I can't get enough of this face.

Happy Half Birthday, John

I finally have a six month old. I say finally because people keep telling me it's going to fly by. But, ya know? It just hasn't. It has been pretty wonderful though.

My boy talks a lot, has recently discovered the 'screech' (good enough to make your ears bleed) and sits up on his own like a rock star. He doesn't nap really well, but word has it that he has super active REM cycles. He's literally thinking too much to sleep during the day. You would think this means he sleeps through the night, but you'd be wrong. He likes to eat too much for that. That's my boy! :-)

(Picture courtesy of John's Aunt Camille, who caught him in a priceless moment. He grins like this often, but usually it stops as soon as the camera comes out.)

Dear Inappropriate Cell Phone User,

I feel like the fact that, for many years now, you've been able to carry your phone in your pocket with you wherever you go has desensitized you to the need for appropriate phone etiquette. Now, I may be biased in this issue, since the only type of cell phone I've ever owned is prepaid, and is rarely used. Regardless, I feel like you need a few things pointed out to you.

Before there were cell phones, you would never have given out my number so that your friends, family, and coworkers could reach you when you were visiting me in my home. By extension, it is rude for you to answer your cell phone while you are visiting me in my home. If we are in your home, that's different, because before cell phones you might have received calls on your land line and it would have been acceptable for you to answer it. Mind you, my husband and I don't answer our land line when we have guests over because we feel like it's not very 'host-ly', but I would have not been offended if you had. So, I'm not going to take it personally if you answer your cell phone. (I will not think you are super host-ly though.)

It was totally unheard of for you to pass out a restaurant's number so that every one of your friends, family, or coworkers could reach you when we are out eating together. Your babysitter or someone in an emergency situation, maybe… So there are some circumstances in which I will not be groaning inside at the complete rudeness of answering your phone at the table. And really, if you have to talk THAT loud to be heard, maybe just step outside. Coming back inside is optional.

You cannot talk on a home phone in a car. I realize there were car phones, but I think we all know those were a big mistake. You need to turn your phone off when you get into the car. Under no circumstance do I ever want to see you using your phone in the car. No texting, no phone to the ear, and if you're using that ear piece, I want you to know that it doesn't allow you the amount of focus on your driving that you think it does. Also, you look ridiculous and slightly crazy like you are talking to yourself. (This especially applies to when you are not in a car and are walking down the street, or – heaven forbid – sitting at a table in a restaurant.)

9 times out of 10, when I see a driver do something stupid on the road, I look more closely to find that person is using their cell phone. 50% of the time it's an ear piece. You are just not as good at it as you think you are.

And if I'm in the car with you, and you would otherwise be talking to me, but instead I'm awkwardly staring out the window because you're on your cell phone, know that I'm irritated. This irritation is only slightly lessened if I'm the one driving.

And if you are using your cell phone while children are in the car, I kinda wanna pull you over and smack you.

And finally, I just want to point out that "Where you at?" is horribly bad grammar.

I realize that cell phones have become such an integrated part of our society, that some of this will come as a shock to you. You don't mean to be rude, but the convenience of cell phones has made you forget your manners. I'm just hoping to enlighten you a bit.

Sincerely,

New Moon Trailer

I'm kinda worried about this, because it's evident that there are several changes from the book. We'll have to wait to see how it translates to screen and see if those changes are irritating or necessary for filming. The wolfing out part is freaking awesome though.

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON trailer in HD

Orlando for William's Birthday

We had some great celebrations for William's 33rd.

We headed to Orlando early in the morning a few days before Williams birthday. The amount of activity before the sun had risen was confusing for John. This look says, "This is highly unusual behavior for my parents."

This is the first time we decided to try priceline.com before going down. We usually just find the cheapest hotel on travelocity.com. We've stayed in some scary places. Never again. Using priceline.com turned out freaking awesome. We got to stay at the Hyatt Place Universal for $35.00 a night. We loved it.

First went to Universal. We've actually been a couple of times now, and I keep forgetting to blog about it. We actually love it. Our favorite rides are The Hulk and The Dueling Dragons. We don't love going there as much as we love going to Disney World, which is probably evidenced by the fact that I haven't blogged about it yet... But, we couldn't afford annual passes to Disney and it's really the next best thing.

ANYWAYS, we had a good time on this trip, and remembered to take a few fun pictures...

On William's birthday we had the most fun. We took advantage of Disney's birthday promotion this year, and headed to Epcot. We had the best day! I don't think I realized how much I'd been missing going to Disney World once a month until we were there again. It felt like home. We did all of our favorite rides, and since it was Epcot, ate at all of our favorite places. It's also the Flower and Garden festival right now, which was nice. They gave us buttons when we got there. William's said "It's my birthday." Mine said, "I'm celebrating." And then there was this one for John. The look on his face says, "My parents are super excited about this button and I guess I am too, I just don't know why."

And this is just cute.

Happy Mother's Day

I've totally enjoyed today. My husband pampered me properly. Got me flowers, a present (mp3 player that can read audible.com files so that I can stop having to converting the files I download from there), made me a FABULOUS dinner. He's a good man.

Now let's celebrate with some pictures.

We have discovered FEET!

Next is a picture of one of my new favorite things. John needs a good swaddling to fall asleep properly. He has also become effective at kicking himself out of the swaddle in the night time. As he has grown, this has gotten more and more ridiculous because receiving blankets don't fit him anymore. I started using a ribbon to tie him using this method. But then he would kick out of it and the ribbon would end up around his throat. Seems like a choking hazard, right? These swaddling blankets are perfect. He still squirms his arms out on a regular basis, but there is no fear of the result being death. And they are super easy to use.

And this is just smart looking.

Stealing Thoughts

I try to not reference other people's blogs too frequently without adding any thoughts of my own. But, I read this post on my beloved Mubba's blog, and I think its just brilliant. And there is not much that I could add to it with out detracting from it. I just think there is so much judgement in the world for the decisions that people make which differ from our own. We don't have enough respect for each other's life experiences. And I'm just as guilty of this as the next guy.

I'll try to be better, Mubba. 'Cause I hate that phrase too.