Living in Munchkinland

Our wee baby is five months old now and growing way too fast. He can sit on his own now, in that hunched over, leaning on two hands like a monkey kind of way. He is also pulling up if you help him hold on to something and can stand holding on as well. He and Davis are starting to interact and it is so special to watch. Touching, and funny too. Davis will often lie down on the kick mat and talk to and play with Sam. He will fetch him toys and blankets and loves to sit with him on the ground. Yesterday he gave Sam a toy and then tried to take it back. Sam snatched up to his chest and turned away and gave Davis a mad look. It was hilarious! It was his first little brother-big brother tussle and he won! I was so proud I snapped a picture. I'm putting a few of my favorite photos of all these activities up here. The first is one of the many times Davis and Sam have played on the kick mat together. The second is of them sitting and chatting. The third is the picture I took ...

Michael's last day of work is May 11. We will pack on May 12 and 13. On May 14th Sam, Davis and I will all be flying home to Austin and arriving midday. Michael will begin the road trip home that morning with the van and Uhaul. We expect he shall arrive on the evening of the 15th. Then he has almost a week to study before starting at the Austin office. The end is in sight. Hip, Hip, Hooray!

Yesterday was a hard day. I decided yesterday that I would like to quit motherhood. Sam was not sleeping. He was doing okay with the whole night sleep thing and then he wasn’t. For two nights in a row he was up screaming his head off every hour. He wouldn't nap for longer than 30 minutes at a time. I think he must be teething again. He’s wanting to put everything in his mouth, but he’s still so young that he doesn’t have the coordination. Davis didn’t get his first tooth till seven months, so when he was teething, I’d just hand him the teether and he’d go for it. Sam can’t get it in his mouth or he loses it and then he cries. And it seems like the teether is actually hurting him. I can’t believe he’s five months and he’s already working on his third tooth. Plus I’m on this stupid diet and I’m only one pound away from goal, but I’ve been hungry for 15 weeks and it’s not helping my mood. And Davis refused to nap two days in a row. All this to say that yesterday was hard. I...

This wine is yummy. It's a red and it's under ten dollars a bottle. I love it! Michael and I have made a quest of finding good bottles of wine for under ten dollars. Our favorite white is always the Luna de Luna Chardonnay/Pinot Grigio mix. The reds that we really like are just over that price though. I found this bottle at Whole Foods and after tasting it, I opened a different bottle for Michael. I wanted this one all to myself. I even dreamed about finishing this bottle and then never finding it again and I was so sad. So as I drain my last glass of the bottle. I lift it up all to you and invite you to try it with me. (The only picture I could find was for the Rose, but the label looks the same. The one I'm referring to is a 2004 Malbec.)

Can I just say how cute Davis is right now? He cracks me up on a daily basis. When he wants something he comes up to me and tilts his head to the side with the little imploring look on his face and his voice rises up an octave. "Milk? More Milk, Please?", he asks so sweetly. It's hard to turn him down. Yesterday he wanted me to continue sitting on the couch with him, but I had to nurse Sam. Instead of screaming his protest like he usually does, he put his hands on his hand and repeated over and over, "ooooh noooo, ooooh noooo", like a tragedy had occured. He has taken great interest in Sam lately and it is so sweet to watch. He runs over to the exersaucer when Sam is in it and gives him toys to play with and sings and talks to him. Today he told him, "Catch!", and threw the ball at him. It's not always safe play, but he does it with the best of intentions. Yesterday I was nursing Sam and talking on the phone. Davis came up and starting ta...

We had an action packed weekend. On Friday we went to a Calence "tailgating" party. We thought it was going to be family friendly, but it wasn't really so Sam and Davis and I played on a nearby playscape and watched Michael participate in various team sports from afar. He was wonderful by the way and led his team to victory. Saturday we woke up relatively late (7AM) and went to breakfast at Wildflower Bread Company. Then we went to get Davis' hair cut. He looks awesome and got to sit in the race car while it was done. After that we drove to the mall where I got a pedicure and Michael shopped for luggage and played with the kids in Pottery Barn Kids. After nap on Saturday, we loaded up and drove to the famed "Mystery Castle" here in Phoenix. We met Shana, Justin and Kalli there. It was pretty interesting and Davis and Kalli enjoyed spending time together. Sunday morning we had breakfast at our other favorite breakfast joint, Harlow's and then Mic...

Michael and I had the opportunity to see Altar Boyz last night. It was wonderful! It was the national touring production and we saw it at the Gammage theater which is the last design of Frank Lloyd Wright. That was a treat in itself. The show was marvelous though. It's about a christian boy band trying to save souls through their hip-hop/rock performances. The characters are Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan and Abraham. It's totally tongue-in-cheek. The choreography is fun and really, really good and difficult. These boys could sing! Usually in a touring performance there is one person or maybe two who can sing and everyone else is mediocre, but this time EVERYONE was phenomenal. Here is a link to the show, Altar Boyz . If it is coming anywhere near you, you should check it out. And here is a link to a review that shared my sentiments, Review Shoot! I see it already came to Texas. Did anybody see it? What did you think? Here are some of my favorite quotes with the hel...

Happy Easter everyone. We celebrated our Easter in Tucson this weekend. Michael had booked us a suite at the Westin La Paloma for my birthday and it happened to fall on this weekend. We drove down on Friday and came back on Sunday. On Friday we drove around and checked out the campus area. We had snacks and a beer at Frog and Firkin and then walked around the theatre building. It was really odd for me to be tooling around campus with my Children! I couldn't seem to reconcile the past and the present. It made me realize how happy I am with where I am in my life right now and how much I don't really want to go back to school. I love theatre and performing, but I don't miss the stress and the pressure and the judging. On Saturday morning we drove through Gate's Pass and the gorgeous Saguaro National Park. We stopped at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and had a great time. We saw a mountain lion through a plastic window less than a foot away. We also saw a hummi...

This afternoon I was sitting with Davis on his bed reading books. Sam was asleep and I was trying to have some special bonding time with Davis. We were looking through a pop up book and we were taking turns naming the objects. I pointed at the banana, which is currently his favorite food. "What is this?" I asked him. He usually won't answer because he doesn't really know how to say that word yet. Today he announced proudly, "This manamana!" I love it. Bananas are now called Manamanas in this household. After a few more books, I said we were all done and started stacking the books back on his night stand. He got mad and stood up and knocked all the books down on me. There were a lot of books and so it hurt and I said angrily, "DAVIS! What do you say when you hurt Mommy?", he looked at me with a smile and said, "Uh, oh?". Dang it. Durn kid had me cracking up instead of teaching him manners. Davis' new vocabulary and conve...

I love reality TV. Of course, if you know me, you already know that. Each day is defined by what program Davis is enrolled in and what reality show comes on TV that night. Last night was American Idol. I like this show. It's not my favorite and I like that I have DVR so I can fast forward through the boring bits, but last night it was really fun. The mentor for the evening was Tony Bennett. This man is awesome. I now HAVE to get the Tony Bennett duets CD so I can put it on my Ipod. I added it to my wish list (hint, hint). So each of the contestants sang one of the great Standards. Usually during theme weeks, some of the contestants just Hoover in a big way. The theme doesn't fit their voice or style and it shows. But this week they were all great. You know why? Because the standards are amazing. These songs become classics because they are truly wonderful. The stories they tell and the mood they create are timeless. New, hip and contemporary music just can...

I have two big updates today. The first is that Sam has TWO new teeth. He was inconsolable the last two days and yesterday I felt the ridge of the first tooth. Last night he really didn't sleep at all and this morning I looked down into his screaming mouth and saw two little white teeth peeking up at me from his bottom gum. I can't believe that it has happened already. Sam is not even four and a half months yet. Davis didn't get his first tooth till seven months. I'm a little sad that my baby is getting big so fast. I loved his little gummy smile. Sigh. The second update is that Davis went in for his two year well baby checkup today and came out with flying colors. He weighs 29 pounds and is in the 60% for weight. He's 34.8 inches tall and is in the- drumroll please-60% for height! He grew! He's no longer my little munchkin boy. He was great in the doctor's office and didn't even cry when he got his shot. The doctor was impressed with bot...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DAVIS!!! Yesterday was Davis' birthday. We had a little party for him at our favorite park. The weather was perfect. Mid-seventies in the sun and a little cooler in the shade. The party was from 10-12. Last weekend we had taken Davis to Target and perused the toy aisles. We listened to his desires and snuck a few things in the cart. We also let him pick a theme for his birthday. He chose Elmo. We invited two of Davis' friends and they both accepted. I ordered a cheese and fruit platter from the grocery store and bought ingredients for homemade banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. The night before the party was like Christmas Eve. We put the kids to bed and Michael began assembling the Bike that my parents had sent. I made the cupcakes and wrapped the other presents. So fun. Then yesterday we got up and sang to Davis and made his favorite breakfast, waffle. We had a special surprise when Mom and Dad SKYPED us. Yup. They finally got skyp...