Pay it Forward

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

I won the Pay It Forward from Stephanie at Our Life in Words. First before we get started here, I encourage you to stop over by her page if you are not a fequent visitor and send up some prayers for her and her family and their unborn baby, one of God's many miracles!

So here is my Pay It Forward. It is a fun and simple contest. Simply, be one of the first three commenters on my blog to win! Then if you win, I'll make you a handmade gift and you host a Pay It Forward on your own blog. I have to get it in the mail within 365 days. I certainly will do my best to get it to you before then, quite the window of time to provide you with something super elaborate. But with a baby don't count on it.

Now, the three people who win a prize, MUST host a 'Pay It Forward' on their blog. They will send a homemade gift to the three people who won and so on. It is easy enough and it is certainly something nice to do for your fellow blogger!

Happy Friday, Everyone!

Wordless Wednesday

From Girl Scouts when we were 10, to Prom, to working together as counselors, to being my maid of honor, to visiting each other in our cities, to having just plain darn fun. My best friend Becky is coming to visit tomorrow!!!
(Blogging will be sparse... sorry folks!)

For more Wordless Wednesdays stop by here.

Six Months Old!

Wow! A half a year has gone by since Ace entered this world!? I know that everytime I make one of these posts I say it's hard to imagine - but seriously a half a year has gone by?! Wowie! What a six months it has been... but just this sixth month has been full of so many new things!!

Ace's firsts this past month: first haircut, first tooth, first solid food, first illness, first set of girl clothes!, first bruises, first Valentine's Day.

Yummy solid food! Yup, Ace enjoyed solid food right after returning from California. Well - rice cereal. He enjoyed that for a day or two and then he tried green beans and rice (the mix in a jar) Thus far those are his favorite. He tried peas the other day and he was not a fan. Carrots were acceptable but so far green beans & rice are the favorite. No fruit or sweet veggies have been given. We're waiting until we give him all the veggies that aren't sweet and get those into a pattern. We had a set back with solid food after his vomit incident at Starbucks. The doctor didn't want him to have solid food for a few days after that. Then Loving Husband got sick so I wanted him to have as many antibodies to prevent illness, then he got sick.... so we have started to get back into the swing of solid food daily.

Ace suffered his first upper respitory infection this past week. Didn't run a fever and he still has a snotty nose, but there for a couple of days he was very very sad and at night his little cry was more than enough to break your heart. I am happy to report he is on the mend, but now we believe another tooth is coming in. No rest for the growing!

Speaking of teeth his first tooth came in right after we came home from California. For several days in California he was in full swing of pushing that tooth through and after we got home it popped through. Over the last month it has come in full force and is a nice little tooth. Super cute when he smiles. Sorry though I haven't managed to catch a clear shot of it. Although he is not a fan of showing it off - he is happy to let me brush it with the little finger tooth brush. Mostly he enjoys chewing on my finger while I rub it against his tooth for a minute or two.

Ace has started to really try his verbal skills and has added bababa and yes dadada - don't forget though that he has said mamamama for many months - so neither Loving Husband and I are claiming that he's said Mama or Dada just yet. Yesterday we discussed that we'd be ok if he said Ball first ;-) Although LH is convinced that when he goes to work all I say to Ace all day is "mamamammama" I believe that is silly (note I didn't deny...) just kidding.

Ace is crawling in his own right. He's not moving fast and he's not moving far but he's moving just far enough to get to what he wants. Sometimes he moves faster than others. He crawls with his toes and his knees do get up and under him but he finds it more efficient to get up on his toes push and then let himself back down and check the distance between him and his toys and repeat if not close enough. It's cute to watch him learn the best way to get to what he wants.

Also this month he has developed and even greater excitement for our kitties. Everytime one crosses his sightpath he squeals and lunges for them. Tort would like nothing to do with Ace. However, Nickolas seems to have figured out that is where the attention is and therefore whenever Nick is so inclined he'll go lay down near the baby. Ace reaches and pets/pats/beats Nicky and Nick just squirms around on his back twisting and staring right at me. I imagine saying "look at me I'm cute like him..." so far no swipes have been made at Ace. A few times I think Nickolas has attempted to play with Ace with his paws to his head sans claws... but not being sure I put the stop to that play immediately, at least until Ace is old enough to run away from the play.

Ace has been such a blessing in our lives and we can't imagine a time without him. He is really growing and getting stronger and smarter everyday. He's only going to get bigger and while my heart breaks and longs for my tiny baby boy - I love this boy from his little calic on his now blonde hair to his double jointed toes!

Blogger Glitch!

Hello all! First off I wanted to give a little encouragement to Mammatalk! You're doing great, if you've stopped by here you're more than half over! Take a break and enjoy a little lol-cat to keep your spirits up!
In addition a note regarding Followers! For two days I've been feeling a bit depressed - ok not that devastated but sad nonetheless. I've lost 2 followers! I didn't think any of my posts were that offensive. Perhaps those two followers were avid bagpipers, people who enjoyed smoking in front of children... Or it could be because my giveaway ended and so they no longer needed to follow me. Perhaps that IS what happened... but I have hope! According to Jolly Mom there is a glitch - they aren't gone they are just being followed as anonymous now... so if you are following people (regardless if it's me) go to manage and change them from anonymous to public and the problem will be solved.

In other news! I am feeling a little better. No fever last night after 3 days of an off and on fever. My nose although still leaking has slowed considerably, my energy is up... and while I now have cough it is moving stuff and is helpful (at this point) so I'll take it! Still not feeling a 100% but I can at least sit up and not feel like passing out! Progress I tell ya! :) Thanks for all the well wishes!

And the Winner is....

Yes, you might say I timed the end of this contest right in line with the Oscars! :) I love Award shows and giving away things turns out to be a lot of fun! So the winner of this: Hanging Lavender Sachet as chosen by Random.org is...........

#9 Preston said...
Congratulations on reaching 200!
I'm stopping over from SITS.
Good luck with your contest.
February 10, 2009 3:04 AM

Winner has been emailed and has 48 hours to contact me.

The Waterfront

So a full box of Kleenex, several doses of Tylenol and a finally broken fever! I was feeling somewhat better and my husband had cabin fever, we decided to venture outside. It is the first sunny weekend day here (that is somewhat warm too) in a while. First in the year in fact. So we decided to enjoy it and so we headed down to the waterfront.

We weren't there very long before bagpipes started to play; and while some find this to be beautiful music... I do not. Sorry I just don't get the unique sound and it translate in my mind as noise. That being said, we want to expose Ace to many cultures and newities and so we walked closer, although certainly not necessary we could hear the pipes loud and clear from where we were. However, smokers decided to light up right next to us with OUR BABY! Seriously? People like that piss me off. I wanted to walk up to them and sneeze all over them, because while what I have won't kill them it certainly won't make them feel good - just as their smoke isn't healthy for us to ingest and I find it equally as rude as blatantly sneezing on someone!

Anyway - I took a video (on my phone so please excuse the picture quality) and if you are NOT a fan of bagpipes then I'd leave your speakers on mute, as all the audio is the bagpipes. Ace's general thought was confusion... but in general he had a bit of a scowl to him once he woke up. He's just so expressive and sometimes it's really funny the faces he makes. Part of it was that bright light in the sky... it's called the sun Ace. Yes, I know you haven't seen that much before. It went away very shortly after you were born, son. I promise though it does come out semi-regularly in the months to come... so perhaps some baby shades will be in order.

In lieu of our regularly schedule programming....

In light of feeling down right exhausted, sick and dying... I thought what a wonderful time to take you on a tour back in time. No need to get up to 88 miles per hour or to get that flux capacitor to work just yet. Back in time where? My blog silly! I thought I'd take you on a guided tour, feel free to wander around on your own too! Some old, some not so old. But to give you a little insight into me over the last 5 years of my blogging life. In no particular ranking order I give you a bit of me.


Best of... (This is the label link to Best of 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 & 2008!)

WORST FLIGHT EVER (not for those with a light stomach!)

Eating their Feelings!

A labor of Love

Myspace & The Library

Wordless Wednesday

A trip to Boston with the girls in 2006

For more Wordless Wednesdays click here.

Tuesday's Tribute

Today I thought I'd do another tribute - because today's date happens to be somewhat significant. Today is my daddy's birthday. He would have been 61 today. I often find myself thinking of my dad whenever I see the time on a clock read 2:17. Most of the time it makes me smile, thinking it's our own private connection still. It's been a long three years that he's been gone; some sad days, lots happy, and lots of life lived without him to share it with.

My dad was an amazing man. He grew up in the south, met my mom in college, she gave him mono and then not too long after that they were married. They moved to California and moved into the house I called home not too long after. A year later I arrived. I was Daddy's Girl. Now being from the south my dad had an accent - over the years it lessened but being Daddy's girl - I still to this day say certain things with a twang or a drawl and it gets worse when I'm tired. I don't drink milk, I drink melk. I didn't have a dog growing up, I had a dawg. I don't get tired, I get tiard. Although my dad had his own word such as rurnt as in you won't ruin it, and pillar more commonly known as pillow. My dad worked a lot when we were kids, but always had time for camping trips and time with the family. I remember trips with his ham radio club to breakfast and then out to adventures of hunting down the signal. He would put up the tent in the backyard for us, he helped out with Girl Scouts by showing us how to fix cars. He was a loving father.

It was 2002 when my father first admitted he wasn't well - really he went until he was almost done. He was diagnosed at the time with emphysema and osteoporosis. My dad was a lifetime smoker and it ultimately is what killed him. I despise smoking. As time went on he had waves of good days and bad. Eventually he had to quit working and go on disability as he just wasn't able to do it. He was put on oxygen full time. He ultimately ended his battle in January 2006 with his family around him until he took his last breath. While devastated we were at peace that he was no longer in pain. He lived a good life.

He walked me down the aisle in 2004. He watched me and my brother graduate. He did not get to meet his grandchild(ren) but Ace has his eyes. He loved with his whole heart from everyone around him to every stray animal. He is my daddy. I love and miss him every day.

Awards!

I love award shows! I love the red carpet shows beforehand and I love to watch (most) of the speeches. I think the Golden Globes is my favorite because it is a bit more relaxed and almost anything can happen. Anyone remember when the Christina Lehti won the Golden Globe in 1998? Oh man so funny, and WOW I didn't realize that was 11 years ago! Classic - but don't get me wrong the Oscars are amazing too... I think my favorite thing about the award shows since watching is the DVR! Yes, while i enjoy *most* of the speeches there are a few categories and acceptance speeches that I couldn't care less about, so it's GREAT to be able to fast forward in certain parts :) So why am I babbling on about award shows when the Oscars are still a few weeks off? BECAUSE!!!

I won my first blogging awards!!! YAY! I am sooo excited and honored! Julie over at Every Day is a Crazee Day presented me with these award last week and I wanted to be sure to take good care to properly thank and do the award justice. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I was NOT in the bathroom at the time of winning these awards... I was MORE likely changing a diaper! ;-)

Here are the rules for these awards:

1). List 10 honest things about yourself - and make it interesting, even if you have to dig

deep!

• I could eat McDonald's every day. I regularly eat it within the week.
• I desperately want long, stick straight (like hop out of shower it dries that way), DARK hair... but my hair is super wavy and won't hold color for longer than a week. One out of three ain't bad.
• I have had over 100 xrays/mris but never had a broken bone.
• I have tried and failed at learning three musical instruments: the flute, violin, and piano. I have no dedication to practice and for sure NO natural talent.
• I started a book club because I love to read and discuss books with others.
• I once made a bet with a boy in my youth group that I wouldn't go a month without shaving my legs and he lost and had to shave his (it was December... way to think that through guy!)
• I stayed up for 52 hours straight (after several weeks of late nights) finalizing my final paper for Legal Writing and got a 98% on it.
• My favorite area of the law to work is estate planning as it covers many issues: family law, real estate, property, business...
• I can distictly remember waiting for my dad to come home from work one night to head to a father-daughter ho-down and attending that event. It is one of my most vivid memories from under 12.
• I met my husband 3 months after a bad break up and the first thing he heard from me was me telling the group the soap opera of a summer I had just had... I'm surprised he ever spoke to me again. :)

2). Pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap.

KDLOST at FROGGITY (We have much in common and I love her tales of morning adventures and her shared obsession with Lost!)

Lori at Livin' in a Fishbowl (A dear friend of mine from college who is amusing and heartfelt in her sharing of her struggles and triumphs in life.)

Stacy at That Luce Girl's Art (She's so crafty! Check out all her amazing works of art! She's so versitile too.)

Piera at Jolly Mom (She has wonderful giveaways for moms AND great opinions on different products! Check out her Make Something Mondays.)

Rachel at Following In My Shoes (I just love every post she puts up. They are always witty or insightful and lots of fun to read. Her daughter is adorable!)

Kristen at La Dolce Vita (I love her featured readers AND her jewlery is so wonderful! Check it out!)

Carey at Not Quite Martha Stewart (Her blog is so much fun and I love Adam's reviewing/approval of blogs! It's too cute. I not-so secretly hope that one day he approves of mine!)

Stock in Tissues?

Yep I'm contemplating it - one because we seem to be going through them excessively fast this cold & flu season and two because my son is fascinated by them and enjoys whenever possible pulling them out one by one and only occasionally trying to eat them - delightful!

We've had some illness passing through this house over the last couple of weeks. First I had a fever and felt rundown - although I've since attributed mine to mastitis not sure if I'd rather have that again or the full blown flu... holy crackers was that NOT fun at all to endure... but I'm better and then last week launched into Ace's sad state.
While out shopping with my friend Vanessa and her daughter Sabria - Ace picked up some sort of stomach bug. He while in his car seat/stroller rig vomited (out of a dead sleep!) ALL OVER himself, the seat, the (non-removable) straps... I had to pour water onto him to clean up some of the mess. He seemed more than fine with the vomiting repeatedly all over himself. So we ordered (did I mention we were in Starbucks?) since I was at the counter when he did this... they gave me the water and a towel and I picked him up and toted him to the bathroom to strip him down and change him into the spare outfit we had. I then went to work on the car seat while Vanessa held him.... and repeat step one... all over himself, Vanessa and my hand. So in the middle of Starbucks I strip off that onesie and there my boy sits in a diaper and a blankie. A while goes by and this boy is decidedly hungry, so against better judgement I let him eat... as soon as I sit him up everything else comes up with him soaking the blanket and the hooter-hider. We have now exhausted my already ill-equipped diaper bag of all things clothing. Vanessa to the rescue! A lovely maroon and pink outfit with ruffles and flowers to boot! I put it on backwards to spare him some girlie-ness. In the end those three rounds of export were all that he endured and after a 2 hour nap (unheard of by this boy!) by the end of the night he was playing around with his dad in his girl clothes.



By the end of the week Loving Husband was feeling bad and today he's even worse. We're hoping that the family is feeling better soon and that we don't continue to pass around whatever unique bug(s) that we already have had. Ace and I are off to get dad some Jamba Juice!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day from us to you!
(picture from 2007)

Happy Valentine's! Love, Ace

I can do it myself!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Ace has taken on the stubborn streak that he surely did not inherit from me. ;-) He is already trying to do things himself - including feeding himself his rice cereal and green beans. But for several weeks now he has really wanted to use a cup. Is 5 months old a bit young for cups? Well Ace doesn't seem to care about standard rates of milestones and he has been grasping for our cups for several weeks now. The following was taken when he was just a little over 4 months old enjoying an EMPTY cup of ours.



Then we decided to try and give him a little water - I tried to help... but he decided he wanted to do it on his own.... the result was as follows... :)



So off to BRU to solve this problem! and thus a sippy cup is our new favorite friend. Now it doesn't mean that he drinks much (if any) of the water, nor does it mean he chews directly on the water releasing spout, no the bottom of the cup or the handle itself will do just fine from time to time. He's a pretty easy going guy, and now only mildly reaches for our drinks before giving up and going back to enjoy his own.

Wordless Wednesday

Any Resemblance?

For other Wordless Wednesdays click here.

Baby bonked...

Yep that's what happened today. Ace is enjoying tumbling all around on the floor these days and so he's becoming quite independent. He is also quite determined. Also he's kind of bossy. While on the floor scooting around he is yelling at his toys to fall in line (or something like that.) Yes, my son yells at his toys. I wish we had a translator to explain to me what exactly he's saying to them. Sometimes his yelling is hard to distinguish between frustration. I am not the mommy to instantly rush and pick up their child as soon as he gets frustrated (no judgment if you are that mommy) I usually let him work out his frustration, if possible, by allowing him to roll over, etc...

During his playtime I was taking this time to use two hands to do some blog-commenting! So my eyes were not permanently pasted to my child. I glanced up a few times to ensure his frustrations were well within his control and continued to type. At the time I saw him nearing his giraffe at the edge of the blanket. He really was trying to get himself over to his giraffe. He seemed to be traveling to it just fine - until the frustration started - I didn't look up immediately and I think that resulted in a few bonks before the meltdown. Yes, my baby hit a roadblock and being the determined ::cough:: stubborn child-of-mine he is he tried to break through that roadblock to the detriment of his head. Yes he was stuck from reaching his giraffe by the rocking chair - he was banging his head against the foot of the rocker - ouch! He had a big red spot where he had bonked his head and he had big tears and wails to accompany it.

It was very sad and in addition to the pain it was almost nearly nap time, so our expression of pain was even more dramatic. He eventually calmed down and nursed himself to sleep... the picture is after his nap so the dramatic red is gone, but there is a mark above left eye closer to the hair line. I think it is a bruise for him because he wimpers when he touches it. This is the first of what I'm certain is only the beginning of many bangs, bruises, cuts and scrapes for my inevitably active boy.

Tuesday's Tribute

There are many things that can be done on Tuesdays: tips, tackling household work, or today's choice - taking time to blog about someone else. - To discuss someone else rather than ourselves and our immediate circle of life around us. And thus today, I'd like to take this time to talk about my grandma.

She is a beautiful woman of God and she is loving beyond what seems possible. She always offers kind words to anyone that needs them, she will listen with the utmost patience - even to that relative that yammers on and on about medical conditions - she takes everything in stride and all with a Godly and loving attitude. I miss living close to her. When I was little I didn't attend "structured" preschool. I had my preschool in my grandma's family room. We sang songs together while I was on the swings in her backyard. She bought me a dress every easter, and bought me my most special dress: my wedding dress when that day came. She loves her great grandson with every ounce of her being. She is a wonderful cook and even on this last trip goes out of her way to make me the pancakes she's been making me since I was big enough to chew - she's the only one that can do it right. She is the backbone of our family. She is a blessing. You can hear her laugh even when she isn't around. She's traveled and lived throughout the world. She has a story for just about every subject. She is my Grandma.

200th Blog & A Giveaway!

THANK YOU FOR ALL THOSE THAT PARTICIPATED IN THIS GIVEAWAY!
THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED.

This here blog is actually number 201 - but in celebration of my 200th blog I decided it was time to have my first giveaway! I have truly enjoyed participating in giveaways (although never won anything, shucks!) and love the blog world and all the lovely folks that live amid here and so I thought it was time to give back! And what might you ask am I giving away? Well of course something from my Etsy shop: Ace Quilting. Particularly this hanging lavender sachet and a surprise second item!

The lavender sachet has about 2 tablespoons of dried french lavender in it with poly fill for shape. It measures approximately 4"x4" and is great to hang in your closet, door or even your car! Enjoy! If you'd like to purchase one, check out the store!

To participate leave a comment and let me know one of your favorite blog entries of mine.

Additional Entries:
BE SURE TO LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ONE THAT APPLIES TO YOU!
1. Blog about the giveaway with a link to The A-Priori Mommy and leave the URL to your post in the comment.
2. Follow on blogger or subscribe to the The A-Priori Mommy.
3. Add the "The A-Priori Mommy" button to your sidebar.

Up to 4 entries!

This giveaway will end February 21st at 11:59 PM PST. Winner will be chosen via random.org and will be announced February 22nd.
US entries only, please.

Rolling over and over....

So we've had the blog about rolling from tummy to back (left and right), from back to tummy, so how could I leave out a blog of him rolling all around?! Ace has learned to roll to get to things that he deems worthy of his grasp. Yep that's correct my boy is mobile! So far he's still pretty contained, but my days are numbered I know. You will notice near the end of this video he gets his knees up under himself... any time now he'll be on the go.

Enjoy the video!

Sick Mommy

This is a phrase that should never be uttered and clearly babies believe never should be true. Starting on Tuesday I started to feel bad. On Tuesday night I was running a fever, that broke sometime early Wednesday morning.. I was in a pool of sweat. Wednesday although feverless was certainly not much better and including still feeling achy and rundown, Ace was having none of it - he was fussy and irritable as if he knew something was wrong and was reacting oh and he was teething. Delightful. Today has been better but I'm still feeling bleh but today was a much better day with the boy. He was super happy and smiley, it was wonderful.

In other news Ace has enjoyed his first rash and his first taste of green beans. Interesting combo, but not related. Ace got a rash on his tummy from a shirt - I *oops* didn't wash it before putting it on him and it was a bit more abrasive of a fabric than he typically wears - but it seems to be better today so nothing too extreme After the rash (as to imply not the cause of it) Ace enjoyed a tiny bit of "Green Beans & Rice" mixed into his rice cereal. He really enjoyed those bites, but mostly ate the rice cereal. Tonight however I broke out the same jar of green beans (and rice) and he ate it all! He might have kept eating if there was more to have, but the jar was done and I was worried about a fountain of green revisiting us in the most unpleasant manner so that was all he consumed. Success! No returns on his part and no poor side effects either - green beans seem to have gotten the Ace Stamp of Approval. Excellent!

Excellent! It's so great that solid food has been going so well. So far we're only eating "dinner" as our solid food time of the day - we'll implement a second feeding soon but I'm waiting until after he hits that six month mark. Not too much longer from now which is so hard to believe!

Ok the boys asleep... in his OWN bed (next to me) ... so I should head to sleep myself.

Wordless Wednesday

Peek-A-Boo

For more Wordless Wednesday click here

GAM '09 - February Edition

Ok! January is done and over with! My January goal was to get my Etsy shop Ace Quilting stocked with some inventory and up and running - and I have done a fairly decent job at that to date. I hope to keep up with the progress of getting things posted and more importantly sold! :)




February's goal for Vermillion Rules! has been set and now it is my turn to set my February goal! After much thinking and contemplating - I've decided that my goal for February 2009 is to get my closet organized and get all our clothes put away! Now it might not seem like that excitable or challenging of a goal, but if you recall these pictures you can only imagine what the closet itself looks like - it's far worse. I'll get a before picture up soon - or perhaps I'll save it for the grand finale in March :) Suffice it to say it will be anything but an easy task 1) because there's a lot of clothes and 2) I've already exhibited very little motivation in this department. So we shall see!

Happy Ground Hog Day, everyone! That hog better figure out that winter is over because I am so done with snow around here it's not even funny.

February?!

Really? 2009 is off to a rolling start and what a year it's been so far. Ace of course is growing and evolving into a little boy every day. Daily I can see the baby leaving him as he grows into a pre-teen! Ok ok it isn't that bad, but still - he's growing up so fast! In January we have experience the first haircut, first "solid" food, first tooth! In fact we've experienced all of that this past week! Yep, Ace after much teething has finally cut his first tooth. I still haven't gotten a clear view of it - but it's certainly there when he chews on my finger.

Today was a lovely day, although a brisk 45'... Loving Husband, Ace and I enjoyed a walk to the local coffee shop about a mile away from us. It was nice to get out and walk around for a bit. Tonight I worked on my Etsy shop and got a bit more inventory listed. I believe that I have certainly achieved my January GAM. I'll have to think long and hard what my February goal will be - it's a short month, I'll figure it out sometime later today! :)

I am so excited today for my dear friend Lori and her family! They have been chosen by a birth mother and are going to adopt a baby boy that is due to arrive at the end of February! I was so excited when I read the post that I squealed out loud, waking up my very sleepy boy who was snoozing in my lap. Oops! It was totally worth it because they have been waiting for so long for their second child to bless their lives! Congrats! I can't wait to watch little William Matthew grow up just as much as I've enjoyed watching Garrett grow! I also need to get started on another quilt. Perhaps Matthew will get his before his second birthday.

We did our taxes and I have to say I love having a house and a baby as deductions! It is certainly nice to be done with them and not have to worry about all that until next year.

But seriously, how can it be February already?! Ah well - before I know it I'll be saying the same thing about March, April... and so on!