Valentine's Day and the resurrection of this blog

Um, okay.  So, pretty much I thought that nobody was really reading my blog, so I sort of lost interest for a while and stopped writing.  Then, out of no where, I get like 3 or 4 requests from people I hardly know asking if I'm alive or been abducted by aliens and such.

I'M BACK!!!

(this is gonna take a while)

Okay, so yeah.  It's been since mid-January since we last conversed.  Since then, I have left Corbin not once, but twice, to go on a date night with Josh.  I do recall that being one of my New Years Resolutions - one date night sans Corbino every month.  So far, I've held up to my word.  I really loved it and hated it at the same time.  Part of me felt completely void and empty.  All night I felt awkward - like as if I forgot to put on a bra.  Which, duh, I was missing my 18 pounds of warm, squishy hip augmentation!  But I feel bad to admit, at the same time, I sort of loved it.  Because for a few hours I wasn't toting around a diaper bag, baby, stroller, etc.  I didn't have to worry about how much time I had before the next feeding. I didn't have to guestimate just how much longer until we entered way-too-long-between-naps-because-my-child-doesn't-sleep-in-the-car meltdown mode.  But each time we pulled up in the driveway to pick him up, I was like an over-active hyper Labrador licking the window of the car door and pawing at the handle!  It is most definitely safe to say, I missed Cor more than he missed Mama.  Maybe I'm the one who needs to cry-it-out, hmmm?

***

Corbin turned 9 months January 20th!  He weighed 18.5 lbs (50%) and was 27 inches long (25%).  He has the gross motor skills of a 12 month old (according to the doctor) and is off the charts in adorability (according to everyone on the face of the planet, and if you don't agree with me, get off my blog!)

***

Valentine's day was fun.  I bought Corbin some balloons and a stuffed bear.  Corbin gave me a really cute Fossil watch.  Gah, I love that kid.  Oh yeah, and Josh was there too.  With flowers.  He's good.

 And here's some cute-baby-crack for those of you who reeeeally missed us and need your fix:

***

So lately my new obsession has been Pinterest.  Usually, I'll peruse the "humor" section of Pinterest for eCards and Grumpy Cat pictures when there's nothing interesting going on on Facebook or Instagram.  And then I'll pin, like, 5,000 funny pictures that I'm certain everyone wants needs to see.  Then I'll go back and delete a few because they were slightly off-color and that's not how I roll, yo.

Where was I going with this...? Oh yeah.

(Yes, I literally forgot my point.  Yes, I literally typed out my question to myself.)

ANYWAY.  I've been really into fashion/clothing again.  Once upon a time, I was trendy and stylish and looked like I walked straight up out of an American Eagle advertisement.  That was before pregnancy.  Before weight gain.  Before spit up, sitting on the floor, dinner time, bath time, and back-to-bed time.  Then I started realizing that I was rotating the same 3 or 4 shirts and 2 pairs of jeans weekend after weekend.  So, I started looking at outfit ideas on Pinterest and rediscovering my style, which, was no longer head-to-toe American Eagle.  From there, I started reading fashion blogs and discovering ways to work with what you have.  By that point, I was ready to shop.  Problem was, we had no money.  So, I decided to have myself a little cyber yard sale.  I took pictures of all my clothes and listed them on Facebook.  Within a week, all my stylish smaller-than-me friends were sporting a new American Eagle and NY&CO wardrobe, and I had money to buy new clothes! That, my friends, is called a win-win.

Here is an example of me conquering my fear of 1. skinny jeans and 2. colored breeches: 

Here I am on Valentine's day rocking an infinity scarf I knitted myself:

Here is Josh. He likes button-up shirts:

***

Corbin turns 10 months!  On February 20th (Or 19th.  Evidently my brain doesn't function anymore and I posted his 10 month stats on Facebook and Instagram a day early. Whatev.)

I don't know how much he weighs or how tall he is or all that jazz, but I can tell you he:

• wears mostly 6-9 or 9 month clothes.  He's starting to venture into some 12 month territory.
• can crawl, pull up, and walk with a walker or anything he can grab onto and push across the floor (laundry basket, dog, etc).
• can stand momentarily on his own when feeling brave.
• dislikes the feel of grass.
• eats anything and everything you put in front of him.  Prefers carbs.
• is starting to get a bit of a mullet.  Party in the back.
• has two botton teeth and the workings of two top teeth.  
• enjoys beating random objects around the house with a drum stick, hair brush, or remote control. 
• is really growing a sense of humor.  Likes to laugh at me when I tell him "no."
• is becoming a real little person.
• is the most loved baby in the entire universe!

Lay-Down-Awake Baby on the Tree Top...the new lullaby?

When I was 14 years old, my dog found a baby squirrel that had fallen from his nest.  I'm not sure if the fall did it, or my dog, but somehow the little guy got paralyzed from his waist down.  I wound up keeping Chippy in a cage for nearly 6 months.  I would take him out to exercise his front legs, bathe him, pet him... he would roll over for you to scratch his belly and under his neck.  I even let him crawl around outside some.  But, as you can imagine, climbing up trees did a number on his little squirrel-man bits.  Stop laughing.  I'm serious!  Eventually, as he got older, he started biting and not being so friendly.  So, I gave him to a wild animal rescue.  I'm sure they took extra loving care of Chippy.  Or euthanized him.  I try not to think about it.

Ok, and the point to all this?  I am a helpless animal magnet.  Whether it be little "gifts" brought to me by the cats (semi-alive baby bunnies, mice, birds) or "donated" pets that some jerk dumped off in my neighborhood... just like I'm also a nutso magnet, an old-person magnet, and a tell-me-your-life-story-and-all-your-hardships magnet.  Most of which, I don't mind.  Except for the nutso magnet.  Those usually don't end well.  Yeah...

ANYWAY...

Yesterday, I took Corbin to the doctor because I was afraid his cold was turning into an ear infection.  But I learned he was pulling at his ears because he's teething.  Even though there are no teeth present, or hinting at the contemplation of emerging, he is cramming everything into his mouth and leaving a trail of drool (and snot) every where he crawls.

Oh yeah, he is totally doing the army crawl/drag now!  Yay!

The pediatrician, who I totally love, kind of rubbed me the wrong way, however.  As I was telling her how his teething and congestion was keeping him up at night, somehow the conversation got brought to the fact that I rock him to sleep.  Ignoring the fact that he is going through his 6 month growth spurt, teething, fighting a cold/congestion, and dealing with time change, she automatically assumed his recent night wakings MUST be because I rock him to sleep.  I definitely had my share of post-doctor ranting yesterday

I know this can be a parenting hot topic, but in my opinion, it's my business and it's not like I'm feeding my kid slug bugs and roaches.  Which, I guess if you think your kid could benefit from the protein, go right ahead.  But my point is, I literally got reprimanded for rocking Corbin to sleep before laying him down.  Honestly, I don't see what the big deal is.  If I were still breast feeding, I would be nursing him to sleep each night.  I didn't even dare mention that we bed share in the mornings.  That would probably warrant a call from CPS or something!  There is not one parenting style that fits all.  I wish doctors would understand that not everyone is anxious for their baby to sleep through the night, start baby food, or try "Cry It Out."  And not everyone wants to bed share/baby wear/breast feed/make their own baby food.  Forget the "experts."  YOU are your child's expert.  At least you should be.

And that's all I got to say about that.

OH YEAH... the squirrel story. And you were probably thinking I'd gone off my rocker (pun totally intended) on that one!

After the aforementioned doctor's appointment, Mom, Corbin, and I went to grab some lunch.  When we left the restaurant and walked toward my car, I noticed a very handsome squirrel sitting next to the driver's side front tire of my car.  I walked toward my door, totally expecting the squirrel to take off running, but he didn't move.  So I got down and looked a little closer, and noticed he had a bloody foot and a bloody nose - no doubt had grazed somebody's moving car.  Well, my closer inspection warranted him to slowly (and in case you've never seen a squirrel in person before, "slow" is not in their repertoire of moves) ran under my car.  Great.  Not wanting to run over him, I honked my horn to get him to move.  I walked to the other side to see if he had ran into the bushes, but alas he was sitting on my passenger side tire.  I poked him with a stick, for sure that he'd bolt away.  No.  He just jumped up under the hood of my car.

OH JOY!

I guess being in the south, there is something to say about the whole damsel-in-distress bit.  Because, here I was, on my hands and knees, looking under my car, yelling at a squirrel.  Ok maybe that was less damsel-in-distress and more psycho-squirrel-lady.  A nice man came over and asked if I needed help, and after telling him the story, he left and returned with a metal pipe.  Quite honestly, I was a little frightened that 1. he was going to wallop the squirrel and 2. he was going to wallop my car in the process.  But he just poked around and made some noise and eventually the squirrel jumped down.

Then he jumped back up.

Now, I want you to put yourself in my shoes for a minute.  It's freezing cold outside.  Mom is in the car with an impatient, overly-tired, crying Corbin.  I'm standing outside Calhoun's with a complete stranger holding a metal pipe, yelling at a traumatized squirrel who will not leave my car.  And I had to pee. After a few more minutes of this, and the failure to actually locate the squirrel, I did the unthinkable.  I decided to drive away.  DO NOT JUDGE ME!!!

I'm not completely naive.  I am well aware Mr. Chippy is now in squirrel heaven.  I'm not certain, but I believe even healthy squirrels don't have extensive life spans.  I'm not at all fooling myself thinking that Mr. Calhoun squirrel will probably, if not already, die from his injury.  So my logic is this:  if he survives the car ride, at least he will be warm when he finally does die.  If he doesn't survive the car ride, at least his death will be quick.  Yes, I gave this some thought before I left the parking lot.

I am thankful that it is going to be very cold this week.  Because I do not look forward to what toasty dead squirrel smells like in my car.

Now for a totally random, unrelated, too-lazy-to-actually-write-about-it photo catch-up from the past week:

Redecorated the living room.  I do not look forward to re-redecorating for Christmas here soon...

Another Pinterest project

Corbin decided to introduce his forehead to the bottom of the book case.  The night before his 6 month pictures.

 

Daddy icing Corbin's head

Corbin had his 6-month pictures taken by Amber Rena Photography!  Here's a sneak peak:

Corbin and Sammy played together:

...aaand Corbin started army crawling:

...and he took a bath and attacked his ducky.  Ok, not really an update but I had to share!

Pinterest Harlot

I've been a total Pinterest whore lately. Wait, can I say whore? Okay, Pinterest Lady of the Night. My husband approves because I try new recipes and, what can I say, the man loves to eat.

Tastey tastey

I approve because I get to try all these new crafty crafts from Jo Ann and Dollar Tree finds!

These are the crafts I intend to make in the near future:

Canvas Art

"Family" Frames

And this is the craft I'm currently crafting:

Coffee Filter Rose Wreath

I'm actually a little obsessed with making these roses. Once I got the hang of it, I found myself explaining the steps for a You Tube tutorial...in my head.

 ...okay maybe a little bit out of my head...while I was home alone...and Corbin was sleeping. But I totally sounded legit.

I'm attempting to redecorate my living room. I really want to paint [again] because I'm tired of the blue, but Josh isn't thrilled about the 257 foot ceilings we have. I don't really know how tall they are. But 257 would be my guess. 

Or 16. Whatever.

I'm also trying to get ideas for Corbin's 6 month pictures coming up. I have the worst luck with pictures. I always look like a demented porcelain doll. I seriously hate having my picture taken. And to make matters worse, I'm totally insecure about my post baby body, pastey skin, and drab hair. I'm thinking of getting a spray tan and fake eye lashes for this set of pictures...but that might make me look like a demented porcelain oompa loopa doll.

Or totally hot. 

and now to get that image out of your head, here's Corbin!

 

But wait, call now and we'll DOUBLE your order!

Yes, today is a twoferone... because technically the last post was written yesterday, but I was so busy cleaning and taking care of C Man, that I literally did not have time to sit down at my computer to publish it.

So now I'm writing this today.

Yesterday, as you might have read, was a terrible, no good, very bad sort of day. Well, mostly.  Corbin was teething X infinity and was not happy unless I was holding him whilst my finger got gnawed away in his mouth.  Even then, it was more a mild tolerance than actual happiness.  So I did what any independent, self-sufficient, modern day mom would do.

I called my mommy.

Seriously, sometimes you just need a break.  Yesterday, I was about to go batty.  Call it exhaustion, call it OCD, Type A, whatever, but my house was a hot mess and I hadn't showered or eaten much more than leftover baby sitting cookies in the past two days.  So, my mom entertained Corbin (who not-surprisingly acted like a perfectly jolly little gnome the whole time she was here), while I attacked the brigade of dust bunnies that set up colony in every corner of my living room.

I also swept up 7 dead flies.  RIP Edward, Bella, Jacob, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett.

I did manage to get on Pinterest and repin about 1,529 awesome ideas.  I also repinned a lot of my older pins to new boards because organization is my version of a hot bubble bath.  It soothes me.  So if you're following me on Pinterest, I apologize for the overwhelming number of repins yesterday.  Actually, I don't, because they're steller and you should check them out.

And I made this little gem that I found on Pinterest.  It was amazing, and only required me to chop up the potatoes, throw them in a dish with chicken and green beans, sprinkle with seasoning, drown in butter, then cook for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

So there you have today's bonus post.  I vow today will be better, partially because I'm going to eat something other than coffee and cookies, partially because Corbin is feeling better, but mostly just because I got a shower.