I haven’t been in the habit of posting on Fridays in a long time. But, we had a little fun around here this week, so I thought I’d make an exception this week and share the fun with you. To give a little background, not too long ago, Sweets decided he was going to be serious about cycling to work. He started when the weather got warm-ish in 2011 and continued up to the winter months. To be a true commuter in the winter, though, he needed a few additional clothing items, such as goggles (cold wind in your eyes makes it difficult to see!) and a balaclava (think of it as a hat that also covers your nose and mouth and neck). He got the goggles a couple weeks ago and the balaclava arrived this week. Gavin wasn’t particularly pleased with the new get-up, as you’ll see in these photos.

Even the dog was unsure of Sweets’ new look. Thankfully, as Sweets peeled back the layers, the mood lightened up a bit. Speaking of our poor dog, SoMi is a pretty understated dog. I mean, she barks insanely whenever our buzzer rings. But, other than that, she rarely barks, she doesn’t “speak” and never complains. Let’s put it this way … when she impaled herself with a stick last year, she didn’t yelp once. The only reason I knew anything might be wrong was she kept batting her face with her paw. But, not a sound did she make. That’s why we had trouble keeping our laughter in the other night when Sweets was “playing” the harmonica and SoMi just had to chime in.

That’s all from here. Hope y’all have a fabulous and very happy weekend. See ya on the flip side!

Thursday was Thanksgiving #1 for our family. (Well, technically, it was Thanksgiving #2, since Thanksgiving #1 took place in October.) My aunt and uncle hosted almost 20 guests. The best part about the meal? My aunt and uncle only cooked the turkey and mashed potatoes. Every guest provided another part of the meal, which was DELICIOUS! (I made a butternut squash / leek / Granny Smith apple soup with a cider cream and bacon bit topping from this amazing book and a pumpkin pie, thanks to the sassy Paula Dean.)

Friday, Sweets had to work (a travesty!), so I packed up the truck with Gavin and SoMi and we went to visit our dear friends who left the city for the far out suburbs. Gavin got to play with some girlfriends (he’s a lady’s man, for sure!). I got to catch up with our friends (and talk about future overnights at their home – fun stuff!). And we all took a fabulous walk to a local farm, where Gavin met his first horse and SoMi chased a cat into a barn (while I frantically yelled at her to come back)!

Friday night, a dear friend celebrated her anniversary with her husband while I babysat her adorable children. (I should write an entire post dedicated to the art of establishing a baby sitting exchange with friends – it’s brilliant!)

Saturday was Thanksgiving #2 with Sweets’ family. Gavin adores his older cousins, so it was fun to watch them make him laugh. Gavin also had the opportunity to learn how to play his grandfather’s drums. One day, I’ll regret the decision to let him learn the love for all things loud. =)

Sunday was our day of rest … snicker, hahaha, yeah right. (Just imagine Sweets saying, “we can sleep when we’re dead,” because that was pretty much his mantra all weekend.) We went to Gavin’s beloved music class where he was largely quiet until the last 15 minutes of class. By that point in class, he began giggling, dancing, playing with other children’s shakers, chasing bubbles, screeching with joy, playing the drum and guitar, and generally having a wildly good time.

After class, we met friends for lunch and sat at a table next to a fireplace. I think it was our first time teaching Gavin about the dangers of hot fires. He seemed to get it, though he also needed to be reminded from time to time to “make a different choice” as his course seemed to be heading straight towards the flames. After Gavin took a 3-hour nap that afternoon (score!), we went over to my bestie’s home for dinner. She made an outstanding spread (she always does) that included an early birthday cake for me (yummy!). It was a good thing we had SoMi join us, because she did a magnificent job of cleaning up after Gavin. ha.

And now we’re back to work. I’m full. Full of yummy food and time well spent with cherished people. Hope you had a most excellent weekend full of good food and good times, too!

I mean, seriously, look at these two adorable faces!!!

Vote for Gavin here.

Vote for SoMi here.

You can also directly access the contest here. Though, I’ll warn you – there are A LOT of VERY CUTE babies before you reach Gavin (10-15 pages in). And don’t forget to hit the Complete Vote button after you’ve chosen your favorites!

Thank you in advance. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, y’all!!! xoxo

Saturday, we were supposed to have plans with friends from Wisconsin. Due to a work trip extension, they asked for a rain check, which was fine. We were also supposed to go to the far out suburbs to visit friends who recently moved there. They asked us to reschedule. We agreed.

With all this free time on our hands, we quickly made plans for a play-date (as a make-up for the play-date I had to cancel the previous weekend). And I accepted an invitation to go to a girls night out party instead.

Our friends canceled the play-date last minute. And I bailed on the girls night out (Sunday nights = winding down, so I couldn’t muster the energy).

Don’t let this post become a pity party. Far from it. We actually enjoyed a really nice weekend together.

• Sweets’ friends from college were in town this weekend, so they stopped by to say hello and to pick up a bike Sweets was giving them. Their youngest (a boy) is a few months younger than Gavin – it was cute to see their girls playing so well with Gavin (clearly, they’ve had practice).
• We went to Gavin’s regularly scheduled music class (though, there was a substitute teacher, since Gavin’s teacher was sick … the first time we had a sub since we started this class in the spring … go figure it’d happen to us on this weekend!). )1(
• I took SoMi on a run – for the first time in ages, she actually cooperated and followed my lead for when we would run versus walk.
• We had dinner with our neighbors.
• We went grocery shopping without rush. )2(
• We watched a Lisa Ling special on PTSD and veterans. We cried. )3(
• We sorted through and ordered our holiday cards. )4(
• We slept in.
• We napped on top of sleeping in.
• We had long, rambling breakfasts that consisted of hours and hours of eating.
• I tried on a mail-order dress and decided to return it upon gaining agreement from Sweets that it made me look like a pilgrim (might be OK for Thanksgiving dinner, not so much for a wedding in late December).
• I looked up recipes for a soup I want to make for Thanksgiving. )5(
• We finally purchased outlet protectors, since we’ve spent the past few weeks saying, “No, Gavin, make a different choice” as he eagerly veers towards a couple key outlets that are very much exposed.

See, we did stuff. It was a largely unplanned, but it was a fun and productive weekend.

)1(    There are a few families in that class whom we seem to be drawn to every week. We always sit together or near each other. Or we make eye contact during class. Or we flat out wind up in conversation with them. I would definitely love to get our kids together outside class. But … I think about making the offer and then chicken out. How can I fairly start that conversation knowing full well our calendar is so darn full already?! I really should just get over it and extend the friendship hand.

)2(   A few weeks ago, I noted to Sweets that when you go grocery shopping at 9:30 pm, you run into a bunch of mothers/parents who have escaped their house for some kid-free shopping. Well, this weekend, I added an observation that when you go grocery shopping at 9:30 am, you run into a bunch of mothers/parents who go shopping with their kids! =)

)3(   Have you watched Lisa Ling’s series, Our America, on the Oprah Network? Sweets and I started watching it a few months ago and I gotta tell you – it’s powerful. It’s a series of one-hour shows – each show covers a part of our country that is wounded and often misunderstood. It could be sex trafficking or polygamy or spiritual healing. Lisa Ling approaches each episode acknowledging the misconceptions, admitting to her own misunderstandings and investigating/interviewing to figure out whether her initial viewpoints were entirely correct. Oftentimes, she discovers how flawed her (our!) initial thinking is. It definitely gives Sweets and I pause to learn about some of the dark corners of our nation.

)4(   Do you know how much fun I have looking at and choosing holiday cards with matching photos? If I could make a job out of sorting through your favorite photos and providing you with the best matches for holiday cards (or invitations or thank you cards or whatever), I totally would. And, y’all, our cards turned out soooooo cute. Seriously. I’m so excited about them. And I want to share them here soooooooo much. But, I don’t want to ruin the surprise for those family members and some select friends who read this blog. For now, trust me. They’re cute. And I promise I’ll share the card with you once our loved ones have received the real thing.

)5(    I’ve been reading a lot of blog posts lately that focus on two things: being thankful and starting/continuing family traditions. A few years ago, I decided to make soup to contribute to our family Thanksgiving. To me, Thanksgiving dinner is full of warm comfort foods … a nice soup definitely feels like home. This year, I want to make soup again … and I’m thinking about making it an ongoing tradition from here on out. I don’t necessarily associate soup with the traditional Thanksgiving meal, but somehow the right soup feels like it fits in well with any turkey day menu (plus, my family never sticks to the rules, so why start now?!?!?).

So, I quickly put on my shoes and started walking the three blocks to pick him up. Clearly, I left home in a bit of a rush.

When I picked up Gavin and asked for a more complete update, his teacher said he was in clear pain when he was pooping. Otherwise, he seemed fine. So, we walked home together, enjoying the sunshine.

When I got home, I put Gavin on the floor of our condo, so I could fold up his stroller. I immediately got a whiff of something awful. I picked up Gavin to see if he had pooped again. There was no smell. I looked at the dog, who had a look of guilt, and assumed she let go a nasty fart.

Since Gavin came home with a few pairs of soiled clothes, I decided to do a load of his laundry. As we walked towards the rear of our condo, the nasty smell got stronger and stronger. I dropped Gavin’s laundry bag, convinced the dog had been up to no good while I was gone. Sure enough, I see a huge pile of soft-serve poop by the kitchen table. I look back to see SoMi, the dog who is usually my shadow, all the way down the hall, nervously wagging her tail. Poor girl was sick, too.

I plopped Gavin in his highchair with a huge mound of puffs to entertain him. Rolled up my sleeves. Got a plastic bag, an old rag and paper towels. And went to work cleaning up that pile o’ dump. I then sprayed the area with Nature’s Miracle and cleaned up. Not convinced Nature’s Miracle was strong enough for an area where Gavin often plays, I pulled out the Fantastic and went over the floor again.

Last night, Sweets cancelled plans to go to a baseball game, so he could help me take care of Gavin. We were very careful feeding him, so as not to add to his already acidic poop. Sweets calls it the BART diet … bananas, apples, rice and toast … a bland diet that isn’t too harsh on a baby’s belly. We gave him some bananas, some apples and some pieces of English Muffin. We skipped his bath (when his on-fire butt came in contact with warm water, Gavin proceeded to scream bloody murder). And I settled in to give him his final bottle for the day (we switched to soy formula to go easy on his belly). After almost 6 ounces were gone, something didn’t sit right with Gavin and he proceeded to throw up everything (apples and bananas, too) all over me.

Sigh.

After a massive clean-up, we brought Gavin out to watch TV with us. Eventually, he fell asleep. We decided to move him to his crib without trying to feed him again. The assumption was he’d wake up in the middle of the night hungry and we’d feed him at that time. Boy, were we wrong. Gavin fell asleep around 9pm and didn’t wake up until 9am this morning. Happy as a clam. Too bad daycare has a “diarrhea free for 24 hours” policy, otherwise, I’d march him right on over. Instead, I’m stuck at home with a very sick baby. Can’t you tell by the photo how terribly ill he looks? =)

While Gavin naps this afternoon, I’ve accomplished two things. First, I’m writing this post (duh!). Second, I have spent yet another day on the phone trying to resolve my cell phone issues. You see, on Sunday, I went to the Apple store to purchase my new iPhone. They promised me I’d be up and running with my new Verizon service … they just needed about 6 hours to get my old number ported over to the new service. That was at 1pm Sunday afternoon.

8pm Sunday night, no service on my new phone. By Monday morning, when I still had no service, I called Verizon. They explained my phone wasn’t properly activated. The guy started the activation process with the promise my phone number would port. By Monday afternoon, my new data plan worked just fine (internet and email). I could send and receive texts on the iPhone. I could even make outgoing calls. However, all incoming calls were directed to my old phone. Tuesday morning, same deal, so I called Verizon again. They promised the port was still in progress and might take up to 48 hours total.

Patience, little grasshopper.

Wednesday morning, 48 hours after my initial call to Verizon, I still wasn’t receiving calls on my new phone. I had to wait until Gavin was napping to call them back. Thank goodness for the phone feature in Gmail … I was able to call Verizon customer support from my computer (no landline at home!) and have both wireless phones handy. After speaking with a few different people from Verizon, it became clear they never got all the information they needed to complete the port (they had no record of my previous carrier and account number – hello!!!!). The kind woman completed the port and within SECONDS, my new phone was receiving calls, too. Good grief!

But, HELLO, iPHONE. How nice to meet you! I’ve only been playing around with it for a few days. But, it makes me feel like I was living in the stone ages with my previous phone. Granted, that phone was 2 years old. But, apps work 100x better on the iPhone. Plus, it’s prettier, too. Mama is a happy gal. Now, if only my little munchkin would get better, so I can take some “healthy” photos of him, too!