Ride, Ride, Ride, Hitchin' a Ride

My little boy is growing so fast! *sniff sniff*

WHO is the person who developed sliding doors?

They obviously didn't have a toddler. Even with a stick of wood jamming the door, Lance can open it. See, he's smart. He simply picks up the wood, drags it through the house, hits things with it, then smears his grubby hands all over the glass, licks it, then finally opens the door. Yes, he can reach the lock and has seen how to open it. Clever little kiddo!

Or in his room-- his closet is sliding mirrored doors. I was very foolish to place his crib up against the closet doors. (At the time, I thought, "if I put the crib here, then he won't be able to get into the closet.") Now I'm thinking that would be preferable to him standing in his crib and opening and closing and opening and closing (I mean slamming) the door to protest his naptime.

Someday I'll look back on this and laugh. But not today.

Chiropractic GENIUS

I stopped by my chiropractor's office yesterday. Not for an adjustment (although I'm due for one soon,) but to look at a piece of furniture he's giving away. He knows that we are getting a new house, and he had a cabinet that he was going to be getting rid of. He asked me to come by and take a look at it and see if we could use it.

We can.

But that's not the point of the story. While I was there, I mentioned to him that Lance had a little bit of a cold.

Did you know that chiropractors can greatly relieve cold symptoms with a few spinal adjustments??? For BABIES??!! I held Lance, and the Doc gently worked the muscles around Lance's spine and also some in his neck, effectively allowing all the "gunk" to drain away. Lance was much better afterwards! I have not had to give him any more cold medicine. His nose is still a little drippy and he still coughs now and then, but he's improved immensely since his adjustment.

I wanted to share all of this with you because not a lot of people would consider chiropractic care for things like colds and flus. I didn't know about it myself until I met my chiropractor at my church. I started going there because my back and hips got all torn up after having Lance. In this last year of going there, I haven't been sick once. At the first sign of a cold or sinus infection or whatever, I make an appointment, the Doc works his magic, and I am better.

I wish more people knew about this. My primary care doctor never suggested chiropractic care. I guess some people are a little leery of "alternative medicine" but if it works, I say go for it!

Doc says the reason chiropractic care is effective for colds is that the nervous system runs through the spine, so if something in the spine is out of alignment, your nervous system won't work effectively. Makes sense! So while I can't say that my cold (and Lance's) was wiped out immediately, Doc made it so my body was able to heal itself much more quickly, and without the use of chemical medication.

I found this website that answers some basic questions about chiropractic care. Let me know what you all think!

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday!

Remember awhile back when I posted a picture of this shirt? Well, Hubby got it for me for my birthday! He also bought me two other shirts, one that has a diagram of a chocolate molecule, and the other one that has binary for "Mommy" on it. (He got matching t-shirts with binary for "baby" and "Daddy.")

Yes I am a geek.

But I'm a geek with a cool shirt.

Happy Birthday To Me!!!!

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Guinevere....Happy Birthday to you!"

I'm 26 today.

Birthdays are fun!!

Going to hockey game with Hubby and Lance tonight, then Sunday night Hubby's taking me out to dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant! Friends treating me to lunch at a fancy "tea room" where we have to make reservations and get babysitters! Yeah!!!!

Lance is sleeping now, so I'm going to go make myself a cup of coffee and watch TV. Because I can. Because it's my birthday.

Teething!

Poor Lance. He's working on four teeth. Simultaneously. Along with the pain, he also suffers from a runny nose while teething. I don't know why this is, but every time a tooth is about to poke through, the kid turns into a faucet.

On the brighter side, once he gets a few more teeth, I can start giving him more and more real food. I'm sure his digestive system is ready for him to eat more than he does, he just doesn't have the teeth for it! Although his gums are awfully strong!

Gotta run. Having guests over in a little while. Have a lovely day!

Oh, the Fatigue

I can tell it's been awhile since I've done any regular exercise. How, do you ask? Well, because I feel completely exhausted and without energy. It's just mean of nature that when our bodies most need exercise, we absolutely Do.Not.Want.To.

I was so good for awhile! Lance and I would take nice long stroller walks in the morning, and during his morning nap I would vigorously do the housework that needed doing, and I had tons of energy. Then I got sick for a couple days, broke the pattern, and now I sit around in my PJs all morning until he goes down for his morning nap, then I go back to bed, and inevitably when we wake up, I feel worse than I did before. By then, the day is half gone. I'm so lazy!

I need some motivation. Help!

I Heart Yard Sales

Yard sales ROCK. (I've been using that word a lot lately. In my last 3 comments to other bloggers, I said that something-or-other-in-their-post-that-inspired-me ROCKED.) Mourning my youth, perhaps?

Anyway. Our church youth group does an annual "garage sale" in our fellowship hall. (Why don't they call it a "Fellowship Hall sale?" lol!) I went over there this morning, and found a fantastic chair and ottoman for the grand total of $20.00. The chair is a beautiful navy blue, is in great shape, and is comfy! Best of all, it coordinates with the furniture we already have. It is going to be my chair. Hubby has a hideously ugly (albeit super-comfy) beige recliner which I always sit in during the day when he's not home, so now I can have my own chair.

Sweet!

Oh, I also scored 4 hardback books for $.50 each. That also rocks. See, I'm a bit of a book snob. When possible, I prefer to buy hardback books. Why, do you ask? Because when I find a book I like, I read it over and over and over again. There is one particular book that I have had to replace three times because I wore it out. So while it's true that paperbacks are cheaper than hardback books, by the time you have purchased a third copy, you might as well have sprung for the hardback.

It's been a pleasant morning.

(I'll post a picture of the chair later on. I have to send Hubby back to the church to go pick it up because the chair wouldn't fit in my teeny tiny car!)

On Being a Trekkie

Tee hee. I'm not the only one!

Apparently among mommy bloggers, there are many of us who enjoy the same guilty pleasure. Many more than I would have imagined!

There are Trekkies among us. In my blog party post, I mentioned that I liked to watch reruns of Star Trek: Voyager. I was amazed at the number of comments I received from people who had similar likings to mine! (And yes, if you so much as know what a tribble is, you are a trekkie, whether or not you want to admit it! lol!)

Why have we not discussed it before? Why are we afraid to admit it?

I'll begin.

Hi, my name is Guinevere.

Hi, Guinevere.

I'm a Trekkie.



I don't think there's a 12-step program for us. We just need to be woman enough to admit that we have a problem!

Maybe it's not so much of a problem.

So I get excited by things like temporal anomalies and stellar phenomenon. Yes, I wish someone would hurry up and develop transporter technology. And a holodeck! Apparently you do too!

Tee hee. Glad to know I'm not alone!

Live long, and prosper.

Ultimate Blog Party 2008!!

I can't believe it's that time again! In fact, I almost missed it! The Ultimate Blog Party 2008!!

I do believe that I met most of my regular readers at last year's party. Wasn't it fun!!

Anyhoo. For anyone visiting for the first time, WELCOME! My name is Guinevere Meadow. I have a wonderful Hubby and an adorable 15-month old baby boy I like to call Lance. Currently, I stay at home with him, but I have plans to return to school this fall and finish my degree in elementary education.

I am short with brown hair, and I like strawberry banana smoothies. I sing in a band at my church and Hubby plays guitar. I was a big dork in high school, but I earned myself a full-ride scholarship with the grades I earned because I didn't waste my time partying with people who are miserable and sad.

I like to cook and to take pictures. I sing whenever I can, whether or not anyone is listening. I like to watch reruns of Star Trek Voyager. (I guess I'm still a big dork.)

Now tell me about yourself! I hope we can be friends!

Daddy's Boy

There's no question about it, Lance is a Daddy's Boy. This kid loves his daddy like nobody's business. Here is a picture of them wearing father/son t-shirts. In case you can't tell, Hubby's shirt has "v1.0" and Lance's has "v2.0." Did I mention that Hubby is a computer geek for a living? Those shirts came from a website called thinkgeek.com.

From the time Lance was a newborn, he would always go to sleep for Hubby much more easily than for me. Hubby had the knack of holding him just the right way to get him to sleep. Even now, most of the time it is Hubby that puts Lance down for the night. I do the bath and jammies, but Hubby takes him into his room and puts him in his crib.

Two nights ago, we switched. Hubby did the bath, and I put Lance to bed.

Lance took offense to this. Usually, he goes to sleep without too much complaint. He may whimper in his crib for a few minutes, but then he quiets down and settles himself to sleep. Not so this night. As I closed the door to his room, the wailing began. Lance's wail sounds eerily like an ambulance siren. (So much so that one night an ambulance actually went by, we thought Lance was crying so we went in to check on him!) Anyhoo. Between siren-like wails, he started calling for Daddy.

He has never done this before. He will say "Daddy," but this was the first time he called Daddy. It was a call to be rescued from the evil Mom-Lady. "Daaaa-ddyyyyyyyyy.....Daaaaaaa-ddyyyyyyyy."

Just heartbreaking I tell you. Lance was very unhappy that Mommy was the one to put him to bed.

After a couple minutes though, he quieted down and settled himself to sleep.

Good boy.

Bragging About My Son

Here is a list of things that Lance can now do that make me very proud of him:

1. He can draw a picture! We bought him those new crayons that look like an egg so the kid can wrap their whole hand around it. While he enjoys eating the tip of the crayon, he also likes drawing pictures. I've written the date on the first picture he drew and I will save it forever.

2. He misses me when I'm gone!! Lance never exhibited any kind of separation anxiety, which while on one hand I am very grateful, I couldn't help but wonder why he was not upset that I was leaving. Now, when I go to pick him up from the church nursery or a babysitter, he drops when he was doing, runs over to me, throws his arms around my head and gives me a big hug! It's the sweetest thing.

3. He can point to various body parts. He can show you his nose, his ears, his mouth, his tummy, and his head. Oh, and when he shows you his mouth, he opens wide and says "Ahhhhh" a la dentist visit.

4. He can get himself up and down the stairs with minimal assistance! This is important because we live on the second floor, and it was getting very hard to try to carry him in one arm and the diaper bag and my purse and anything else that needed transporting in the other. Getting up the stairs after a grocery shopping trip was particularly anxiety-ridden. He still needs to hold my hand, and it takes forever, but he can manage the stairs now. Yippee!

5. He likes curry. I was shocked. Hubby made a South African dinner for us a few nights ago, a dish called "bobotie" which is heavily seasoned. We gave a little bit to Lance to try, and he gobbled the stuff up! Go figure. (He won't touch plain old potatoes. The kid likes his food to have flavor!)


This photo was not from the curry dish. This was from lunch today, some left over pasta and meat sauce. My little spaghetti-face!

I am so proud of my little boy. *smug grin*

Google Searches

Hi everyone.

(No, Anne and Amber, the ants did not "et" me. We have called a cease-fire. Currently regrouping!)

Sorry to disappear for a little while. I've had a number of projects to work on which has taken time away from blogging. We're getting ready to move in a couple months, so there's lots of preparations, and I'm also working on putting together new music for our band to do for Easter. It's taking more time than I expected.

Anyhoo.

Here is a list of recent google searches that have led people to my blog.

cake stuck to pan crumbled recipe

pickles and ice cream baby shower theme

can you feel dilation and effacing

2 cm thin cervix blogspot

sipping pina coladas

things that go with easter

im sleepy

guinevere blogspot

I never cease to be amused by such things.

Must get back to work. Things should quiet down once we get settled into the new house. I'll be popping by as often as I can!!!

They're BUGGING me!

Hello blogworld. How are you? What's new? Anything exciting?

I've just been so busy this last week. Crazy busy. Working on some new music for church, making plans for the new house, going to various appointments, and just generally keeping the house running.

Speaking of keeping the house running, I've had to call the pest control people out twice and I STILL HAVE AN ANT PROBLEM. It's driving me crazy. We've been living here almost two years, and only in this last month have ants been a problem. If a crumb of food falls to the floor and stays there for a maximum of ten minutes, the ants have already found it. That just seems a little extreme. We're talking a single cheerio here, people. Lance drops one. I don't notice it, so we go play in the other room for awhile. The other room gets boring, so we go back to the living room where a veritable colony of ants have descended upon this single, lonesome, vulnerable, unprepared cheerio.

Or imagine for a moment that I have used a knife to slice up a block of cheddar cheese. Since Lance is hungry, I immediately go feed him and I leave the knife laying on the cutting board while he eats. In 15 minutes I return to the kitchen to clean up, and there are ants crawling all over this knife trying to get up the last bits of the residue clinging to the knife for its very life.

First, the pest control people squirted this goopy stuff in corners of the kitchen. Apparently it was food for the ants which they would take back to the nest, share it with the queen, and everyone would die.

They didn't.

Then they came again at the end of the week and sprayed some icky, smelly chemicals all over my house.

Those ants are still alive and kickin'. I swear, they have a conspiracy against me. They just won't die!!

I guess the only good thing to come out of this is that I have suddenly been forced to become a much better housekeeper. I'm using up an insane amount of Clorox disinfecting wipes, and I ensure that all leftovers get packed up or thrown away immediately. After Lance eats his meals, I lay down on the floor and wriggle on my belly like a snake, examining every square inch of floor to make sure that not a single stray crumb is allowed to draw the attention of The Ants. After I slice cheese, I immediately rinse off the knife and submerge the cutting board in hot, soapy water.

I declare war.

Aggravation. Grr.

edited to add:: *Warning: It's my blog, and I'll whine if I want to. Lest you think I'm a spoiled brat, please know that when I wrote this last night I was bone-tired and patience-less. I realize there are women whose husbands are serving overseas and they are totally alone with their kids. I completely admire and support these women, because after the 4 days described below, I know how difficult it is to be the only adult in the household trying to care for a young person. Also, please know that I am not angry with my husband. It is not his fault that the leaders of his group imposed three nights of rehearsal in a row.*

/end soapbox


I'm aggravated.

Aggravated, irritated, all-twisted-up-in-a-knot ticked off.

Hubby has joined another music group at our church. (Gasp! How horrible! Just kidding. That's not why I'm frustrated.) He's been a member of this second group for a number of months, and it's been great. He's had a wonderful time. This week, though, has just been tough.

This is the fourth night in a row he has been away at practice and has not returned before Lance goes to bed. The first night, Monday, was the rehearsal for the band that Hubby and I are both in, and for which we hire a babysitter. Tuesday and Wednesday he had extra practices for band #2 and tonight was their regular rehearsal. The Tuesday and Wednesday practices were supposed to be "just a run-through of one song." Both nights he was gone for over an hour. Tonight is the group's regular rehearsal which runs 2 1/2 hours.

I don't want to begrudge him his church involvement, but I've felt like a single parent all week. I was telling a friend about this and she started laughing at me. She works nights and was saying that she never sees her husband, and she was totally unsupportive. I know she wasn't trying to be mean, but my feelings were pretty hurt by this. She has chosen that lifestyle of working nights and not seeing her husband. But she is not alone with her one-year old for fourteen solid hours.

I'm okay if once in awhile Lance and I have a long day together. Maybe I'm spoiled. Hubby gets home at 6:30 each day, and just simply having another pair of eyes and set of arms makes a HUGE difference. Hubby often will do the bath and bedtime routine so I can get a bit of a break in the evenings. Lance usually goes to bed at 9:00, so it's only 2 1/2 hours of my day that are any different when Hubby has these long days, but let me tell you, those 2 1/2 hours certainly make a HUGE difference!

Now, though, after 4 days in a row of this, I'm beat. Purely worn out.

I want my mommy. Waaah.

Wordless Wednesday: Day at the Zoo

Lions and tigers and bears...who cares? The water fountain is *much* more exciting!

Although it sure was fun to feed the giraffe!!

Dude, look at that!

Yeah, I saw some of those in someone's yard once. Or twice.

But those didn't move.

Dude, you're right.

Awesome.

Our House is a Very, Very, Very Fine House

...but there won't be two cats in the yard!! (maybe a dog, later on.)

I am pleased to announce that the Meadow family is getting a house!! On May 1st, we will be moving into this lovely 4-bedroom 2-bath house with a lovely backyard and swimming pool!! We will rent it for 2 years, and then we will be able to buy. A friend of ours owns the house, so we're getting a really fantastic deal. A portion of our monthly rent will go towards a down payment. Plus, we're locking in a purchase price now, which will most likely save us a ton of money, as the housing market is expected to go back up by the time we'd be able to buy. I'm SO PSYCHED!!!





(Those are our friends Ivy and her son Cole. She's going to help me plant a garden!)

Where Have All the Naptimes Gone?

It's my own fault. I didn't appreciate it when I had it. How does the song go, "Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone..."



If only I had known, I wouldn't have stood over your crib, begging you to wake up...



It was too late that I learned my new philosophy. "Let sleeping babies lie!"

I think one of the naps is being phased out. I've been very spoiled by Lance. At 14 months, he still takes both a morning and an afternoon nap. Each nap is between an hour and a half and two hours. I'm one lucky mama.

Not so the last few days. He's still taken two naps, but each day they grow shorter and shorter. It seems like he is on the verge of phasing out a nap.

There are upsides to this. I have more freedom to do things during the day. My schedule does not revolve around naps as much as it used to. Also, on the days in which he has napped less, he has gone to bed earlier. Tonight he went down at 8:00, a full hour earlier than usual. He was so exhausted, I didn't dare keep him up just for the sake of enforcing a bedtime. (I just pray he doesn't wake up an hour earlier tomorrow morning!! I can wake up any time as long as the sun is already up. An hour earlier than his current wake-up time will still be dark, so that just won't work.) Along with growing out of naps, Lance is growing more and more independent, so I can do things that before I could only do while he slept. Thus, his lack of sleep is not as detrimental as it would have been.

But oh, how I shall miss those two long naptimes during the day!

Whenever baby #2 comes along, I will make sure to rejoice in every single minute of napping that occurs.

There are just so many things I would do differently if I had only known...

What I'd Wear Wednesday: Blogging T-Shirt

Damselfly is hosting "I'm Sincere!" week over at her blog. In order to facilitate the communication of our admiration for fellow bloggers, we are asked to write a blog post in the style of a blogger we admire.

Since I admire Damselfly in so many, many, ways, I am writing a post in honor of her.

What I'd Wear Wednesday!

This shirt from Thinkgeek.com. In classic black and white, it sets the world on notice that anything that is seen, overheard, or eavesdropped upon is fair game for blog fodder.

How many times have you been at the park, in the mall, or someplace else equally public and seen something incredible, and your first thought was, "I've GOT to blog about this!" It's happened to me fairly regularly. With this shirt, everyone has fair warning.

If you'd also like to write a post in honor of a blogger you admire, go visit Damselfly and get your instructions. Also, if you write a post, you get to snag this button:



Buttons are fun. Also make sure to let the person you're sincerely imitating know that they are being sincerely imitated!

A Birthday Surprise!!

Today is my husband's birthday. He'll be 36!! ;) I am very proud of myself because I have planned a lovely birthday surprise. Well, it's not a surprise anymore because a couple people let the cat out of the bag, but it'll still be nice!

I've arranged to take Lance to a friend's house this evening so Hubby and I can enjoy a nice meal together. I am going to prepare Chutney and Cheddar-Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Smashed Potatoes.

I have never made this recipe before, but I watched it on Rachael Ray, and I think I can manage this one. It looks SO YUMMY, and Hubby loves anything with chutney in it. He's from South Africa, and they use chutney very frequently as a condiment or sauce. ANOTHER thing I'm proud of is that I found a very nice South African wine. Hubby always checks the wine aisle at the grocery store and even the liquor stores, but he has a hard time finding good ones. Well, I went to a small market called The Fresh Market (I don't know if this is a major chain or just something local to my area) and they had a display of South African wines. The particular kind I got was made in limited quantities and flown over specially for this market, so I hope I'll earn some brownie points with the wine!! (On a side note, Hubby works for a wine distribution company, and not many places import South African wines. I don't know why.)

Anyhoo. I am very excited. We haven't enjoyed a romantic evening together for quite some time. Please pray that I won't severely mess up our dinner!!!!