clean floors, dirty paws

After a cold, rainy couple of weeks, we welcomed the sun today with open arms...for about an hour or so, then most of us complained about being hot.  Not me, me who hates heat more than repetitive imaginary drum playing, was loving it; once I found a skirt that fit, it was Ryan who has gotten soft.  Today's weather was like Fresno at 8am in July and he couldn't hang.  Maybe he needs a Summer visit to remember what hot actually feels like.  He and Abner, who had to be carried the last few blocks of our walk due to excessive panting, awe.  Here are a few cute shots of the hot boys... Before coffee PANTING! Note that his feet hover above the floor when he lays flat

I don't know about you, but my favorite M&M's color was light brown.  That is until they replaced it with blue; bright, offensive, invasive, blue.  When they first came out I refused to eat the blue, giving them away or leaving them behind.  Of course now I eat them, but not without a bit of spite, imagining them as the discontinued glossy light brown morsels as I chew. What is it with ever evolving products and expanding product lines?  Why do manufacturers feel the need to mess with stuff all the time? Is there actually pressure on them to change products and constantly formulate new ones?  Do we really need 250 choices?  Am I the only one who takes it personally when one of my beloved products is "new and improved?"  Also, who the hell coined the phrase, "new and improved," it is impossible, if something is new it cannot also be improved.   Find a shampoo you love and within a few months they have changed the formula.  Supposedly it is improved, r

I can't believe I am just now finding out about picnik, a photo editing website!  I have a dinosaur computer with NO photo editing capabilities and thus my photos tend to be a bit banal.  But not for long... Here is a little taste of what I have been experimenting with.    FUN!

  Abner likes to play tug of war, a lot.   He would play all day if I'd let him, I don't.   Lucky for him a friendly pup named Berkley was willing to ablige. And they played ALL DAY.

Parents have been manipulating their children since the beginning of time.  Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Santa!  They have been messing with us our entire lives!  I am sure we can all look back and remember a time when we bought what our parents were selling out of pure naivete.  I fell victim to the crust being the most nutritious part of the bread scheme, and I believed it for most of my life.  Then, one day while eating a sandwich, a light bulb.  The crust is the exact same as the rest of the slice it just gets crusty because it is out he outside!  Eureka, I've got it! Part of me felt duped and a bit idiotic but really I was impressed.  Impressed with the power that parents have over their children's thoughts and opinions of the world.  Wow, I really believed that?  I bet some of you did too.  Perhaps you figured it out before you hit your twenties, but wasn't is a crazy moment?  Did you wonder what other lies you believed as a child?  Do you wonder now what you are bein

Under Wraps Exposed One week away form the 3ed trimester and I am finally starting to feel pregnant.  Holy shit, that means there is going to be a baby!

So, I'm in the back room, ironing, minding my own business, when I look out into the yard and see Abner.  He is not taking a nap or engaging in his favorite past time of chasing dragonfly shadows; he is foaming at the mouth, profusely, 24 gallons of yellowish foam are taking over his body like the blob. I run outside in a panic.  All I can think of is that he is choking to death or perhaps has been bitten by a rabid animal and is now himself a rabid foaming Cujo.   Just when I am imaging  myself locked in the car for 2 days with Danny Pintauro I realize what is causing the foaming.  He is masticating a snail.  Not chewing, that is far too polite a word for what he was doing, he was masticating this poor slimy snail to death. Without thinking I perform "the sweep" wherein I pry open his mouth and use my other hand to clear out its contents.  I immediately regret my decision, as I typically do when sweeping out his mouth, because now my hand is covered in masticated sna

  The days are growing longer. The trees their blossoms.

As you already know from previous posts, Ryan and I will not be finding out the sex of our baby until it is born and the doctor utters those infamous words, "It's a..." I find that I go back and forth about this whole not knowing thing; I think it's my controlling side shining through.  I typically try to keep that side under wraps, but every once and a while it's like, hello, my name is Anne and I'm a total control freak and by the way, that vase goes .33 inches to the left!! I know that finding out would make a few things easier, like choosing bedding, choosing a name and mentally preparing for one or the other, but not finding out gives us an opportunity to be genuinely surprised.  How often in your adult life do you get to be truly, joyfully, 100% surprised?  Not too often. So, because we are not finding out we thought it would be fun to try some of the old traditional gender predictors like the Chinese calendar, the wedding ring hanging above my bel

  Just making sure the crib is nice and sturdy    If you don't mind, mom.  Could you turn out the light when you leave.  I think I'll just take a lay down for a spell. Well, Abner approves!  And I have successfully created a new bad habit. As if he didn't have enough already!

Everyone loves a creamsicle.  Fresh, bright citrus on the outside and smooth, creamy ice cream on the inside.  It's just one of those perfect food combinations, like peanut butter and chocolate. And while I do love a creamsicle, I never imagined I would be obsessing over the color of the frozen delight rather than the treat itself, but here I am, or there I was, in search for the perfect orange. First of all, I don't even like the color orange...or red or yellow, way too bright and cheerful.  But for some strange reason when deciding on colors for the nursery I was immediately drawn to orange.  Not traffic cone orange or even the true color or a proper orange, but the cool, delicious, impossibly artificial color or a creamsicle. Now, before you think I have officially gone off the deep end, no, I didn't make Ryan repaint the walls orange. OK, now that that's out of the way... Having never looked for anything orange before, remember, I don't like the color, I i

I'm not going to lie, I am honestly kind of surprised how many people are offended by my calling our unborn child "it."  I mean, what else am I going to call it?  See, there I go again. As you already know, we aren't finding out the sex of our baby.  But what you may or may not know is that I am not to keen on cutesy little names for things like unborn babies or your husbands penis.  My dog may have 28 nicknames, but he is alive and breathing and earned every one. At first I didn't want to call it anything because I was afraid to get attached.  Well, I got attached anyway in about 25 seconds, but still didn't really call it anything.  For a moment I suggested we call it Baby X but Ryan thought that was too hardcore and opted for Baby Z.  It never stuck; It stuck. And I can't tell you how many disgusted or disappointed looks I get from women when I tell them that we aren't finding out the sex of the baby.  "But what are you going to call it?&

"LAY OFF ME, I'M STARVING!" Just call me Gap girl because lately, I could probably beat her in an eating contest. And we'll soon be sharing clothes!

  Holy Cow... Literally Growth Spurt

Let's all take a note from Abner's book on life.  If the sun is warm and shining through the window...sleep in it!

  It's cookie time! And while I am pretty sure the Girl Scouts of America are getting cheap and skimping on the peanut butter portion of their Tagalongs, (did you think we wouldn't notice!?) the Somoas are amazing! Thanks Miss Marley (our Daisy Scout in the family)

I have been sick in bed this week But I am not alone Little Bean sleeps on my legs making it almost impossible to get comfortable, but even more impossible to disturb his slumber

I have been a sick blob on the bed all week and have reached my breaking point!  I have to do something... ANYTHING before I die of boredom, my muscles begin to atrophy and my brain turns to mush from daytime television.  All this laying around though, got me thinking about the poor women on bed rest.  I have really taken for granted how easy my pregnancy has been thus far but things can change at any moment.  I bet there are plenty of women out therewho thought it was going to be smooth sailing and then bam, a problem strikes and they are in the hospital or on bed rest.  And they lay there day in and day out uncomfortable and scared, because that is what you have to do.  When you are carrying a baby it's not all about you anymore. This is a particularly hard pill for me to swallow being the "type" of person that I am.  I do not sit still, accept help from others, relax, heal, take care of myself, or let the picture frame be crooked while I'm just laying there ver

Last weekend we took a perfectly timed trip up to the snow It was Abner's first time even seeing snow and... He LOVED it