Trip to Houston

This weekend, we went to Houston to visit the Eidson's. While Sean was gone helping his parents buy a car, I stayed at their house and played with Stephen. We had a nice time with all the Eidsons and came back to Dallas on Sunday afternoon. On the way back, there were so many wildflowers, especially bluebonnets in bloom. Sean said, while they are beautiful, they are pure allergies. Unfortunately we did not stop to take a picture of them, but Stephen was asleep at that point and we decided to press on. Stephen found his toothbrush a comforting toy on the ride.
Stephen also stole a piece of banana from me while I was eating and started to gnaw on it, but when I tried to mash up some and give him that via a spoon, he didn't like it so much. He also had fun gnawing on a pineapple part that was long so as not to choke on it. I ordered those neat pacifier mesh things that you can put food in and then the kid can suck/gnaw on it without fear of choking.

AFI Film Festival in Dallas Opening Night 2008

Last night, Sean and I went to the opening night of the American Film Institute (AFI) International Film Festival in Dallas. It is the second annual film festival for Dallas and has had a huge increase in the number and quality of films. This year, the opening film was the directorial debut of Helen Hunt, in a film called, And Then She Found Me, starring Helen Hunt, Bette Midler, Colin Firth, and Matthew Broderick. Mickey Rooney was also honored. He droned on enough during his acceptance speech (it was majorly awkward) enough that his wife had to come up to the stage and get him. He talked about how lonely the film industry was and how you just wanted someone to love you for who you are. The after party at the original Nieman's downtown was fun. Apparently I did not get the memo to wear a short, very fashionable shift dress as the majority of women there, but I think I looked pretty good and I also don't need/want to look like the majority of the women there. :) We had two additional celebrity sightings: Bill Paxton, a Fort Worth native, and Josh Brolin.

Target was a presenting sponsor of the film festival and so the Target dog was there doing tricks and posing for pictures. I don't know how they got that red on his eye but I expect that it is all kosher with the SPCA.

Favorite Toy

Stephen's favorite toy today? A toothbrush.He can grab it easily and it must feel good in his mouth.

4144 Emerson

Introducing....http://www.4144emerson.com/ and more photos of our project. It is now finally done, with just some minor touch up work to be completed. I'm extremely proud of Sean and our builder Mark. We've learned a lot in a good way in doing the project.

Outside Photo Session

Today I learned that to do "real photography", I should probably get a fancy digital SLR, but I don't want to spend the money on one until I learn everything that my Canon point and shoot can do, which is a lot. We had fun outside on a beautiful day where Stephen was a ham for the camera. I think this is his, "I'm ready for my head shots" look in case we want him to be a baby model.

Sleeping Angel

My sister Lilli asked me recently if Stephen slept with us. He doesn't usually until about 5:30 or 6:30am. In fact, one day last week, Sean asked if Stephen could sleep with us, so he got him out of his crib and took him to bed. Stephen woke up and cried. Sean put him back into his own room and crib and he went to sleep immediately. I said, "I guess he likes his own bed" He does like to have family time in the morning in our bed, although he isn't really cuddly during this time, its fun. Last night, he slept until 5:30am after a couple of weeks of not sleeping though the night because of the darn stomach bug and it felt so good for me.

For naps, he sometimes sleeps on his back and sometimes on his stomach. He doesn't use a pacifier anymore, just his fingers, and yes all of his fingers as he never really found his thumb. I've been inspired by some blogs with excellent photography to experiment with the manual settings on my camera.

Dallas Blooms at the Arboretum for Easter

The Dallas Arboretum has their annual Dallas Blooms festival in March and April. Sean and I enjoyed a very leisurely afternoon having fun with Stephen and a picnic lunch. Stephen liked to investigate all of the flowers and people there. It was very crowded, but the Arboretum can absorb that many people. Stephen is going through a growth spurt, today he is eating about twice or three times normal; we've finally had to supplement with formula, which Sean calls, "the devil's juice".

Spring has Sprung

My sage has sprung again. It looks so yummy. I usually grow sage, basil, rosemary, and mint in my herb garden. Sage and rosemary do so well here in Dallas. I dry the sage and give it to my mother in law, for use in the Thanksgiving stuffing...yummy.

Happy Birthday Granny Smith

Happy Birthday to Granny Smith today. Your presents are in the mail and you should get them on Friday, but right now your present is a picture of a beautiful, smilely, happy, well grandson. We went on a walk today in the Baby Bjorn because it is gorgeous outside today after yesterday's thunderstorms. He was very happy to get outside, as you can see.

Gas

Wow

Sean always asks me why I want to vote for this man...I think this might say it all. If you don't want to watch the whole thing, read the transcript

a little better

This morning Stephen and I went to a Saint Patrick's Day parade. Then when we came home, we took a nap together.

Nothing to do but wait, and play with Cheerios

We went to the doctor today and she said there's nothing to do for his stomach flu but wait it out and he's hydrated. He's still losing weight, but not enough to be concerned about; she said, "he'll just gain it back when he's feeling better." We have been just sitting him in his high chair and letting him play with Cheerios to see what he'd do. He likes to eat the table or at least put his mouth on the edge of the table and then sometimes, he'll just try to rake the Cheerios into his mouth, but all of them end up on the floor or on his seat. We know he's not ready for solid foods, and especially since he is sick, but it still is fun while we are eating breakfast. It's frustrating knowing that there's not much we can do for him while he is sick, but just let it run its course.

Still Sick

Stephen is still sick with this stomach flu. If he is sick tomorrow, we are going back to the doctor. I ended up going on Tuesday because I just thought that he'd better get checked out, to see if he was hydrated enough etc. He weighs 13 pounds now; he's probably lost some weight due to this awful bug and he had a low grade temperature. They did not seem worried though and told me that it can last up to 10 days. Unfortunately, he gave this bug to Sean and the entire Eidson family that was here last weekend, but strangely enough, not me. They have all gotten better, but Stephen hasn't. We'll see tomorrow what happens.

Property Staged

The condos look gorgeous.

He's happy while sick

Grandma Eidson fixed Stephen's sweater that Shelby's friend Amy made for him, so now he can wear it and it fits over his head.

Stomach Flu

Last Wednesday, Stephen got sick with the stomach flu and it has continued, with lessening severity. I've been calling the pediatrician a lot; they have a service called "an advice nurse" that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week where you can ask questions such as, "should I be concerned if". They said that as long as he's hydrated, he'll be fine, not to worry, and that he doesn't need to come into the doctor. The service is free, we don't pay a co-pay to use it, it is just part of the pediatrician's services. Sean just said to me, "if they had an advice nurse for everyone, we would save billions in healthcare expenses" I think this should be included into every presidential candidate's plan.

Naked Time with Grandma Eidson and Aunt Summer

Tummy Time Series

Cousin Kate's Wedding Video

We all had a good time at Cousin Kate's wedding reception in downtown Houston this weekend. It was wonderful to see both sides of the family. Stephen had a lot of fun dancing to the music of the Grammy nominated Lost Bayou Ramblers and even kept time with his hands.

Primary Election Voting

I was number 258 to vote today at my local precinct. It was my old one in University Park, which is a smaller, unincorporated part of Dallas County. There were almost no Republicans there. Last weekend reports said they expect almost 500,000 people in Harris County in Houston to vote.

Snow in Dallas in March

This is evidence that it did snow last night, enough to leave a small amount on the ground this morning

Problem Solving

Stephen decides that instead of crawling toward an object during tummy time, he'll just use the quilt to move it toward him.