The Finished Product!

I finished P1's Tink invitations....well, the cover of them anyway.  I just need to print up the info and get them in the mail.  Lets just say the hard part is over!  YIPPY!  I made 31 of these in  5 days!  Everything was cut from cardstock and glued together.  P1 is quick to point out that she did help, A LOT!!  Now that she's getting older, it's great to have a little helper and I'm fortunate that she loves doing crafts!   Glad I was able to pass the creative gene down to her! 

TADA!!!!!!!!!!! 

Just because

            This is called TALENT!

She wasn't the only one

In keeping with the spitting out food theme...it was mine & M's turn last night. 

I first must say what an awesome chef my hubby is.  Everybody says 'Oh my husband can make a great steak" or "my husband can BBQ really well.."  That's great and everything, but my hubby can really cook...and not just BBQ either!  He's been known to make such yummy dishes as shrimp scampi, Alaskan King Crab legs, Chicken & Potato curry, pizza from scratch, etc...  I must also say that since we've moved from CA, fish doesn't wow me in TX like it used to (CA=ocean 20min away, TX=ocean hours away).   M loves fish, but I choke it down since he goes to the trouble to make it. 

While I was finishing up nursing P2 last night, M called for P1 that dinner was ready.  In the kitchen, I hear a disgruntled P1 complaining about the 'yucky fish' for dinner.  I thought, 'Oh great, time to eat a lot of sides'.  I sit down at the table and see that he's prepared steamed rice, Mahi-Mahi baked with a Chai Teriyaki Chile sauce over it and broccoli.  Although it looks OK (I'm guessing to someone who likes fish, it really does), it smells pretty fishy.  I think all fish smells too fishy.  Anyway, so I spoon a bit of the sauce with some rice and take a bite.  No fish on that bite either....and
YUCK!!!!!!!!!! I quickly grabbed a napkin and spit all of it out.  It was GROSS.  Exceptionally DISGUSTING.  P1 was cracking up and jumped on the band wagon saying she didn't want to eat hers either.  Did I blame the poor kid?!  Eeeewwww.  So I tell M I'm sorry, but I can't eat it and thankfully there was some leftover pasta from the night before so I decided to have that.  We, P1 and I, shared it.  M had already choked down his portion of fish.  He said it wasn't the freshest piece (although it had been in the freezer the entire time) of fish, but he ate it anyway.  He couldn't understand what my problem was....until he took a bite.

He said, as he was taking a bite, "I don't understand what the big BLAAAHHHHH" and he spit it out, not in a napkin, but all over his finished plate!!  It was hilarious because M will normally eat anything!   He said "OMG, this is ROTTEN".   I said, "I KNOW".  He said his piece wasn't that great, but this was just BAD.   We estimated it had probably been in the freezer for a few months, so he's guessing it was freezer burned.  YUCK.   I will have to say that the pasta was the best pasta I've had in a while!!!!

So ya, this mama won't be eating any type of fish again for a LONG time!!!!!   

B-A-N-A-N-A-S

I can't stand that song (Hollerback Girl- Gwen Stefani), but it's what I think of when I think back to P2 trying her first bite of fruit on Sunday night (10-4).  I was making dinner and M decided he was going to give P2 another round of cereal and see how she does.  After all, she IS a week older and things can change!  Well, she actually swallowed it this time!  We were all in the kitchen watching her again and she actually opened up her mouth when he brought the spoon near!  It was very cute and of course we all cheered for her.  She looked at us like we were crazy, but don't most babies?! 

So then M got the great idea that she should try bananas.  Not just the gerber baby food bananas I had in the pantry, but a REAL smooshed up banana.  She gagged and then she did a little shake like "yuuuuccckkk".  It was very funny.  We were laughing so she started giggling and out it came, all over her bib.  M tried to give her another bite, and again...gag followed by a shake of her body.  Guess she wasn't liken the real bananas.  We'll try them again in a week, the gerber B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

Tinker Bell Invitations

I really shouldn't be on here posting....I've got 30 invitations to make for P1's upcoming birthday party.  I don't know why I can't be like other moms and just buy the pre-made invitations.  That would be WAY TOO EASY.  No, I've got to be difficult.  The truth of the matter is I love being creative.  Lord knows I got all the crap in the world to make them, but yet I drive myself crazy with the theme, color scheme, etc....  I do it because I love it.  Buying invitations, although SO much easier, just isn't my style.  I want my girls to grow up knowing that their mom was one of a kind that way.  When I was younger, my mom use to make all my Halloween costumes and I thought that was the best.  No store bought costume for me.  I guess I'm trying to carry on the tradition.  In fact, now that I think about it, only two of P1's costumes have been store bought.  The rest have been made (not be me, I'm not THAT talented!).  I guess I just like originality. 

This is the year of Tinker Bell.  The party is on the 24th of this month, and I was pushing for a Halloween theme (I LOVE HALLOWEEN, btw), but nope....princess wanted Tinker Bell.  Since I have a Cricut (http://www.cricut.com/) and I have the Tinker Bell cartridge, I might as well use it and use up some of the supplies I have.  M will love that.  I think he secretely likes when I get all creative and use the junk I've acquired in the years since we've married!  It makes all my purchases (ie, shopping sprees) seem worth it! So that's what I need to do today!  I will post back with the finished product when I'm done!!  Until then.....

She's really gone

I didn't want to admit it, but I think Melody Simba is gone for good.  Who is Melody Simba, you ask?  She's my cat.  Missy, Tweaky, Simmy, Pissy Missy, Brat Cat, Miss Meow, MelodyBimbitweeto, Mel Mel, Tweak, SimCat; all nicknames for my beloved cat. 

Melody came into my life on accident.  The year was 1994, I was 19.  I adopted a kitten from one of the rescue orgs that frequent local pet supply retailers on weekends.  Sassy was the kitten I brought home.  She was gray and white and so sweet.  She loved to cuddle and would let anyone hold her.  After a few days, Sassy started having problems breathing.  She was still perky, but just seemed to be having a rough time.  One night, Sassy had stopped eating and her breathing was really labored.  Before I could take her to the vet, she had died in my arms.  I was devastated.  I had only had her a week, but I loved this kitten so much.  I think my parents were even a little surprised by how heartbroken I was for her. 

One of the last sweet things my dad did for me was find an ad in the newspaper that read "Free Kittens" and we all took a trip to this woman's house.  There I saw them.  I think there were 4, all multicolored and 3 were all wound up and crazy.  Then there was this little one.  She looked like a cute little tiger-striped puff ball.  She was it.  I specifically remember my dad asking if I wanted the fatter, more playful boy kitten (my dad was trying to steer me away from another 'sickly' kitten).  Nope, my mind was made up.  I wanted this kitten and her name was to be Melody (I was majoring in Musical Theatre at the time) Simba (it was the year of The Lion King). 

On the way home, it was instant love.  She was there through most of my life.  15yrs I had her.  Through every boyfriend, heartbreak, move (that poor cat has moved more times than most adults!), marriage, and babies. Simmy was there.  She was known to plop on command.  Plop, meaning to flop on the ground and roll around on her back.  She also did sumersaults over my feet when she was in one of her frisky moods.  She was also very intune to my emotions.  If I was sad, she wouldn't leave my side.  Now, she wasn't always the most loveable cat mind you.  There was a reason why we called her Pissy Missy.  She is the only cat I've ever known who had a serious attitude when she wanted to.  In my description of Missy, a person said 'cats tend to take on the personality of their owner'...looking back now, BITCH.  LOL  That's OK, I love my attitude, pissy, bitchy, McDonald's french fry, ben & jerry's, string cheese lovin' cat!!!  She does sound like me. ;)

After the girls and I went to CA this summer to visit the family, she had been acting really weird.  While we were gone, she had gotten out of the house (oh, she has been indoors all of her life) and was gone for about a week.  She had escaped shortly after we built our house and she was missing for a month.  She came back though.  So when she started acting weird, I thought she was just rebelling because she liked the taste of freedom in the wild.  She would meow by the front door and I would let her out.  A few hours later, I would hear her at the door and I would let her in.     Back to her acting goofy.... She started having accidents on the floor.  In the 15yrs that I've had her, she's NEVER had an accident.  Hairballs, yes...but deliberately peeing on the floor, nope.  Well, she started to and it seemed every day i was having to clean up after her.  It was really grating on me.  In an effort to make her happy and to hopefully stop her from ruining our carpet, I would let her out more often and sometimes overnight.  One night though, she never came home. 

It's been over 2 months since I've seen Tweak.  Every night, when I look out the back door, I keep expecting to see her stalking her way across the yard like I've found her before. She had a collar on, but it was the kind that breaks-away if they get caught on something and I found that in the yard after the last time she got out. 

I've been told that when animals get ready to die, they know and instinctively wander away from home.  I'm hoping that's what happened to Sim.  I pray that she's warm, safe, and gets all the french fries, ice-cream and string cheese she wants!!  I love you Simmy and I'll see you again someday, brat cat! MEOW!

5 months already?!?

Tomorrow Pen will be 5mo old, if you count by months.  If you want to get all technical, well then she will be 4mo, 4wks, and 2 days...or whatever that ticker thingy says.  For all intents and purposes, she's 5mo (tomorrow), so there.

Where has the time gone?  Time flew by fast for P1's first year, but P2's is on warp speed.  I wish I could make it slow down a tad.  If I could, I would be a very rich woman.  So, my little Pen Pen is getting so big!  At her 4mo check up, she was 12lbs/10oz and 26.5in long!  She's a long beanpole.  I'm sure she's over 13lbs by now and probably over 27in!  She's also rolling around all over the place.  She rolled from her back to her tummy on Labor Day and she rolled from her tummy to her back before that!  My prediction is she will be walking, or close to it by Christmas.  Again, time, please slow down. 

She is such a sweet girl.  One of her teacher's at school totally loves her!  Everytime I go in there, Miss M is holding P2 or rocking her or always paying extra attention to her!  When you have a kid in daycare, it's a good thing to be friendly and personable with the caregivers...they end up treating your child a little bit better because of it.  It's not something I intentionally set out to do.  If I'm friendly to you, it's genuine.  If you know me in the slightest, you know that's no BS.  Anyway, so Miss M and I get along really well and in return she takes extra care of my little PBear!  It's a win-win!  For a proud mommy moment, she was evaluated in class yesterday and she did really well at just about everything that is appropriate for her age.  Another teacher left this comment about her: "P2 is such a beautiful little girl and soooo sweet.  She is very observant and smart.  She will always be quick to learn.  Keep up the good work.  She certainly is a joy to take care of.  We love her a lot."  Isn't that sweet?!  I thought so!!!!  I don't care if she wrote the same thing down for each baby!  LOL  jk!