her great grandmother and great aunt. I'm not sure when we'll see them again as it takes a lot for my grandmother to travel and, well, it takes a lot for us to pack up two kids and all there STUFF and go out of town.

What's that saying about fish and houseguests?

Well, after nearly a week of his car in the shop, TJ hit the road Friday late afternoon, to spend a week with his family before flying back to Iraq.

While he stayed with Jason's parents at night, he was over at our house all day and evening for the most part. And you know what? That didnt bother me a bit. He was an exception houseguest.

He helped with chores, like taking out the trash and mowing the lawn.

He bought us dinner and a nice bottle of wine.

Let us borrow his camera to take hundreds of pictures.

And MAN OH MAN, I had so much fun with that camera and its different lenses. Quite clearly, I need to reevaluate of money flow and find a way to get me a nice digital SLR camera.

TJ also took approximate 5 billion pictures of us during his stay.

TJ is a great photographer. And thankfully he loves taking pictures. We've got pictures of everything from Jason pouring wine, to Emma eating a peanut butter sandwich to Holly sleeping. Our life, at least for a week, was thoroughly documented in digital photos.

Jason loved having his buddy here.

Oh my, the good times they had.



But I think the best part was seeing how great he was with Emma.

I've got so many pictures of the two of them, I think I'll devote an entire post to them.

She absolutely fell in love with TJ, whom she- for whatever reason- nicknamed "Dice". To see our daughter have so much fun with one of our friends was just...heart warming. TJ will make a great dad one day if he decides to start a family.

I don't know when we'll be able to see TJ again, but I know that anyone that volunteers to vacuum my living room is a lifelong friend.

3 month letter to Jackson

Dear Jackson,

It's so hard to believe you are already 3 months old. These months have just FLOWN by.

We took you to the doctor on your 3 month birthday (something routine), and you weighed in at an amazing 16 lbs 10 oz. You are nearly 17 lbs! Your sister was 17 lbs at 12 months old! Clearly, you are being fed well.

You are very alert and love to move around. You wiggle and kick and throw your hands around. You turn your head to look at all of your surroundings. You make tons of cooing noises. And you love to chew on your fingers. Maybe you will get teeth early? Your sister got her first tooth at 9 months, but I wouldnt be suprised if you got yours sooner.

You are not sleeping thru the night, but this is totally my fault and not yours. I'm still keeping you in a bassinet  (which you are nearly too big for) next to the bed. This means that at any little noise you make during the night, I scoop you up and nurse you. I bet you dont need me to do that, but I do, and so you don't sleep thru the night. I'm nearly ready to let you sleep in your own room, and will probably transition you into your own bed after your father's upcoming two week trip to Kansas. I cant bear to have you in another room while he is away. We'll have mommy and Jackson time and let you sleep in the big bed. Shhh. Don't tell.

You are very aware of your surroundings. Long gone are the days I could plop you into your papasan chair and run out of the room for a minute and you wouldnt know. You now track me with your eyes wherever I go. You also love to watch your sister. Sometimes you smile when she is near you. I hope you two grow up to be the best of friends.

You met your great grandmother and great aunt for the first time this weekend. You were a wonderful happy smiley (and drooly) baby as usual. Everyone always comments on how happy and laid back you are.

I imagine we are just going to start checking off milestones at a rapid rate after this month. You'll be laughing soon, rolling over, eventually crawling and playing with toys. It goes by so fast.

I love you more than I could ever have possibly imagined.

Love you little man,

Mama

The winning 3 month photo...

3 month photo shoot: Vote!

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

The Outback

Yall are too sweet. Thank you for all the nice comments on my last post.


As I mentioned a few days ago, our friend TJ is in town. Orignially he was only suppose to be in town from Saturday to Monday. He flew in Saturday night from Iraq (he works there- non-military related job) and he had business to take care of in our kneck of the woods Monday mornihng, and then he was going to head to Indiana to visit family before he flys back to Iraq on the 19th.

Except that the car he bought ( a very nice sporty number that he will store with family until his work in Iraq is done), got injured in a freak one car accident. TJ is fine, but the car needs a new engine! Crazy huh? Anyway, at least it happened in our kneck of the woods and not in some no man's land between here and Indiana. So, he's staying at Jason's parents house until the car is fixed. Poor guy, he's missing visiting with his family during this short trip home because of this car accident!

Jason's really been enjoying hanging out with him though. They are great friends and it is great to see my husband having so much fun. My husband leads a stressful life and so its wonderful for him to be able to kick back and hang with his buddy, whom he hasnt seen in I think 2 years.

Monday night TJ  took us out to Outback Steakhouse. We could choose to go anywhere, and I generally would have prefered a non-chain restaurant, but we were limited on time and distance.

This was my first time leaving Jackson (with someone besides Jason) for a period of about 2 hours. We knew we couldnt make it up to Charlotte for a nice original restaurant in that time, so it needed to be a chain restaurant (pretty much all we have in Rock Hill). It might sound odd that I, the vegetarian, chose Outback Steakhouse, but I really wanted a blooming onion and I remembered they had good salads and free bread. Who doesnt love free bread?

TJ takes his camera everywhere.  And he hauls along all his great lens and flash accessories. The wait staff probably thought we were famous the way he took pictures of us all night!

Mmm. Free food and alcohol with a good friend. Cant get much better.

This is me

This is me. In the morning. I pulled up my oily-needs to be washed- hair into a ponytail, brushed my teeth, wiped last night's mascara from around my eyes, and that's all. This is me.

Im kind of pasty. Some sun damage from my tanning bed days, the beginnings of some around the eye wrinkles, dark circles under my eyes from not washing off my makeup at night and getting not near enough sleep.

But somehow, TJ's Nikon D300 manages to make the uncut version of me something not entirely horrid to look at. Now that is a good camera.

I feel like this picture, totally un-edited, really captures me. I'm young, probably a bit immature at times, a worrier, self concious, have a tendency towards depression,  seen fmy share of the bad,  get high levels of anxiety when my routine is altered, don't take near enough care of my almost 30 year old skin, vaccuum obsessively but don't mop nearly enough, watch my daughter play more often than I play with her, dream constantly about the future but dont seem to do much to to achieve those dreams. Sometimes I'm lazy, sometimes I am very efficient. I work great with deadlines but horrible without goals. I can sing opera, and I am pretty confident about my operatic abilities, but kareoke? Scares me. I sound horrid singing to the radio- ask my husband. I listen to tunes, never the words. I have a high threshhold for pain and a low threshhold for roaches.

I want to be remembered, but I often feel forgotten.

I often think, "I want to be somebody one day." but I need to realize, I already am somebody today.

This is me.

Houseguest

Our friend TJ is in town for a few days. He brought with him a series of fun camera toys, including his  Nikon D300 and new fisheye lens.

Do you think he'd notice if I replaced his good camera and lens with my old lame Fugi camera?

He said I am welcome to play around with his camera while he is here.

Oh, you best believe I will.

The newest member of the laptop club

Laptop?

Purchased!

 

We are all very excited.

I am writing this post in the living room.

Or maybe the bathroom...

Im not telling.

(A big thank you to Jason for seiing everything up and modeling the laptop for all of you.)

Miss Independence

Emma let me take pictures of her modeling the dress that Sandy sent.

 

And this video is for Kristie- to show her that we are all enjoying her 4th of July Banner!

Untitled from alfredsmom on Vimeo.