Buck-fitty cheesecake anyone?

OK, for those of you who don't speak gangster, I'm referring to the Cheesecake Factory's promo yesterday. All slices of cheesecake were $1.50. Given that they are usually more than $5, that was a hell of a deal.

Unfortunately, everyone in Austin thought so too. And when we got there the line was out the door! The line to put your name down on the list, that is! I waited for 15 minutes to put my name down. The wait to be seated was an additional 90 minutes! Now I love cheesecake, but my time is worth WAY more than the $3.50 savings I'd be getting if I stayed. Craziness!

We opted to go to Mimi's Cafe instead, where it was a much more tranquil scene. Add to that some good friends to share dinner with, and you have the recipe for a great mid-week evening. Trent had his very first kid's meal. Macaroni n' cheese with a side of yummy steamed broccoli. He was so happy with his meal. He even refused one of Daddy's french fries (shock! Brian had fries!) in favor of some broccoli! that's MY BOY!

We were so impressed with Mimi's because when we sat down with Trent, the waiter brought over a little plate that contained a cup of cheerios, an orange slice, some crackers, a bib, and some wipes. Good thing Trent was with us or I might have thought they were having a laugh about my very young hubby! bwaahahahahahahaha!

Yellow pages

I swiped this from Julia's blog. I wanted to re-post it because I know most people don't use the yellow pages any more, we all look things up on the Web. It's a complete waste of money and natural resources to use a phone book these days. So now you can do somethig to help.

Sign the petition to make the phone books on-demand only, rather than everyone getting one. And by doing so, you will (hopefully) be removed from the distribution list and won't get them any more. Sound good?

Here's the link:

P.S Mum, this also pertains to you. There's an option for UK residents as well. LOVE YOU!

Road trip

This weekend we headed to Houston to visit with Grandma and Grandpapparazi. We kicked off the weekend with dinner at our usual Italian joint. It's kinda funny to have a "usual" in a city you don't live in. On Saturday, Brian and I went to see The Dark Knight at the Alamo while Trent played with his grandparents. It was a long movie but it didn't seem so long because it was really good! And we had just watched a documentary on Batman Tech and Batman Psychology a couple of days earlier so that made it even cooler. After the movie we went to Katy Mills for some outlet mall shopping. I bought two pairs of shorts at Gap and a pair of shoes at Nine West. Brian ended up with stuff from Banana Republic. I seem to not have any luck there these days. We didn't look for anything for Trent at all because it was our one day to not be parents for a bit.
Trent went to a Raggae concert in the town square with his grandparents that evening. They reported that he loved the music and bobbed his head and danced around to the beat. He made friends with some people sitting nearby, too. Meanwhile, Brian and I had dinner and then we met up with them briefly to catch the end of the concert. Afterwards, Trent went home and Brian and I got dessert at Cheesecake Factory (YUM!) and then went to Sam's boat for some live music and to hang out on the patio.
A fun weekend for us.
Trent's been walking all over the place. It's so cool to see him just take off. He gets a good 6 feet or so before he loses his balance, then he just crawls to the nearest thing to pull up on, and gets back up. It's funny how he walks though. He puts both hands in the air. He kinda looks like King Kong! Sooo cute!

Take your kid to work day

Today, the company I work for had a "take your kid to work day". They set up all kinds of fun activities in the cafeterias, such as scavenger hunts, spelling bee's, competitions, arts and crafts, etc. Just another reason why this is such a great company to work for. We took Trent to work with us today and he was such a sweetie. We got to show him off to our colleagues and he did a lot of walking holding on to our hands. He even got all the way up the stairs from the library on his own! what a big boy! We hung out down in the library where a majority of the activities were and Trent played with a puzzle. Then he tried to help another girl with her alphabet puzzle, though she was actually doing very well on her own. Such a generous boy, our Trent.

We took him to school just in time for lunch and his teachers were so happy to see him.
Today we're going to visit Grandma and Grandpapparazi! Hopefully we will also be able to get tickets to see the Journey/Heart concert while we're there. Crossing fingers.

Happy Friday, Y'all.

One small step...

Last week Trent came home with his usual daily report. But at the bottom of it there was a note. The note said "Trent walked across the room!!!". We hadn't seen him do it yet so we were skeptical. I asked about it on Monday. Only one of his teachers saw it, and the other one was so disappointed to not have witnessed that. He hasn't been very adventurous at home and would still on to the walls, furniture, and cabinets to get around. But the last 2 days he actually let go and took a few independent steps! It's so amazing to see it happen. I have mixed feelings about this, obviously. I mean, I want him to walk because it will open up a whole new world for him. But I also don't want to rush things because right now he's manageable. I suspect that Trent walking is going to make life a whole lot more interesting. This morning when he thought we weren't paying attention he just let go of whatever was holding him up and walked. I came in right as he did it and he promptly stopped when he saw me. hahaha! Guess he's not ready to demo his new skills to me yet.

The "Mum face"

I had to blog this one... On Friday evening, Trent was throwing a tantrum, this is a new thing for him. He didn't want to eat, he slapped his sippy cup away, he didn't want to sit on the floor, didn't want to stand up, and didn't want to be held. He just wanted to make a scene. I got a little frustrated with him and just put him on the floor. Then, with hands on hips I put on a stern face and voice and told him that I wasn't put on this earth to pander to him and if he was going to act like that he could sit there until he was ready to be a good boy. Then it happened. I gave him the mum face. I've seen it done. My mum had one that could freeze me to the spot. I didn't realize I had one until that exact moment in time. It just happened. I was as surprised by it as anyone reading this.

What was more surprising was the effect it had on Trent. He immediately stopped crying. Sat on the floor looking up at me as quiet as can be. We locked stares. Brian came in and went to pick Trent up or give him a toy. I calmly told him, without taking my eyes off the kid, that Trent was in time out right now. Brian backed away and watched. Trent and I still locked in a stare. "Mum face" in full swing. After 2 minutes or so I told Trent he was a very good boy, and then we resumed normal activities. Trent was perfectly well behaved after that and Brian damn near fell over with surprise over what just happened. I damn well nearly did too. He actually listened. He actually obeyed. He actually understood the "Mum face". Amazing.

I hope to never see the "mum face" in the mirror. I expect it's not very flattering.

Ahoy, matey!

This weekend was relaxing and fun for us for the most part. Though we did start off a little rocky on Friday evening with Trent being a little fussy. We were going to go out to Papasito's for dinner, but our little munchkin seemed to be in a bit of a mood and we didn't want to be "those people". So we opted to pick up Mama Fu's to go. Trent ate the tofu from Daddy's Pad Thai which he seemed to enjoy, along with some broccoli from my ginger chicken.
On Saturday morning, Trent and I went for a long run (7 miles) while Brian did yard work. Afterwards we went to Costco for our bulk shopping. We love Costco. It was more packed than usual on Saturday, though. Or maybe because we usually go on Sunday we just found it to be more busy. After that, Brian took Trent on some errands while I went shopping alone! Brian's so sweet. He insisted on doing groceries without me to give me some much needed alone time.
We had an early dinner with Nick and Kitty at ZTejas, which now has a location very
close to our house. We sat on the patio and enjoyed the Texas heat. Afterwards we all headed back to our house for drinks and to hang out on the patio, and Mike and Tara joined us. Trent obligingly went to sleep on the way home and we didn't hear from him for the rest of the night. Which was kind of unfortunate because he hadn't seen Aunt Tara and Uncle Mike in a few weeks.
On Sunday we got up at a reasonable time (we were expecting to be up early because of how early Trent went to bed), and we headed over to Mike and Tara's for some fun on Lake Austin! This was Trent's first time on a boat. We had set our expectations accordingly.
We got onto the water around 10:45 or so and just spent the day relaxing, drifting, swimming, talking, and playing in the water with Trent. Trent far exceeded all of our expectations. We were thinking we'd be out of a couple of hours and would need to head back in, but Trent was incredible. He was mellow, low maintenance, and fun. He walked all around the boat, loving the fact that he could go anywhere and always had something to hold on to. When the boat was rocking he stayed standing with ease. We think it helped him with balance to experience the waves and motion. Brian and I both got to cuddle with Trent as he napped. That was the highlight of both our days. Just to lay there in the sun, surrounded by our friends, a badass boat, and the beautiful scenery of our gorgeous Lake Austin, with a sweet sleeping baby on your tummy. Ahhh. Heaven.
We motored over to The County Line BBQ and docked for a late lunch. Brian, Trent and I split a rack of ribs. Trent loves beans and was covered in beans and BBQ sauce when we left. We got off the water around 5 I think. After putting the boat away and making it home, we had time to play with Trent for a couple of hours before putting him to bed, a tired but happy little boy.

Brian and I are just so proud of our little sailor! A whole day out in the Texas heat with no fussing or complaining. Way to hang, buddy!

We need more weekends like that!

You can see pictures from our lake day in Trent's July gallery.

Rough morning

I did not want to get up today. I was having weird dreams, but not my usual dream, which was kind of a welcome break. I woke up to the sound of Trent cooing in his crib and all I wanted was another 10 minutes. Isn't it cruel how you find the most comfy spot in the bed 2 minutes before you have to get up?

Trent was also having a tough time this morning. He seemed ok when he woke up initially, but after about 10 minutes he started to get a little cranky, then I put him in his chair for breakfast and he wound up to a full-on tantrum! Refused to eat. Refused to drink. Refused to be held. Refused to be put down. When I picked him up he'd kick at me, when I put him down he'd throw himself backwards, when I tried to stand him up he'd jump up and down and stomp! WTF?? What happened to my sweet, sweet baby? The crying continued for another 20 minutes. Meanwhile I'm trying everything I could think of to calm him down. I even tried a bottle, which I shouldn't have done because he's supposed to be done with formula. It didn't matter anyway because he refused that, too. He seemed tired but he'd just woken up so I didn't think that could be true. Anyway, Brian took him in to daycare and we figured we'd see how he did in the car and if he didn't calm down we'd take him to the doctor.

Meanwhile I'm trying to get my head around work, but I just can't. Not with my little boy in distress like that. Brian reported that Trent fell asleep almost immediately when he got in the car. And then I called daycare and they said he was all smiles. I guess he really did just wake up too early! poor baby. I know how that feels.

At least now I know he's ok I can get my head in the game.

MIA

Ok. It's been 10 days since my last confession... I mean blog... I've just been uber busy lately. Busy doing what, though, I couldn't tell you. My life is just passing by in a blur of brightly colored plastic toys, children's nighttime stories, barefoot and in the kitchen (not pregnant, thankfully), trying to stay in shape, trying to balance work/life, poopy nappies, quality time with Brian, and the occasional (ok, frequent) glass of wine.
I'm not complaining, though. I like my life and there's not much I'd change about it. Well, ok, there are some things I'd change, like I'd like to own my own yacht, and have the means to spend as much time on it as I wanted, and didn't have to go to work. But I'm just not willing to make the sacrifices necessary to get that. So what I have currently is the best thing!

So some cool things of interest (to me, at least). William and Harry are still alive! Onyx and Nikki are still alive, and Onyx, despite costing us a small fortune for tests and ultrasounds, is doing just fine. Trent had his 1 year check up with the doctor last week and he's doing very well. He's now completely off of formula and baby foods and eats pretty much whatever we eat. What a good boy! I'm happy to report that he's still sleeping through the night. He now has his big boy car seat and is facing forward. Here's the view from my rear view mirror. Best view on the road!

Last night I gave him a haircut. He was starting to look like a mad professor with it sticking up every which way. You'd have thought we were trying to saw him in half the way he was acting though. He does not like to get his hair cut! he looks SO handsome, though!

Over the past weekend we spent some time doing a little shopping for our upcoming holiday. It's all I can think about these days. I'm just so excited to get away for a while, and especially to see my parents! I'm already dreaming about next year's holiday! I've been longing to spend some time on the ocean, too. I want to go on a cruise. The sea is in my blood. I need to get back to it every now and then to recharge my batteries.

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Happy 1st birthday to the birthdayest boy ever!

Our little man turned 1 on the 4th of July (note, Brian, that I did not say July 4th - apparently it's un-American to say it that way).

Trent had a fantastic day which started off by him sleeping in past 9am, then we had breakfast and Grandma and Grandpapparrazi arrived just in time for us to go to the neighbourhood parade and festival. Trent got some cool tattoos.

We strolled home and Trent tasted the sidewalk chalk while Grandpa and I decorated the driveway with a special message for our birthday boy!




























Since Trent is equal parts British and American, we couldn't let the 4th of July slip by without proper representation from the "other side".

Trent got to open his present from grandma and grandpa and also spent some time "chatting" with Nana and Grandad on the web cam as he opened his present from them. Notice the look of delight as he walked his new rocket ship around the driveway.









Nana and Grandad sent him some really cute outfits to wear on our holiday in September, along with a super cool basket full of goodies and a fire truck! Trent (and Daddy) are looking forward to ripping into that shortly!



Before his guests arrived, Trent got dressed in his special outfit, which we've been saving for a whole year for him to wear on his big day. A special thanks to Crista for this awesome shirt:









Trent took a nap just as all his favourite people started to arrive for his party, so he could be all refreshed and happy to see everyone. When he woke up the party was in full-swing and Trent was the perfect little host. He'd never had sweets before and he seemed to really enjoy his first taste of cake! He very obligingly covered his whole hands and face with frosting to the delight of all those watching him. Check out how much frosting he wore!









Then he opened presents and played with cousin Ethan, who was such a great helper for Trent when he was opening his presents.





And as the last guest was leaving, Trent took his bath and went to bed a tired and happy 1 year old.

A fun day was had by all!

Miscellaneous blog and semi-rant about weight

So after our first taste of Rock Band, we are addicted. Last night we went over to Rob & Jenn's to play Rock Band. Rob had been obsessively playing over the past couple of weeks and had unlocked a bunch of new songs. Oh what fun! We have no plans to buy a Wii so we'll have to be satisfied with playing at our friend's houses.

Trent seemed to have a good time last night. He's been such a great kid lately. He's started taking more interest in his toys and at bed time he's incredibly sweet and just goes down with no fuss at all. Of course, the moment I say that things will change, as they so often have done in the past. But for now, we're counting our blessings that we have, for the first time in a year, an easy baby!

And speaking of a year, we can't believe that in 2 days our sweet little baby will be a year old. It was one year ago that I was getting fed up of my HUGE feet (arse and boobs as well).

In 2 days I'll have hit the threshold where it's no longer impressive to have lost all the baby weight. It's expected.

Start of semi-rant:
If by one year you haven't lost your baby weight, then you're just unmotivated. People who use pregnancy as an excuse to be less than satisfied with their weight and self image a year down the road (note that I am not saying to be overweight because people can be overweight and still perfectly happy with their weight and self image), are just plain lazy. I might get some crap for that opinion, but this is my blog and if you want to express your opinion, then get your own blog.
Anyway, I have an acceptable weight threshold and anything over it requires a change in lifestyle to remove the offending poundage. Note that I did not say diet. Diets are the least effective way to control your weight. This is basic common sense. You diet, you lose the weight, you stop the diet, what do you think is gonna happen? you think going back to your pre-diet eating habits are gonna help keep the weight you've lost off? no. So unless you intend to stay on the diet FOREVER, then you might as well just not bother at all. Instead of dieting, why not eat whatever you want, just be reasonable about it. Metabolisms don't just slow down as you get older. You make them slow down by the lifestyle you live. I believe that if you eat frequent, small meals during the day, and you exercise regularly, your metabolism will be the same as it was when you were in your 20's even in your dreaded mid 30's.
I'm not saying that I'm the poster child for healthy living and weight management, though. Not by a long shot. I'm just saying quit bitching about your weight, quit dieting, commit to changing your bad habits, and use your loaf. People say how they are "falling off the wagon" when they cheat on their diets. If you don't get on the bloody wagon to begin with then you can't fall off, can you?.

:End of semi-rant.

Glad I got that off my chest. Now I need to go do some chores before my boys get home.