Profound Musings

Why do we paint our fingernails and toenails?  When did someone sit there and say, "We really should paint that hardened flesh."  That is weird to me.  Don't get me wrong, I paint my toenails and fingernails (in fact, I am wearing Jamberry's on my fingernails currently- so I have even stepped into the let's-put-adhesives-on-our-hardened-flesh zone), but still... why?  Also, why did we decide that long, dead cells coming from our heads are attractive but coming from our legs, they aren't??  Not to mention... we COLOR those dead cells!  Do you see women highlighting their underarm hair?  I personally don't, but then again, I don't live in Europe, so I wouldn't know.  What if we painted our hands but NOT the fingernails... and what if we were bald with long, braided leg hair?  What if people put cute clips and bows to adorn their furry legs?  Also, why don't we pluck our eye lashes?  Why is it somehow attractive to have REALLY long, black, thick hair coming from around our eyes?  Who suddenly deemed that as hot?  Who decided that she would be so much prettier if a man could look into her eyes and see them surrounded by thick, long hair?  AND WHAT IS UP WITH EYEBROWS?!?!  Furry caterpillars that society cannot seem to decide whether they look better as little, skinny caterpillars, or big, thick, juicy caterpillars...We've never decided that "no lashes" is in?  We never went through a phase where "thinning" our eyelashes was super cool... but at one point, thin eyebrows were in... Why don't we curl our nose hair?  "LIKE OH MY GOODNESS!  YOUR NOSE HAIR IS TOTES MAGOTES THICK AND CURLY!!!  WHAT MASCARA DO YOU USE!?!?"  Why is some hair better looking than others?  Who decides this?!!

I think from now on I am going to compliment someone's nail polish by saying, "Wow!  I love the way you decorated your hardened finger flesh," just to get a reaction...

3...2...1.... DISNEY!

As I sit here, waiting for my chamomile tea to steep at 8:36pm.... I am already exhausted... ready for bed even.  Why?  Well, I will tell you...

We (Travis, Mom, Dad, and I) have been waiting to close on our first house (hopefully) about 45 minutes north of where we currently live for what feels like forever.  We were SUPPOSED to close on January 16th, and then a wrench was thrown into the whole operation.  Of course.  Isn't there ALWAYS a wrench thrown in last minute while trying to close on a home?  Who is leaving these wrenches lying around anyway?!?!?!  Put those wrenches safely in a locked away toolbox so people aren't tempted to throw them into mortgage situations right before people are planning on closing, thank you very much!!!!!!!!

But I digress....

The point is, it is January 26th, and I am currently still sitting in my same condo I have lived in for the past two and a half years typing this... right now. This word... and this one... okay, I am done.  Now, normally this wouldn't be so terribly annoying.  But it is.  Why?  Well, I will tell you!  Gee, you sure are good at asking these questions!

My parents stayed with my sister for the month of December to welcome and help out with her new baby girl- my sweet, smushy, lovable snugglebumpkin niece!  Afterward, they headed here to spend January with us to help us move!  They came, we cleaned, we packed, we partied (T.J. turned two on the 12th- hooray!), and we waited, expecting the 16th to be go time!  Well, then (at the beginning of the week of the 16th, we got the call that that stupid wrench was, indeed, chucked into the situation).  We prayed, we thought, and God worked it out.  Awesome.  However, we couldn't celebrate just yet.  Because we had to do a different type of loan, etc., we needed more time.  They changed our close date to be the 30th of January- a half month later?!?!?!?!  UGH.  The good part was that we discussed that that would be the LAST possible day to close.  So we would definitely close MUCH earlier than the 30th, right?  RIGHT?!?!?


RIGHT!?!?!?!?!?!??!

Hey.  hey you.  Yeah you....

nope.

So here we are, January 26th, still waiting for everybody to get their acts together.  Grand.

Thus, a few days ago, we all got bored.  We had already packed the stuff that we didn't need IMMEDIATELY.  We were sitting around waiting... and waiting... and... well, you get the point.

CRUISE!  We got cruise fevaaa!!  We decided that we should go on a 3-4 day cruise- how fun!  Weeeellllll, Mom didn't bring her passport.  So that idea died.  However, I had mentioned something in passing about us running up to Disney, so after the cruise idea was embalmed and buried, we turned our stir-crazied minds toward the potential of a weekend jaunt to Disney World.  Hmmmm....

We took off Friday evening after my babysitting gig, and we headed up to Disney World.  This is where I got surprised.  Now, as many of you know, I don't get surprised too easily and too often because I am nosy and demanding (hey, truth hurts, right?!).  Well, this time I was surprised- genuinely!  I thought we were staying at the Fairfield Inn, but my folks sprang for some extra Disney Vacation Club points, and we stayed two nights at Old Key West- a Disney Resort- super fun!

Long story short.... (scrolls up)... ok long story not so extremely longish...ness...esque...... we ended up staying two nights at Old Key West and we visited Magic Kingdom on Saturday.  It was a GREAT weekend- and an awesome way to prevent us from going bananas waiting on a close date.

T.J. did WONDERFULLY!  He was so excited to see Mickey Mouse!  The first character he met was Pluto.  While we waited in line, we all excitedly talked about how he was going to see Pluto soon and talked about how nice he was!  My dad told him he was Mickey Mouse's dog and talked with him all about Pluto.  Well, Pluto was his FIRST character, so we kind of expected him to shy away.

Not my child.

He waltzed right up to Pluto with his pen and autograph book extended, got the autograph, HUGGED Pluto, said "bye bye", etc.!  I was floored.  And he had a great reaction with every character!!  But the best character, by far, was Jessie from Toy Story 2 and 3.  WOW.  She was SO nice!  She spent tons of time with him.  He hugged her, kissed her, and got her autograph.  T.J. had Woody with him, and Jessie picked Woody up, made him dance around, and then she noticed that we hadn't signed his boot!!!!  So what did she do??  She took a permanent marker and wrote "T.J." on the bottom of Woody's boot, of course!!  But she didn't want to feel left out either, so she signed HER OWN BOOT as well!  It was adorable and fantastic!  T.J. met Pluto, Jessie, Buzz, Woody, Tinker Bell, Periwinkle (I don't know, Tinker Bell's sister or something- a new Disney show thing... I can't keep up...  ::hobbles out with walker and shakes fist in a crotchety manner:: "GET OFF MY LAWN YOU WHIPPER SNAPPERS!!!!!"), and Mickey Mouse.

T.J. also went on a few rides!  His first ride was the Winnie the Pooh ride in Fantasy land.  Not a great idea considering the scary music, thunder, lightening, rain, etc.  Oh well, he didn't lose it, just fussed a little while we scrambled to distract him.  He also went on It's a Small World, the Tea Cups, Peter Pan's Flight, Little Mermaid (a new ride!), and Splash Mountain.  Just kidding about the last one (wanted to make sure you were paying attention).

We topped the evening off by watching the Electric Light Parade which was awesome and soooo crowded!  My parents were then nice enough to take T.J. back to the resort so Travis and I could spend some time together going on the more intense rides like Space Mountain and the Buzz ride with all the aliens (might have been a touch intense for the Teej) as well take time to enjoy a treat together from Main Street.  Meanwhile, T.J. crashed out the millisecond the car started.  Haha!  We headed back to the resort to find T.J. crashed completely out in the Pack N' Play.  Thanks Mamaw and Papa!  =]

Overall, it was an amazing weekend.  I can honestly say it was the most fun I have ever had at Disney World.  There is nothing quite like the joy of watching your child have fun and experience new things!  It is amazing how different it is to enjoy Disney from the selfless viewpoint of "What would my child enjoy?" instead of "What do I/we want to do next?".

I want to thank my folks for treating all of us to this magical experience, spoiling T.J. (AND Mommy and Daddy) over and over again with treats and souvenirs, and allowing Travis and I to enjoy all of the characters and rides and experiences without having to worry about pictures and video by taking care of those duties for us.  They were incredibly helpful, giving, and fun to be around!  The trip wouldn't have been nearly as amazing without them there to share it with us (and help us out, too)!  Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Magic Kingdom was more magical than ever seeing it through the eyes of my child.

Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are!!! ...well...we actually know WHERE you are, so...

It is so interesting.  Two years ago, Christmas was just a stepping stone... I wasn't impatiently awaiting until Christmas Day- I was impatiently awaiting THROUGH Christmas Day, waiting for Baby T.J. to make his arrival.  Things have changed so much since childhood.  When I was a child, Christmas took FOREVER to arrive.  It felt like we had to wait 3 years to get to Christmas.  As I got older and school became more difficult/time consuming, Christmas began coming earlier and earlier.  Finally it came once a year instead of once every 3 years!  Now as an adult with a child, Christmas pretty much comes every 6 months for me.  I feel like it JUST happened, and now, here it is again.  The worst part?  I know that shortly thereafter, my baby boy grows yet another year older.  =[

Well, this Christmas is going to be the most interesting thus far.  Christmas still gets to be something we look forward to, but it is still going to be masked by the fact that Baby Noelle (my sister's baby) is due before Christmas!  So yes, we are looking forward to Christmas sort of... but really we are only looking forward to it because by then Noelle should be here for sure!!!  Due date babies run in our family, but apparently not for Linds.  According to all of Lindsey's charting, Noelle should have been born on the 6th.  According to the OB's sonogram, Noelle should have been born on the 8th.  Obviously, she has missed both of her due dates- teaching her mommy patience from the very start!  Poor Linds.  I never had to go through being past my due date.  I "felt" late when I was a day over being full term for goodness's sake!!!  I was so ready.  Lindsey didn't really seem to start getting anxious about it till a few days prior to her due date.  She was more patient than I was.  That is when I heard her let Noelle know that we were all waiting.  ;]  The pressure is on, too, since I am heading out on Wednesday, the 11th.

Now we wait.  And walk.  And wait.  And walk.  And pray.

As much as I would love to be here for Noelle's arrival, I will be back for Christmas, so it isn't the end of the world if she doesn't arrive while I am here.  T.J., on the other hand, had only a few days to make it for Lindsey to see him.  She was in town for a couple of days after her cruise and had to get back to work in Texas.  T.J. fulfilled his duty to make sure he got to meet her!  =]  Noelle is chilling because she knows I am coming back for Christmas.  She doesn't need to come out right away, so she is staying warm and cozy (especially considering the Houston area has been in the 30s and 40s recently- brrrrr!).

Since we are on the subject of T.J. and his birth, I thought it might be fun to revisit his birth story.  Buckle up, it is long!  It will help pass the time while you are awaiting Lindsey's little bundle of joy.  =]  Please enjoy and leave feedback:

Sweet Newborn T.J.

Part One

Part Two

Things My Son Doesn't Need at the Beach

After going to the Discovery Beach Resort up in Cocoa Beach, Florida, I have made a profound discovery- ironic, eh?  My amazing, profoundly awesome discovery of fantastically genius proportions is as follows:  

All of the things that I think my child needs at the beach, he doesn't need.

My child doesn't need:

1. A towel to sit on.  And for that matter, neither does Mommy because Mommy will be chasing the toddler around the beach ensuring that he doesn't get kidnapped, hurt, or drowned (by himself- I think the ocean "calls to him"... that would explain the randomly wandering out there every once in awhile).

2. Copious amounts of snacks.  The beach gives Mommy the munchies, but it just gives toddler the runnies... well, ew, wait... I didn't mean that... it gives him the.... IT MAKES HIM WANT TO RUN AND FROLIC, OKAY!?!?  Either way... he doesn't need my stinkin' snacks for him- AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT!

3. A hat.  Add one letter to hat and it becomes hate.  'Nough said.

4. A plethora of beach toys for his enjoyment.  He loves them!!!  ...for like a millisecond.  And he kept destroying my sand castle.  It is just overall upsetting to everyone involved.  The sand and water are enough to entertain him for plenty of time.  Not to mention, I think that he "walks" me like a dog... I think he exercises me at the beach because he just walks to the water and back up to our stuff over... and over... and over... I think my child thinks I am fat.  He is trying to help the situation as best he can.

5. Floaty devices.  Floating?  Where?  The water is too freezing for Mommy usually, and the water seems way awesome, until toddler touches it and decides to run away... but hey, it looks nice again... let's go test it and see if ::dips feet in::, NOPE!  RUN AWAYYYYY!!!!

6. A big ol' bath sheet-like thing.  (See #1)

Let's review by looking at things my child DOES need:

1. An extra swim diaper and wipes.

2. Water.

3. Extra sunscreen to apply (provided Mommy isn't totally exhausted chasing him up and down the beach for 30-45 minutes and feels like applying more so we can, indeed, spend MORE time walking back and forth).

Yup.  Learn from me, ye readers.  Learn from me.  Don't break your backs lugging a whole bunch of junk to the beach only for your child to spit in your face, laugh at your attempt, and cackle at your dismay!!!!  Or, you know, just be a toddler not even realize you brought anything to the beach and just run to the ocean, happy as a clam!  (Ha!  Get it?!  That was an ocean-referencing idiom!!!  ...Idiom?  Am I... am I using that correctly???)

What does your child simply not need at the beach?  Comment, por favor!  ;]

Much Needed Makeover

For my BLOG that is!  Although, I could probably use one as well!!  ;]  I hope you all enjoy the new layout, color scheme, background, etc.  I figured that it was time to change the old thing since we are no longer even living in New York anymore.  The blog was all dark and chic like New York (especially in the winter time when it would be pitch black at 4 pm!!!!), and, well, Florida just isn't like that.  It is bright and beachy.  Am I building these assumptions off of stereotypes?  Yes!  Do I care?  No!  It is my blog!  And dang it!  I will make it stereotype-y if I wanna!!!!

We interrupt this whine to bring you more "non-annoying" sentences.

So anywho!  I hope you enjoy the new... everything!  I am not going to put everyone through the drama of switching URLs yet again... that was a hot mess last time.  If you have any constructive criticism or lovin' for the new blog design, speak now in the comments section below, or forever hold your peas.

"We want to snuggle!"

 All right, ladies and gentlemen!  Hope to see some comments- lovin' or not-so-lovin'!  Thanks!  =]