I never blog because I don't have anything exciting to blog about and I don't have the time or energy to put much effort into a well-written and witty post. But I hate that my blog has fallen by the wayside, so I've decided that even if my writing stinks and I blog about total nonsense...even if I just write one sentence or post one picture...I should try to keep my blog current.

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My sister called last week and asked if DH and I have anything planned for the end of July. When I told her no, she said that she and her hubby are taking their vacation time then and found a really super deal on some flights and wanted to know if we would mind having them as house guests for a week. Woohoo!!! It was a total surprise. I didn't even know they were thinking about coming down here. I'm super excited. I love spending time with them and their 3 kiddos and this time, Scout will be old enough to play with them (somewhat). The last time I saw them was at Christmas when we flew up there and stayed for a week. The last time they were on my turf was back in October, when Scout was barely 6 months old and was just learning to sit up.

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In other news, I think Scout is getting totally bored with her toys. I tried to rotate her toys every month or two for a while, but the last time I rotated them, I realized that she had pretty much outgrown the ones I had stashed away and she didn't seem too interested in them when I brought them back out. I know that anything can become a toy - and she does play with pots and pans, boxes, purses, shoes, computer parts, books and CD cases, rolls of toilet paper, etc.....but even those things can only be entertaining for so long. We went to our friends' house for dinner on Friday night while DH was working late and Scout got to play with their little boy who is 3 months older than her. He has a TON of toys and she had a blast!!!! She was entertained for hours and hours with all of the fun things he had. It made me feel bad when I thought of her meager toy stash at home. I probably need to get her some more toys, but they are so expensive. I guess I need to hit some yard sales and thrift stores!!

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Pics from yesterday at the park down the road from us:







It is sort of a trashy park. We saw some broken glass, the jungle gym had mildew or algae or something growing on it, and there were curse words written all over the play equipment. Nice.

Labels: blog talk, dh, family, pics of scout, playing outside, random thoughts, toys

She lets Scout scale her like a mountain.





I am sooooo tired of Scout's hair constantly being in her face all the time. I have threatened to cut some bangs on this child on more than one occasion. She won't keep ANY type of hair accessory on her head for any length of time. I think it would be too sad to cut it right now, though. Maybe I could try some kind of styling product??

I guess I don't need to mention that I've been awful at keeping the house clean lately. You can definitely tell that by the photos. Uuugh.

Labels: my house, pics of scout, playing, the dog

First blog entry in, I dunno...10 days?...and I'm shamelessly plugging my cloth diapers for sale over at Diaperswappers.com. I know, I know.
Suckiest. Blogger. Ever.

Labels: cloth diapering, for sale

Scout knows some new words. She now says: Pee-pee, home, and cereal. I also think she tries to say potty, but I'm not sure.

The cereal one really blew me away because it seems like a hard one to say, but she does a good job. It comes out sounding like "See-weo". She also knows how to sign for it. It's a commonly used word around here, because she likes to snack on cheerios. I'm pretty sure that she wouldn't know to call oatmeal or corn flakes cereal...as far as she knows, cheerios are the only things called "cereal", but I guess that's okay for now.

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I've been sewing a lot more lately. My plan is to start up an Etsy store and keep it stocked with stuff like purses and aprons and other odds and ends. I'm also splitting a booth with a friend at a local craft fair in October.

Here is one of my creations in progress:



He's not quite finished yet and I'm not very pleased with my wobbly stitching around the arms, but I think he's going to become part of a child's back-pack or small book tote anyway. He can be my test subject to see how my stuff holds up to wear and tear and washes up, since I don't think he's perfect enough to sell.

I have a brain chock full of ideas for things to put in my shop. I only hope I can come up with the time to do it. I feel a little guilty for working on things during the day and letting Scout wander around the house aimlessly while playing by herself sometimes, but I do try to take breaks often to sit and play and interact with her. Plus, with the time I spend nursing her, feeding her lunch and breakfast, and taking walks around the neighborhood, I suppose she's not TOO awfully neglected.

I've always been a late-nite seamstress, but I've been trying to go to bed at the same time DH does (for a change) because it's nice to be able to spend that time together and then I can get up early to cook breakfast and have some quiet moments before Scout gets up. So for now, I have to find bits of time throughout the day to do my sewing....and that ain't no easy feat, let me tell ya.

Labels: firsts, scout talking, sewing, sign language, wahm business

Scout's mattress is on the floor, and her door is never completely latched shut (because it sticks and is too loud to open and close when I want to sneak out of there), so she could easily walk out of her room whenever she wants. But for some reason, she has always stayed put after she wakes up until someone comes in to get her. Depending on her mood, she either rolls around and whines or just sits up in bed while happily talking and squealing to herself.....Until very recently.

And I can't get used to it. It's very unnerving to be sitting in a quiet house at your computer desk, thinking your baby's asleep in the other room, only to see a little person run through the hall out of the corner of your eye. Or worse, have the little creature walk up behind you while you're not paying attention and grab your pant leg while squealing "Hieeeeee!" Freaky.

Labels: baby sleep, firsts

Yesterday evening, DH realized that there were some computer parts over at his parents' house that he was going to need before this morning. He was going to have to drive an hour in the opposite direction of his parents' house today, so I offered to go pick up the parts last night after I put Scout to bed. I was kind of excited about a late-night trip out of the house by myself. No sippy cups to fill. No diaper bag to pack. No baby to strap into the car seat. Just me, some good music, and the prospect of stopping by Taco Bell and grabbing something off of the 99 cent menu. Yum. I also planned on swinging by Wal-Mart on the way home so I could get some milk and a few other odds and ends. Heck, I might even go down a couple of aisles just to browse. It's funny how walking around a store for 20 minutes without a baby in the cart has become a decadent luxury. Gosh, you'd think I was going to a day-spa or something.

I didn't end up putting Scout down until about 10 PM because we went for a late-nite walk around the neighborhood with some friends. She fell asleep in the stroller and I was able to transfer her fairly easily into bed. She almost always sleeps through the night, but I went ahead and set the baby monitor in the bedroom where DH was about to go to sleep anyway. I left and went straight to DH's parents' house (which is about 35-40 minutes away). I stood in the driveway chatting with his mom and sister for while and then MIL's phone rang. It was DH and I could hear Scout screaming her head off in the background. Uuugghh. He had tried to call my phone twice, but I didn't hear it because it was in my car.

There went my fun little outing. I went straight back home. I did not pass Go and did not collect $200. When I walked through the door, Scout was red-faced, teary-eyed, and sobbing. When she saw me, she made the sign for "nursing" and stopped crying as soon as DH handed her to me. I nursed her back to sleep in her bed, which took a lot longer than usual since she had been all worked up and upset and was probably confused. I felt bad for her. I felt bad for DH. I felt bad for me.

What a fluke. She almost NEVER wakes up that soon after putting her to bed. IF she wakes up at all during the night it's usually not before 2 or 3 AM, and most of the time she'll just moan and squirm a little and then put herself back to sleep. She must've known that I had left the house and was about to have a relaxing jaunt about town without her. Darn that crazy baby spidey-sense.

Labels: baby sleep, dh, doh, general complaining