The day before, Turkey day.

It is Wens, and it is Thanksgiving eve. This morning I was off to a rocky start, my baby keeps waking up at 3:30 Am each day, takes a bottle and then snoozes until 6-6:30 AM. I just can not get him to sleep all night anymore. Phase? He also is not wanting to eat. After a few bites he just turns his head like "I am full,bleh" He also discovered how to be uber pathetic and act like he is going to puke. Oh the joys of boys.  I know it is partially teething and from what I have been seeing on Babycenter and Circle of moms that this is a normal phemomona that hits between 8-10 months. They are just not as hungry as before or they see too much going on. They want to be in the middle of it. He only has two teeth so it isn't like he can really chew anything. He did, however, try to feed himself. So, maybe that is it. He wants to do it. He did try this morning and we ended up messy. Very messy.  Then the fittings started and he just was not happy no matter what. Over tired little man.

Today, is a cool 70 degrees out. Ahh it feels like fall. But, this is short lived. It will soon be hot as you know where in no time, again. I have to say even though it is FL, it is unusally hot this year. Global Warming much?
So, it being Thanksgiving tomorrow;I thought I would ask what is your favorite Thanksgiving day memory.
Mine?
Growing up in MO, we would have my Grandma and uncle from the Ozarks come up to St Louis to have Thanksgiving. There would be lots of laughs, mashed potatoes, and fart jokes courtesy of my dad and uncle. There would be a fight over the wishing bone and then the night would finish with my dad and uncle playing hockey on the Sega Genesis and the rest of us playing Rummy with grandma. Those sweet memories you just can not replace and it was the best. Also, knowing that dad was going to put up lights the next day. I can still hear the colorful vocabulary as he fell from the roof. Or if the lights would not go on. We never did Black Friday. It was just too much fun at home.

A cup of coffee and a thought, oh my lights.

Helping mama with untangling lights

After a great(sarcasm) morning at the local WIC office, I came home and decided to get some laundry done as well as go into a slight Christmas mode. The week of Thanksgiving I go through my Christmas decor and lights to see what needs replacing and what needs new bulbs. I also go through my ornaments and check for casulties. Which one of my German ornaments bit the dust, I am not happy. But still it could have been worse. My lights are needing some replacing, I have 2 strands that don't work. I am hoping I have enough to go around the front of the house. If not, then I will replace them with multi-colored lights and use them somewhere else. I am not a light fanatic but, I do love decking the halls. OK, maybe I am a fanatic. The one thing I can not seem to find is my solar lights. I will have to go into the attic to get them, I think that is where they are. If not then I have no clue where they are. I tried to go into the attic while my baby is sleeping and um, I can not get the door open. I felt like a monkey hanging from the ceiling. It wouldn't budge. So, after I finish my Miso soup I am going to try again. Why? Because I wanna. I just hope I do not get stuck up there like Clark Griswald.

 This week is a week of firsts for my Little man, it is his 1st Thanksgiving and his first Christmas Tree decorating. And although he can not eat the food, I know everyone around him will be thankful that he is around. I know I am. And that is where I want to leave off with today. I am thankful for this week of firsts for my baby and for the people that will be sharing it with us.

A boy and his dog.

When I was pregnant with my son, everyone was concerned about how my cat would react to him. They never suspected the dog would be aggressive. I was told "He will smell you and your hubby on the baby, so don't worry" I would nod and smile, deep down I had a fear he would be mean to my baby. My gut feeling was right.
My dog continues to show signs of aggression towards my son. He tried to get him at 3 months old and now he growls at him all the time as if he is a stranger in the house. My son will be playing on the floor minding his business and hear comes my American Eskimo runs up and starts growling. Only it isn't for play, he is serious. My son will crawl about the house and the dog will growl near his bowl. Food aggression is something he has never had an issue with before. He will then walk up to my son and start growling. If the big cat is near by he intercepts. If not I do, and he gets into trouble.
Is it jealousy? Is it just old age? Is he becoming a more aggressive dog? My grandmother suspects jealousy and has warned me that it will get worse. And I may not be able to get to my son in time next time. She said if it were her. she would get rid of him. But, I can not see getting rid of a dog for growling. I know that any shelter would put him down. I can not justify it, nor could I live with myself. So here I am on constant alert. Waiting for the inevitable, and may be he wont do anything. I guess time will tell.
What do you think?

Cup of Coffee and a thought,baby things.

Have you ever wondered what your baby is thinking? Or what your pets are thinking? I do all the time, like when he is babbling at me. And I am talking at him, I wonder what is going on in there. What is going on in that adorable little head of yours?
Today, I am suffering from severe writer's block. Yay, I don't like it. It is terrible and I feel like I should be writing something meaningful. I also feel like I should be doing something, I am really antsy today. And on top of all of that I have been up since 2 AM. 2 Am wake up times are no good for mama bear. It is no good for anyone. But, I feel like sitting here on the couch writing this is making me feel more lazy. I don't know why, I cleaned the kitchen, cut up another chicken,and started cleaning the bathrooms. But still, I feel like I should be out of the house. It is a gorgeous day out here and I hate feeling couped up. It has not been this bad of a feeling for a while. What is my deal today? 
I also have a child refusing to nap and he got a hold of the presents I wrapped last night somehow. Well, he has the unwrapping concept down. I wonder what he was thinking then.

A glass of wine and some wrapping paper.

I have found my zen. Wrapping Christmas presents is my way of relaxing this time of year. Whenever I wrap a present I can not wait to wrap the thing. Call me crazy, but there is something just so calming to me about wrapping a gift. I just love it. Just love it. I can not count the number of people who hate wrapping. Me, I am obsessed with it.
As far as Christmas shopping, I almost have my baby done. I went with my mother today and bought him some great stuff. I love buying things for that little boy. This year we have a tight budget and I would rather him get things than myself. That baby is all the gift I need. I don't need anything else. Christmas morning all I want is my son, hubby, a cup of coffee, the lights on the tree, and music. Then the fun of watching my son play with every box he unwraps. Thank god he is at the age where his toys are CHEAP and tons of FUN!
I want to get my hubby something, and I found exactly what he needs a wireless Xbox 360 headset. And I can not wait to give it to him. I found it on eBay, and when it comes in I will wrap it. I just hope he doesn't read this. He rarely reads my blogs. But, the headset is within budget. He will hopefully like it.
So, tonight once little man goes to bed, I am going to sneak into the bedroom and wrap his gifts. I try to get this stuff done early.
One more thing I have to share! I went grocery shopping and only spent $120!!! I got a lot of baby stuff and food, snacks,etc. I saved $60.50! I got to continue to save and hopefully my next bill will be smaller!
Now off to butcher the whole chickens I bought.....yum.

Oh three AM wake up time and two pots of coffee later.......

Hello all,
I am writing a very tired blog today. I have been up since 3 Am, thought those days were over when little man started sleeping all night. Nope. I was in denial. He was up and that meant I needed to be up too. He was up and down all night so, I figured a bottle and he would go back to sleep. By 3:30 he was done and was snoozing away. I put little man back to bed and staggered my way back to mine. 1 hour later he was back up. And now he is back to sleep again. Poor little guy, I wish he would let me look and see if there is a new tooth in that mouth, but alas he wont let me. Oh the joys and happiness that is teething. It is tough being little and it is tough being the mama.
So, what did I do this time after getting him to sleep? Work on Chippey's Shoppe, my eBay store and watch "Extreme Christmas Trees" on Netflix. I had my Christmas cup full of coffee and was watching away. Then I figured I have the time and aloneness to list some stuff. So, here I am blogging away and going to list some things to my store. #joysofebay. I am also listening to Bing Crosby on Pandora. #dontjudge
Then it dawned on me, I have no clue where the rest of my holiday mugs are. Or where all my lights are for that matter. I love moving, because it is a treasure hunt to find things 8 months later when you are settled in. Ugh, so that means next week I am going to have to go into the attic and get them. If they are there. I like being prepared. I plan on starting a page of Christmas house decor. There are some homes around here in Fl ready for it. That or I may do Crazy Christmas trees. I am not sure what or how I will do it. But it will be cools.This is something I have been wanting to do since I started blogging and never did. So this year! If you have any you want posted let me know. #crazyforchristmas

A cup of coffee and a thought, cranberry sauce.

We all have cranberry sauce or sometimes chutney at Thanksgiving  Do you prefer homemade cranberry sauce or from a can? Do you like the jelly or the chunky sauce from the can?
I prefer homemade. I booze it up a bit with some wine. Most of the alcohol cooks out but leaves the flavor. If out of a can I like the jelly.

My cranberry sauce:

1 bag of fresh cranberries

1 cup of  sugar

1/2 cup of Reisling wine

 1/2 tsp orange zest

Bring cranberries, wine, sugar, and zest to a boil. then reduce heat to a simmer. You will hear cranberries pop as they cook. The liquid will reduce by half after 15-20 minutes. Can be frozen. Is Amazing on vanilla ice cream.

A cup of coffee and a thought, where has time gone?

Wow, can any of you believe that Thanksgiving is here next week. Then after that is Christmas and New Years. Where did the year go? It feels like just yesterday was the 4th of July. But no it was Halloween not that long ago. I find it interesting that as adults there are not enough hours in a day, but as kids the days drug on and on. Time entered a no passing zone. It seemed to take forever for Christmas to get here. I mean FOREVER. I would open each piece on the Advent calendar waiting and it just seemed to slowly creep up. Then Christmas eve and then no sleep.
People around here are already decking the halls. There are lights on their houses and I am sure stocking hung by their chimneys with care. I miss having a fire place, for that reason. I'll just tell my little boy when he is older that Santa has his own house key.
I have had many people ask me if we are going to do Elf on a Shelf when baby bear is older. I am not sure. It seems so complicated to me, and we never had it growing up. It would seem to be a lot of fun to do and there are plenty of ideas on Pinterest for it. How many of you do Elf on a Shelf? How do your kids react to each night of silliness? And parents, do you do it every day or is it just closer to Christmas?

When I was little the thing was Saint Nick's day. We celebrated that along with Christmas. Our stockings would have candies and a cheap toy in them. It was exciting and every time I would argue that I needed the day off for the holiday. Mom would just laugh at me. Hey, it was worth a shot right? Only if it were a snow day would that happen. Down here in Fl, we don't have that. So, little man wont be able to get it.  Not too many people know what I am talking about when I refer to Saint Nick's day here in Fl. I guess it is a mid-western thing.

Well, Thanksgiving will be here NEXT WEEK. BE sure to check out my coupon page for some Turkey day savings. It has helped me a bunch. I got diapers and formula for my boy for 22. That was for a big container and a pack of diapers. There are some great food coupons in there! I can not wait to get decorated for Christmas. Next week is decorate time!

A cup of coffee and a thought, Dealing with PPD.

I am still struggling with Post partum depression, 8 months later you would think it would be better. Well, I have mostly good days. But here lately it has been going back to how I was back in June when I finally admitted I needed help. Then my Neurologist took my off my meds for it. That was back in August. But, I am still having problems with it. 

This morning it hit me in the face, I cried so hard. Yesterday, I cried and today I cried more. I am thinking a combination of  dryer being dead, Christmas coming up, Thanksgiving stress, and my son's impetigo is trying to come back because his excema is bad. No one will let me call the Doctor for a rx. It is past home remedies. All of this going on and I broke down. 

As I sat there on my bed after looking at Facebook, something I promised I wouldn't look at. I saw my family at Seaworld and we weren't there. We couldn't, so I missed my nieces bday. Another nail in the coffin.I sat there on my bed sobbing and rocking my baby. Then I noticed, somehow the booger turned in my arms and was facing me. He nuzzeled his head on my shoulder and he squeezed me. I also got pats on my back and rubbies. Just like I do to him when he cries. My sweet little man was comforting his mama. He even started to baby sing. This just made my heart melt and I stopped crying. I held him close and he looked at me.

My boy put his hand on my face as to let me know it was OK, and then there was that smile. That smile can cure any signs of the blues.Babies are truly little miracles and nothing but pure love. 

My world

Coffee and eBay, this is my morning. Coffee and a Thought.

Happy Sunday all. This morning I am drinking my Barnies Santa's White Christmas coffee and playing with my eBay store, Chippey's Shoppe. I am finishing up listing the Yankee candle that I found unopened. I can not burn a cookie scented candle, it makes me too hungry all the time. My boy was up at 5 AM today so I havc been up for a bit. I need more coffee. I also got to finish listing some stuff for eBay. Lemax Christmas and baby clothes. I am not sure how to go about listing a baby bath, bassinet, or car seat. I have all three needing to be sold and am worried about shipping. Other sellers list the items and car seat shipping was $75. I mean it is heavy it comes with 2 bases. Local pick up perhaps? Maybe Craig's list. Thoughts?
My store has become my job definitely and I have the cutest Vice president of sales ever! He is the happiest worker ever, even if he just gets in the way. He loves having his pic taken, so he is always in the way of pictures for listing. It is one of the reasons it takes me forever and a day to list, but I love it. Wouldn't you?
The smiles and baby babble make it the reason's I work so hard, and forgive that he is trying to eat the product. Right now he is grouching on the floor with his bottle, I guess it made him mad.
 Yesterday, I over did it, I scrubbed the floors by hand and am feeling it today. so I didn't get much eBay done. What do you think Pajama day? Do any of you feel like a lazy couch potato if you lounge in pj's for a day? I end up getting dressed anyway and cleaning. I have this new obsession, I am constantly feeling like my house isn't clean enough. I guess this came about when I first moved into my home. It was a disaster, and I am still not done cleaning from that. The renters had destroyed it. The carpet was an animal litter box, and I found hedgehog needles, different cat fuzz,dog fuzz, different bird feathers, bunny poops; these people had a zoo. The kitchen looked like it was never cleaned. The bathrooms were in the same state. SO, I obsessively clean. Wouldn't you? I told my mom and dad about all that, and they told me all the stuff they found when they renovated our house in St Louis. I am amazed by what people do.
So, yeah, instead of relaxing I will probably clean, again. Last night I was washing clothes and hanging dry because our dryer broke and my oven wont SHUT OFF! What in the world is going on?! All I know is it sucks.When it rains it pours and I feel like I have been stuck in a never ending Monsoon. Just got to stay strong and keep the faith, right? Yup.

Living with cats, pathetic kitties

It is 6 AM and I have yet to get my coffee. My boy is up and drinking his morning bottle,while I try to blog away. That is when my 2 cats like to strike.  No they aren't being mean. They are being pathetically sad and adorable. Why? Because they want something. This is when things get pushed to the ground for no reason. They both sit ON my key board at different intervals. Osiris tried  to get my attention by running back and forth on my coach. Well, until his fat butt fell off. Isis has been crying at me and chewing on my toes. trust me when I say they are looking for a pity party. They are now attacking the dinning room table and it is only a matter of time before those two are back in here making a ruckus. Somehow, I feel them watching me.
Cats find interesting ways to get affection.That is for sure.

True Happiness.

I am happy for a lot of things in my life. I am happy about having an amazing hubby and a adorable house that I can call MINE. I am happy for this coffee I am drinking, although I miss my Keurig. But, most of all I am happy for the happiest little boy in the world, my son. He just loves everything and all things make him smile. He, right now is playing with a sock and is excited about it. He just looks at me or my hubby and breaks out in the biggest cheesiest grin. Something we call "cheese face". He is the joy of my life, and I am truly thankful and blessed to have him. I want to just hug him all the time, and when he gives me that pure look of  "I love you mama." I melt. I truly melt into a thousand pieces, hubby giggles about that.

He is just an amazing little boy and he just keeps getting more and more amazing every day.

He is also a speed crawler, and already tries to walk. Lord help me. My boy is also a cheeky little man and knows when he is being naughty. He just looks at you and gives you a mischievous grin. I giggle at that, knowing darn well that I am encouraging it. But, when you are that cute, you get away with a lot. Little stinker. 

This Thanksgiving while we all give thanks to everything in our lives. I am thankful for this, my little man. I truly am and every day is precious with him. 

What makes you happiest? What are you truly thankful for?

Christmas is just around the corner, and I am freaking out! 

This is still a great deal to not pass up, I am getting a canvas of my little man. 

$25.99 free shipping gallery wrapped Canvas,Printerpix.

And speaking of great deals, I got 10 jars of  Beach Nut jar food for $3.00 after coupons! WHAT?! I guess I really need to get my butt in gear with couponing. What coupon tricks do you have?

A Thanksgiving day tidbit.

Oh, Thanksgiving how we love you. For so many it is about family, friends, and being thankful. For me, it is about FOOD. Have you wondered what their Thanksgiving was like? And can you believe there were no pies then, or mashed potatoes, or even cranberry sauce. Food historians believe there was deer, some sort of poultry, and sea foods. Pumpkin may have been there but not as a pie, it would have been more of a sweet mash.  

Here is some true or false. The pilgrims had exotic spices back then to cook with.

True or false.

Have fun. If you have any Thanksgiving trivia post in the comments! Lets have fun.

When was the first Macy's Thanksgiving day parade?

Cup of coffee and a thought

This is my experiment, each day even after NaBloPoMo November on Blogher, I shall continue to blog everyday. But with a coffee and whatever comes to mind. I am hoping this will help me blog better and be a better writer. If anything else it will be entertaining.

Today I was up at 4 Am. Why? Well, that is when my baby decided it was time to get up. Not because he fell asleep at 8 Pm, as his daddy will surely say. But because he was wet, hungry, and just one fuss pot. He didn't nap yesterday, so going to bed at 8 Pm made sense. At the time it made sense. So, so far he only has the two teeth. Right now, and he doesn't like juice. I even tried watering it down. Nope he hates it, I am trying to find pear juice and thought I may have seen some, but I can not remember where. Great. 

A bunch of stuff has been on my mind. Like where am I going to put the Christmas tree this year, and will he get into it. We all know the answer to the second question. There is no doubt that my boy will be IN the tree. I also think he will be walking by then, at 9 months. He keeps trying to stand on his own from crawling and he tries to walk when he pulls up. As for where I plan on putting my tree, I have no idea. I am lost on that. And really why am I thinking about that. Thanksgiving has not even come by. 

In my cup today is New England coffee and Coffee Mate Thin Mints. The Creamer is good, but the coffee is bleh. It is a medium roast and just tastes like coffee flavored water if you do not double up on the scoops. So, for this size pot, you will do 4 tablespoons instead of 3 and even that is not enough. I am not a STRONG coffee lover but I do like flavor. This is right up there with the Green Mountain Kcups. Not very good. Also, to cut down bitterness in coffee ad a pinch of salt.It helps!

Letter to my baby.

Dear baby boy,
I am so thankful to have you. This month being premature birth awareness month, I decided to write you this letter. Not that you can read it yet, and if you can WOW! It made me aware about how lucky the three of us are and were. Your daddy, you, and me are all very lucky and owe the hospital a huge bit of gratitude. Not so many get the chance. 

You were almost born at 31 weeks and would have weighed around 5 lbs. I was told before admission that if you were born ; A. a c-section and B. the next 24 hours would be critical. Either of us could have died. Scary isn't it? But after what seemed like 800 shots to my behind later, the contractions slowed down. However, they were not gone. I was in pain until your birth boyo.  I am so thankful for Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies as well as Dr Odom at Physicians Associates.

Here you are 8 months later and already trying to walk. And not a day goes by where I do not think about what could have happened. But here you are being adorable and even now being cute as a button watching Peppa Pig. You should be nom nomed on and often. I give you tons of kisses and hugs and snuggles because I love you so much little man. So very very much. 

So baby boy, I love you. I love you when you laugh. I love you when you cry. I love you when you get a hold of things you shouldn't. I love you when you crawl after me. I love that you need me all the time.I love that you are already trying to walk on your own!I love that you amaze me everyday! I love that mischievous laugh of yours, which only comes out when you try to TINKLE on everything. Let me explain this. 

My son thinks it is funny to try and pee when you change him. Not like, "Oh, I waited too long to change you and now I am being punished for being diaper slow". This is a super evil grin, then BAM, and then the laugh. It is actually the funniest thing I have heard. It almost makes me forget that he just tinkled everywhere. Let me clear here, he doesn't do it all the time. But when he does, it is funny. I only wished he would do it for something else and not THAT. Like getting the Xbox, why can't he do that while turning on the Xbox?

Which he knows how to do. I one day didn't turn on the Xbox quickly enough for his Peppa Pig and he did it himself. He then sat down and stared at me, then looked at the tv. OH NO. 

Baby boy, I hope when you get older you understand why we wouldn't let you play certain video games. We are both gamers, your dad and I. We know which games are good and which are bad for you. So, you will never pull a "fast one" on us. Sorry, but we will not have an 8 year old son on Xbox live swearing like a sailor and being a brat to the 20 somethings on there. Let me tell you, the older crowd on Xbox live get embarrassed for you. Too often I hear the adults on Xbox live wondering if the parents TRULY understand what they are playing. And many do not! They wonder if they kiss their mommy with that potty mouth and end up kicking them from their lobbies with disgust at the language,even though their language is just as bad. Video gamers, son do not like hearing small kids swearing over Xbox.  But, for right now enjoy watching Daddy get his headshots in domination.

Little baby, know that I will be there and know that I will be there no matter what. Today is day 8 in the 30 days of Thanks and I little sir am thankful for the greatest present in he world,YOU! I am thankful for you and I do not need anything for Christmas this year. Why? Because I, little man got the greatest present ever. I got you. And I am the luckiest Mama in the world.

Little man 2013