Smart Idea Bad Idea

My sweet child has recently been morphed into the devil. I announced that yesterday and got quite the responses! As it turns out, Evans was back to sweet this morning with only a tad of devil while we were shopping in target. No one has been hit in the face (although he does like to point to my eye rather intensely and I think he wants to pull my lashes out) and the day went much much better then the past few days. Hmmm, I find it a bit funny that as I am writing about Evans' improved behavior I start to hear him wailing over the monitor. It's 9:30pm son, you should be 2 hours into deep sleep. Now go back to bed. Lucky for me grandfather Buddy stepped up to the plate but I still will bet $20 I'll have to eventually take over. Sigh. So the real point of this point is whether it is smart to take a bad baby on a airline flight. Some people (like me most of the time) don't have a choice and you will just have to deal with sitting next to a baby. Who do think is going to want to sit next to this?That is the sweet baby eating spaghetti disguised as the devil. Anyways, Evans and I are flying out tomorrow to go visit my sister in law and all the crazy cousins. And by crazy I mean flat ass wild. The first time Evans hung out with them he didn't poop for like 4 days. But oh how he loves those cousins now. I can't wait to see all the babies playing together and of course my SIL and I will get to play a little too! My niece Karis turns one this weekend so we will get to be there for the birthay bash. Evans will have a ball and even his great grandmother is going to be there! So excited to see everyone! I hope we make it with no glitches and with one very well behaved child (that means you Evans).

Wonderbaby Gone Bad?

Look at this baby. Have you ever seen anything so sweet? WELL, he is completely tricking everyone! Is it possible that my sweet boy has turned into the devil overnight? Does this happen? Is it POSSIBLE?! Evans has been so bad the last two days that by about 3:30pm I start to wonder if I can have a drink yet and by 6:00pm I'm pulling my hair out. I don't know where we have gone wrong. He is throwing food in restaurants, throwing his sippy cup, grabbing bowls of his food and dumping them overboard the high chair. He doesn't want to sit in his highchair in restaurants, he doesn't want to kiss me and he SCREECHES. Last night he dumped a whole bowl of pastina (thinking TINY MINUTE pieces of pasta) into my mom's kitchen rug. As I was on the floor picking them up with my fingers, which was not an easy task, he threw his cup full of milk on top of my head. I was defeated. He has been pitching fits, swats at my face and I'm nearly positive he has tried to bite me. Today at lunch he started throwing his grilled cheese (that I'm sure cost about seven dollars) overboard and I took his hand and spanked it and said no. I didn't think he would really understand it but I had HAD IT. What I did not expect was when he tried to SPANK ME BACK. I was ready to throw him overboard. And I rarely feel like this with him. I have to say that after his afternoon nap he was much more mild mannered and not nearly as ill behaved but still. This better be a phase. A phase that lasts two days. Cause I'm over it.

I'm gonna be rich!

Great ready for this y'all....I have been liberated. As of this morning it's confirmed. Enfamil will no longer be bleeding us for $200 a month. Evans no longer has to have formula. Hallelujah Praise Jesus! Do you know what I hate more than paying $200 a month for formula? Running into the store to grab one thing with one of those little baskets, realizing I need formula and having to haul it up to the check out counter. Also having to carry it in from the car when we get home! Those cans are HEAVY! (please recall that Evans will not drink the powder, nice).

I've had one of those days today when by 12:45pm I felt like it should be at least 4pm. And it wasn't even that taxing. This morning Evans had his 12 month check up with his new pediatrician here in Atlanta. Of course he was cute and entertaining despite it being nap time. When it came time for the nurse to prick his toe I felt certain we were heading for disaster. He was sitting on the exam table and I was holding him still. I started to wonder what was taking so long because Evans wasn't crying and when I looked over the nurse was taking the blood out of his toe while Evans watched curiously. We weren't as lucky with the FOUR shots that he had to get in his legs! Poor thing. The one plus is that he opened his mouth so wide to scream that I could actually finally see that we don't have anymore teeth coming in right now. He is definitely feeling a little punky as he has taken 4 hours worth of naps and is already in bed asleep at 7pm.

My mom watched Evans this afternoon while I went to get some much needed highlights and a haircut. I love my hairdresser (is that even what you call them anymore? Sound so old fashioned) to death but I'm going to need to start saving my money now for afford going back in 8 weeks or so. I say that he is better than a shrink and unlike a shrink, you leave looking better than when you arrived!

Tomorrow is my 31st birthday. Yikes. I'm not sure when I got so old. Will be celebrating with several friends for dinner and drinks and definitely looking forward to it. Sorry this has been such a boring post. I'm not feeling all that witty and smart today! I'm exhausted! And now Evans is crying so I'm heading downstairs to rock. Hope all is well in blogland!

Cake Day Part II

Pretty sad when you have so many pictures from your child's birthday party that it takes two blog posts to put them all up! We are slowly recovering from the birthday party (now that it is Tuesday) but Evans still wants to sit at the stairs and look at all his presents stacked up. I don't blame him! He made out like a bandit! So besides the sno cones and cake, this car was a big hit at the party. There were even a few tears shed over it during the course of the afternoon. My parents bought Evans this car (I think before they even found out that I was pregnant) because my sister, brother and I had one while we were growing up. It is called the "Cozy Coupe" but is affectionately known as the "Cozy Coot" because that is what our neighbor called it growing up. My oldest friend Meredith and her little boy Jack recently moved back to Atlanta and Evans and Jack have had no issues becoming friends. Jack is wild and Evans is happy to partake. I thought we might lose Evans during this incident but he was happy as a clam to be pushed around!
I see many more wild adventures for these boys in the future, especially once Evans can figure out how to walk (you know Evans, you use your FEET for walking, they aren't just for decoration, they have a FUNCTION)! The Melissa & Doug giraffe was a big hit with the kids (Evans took a turn riding him) and my mom even said she went out front towards the end of the party and one child was trying to tote him down the driveway!I decided not to do a smash cake for E because I honestly I didn't see the point. I know they are so cute and most babies love them but Evans doesn't typically like sweet things so I didn't bother. And no, I did not realize that Publix did one for free when you ordered your cake there. Yes, that might have changed my mind. However, Evans did get a big ole piece of birthday cake and I was surprised by the amount he ate!He didn't even cry when everyone sang Happy Birthday to him!Really starting to catch on......SUCCESS!!Really, he should have taken some pointers from his good friend, Ana Kathryn Cullens. Now there is a girl who knows how to eat some cake! She didn't need any lessons!After pigging out on cake Evans was kind enough to let Buddy wait on him hand and foot and hold his sippy cup for him (we are working on that).Obviously eating all that cake wore him out. That, or his ELEPHANT outfit is squeezing the life out of him by this point. The rest of my pictures are random but fun and worth showing. I hardly got any photos of the kids lining up for sno cones but it was so cute. Maybe someone else did, I'll have to ask around. Here is Evans spending some time with his Old Dad and Grandmag.My good friend Laura and my mom with one of my aunt's new twin babes. This is boy baby, Jack. I think there were only about 4-5 children at the party named Jack. This one was definitely the smallest!Evans and his cool cousin Joe.Me, Evans, my friend Meredith and her son Jack. Yes, the same one that was playing "car" with Evans so intensely!My little cousin Thomas throughly enjoying his sno cone. This picture makes me smile for sure. I don't even want to think about his expensive outfit covered in that goo.And finally, the happiest boy on earth. I love how he looks like he is just chilling with his gifts.I have some with him once the gifts were unwrapped but I will post them tomorrow. All in all, I think that the party was a huge success. I really enjoyed it and I will be able to look back one day and remember it happily. Now I am in search of another project. Something that will take up my time and provide me with something fun to do! Jobs are overrated so I'm open to all other suggestions! Happy Tuesday Atlanta, enjoy the cooler weather this morning because I'm betting it will be over in the next, say.......14 minutes.

Birthday Extravaganza!

I suppose that there are several things in a child's life that a parent does solely for themselves. Not that the child isn't supposed to enjoy themselves and have a good time but it isn't going to be the child that remembers it. I semi feel that way about Evans' first birthday celebration that we celebrated yesterday. As one of my friends pointed out, it was go big or go home. I certainly meant for Evans to have a good time but the memories are going to be for me. I'm just looking forward to the spread I'll be able to do in the baby book for this bash! We had about 50 adults and 17 or so kids and I really hope that everyone had as much fun as I did. It was so hot but the sno cones were a hit and I think that I supplied enough sugar for everyone under the age of 6 to last all year. Only one person was missing and although his absence was profound, I'm pretty sure that Evans was too young to notice. This did not make it a whole lot easier for me to ignore but the party must go on, no? I think y'all can judge by the look on Evans' face that the day was a success and I had a happy boy on my hands. He did actually wear clothes to the party but that is another story all together.

The morning of the party my mom and I were busy putting the finishing touches on everything. I had to go and get the balloons blown up and ice purchased. Did y'all know that ONE balloon cost 89 cents and there is a 69 cent fee to blow it up? Are you kidding? I was sitting there waiting on my balloons calculating how much I would be spending on 15 balloons plus two huge mylar balloons when the lady rang me up for $13.59. At least they can't count either!I finally got to put my famous fondant giraffes on my homemade (from a box) cupcakes. I've been waiting for this moment all week. I think they turned out extremely well and were worth it despite having jaundiced looking hands for several days afterwards.Since I accidentally made 38947 fondant giraffes, I used them to decorate Evans' cake. Thats right, I didn't think that the cupcakes were going to be enough so we had a cake as well.Needless to say, we had plenty of cake and I heard it was delicious! So, the party was outside in my parents backyard. I thought that all the decorations turned out really well. This is what guests saw first walking up the driveway at the back gate (which yes, my mom did end up painting).Whew, it all looked so nice! And then the hoards descended!

After all this giraffe planning and all the giraffe baking and all the giraffe purchasing, it only made sense that Evans would wear a very special outfit with none other than an.....................ELEPHANT on it!Lord. I'll be explaining that forever. I bought the outfit before I picked out the theme and then I couldn't bring myself to buy something different (hard to believe, I know). So this cute outfit sat in his closet in the plastic until yesterday afternoon when we got him dressed. Holy crap, it was too small. It was the first and last time he will wear the outfit. At least I didn't buy another one! Evans spent the whole party with the center snap in the crouch undone so it wasn't too short on him! He didn't seem to mind.

I think that I have to take a break from uploading pictures right now. I'll have to have a part II tomorrow but it's getting late and I want to go read my book! Tomorrow I'll have pictures of the rest of the party. It'll be worth it I hope!

Happy Friday, is it?

You know how sometimes pregnant people are pretty forgetful? (no, I'm definitely not pregnant). OR how new mothers sometimes forget what the exact date is because they are so tired? I'm not sure what to tell you my excuse is but the other day I actually wrote the date out as August 15, 2010. Seriously. Here I am being all smug that I actually knew what the day of the month was and I was in the completely wrong year. It wasn't one of those things either were it takes a couple weeks at the beginning of January to get used to it being a new year. Folks, it's AUGUST and I thought that we were still in the year 2010. I guess you can say that (so far) 2011 (the actual year that we are currently living in for those of you that haven't figured it out yet) has not been a year that I will remember much of! I'm lucky these days if I know what day of the week it is. I happen to know that today is Friday because I looked at the calendar on my iphone. Thank god for those! Now don't get too excited for me when you hear what is on my schedule for the evening............I think I might clean up my room BECAUSE MY MOM IS MAKING ME. That's right, I turn 31 (or is it 30 or 32?) next week (I'd have to check the calendar to tell you what day) and I have to stay home tonight to clean up my bedroom. What next? I won't be able to leave the table until I eat all my food?

Today Evans and I had a great play date at my friend Heather's house. She has two adorable boys and Evans had a ball. I'm almost positive that Evans was trying to kiss Grant and NOT bite him when he was lunging at him with his mouth open. I'm just happy that Grant is bigger and could get away faster so we were able to avoid any disasters. Really, Evans does kiss with his mouth open like that but I'm so scared he is going to bite someone that I don't really sit around to see if that is his real intention. Afterwards Evans and I hit up the grocery store to try and buy the last of the supplies needed for Evanspalooza this weekend. My mom and I moved yard furniture this morning and while doing this she decided that she didn't like the way the back gate looked. I'm not positive but I am pretty sure she is outside painting the back gate now. In reference to my post yesterday, she never goes overboard either.

I'm sure that this evening and tomorrow will be used for the finishing touches of the party. We will take a small break in the morning to go to a children's clothing trunk show at a friend's house because Evans practically has no clothes at all. As it is, I think he will have to wear his outfits at least 3 times each this winter. Gah! Anyways, I am off because I just got the five minute warning on a longall on ebay that Evans wants and then I think I will do something exciting.......like go count my fondant giraffes. Happy weekend!

Overboard? I think not.

I'm hardly known for going overboard on anything, right? I never start painting a room and end up remodeling a whole house, right? And I hardly ever buy 8 longalls and 12 pairs of pajamas for Evans in one day, right? (ok ok, I was watching MTV's The City the other day and it drives me NUTS that that girl Whitney answers everything with "I know, right"? I think she is haunting me). So, why should I go overboard on Evans' first birthday party? Wouldn't it be just my style to have a quiet family gathering? Wrong. While my intentions were mild, this first birthday party has turned into a bit of a circus. I'm just hoping to pull it off and avoid the rain.

I want to share a few of the details because I know that once the party happens, I'll never go back and actually write about them. Currently my mom's dining room is the staging area for all my "accoutrements" and I am positive she doesn't mind at all (I didn't even hear her gasp all the way down the hall when she got back from the dentist this morning when she saw all all the stuff). I feel like I have been collecting the perfect things for ages! Yesterday morning I picked up our party favor cookies that a friend of mine from high school made for us. I could not have been more excited because they turned out perfectly. Mabry's Preppy Confections can be found on Facebook and I can attest to how awesome her cookies are. She even put them in the cellophane bags for me (she would have done the ribbon too except that I had already picked some out I liked).They really turned out great and I can't wait for another occasion to be able to order more! I'm sure all our guest will really enjoy the favors! Who wouldn't?

Originally a friend of mine was going to make cupcakes and a cake with the giraffe theme. It's so hard to find good cake people in Atlanta if you want to spend less than one arm and one leg for their services. And I can sort of understand why now. I decided that I would make my own cupcakes (yes, I am at least capable of this) but that I would also make a fondant giraffe cupcake topper. I found a blog with instructions and the woman who wrote it insisted that her 4 year old daughter made these by herself. I must not be as talented as that 4 year old. First of all I went to Michaels to buy the supplies to make these and that alone cost me $40. Then the real hassle started. I had to dye to fondant yellow so they would at least look REALISTIC and it took me about 8 years to figure out the best way to actually mix the food coloring into the fondant. Those yellow stains on my mom's nice granite cutting board did NOT come from me I swear. HOURS later, with a cramped hand, I finished my cupcake toppers. There are so many of them that I could probably make 3948 cupcakes. However, I think they did turn out very cute. Just don't eat them, they taste like crap.Yes, the giraffes are smiling. I see nothing odd about that.

The rest of my stuff is strewn around all over the place but here are a couple more pictures of what I have in store. Everything will look better once it is set up AND of course, I don't want to give ALL my secrets away. I'm certain our guests are eagerly checking my blog in hopes of finding out what is in store for them! ha.

Don't worry, it might appear that those are all non-alcoholic drinks but the booze is in the garage. :) That's all for now!

Alive and well? Or just alive....

Do you ever wonder about bloggers that appear to drop off the face of the earth? One day you know everything about them and their lives and the next they are gone? I get it. Sometimes people get busy. They have babies or get a new job or move across the world to Germany for their husband's job. Sometimes the "busy-ness" or the inability to blog comes from things that are a bit bigger than just a change of job or a new addition. My situation is on the bigger side and sometime in the near future I will go into that a little bit further but for now I hope y'all can trust me, my life has been turned upside down and I'm just trying to swim towards the surface. Evans and I have been living in Atlanta for the past several months and have been trying to adjust to good ole mainstream America again. The transition appears to be going smoothly on the outside but I can assure you that it has been everything but easy. But the truth is that I miss blogging on a regular basis and I feel like I have so much to share when it comes to my child and "new" life. One day soon I'll be ready to share but for now, Atlanta is where Evans and I are living, without Deaner.

When I think about where I was in my life a year ago from today I am pretty amazed at where I have ended up. I believe that on this exact date last year (I'd have to go back and check the blog archive) I broke down in tears at bedtime because I was so big and pregnant and HOT. For god sake, those Germans don't know anything about AC! No relief for a pregnant lady! I've gone from having this teeny tiny babe......To having a crawling (that's right folks, we can't even walk yet!), babbling, singing, chatting, kissing, laughing, table food eating and real milk drinking child. It's unreal. I remember when Evans couldn't pick his head up off my shoulder and now I can hardly keep him in my arms. He brings so much joy into my life (gay, I know) and I'm not sure how I would have made it through the past few months without him. He is, simply put, the greatest baby to ever army crawl the face of the earth (besides your's, that is). In honor of Evans' first birthday, which is rapidly approaching next week, I'll post a small photo montage of him the past 6 months or so, where I left off, so y'all can see how he has grown. I'll start back in April with a picture of Evans having dinner after a looooooong flight to the US with his Old Dad (Deaner's dad). You can tell he is thrilled to be here!Easter 2011 was spent in Hattenheim, Germany and Evans got to play with his Easter basket down on the Rhein River.Memorial Day and my 9 month birthday spent on my Buddy's new boat. (I'm hardly cute at all).In June we celebrated (A BIG) birthday for my mom A.K.A. Nana Susie and Evans got to tag along just to say hello before having to depart with Buddy for home.In July we had a visit from Daddy and Evans took his first trip to the aquarium. He loved it so much that we are now members and have been back several times. Mama loves it because it has AC, good ole U.S. of A. They can get somethings right.And that brings us to August. The month my child was born in 2010. Today we went to have our first go round on the park swings.Needless to say, I'll bring him back again soon. I think he enjoyed it. :)

So, a week from today my baby boy will turn a year old. Crazy. We will be celebrating this Sunday in style with a giraffe theme. I may or may not have gone completely off the deep end with this party but it has been a much needed distraction and you only turn one once, right? As the guest list continues to grow longer and I keep adding more flavors to the rented Sno Cone machine I can't help but be a bit excited! I'll be sharing pictures of some of the things up my sleeve tomorrow. Until then, it is time for bed. I hope I still have a couple readers out there in blog land.