Sittin' Pretty

I have yet to see Alden not go easily with a new person. At a few doctor's appointments I've had, he has willingly and with big, gummy smiles been handed over to others and toured around the office with nary an issue. As with most children issues, there are two sides to this coin. Great that he is trusting but scary that he is trusting, know what I'm sayin'?

In this case, it was super great to hand him over to Mrs. Clause for the iconic "Baby's First Christmas with Santa" picture. Again, the hat only makes this picture that much more precious. Like, ridiculously precious. Like, puke in my mouth precious. Love. It.

Holiday Greetings!

The New Babysitter

Finally! A Finished Project.

I'll bet you thought we forgot what the original purpose of this blog was, huh? You stopped tuning in because we hadn't worked on anything in the house for about, say, 6 months. Well, behold. A finished shelf.
Before

After

Decorated for the holidizays

Curtastophe

The good news is that we placed Curtis in a new home. The home of a sweet, young family with a girlfriend dog for Curtis to snuggle with and over six fenced acres for him to roam. Plus, and this is a huge plus, the man in the family LOVES to duck hunt. We all know that Curt has the interest in fowl... from poop to pond! We are so happy and excited for him.
... and so sad for ourselves. I have been tearing up and full on bawling for over two weeks now. I miss him terribly and loathe that we had to come to this decision. But, in truth, it is best. We don't have the kind of house or yard where this kind of pooch can live out his full potential. I am terribly impressed with his spirit and willingness to learn and love.

I will always regard Curtis as our practice baby. He taught us a great deal of patience, enthusiasm, and helped me exercise during my looooong pregnancy. He was there when I told Dustin we were expecting, he sniffed my baby bump every morning in wonder, and he accepted Alden right away. Curtis will remain here in my memories and heart forever.

Still life by Curtis.

Oh, Christmas Tree!

A couple weeks back we joined the Allen family and friends up in the snow for their second son's birthday. Dustin picked out a Noble Fir for our second Christmas tree in 13 years. We figured we better adopt the holiday spirit for Alden's sake.

It is totally working. I bought a tree stand. Both Dustin and I grew up with the notion that a pickle bucket with some rocks and sand is the easy way to go. Sure, if your Lou Ferrigno. Heavy, bulky, unsightly. Not Lou. I mean the makeshift stand.
We found this on the side of the road...
Lastly, proof that we are gigantic nerds. Well, more proof anyway.

THIS. EXISTS.

Right when you think that everything cute for babies already exists you stumble upon this little number in the clearance bin at Old Navy. And your crazed inner-mom goes, "I don't care if this costs a million dollars. I'm buying it."


Similar, much?
Love the shirt.
Love the hat.
Love it.

One Small Step for Alden, One Giant Step for Parent-kind

I remember when I was outside-of-the-home employed and had personal work challenges to rise to and conquer. Say a funky co-worker with a personal bubble invading issue (yes, Gavin, I'm talking about you) or a deadline that was waaaay to close for comfort (yes, Josh, I'm talking about you). Now that I am at home working as a domestic coordinator, I have wins here and there that no one is around to witness. Well, I suppose all of the important people are here... Captain, myself, and A-game.
Sleeping has been hit or miss around here for the past few months. More for me than anyone else. But, as of Thursday night, that is no more. Alden has been sleeping in his own room. In his crib! On his back! Mouth agape and just snoring along. I won't go into detail as to HOW we got there but it involves a lot of patience, determination, and a little thing called teamwork. Somewhere in the fourth hour of soothing baby down, I remembered why I liked Dustin in the first place. His focus on potential. He believed that Alden had the potential to sleep on his own while we coached him along. He believed that I had the potential to wean our son from our room. And he believed in his own potential for keeping us all in line doing so. There was a lot of back patting that night as we encouraged each other along into the wee hours of the morning. And, finally, as a family we slept separately. Together.

Dustin's Truths (Only Not True This Time)

Upon setting the bike lock combination
January 2008
We had both decided on something simple like 9991 because of the ease of remembering numbers but, upon actually setting the bike lock combination, Dustin spoke up..
“Well, somehow I misguided it. So the combo is 9197.”
Where I replied, “Ok. How can we try to remember that?”
Brief pause.
“The year you lost your virginity and the year you graduated,” he quipped.
In reference to the first year, I defended with,”Hey, I would have been 12, dude.”
His reply? “It’s not MY fault you were slutty.”

And THAT is how you know you have a healthy relationship with your husband. :)

Alden for Hire

Alden is four months old now! Almost time for him to start on solids. Almost time for him to get a job. So, like any good mommy, I pose the question: should I start him on rice cereal or just go straight to coffee beans? On the one hand, rice cereal introduces the idea of food, how to use the cumbersome tongue, and forms a healthy relationship to eating in general. On the other hand, coffee beans could make us some money, honey. Consider if you will Kopi Luwak where the coffee berries have been eaten, passed through the digestive tract of the Asian Palm Civet, gathered by natives, and bagged for the wealthy to enjoy.
The above is NOT a picture of Kopi Luwak but it is the only picture of coffee that I have on file. It is actually a cup of Mexican Hot Chocolate with a side of Cuban Toast from a visit to Cafe Diablo with my good friend in Seattle. The drink is good but the toast is to DIE for. Best two dollars I've ever spent.


I couldn't decide which caption to pair with this picture so I'll let you decide:
*Kopi Luwak (that's Vietnamese for "smell this")
*Picture an imaginary comment bubble hovering over his left shoulder, "I make less than one cent for every cat turd I collect. " Pause. "Fair enough."
*Fair Trade, my civet ass!
*Since typical coffee is a diuretic... what are the effects of Kopi Luwak? Implosion?
*While we're on the topic of hybrid etibles... what IS nutella?