A Day Before Thanksgiving Curse

Yesterday was just one of those days. Nothing went right.

I am lucky enough to have the day before Thanksgiving off from work, and with hosting dinner on Thanksgiving, it usually gives me the time I need to get everything ready. Last year on that day I had Evan's Christmas pictures taken early in the morning, and it worked out perfectly. This year I decided to do the same thing, and also get his 2 year old birthday pictures taken. Our appointment at Portrait Innovations was at 9 AM. We arrived right on time and only had to wait a short amount of time considering the amount of people also waiting. We started with his Christmas outfit, and he was slightly cooperative. They managed to get a handful of cute pictures taken. We then changed his outfit and went to the next room. Evan would not let go of me. Every time I put him down he would start to cry. We tried for quite a while, but nothing worked, so we had to just stop trying. When we ordered the pictures, there were only 2 poses I really liked. I made my order, but unfortunately I couldn't order enough to get the free CD with the proofs. Normally that wouldn't be such a big deal, but my plan of using the pictures from the CD to order Christmas cards from an online company was ruined.

A little while later I was going to pick up the pictures (after going to the Factory Card Outlet to buy my Christmas cards), I decided to stop for some Starbucks. I felt a migraine coming on, and sometimes the caffeine helps. I ordered my usual and waited to drink it so it could have time to cool, but I didn't notice until 10 minutes away from Starbucks that they gave me the wrong drink. It was a Tazo Chai, and I do not like tea.

Once we came home and Evan was down for his nap, I was going to start cooking some of the things that could be made ahead of time for Thanksgiving. I had an entire time line figured out so everything could get done in time. I started with my corn bread, which was a new recipe. It involved adding creamed corn and some other ingredients to Jiffy, and I decided to double the recipe. I knew it would take longer to cook, so I kept it in the oven longer than the recipe said to do. When my timer went off, I checked to see if it was done, and it was nowhere near being ready. I kept cooking it longer, and longer, and longer, and it never set like it was supposed to. So, that went into the garbage and on to plan B. I had a box of Tastefully Simple beer bread, and if you add creamed corn and some oil instead of the beer, it makes a really good corn bread. I went back to the store to buy more corn. When I came home and opened the beer bread box, there were bugs in there, like the ones that you sometimes find in flour. So that went into the garbage with my original corn bread. I didn't have a plan C, so I called my mom and luckily she had a loaf of homemade white bread, so that'll have to do for now.

Next, I thought I would start a dessert I was making. I started to take out all the ingredients but could not find the cream cheese. I knew I had bought some and looked through the fridge again, with no luck. I started to go through some of the bags I had sitting in my dining room, where I had all my food for Thanksgiving that didn't need to be refrigerated, and there they were in a bag with some bagels. It had been sitting out since Sunday. This time I sent Rick out to the store. I was able to make the dessert and it looks like it turned out OK.

My nerves were then shot so I poured myself a nice glass of wine, which then triggered a migraine. I took my drugs and went to bed at 9:30.

It is now almost noon on Thanksgiving. My turkey is in the oven, and I am praying that my bad luck from yesterday doesn't continue on today.

Anyways, I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Clothing Optional?

Lately we have really been working with Evan on getting himself dressed and undressed. He loves zipping things and gets upset if we do it for him. The problem is that he is applying this new knowledge when we don't want him to! At Toni's house the other day she went to get him from his afternoon nap and found him with his clothes off and half his diaper off too. Yesterday afternoon when he woke up from his nap he was talking like he normally does, but then he was crying and seemed very upset. I went into his room and found him with his shirt halfway off, but he somehow managed to get one arm into the neck hole and was completely stuck in the shirt. Then this morning I went in to get him and he had his arms out of his pajamas and couldn't figure out what to do next. I'm just worried about him getting his diaper off and making a mess. I've heard of people wrapping tape around their child's diaper so they can't take it off... Maybe that's not such a bad idea!

One Little Monkey

Over the past few weeks we've had our air mattress blown up in the spare bedroom because of different visitors spending the night. Evan has discovered that because it's low to the ground he can climb up on it all by himself and that it's REALLY fun to jump on it. We're just hoping the second half of the monkey song doesn't come true... "One little monkey jumping on the bed, he fell off and bumped his head..."

I Say Potato, You Say... Apple?!

Last night I was making some vegetable soup for dinner, and Evan was helping me put the vegetables in the pot. As I peeled some small, red potatoes, I put them on the counter in front of Evan. He picked the first one up and was pretending to eat it. Then, he picked up the next one, said "apple" and tried to take a bite. I told him "That's not an apple, it's a potato." He smiled and I thought he understood, but sure enough he picked up another and did the same thing. I am not sure if he really didn't understand, since a peeled potato does resemble a peeled apple, or if he was just being silly. When we were done getting the soup ready, I did cut up an apple for him and he was very happy!

Besides apples, Evan's 2 new favorite foods are raisins and olives (eww!). Evan recently started picking the raisins out of our Raisin Bran and eating them, so now Evan has his own box of raisins. We'll put a few in a small rubbermaid container, and he carries them around the house. And yes, Evan loves olives. He watched Rick put them on a salad, and Evan kept pointing to them. Rick asked Evan if he wanted to try one, and Evan said yes. He tried one, then kept asking for more. He certainly doesn't take after me with his taste in food!

Evan cuddling on the couch with his bear and mommy, eating raisins.

Other pictures from the last few weeks...

Here is Evan playing guitar with Uncle Jeff. As soon as Evan saw Jeff pull out the guitar and sit on the stairs, he ran to find his guitar and climbed up the stairs to be just like Jeff.
Evan thought hiding in the front closet was hilarious!

New Blog

I am attempting to keep 2 blogs. I never blog as frequently as I would like to on this one, so I don't know what makes me think I could maintain 2 of them! I am keeping with the Dr. Seuss theme and titled the new one Oh, the Thinks You Can Think. Please visit it and let me know what YOU think! Here's the link: http://mrsrepking.blogspot.com/

Attached at the Hip

I've heard the phrase "attached at the hip" many times but have never given it much thought until recently. The past week or so Evan has become very attached to me. When I drop him off at the sitter's in the morning, he used to separate from me with very little hesitation. This week, though, he wraps his legs around my waist and refuses to let go. Toni has to pry him away as he is crying and saying "mama". Talk about a guilt trip... (The irony of it is that I attended a meeting today on our Institute Day that focused on anxiety and touched upon the typical separation anxiety that toddlers go through.) Evan also did that tonight at bed time. Rick and I alternate who puts him to bed, and tonight was his night. I picked up Evan to hand him to Rick, and he didn't want to let go of me. I'm sure in another week the roles will reverse, and he'll want daddy all the time!

Evan showing off his voting sticker. He actually voted twice today - once with me and once with Toni! A true American!