Squirrel!

I love that movie, Up! It so describes my life sometimes...look a Squirrel.

Distractions are prevalent.

My boy is one. I can't believe he is so big. And seriously tall. He's in the 92nd percentile for height. But skinny. Only in the 44th percentile for weight. I kind of worry that he's too skinny but he eats as much as we give him. He's definitely an active little guy burning those calories.

Funny Face

Shoes!

His favorite toy.

I'm Not An Environmentalist...But...

I don't know how comfortable I am with the idea of a genetically engineered fish. I mean, I guess it's not that big a deal considering that scientists have been modifying genetics this way or that for decades in all kinds of foods. But for some reason it makes me a little nervous.

It sounds so sci-fi, but really genetically "modifying" something could be as simple as withholding light at a specific moment, or adding light, or just feeding them a slightly different food. But this isn't that simple. This is actually a fish with the genes of a salmon and an ocean "pout". That's messing with nature in a much greater way.

What do you think???

His First Fair

Oh boy. Yesterday we went to the Puyallup Fair.

I wanted to go last year when I was uber pregnant but the doctor threatened me - if I went into labor up in Puyallup I had to go to the hospital there and that would mean a strange doctor delivering my boy. I was not having any of it. So we skipped last year. First time in ages I didn't go.

So I was super jazzed this year because I knew Marshal would be old enough to have some fun. And he did! :) He barely made a peep the entire time - he was so busy taking everything in. I don't think his head could spin fast enough to see everything at once.

The draft horses really threw him for a loop. But he especially loved the John Deer tent, which was the only "stuff" other than food that we bought the whole time were there.

My first tractor!

Aflaaaaaccccc!!!!

Whoa.

Big horses.

It's the great Pumpkin.

Needless to say, we had a great time even though it was raining most of the time and I was kind of miserable by the end of it. I hate being wet. And, being true Washingtonians, we did not have an umbrella with us. We even sat out in the rain to eat our food! :)

The one thing I wished we had visited was the petting zoo. We went through the barns but you're not allowed to pet the horses or cows. We didn't see the petting zoo until we were leaving and by that point we were done. Maybe next year.

Cell Phone Issues

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Boost Mobile. All opinions are 100% mine.

Way back when hubby and I were reviewing our cell phone plan we signed up for 700 minutes and unlimited texting. That was when I worked full time, sitting at a desk all day, and mostly used my phone to call hubby and let him know I was leaving work.

Now, I'm full time out and about on my phone a LOT. Well, guess what? I totally spaced about only having 700 minutes - between the TWO of us! Yeah. When the bill came I was a little shocked. It was $134 more than normal. Ouch.

Yes, it was my fault. I should have paid more attention or had something like Boost Mobile and their Re-Boost program. I wouldn't be in such a pickle.

Re-Boost allows you to add funds to your phone anytime. You can even set up a payment plan where you only pay for the minutes you use - which means no going over your minutes. How nice would that be? You can pay on-line, in-person, or pay by phone. It's simple to sign up for the Reboost program if you're already with Boost Mobile - just go into "My Account", enter your phone number and pin, and then just "add money"...so easy. And if you aren't with them yet, it's just as easy to sign up - pick your plan, activate it, and done.

I am seriously tempted to switch to Boost Mobile...$60 for unlimited text, talking, and web even with the Blackberry phone like the one I have. That is a lot less than what I pay now. If I did switch, I'd probably move from the blackberry to the Motorola i1 Android type phone. It looks sweet with a touch screen and 5MP camera. Plus there are a ton of accessories you can get to go with it - from a Scan disc memory card to supr cool over the ear head phones.

I use my phone for so much more than talking. I check e-mails and love to know when I have a response on Facebook. I'm not a huge Twitter-er but that is something I know a lot of people do from their phones. And I so wish my Blackberry had a better camera, but I do love the full keyboard. The touch screen keyboard isn't my favorite.

So if you're in the market for a new phone, and possibly a new carrier, take a look at Boost Mobile and their options. They will keep you in touch with friends on Facebook and Twitter while still giving you the minutes you need to work. :)

My Baby Isn't a Baby Anymore

He's not even a year old yet and he is entering toddler-ville. He's defiant. He's curious. And he's walking! I still am in awe of this little guy. His intelligence is frightening sometimes.

I'm starting to TRY to wean him off of certain things...like being rocked to sleep. The last couple of nights I've rocked him as usual for a few minutes, letting him have his bottle. And then when he's done with the bottle I rock a few minutes more but when he gets squirmy I move him into the crib.

Of course, all hell breaks loose. But two nights in a row he's actually EVENTUALLY gone to sleep on his own.

And in less than a month he'll be going to regular daycare. I'm terrified. I love that he gets one on one attention from his sitter every day. And she's completely flexible. Now he'll be going to "school" twice a week and back to his nanny's three times. I am worried it will screw up his schedule and make him ... I don't even know. Upset his routine somehow.

Crazy right? I just want him to be healthy, safe, and happy. The school we've chosen isn't bad. I'm just anxious.

My baby is growing up...much too quickly.

One Benefit of Not Blogging

Less Spam!!!!

My rankings must have plummetted over the last few weeks because my spam comments have gone way way down. So there's that. :)

I'm Such a Slacker

No, really. I haven't fallen off the face of the planet. I keep thinking of things to blog about but by the end of the day I'm exhausted and my brain shuts down.

It's not just blogging. Our house has gotten systematically messier since I left my old job. How that's possible I'm not quite sure, but it has. I figured I'd actually get to make my own schedule, and include house cleaning in that. Not so much.

We did at LEAST eight loads of laundry in one day last weekend. I did two more during the week. It had piled up so high we had to walk ON it to get to the washer. *sigh*

It's probably not hard to imagine that our eating habits haven't exactly been superb. Eating out is one of my pet peves. It drives me crazy and I do way too much of it during the day, let alone in the evenings. But we're both so tired after work that it's snuck back into our way of life and I'm tired of it. Not only is it expensive but it's not healthy (especially since we both like things like pizza or chinese food).

So I think we're going to go back to Dinners Done Right. We did this several years ago and loved the food. You actually go in and prepare it yourself...all the ingredients are there for you to put together. I realize it's lazy - yes I could go find the ingredients in the grocery store, buy them, and make them at home. But I think we've established at this point that I WON'T do that.

By default, it's worth the (a little less than) $10 a meal that it works out to be for the two of us. It's less than $5 a person per meal if we get the 12 meal package and prepare it ourselves. It's more if they prepare it for us, plus I like to leave some stuff out of the mix.

We still have to do sides, but for the most part that's not a big issue. We always have pasta or potatoes and I think I can manage to start getting some veggies on the plate. I think.

Other than the craziness, life really is wonderful. I've never been so busy and so happy at the same time. I absolutely love my job - it's challenging, fulfilling, and has actually gotten me out meeting people in my community. Have I made much money? Um...no. But I expect that will come with time. It's only been a little over 4 months. Believing in the programs and services and having a great company stand behind me helps a lot though.

For now we are going to have to try to economize...which I realize sounds funny considering we're going to do the Dinners Done Right thing again. But in reality, it's a lot cheaper than spending $20-$30 for take out/delivery every night. We are trying to cut the budget and this is just going to have to be one small step.