For ME??

My blogging buddy Jody over at Iowa Geek gave me an award recently. She loves my blog! Over the last months as we've read each other's blogs and gotten to know each other, we've realized that we have a lot of similarities - our love for convertibles and conservative politics and travel...and I'm looking forward to the day we can meet in person.



So, the award is awesome, and I'm so grateful...but, here's the tough part. I have to award it to 7 other blogs. Argh! The hard part is narrowing it down. I amaze most people when I tell them I have over 60 blogs in my bloglines. How do I pick just 7?? I'll give it a shot...just be gentle with me if I don't pick yours (and I'm staying away from family, b/c you guys KNOW I love your blogs!)...it doesn't mean I don't obsessively check my bloglines to see if you've updated.

Paulette - your writing is amazing, and I love reading about the antics of your family...plus, it helps me not feel so far away from you!

Band of Brothers - your creativity and enthusiasm inspire me! It makes me want to try to sew and take pictures and play on the floor with the kids.

Agnes - I'm so glad you started a blog. Your vacation stories and pictures of the boy help me not feel so far away from you. I'm so glad we're venturing on this motherhood thing together!

Journey to Iraq - I found Penny's blog through a friend, and I'm so glad I did. She's deployed in Iraq right now, and her stories and pictures show all the WONDERFUL things happening over there. Thanks for helping us stay positive! Come home safely!

Lorieloo - Another super creative and talented blogger and friend! Your series about you and Scott was so fun. I love reading about all your photography outings, and you KNOW I love your photos. I'm so glad we were able to spend some time together recently.

Shell - You got me into blogging! And it's been a great way for us to get back in touch. I can't wait til we can introduce our kiddos to each other!

Terry - Road Rage - Your title attracted me instantly, but I've loved reading about your career. I'm so impressed with how well you do your job, and I love hearing about all the fun and crazy times. Hang in there!


Whew! I did it! There are many more blogs that I love and have to read daily, but I wanted to honor these 7 today. If you haven't read their stuff, head over and check it out.

About Me

CeCe tagged me for the 7 things MEME. I've done this one a few times before, but I think I have some new readers since I last did it...so I'm going to cheat and just link to my old ones. Besides, I told you all one new thing about myself in my last post...about my blankie. =)

So, to learn MORE than 7 new things about me (if you're a newer reader, or you forgot already), click here and here. Oh, and here's another one...just about my teenage years.

It's kinda fun to look back on these old posts b/c some things have definitely changed since I wrote them!

Tagged by AbbaGirl

Abbagirl tagged me for this forever ago, so I figured I needed to get crackin' on it.

A. Attached or single? Attached for life to The Colonel!

B. Best friend? I don't really have just one...I have about 15 (non family) people in my life who I can't live without.

C. Cake or pie? Cake, chocolate please...maybe white with chocolate frosting...no doubt! Pie is for wimps!

D. Day of choice? Friday or Saturday probably...of course, now that I don't work Mondays, I could pick that. hee hee.

E. Essential item? It's a toss up between my cell phone and my computer. I be in SO much trouble in a power outage. I'd go crazy!!

F. Favorite color? Red

G. Gummy bears or worm? Neither..the only gummy candy I like are sour and coated in sugar.

H. Hometown? I always say Bakersfield, CA, on this one. But, I guess I technically lived in Fresno longer - Bako just feels more like home.

I. Indulgence? Steak, gorgonzola cheese, baked potato, glass of Pinot

J. January or July? Probably July. I love the 4th of July...and the days are too short in January.

K. Kids? This is the first MEME I can answer YES to this question! Lil Major is almost 5 months old.

L. Life isn't complete without? Family (I agree Abbagirl!)

M. Marriage date? 11/11/00

N. Number of brothers and sisters? One brother - 31 years old, and one sister - 29 years old.

O. Oranges or apples? Apples - fuji are my favorite

P. Phobias? something happening to my kid, my hubby, my family

Q. Quotes? I don't know...I never know how to answer this since nothing sticks in my mind.

R. Reasons to smile? My son giggling, my husband hugging me, my family together, time with friends

S. Season of choice? Fall

T. Tag Seven Peeps! Since I took so long to post this, I'll let you all off the hook...if you decide to do this, let me know.

U. Unknown fact about me? I still sleep with the blanket that I was brought home from the hospital in. It went to the hospital with me with Lil Major was born. I tried and tried to get rid of it, but I can't. I know, I'm a freak.

V. Vegetable? If i have to pick just one I'll say mushrooms.

W. Worst habits? Hubby says it's talking with my mouth full. Whatever.

X. X-ray or ultrasound? I've had both - x-ray for a broken arm when I was 6 and a sprained ankle when I was 17...ultrasounds for pregnancy

Y. Your favorite food? Pizza or Mom's meatloaf

Z. Zodiac sign? Virgo...hmm, I don't even know what Lil Major's is.

So far behind

I have so much to catch up on...I don't know if I'll get it all done.

We're home safe and sound from our amazing trip to California. We had a blast with friends and family. It was nice to get home, but hard to leave everyone behind again. This week marks 2 years that we have been in Kansas. The time has flown by! We are loving it here and have made some amazing friends here...but we will always love our special friends in CA. Thanks for all your hospitality last week. We had so much fun!!

Now, we're trying to get the house back in order, get back on midwest time, and prepare for The Colonel and I to turn one more year older next week. Oh yeah, and I have to go back to work next week, too.

I have many posts going through my mind -- a couple tags I need to answer, pictures of my cousin's wedding, many more pictures of our visits to see friends and family, and if I can figure it out, a video or 2 of the kiddo. If I can get it together, look for a barrage of posts from me over the next couple days.

For now, it's off to Kohl's to check out their picture frame sale...grandparent's day is coming up, did you know that???

Just a Glimpse...

of our amazing time with Lorie. I don't know HOW I'm going to choose which ones to print and post and share because they're all amazing! But, here are a few to whet your appetite...

Countdown

My time at "home" is winding down. It has been an amazing trip! I haven't spent this much time in Bako since I moved away 2 years ago. I've visited with lots of friends and coworkers. I've showed off my gorgeous son. I've eaten great food. I've thoroughly enjoyed Agnes' family's generosity, not to mention the time I've had with her grinning son. I've been to a photo shoot in a HOT Bakersfield alfalfa field (more on that later) with the amazing Lorie.

And I STILL have 2 1/2 more days! What will I do, you ask? Visit more friends, eat more food, swim with my boy...and I guess I better do some packing.

Lil Major and I miss The Colonel and our puppies immensely. And according to The Colonel, I won't recognize my house when we get home. And my car is washed, waxed, and newly oiled. The puppies have been washed and walked, the grass has been mowed, the weeds have been pulled. I think it's safe to say that we've been missed! =)

I've taken HUNDREDS of pictures (not as many as Lorie, though), but I'll choose some of my favorites to share for right now.

Marge and I didn't get the message about wearing black to my favorite Bako restaurant, Cafe Med, but we still had a blast. We got our own little room with a big square table, and we scared our waiter away with all our talk about breast feeding, baby poop, and the Olympics.


After dinner, Marge invited us back to her house where she made Pazooki (sp?) for us...because we hadn't eaten enough at dinner. Lil Major snuggled up to Paulette and melted my heart.


The next day, Lil Major and I ate a yummy breakfast with Daisy and her girls. They rolled out the red carpet, and we had so much fun playing and eating.





Have you ever swam in a backyard pool with a whole slew of kids?? Woah! It's pretty crazy. We swam and laughed and bribed the kids with ice cream sandwiches so they'd pose for pictures. Can you believe that there are 9 kids missing from this photo??


Natty was just helping her daughter get the chocolate off her hands.


The boys sure enjoyed themselves and after a few minutes of screaming in the car, we arrived home to find this...



Who knew that frozen mango tasted this good?



Here is our Bako Blogger's Bash. We met up at one of my favorite pizza places, where they SWORE the A/C was turned on, but it was at least 90 degrees in there. So, please, overlook the sweaty wilted faces...we had a (heat) blast anyway.


Liza and MO were there for a while.


Natty finally got her time with Lil Major (man, my son is popular with the ladies!).


And I got some time with Henry.


Besides my favorite bloggers (Agnes, Lorie, Cece, band of brothers, Liza, Paulette, and frequent commenter Daisy), we had some other friends come who we are trying to convince to START blogging...see how much fun it is??


My good friend KK came up from SoCal to see us, and we had to get a picture of her daughter and Lil Major. They're about 2 1/2 months apart in age.


Lil Major and I went to visit our good friends this afternoon...and to introduce him to their triplets. The kiddos thought the baby was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed all the love and cuddling I got with the triplets.


The boy has picked up a couple new things here in California. He now can get his foot into his mouth - I knew this was coming, and it's just as cute as I expected it to be. And he has started to chew on his tongue. It's so cute and so weird looking all at the same time! I love this boy!!


By the way, this is my 400th post!!

7 states and counting

That's how many states Lil Major has been to in his 4 short months of life. And before we could leave The OC on Monday, we had to introduce him to the Pacific Ocean. He loved it!!

So busy...

but, we're here, in THE OC. We've eaten In N Out once already, been to a wedding, seen a favorite friend...and there's no time to write much, but I'll leave you with some fun pictures.

Meeting the cousins for the first time...


Auntie and cousins...


Mema & Papa and their brood (just one cuz is missing - we miss you Captain!)


My friend drove down from Pasadena to have lunch with me and meet Lil Major...and I worked on her to start her own blog (I know you're reading...c'mon, just do it!!)


I have tons more pictures, but blogger is slow, my laptop battery is dying, and I'm exhausted...so I'm off to try for some SWEET DREAMS of my own...

Hodge Podge

I have too many little things to share, so you're getting them all at once...

* The 4 month shots didn't go quite as well as the 2 month round. We saw a new doctor since we couldn't get in to our normal one. And I LOVED her. She's new to the practice, pregnant with her second, and she took a ton of time with us. I requested her for our 6-month appointment again. Our appointment ended up being close to nap time, so Lil Major was starting to fuss by the time we were ready for shots. He screamed bloody murder with the first poke, and just kept going til we were done. I was able to calm him fairly quickly, but I felt so bad for him. He did great until he woke up from his nap that afternoon, and then the poor boy was in so much pain, but it was too early for more Tylennol. He finally calmed down and has been better since, but he's sure sleeping a lot today. My poor baby!

* Mom and I had hair appointments this morning. We're so funny, we always insist on new haircuts and color and fresh manis/pedis before we go out of town. I'm not sure if I'll be able to afford the nails this time, but I do have some rockin' hair now. Here's my first attempt at a self portrait...I have bangs!! For the first time since college. When did I get so brave??


* Lil Major and I leave in one week for our trip to CA. We're (or at least I am) so excited! Well, excited to be there, not so excited to travel there. I have a lot to get done this week, but even more to do before Mom and Dad leave in 4 days - they're driving so they're going to take some of our stuff with them.

* I know that I never updated on day care...we decided that we WILL NOT be taking Lil Major to a day care center - in home or not. The one we visited was pretty bad, at least I thought so. There were a few things that scared me - mostly that a 6-month old that was there was lying in the middle of the floor where 2 7-year olds were chasing each other around...and a 2-year old girl was devastated that her daddy left her, and the lady didn't bother to comfort her - she just kept telling her she was "ok" and "that's enough". Mom is going to watch the kiddo when she's in town, and I'll be looking for some back-ups when she's travelling. I got another lead from my hair dresser today.

* I'm actually excited about work! I had a good first week, and I really think that I can make a difference there. I ended up working for an hour on Friday for a meeting, and I'll have to be careful that doesn't happen too often. It's so refreshing when a management team backs up what they say...and so far, these guys do! I KNOW I made the right decision to leave where I was. I feel like I can BREATHE again!

* It's August, and it's Kansas, and it's only 70 degrees outside. Woo hoo!! This is our reward for all those 100+ days.

* Remember the consignment sale that I missed when I had the kiddo early? Well, there was another one this weekend, and since I missed the one in April, I got to go to the pre-sale this time. And I'm SO glad I did! I spent $88 and came home with 25 items: 2 costumes, 2 pairs of shoes, 1 toy, 2 Baby Einstein DVDs, 2 jackets, 2 hats, 5 jammies, 1 overalls, 6 pants and 2 more complete outfits...whew! Not bad! I will be stalking all the consignment sales from now on! The funny this is that half of what I bought came from the same lady - guess we have the same (great) taste!

I think that's all for now. I'm going to try to get some stuff done around the house this weekend in prep for our trip next weekend...unless the Olympics starts to distract me! Go USA!

Quick Update

Where does the time go??? I start my evening routine at 8pm, and it takes me until after 10pm to get it all done (feed baby, do dishes, make lunch, prep bottles, prep pump, shower, dry hair, TRY to check computer stuff)...grr!

But, a lot of you have been so sweet to check in on me, I wanted to let you all know what's up.

First off, if you're a Bako blogger wanting to get together in a couple weeks...please email me: redsaab at hotmail dot com (ya'll get how that works, right?). It's looking like Thursday night will work better, so I hope you can all make it. I'll send out details in an email when I get a message from you.

Ok, on to work. 2 days down, 4 to go until I get 2 weeks off. Not bad, right?

Actually, things are going well. I have a boss who I think is going to be really cool. A female! I've never worked for a female before. My day starts very early, and it's hard to leave Lil Major. Luckily, he's still asleep when I sneak out, so no tears shed by mom (yet!). Once I get there, it's a lot easier to be away, but about an hour before it's time to come home, I start counting the minutes...and then I rush home to snuggle my little guy - who doesn't seem to really notice that I was gone. Guess that means Mema is doing an awesome job! Thanks, Mom!

I don't like how quick the evenings go, and how little I get done because I don't want to let the boy out of my sight. But, I get 4 days off every week, so I can't really complain.

After saying all that - I'm off to finish the dishes, take a shower, feed the boy...etc, etc.

Hope to catch you again sometime soon!

4 months already??!

How can Lil Major be 4 months old already? How could he have more than doubled his weight and grown more than 5 inches already (exact numbers to be determined at the fateful 4 month doctor/torture/shot appointment on Friday)??

And beyond that, how did I fall in love so quickly?? I certainly didn't fall in love with Lil Major's daddy this quickly. =)







And why oh why do I have to "celebrate" this day be starting my new job? I hope I LOVE the work so that I don't dread going there every day.

In other news, the boy has learned to roll from his back to his tummy (we hope he will use this skill in the middle of the night to turn himself over instead of screaming for us to do it).

Getting ready to roll...


He did it!