Making Way for Coffee Cup!

Well, I have come to the stark realization that in less than 60 days we are due to have another little one in our home! YAY! and HOLY CRAP! all at the same time. I am so excited I can hardly stand it, and at the same time a little sad that Ella will have to share the limelight. She's just so fun! Anyhow- We are finally getting ready for baby.

I was just thinking today as I was wiping down the carseat-to-stroller adaptor, and all that stuff that has been gathering dust for two years now, that at this point in my pregnancy with Ella I was ready at any moment for baby's arrival. This time, however, we would be in a lurch! Obviously, I've got a couple things to finish up before he makes his grand entrance wink, wink.. and we are totally convinced he'll be almost as late as Ella was.

So, in order to feel fully prepared, I went online and ordered the cutest little cotton set for his "coming home from the hospital" outfit, and a matching hat (which will likely never touch his head) and I feel much better now. The carseat came a couple days ago via my old pal the UPS man - we're cool like that since he stops by about once a week. The baby has shampoo and a crib. No sheets yet, much to Ella's dismay, but the bedding should be here this weekend YAY!

And that, ladies and gents, is how we've prepared. I'm not sure if we'll need Newborns or 1's so I haven't bought diapers (Walgreens is open 24 hours, right?) and my mind cant handle any more than that.

This weekend, Ella turns three- and she is just as happy as can be that it is her birthday. All she wants are "roses and flowers." And then she's usually quick to add "and cake with pink frosting, and probably some presents." That's more like it, huh? I'm sure she'll get everything she wants, we're having a tiny "party" for her. I think it's still a party, we invited the ten or so people she sees most in her life to all show up at the same time for lunch and sweets, and that's going to be it. To her, it'll be the best party yet, I'm sure :)

Well, I know, this has been the most boring post ever. But cut me some slack. We've been ill, and I'm on spring break.

Much love!

Baby Alive - No, that IS her name!

Ella got this doll for Christmas. Ever the smart shopper, Mimi scored it half price on Amazon.com, because apparently the bilingual dolls are not in demand this year. So it is the funniest thing! It says "Hola, Mommy!" "Tengo hambre" and "(sniffing noises) Mi pueno es mal" So obviously I don't spell in spanish, but I do have a rough idea of the meaning of these phrases. I like to think that Ella is on her way to being bilingual. If only that were all you ever needed to know! "I'm hungry" and "My diaper stinks, change it!" (roughly translated, of course)

So, she loves this baby. We tried helping her come up with a neat hispanic name for the baby, we tried Rosa, Catalina, Pilar, and my favorite Lucia. Nope. The doll's name is Baby Alive, for the love. Or more true to reality "Baby A-WIVE." Ella will not hear of any other names. So there goes my whole feeble attempt at some multicultural integration in our family.

Although, it does remind me to toss in a few spanish words now and then. Poor Ella, I teach her about random words and phrases when I am bored, so now she knows things like the meaning of the word "reserve" and "spare" and what it means when someone says "adequate" and stuff like that. I know. The apple and the tree thing, huh? There's no hope for her...

Anyhow- back to the point... So, Mimi got her this fabulous doll that poos green goo into preemie Pampers, and now that they have heard all about it, her Grandma Sweetie Pie and Grandma Hearn (they constitute the Californian branch of our family) send her little outfits for Baby Alive! Not the overpriced goofy ones they sell at ToysRUs, real baby clothes. Well, preemie clothes! It is too funny. Baby alive has a great little wardrobe going, and I am often called in to assist with the "napping" of her onesies and skirts and shirts...

So anyhow- Ella is in love. Although last night I walked in on her trying desperatley to shove Baby Alive into a shoebox (which was WAY too small), I'm not really sure what that's all about. I'm sure it's just a phase...

Here she is in a more loving way:



And yes, we are working on her holding technique. I'm sure when The Baby Brother gets here, she'll be over that whole "cover the face with your hand" thing... Another phase, I'm sure...

Spitballs and Bagels

Okay, my pretties, I know it has been a long time since I hacked around on here- Sorry! What can I say? I am in demand... namely in the confines of my own home, but a girl can dream, no?

So, what's new with us. Ella has developed some new skills lately. She has also become extremely fond of bagels, which is kind of random, I know, but she asks for them all the time so I figure it's worth mentioning.

Spitballs- her new passion. She has always adored playing with straws, and in spite of the constant warnings of my own parents that she'd likely poke her eye out, I let her play. They're free! How much better of a toy can you get?! And you can grab like 20 at a time at restaurant, and nobody cares. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the perfect toy.



Anyhow- hubby introduced her to the wonderful world of rolling and thumping them, which makes a huge "pop" sounds- which of course she loves. She calls it "napping" the straw. Then, the ultimate- she learned how to blow bits of bagel/bread/danish/napkin through the straw, usually into mommy's face or in my hair... She adores this. So anytime we are out to eat, our table is a blur of crinkled straws, popping sounds, and flying of carbs. That's just how we roll...

Basketball Jones

Ella is a lucky little girl. She pretty much gets whatever her little heart desires, thanks to all her grandparents. Really, I cant complain, she is not rotten yet, and is the sweetest thing, of course! So she is always cycling through her "favorite" things. One minute it's a certain doll, the next a beanie baby puppy; There are a few standby items, like Baby Alive, and her iron and ironing board. This is a newer addition though. I went to wake her up yesterday morning, and this is what I saw:

I had to laugh. It made me start singing "Basketball Jones" and that stupid thing is still in my head. Well, I tried to rouse her, and her first move was to frantically look around for the ball and then just to make sure mean old mommy wasn't going to take it, I guess, she pulled it close and drifted back into sleep like this:

I love it. She is just so cute!

And for any of you not familiar with the phenomenon that is Basketball Jones... you should be ashamed! You have got to check THIS out. Well, be warned it is not the most politically correct thing in the world, but if you get too hung up on that this probably isnt the blog for you :)

More Monkey Business

So, after reading my post about the baby monkey for sale, my mom reminded me that she, in fact, once had a wee monkey as a pet! I don't know how I forgot about that story. I didn't really get the details on how this arrangement came to be, or the legality of it and all, but hey, it was the 70's!

It was a Capuchin Monkey. Seemingly very cute little creatures, have a looksie:


Apparently it looked more like this a majority of the time, though.


She has told me some stories about the true nature of having a monkey for a pet. Apparently they stink and screech and scream and throw their dung at you and all over... I have this funny mental image of a huge metal birdcage in the middle of their living room, with a crazed monkey shaking the bars and screeching... I'll draw a picture and post it at some point. Note the splattered poo that monkey has thrown about, and the cool retro 70's lamp is the standout fixture I remember from that house...


Apparently it got out a couple times, and they toyed with the idea of letting it stay gone, but the threat of someone tracing it back to them was too great. Plus I think it only ever went up a tree in the back yard, so it would still have been there, taunting and terrorizing. I am just fascinated by this. How they got a monkey, why they got a monkey, what did they do with it when they DID actually get rid of it (from the tone of the stories, I gather it was a short term arrangement).

Anyhow- just an interesting story...

You Never Know...

... Where your bare @$$ may show up...

I'll just say this is a person I know. Pretty darn well. He is a bit of an eccentric, I think he prefers to be referred to as an "aspiring curmudgeon,*" he's an adventurer, a naturalist; Even still, I was a bit taken at seeing his bare @$$ on the internet. But then I thought about it, and really it's not all that shocking.

From what I understand, this photograph was distributed to a small list of people, emailed to like 12 people, and it soon appeared on a national website, posted by some kid at Penn State (huh?) which I think is beyond funny.

I pulled the picture with the tag from the website, to prove it. The caption posted with the photo was "To the true swimmer, water is water, it doesnt matter what state it's in." It's followed by over a hundred and twenty comments, of varying nature and crudity, and a couple people even claimed to know him (but were way off on the geographical location of the photo-shoot). I will admit that for my blog here I gave him a pair of trunks, because, well, he needed them. It's cold out there...

*-yeah, you'll have to Google that for yourself, it's a post in its own -

Yeah, but can it make coffee?

So, the funniest thing I have seen in a long time definitely merits a post here. I actually didnt see it, my dad did, but when I saw the photo I promptly emailed it to myself from his phone, and now I'll just use it at will... Thanks, dad, by the way...

I know I talked about the infamous Frank's Country Store before. Although I must admit, after all the talking I did about their catfish plates on Fridays, we went to the fish fry at our church last week, and we'll be transferring our weekly reservation there, instead! It was REALLY REALLY good, where Frank's only gets one REALLY. Okay totally beside the point.

So, apparently this gem of a sign showed up on the window at Frank's place, and my dad was smart enough to immortalize it on ?film ?file eh-we'll just say iPhoto:

Can you imagine? I took the liberty of blacking out the phone number there, since I'm not really sure of the legality of selling baby monkeys at convenience stores in small towns across America, I don't know the people that are selling said monkey, and they have since taken the sign down. Maybe it was an issue, or maybe they already sold the little bugger and don't want any more calls. I can imagine they got some interesting "prank" calls on this one.

So anyways, just thought it was too funny not to share. And people, take care in choosing your pets.