I'm A Washing Machine

During nap time alone, I folded 4 loads of laundry and have one drying and one washing. That's a bunch of dirty clothes... and there's more.

Until it's ALL done, I'm going to update my blog daily and make myself feel bad when I don't do any. You should feel free to heckle me on those days. Hopefully I won't give you the chance.

Having said that, I have to go get a load out of the dryer and one into the dryer and then get the baby girl up.

*As a side note: The laundry in the photo is not mine. I liked the image.

Where's Yiyi?

Hi there! Miss me? I've missed you. Really, I have. A little.

Nothing personal, but I've been too busy and hot to miss blogging. And with a cute little water bug (like the one in the photo to the right) who could miss anything?

We've been swimming, we went to the zoo, we been playing in the sand box and the kiddie pool. We've been having a blast. 

It's also been hot. If you haven't figured it out, we live in the south-east United States. And it gets sickeningly hot here. I've lived in Cairo, Egypt and the heat there is more tolerable than it is here. It's the humidity. It's like walking around in a hot bathroom that someone just took an hour long shower in. It's hot and gross. But if you like that sort of thing, great. Some one should. Thank you for taking that bullet for me.

But Beans doesn't mind the heat of humidity. As long as there's water or people she happy as a clam in a frog shaped pool.

Random Thursday

You know I missed one. I know it too. But that's okay. We all make mistakes.

For today a random haiku from RandomHaiku.com.

Germany challenged

until the luggage imagined

and the papers went

Have a nice day and thank you for reading.

Memorial Day Weekend

We made an impromptu Memorial Day weekend trip to Mississippi. My dad had to work, but was happy to spend any and all the time he could with his little granddaughter. 

We didn't do much to rant about. We saw a few friends, ate chili and deer roast, and played. Beans had a blast and by the end of it was trying to say "Grand Daddy" which ended up sounding more like "gablabla" but it's a start and made my dad very happy.

On a more solemn note, just wanted to acknowledge all those out there that we've lost in military service. And not just Americans, any one serving their country's people. And my sympathies to all those who've lost parents, grandparents, children, siblings, and the like. My heart and gratitude goes to you all.

Back to something a little more perky. I think I have taken the single most adorable photo of my dad with Beans. She's holding his hand. It made his weekend.

Title Unimportant

Yesterday, Beans and I were going about the usual. And she wondered into the kitchen (where she likes to play in the Tupperware) and I always follow. Yesterday, I lagged behind. When I rounded the corner, this is what I found.

Just check out the gems in this photo. But please ignore

 the floor and the tile backsplash. They came with the house, I loathe them, and look forward to the day they are replaced! To understand the absurdity of this photo, you have to understand that I have a 26 pound, 32 inch tall, 16 month old and a professional Kitchen Aid 5 quart mixer. So both of those thing that are so perfectly fitting in my cabinet are huge. The cabinet is what make them look small!

Maybe this should go on Picture is Unrelated. Then again, it's not that bizarre. I'm just a big fan of the items in the cabinet.

Tweet Tweet!

That's right. I'm a follower... quite literally. I'm now on Twitter. You can read my blog and see what I'm doing every 15 minutes! There is even a Twitter widget on my page now (bottom of the left column).

What will they come up with next?

Random Thursday

Ah Thursday. You want some randomness? How's this for random? 

That adorable little child in the photo to the right... she's been waking up between the hours of 1 and 3 AM for about a week now. Why it that random? Well it started randomly. I have no idea why. She wakes up, screams, I rock her for about 20 minutes, and then she's fine. But then I'm awake. And very sleepy the next morning. 

Here's something else random for you. Did you know that according to Listverse, the record for the longest period without sleep is 18 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes? It happened during a "rocking chair marathon". They say that record holder reported hallucinations, paranoia, blurred vision, slurred speech and memory and concentration lapses. 

Sounds a lot like being a mommy. A whole lot like being a mommy.

Random Thursday

It's Friday. Which means that yet again, I have blown Random Thursday... I efforts to make up for this I offer you this random photo from Picture Is Unrelated. It's a fantastically funny site. And very very random. There are however some "adult-ish" photos, so be sure your audience is appropriate. 

Random Question Thursday... It's Hopeless!

Yet again, I've forgotten. I haven't really forgotten. I've thought about it, just didn't get around to it. That sound great. I'm not forgetful, I procrastinate! Fantastic.

I started "Random Question Thursday" in the hopes that it would spur me to write more. It's only made me feel more like a procrastinator/amnesiac. So I'm changing "Random Question Thursday" to simply "Random Thursday". 

It's like the previous Thursday blog, but promises to be more random. I'll post what ever strange, odd, random thing I feel like on Thursdays. A picture, a story, a comic, a link, something random.

So check back on Thursday to see if I've kept my promise... or procrastinated yet again.

Fever and Rashes and Bruise... Really Suck!

The goofy girl has had quite a weekend. And not necessarily a good one. Eventful, educational, but not good.

Friday night we had the pleasure of having a small dinner-esque event with an install. Bean's presence was 

requested too. She ate mini pita with hummus, cheese, sausage, ravioli, and played with a doggie (and couldn't decide if it was a cat or indeed a dog because it had pointed ears). She had a blast... right up until she fell down 2 and a half stair and face-planted into brick. Yeah, the picture to the left shows her beautiful blue bruises, her divine abrasions, and her glamorous goose egg. She's fine and it acutally turned out to be the least troublesome part of the weekend.

Fast forward to Saturday. Anh and I decide to take Beans to the Inman Park Festival. I put SPF 50 sunscreen on her. But after her nap later that day, her face is red and splotchy. Apparently I missed a few spots and she got a sun rash (or so I thought).

Then Sunday afternoon, we had our friend Luke over and his new lady friend (who is quite awesome might I add). Then Beans gets up from her nap, which lasted a very long time, and was super cuddly. And hot. Very febrile hot. One hundred-three point five degree to be exact. And that sun rash... yeah, it spread all over her body.

So long story short, at 10:00PM, after a two hour trip to the urgent care center, she was wiped out, Jason was wiped out, I was wiped out, we were out $75, but had established that she did not have strep. The doctor thinks she has a virus and told us to keep her temperature as low as possible... lots of ibuprofen, cool drinks, cool compresses (which she does not enjoy), and cool baths.

This morning she slept in and woke up with a fever of 101.3F with out ibuprofen - safety zone! She still has a rash, but I'm thinking she's over the worst of it - knock on wood!

Broom Broom!

First the cart then this. Now she wants to help the hostess at the noodle house sweep. Can't accuse her of being lazy.

Baby Update: We've Made It 15 Months!

Beans had her "15 month" (or 1 year and 3 months) appointment yesterday. 

She's just over 31 inches tall and weigh a few ounces over 26 pounds. That's out her over the 75% for height and just under the 95% for weight. She is not any where near being considered over weight.

She got a shot and we declined one (which we may end up getting later). We just didn't think the chicken pox shot was all the necessary. She cried for less than a minute when the nurse gave her the shot and was smiling and waving by the time we left. She's been a little fussy, but so am I when I have to get a shot.

The verdict: she's a big, healthy, happy girl.

Because the Guts Need Fuel

I needed to eat lunch. I wanted something quick. So I opened and nuked a can of Bush's Original Baked Beans. Then I poured milk, yoghurt with honey, and a packet of Carnation Instant Breakfast into a tumbler and mixed the aforementioned ingredients together with this awesome electric stirring thing. That's nutrition!

Designated Driver

This has to be one of the funniest things I have seen this child do. She is actually pushing the cart. I was only steering. She was doing nearly all the work. She pushed the cart pretty much up until we got to the checkout. 

She also paused from time to time to rearrange the Coffee Mate in the dairy section and to compare ketchups. She was also hell bent on the fact that she thought we needed about 6 cans of stock which she was very unhappy to leave behind.

And thanks to Anh, we have a photo of this hilarity.

 

Dressy Easter Beans

Here are a few Easter shots of Beans in her frilly Easter outfit that her Ahma (her paternal grandmother) bought for her.

Chocolate Coated Beans

Beans enjoyed her first ambulatory Easter. Just thought I'd throw up some photos. This was Bean's Easter basket discovery and chocolate bunny breakfast.

Baby Update: Snip Snip Chop Chop Bang Bang

Or... Beans got a hair cut! We've said good-bye to the baby mullet! It actually took two cuts, but I'm feeling lazy and only posted the final result. 

Jason and I decided to cut her bangs a few days ago. He felt bad for her because they were always in her eyes. I agreed. So he held her and I snipped away.

It was cute. But I couldn't shake the feeling it looked even more like a mullet. Then my sister threatened to drive to Atlanta if I didn't fix my poor child's hair. I laughed it off until our friend 

and neighbor Robbie dropped off our mail and said something about it. 

The simple fact that my sister and

 Robbie both agreed with me was enough to give me the courage to chop the back. So out came the scissor and with Robbie's assistance, Beans got a full fledged hair cut.

To the left is the end result. Robbie put the barrettes in her hair to help convince me she does not look like a little boy. Jason is not quite yet convinced. But how did Beans feel about it? Please note the photo to the right.

Random Question Thursday... I Forgot Again

I remembered at a point when I couldn't get to my computer. But here it is on Friday.

Blogger asks: Please describe how you could take the peel off an apple all in one go:

Kels answers: Very slowly. Very very slowly. Or get some one else to do it.

Have I Mentioned This?

I love "Everyday Food" on PBS! And yes, I have mentioned it before here on my blog. But I have found another reason to love those simple yet delicious recipes being fed to me by soft spoken cooks.

Yesterday, Beans was having a rough time. Molars are growing. You can imagine the blood 

curdling wails that accompanied nap time. So I did what mothers do and held her and snuggled her on the couch hoping to lull her to sleep... when I had a great idea. I don't like to do much TV with the Bean, but Everyday Food was on. It soothes me, so why not her? 

Fifteen minutes. That's it. Fifteen minutes, two recipes and she was out! As I have said it before... I love you Everyday Food.

She's a Graffiti Artist

Check this out. These are Beans first tags. Tags? Yes, tags. I call them tags because they were done somewhere they weren't supposed to be and when I was not looking. I have a little tagger. 

I'm actually quite impressed by them. The one on the door (photo to the right) has a very timid feeling to it. The photo only shows a portion of the actually work, but I wanted to highlight the delicateness of the marks. I find this interesting because this one was the first. How do I know that? She was finishing the second on the wall when I came back into the room (photo to the left). It had some really nice, deliberate marks. Much passion went into it, more confidence. 

No matter how much the artist/psychologist in me enjoyed the scribbles, it does not change the fact that she drew on the wall.

Luckily, her medium is Washable Crayola Crayons.