From "The Farm"

Tuckered out--he was so tired, he didn't let go of his ducky rattle
all the way upstairs to our room!

Hanging out with Grandmom.... The bib says it all--Adorable. :-)


Ben, Emilia and Ted, just chillin' at the cabin.

"Future Geneva College Alum"

Trying new things.

Daddy's hair... Yummy...

Seein' Grandmom!

Up at 'the cabin'! This is the first time Jeremiah's seen his Grandmom since he was born!

Off to "Upstate NY!"

Sorry no post in a while, but Jeremy, Jeremiah and I are heading up to Chemung, NY for the holiday weekend. So it's gonna be at least a few days before we return. We may or may not have cell phone reception--if we do, I'll be sure to post a pic or two, maybe a video (not sure if that'll work, though... haven't tried it yet.)

Have a great Memorial Day weekend! Grill lots' o' burgers and dogs!

~us wilcox typs

Couple new vids for ya.

"Don't Do It!"


Jeremiah vs. The Sun!

Haircut.

I've been trying to convince Jeremy for some time now that I need to get my hair cut. In fact, I need to get them all cut (get it? Ha! Ha! Ha!) It's just getting out of control! And Jeremiah like grabbing bigggggg handfuls and giving a good hard yank anytime he can. But Jeremy doesn't remember what I looked like with short hair.

Well, I found a picture.

Now, this is a bit old... but you get the idea. (not my baby, btw...)

And this one, is one of my favs--this was from college (2003); 4 years, and 60 lbs ago.


Dang, I used to be hot! Hmmm...

Okay, if I lose 60 lbs, I'm getting my hair cut like that again....

(Oh, and btw, that's the pic that I had on my eHarmony page when Jeremy and I met... so he should be used to me with short hair... or something...)

Free Photos!

Hiya all,

Thought I would share this info with y'all, especially since so many of you have kids or will have kids soon (or are just better about taking pics of each other than Jeremy and I are; or if you just want to get pics of Jeremiah... that's cool, too. :-)

This list was compiled by a fellow Slickdealer, on slickdeals.net. Basically, most, if not all, photo sites offer free prints when you first sign up--you simply pay shipping and handling (couple of bucks at most, usually.) Figured I'd put the list here, since many of you do not frequent Slickdeals. However, if you do peruse around there, please give "Just_For_Me" a rep point (if you are a SD member, you'll get what that is...)

Enjoy!

Signup as a new customer at the following merchants to receive Free Digital Prints as mentioned below:

dotPhoto.com is offering new customers 75 FREE 4x6 Digital Prints via this special link! ~$4.95 Shipping

Winkflash.com is offering new customers 50+ FREE 4x6 Digital Prints via this special link! ~$0.99 Shipping
100 free prints (new customers) - Code: VP32WE54 (Thanks Athlonfx)
50 free prints (new customers) - Code: WF23EA73 (Thanks Kool_Buddi)
50 free prints (new customers) - Code: AB784EW5

CVS.com is offering new customers 40 FREE 4x6 Digital Prints via this special link!
Create account, enter your email address and password, your extra care bucks number, and pick a store. An email will be sent to you with 10 free prints added to your account. Also use this special link for 30 more(Thanks Coupon_Dealer & Tucker2)

Snapfish.com is offering new customers 30 FREE 4x6 Digital Prints via this special link! ~$2.46 Shipping

PhotoWorks.com is offering new customers 25 FREE 4x6 Digital Prints via this special link! ~$2.90 Shipping

Clark Color is offering new customers 20 FREE 4x6 Digital Prints via this special link! ~$2.09 Shipping

PhotoMax is offering new customers 20 FREE 4x6 Digital Prints + 60 FREE video Viewing Minutes via this special link!

Mystic Lab is offering new customers 20 FREE 4x6 Digital Prints via this special link! ~$2.09 Shipping

Fotomat.com is offering new customers 20 FREE 4x6 Digital Prints via this special link!

Yahoo! Photos is offering new customers 20 FREE 4x6 Digital Prints via this special link! ~$2.29 Shipping or FREE in-store pickup
Must be logged out of Yahoo 1st.

York Photo is offering new customers 20 FREE 4x6 Digital Prints via this special link! ~$2.09 Shipping

Kodak EasyShare Gallery is offering new customers 20 FREE 4x6 Digital Prints via this special link! ~$2.49 Shipping or $1.49 for in-store pick up

Sony ImageStation is offering new customers 20 FREE 4x6 Digital Prints via this special link! ~$1.79 Shipping or FREE in-store pickup

MyPhotoAlbum.com is offering new customers 20 FREE 4x6 Digital Prints via this special link! ~$1.99 Shipping

Shutterfly.com is offering new customers 15 FREE 4x6 Digital Prints via this special link!~$1.99 Shipping

RitzPix.com is offering new customers 10 FREE 4x6 Digital Prints via this special link!~$0.99 Shipping or FREE in-store pickup
Coupon Code FREE4X6

PhotoMama is offering new customers 10 FREE 4x6 Digital Prints via this special link! ~$1.99 Shipping

Schmorgasboard of Pics!

From 3 1/2 months to 4 1/4 months....

What color are my eyes???

A very cool...

.....Transformers trailer.

Found here.

I tell ya, I wasn't very interested in this film at first... Figured there was no way they could do it justice.

And then the trailers started coming out.

And then they added the "transformation" sound to them transforming...

And they transform in mid-air.

Very cool.

Ah ha!

Proof that American Idol is NOT a singing competition---Melinda went home last night.

For those of you who have been following AI this season, even if only casually, you KNOW that Melinda was the best singer in the bunch. The fact that Blake is in the finale and not her (don't get me wrong, I'm glad Blake is there--I like Blake a lot, I think he makes it fun... where as Melinda and Jordin, while good singers, they're kinda boring.) is just further proof that AI is not what the producers want you to think it is.

I mean, even Sanjaya made it to the top 10... he isn't Idol worthy (though I love me some Sanjaya), but he made it for some reason!

And Jordin was turned down the first time she auditioned (1st time was in LA--they said no; Second time, she made it through... Hmm....)

On a related/non-related note, I had a weird dream last night (nothing new there...)

Apparently, I worked for HRG (or Mr. Bennet) from Heroes. We found this white cat with red eyes (that looked more like a ferret than a cat), and I had to post an ad on Craigslist to give her away. In the interim, I put her under the coffee table and taped the sides so she couldn't get out... Yeah, that didn't work, but anyways! So I asked HRG for some money to buy a carrier or something to keep her in. He called me to his office, which was in KMart (they had a hidden 2nd floor there.... yeeeeah...) Who else had an office there? Simon Cowell (yeah, I dunno either...)

Oh and I'm also one of the finalists on American Idol... I don't know how, but even the other finalist was like, "Wow, it's you and me, huh?"

Findin' homes for kitties that looks like ferrets, reporting to good old HRG (Horn Rimmed Glasses) at KMart and bein' a finalist on American Idol--all in a days work!

I'm sure Lost was in there some how, too, but I don't remember.

I guess I need to lay off of the pre-bedtime tequila....

T'was fun, though.

I depressed...

Gosh darnit!

I'm very disappointed...

Today, I entered a pic of Jeremiah into a contest on Cottonbabies' website--they're the folks that sell the diapers we use on him. They were lookin' for cute pics of babies in their diapers to use on their site. I sent them the one from his photo shoot over the weekend (see pics in sidebar), and thought we'd get AT LEAST an honorable mention.

I admit, the winning baby pic is pretty cute (it's like 5 different babies of different sizes all wearing different bumGenius! diapers), but some of the honorable mentions are just stupid.... Of course, I'm a proud mama, and think my son is the cutest thing on the face of the earth. So yes, absolutely, I think he was robbed!

But I digress... he's still #1 in our family! I guess that's what really matters.....?

Still would have been nice to win the free carrier...

You can view the winners here.


Update: Okay, they just added one more picture, and it's of one of the ugliest babies I've ever seen! Seriously, how did they NOT choose Jeremiah?!?!

Grumble grumble....

Jeremiah was NOT a bullfrog!

Was perusin' the 'internets' tonight, looking up stuff about my handsome Jeremiah, and came across an entry in AnswersInGenesis.com. Basically, they're explaining how, "when Three Dog Night sang ‘Jeremiah was a bullfrog’, the band could have been mistaken for making an evolutionary statement." Then they go on to talk about frogs... Lots of frogs.

I'm not trying to start a debate about the topic (not an evolutionist--creationist); Last week's debate between Kirk Cameron and a couple of athiests on Nightline was enough stir for me. I just wanted to share where Jeremiah's name has popped up in my travels. :-)

Interesting article, though... If you like frogs.

Would you like some cheese with your WINE???

I have found Jeremiah's wine.

Katharine told me about it a while ago, and I kinda forgot to look for it.

But now, I have found it.

Rockbridge Vineyard in the Shenandoah Valley, here in VA, has a semi-sweet rose' table wine beautifully named, "Jeremiah." Of course, they named their wine after a certain bullfrog, but hey, it was prophetic that such a sweet little guy would also bear the name (and become Mommy's little 'Bullfrog'.)

So here's to Jeremiah! Cling-cling!

I'm gonna order some if I can't find it at a local wine store. If you'd like to order a bottle (they're only $9 each!), you can do so here.

Cheers!

Only 2 more weeks!

No, that's not a good thing.

Jeremy and I are not TV junkies. However, we have collected a few favorites that make the weekdays go by faster.

Monday: Heroes & 24 (We watch Heroes, DVR 24)

Tuesday: American Idol & Boston Legal (AI is more of a joke, but entertaining at times; BL is just great fun!)

Wednesday: American Idol (Results night!) & Lost

Now, here's the problem: EVERYTHING IS ENDING IN TWO WEEKS!

I sad.

It's probably a good thing, though. Not much else gets done while said shows are on TV. They sure make for good times, though!

Out of all these shows, I'm probably the most frustrated with Lost. It's really good, but gosh darnit, everytime they answer ONE question, they create 10! more! Grrr...

If you saw this week's episode, you were introduced to "Jacob". WHO THE HECK IS JACOB?! It's not just Ben messing with Locke's (and our) heads, either... Check out these screen shots... There's also an audio clip of the infamous, "Heeeeeeeelp meeeeee....."

Very freaky...

Yeah, so needless to say, the wait until season 4 (doesn't start up again until January) is going to be looooooooong.

Bath Time!

So cute!

4 Months and a Day!

Wow. Time flies when you're having fun!

Or when you have a baby....

Or when you don't get a lot of sleep....

Or all of the above!

Right now, Jeremiah is napping, Daddy's on his way to Boston, and Mommy is sitting here, blogging, while listening to a relaxing CD James made when Jeremiah was being born. And the stupid cat is getting his hair all over my couch! He may look innocent, just laying there asleep, but I'm not fooled.

Once Jeremiah wakes up (hopefully, not 'til 4! That would be a great nap!), I'll probably give him some "ceweal", and some more Children's Tylenol--he's been really fussy since getting his shots yesterday.

Speaking of, he's still a big boy! Not as big as we though he would be, but still big! He weighed in at 17 lbs 2 oz, and was 26.25 inches long. So he's gained about 6.5 lbs and 4.25 inches since birth. Not too shabby. He's no longer off the charts, but Dr. Atiyeh said that it was common for babies who were "BIG" to even out a bit by 6 months. I don't think he'll ever be in the 50's or anything, but if he slows down a little bit, that'd be fine with me. I don't really want to be putting 18 mos clothes on him when he's only 6 mos.

And then... he got 4 shots. :-( But wouldn't ya know it, he barely cried... When I took him with Katharine at his 2 mos check up, he cried and cried, which made me cry.... I felt terrible. But no, not with Daddy. I guess that's good. However, he's a lot more fussy this time around, post-shots. And now that Daddy's leaving for Boston, it's all up to Mommy to deal with. :-( I think part of it is that he's teething, too. I think we'll see his first teeth emerge in a couple of weeks--the middle of his bottom gums are getting white! Only a matter of time now!

This brings us to food stuffs. Dr. Atiyeh did tell us we can start introducing solids--at 5 months. Yeah, well, we probably won't wait that long, esp since he's already been eating rice cereal. Next week, we'll try oatmeal, and then something else, so we'll probably start veggies at 5 months. We'll probably avoid beets though... I got this organic baby food cookbook (I know, why do you need a cookbook for babies... ya just throw everything in the food processor... well, there's a bit more to it than that.) and she mentions in it that one of her clients was told by their diaper service that she wasn't allowed to feed her son beets--beet red in, beet red out! Since we use fancy schmancy cloth diapers, I think we'll heed that advice as well.

Wow... He's still asleep. Awesome!

I should probably go finish up laundry, then. Yay...

More later!

4 Months Old!

On Monday, Jeremiah will be 4 months old. How time flies.

We are going to be taking him to the Dr's at lunch time. He's gonna be getting shots... :-(

I tried to get the Doc to put him on an altered schedule, but he convinced me to stick with the normal one. I just didn't want him to get pricked more than once per visit! Oh well. Mommy tried. (Oh, and I know there are the those out there who will say, "Why would you want to alter his shot schedule? Those shots are good for him, and you're messing with his health if you change it." While you're entitled to your opinion, this is one of those things I just wanted to do, okay, and don't need advice on. I'm not happy about it, but Jeremiah seems to handle it okay, which makes it a little easier for me. Although, I am gonna make Daddy hold him when they do it... I'm not watching him scream again.)

Okay, so I guess we'll post more tomorrow when we know more!

Chowing Down!

Today is a good day!

Nothing like beautiful weather to make one happy (and gay....? Not in the "orientation" sense! In it's original state.) It was supposed to be kinda thunderstormy, but only a few puffy white clouds in the sky as far as I can tell! Jeremiah and I made a trip to Vienna to visit our friend Yoon at Starbucks (good for the hookups, if ya know what I mean! Saves me about $4/day-everyotherday!) There, Jeremiah attempted to 1) Knock over Mommy's latte (I didn't think he had it in him... boy was I wrong. Thankfully, they put covers on these drinks of there's.); 2)Eat a napkin; 3) Attempt to eat John's finger; 4) Flirt with all the ladies; 5) Drool all over his Bjorn; and 6) Just be one of the happiest/most smiley babies I've ever seen!

I tell ya, this kid, he's such a blessing. Even though I can't get anything done anymore (he's napping right now), and my sleep is always interrupted (thankfully, though, only once a night or so...) and I have 3-4 extra loads of laundry a week (but, thankfully, again, we never have to worry about having to run to the store for diapers!), but oh my Lord, I love it! Jeremiah is just the most awesome baby! My prayer every night is that we would be able to raise him up in the ways of the Lord, and that we would have an even awesomer Godly man for a son. I think it'll happen. ;-)

Speaking of Jeremiah, he's so funny. He's always slept on his stomach (can't get him to sleep very long otherwise...), and he's always scooched around his crib. So when you put him down for the night, you'll hear him moving around for about 20-30 min, and then he'll stop. Why?? Because he's all the way up in the upper corner of the crib, with his head firmly in the bumper (and usually his face, too). This used to make me nervous (well, still kinda does), but if he can't breathe well, he can turn his head (which he does). In the few occasions we've moved him away from it, he always finds a way back. It's like he can't sleep comfortably until his head is hittin' bumper. I'm thinkin' about getting one of those "breathable" bumpers, which is basically just mesh, but he's been okay so far. I do have a gift card leftover, so we'll see... I think it will only become less of a concern as the days go by, since he's becoming more and more mobile. And we have the Angel Care Monitor, which alerts us if he's not moving (i.e. Not breathing). Of course, I'm pretty sure that has to be hooked up in order to be effective... Ah, details, schmetails!

His hair is in a funny state now, as well. It's getting longer, but it doesn't all grow at the same rate. Right now, the hair on the top sides of his head stick STRAIGHT UP! no matter what ya do to it. But it lays flat in between, so I'm not sure what that looks like (as in, what to compare it to) but it's cute. I'll try to snap a pic for ya'z.

What else is new with Jeremiah... Hmm... Well, he's really developing his motor skills. If he sees something he wants, he can grab it with a good amount of accuracy. He won't just swat at it--you can kinda see this in the video (though that's about 2 weeks old, so he's better at it now.) Lesson here: if you have something you don't want HIM to have, keep it outta his range, because if he sees it, he can get it! I wouldn't recommend holding him with your $200 shades on for this very reason. :-)

Oh yeah, back to today! So I'm getting a new cell phone. It's pretty cool. I've had my current phone for two years almost, and it works fine, but it's startin' to act funky. Doesn't always let me text message peeps the way I want to. Hopefully, this new phone will remedy that. Also, it has a better camera on it than my current phone, which means better pics on the blog! And I can now send video messages, which is very nice. Hopefully FedEx shows up soon! I'm not a patient person! :-)

Also, my chourico came in today! It's a portuguese sausage that I grew up on. Had to "import" it from Fall River, MA, because no one really sells it around here. There's a Portuguese store in Arlington that sells it, but it's not as good. And tomorrow is Thursday, which means said Portuguese store will have fresh paposicos (Portuguese Rolls). Yum yum yum!

Well, it sounds like Jeremiah is waking up, so I'd better go get him. Hopefully he's in a good mood (I'm sure he is... he usually is!) Time for lunch! Mmmm... rice cereal. If that isn't gourmet eatin', I dunno what is! ;-)

Jeremiah's Serious Side...

He's pretty sure that monkey's up to no good! Better put those new found motor skills to good use!

Hanging out at the mall!

He kinda looks like his Uncle Jason here, at least when Uncle Jason was a kid.

"It was the cutest thing!"

I've learned that having kids adds a whole new set of words and phrases to your vocabulary. The one I notice most often is, "It was the cutest thing!" This phrase has been used to describe various "milestones" in Jeremiah's life, probably starting with, "He sorta smiled when he was sleeping... It was the cutest thing!" to "Aww, he was gnawing on his sleeve... It was the cutest thing!"

Variations include "It was the cutest thing I've ever seen!" and "That is the cutest!"

Most things Jeremiah does, apparently, is "the cutest". Tonight, I was rocking Jeremiah, and he was sleeping on my shoulder when he started LAUGHING in his sleep! Now, we have a pretty tough time getting him to laugh in general (though it's getting easier!), so for him to be doing it on his own, and in HIS SLEEP, aww, it was just adorable.

Of course, each day brings more and more "cutest" moments. I'm sure it will be "the cutest thing!" when he starts rolling over, crawling, eating solids, etc. It's so fun, though, to wait and see what he'll do next.

Bye bye 3-6 months...

Hello, 6-9!

At least, Jeremiah's clothing size.

I'm officially declaring the 3-6 month clothes TOO SMALL! Now, Jeremiah's not even 4 months yet, but it's okay. We've got him covered--Mommy's been shopping for 6, 9, 12, even 18 month clothes for him since he was born. The only thing that stinks about it is that all the cute outfits we got from friends and family no longer fit... :-( And those were some really cute outfits! Oh well. Save 'em for #2 (and 3, and 4, and 5, maybe 6.....)

He's growing so fast. He puts EVERYTHING in his mouth now... Seems like there's always something in there, usually his fists, but it could be a napkin, his sleeve, your fingers, a toy, ANYTHING. Kid has to be chompin' on something to be happy.

He's figured out cause & effect--he swings his arms at something, and if it moves, he hits it again. Today, I was balancing him on my lap (he sits up like a big boy! well, with a little help) and he was battin' his bottle around the table. Such a lil' kook.

Bath time is growing more fun, too. When I first put him in, he kinda gasps because the water's a little warm, and then he starts flailing about! Tonight, he would pause, just layin' in his tub, and then raise his arms outta the water, with tight fists, slowly, until WHAM! He hits the water with his fists, and waters splashes everywhere! He knew was he was doing--he was being very deliberate about it. So cute!

Lastly, he's grown aware of... well, strangers. Most adults that he doesn't know from a regular basis now make him cry, even if he's met ya before. So if you see him, and he looks at you and starts to cry, don't take it personally... It's a phase, I guess.

Yup, lots of fun here. He's such a happy baby! And as soon as I get a glue gun (I have one around here somewhere...) I'll put the finishing touches on his room and take pics. Yay!

No More Batteries!

I'm going crazy...

Apparently, toy makers nowadays are under the impression that baby toys aren't fun unless they have flashy lights and play music. What they DON'T think about, it seems, is the effect these toys will have on the parents.

I have had songs.... baby einstein songs.... stuck in my head.... for days.... and days....

And it's not just me! Jeremy came home from work the other day, and I told him, "I have Jeremiah's toys' songs stuck in my head..." He said, "Me too!" and started humming one... IT WAS THE EXACT SAME SONG I HAD IN MY HEAD!

Why this is significant is because HE HADN'T BEEN HOME ALL DAY TO HEAR IT! It was stuck there from whenever he heard it last, probably the day before!

No more... PLEASE! No more! Jeremiah has plenty of toys that play music, and have lights, and take batteries, between his swing, mobile, jumperoo, and caterpillar thing I use to distract him while I shower, WE'RE ALL BATTERIED OUT!

So, if you wish to buy anything for our sweet little Jeremiah, head back to the basics! Blocks, stacking rings, even books are all great options!

Just please... no more batteries....

Congratulations, Harmony & Ed!

My best friend from high school, Harmony, and her hubby Ed, are now proud parents of a cutie pie baby boy, Jacque!

He was born Monday, April 23rd, and weighed in a healthy 7lbs, 4oz, 20 in long! Yay!

Congrats, you guys! Enjoy him! Babies are so much fun.

Make sure you check our their blog for pics!

So long, San-jamima, errr... Sanjaya!

Just wanted to share what The Soup! had to say about the sad departure of Sanjaya, and the new VoteForTheWorst pick, Phil Stacey!

I love The Soup! Good stuff.

DC Approves HPV Vaccine for Girls

Grrr..... this makes me so mad. Like, fuming mad.

Some of you may know that when I was in college, I taught Abstinence Education in the public schools. It was a great program, we covered 5 major reasons to abstain from sex until, at least, you're older (ideally until marriage, but we wanted to be realistic... we learned that if we could delay the decision for a teenager to have sex by only 1 or 2 years, then they were something like 70% less likely to engage in unsafe sex, and most abstained until well into college, some until marriage). HPV was one of the STD's--oh, sorry, STI's (another stupid idea...) that we covered. Funny, though... I don't remember it only affecting girls...

Here are my two beefs with the soon to be law (it's already passed through VA): 1) The vaccine is only being marketed for women, even though HPV affects both men AND women. While men won't develop cervical cancer (probably because they don't have a cervix), it has been known to cause other types of cancer in men, just in a smaller population.

Wait a second... maybe this affects millions of women, and that's why they want to vaccinate them primarily!

Ummm... no, actually, it doesn't. While many women contract HPV, usually from unsafe sex (though really, the only safe sex is abstinence... just had to throw that in there), a very small percentage actually develop into cancer.... Like, 6200 a year. In the country. That's it! Some twenty million or so young women are going to get this miracle vaccine when only 6200 women will actually have their HPV develop into cervical cancer. Good call!

Oh, and they forgot to mention something else.... HPV is entirely preventable. You're not going to get it by being in the same room as someone who has it, more than likely, unless you have SEX with that person! Seriously, I don't understand why lawmakers are so anti-abstinence education, and pro-sex ed/HPV vaccines. "Well, they're gonna do it anyways..." Teenagers are not animals! While yes, they have raging hormones at times, they were wired to be able to control that as much as they can control not going into their classroom and shooting everyone! Many Americans have so little faith in our teenagers anymore, we assume they lack self control. What they lack is support and encouragement from their families to abstain, as many parents nowadays will take their kids to Planned Parenthood to stock up on condemns and birth control. I can't blame the parents completely, though... Even the parents with the best intentions, and kids who know WHY and HOW to abstain will buckle under pressure. The media doesn't help, with shows like Friends, and the OC telling our young people that, "Yeah, have sex with whoever you want, it's okay!" Anyways, I'm off topic...

My 2nd beef is the fact that it's MANDATORY! I applaud DC for at least giving parents an opt out opportunity. VA wasn't so gracious. If I have girls, this will add to my list of reasons to homeschool. I just don't like the fact that the government is mandating what vaccines we have to have. I know other vaccinations have done wonders for practically eliminating diseases, such as whooping cough and measles, but I wouldn't lump HPV into that same category.

One final note, and then I'll hop off my soap box (it's too nice of a day to be inside fuming about such things...) Getting this vaccine will not protect women from cervical cancer... Any women could still get it, they are not 'safe' just because they get this vaccine. HPV IS the leading cause of cerv. cancer in women, but it is just an HPV vaccine, not a cervical cancer vaccine.... I just hope women are educated enough to realize that. Oh, and it's also not a free ticket to have unprotected sex, either... There are better ways to protect yourself without getting a shot.

Just don't have sex until you're married.

**Hops down**

Further info can be found here:
NMA Seminars HPV Page
A Dr's Opinion
HPV Legislation by State

Download 4.19

"Hello, hello, hello!"

That's how our Pediatrician, Dr. Attiyeh, greets us when we bring Jeremiah in for his well-child visits. Not that we've done that recently (he last went at 7 weeks, and will go again at 4 months), but when I began this post, that seemed the most appropriate way to start. :-) He's a nice guy--we like him. Always happy, or at least, upbeat. It's a good thing.

It's also a difficult thing to maintain when the weather has been as it has. Lots of rain, little sunshine, and bitter cold (cold compared to the 80's days we had shortly before the 'cold' settled in). I am not someone who could live in Alaska--I need the sunshine, and the warmth, to keep my sanity. Needless to say, these past two weeks have been slow and monotonous. Nothing much going on, yet felt so busy, but in a blah sort of way. Hence the videos and photos instead of quality "blah blah blah, yada yada yada" type posts that usually fill the page. So! This is an attempt at recoving from the "blah" with some "yah!".... or "yay!"... but "yay!" didn't rhyme with "blah".... anyways...

Yes, so we'll start with my favorite topic: Jeremiah. I tell ya, this kid is getting more and more personality everyday (and surprisingly, more and more hair, despite the amount left on this crib bumper and in his hats every night...) Recently, he's started "talking" baby talk to himself when he's getting ready to fall asleep. I had him in the car today, and as I was driving, I heard him, "Cooo... ahhhh..... goo-eeee...." and so on an so forth. It was hysterically adorable, and if I hadn't been driving, I would have recorded him doing it to share with all of you! Katharine was witness to it, though, as he did it again the next time we were in the van (with two other babies in tow, as well as there Moms'---it was Mommy/Baby lunch time at Sweet Water! Good times, good times...) He loooooooves to "talk", it's so cute. I'm still waiting for the "ma-ma-ma-ma..." and the "da-da-da-da..." phase, which supposedly starts soon. But for now, I'll take the cooing and raspberries, and bubbles he blows in his drool (as it tumbles down and off his chin, usually onto Mommy or Daddy...) So cute!

Today, Jeremy was drinking an iced beverage, and was holding it up to Jeremiah to "check out". Well, apprently Jeremiah has a taste for cold, as he began licking the glass, eventually trying to fit the whole thing in his mouth. Jeremy thought maybe it felt good on his gums... I think he's just trying out new things. He's never really felt cold like that before (we've given him bottles straight outta the fridge, which he'll take, though he prefers warm). Of course, Jeremy's convinced his "inner Canadian" is coming through. Whatever... :-)

In other news totally unrelated to Jeremiah, Sanjaya was voted off of American Idol. I, along with millions of other "Fanjayas!", voted for Sanjaya, but not because I thought he was a great singer, or because I'm a huge fan. Jeremy and I are "Worsters", and "VotefortheWorst" every week. You may have noticed a new link on the blog to votefortheworst.com. That's where we get our info from! And Sanjaya set the new record as the longest lasting Worster. So I was sad to see him go. Now, not everyone left deserves to win, but at least Sanjaya made it interesting every week, so now that he's gone, I don't know if it's worth watching. That would certainly clear up my weeknights! I do like Blake, though, even though he isn't the best there (okay, everyone knows Melinda is the best singer... she's only gotten maybe a small handful of critiques... and most of them were for pretending to be surprised everytime someone gave her a compliment... In summary, sad to see Sanjaya go, c'mon Blake! That is all.

What else. Hmm.... I had some great topics in mind for this post, but now I can't remember what they were. Never recovered from my "placenta brain". It's very annoying. Oh well.

Jeremy got me an awesome diaper bag as an early Mother's Day present (yes! Another holiday to collect gifts on!) It's very cool. Very well built, chocolate brown, with blue stitching and lining, and a BUNCH of pockets. Here's a link. I loooove it. Before I was using a bag from Target, which seemed nice at the beginning, but it's just basically a big bag, with few compartments, so no good. Then I found a bag for $4 that was just a bag, but worked pretty well carting Jeremiah's stuff around. However, it was only $4, and lasted about as long as you'd expect a $4 bag to last. So this one is very nice. Need to get out more to show it off! The weather should be nice starting tomorrow, so we may just have to walk to the mall (or maybe, we'll drive to the mall, and then just walk around, since walking to the mall is fine, but walking back sucks.)

Anyways, I'm glad tomorrow is Friday, and the weekend is hear. Time flies by so quickly. Our anniversary is a little over a month away. Two years, baby! Woot! That's beaten most Hollywood marriages many times over! Sweet deal.

Have a pleasant weekend, and feel free to drop us a line! Oh, and if you sent us a gift and have not received a Thank You card yet, I am a bit behind. But rest assured, I will be getting those out ASAP!

Scrub-a-dub-dub!

Jeremiah's favorite time of the day!

Old-school!...... errr... New-school!!!

Now, I remember these guys looking a little different, but it's all good! Of course, I'm also looking forward to being able to comprehend what the heck is going on! When I used to watch Transformers on TV as a kid, I could never understand the 'story'.... Just the explosion (usually meant a lot of transforming was gonna happen!)

Anyways, these are cool. Optimus looks like Optimus. Megatron... well... he's a bit different. And he doesn't even transform into a freakin' gun! What kind of poppy-cock is that?!

Still cool.

The "Jesus Painter"

This past Sunday, Easter Sunday, my Mom did some painting for Manassas Assembly of God. Basically, during praise and worship, and some of the service, she painted the face of Jesus, starting with just a cross on a blank canvas. Here are the final results:



To see an incomplete video of her doing the painting, click on the title. We got there a few minutes late, and then ran outta tape, so it's the middle, basically. But you do get the "blood" and then her taking it away, when "Jesus rose from the dead." Enjoy!

BOC!!!!

(translation: Bag of Crap)

Okay, for you die hard blogger fans, you've probably taken the time at one point to check out the links on the right hand side. One of those links would take you to a website called Woot!.com. Let me explain Woot. Actually, I'll let them explain themselves:

Woot.com is an online store and community that focuses on selling cool stuff cheap. It started as an employee-store slash market-testing type of place for an electronics distributor, but it's taken on a life of its own. We anticipate profitability by 2043 – by then we should be retired; someone smarter might take over and jack up the prices. Until then, we're still the lovable scamps we've always been. But don't take our word for it: see what the online community has to say at this Wikipedia article.

The catch with Woot.com is that they only sell ONE item per day* and once it sells out, it's gone and you can't buy anything until tomorrow. Woots begin at 12 am central time (so we have to wait until 1 am here, in other words...) and usually, if there's something good, it's gone by the time you roll around to checking it out at work the next morning.

Now, Bag of Crap, or BOC (also seen on the Woot message boards as "Blinged-Out Cabbage", "Bandolier of Carrots", etc...) is essentially whatever they have lyin' around the Woot warehouse that they wanna get rid of. It's always a dollar a piece, and their flat $5 shipping rate applies (everything always ships for $5, even if you order a big screen tv, which they've had on there several times...) Usually, very few people are lucky enough to get in on a BOC, simply because they sell out so quickly. So how did we get one??

Enter April 1, 2006, also known as April Fools Day. Woot decided they would be nice and sell "Random Crap" for the low low price of $1,000,001. What a deal! Most people were like, "Aww, man, it's a joke," but I knew that there must have been a catch. Click on the pic of the item, showed the Beatles, and the words, "Please, Please, Please Me" with the second "please" underlined. What the heck, let's try that as a coupon. "$1,000,000 off your order has been applied!" Sweet!

And that's how we got the BOC. It sold out about a minute after we figured that out, a full 23 minutes longer than a usual BOC (they usually sell out after just a minute). But we were one of the lucky few... Awesome.

So what did our $6 buy us?? Some pretty neat junk!

The box... with all the stuff.

It's a cubicle door! Perfect for those moments when you just, "need some space." This kinda reminds me of William Wilburforce's Mom, who had like 8 kids, and when she would need a moment to herself, she'd put her apron over her head, and the kids all knew not to bother her when she did that. Like an apron, this won't completely hide you from the outside world, but Jeremy may be able to use it to get those, "me time" moments. :-)

A Drew Bledsoe figurine! Because everyone needs a Drew Bledsoe figurine... apparently...

Yeah man, nothing like a travel pouch for all your stuff when you're on the road. This is actually probably useful. But you don't buy BOC for useful... It's all about the ride, man.

The coolest part of the BOC--the Super Woot Monkey! Complete with "Woot!" cape! Supposedly he make noise, but it's broken (not uncommon with BOC items...) I think "very neat" indeed. Everyone needs a monkey!

*Except for Woot-offs, but that's a whole other can o worms.

Update: Jeremy opened the cube door box, and in it was ANOTHER monkey (cape-less, but still fun) and a mirror for your laptop (so you can see who's sneaking up behind you, in case you're trying to do some top secret stuff). And the monkey does work, you just have to LAUNCH it and it screams.

Can you tell we got a new camera??

Otherwise, we couldn't bring you all these fine pics and videos of Jeremiah! Yes, it is very nice indeed. Though I'm still kinda upset that we LOST the other one. Stupid junkies at the hospital... I know they're holding out on us. Probably some nurse kept it for herself. :-( Oh well.

How 'bout some pics of the cutest baby on earth??? That'll cheer me up! :-)

A Weekend with Granddad!

Jeremiah got to meet his Granddad for the first time this past weekend. Ted flew down for the weekend to meet the little guy, and boy did they have fun! Several tours of the house were given, as Granddad did was grandfathers do best: walk babies around and show them things. :-) At least, that's what Jeremiah's grandfathers both do.

Jeremiah being Cute

I think Jeremiah is more interested in the camera than paying attention to Mommy trying to make him laugh... And then he gets irritated that I continue to try.... Oh well.

See First Video EVA! post for explanation on the whole "punch in the nose" thing.

Jeremiah talking to Daddy

Another video! Yeah, there's gonna be a bunch on here pretty soon...

Here we have Jeremiah talking with his Daddy. Well, roaring with him. And putting up his dukes! Listen for him trying to imitate Jeremy, it's so cute! This one you want volume for.

Oh, and in case you were wondering what the heck Jeremy was talking about at the end, here's Howard Dean's victory speech.

First Video EVA!

This is my first video on Google! Now, it's an unlisted video, so only you special people will have access to it.

I must warn you, however, it's not a very good video, but it gives you the gist of what Jeremiah is like on a day to day basis. Here we will see Jeremiah with his Granddad (Jeremy's Dad) who was down from Canada for a couple of days, just to meet the little guy! And there's even a guest appearance by Stephin-Rabbit! There will be some smiling, some punching, some crying, and a lot of talking in the background.

A few disclaimers:
"Mr. Bullfrog" is what I call Jeremiah sometimes... because he's 'Jeremiah' (who, at one point, was a bullfrog....)

We're always trying to "punch you in the nose" because his Uncle Jason was playing with him last weekend, and was doing just that (swinging his fist and saying, "I'm gonna PUNCH you in da nose!" [my Avo {Mom's Dad} used to always say that to us when we were growing up... usually to me because it would get a rise outta me... and then he would laugh when I got upset... anyways...}]) ANYWHOO, Jeremiah was HYSTERICAL when he was doing that, so we've been trying to recapture that laughter ever since.

The directions I'm giving are to my Dad, because he was gonna go to Legal Sea Foods to get my Mom some full-bellied clams--NOT easy to find in Northern VA, but they've got 'em!

Any other questions you have, please post in the comments, and I'll address them.

Feel free to watch it with no volume. The background noise isn't that interesting, and doesn't really take away from Jeremiah, as he's pretty quiet during most of the video. We get a few noises from him early on, but until he starts crying at the end, he's a mute.

Oh, and he was crying because he was hungry/tired. He's fine now. :-)

More meat!

Apparently, we don't feed him enough, as he's resorted to eating Daddy... I tried explaining that cannibalism is taboo, but i don't think he got it...

Chillin' at the Mall...

We're hanging out at Tysons, waiting for Daddy to close some deals so he can come get us-it's scary crossing 123. But we may have to anyways. For now, though, Jeremiah's workin the ladies... Such a flirt.

If We Were Hamsters...

I think this video illustrates most married couple pretty well... that is, if we were hamsters.

Not fun without sound! (And no, there's no scary guy yelling at you in the end...) Turn it up!


Hamster Cage Fight - Click Here for more great videos and pictures!

Man, I miss my camera!

Figures, Jeremiah starts being all sorts of cute WHEN I DON'T HAVE A CAMERA! Grr... Luckily, I DO have one on my phone, however, the quality is just so-so (as you can see...) BUT! It's better than nothing, as now I DO have photo-proof of how utterly adorable my family is. He just hung out nuzzling his Daddy, smiling and cooing at him, and for a moment, we thought he was "rooting" for some "num nums". Grrr.... I miss my camera....


He never does stuff like that with me.... :-(

We've reclaimed our bedroom!

It took 11 weeks, but we can now call our room OUR's again! Jeremiah has moved into his "big boy bed" (a crib) and outta his mini-crib (the co-sleeper). Now, it was very handy having him so close for those early morning feedings. But now that he's sleeping consistently through the night, there's no reason to keep him with us anymore. I'll probably leave the mini crib up a few more days, just to make sure things go well, and then I'll take it down.

I'm happy with his room! It's almost done, I just need to put up a picture or two, and the curtains, and it'll be perfect! I'll post pics as soon as I finish it.

So cute! Very exciting.

Bummed Out

I miss our camera.

It disappeared shortly after visiting Katharine and Laurence in the hospital when Lilly was born. We were taking pictures with it, and we haven't seen it since. Our only theory is that the couch Jeremy was sitting on swallowed it up. We both thought the other one grabbed it, and now it's gone.

Laurence and Katharine don't have it. We don't have it. The hospital has disavowed any knowledge of its existence.

:-(

The cheapest I've seen it for online is $150. Okay, we only paid $99 shipped, I'm not about to pay more to replace it.

Sigh....

It's spring! Jeremiah's cute! L&K had a baby! So on and so forth!

LOTS to write about, but it's late, so I won't be able to go into great detail...

However! I must admit I'm excited it's spring. After being in Mexico for a week, and the fun we had by the pool, I'm anxious for summer to arrive. Enough 30-40 degree weather. I WANT SUN! And HEAT! More more more! It's supposed to be nice this weekend, around 70 one day, 60's the rest. Hopefully that doesn't pull a "last week" and get really cold with freezing rain immediately afterwards...

Speaking of that whacky weather, what a time to have a baby, huh? Well, that's what Laurence and Katharine did! I've been lucky enough to be able to spend some time with them in the hospital. Katharine's doing great! She's really up and around, which is very impressive for someone post-c-section. She's well on her way down the road of recovery. And Lilly... what can I say... She's so tiny! My goodness, she's got to be the smallest baby I've ever seen--even smaller then Kris' baby, Cody (well, he's no baby anymore, but he was small... 6lbs, 1oz. Although I guess that's actually pretty big, considering he was almost 2 months early! Can you imagine how big he'd a been had he gone to term??? Probably bigger than Jeremiah! I'm glad, for Kris' sake, he came early!) Anyways, I think they're home now, and hopefully continuing to recover well, and enjoying their new life as parents. It's a blast. JUST SURVIVE THOSE FIRST TWO WEEKS! They can be really tough, but if you can get through those, you're set!

Can I just take a second to talk about how cute Jeremiah is? Well, it's my blog, so I'm gonna. :-) He's so cute! He's got just the cutest little face (big for his age... people always look at me aghast when I tell them he's 10 weeks... they think I mean 10 months. I guess it's POSSIBLE that he was a really REALLY small 10 month old... on the low low side, he'll be that size in probably another week, though the average is somewhere in the 20-21 lb range. But nope, 10 weeks is correct. ) I love how he wakes up in the morning, just smiling, laughing, so happy to see Mommy (or Daddy, but usually Mommy). He's not like that for his early morning feeding, though... Man that kid has lungs. But I love it all!

Now, if only we could get rid of the stupid cat. I left the door open today, hoping he'd go "explore" the outside (normally, he's rushing to race out the door as soon as we open it when coming home), but gosh darnit, he barely stuck his head out! Oh well. There's always next time....

Anyone else watching American Idol this season?? We are. Some good stuff, some bad stuff. I think it's kinda stupid, however, that it's a "pop" singing competition, and they have contestants singing non-pop songs. But whatever. I'll probably skip "country week", if they do that again this year. Although it may be interesting to see Blake Lewis beatbox a Keith Urban song... Anyways, just wanted to throw that out there. I'm interested to hear other's opine about such deep issues as American Idol. :-)

And finally... eh, I got nothing. I've misplaced my camera, otherwise I'd post some new pics of the babies. Hopefully it shows up soon... I miss it... I think I may have left it at the hospital. Oh, I hope someone found it.

Congratulations to Laurence and Katharine!

Katharine gave birth yesterday to a beautiful little girl, weighing in at 5 lbs, 11 oz and 19 in long (which is pretty long, considering how little she is!) Very fitting that she be born on St. Patricks Day, being a McKenny and all. :-)

Mom and Baby (and Dad!) are all doing very well. Katharine's on her way to a speedy recovery from her c-section (Lilly just didn't feel like cooperating. But that's okay, everyone's healthy, and that's all that matters!) so they should be home hopefully in a couple of days.

We're planning on visiting tonight, and will try to snap some pics for ya. For now, check out the pics on Katharine's blog here!

Just a few more...

Here are a few more pics from Cabo. I love the one with Jeremy & Jeremiah... And the one of us is "okay". Not my fav pic, but proof I was there. :-)

Pictures from Cabo!

Almost all of them are of Jeremiah, but that's all anyone wants to see anyways, right? :-)

Enjoy!

So....

I realize now that I start many of my posts with "So..." I think I need to be changing things up a bit... find a new way of looking at things, or something.

Just wanted to quickly post a few pics from our Cabo trip. Once I have more time (hopefully some time this week!) I'll write up a bit about the trip itself, and link to all 100+ of our pics online.

I will use one sentence to describe each day in brief:

Day 1: Travel Day
We arrived in Cabo early afternoon, picked up our rental car and drove the 40+km to our hotel; We checked in and basically did nothing--we all fell asleep around 7 pm and didn't wake up until 5 am the next morning. High for today, 80's.

Day 2: Shopping!
Realizing our hotel did not have quite the amount of amenities we hoped for (i.e. conditioner) we drove to town to pick up a few essentials and foodies from "Mega", a Wal-Mart type store. High for today, 80's.
Day 3: Beach Day? Don't remember....
Yeah, I don't remember anything significant happening. I think that this day was maybe the day we tried to take Jeremiah to the beach to give him his first taste of the Pacific, but it may have been "Tobasco's" day... Eh. Whatever.Day 4: More shopping downtown!
We had lunch at Hard Rock (the only place that didn't serve us tacos, quesidillas, or guacamole) and then perused the shops to find that "perfect" souvenir. While I don't think we found the "perfect" one, we were happy with what we got (cheap t-shirts always good... pottery even better!)Day 5: Move to the nice hotel!
Don't get me wrong, our hotel in Cabo San Lucas was nice (the kitchenette was very handy for sterilizing Jeremiah's bottles), but the Sheraton in Cabo Del Sol, SO much fancier and much more comfortable beds. And there weren't a million people trying to sell you everything from hats to timeshare.

Day 6: Me chill, Jeremy Work
Jeremy had meetings Wednesday morning, so Jeremiah and I went to the pool and waited for him to join us. Mucho Margaritas and sun later, Mexican Fiesta time, courtesy of Forrester.

Day 7: Snorkeling Trip!
We hopped on a huge boat and went snorkeling and had lunch on the water. Well, Jeremy plunged into the cold ocean, while I stayed with Jeremiah on the boat. Then they served Chicken Sushi for lunch........... yeah.

Day 8: More chillin', more workin', and then more partying.
That about says it all. Mucho sun, mucho relaxin', mucho margaritas.

Day 9: Travel Day
Or so we thought! We did make it out of Cabo, but as you could tell from our other posts, we didn't actually make it home until....

Day 10: Arrive home.
And we couldn't be happier!

After doing all this posting, I realize that my days are a bit off, so I'll hafta update that later. Also, I tried to get a pic to go with each day, but that didn't work out quite right either. Oh well. It's late (though my mind's on 11 pm right now, not 2 am...) so I'll fix it another time. Enjoy for now!

We made it!

We just landed in DCA. Jeremiah did great, we're glad to be home!

Livin' at the Airport

So, yeah... We're not making it home anytime soon! No confirmed flights until Tuesday. We'll try standby tomorrow, but no guarantees...