Half Blood Prince Trailer

I have some movie reviews for you, but I'm knee deep in a database project at the moment, so I'll have to get to it a little later. . . in the mean time, please enjoy the trailer. We were wondering when it was coming out. . . Am I the only one that is creeped out the trailer alone?

Oh my word! I can't wait.

Allergy attack

Today is our anniversary. Ben & I have been married for 2 years today. It's crazy to think it has been that long, but more than that, I'm floored with how much our lives have changed in 2 short years. . .

As a tribute to my dear husband, (who has rehearsal tonight, so we won't be doing anything much to celebrate) I will relate to you a little story. This happened last night, and I was given permission to blog about it. . . I tried to get Ben to write it himself, but he wouldn't, though he would have done a much better job.

I'll start with a little background. Ben has allergies. Always has. He's never been tested to figure out what the full spectrum of his allergies include, but I'm guessing the list is not awfully short. He is also a hypochondriac. . . when he was in 5th grade and his teacher explained to them what it meant to be a hypochondriac, his first thought. . .
"I think I have that!"

2 years ago he had a weird reaction to something and his entire eye swelled shut. To this day, he has no idea what he reacted to. He went to the doctor and got some Zyrtec, and after a day, the swelling was gone. He often gets itchy eyes from dust or dander and uses allergy eye drops to deal with it.

Fast forward to last night.

As it was Sunday evening, we were just hanging out, watching some TV and straightening up for the babysitter Monday morning. In an effort to clean up our living room, Ben picked up and tossed the Love Sac over to fluff it up and get it out of the way a little. As usual, a cloud of dust rose (please feel free to share if you have any idea what to do about the dust problem inherent in Love Sacs). A few minutes later he said his eye was "freaking out" and went to get the allergy drops. It didn't do much for him, and as the minutes ticked by, his eye started to swell. He rinsed it with water, tried more drops, took some Claritin, but nothing was helping. This is what his eye looked like, from 2 different perspectives:

Please understand that while this was happening, we were watching a show on TLC about this man:And then imagine how Mr. Hypochondriac must have been feeling.

I am happy to report that this morning the swelling has mostly subsided, and while he looks a little like he has a mild case of pink eye, he will most certainly live.

And also, I love you, Ben. Thanks for letting me entertain the blogging world with that story. You must really love me too.

Happy Anniversary!

Frozen

Nolan has been teething. . . STILL. I can't figure out why it's taking such a ridiculous long time, but we still just have that one stupid tooth poking half way up and an occasionally VERY unhappy baby. He's a mess. One of the things that us new mommies hear is that teething babes sometimes dig a frozen baby washcloth to gnaw on in their time of need. Nolan has never really taken to that idea much. . . until last night.

He whacked his head on the corner of the coffee table, so Ben took one of the frozen washcloths out of the freezer to put on the bump. He wanted nothing to do with it on his head, but he did start chewing on it. . . and dragging it around the room with him. It was so funny, I had to capture it. He was chewing on it so fiercely!

Key Lime & Chocolate Orange

So. . . I'm starting a new venture.

It's still definitely in the planning stages, just starting to roll forward, but I'm pretty excited about it. I've been thinking for a long time that I'd like to start a cupcake business. I've mulled over lots of ways of going about it, and finally decided to just jump in.

I'm going to start with catering. . . parties, weddings, baptisms. . . whatever. I'll throw it out there and see what happens. My boss & I took some really fun cupcake photos this morning in an effort to A) play with photography & B) get some cool shots for me to use in marketing.

I made birthday cupcakes for the 5 members of our team with birthdays this month, so we had some fun subjects. . .

Check them out. (And if you need cupcakes for anything, I'll give you a good deal!)

Swimming!!

And finally, Nolan decided that swimming was fun!

After this experience, we're pretty sure that the issue has been water temperature. The pool at our hotel in Park City was nice and warm, and Nolan got a big old kick out of it. Just a few pictures of him having a great time in the water.

Reuniting

I'm of the mind that reunions are pretty much exclusively for the older generations. Most of us without grandchildren really don't care that much, and end up hanging out with the same people we would if our immediate family got together.

Saturday was crazy hot, and after 4 hours in the heat, we were pretty done. We did, however, walk away with some fun pictures. Mostly of Nolan crawling around under a tree because he was done being held.

It was as if he said to me, "MOM, that kid is walking! I want to walk too!" The other boy didn't have to hold on, so I made sure there were no skull/concrete accidents by sticking close by.

Because we can't resist an opportunity to shoot Ben's 2 favorite things together.

Back in the Saddle

So, our weekend was crazy, and yet lazy. Totally full of contradictions. Nolan slept WAY better at my parent's house in the crib, and then REFUSED to sleep in the pack and play at the hotel in Park City. He was so sweet and patient at the reunion and while we were shopping in Park City, and was NOT pleased to be in the car or to be asked to go to sleep. . . It was bizarre, to say the least. I blame it all on 2 things. . .

#1-- Nolan doesn't really travel well. I try to think of him as adaptable and go-with-the-flow, but the truth is, he likes his bed and his toys. And now that he can crawl and cruise, he WANTS TO. None of this being trapped in people's arms. . .

#2-- The teething monster. I really don't understand what's going on with his teeth. I know I'm new to this, but it REALLY sucks. Does it get better the next time? Or is EVERY tooth going to cause insane sleepless nights and lots of screaming?

And now, as a reward for making it through my whining, some pictures of Nolan sharing an ice cream cone with me at Farr's last Friday night. Bavarian Raspberry Ripple. It was heaven, and he LOVED it, all over his shirt and mine.

Later!

We're off to a family reunion until Tuesday!

I'm sure I'll come back with lots of photos.

GO see Dark Knight!

(I'm going to try to figure out a way to see it too)

Hugs and Kisses,
Mel

Random Thursday

A couple of cute photos from this week:

Post bath, all wrapped up in his new frog towel and enjoying his rubber ducky

In his favorite TV watching position

More Video

We captured more Nolan video this week. It's a little bit long for a web clip (2 minutes), but it's a good representation of several things:

#1-- He's cruising all over the place now. He spends a lot of time up against the entertainment center watching Sesame Street. (I know, he shouldn't be watching TV. . . spare me the lecture)

#2-- His goofy fake laugh that I tried forever to capture, but he stopped doing it for a while. It's back.

#3-- He's biting EVERYTHING. He has a half of one little tooth on the bottom, and he's working like crazy to help the others along. He's like a little Sunny Baudelaire. . . it's pretty funny.

#4-- My house is a huge mess during the day while I work from home. . . I had to literally corral him into the living room yesterday so he wouldn't go to the kitchen and tip over the recycling bin. . . which is why the high chair is in the living room.

Enjoy!

Thank You

I would like to say a word or two about Thank You cards. It's wedding season, and lots and lots of babies are being born, so this has been on my mind lately. . .

2 years ago I married in to a family that is incredibly good about sending thank you cards. And I mean REALLY good. They send them for everything. It's so polite and sweet that sometimes I find it a bit overwhelming.

Because if you know me, and if you have ever been gracious enough to give me a gift or let me stay at your house, or something equally cool, you'll know. . . I am AWFUL at writing thank you cards.

Let me say from the start, it's not a lack of gratitude that makes me awful at it. I am SO grateful when someone goes out of their way to do something nice for me, to send me a gift, or make dinner for me. . . I REALLY am. Maybe it's the perfectionist in me. I don't want to write a silly lame little note or just sign my name to a card that already says "thanks" on it. I have to try to be at least a LITTLE bit clever. And frankly, that takes time and thought. On top of which, I think it is one of life's cruel ironies that the times you are supposed to be writing thank you cards en masse are the busiest, craziest times of life. We did pretty well with our wedding thank you cards (mostly), but when the wee babe was born. . . let's just say I have been INCREDIBLY remiss.

So, this is all to say the following:

#1-- If I should have sent you a thank you card at some point, and I hurt your feelings because I didn't. . . I am SOOO sorry. I really was grateful, and I swear to do better.

#2-- If I have ever given you a gift or done something for you and you're feeling guilt about not sending one to me. . . this is your free lifetime pass. Let go of the guilt. My feelings are not hurt. In fact, you sort of make me feel better. . . not that I don't like thank you cards. I do. I just don't want ANYONE to feel the way I do about them.

That is all.

More 4th of July

Thanks to Nat's camera, I actually have some pictures of Nolan and I together!! It's a miracle!

Since we were at the cabin, I couldn't be bothered to style my hair. . . And since it looks pretty hideous when I don't style it, I opted for my fancy cherry bandana instead.

Sitting outside with Aubrey & Grandpa

Trying to catch sight of the hummingbirds at the feeder Saturday morning

Aubrey, Nolan and I playing in the shade while the rest of the family

worked on this:
Which eventually led to this:
The trampoline in the hole idea is something that goes back almost a year. . . and it's finally done!! Hooray!!

Dark Knight Is Coming!!

How can you not be excited about the new Batman movie? Seriously, the first one was just INCREDIBLE!! I am downright giddy to see The Dark Knight. . . And HBO is helping us all get more excited.

Enjoy!

Fun With Google Images

So, this was a tag from Emily's blog. It looked like a fun way to spend a few minutes. . . or 30.
Here are the rules (do this on your own blog and let me know you did in the comments)
For each question, look up the answer in a Google Image search. Then choose your favorite from the first page of results only. You get some fun and often CRYPTIC answers.

Here are mine:

My Age:A Place I'd Like To Travel To:My Favorite Place:My Favorite Object:

My Favorite Food:My Favorite Animal:

My Favorite Color:

The Town Where I Was Born:The Town Where I Live:A Past Pet:A Past Love:My Best Friend's Nickname:My Screen Name:
(I have no idea why this came up, Bridget, but I liked the picture, I hope it's OK)My First Name:My Middle Name:My Last Name:One Of My Bad Habits:My First Job:My Grandmother's Name:My College Degree:What I Am Doing Right Now: