Random tips

Yes, I do read others' blogs. Guilty. It's part "nosey neighbor", part sheer interest in others and part me enjoying the basics of sociology.
So, I've noticed many people giving random, yet useful, household and mommy related tips. I'm going to give it a try.

Mommy Tips:
1) Use lemon juice to stop browning is a common tip in the kitchen. But many moms don't think to apply it to every toddler's fav: the banana.
At our house, Conner enjoys what we call "the banana phone". In which, he acts hungry and tricks us into getting a banana down from the counter. Then, he begins to dial and talk to the banana. Good times. Except that he won't eat it. So, we open the banana and throw away the peel. Problem? He probably wasn't hungry to begin with and won't eat it. I finally decided I was tired of throwing away browned bananas and tried putting just a small amount of lemon juice on it and placed it in a plastic bag in the frig. To my surprise, the next day I found a perfectly good, yet cold, non-browned banana in my frig.
Trick is: only use a small amount. Too much and you'll homemade banana-lemonade mush. Yuck.

Picture this!

Conner's portraits from Portrait Innovations. I'd venture to say they are better than his super expensive pics from a professional photographer in the Ham. Plus, they cost about a third. Yay!

Meow?

Two great achievements in Conner's budding language abilities occured yesterday during the lunch hour.

First, we went to get my growing belly some garments that don't make me look like a tramp (you know, the kind that actually fit...) at Eastchase. We opted for Rue 21 since they have cute stuff pretty cheap. It just so happens that they don't open till 10 and I was there at 9:30.

So we went for a field trip to PetSmart and ventured near the kittens for adoption. We strolled past a few until Conner flung out his arms towards a glass cage with 2 kittens, one grey and one orange (2 and 4 months respectively).

Conner: Helwo? Helwo? (Hello, Hello)
(pause) Helwo?
Meow? Meeooow.
Meow, Helwo?
then he turned to me..
Mine? Meow mine!
Mine!
so I stop and explain to him that the kitties have to stay there. This is where they live, and daddy would have a fit if we brought one home. So, Conner took a deep breath and turned back to the kitty.
Meow, Bye. Bye bye.

Too funny for me. Really.

Then, after we made it back home with our Guthrie's (yummm), Conner was stuffing his face with french fries, special sauce and chicken fingers. He was almost close to done but I figured I'd shoot for another bite of chicken. So I asked "Would you like some more chicken?" To which he replies "No shicken. Tanks". I died laughing.

First time I've ever heard him say chicken (even if the first two syllables were incorrect).

More blogging on his picture session today a bit later!

One bunny, Two

Ashley blogged about a bunny incident she encountered a few months back while venturing in her backyard.

Well, Ash, he now lives with us. Thanks.

Michael was out mowing the lawn last week when I hear him screaming like a school girl from the front yard. I pause and try not to think about which limb he prospectively has cut off.

No missing limbs, just a happy as a 4-year-old hubby in the bushes bent over a small creature. A little baby bunny. Adorable, yet scared stiff.

Poor thing. 

Michael is very loving of animals, which is something I in turn love about him. We'd probably have an indoor farm if not for our frequent sanity checks and minuet amount of self-control. So, he asks "What do they eat?" ... followed by "Go get some lettuce."

First off, we have no lettuce. But I do have stale bread. They eat that, no? 

We pulled off two failed green bell peppers from my plants, along with 1 piece of stale wheat bread and a few grapes. Quite the meal, I might say.

So, now we are the proud owners of a yard bunny. Conner LOVED it and called it his "doggie". Yet sadly, we haven't seen yard bunny since that day. If you are reading this yard bunny, come back home... and please don't stray near the Mills house.

Another little person...

 Looong overdue posting of my latest (first really) ultrasound picture of Baby Zaremba number 2. She/He is sucking her/his thumb. Too cute! Next ultrasound to find out the sex at the end of this month.... yay! Keep yours fingers crossed for a boy (but a girl would be a blessing too).

Thanks Ashley for letting me borrow your scanner. Sadly, ours has gone to a better place. 

40 Days & 40 Nights

 Recently, Conner was given a set of Giant Cardboard Building Blocks as a birthday gift.

(I tried to upload the pic, but it wouldn't work... to be worked on later.... maybe...)

 

As he loves anything I can build and he can knock over, I thought these would surely be another fun gift that I wouldn't mind if he destroyed (as it is inevitable). The gift came from Conner's Aunt and Uncle from Chicago. Normally, Auntie Ann gives wonderful presents which are thoughtful and useful for a taste-changing toddler. However, this time she failed in the worse way.

A 40-piece set of cardboard blocks seems harmless, right? SO WRONG! Every single gigantic cardboard slice of h-e-double hockey sticks must be put together by hand. Without clear instructions. One by one. 

I knew when the box arrived this would be a severe case of "assembly required", but I wasn't expecting to spend hours upon hours of back breaking labor just to tediously piece these together. And FORTY of them. Whoa.

I appreciate the gift, really I do.... but if you are gifting something to an anxious toddler that won't rest till every present is opened and assembled AND to a mom that is nearly 4 months pregnant... PLEASE OH PLEASE check to see how much assembly is required. And if you still want to give the gift that requires you to take a holiday just to put it together, at least assemble it yourself and then wrap or deliver.

.... Pictures of Conner's Bday Bash pending the search and rescue of the USB cord to the digi camera....

20 things I want to do before I kick the bucket.

I'm pretty sure this was an American Express commercial (print ad) that I picked up on in a doctor's office. It was months and months ago but, I remember thinking it would make a good blog. So, here goes!

1. See the Taj Mahal. It's an easy no.1 as I've always been fascinated by it.

2. Watch a space shuttle take off (maybe at night too.. that'd be sweet).

3. Take my son to an Alabama football game once he's old enough to enjoy it.

4. Visit Greece.

5. See the Vatican and buy a rosary there.

6. Meet someone ultra famous in a completely random way.

7. Work for a hospital in crisis management. 

8. Rekindle my passion for layout design and teach it as a seminar to college publications (long-lived goal of mine... sigh).

9. See Conner graduate college and find something he is truly passionate about.

10. Make sushi.

11. Visit Indonesia. Beautiful beaches.

12. Climb a (small) mountain in Colorado or some place with gorgeous scenery.

13. Own a penguin. :)

14. See the Northern Lights.

15. Shop inside the Taipai Towers.

16. Sail in the Mediterranean.

17. Walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and his disciples. Basically, to spend a few weeks (month) in Israel. I also hear they have beautiful beaches.

18. Wear a pair of really expensive Prada shoes.

19. Visit the Tower of London.

20. See the Red Square in Russia.

Only doing 20 was hard even though it took me long enough to think of them.

Now... you give it a shot!

Edit: I just had to add a few more things after thinking about this post late the other night.

21. Watch a live volcano erupt.

22. Take my hubby on a surprise trip. He'd love to see some movie sets in Hollywood... or a distant tropical island where we'd have a cute little bungalow on stilts in the water (you know... the ones with the holes in the floor for watching fish...)

23. Own a tropical drink stand on said tropical island.

24. Do pottery.

... Other stuff too...