Hunting Weekend

This past weekend was Jody's annual squirrel hunting trip with Dan out in the great wild of Indiana. As usual, Mom and I spent the weekend together so as not to go completely bored from being home alone.

However, after four days of Muppets and Curious George, poor Mom got restless. For those of you that know our Dot well, this is not a surprise. I had left the house while Taylor was napping this past Sunday to catch my weekly disappointment of Cowboys football, and while I was out Mom got started on cleaning up our yard. Now, don't get me wrong, we mow and edge, but we have some majorly out of control flower beds. I just don't know what in the hell to do with them, plus we may have a bit of a cricket problem, and those little black creepy crawlies freak me out bad enough that I've really put off addressing the situation head on. Plus, the entire back side of our house was solidly covered in ivy, and though I knew it needed to be trimmed back, I just had no idea where to begin.

Enter Dot. By the time I got home she had cleared out a ridiculous amount of the ivy along with the flower bed by the back porch. By the end of the evening she had cleared out all of our yard woes, and made the house barely recognizable. I'm only sad that I didn't take before pictures so that you could see the difference a little elbow grease bade. Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful weekend, and I'm sad to report that the only pictures I have are from my cel phone, as I totally forgot to upload the pictures from her camera before she went home. Thanks again Mom for keeping us company and clearing our yard!

Holy smokes! You can see our brick on the back of the house now!

The "flower bed" you see below the window used to be as tall as the window itself.

And look! Our tree has a trunk again! Before, it looked like a bush.

Go Dot, go!

And as I had a 5 second moment with my back turned to marvel at Mom's work, Taylor decided to take her first forehead-skid down our concrete steps. Thankfully a popsicle works better than a Band-Aid.

Lovie and Taylor cleaning up the ivy.

The aftermath of just the back yard alone.

I Go Out Walking

The last few days were actually not hotter than the pits of hell here (sometimes the unholy heat does make me wonder if there is a correlation though), so I decided that it would be a great opportunity for Taylor and I to get out of the house and get some much needed exercise. I had Jody meet me at work with the Munkie and the stroller, and after much slathering of sunscreen over her little spud feet, we were off.

The first day she oohed and ahhed over the ducks, and pointed them out excitedly anytime one was within sighting distance. I on the other hand gripped the stroller tightly, and walked a little faster anytime we were in their areas, praying that the damn geese wouldn't attack me like some sick watered down children's version of "The Birds." Seriously, those bastards are mean, and I had one particularly large specimen waddle up to the sidewalk as we passed so that he could flap his wings and hiss at me.

Day two was a little different. For about five minutes Taylor was excited to point out the sights to me again, until we got about halfway around the park. I was paying more attention to the jerks that were about a hundred yards away with TWO pit bulls, that were not leashed, and how in the hell I was going to fight them off if they attacked, than to why my little one had suddenly gotten so quiet. After the threat of the dogs passed, I finally pulled my head out enough to check my kid and found her totally slumped down in the stroller, zonked out. Poor kid didn't even wake up when I took her out to put her in the carseat. But have no fear, she quickly perked right back up and began shrieking like a banshee once the AC kicked on and she realized we weren't outside anymore. So like any good mother I fished out a "toy" from my purse (see pic below), because I couldn't reach any of her actual toys that she had thrown in the floor.

Snoozin'

Poor thing was totally sacked out.

Yes, that's right, she has my TAMPON CASE in her hands (click the pic to see it bigger). I can't give her my wallet anymore, because last time I did I caught her trying to jam my Sam's card into our water cooler, plus she dumps all my change out. This is a slightly more benign version that's at least shaped the same so she really doesn't know the difference.

You Wanna Know What Goes On Around Here?

Sadly, not much! I get a lot of grief from family and friends that I don't have much to talk about, neither on this blog or in real life. I'm pretty sure everyone thinks I'm holding out on this vast wealth of super awesome stories that I'm hoarding all for myself. Rest assured - that isn't the case. I decided to document our Monday night so that you can see just how boring we really are, albeit I have a blast every single night with my little girl, but for most folks I realize this isn't the height of entertainment.

Playing in the pillow pile in the living room. This is pretty much where we spend all of our time.

Mom! What in the hell are you doing sticking your giant noggin in the pic with me?

We eat blocks.....

And we chew on random toiletry items like combs and toothbrushes. Seriously this kid has an odd obsession with her toothbrush.

Climb Every Sofa

I have to admit, I got very sad when Taylor really got to walking. I remember woefully telling Jody that our "baby" isn't a baby any more, and the only real milestones we have left to look forward to are sending her to kindergarten, and then college. That's it. As far as all the "baby" milestones, we're officially done. Well, as usual - I was dead wrong. I didn't realize that shortly after walking comes climbing. Oh, how aptly we nicknamed our child Munkie. The world (particularly my living room) is her jungle gym, and no furniture is safe. And if you take her in the backyard she can amuse herself literally for hours going up and down the stairs. As for the feeling that we are out of milestones, I'm realizing that every time I think she's done it all and tried everything she can still amaze me. Like for instance how she stealthily snuck into the bathroom the other day and got ahold of the toilet brush. There is no greater horror for any mother than discovering her child gnawing away at the handle of a poo-scrubber while she blissfully watches Sesame Street.

Oh, hey Mom! Don't mind me, just hangin' out.

AAAAAAAAARRRRGH!!!!!! Flying Burrito!

Yes, the Britney Spears style of parenting/diaper-only fashion statement strikes again.

Got a little Captain in ya? It's very rare to see her with both feet on the same surface these days.

Super Fun Weekend at Home

This past weekend Jody, Taylor and I finally got a completely adventure-free weekend to sleep in and do whatever we wanted. Needless to say, by Sunday afternoon we were all bored stiff, but we had a lot of fun relaxing in the meantime. Jody and I had a grueling Monopoly match Friday night (we were up til 3:00a.m. and the stupid game still wasn't over), and Saturday we mostly spent taking turns napping and cursing about how tired we are and that we're too damn old to be staying up that late these days. Sunday was a new day however, and we decided to get out and about early so that Taylor could play at the park before the day had reached boiling temperatures. She had a great time, especially once she discovered the wonders of gravel. Only my kid would be happier playing with rocks than running around on the toys, but hey, we love her all the more for it!

Alas, my daughter's hair makes her a dead-ringer for Justin Bieber :(

Look mom! I can fit a whole block in my mouth!

Are you sure this thing's safe?

And this is pretty much how the majority of our visit to the park was spent.

Jody was disappointed that he was too tall for the monkey bars.

That's right, I'm a princess! Holla!

Daddy and Taylor tandem lounging.

One Year Checkup

So is it still a one year checkup if you're a month late? Due to the changes in our health insurance we had to wait until after August 1 to take Taylor to the pediatrician for her vaccinations. The good news is that the doctor was very impressed with how well she is coming along, and told us to just keep on doing what we're doing, she's doing great. Ms. Priss is now 23.6 lbs (shocking, because she feels a lot heavier), and 32 inches tall. She is in the 75% for weight and 95% for height. We do still have to get a referral for a local ENT doctor, and ophthalmologist. Taylor is now refusing to wear her glasses at all, and I can't help but wonder if she's perhaps outgrown her prescription. Either way, we'll find out soon. Taylor has also really gotten the hang of this whole walking thing, she is now tearing around the house at breakneck speeds all by herself.

*Here's just a little preview of Taylor's one year pictures courtesy of our friend Layci. I swear that woman is so artistically inclined she probably poops glitter and ribbons.

Lazy Day

This weekend marks the first weekend that we've been at home since we moved back to Amarillo. Every weekend so far has held some sort of adventure, and though they've been fun, it's been so nice just to hang out at home. As you can see below, there has still not been any lack of entertainment around here. Lord knows the three of us can always come up with something to keep us occupied!

You can always count on Bill Morehead to supply whatever is required of your child-leashing needs.

Thanks Gomez!