Sometimes I'm Dumb

This past week, I've found myself thinking lots about things that are dumb. Things that only make me sad and aren't worth any time thinking about and yet I sometimes can't stop myself. And, then, I find myself semi-wallowing in self-pity (I say semi-wallowing because with a small child, I cannot enter into full-wallowing mode since it's not really OK to curl up in a ball on your couch for days in a row when you have to take care of another human). It's not pretty.

These things include, but are not limited to:
body image
feeling left-out, unwanted, unappreciated
wondering why everyone else is having so much more fun than I am

You know, really dumb stuff.

Last night it happened again... I was feeling pretty darn good after a date to Outback with my honey, and a stop afterwards at TuttiFrutti for some frozen yogurt that I've been OBSESSED with lately... and then I did a little perusing on good old Facebook. And then saw a little reminder that sometimes, people get together without me. (I know, criminal, right?!? How dare they? Yeah. I said I was dumb.)

It made me start longing for the days when I was free as a bird and was always out socializing, heck, WORK was social hour for me before I began staying home with Carson. I'm kind of a social person. (Probably why I share my life with all of you Internet people.) I loved that. I loved the feeling that I was very, very cool and lots of people wanted to hang out with me.

Now that I'm home with Carson... not so much. Things just change. People have to move on and do new things and I get it, and I accept it, but sometimes I just have a hard time with it. Being around people day in and day out led to impromptu get-togethers... now I have to take a much more aggressive role in getting out to socialize. It doesn't just happen without me pursuing play dates, or inviting people over for dinner, or going out to visit friends... it's just very, very different. And to be honest? I don't like this part of staying at home. Nope. Not so much.

After a little pity party, and yet another confession to my hubby that I am indeed, not perfect (like he needed me to tell him that) and I was a little... jealous.... he reminded me that I have nothing to be jealous of or sad about and that I have LOTS of great friends, even if I don't see them all as often as I used to. (I believe he actually just said: "JoDee. You know who your friends are." But I'm pretty sure that I elaborated on his idea the way he would have if he were more of a "talker.")

And not minutes after that, I got a call from one of my favorite friends ever, inviting me (with or without baby or husband- cause she's that awesome) to her house tonight for nachos and a movie! It perked me up right then... but it really perks me up now, this morning, when I've had a chance to sleep on it and realize that I am a very blessed woman. I'd like this feeling to stick around for a while... I mean, how long will it take before I truly get over the fact that my life is different with a baby? And mostly, different-GREAT! I love that little bugger. He's so bad, and yet so cute at the same time. Hopefully this little Internet confession will take me a step closer to being not-so-dumb anymore. That would be great.

(I've got some seriously cute Carson videos I'm going to post just as soon as I can get Sean to help me with a little editing... stay tuned for some adorableness!!)

Embrace the Camera: Beach Edition

Memorial Day weekend we went down the the beach house to spend a little time relaxing... it was so much fun! We did a little playing on the beach, some sunbathing, reading, card playing... it was a really nice weekend.

Here are a few pictures my Mother-in-law took when we brought Carson down to the beach to play. He loved the sand... the water? Well, those waves were rough, and he wasn't really into that (me either)!!

First Steps

It only took him about 16 months... but Carson finally took his first real steps!

Bapron for Carson

I love sewing! And, sadly, I am usually drawn to sewing girly little projects like bonnets and ruffle diaper covers... and Carson is only my size tester before passing them on to our little girl friends. (He doesn't seem to mind, actually, he likes wearing the bonnets! It's funny!)

But when I recently saw my friend Amanda pin this cute little baby bib/apron, hence, bapron, on her pinterest board, I knew I had to make one for Carson!




It's a great design and tutorial by Jess from Craftiness is not Optional. I think it's pretty genius.

I used some scrap fabric to try it out for the first time, and the pattern worked out great! I may enlarge it slightly for the next few as my little man is a little bigger than the sweet baby in the picture above, but it does fit him just as is. My photos are terrible as usual, but I think you get the idea.



The bapron has little arm holes and ties in the back so that it stays put!! Carson's other bibs are a joke- his shirts are usually completely covered anyway.

We went to a rehearsal dinner last night and I decided to put it to the test... Carson impressed everyone with his HUGE appetite (bread, strawberries, goldfish crackers, then nearly an entire bowl of mac and cheese, and topped it off with a cookie, cheesecake, and an ice cream sundae)and would you believe his shirt stayed clean?!? It was great! My husband's response: "We need more of these."



Another cool thing about the bapron- it's reversible! I used the navy side at dinner last night because it looked nice with his shirt.







(Of course all my pictures are blurry... the combination of a wiggly baby and a crappy point and shoot camera produces nothing less.)

I am definitely going to make more of these beauties- quick, easy, and very, very useful!

*Just linked up to the Help a Momma Out Link Up Party at J&M's Eye Candy... check them out! Great ideas for mommas!!

Follow Up...

The verdict for Pioneer Woman's recipes? YUM.

The salsa was awesome. Sean says to "leave it alone, don't mess with it, it's perfect." I say I would like one more garlic clove and a pinch more salt... but I like a garlicky salsa, myself. It was even better this morning than it was last night. I loved it on my eggs so much I kept scooping more and more on my plate, and then I decided to just break out the chips. Why not? I then polished off an entire, oh about 2 cups worth of the heavenly stuff.



I especially love my coffee mug next to the chips and empty salsa bowl- which was full when I opened it this morning. I have to say this is a first for me.

The Chicken Tortilla Soup was amazing!!! And I'm picky, picky when it comes to tortilla soup. This is a good one. Definitely worth a try. I added more chicken than the recipe called for because I have a husband. Enough said.

The Dulce de Leche Coffee was AMAZING. Super sweet. Super rich. Decadent. It was sooooo worth my trip to three different grocery stores to find the dang stuff. But that was partially my fault. I should have just gone to HEB in the first place.*

I will absolutely make all three of these recipes again. I have a feeling the salsa will be a staple in my fridge now. Carson wasn't a huge fan of the soup, he didn't try the salsa, but he did get a healthy portion of whipped cream with chocolate shavings (minus the spiked coffee) and he was in little piggy heaven.

YUM. YUM. YUM. Thank you Pioneer Woman, for a great dinner and all the leftovers I'll be devouring today!

*OK- I like my neighborhood Randalls, they do a good job of stocking most things I am looking for and all the employees are really nice. I was not surprised I didn't find dulce de leche there, and I will not hold it against them. The second store I went to was Kroger. They like to advertise that they're all better than HEB but they are SO NOT. First of all- they sell furniture??? I'm going there to buy food, not a new sofa. Also- I would like all the milk to be together. I do not appreciate their completely-different-half-way-across-the-store sections for the organic vs. regular milk. This is stupid. And, not one employee greeted me nor asked me if I "found everything OK." Now, HEB on the other hand, has never let me down. I have NEVER had to go somewhere else to find something. They have everything. And, it's in a logical place. The store is huge but I have never searched more than a few minutes for anything. Their store brand is reliably as good as the name brand (diapers, hello!) and the employees are nice, friendly, and they give my baby a balloon! Kroger sucks and HEB is clearly the best grocery store ever. Lesson learned. So, why did I go to Kroger in the first place?? It's soooo dang close to my house. The irony.

**My love affair with HEB has been burning for a while now... when we were in Fredricksburg Mother's Day weekend, we drove past an HEB and Sean says, "Look, JoDee, we could live here because they have an HEB." Good man. That is a requirement for any potential future place of residence.

Free Time!!

Oh my. My sweet little student and her lovely parents must have forgotten about tutoring this week... so instead of working on some fifth grade, oh, excuse me, sixth grade math and reading, I've suddenly found myself with some unexpected FREE TIME!!!

This just doesn't happen around here, folks. No baby. No hubby. Only me and my Dr. Pepper and the Internet. Good times.



This here is a Dublin Dr. Pepper (Lauren correct me if I'm wrong) and it is Heaven on Earth. Oh. My. God. I am obsessed. You can only get them in Dublin, Texas (or at least that's what I'm told) and it's a good thing. Because if I could get my hands on one everyday, I would have a serious problem on my hands: diabetes. This little baby has 40 grams of pure cane sugar. Ahhhhhhh!!!! (Angels singing) It is, in a word, AWESOME. Thanks to my awesome friend, Lauren, for indulging my ever-growing sweet tooth.

So, what have I done with all my free time? Searched the Pioneer Woman Cooks website for some yummy vitals (I can't help myself- Pioneer Woman has gotten to me) for tomorrow night's dinner. My dad and siblings are coming over and I just love trying out new recipes on them. Here's the menu, all courtesy of PW...

Chips and Restaurant Style Salsa

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Dulce de Leche Coffee

To be honest, the first thing I decided I had to try was the dulce de leche coffee... then the rest of the dinner just kind of came together. Dulce de Leche Coffee. Please click that link and tell me you've about died too. I can't wait to try it.

While I've been enjoying my free time, don't think for a second that my hubby and baby are off being deprived somewhere. They're over at my in-law's house enjoying some good, old-fashioned spoiling.

While I've been writing this post, I've received the following two pictures via text message...

My little piggy enjoying an ice cream sandwich



Carson's new favorite thing- tractors! Doesn't he look like a serious, old man getting ready to go ride down to the stop-n-go to meet some of his old-man friends for some coffee? I love him.



So, now I'm off to the grocery store... perfectly happy on my Dr. Pepper high. Ahh, free time, I forgot how wonderful you are!

Mother's Day Weekend

We started our weekend off with a little trip to Fredricksburg, Texas for my bestie Barbara's 30th birthday celebration.

Barbara is pretty well known for being fabulous, and her birthday trip was nothing less! We ate a lot of delicious food, did some shopping on GORGEOUS main street Fredricksburg, and did some wine tasting. SO. MUCH. FUN!



Sean and I had to try some homemade ice cream... my Amaretto-Peach-Pecan was AMAZING.



My favorite store, full of fabric, of course! I couldn't choose a favorite. They were all gorgeous. Tons of quilting cotton, cotton voile, oil cloth, upholstery fabric... oh my gosh I'm dying just thinking about it. I want to go back with a ton of money and buy it all. I couldn't pick just one to walk out of there with- that would be like choosing a favorite child! So I took a picture, and bought a necklace instead. Made the decision much easier.



Here we are tasting our first wine... which Barbara's hubby, Robert, said was terrible. I didn't really think it was so bad until we tried the really good stuff at the next two wineries we went to- Pedernales and Grape Creek. Top notch!



We did have a beautiful picnic at the first stop, however. The weather was gorgeous- and add some brie to that- perfection!





At Pedernales, we tasted in the wine cellar, which was really neat. They had some amazing reds!



Our last stop was Grape Creek- and it was the best! So pretty, really tasty wines, live music on the patio... made for a great end to a wonderful afternoon of wine tasting.

We left very early on Sunday morning to make it back in time for Mother's Day lunch at Aunt Sheryl and Uncle Butch's house.

We had to swim, of course! It was gorgeous out, but the water was a little cold for Carson Lane. He LOVES the little fountains filled with rocks however... so he made himself comfortable in one and played his little heart out!



After our swim, Carson helped me open my present, an herb garden starter kit. He and his daddy were very thoughtful! I tried to start an herb garden a friend gave me, and it didn't quite work out. Nothing grew. Nothing. So... try, try again! I LOVE cooking with fresh herbs so I'm really hoping this batch turns out!





It was such a great weekend- I'm trying to recover from all the excitement today! And so is Carson apparently... he's taking a serious nap! Whoo hoo!