Happy Monday!

We have been cooped in the house for what feels like eternity! JD is still down and out but now with a cold. I really don't think we should complain because he literally has been healthy his entire life until this point in his life...and still has never had a fever of anything to speak of. So we are working through it.

This video is a staple in our house...especially when the weather is dreary and we are "stuck" inside and need a good laugh!

Happy Monday everyone!!

Celebrating Our New President!

It is a great day! JD celebrated Barack Obama's inaguaration with a little dancing to the patriotic music! I hope you and your family are enjoying today's festivities too! God Bless America!

Excuse our PJ's...we (meaning JD) have been battling the stomach flu for the last 48 hours! This is the most amount of energy our little one has had in a while (I think he saved it just for this!)

TWO inches in FOUR months?! Are we raising a Giant??

Okay so I completely realize that the title is dramatic but it was to get you to read okay?! :) But honestly...we couldn't believe it when the our Pediatrician measured our "little" man and gave us the news.

The Doctors office is fun...lots of new obstacles...good stuff!

I should mention that JD DOES.NOT.EAT hardly anything anymore! He still drinks his milk like a champion but his eating habits aren't that great. Or maybe great if eating dried fruit and Tyson Chicken nuggets once a day is on your radar as nutritional and healthy. :) And before you ask, yes I do sit him down for breakfast, lunch AND dinner but he typically picks at breakfast and lunch and actually will eat dinner (which the doc says is completely normal at this age/stage so we aren't worried). :)

I want to be as tall as you dad...stay right there...I will be right up!

To put things in perspective JD was 20 1/2 inches when he was born, he is now 33 inches. At first babies grow in inches at a rapid pace (like an inch a month or more) but then it DRASTICALLY slows down. From his 9 month to his 12 month appointment he only grew 1/2 of an inch. So for him to grow 2 in 4 months (at this age) is a little eye opening!

Whats in there? That little area looks fun too (note to self: I will go there next)

I guess I should have known though...some of his pants are becoming high waters! :)

Look at me...I can go up and down!

I had never taken the camera with us to the doctors so I don't have any of those cute photos showing JD on the scale showing his current weight. I regret that I never did that because I think those photos are cute! Although these pictures don't show JD on a scale looking cute and showing his hefty (oh yeah so hefty...maybe I should consider taking up his diet??) self (he gained 3 pounds too) they do exemplify who our child is...a mover and a shaker!

Both P-Daddy and I have some rather tall relatives, (but we do have some short ones too, namely me) so we are curious to see where JD falls! As for now, he is our little baby Goliath! :)

Dad! I wasn't done playing on the stairs!

Date Night, Babysitter Bliss, and a bit of Tivo Talk...yes its a long one!

First off, thank you to all who participated in the "Honest Scrap" award/game of tag! It was fun to read everyone's Honest 10 and learn things about those of you I only know through blogging (and some old friends too!)! :)

ow onto the official long blog! P-Daddy and I got the best gift for Christmas this year from Uncle Badgeman and R. They gave us a gift card to a movie theater, to Cheesecake Factory and (the best one of all) a night of babysitting! So we had a free weekend (and so did they) and so off we went!

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P-Daddy and I went to see "Gran Torino." It was amazing and if you get a chance to see this flick I would! We wanted to see the movie first so we could go and really enjoy dinner, have some drinks, etc. Well...that didn't exactly go as planned as Cheesecake Factory (as we should have known) had a 70 minute wait! So...since we kind of had our heart set on eating there, we got some serious take out and brought it back to enjoy dinner with Uncle Badgeman and R.

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It worked out wonderful because it also gave us an opportunity to socialize with our favorite babysitting couple! They had a few fun stories to share with us, one of which involved a diaper incident that I won't share but needless to say Uncle Badgeman had never changed a diaper in his life and I think the fact that JD was his first wasn't a good thing! JD is a little (I am being polite...its actually A LOT) ornery when it comes to diaper changing!

Uncle Badgeman Gimme! I need to call mom or dad because my diaper needs changed and I am not sure you know how (or want) to do it!

Hello? Is anyone there? We need backup in the diaper changing area pronto!

It sounded like they had fun (and based on the pictures I would say they did)...and so did we so it was an overall success! We can't wait to do it again soon and Uncle Badgeman and R seem to be excited to come back so we shall be scheduling another fun date in the near future!! We love you guys! Thank you again and again!

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And (get ready for a gasp)...P-Daddy and I are going out AGAIN tonight with friends! We are even taking JD to Addy and Lilly's and using their babysitter, laying him down in a pack n play there and then getting him "up" and taking him home with us after dinner. HA! We shall see how this goes...but we've gotta live a little right and Mr. JD has become MUCH more adaptable in his old age (HA!) so we are thinking this will go fine. But please, if you will, go ahead and pray for us!

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And now my friends...it is time for a little Tivo Talk!

I just can't let a whole week pass by without discussing the rather controversial episode of Private Practice this week. It really disturbed me to the core (I even had to fast forward through some parts because I couldn't take it). For those of you who don't tune in, Private Practice is a show based on a Doctor's group that includes a Pediatrician, Psychiatrist, Fertility Specialist, an OBGYN, an Internist, and a Holistic Healer.

This week dealt with the MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) vaccination that is highly discussed to be linked with Autism. There is no legal or medical concrete evidence to link the MMR vaccination to Autism, however there is a growing amount of people that are beginning to believe that their child now suffers from the disease because of the MMR vaccination. Because we had a boy and Autism strikes males more than females, we obviously were concerned by this vaccination and discussed (in great detail) the side effects of this and every vaccination JD has had with his Pediatrician.

I am not writing this to get on my own high horse. I am really writing because what ended up happening on the show really upset me. I must admit though that after JD was born shows that deal with any child being fatally ill, dying, or being severely mistreated has been rethought in this household. For example, we used to LOVE Law and Order: SVU but now we can't even stand to have it on our television.

Okay...so what happened on the show? Well...a mother with three sons came in because her middle son (a kindergartner) wasn't feeling well. The oldest son suffers from Autism and so the mother of this child had decided NOT to have her two younger sons get the MMR vaccination. The mother was convinced that the MMR vaccination was directly linked to her oldest sons condition. Well, the kindergartner wasn't just sick...he had the Measles.

Well...after a lot of drama, he ended up dying from the Measles. It was ABSOLUTELY awful to watch (so therefore I can't really tell you what happened because I fast forwarded). Anyway...intriguing that the show touched on this controversial issue. I liked how it kind of touched on all aspects of what can happen too. No one ever talks about the fact that Measles (based on a news story I saw on NBC news last year) is becoming more and more prevalent because of the choices people are making NOT to get their children vaccinated. And with that choice can come another consequence. I, for one, had NO idea that Measles could be deadly (in this modern medicine day in age).

And for those of you wondering, yes we did get JD the (first round) of the MMR vaccination. To us, the benefits of any and all vaccinations out weigh the latter. Not judging you, but since you are reading and I am discussing this issue it really wouldn't be fair if I didn't share.

On a lighter note...FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS begins this Friday and we are so excited that it is back in our lives! "Dub" family (or any of our in town friends that may be interested, we just know that the Dub family shares our love for this show)...up for a premier night (yes I did just ask you to do something through the blog...I will call you too, don't be offended!)? :)

The Biggest Loser started AGAIN this week and as tired as we are of this show, we are also supporters. You can't NOT support the show that is changing people's lives for the better! These people are the largest ever and I for one can't wait for the finale to see the transformations! Because we all know that if it can be done, Jillian and Bob will make it happen!

I have also recently tuned into The City (spin off of The Hills which was a spin off of .... okay you get the point, they are into spin offs). Anyway...I heart Whitney so was way excited about this show...its not so much good right now. Still giving it a chance but the new "friends" are too snobby for their own good (not even "good character"/fun to watch snobby, just plain bad).

On a final note...does anyone know if this last episode of Lipstick Jungle was officially the LAST? It didn't say it was the last on the shows description but I did hear it was getting cancelled??

**Pictures above were courtesy of R and Uncle Badgeman (thank you, we love them!)

Honest Scrap Award!!

It is with great honor that I accept the blog award of “Honest Scrap” from my dear friend Amy. Has this intrigued you? It got me hook line and sinker! You should read on…promise it will be good AND you may just receive an award yourself!

Wasn’t tag fun as a child? Such a great game and good cardiovascular activity for children too (don’t get me on my high horse on that one)…anyway, it seems that the Honest Scrap award comes with a game of tag! I am rather excited about this because I am a huge blog dork. This game of “tag” so to speak started with Accidentally Me, moved onto my best friend Amy and now the power of tag is in my hands! :)


The rules of this lovely award/game of tag is as follows…
A) You must write 10 honest things about yourself that are interesting (of course, right?)
B) Pass the award along to 7 other bloggers that you feel embodies the spirit of Honest Scrap.

Here we go…

1. I know few strangers. Take blogging for example…many of you I don’t know from boo (P-Daddy sometimes worries about this factor). Still I look into your world daily/weekly/whatever and post comments on your page as if we are the bestest friends in the world. If I actually did meet any of you I would most likely give you a big hug and just start talking to you as if we had known each other for years.
   
2. I am a hugger. As mentioned above I would probably hug any one of you and I don’t even know you! My whole family is actually, and P-Daddy’s family is not. I used to kind of be weird about this because as a hugger you sometimes don't understand non-huggers. BUT I get it now and totally respect it! Just don't think it stops me from sneaking hugs on them sometimes...cause I do (and secretly I think I am turning them into huggers)! :)
   
3. I love wearing white collared shirts. This is a weird thing about me I think but honestly I feel pretty in a crisp white collared shirt (un-tucked), cute dark faded jeans and some black heels. The look has changed a bit over the years (as far as going from light to dark fade jeans and chunky to thin heels)…but honestly this has been my signature boring look since high school.
   
4. I knew there was something special about P-Daddy from the moment I met him. I met him freshmen year of college in another friends dorm room. He was just walking by (being cute) and my friend happened to play on the golf team with P-Daddy and so he stopped in to say hello. I blushed (yes I remember weird details) because he said “hi” to me (yes I was that insecure when it came to guys). I won’t tell his side of the story but apparently he felt the same way. So by senior year (when we were both single at the same time) the truth spilled out of both of our mouths about our “crush” (yes we had some liquid courage) and the rest is what brings us to here. :) I just think it’s fun that I knew…and he was worth the wait.
   
5. I love me some rap music. Like gangster rap. I love memorizing the words and rapping along with TI or (I’m gonna go old school on you) Dr. Dre ("2001" album is my favorite). I especially love to work out to rap. For those of you rap haters you should really try it out sometime. And listen to the words…its some good stuff (ignore all the cussing though if that offends you). :)
   
6. My husband’s wardrobe is larger than mine (gasp…I know). It’s not that I don’t love to shop and love clothes because I do! It’s that I just don’t have much to show for those shopping experiences AND I do NOT keep clothes that I do not wear. I am the girl that goes through her closet twice a year and gets rid of old stuff, ugly stuff, out of style stuff, etc. I must mention that menswear stays in style for YEARS and YEARS, while women’s clothing is much trendier and hard to keep up a wardrobe with!
   
7. I have an uncanny ability to remember songs/slogans from commercials and singing/reciting them (to a T and in tune). I probably should have gone into advertising as I would have been rather helpful in the branding area! :)
   
8. I am a control freak. It started with driving. I always had to drive…always. I really didn’t even know why I always had to drive until I didn’t drive one night in college. And there I was…stuck when all I wanted to do was go home and I didn’t have my own car to take me there and I hated every minute. I actually don’t think I was even ready to admit this (or had REALLY realized it myself) until last winter when I had lost control and was freaking out. By lost control I mean JD wasn’t sleeping through the night, wasn’t taking naps, I had virtually no outlet or help and I the combo was contributing to me losing my mind. I found peace in reading the Bible and doing a devotional every day. I hadn’t done that before and it really helped. I always knew God was in control but a daily reminder helped me through that time. However, I still struggle with being a control freak and pray about it all the time.
   
9. I love playing the “Do you know (insert name)” game! You know…when you meet someone random and they say “I went to Indiana University” and you knew ONE person that went to that school and you just HAVE to ask if they knew them. I’m totally that girl. I am also that same girl that gets disappointed when they say “no they actually don’t know them because there was like a bazillion people that went to IU” because I was just sure that if they did know that person then we were destined to be friends. So I guess this one could have just said “I am a dork” and it would have summed it up faster!
   
10. I had a diary that I wrote in on a regular basis until senior year of college. These diaries date back to the early 80’s by the way…and I have all of them. I am glad that I was encouraged by my parents to write openly (and pretty much speak openly too) about my thoughts and feelings. I look back at those early days and laugh at how silly I was but also reflect on how insightful I was at such a young age. This is probably why I like blogging so much and why sometimes, on a rare occasion I will get up close and personal with the blog.
    
    

Now it’s YOUR turn…and the WINNERS of the HONEST SCRAP Blog Award goes to (in no particular order)…
GranBecks (Grandmas Gotta Blog), Aimee (Addy and Lilly a Whole New World), Talia(Goldsmith Fam), Christina (Little Man Chase), Jaimie (May the Lord Bless you and Keep You), Laura (Peanut Chewning), Rhaya (Rhaya.com)

Should old acquaintance be forgot (da da daaa da da daa daa...)

Yeah so I only know the first line of the New Years song...that's all you probably know too! :) P-Daddy and I had a wonderful and uneventful New Years Eve this year as we stayed in, drank some wine, cooked a lovely meal (with our new cast iron skillet...I know we are so grown up!) and then watched Part II of the first season of Entourage (which is a great show by the way!)

I know...I am a dork...but whatever! This was our NYE dinner!

JD must have known that last night was a special night of sorts because he decided to put on a small play for us (that's what we shall call it, a "play")...right before bed he just grabbed this blanket we have on the ottoman and wrapped it around his head and danced around for literally 20 minutes (that's a long time in baby world). He must have had a secret "to-do" list to accomplish before 2008 was up and that was something he needed to squeeze in. Needless to say we were entertained as it seriously was hilarious!

Act 1, Scene 1

Act 1, Scene 2

Intermission

Act 2, Scene 1

The "Bring it On 2009" Finale! TA-DA!

Last night is a FAR cry from our New Years past and as nice as it was to awake this morning with no hangover (at 7am...Mr. JD is waking us up early lately...BOO), it was also sad to realize that a tradition we had with friends is officially over. I mean don't get too teary because it was technically over last year as 3 of the friends we used to spend New Years with had also just had babes so there was no partying going on with all of us just trying to get by on terrible nights sleep. It doesn't make me miss the good old days any less though. :)

Why was NYE so great you ask? Well I shall tell you...For 3 straight years P-Daddy and I went to a cabin in Brown County with friends. It was the best freaking idea that someone came up with (I am not sure who but they should get a trophy) because we would bring all the fixings people need to have a good time and then post up in a rugged cabin for 2 nights. It beat the heck out of getting dressed to the nine's and going to some random, overcrowded bar in the freezing cold. So after the first year we were hooked and knew it would be our tradition.

The Good Old Days...

Before we were "mamalouise" and "P-Daddy"

Anyway...just needed to give you the background so you could understand what I was talking about. Sad to see it go (how many times can I say that?) but I wouldn't replace anything about our life to go back to that time. Good memories none-the-less.

I am sure that the older JD gets the more interesting NYE will get for us! :) I grew up spending the night at the same friends house, year after year on NYE. We played "spoons" (its a card game), banged pots and pans at midnight, stayed up ALL NIGHT, and wrote our resolutions out every year. And every year our resolutions from the year before would be brought out and we would giggle at how silly we were the year before and how mature we had gotten since then! HA! I am sure JD won't be having that kind of New Year's slumber party but I think it will be fun to start traditions with him!

Happy 2009 everyone! I think its gonna be a great year!