Bye Bye Beach!

Here it is, our last day at the beach, on out first 'real' family vacation. I am sad to be leaving tomorrow morning, but excited to get back home and take care of all those little things that have been eating at me since I've been gone from them. For example, my computer. My personal laptop crashed. As in DEAD. Why is that sad? Because I run my small business off that computer and now it's dead. And I have orders for clients that are due like yesterday.

I am going to try to really enjoy these last 12-ish hours of our time here. Time as our little family, our little tanned (or sunburned) family. I have to say that Luke has done excellent on the road and while on our trip. Potty trained and all...

A few things I'd like to tell my son...when he's 18.

There are a few times when I truly wish my mother-in-law had taken the time to really teach my husband the importance of certain manners and etiquette, in addition to how to raise a son. I'm not saying I am the perfect mother, but these are the things that I hope to teach my son when he is older.

1. Know how to positively reinforce what a great job your wife is doing at being a wife and mother. This is not hard men. This is fairly simple from the eyes of most women. A simple text, email, sticky note will do. A hug at the end of a long day, accompanied by 3 small words, "You are great," can mean the difference between a good tomorrow or a bad tomorrow. Knowing that someone has your back, is in your corner...that's what we are asking for. That's what we need from our husbands.

2. Learn to cook. This will come in handy on those nights when mom doesn't feel good, is working late, or has PTA. And I'm not talking boxed macaroni and cheese. I am talking a full on protein and veggie meal. Men who can't cook or pretend they can't cook are not terribly sexy.


3. Chivalry is NOT DEAD. Open the door for women, hold the door for women and men. Allow a women to enter before you. Stand when a women enters to the room. Help a lady into her coat. Pull her chair out for her when on a date. Allow the woman to order first, even if she's ordering a meal like Sally (you know, Harry's honey).


4. Just like men, women are not mind readers. We cannot read your moods. We cannot understand your silence. If you have something to say, say it. Sugar coat it at first so as not to spawn a full force war, but say it. Don't let it fester only to blow up.


5. CALL YOUR MOM. One thing that has driven most of my girl pals nuts is when their mother-in-law calls, looking for their son. Men, your mom is interested in talking to you. She wants to connect with you. Call her. Randomly.


6. Get off the couch and help your wife. Laundry doesn't do itself. It certainly doesn't fold itself and walk itself to the bedroom and put itself away. Dishwasher full and clean, empty it without having to be told. Trash piling up? Take it out. It's simple. We clean the house, cook, launder, make lunches, set calendars, etc. It would help to have some help around the house with the simple stuff.


7. Never complain about your wife to your own mother. See number 4.

 8. Surprise your wife with a date night. A night out where she doesn't have to think about making decisions, getting a babysitter, nothing. Most women, if they want a date with their man, make all the plans. (At least the ones I talk to, do.) The wife spends most of the day deciding important things for the whole family. She doesn't want to have a discussion in the car, on date night, about where to go. Take the bull by the horns and go for it. You will be rewarded.

9. By your wife flowers randomly. Even a single flower is nice. It's a symbol that shows that you were thinking about her for no reason. And you stopped your day to make her feel special. See number 1.

 10. Show your children how in love you are with your wife. They in turn, will love their future spouse the same way.

Obviously, there are many other things that men need to know, but this is just the list I've compiled over the course of a few weeks while having some significant time with my husband and son. I'm on a mom on a mission to make sure my son's wife will thank me one day, for raising the most perfect man for her.

Are you there Blog? It's me, Erin...

Well hello!

I know you, all 4 of you, have been really missing me lately. Seriously. I've been one big ball of mama, travel, paper pimp, Santa, dinner taker, and wife these last few weeks. It seems every time I turn around, I am making dinner for someone who just had a baby...how is it I can get dinner on the table for another family, but not my own? How is it that I have Christmas gifts for everyone in my family, extended and not, except for my husband? I think something needs to give.

Since August, I have gained 14,000 miles on my American Airlines account. Good thing those miles will stay in tact during the bankruptcy they filed today while I am on a business trip, flying American. Way to go AA!

This weekend, we are taking the Little Dude to see Yo Gabba Gabba. I am not sure what to think about this. Do I take a flask or drink before? Do I need ear plugs? What do you wear to stuff like this? How crazy will my kid be?

I am really trying to keep this blog up, maybe a little motivation from my reader would help!

xoxo

Let the Holiday's begin!

I true Erin fashion...I have already done MOST of my Christmas shopping, I've even wrapped some of them! I've scheduled the family photo for our Christmas card. I am close to getting the final design completed. And my envelopes will be addressed shortly.

The reason for the madness you ask? Why, it's because October 1 through December 15, I am busy working on everyone else's holiday cards, orders, gifts, etc.

I made a promise to myself and my sweet little dude that we WILL have a Christmas Tree BEFORE Dec 7. No later.

Since I am so organized for Christmas, I thought it would be fun to host a little pre-trick or treating gig with some neighborhood kiddos at our house on Halloween. I also thought that since I am so organized, I could be the Room Mom for the little dude's school class.

I must say, that Pinterest has been my new BFF when it comes to planning a party. If you are not on Pinterest. Go.Now. You will fall in love with everything on there.

And hey, you may see a few things to re-pin from Between the Sheets Co.

Holy Neglected Blog, Batman!

Wowzers. Have I lost track of time, or did I forget that I actually have a blog about our life, random musings, and shameless plugs for my company (between the sheets co.)? I think it would be the whole lack of time management these days.

Most of you know that I started a totally rad gig on the CLIENT SIDE of the business, which totally rocks. If you have ever worked at an ad agency for more than 5 years, you would totally dig working Client side. I am not sure if it's I get to drive the timeline, be the boss, or work for one brand rather than 15 that excites me, but there is definitely something to this madness that I am enjoying. (And I get free milk, OJ, and an assortment of yogurts.)

At any rate, my hours have dramatically changed, hence the lack of bloggy-ness that's been displayed these last few months. Not only am I working more out of the home, I am still managing between the sheets co, still a mom with an added responsibility of "Room Mom" for the little dude's school, a wife, and an active alum member of my sorority. Ahem, I am busy. So, my apologies for the lack of humor I used to bring to your day every so often.

My goal: to blog once a month. (Hey, you have to start somewhere!)

J is for Juicin'

And no, not the kind of "juicin'" Lance Armstrong is being accused of. And certainly not the "Juice" who may or may not have (he did it) killed Nicole Brown Simpson and her "friend" Ronald Goldman back in 1994 when I was in the 9th grade. Nope, I am talking straight up Jack LaLane style juicin'. Like raw fruits and veggies. I have noticed at our house lately, that we are not eating as much of that food group as needed and in order to get my family back into tip top food pyramid shape, we will be juicin'. Even the little dude. (His will be WAY watered down, but he'll still get his veggies and not even know it!)

I have a little list of my plan for this coming week for all you out there that want to try this juice plan with us. It is certainly not a mandate, but I suggest you get your produce at a place where it is inexpensive and fresh aka Sprouts or the Farmer's Market. (I will be heading to Sprouts.)

Here's the plan (please note these are 1 serving recipes, but I will be giving up a little over 1/4C to the little dude for his morning juice)

Monday:
4 carrots
1 apple
1 lemon

Tuesday:
2 apples
2 pears

Wednesday:
2.5 apples
½ cucumber

Thursday:
1 orange
1C pineapple
5 strawberries

Friday:
2 apples
2 pears

Saturday:
2.5 apples
½ cucumber

If you end up juicing, let me know. I'd be interested in your thoughts, or any new recipes you may have....

Juice On!

A hard drive = A hard time

So the piece for my external hard drive arrived today. A whole lotta good it didn't do. It didn't fit the drive I am trying to retrieve from. Hmpf. Now the hubster is off to another "computer" venue to see if they have a slider that will fit this SOB.

I am in some serious biz-nass here people. Please, say a little prayer that this problemo will be fixed prontillious.

Big Boy School- Day 1

Today was the dudes first day at his new school and I must say. I am impressed. With me. I did not cry or even get teary eyed when we left the school.

And I am even more impressed with the dude! He literally ran into the room and started playing and exploring. It was really such a blessing for me because I've been stressing out about the transition for a few weeks now.

He took his lunch in his new shark lunch box and bento box (thank you Pottery Barn Kids) and carried his cute matching backpack (thanks to gmama and PBK). He looked so darn cute and like such a big boy!

I am loving this age and can only hope that the next days of Big Boy School are like today.

Tornado. Oh hail no.

Last night we had a whole lot of sirens and wind for a while lotta nothin'. We got some rain (thank you God, it saved me about $20 in water this month to fill up the pool), and some wind, a few claps of thunder and then nothing. It was actually the complete opposite of what happened in Oklahoma. For reals. And to those in OK, my thoughts are with you as you begin to rebuild your lives.

This morning when I woke up to go into work, it was bright and sunny and I even sat on the patio to each lunch with my work buddy.

Tomorrow, if it's nice again- there will be some sitting by said pool and getting some sun during nap time. What a lovely way to spend the afternoon.

On another note- the Little Dude is growing up quite fast. A few months ago, he told me he loved donuts. Today, he told me that he did not want pizza for dinner. He wanted soda. When I asked him where he had heard about soda, he replied "from the bunny." Ahem. A bunny? So then I asked him where he saw a bunny and he told me, "Donna's." (His babysitter) Ok, so there was a bunny at Donna's who told you or gave you soda? Aight. I'll play along.

So we get home and I began the dinner ritual. (BTW, we did have pizza!!!) He eats his pizza then looks up at me and asks me for soda. I told him that soda was icky and that he would have to wait a few decades before he could start to embark on that journey. Let me tell you, telling a kid no in the middle of dinner is not a treat. There was a bit of screaming and faux tears. It was such a mini dramatic meltdown (a lot like last nights weather), that I could not help but laugh. Out loud. When he saw/heard me laugh, he looked up at me so point blank and started eating his pizza again. Hmmmm. Am I onto something with the laughing while crying?

Chew on that, pals.

Erin's Dictionary

I've had a few people ask me what certain words of mine mean...Not an uncommon pregunta at all. So, here are a few of the words, their meaning, and brief description, if applicable. Feel free to use them in your everyday vocab, they are not trademarked.

redonk- ridiculous
redonk-a-donk- super ridiculous
machine- computer; anyone who has a Mac will call their "computer" a "machine"
sammy- sandwich
slammer- mega sandwich
toe-tally- totally; ask my mom about this one- it occurred at the Collin Creek Foley's in the 90's over a bathing suit cover up search
bubbs- bubbles
yavayes- keys; pronounced yah-vay-s
cammy- camera; the hubster came up with this one
hubster- husband (duh)
zitola- a honking huge blemish that really cannot be covered up at all, causing an excessive amount of stress and additions to the eye make up to deter attention from said zitola
teef- teeth
the wobble- the flab of skin under your arm that moves when you wave; thank you grandmother
flip flops- flip flops
skizzors- scissors
duder- pal, friend, amigo
toodles- goodbye; my friend Kiska hates this word

At the moment, I think this should suffice. If you have any further needs, please let me know.

Toodles!

Annnnnnnd scene.

Like most Americans, I've been very intrigued by the news reports on bin Laden. I am interested in how the whole thing went down. I'd love to know what he was thinking as he was standing in the yard with his AK-47, shooting back at the task force. I would love to know what he called his operation. (In case you didn't know, our name for the operation was called "Geronimo" and his code name for the military was "Jackpot." So you can image the message that came into White House once Geronimo was complete.

You can also image what the President of the United States, his staff and other military personnel saw on their TV as they watched via a helmet camera from one of the SEALS as this raid was happening.

I don't want to get all political of Godly here, but I have to put this question out there- was it really our job to kill Jackpot? Instead of killing him, should we have put him through the same judicial system that we put the other terrorists in the US through?

Again, not advocating the decision or saying it was a bad decision to run the operation. Interested in getting feedback. Or not. Whatever you want.

The Royal Wedding...A Royal DVR Fiasco

So, I set my DVR to record THE WEDDING since there was no way in h-e-double hockey sticks I was going to get up at 4A and watch the darn thing. However, that might have been easier and less stressful for me after learning a lesson in 'pro-activeness'.

I guess I had planned all along to record THE WEDDING, so I set the DVR to record. Apparently, I had forgotten that I had set it, because I set it again. UNDOING the recording. So, on Friday during nap time, I settled down with my Dr. Pepper and 2 Peeps from Easter ready to endulge and see THE DRESS and all the hoopla. Not so much.

No big deal. E! was re-running THE WEDDING during the wee hours of the morning and I'd just have to set the DVR again.

Not only was I probably the last person on the Earth to watch the festivities, I was probably the only one who took 2 days to watch it. WELL WORTH THE WAIT.

Let the iPadding2 Begin

Since I was a little girl, I've always wanted an iPad. Haha, seriously. When the first iPad came out, I was super jealous of all these people, reading and surfing the net on these nifty little devices. I decided that I would wait until the 2nd version came out. I knew it would be so much more cool. And OMG- it is. It has a camera on it, so I can see people's faces who live far away. It can download books for me to read. It has Twitter AND Facebook! I mean, it's a dream. I have downloaded almost every free app...Ok, so I am a bit frugal. Free is GREAT though. There is even a COUPON APP!!! Consider me cool now people, I too, have an iPad.

Whoo hoo! I'm 2!

Last week, the Dude turned 2. It's amazing how fast these 2 years have gone. We started out drinking out of bottles and are now onto full on cups (still some sippy cups), we wear size 5 diapers, full sentences in conversations are of the norm, we get hair cuts, go to time out, and even wear flip flops.

The Dude LOVES to eat macaroni and cheese, pizza, nuggets, ice cream, and all things that rhyme with nookie. Of course, we do feed him healthy food most of the time....

I am looking forward to this next year, as we have a lot of changes coming. We'll be entering a "big boy school" come September and I know there will be many more funny moments to document.

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

Lake. Tunnel. Rainbow.

Yes, I am watching Dora. AGAIN. In order to find the missing puzzle piece, we have to go to the Lake. Then the Tunnel. Then to the Rainbow. Oye. This phase seems like it's never ending...At least my kid is quiet for 25 minutes at a time.



Adios!

Manicure at 5pm on a Thursday

This afternoon, my car was supposed to be ready between 2-3. At 4pm, Dude and I got in the rental (a Corolla) and headed to the auto shop. The whole way there, Dude and I are making fun of our "crazy car" and Dude even said, "Where Mama car?" Well, kiddo, we'll get it soon enough. Ooooorrrr not.

We arrive to the shop, I unload the junk we've acquired over the past few days in the rental, get the car seat out (sweating of course because of this humidity), and head into the shop. I don't even get to the door when the owner, who is wearing plastic gloves opens the door and gives me this look. A look of desperation and slight frustration. He tells me my car isn't ready yet. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Apparently, there is a part on order and it should (note: should) be in tomorrow. Not holding my breath.

Mama's car has been with them for a WEEK and I still don't have it back. What chaps me even more....I took the darn car seat out of the tin can and now have to sweat just to get it back into the smallest backseat known to man.

So- this puts me in a mood to say the least. And what makes me happy when I am in a mood. A good manicure. I drop Dude off a Gray-an's house and get my nails did. Yep, got a manicure on a Thursday at 5 o'clock. No shame in my game, people. It was the greatest 45 minutes I can remember in the past 4 hours.

I feel the need, the need for speed

This week is crawling for me. Why you ask? Because there is so much to do when I get home from my day job. My company is about to embark on a new adventure. We are launching new products, having a photoshoot, designing, and getting our name out there. We've had some celeb success in the past month with a Real Housewife and Chelsea Handler. Not to mention a local favorite, Victoria Snee. Things are going well in paper-land.

The Dude and I just got back from our West Texas excursion where we got some new shoes, saw airplanes (and even got to touch them!), ate at MMMMmmmm Rosa's, and had our first Chuck E Cheese experience. It was greatness. Dude ate it UP. We had such a fun time with my parents and cannot wait to head back for a weekend.

Happy Heart Day- 2011

As usual, my kid is the most fun object to photograph. Not only is he the cutest, he is the most move-y object ever! Trying to get a picture of him is like trying to take a picture with a monkey on your back and a furious lion galloping your way. It just doesn't work. And it adds a little inner-panic. Needless to say, I did get at least one good shot of him and that's what went on the Valentine's Day card this year. My sweet "Gran" thought that the tie on Dude's shirt was an actual neck tie. Bless her heart. Another "bless her heart" moment occurred when sweet Gran was over to babysit. Dude got out the oh-so-never-used exercise ball of mine, and his own version of an exercise ball and demanded Gran to sit down! By the pic posted here, you can see that she obeyed and I got a GREAT pic of them together. Pretty darn cute if you ask me. And there's more where that came from. Dude found a stuffed animal that I've had for over 15 years. A stuffed wiener dog, whom he affectionately calls "Red Dog." He was so sweet with his faux dog; putting him under the binkies and letting him go night night. For all of 3 seconds. Dude would snuggle the faux dog under the covers, tell him "night night" then rip the covers off and prance into the playroom declaring that the faux dog took a nap. Dude is growing up SO fast- in fact, today he is 23 months. I cannot believe that I am about to celebrate 2 years with my baby boy. I wish time would slow down for a bit...We've had a great couple of years and are looking forward to seeing our baby boy grow into a little boy, flourishing. Happy Heart Day from Dude! xoxo

Snow way!

Really? Really?! Snow and ice again? I am beginning to think that this is going to be my typical Wednesday for 2011...

Talk About Groundhog Day....

I feel like we are living in a massive loop. Everyday this week, thus far, has been the SAME day. I've even worn the SAME sweat pants and sweat shirt, a tradition I hope not to continue tomorrow, as the hubster may begin to worry that I am getting too comfy being home, makeup-less and sitting on the couch under an antique blanket. Something he really should NOT worry about because I am SO READY to go back to work. Don't be fooled, I love being home, but I also love interacting with adults and using my brain. Watching Dora and Elmo was cool on day 1, but we are almost done with with day 3 here folks. Day 3. That's 72 hours of pure Little Dude tv watching. Lord have mercy on me.