Pill's Place

Buddies

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:34:00 +0000

When I got Barley I was really hoping for one big thing.....a playmate for Whisky. While I have wanted another dog for myself for a while, this pet was really more about giving Whisky a buddy. I was once told by someone, "Don't get a dog for your dog." That person was an idiot. Barley was EXACTLY what Whisky needed. He needed a four legged friend, he needed a playmate, he needed a buddy. If there is any doubt as to whether or not I made the right decision I'm pretty sure that this will put that to rest.

Whisky is so happy and content now and Barley is the best friend he has been wanting for a very long time.

Houston we have teeth!!

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:29:00 +0000

Today the tooth we have been waiting on finally popped through. To me it felt like the final tooth. Now, I know I'm kidding myself because there are still 4 final molars to come in but I do feel like we are on the home stretch. The end is in sight. The end of stuffy noses, chest coughs, ear infections, fire butt and crankiness. Now, I know I'm still kidding myself because even without teeth those things will visit us again but HOLY SHIT it feels good to know we don't have to worry about incoming teeth for much longer!

Post Holiday Wrap Up

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 19:26:00 +0000

Today I FINALLY marched my butt into WW to hit the scales. I haven't been there since Nov. 30th. Part of me didn't want to worry about the holidays and part of me was avoiding. I had given myself a 2lb comfort zone. While at the end of vacation I weighed myself and was up 4lbs. I didn't get upset, I just said F-it. I had fun, I enjoyed myself.

When I went into WW today I realized that I had only gained 1.4 lbs! Below my set limit! I was so happy I wanted to do a dance. I was probably more happy than any other person that hopped on the scales that day to learn that they had gained weight.

Here's to a great holiday without the worry of weight...something I hadn't had in a very long time!

Bubbly

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:23:00 +0000

The birthday got remarkably better once I drank a bottle of bubbly!

Happy Birthday to Me

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:00:00 +0000

Today is my birthday. I am 36 years old. Let me tell you how I have celebrated so far.

I woke up from a dream this morning in which I got gang raped and my hubby decided to file for a divorce because I had slept with other guys. Lovely.

I was in such a great mood about it that I realized I better get to the pharmacy and refill my anti-depressant. Yep, cats out of the bag folks...I'm taking an anti-depressant. It was so uplifting to stand in a line on my birthday to fill that prescription. Lovely.

It was early so I decided to head to Kohl's and use up a gift card that I got for my b-day. I won't even begin to describe to you what happened to me at Kohl's but I will tell you I spent that gift card on new underwear. Lovely.

At lunch I decided to treat myself to a McFlurry from McDonald's. I got in the drive through, placed my order and was told, "Sorry, we're all out of ice cream." Lovely.

I got back to work and decided to try again to place an order on Macys.com for a cute pair of clearance boots since it didn't work earlier....again another gift card. I've spent the last hour arguing with Macy's that their gift cards only have 18 numbers but mine has 19....even though when I call their gift card balance system it takes all the numbers and tells me what I have available. I then decided to call into Macy's and the genius I got on the phone there was happy to tell me, "Well I can see you have a balance available, even though our cards really are 18 digits, but your items are not available any longer."

Lovely.

Happy Fucking Birthday to me.

First Haircut

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:45:00 +0000

I've had far too many posts on this blog relating to my child's hair, so I promise this is the last one. Well, you know, until the next one. This weekend I decided that it was going to happen.....the first haircut! His hair was just getting far too long and too poofy. While I loved the curls, I didn't want him to have little girl hair and if I cut his bangs again he was definitely going to have just that. My fears....what if the curl all got cut off? What if he screamed and cried the entire time? What if the stylist cut it too short? What if it looked horrible?

I'm sure there were more fears but you get the picture! I got a recommendation for the Davis Barber Shop and decided it was time to go. I took my niece along with me for moral/emotional support. This place was classic. It had old time barber shop written all over it, but was definitely kiddo friendly. I got a nice before shot in one of the old barber chairs.

When it came time to cut it Leyton sat on my lap and we busted out the portable DVD player so we could try to distract him with Elmo. It took me, Elmo and cheese puffs but I'm happy to say there was not a single tear shed.

The barber gave him the exact cut I wanted and he still has the curls! I'm so glad that I finally got the guts to have it cut, I'm absolutely loving it.

Leyton got a first haircut certificate, but I think he was happier about his first lollipop!

20 months

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:33:00 +0000

I'm not sure why, but 20 months sure snuck up on me. I know for sure we are finished with the monthly shots. I'm glad I did them for a full year and I take so many other shots of Leyton that I know we get one every month. It's just so dang hard to get him to sit still for the monthly pic.

I can't believe that he will be 2 in 4 months. Didn't he just have his first birthday? I'm already planning vacations in April and July so the month of May is going to sneak up on me in no time.

Man oh man, where did my little baby go?!

Mommmmmmmyyyyyyyy

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:55:00 +0000

Right now Leyton is going through another mommy clingy stage. If I even walk to another part of the house all I hear is "Mommmmmmmyyyyyyy." At night when I put him to bed all I hear is "Mommmmmmmmmyyyyy." When I tell him to hug his Daddy all I hear is "Mommmmmmmmmmy." It's not that he wants me to pick him up, it's not that he really wants me at all. He just needs me in his site at all times. Even in the back seat of the car he will call out and all I have to do is turn around and smile or reach my hand back and he will hold it.

While he's gone through these stages before this one is somehow more intense. He won't socialize or hang with Daddy at all and oh is that hard on Daddy. While he also knows it's a phase it sure is hard to be shunned by your child. Tonight they will be alone together so I'm hoping perhaps that helps us get a little past it.

It's hard to know what brings these on, but of course I'm going to go with my stand by and blame it on teeth. There is only one left (well aside from the second molars which come way later or with luck NEVER). This one is hanging on, dragging out and making him miserable. This morning he woke up with his signature runny nose, cough and fire butt which can only mean one thing....the damn tooth is about to break through.

Lord help it happen soon or I'm afraid this might not be just the dog kennel.

Creative FAILURE

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:55:00 +0000

This Christmas I was NOT CREATIVE. I did not make any vows to buy or make as many gifts as I could. I simply was not motivated enough to do so. Sadly, it left me feeling pretty lame. The closer it got to Christmas the sadder I got that I hadn't made a single item.

So, when I was told just before heading to Washington that my nephew only asked for one thing for Christmas I got really excited. The only thing he wanted, the thing that was on the top of his Christmas list....was a shark hoodie. like I made for Leyton for Halloween. Thing is, my nephew is 28.

In two days and all by hand with just one small straight line stitch on the most classic sewing machine I have ever seen I created the most epic shark hoodie that I could.

I made some slight modifications from the one I made Leyton to try and make it easier where the fin was concerned.

With all the needles pokes to my fingers I was so happy that I stuck to it and got this made. The look on his face when he opened the box was classic and the laugh only made it that much better.

That is what Christmas is all about.

Happy Birthday!

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:47:00 +0000

Today is the hubs birthday and I was SO UNPREPARED. In fact to be quite honest, I was maybe not the nicest wife this morning and was GRUMPY. Not until we were literally saying goodbye to each other outside did I even remember that it was his birthday...which is sad because we are just a week apart and I should remember these things.

So to celebrate he received 4 packs of gum, a 6 pack of beer, a giant balloon and a card. Whoa Nelly am I ever creative. I did however run home at lunch and whip together a crockpot of carnitas and I picked him up a cake.

Because who doesn't want to slice into a strung out M&M that looks like he's coming off of a bender on their b-day?

Now introducing.......

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:09:00 +0000

Barley!!!!

Yep, we decided that our family just wasn't big enough so we went and got a puppy! Well, to be honest...we've talked about another dog since Leyton was about 6 months old. While Whisky has been great with Leyton he has also be noticeably sad and lazy. Maybe a bit depressed by the attention that the baby gets. I didn't know if getting a second dog would help, but on a trip to Tahoe I saw how happy Whisky was with a dog friend in the house and I knew right then it would happen.

Then it just became...puppy or adult dog? I knew I would adopt from a shelter for sure. The more time went on the more I started leaning towards a puppy for fear that an older dog might bite Leyton and I would never know until it was too late.

When we got home from our vacation and I started looking and almost immediately found this cute little guy. He is 14 weeks old and a Heeler Hound mix.

We've named him Barley to stick with our beverage loving theme. Nothing makes you seem more like a drunk than a dog named Whisky and a dog named Barley! So far things are good and Whisky is SUPER happy to have a friend!

We are dealing with the normal puppy stuff, but also what a sweet sweet dog this little guy is. So loving!!!

I'm happy to have another baby in the house, even if it's of the furry variety!

Vacation

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:17:00 +0000

Wow, this may go on record as one of the longest times I haven't done a blog post. Going into vacation I realized that I just didn't want to blog. I didn't want to spend each day thinking about what I would write about that day. Trust me when I say....there are a TON OF THINGS I could have written about. Vacation with the Ball side of the family is always good times. Tons of laughter. Tons of relaxation and just tons of love.

Now that I'm back it was hard to decide what to do. Do I go backwards and share with you some of the stuff that happened? Do I post it on the day it happened to fill in the blanks that have occurred in the past couple weeks. It was then I realized that it just didn't matter. For the first time since 2006...yes I have been blogging that long....I'm not going to worry about the blanks.

So, here is a photo heavy post of some of my favorite moments from vacation. There are so many things that I didn't get to take a photo of, and there are some things I might come back to later, but for now....enjoy the show.

Going for a walk

Loving his Cousin Mike

The morning hair twins!

Land Shark

Where the fuck am I going to wear this?

White girl overbite while sledding!

The most handsome husband on the planet.

Walks to the beach.

Daddy leading the way.

Not too Shabby......

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:50:00 +0000

It's been a while since I've done any sort of weight loss picture, post, update, etc. I've been meaning too, but other things just pop up. Obviously we are in the not so weight loss friendly time of the year. Starting with Thanksgiving the snowball rolls down the hill through holiday luncheons, Christmas and then New Years until it is the size of an SUV.

I don't want to be an SUV, but at the same time I'm not going to kill myself to try and be a SmartCar either! So, I have given myself a pass. A pass to make wise choices but not stress out. That pass is 3lbs. So, for the past couple weeks I have gone up and down the same three pounds. If I can do that through New Years I will be a happy camper!

Recently I won something I have coveted for a long time.....a Shabby Apple dress. Natalie's Sentiments was having a giveaway for a dress that I knew would be a perfect style for me. I won. I ordered the biggest size they had, an XL and looked on my porch every day hoping it would be here in time to wear for the holidays and hoping it would FIT.

I must say, not too shabby!!!

Some Light Hearted Christmas Reading

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 04:48:00 +0000

My Mom recently sent a little care package to the house with a little touch of Christmas for Leyton inside. Some holiday pj's, some holiday music and two holiday books.

Classics really.

I didn't think he'd be interested in them because they are a bit wordy, but after a couple different attempts the other day he finally sat through them and I got to see them in their entirety.

It was during my reading of "A Christmas Carol" that I realized these books might be a little different. To start, this book is written in rhyme. Now at first that seems fine. Gives it a jingle. Makes it fun for Leyton to follow along to....a Dr. Seuss touch if you will. It was when we got to Tiny Tim that I first said "huh?"

For those not familiar Tiny Tim is ill and handicap in the story "A Christmas Carol." He is in this book too, only it's put in a different manner?

I quote:
"Tiny Tim," said the Spirit, "will always be lame. But he still is cheerful despite his great pain."

Now, I know they had to rhyme with pain....but seriously....lame?! Not sure that is quite appropriate?

I quote:
"It spoke not a word and seemed to be dumb. It was the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come."

So, if you are handicap or sick you are lame and if you can't talk you are dumb?! Man, the lessons my kid is learning from this book are fantastic! Now, don't get me wrong....I know both of these terms were PC at some time but I'm thinking this might not make the must read at Christmas list.

Thankfully the "Twelve Days of Christmas" had the lyrics that I always remember it happening. I just question if these Lords are really a-leaping?

Wowza.

Craigslist Etiquette Part Deux

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 04:29:00 +0000

If you read my last post, you probably figured I had all the rules covered. I figured at that point I had experienced all of the ridiculousness that Craigslist could provide. I had experienced the flakes, the low balls, the please delivers. It couldn't get worse.

Trust me, Part Deux means it can. The stupidity is about to hit an all time low.

Here's the deal. I have a food processor. A REALLY NICE food processor. I got it with the intention of making Leyton's food. It was a birthday/Christmas gift last year and seemed like such a good idea at the time. Up to that point I was making all of Leyton's food in a small blender sized food processor. What I didn't realize is in just a month after getting said item....Leyton would start solids and my need to puree would come to a screeching halt. I kick myself everyday that we got this food processor. So, the obvious idea was sell it on Craigslist. I knew I'd only get half of what we paid for it at most, but I could use that money to buy something I would use and still have money left over.

Unfortunately I kept getting low balled. Finally I realized that maybe I was just going to have to drop the price a bit lower. I got emailed an offer and accepted. I should have known when it was pointed out that it was a "cash" offer we were in for trouble. I'm pretty certain the last time I checked bartering for goats ended sometime in the last decade.

I had said buyer meet me at my house. I have a dog that barks like Cujo so this has always seemed like a safe option and I always meet buyer out front. Buyer came, cash was exchanged, item left the premises. I have to say I had a big sigh of relief that it was finally over.

Two hours later my phone rang. It was buyer. I ignored the call and figured he could leave a message. Moments later, there was a knock at my door. I figured it was the mail man and kept working. When I looked up towards the front window, instead of seeing the mailman walking across the lawn...I see buyer at the front window.

I went outside to figure out what the problem was. Now, this processor is made by Kitchen Aid and is called the Advocate Professional. Mr. Buyer took this to mean this was a commercial grade processor and when he noticed on the bottom of the processor that it said "Household Appliance" he accused me of falsely listing my item as a professional item...when really it is not worth as much. All it would have taken would have been for him to GOOGLE the name of the processor...which is printed RIGHT THERE ON THE FRONT and he would have seen that what I listed is exactly what I sold.

Apparently though, what I didn't realize all this time is that Craigslist has a return policy. If you buy something that you have buyers remorse about, even if the item is EXACTLY what the seller said it was, you can go right back to that person's house and get your money back! No receipt needed. Just peek your face in their window and voila!

Lesson learned.

Cool tricks. Cool tricks.

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 04:12:00 +0000

I figure we are just moments away from me discovering he has removed all his clothes.

Bond

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 04:08:00 +0000

Leyton and Whisky have a great bond.

No matter how much battering that dog takes, he is never far from Leyton's side.

I wonder why?

We love Santa!

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:00:00 +0000

Last year Leyton went and saw Santa and this happened......

A happy drunk looking Santa and a happy little baby.

I knew this year was going to be different. I knew Leyton was likely not going to be quite as happy to see Santa.

Let's face it, Santa doesn't look all that happy to see Leyton either.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:52:00 +0000

How dead are your branches?

It's official. The Christmas tree is dead. It has just as many branches without needles as it does branches with. It is brown. I sweep up at least this many needles every day.

So much for my $10 Wise Buys savings. I now have a dead Christmas tree on my porch. Bah Humbug.

Bang!

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:48:00 +0000

Stressing out over a child's haircut is RIDICULOUS! Did I mention that yesterday? I was making myself sick to my stomach. Then I got a piece of advice. I had a couple people tell me "Just cut his bangs" but I felt like that would make him look even more like a girl. Finally someone said the most simple thing..."well, you have an appointment for a haircut anyway on Saturday...so if you don't like how it looks with bangs they can fix it."

Simple.

While Leyton was finishing his dinner I snuck up on him from the back and cut his bangs. He hated it, but it was so quick that he didn't have too much time to react. Know what? It looks fine!!! For some reason I was picturing these straight across bangs, but with the way Leyton's hair grows it just looks layered?

Needless to say our haircut appointment is cancelled and Leyton will continue sporting his long wavy hair for the time being. I know eventually it will have to be cut, but for now I'm happy. I promise, no more posts about ridiculous attachment to my child's hair.

The do.

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:10:00 +0000

I have a problem. I am seriously attached to my sons hair. It's ridiculous but I've heard that the first step in solving a problem is admitting that you have one? When Leyton's hair started to curl up I was so excited. Plus, those lofty beachy surfer looking waves suited him. I've gone all this time without cutting it. In fact, I really thought that it would get cut when he told me he wanted it cut. Problem is, now it's in his face all the time. The hair in the front won't curl in this cold weather and it makes me crazy. At home I just use a bobby pin, but if I take him in public like that he will get called a girl even more than he does now. So, there is only one solution. Cut the hair.

We have an appointment on Saturday. Leyton ABSOLUTELY hates when people mess with his hair so I can only imagine that this experience is going to be worse than when he has to get shots. I'm hoping they can keep it on the longer side, just trim it up. I'm hoping that the curl doesn't all get cut off as I've been told sometimes you do cut it and it doesn't curl again. I'm hoping I make it out of that salon without crying myself.

Ridiculous! Is there a support group for this kind of thing?

Don't worry....be happy.....just not too happy.

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:53:00 +0000

Yesterday on a visit to Target I left disturbed. I know that shouldn't even happen because Target is not supposed to be a place of deep thought. It's my one stop shop and I never wanted to add anything mental to the mix! The only thing I want to be disturbed about when I leave Target is how I managed to spend $100 every time I step in there.

Anyway, we have to tell this story backwards. So, we will start at the end.

I was checking out at the only register open that early in the morning. At the front of the store was a "personal greeter" saying hello to people as they came in.

"That guy is just too happy," said the checker. "I'm friendly to most people and can start a conversation with a stranger but it creeps me out a bit and makes me worried when someone is that friendly."

I myself, said nothing. I didn't know what to say. There were a couple things I wanted to do. I wanted to put a plastic Target bag over her head and then punch her right on Target to name just one of them. Instead, I just paid and left....disturbed.

You see, now we have to go back to the beginning. The part where I was standing at the dollar bins listening to a man in his late 50's talk about losing the job he had for over 20 years due to cut backs. The part where he looked for another job, anything really, just to make ends meet and not lose everything he had. The part where everyone kept closing the door in his face because they weren't hiring, although he really felt they weren't hiring people his age. The fact that he got to a place where he was so scared that his family wouldn't make it financially...........

and then...........

he got hired on as the Target greeter and has never been more happy to have a job in his life.

It made me so sad. Sad to know that we are at a place where most people are skeptical over the person that seems "Too happy." We think there is something wrong with them. Something to be suspicious of. They are weird. They are odd. They make us nervous or uncomfortable.

In a way, they are odd. Odd because most of us can't even remember a day when we were that happy so it looks completely foreign to us.

I've thought a lot about what I want 2012 to look like. What I hope to accomplish. I've even thought about making a bucket list. Now, I know.

I want to be as happy as the Target greeter.

Ha Ha Ha

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 04:40:00 +0000

Leyton has developed his "social laugh." For those that might not know what that is, that is the laugh that he uses when he wants to join in the laughter. The laugh he will give you if you ask him "Is that funny?" This laugh is NOTHING like his real laugh. His real laugh can light up a room. His real laugh includes the biggest smile on his face. I don't have video of this laugh yet, but you can tell from this pictures that he really gets into it.

His fake laugh includes faces that make you think he is screaming or in pain.

His fake laugh is all teeth.

His fake laughs makes me laugh so hard I almost wet my pants.

Bath Time!

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 19:20:00 +0000

Leyton's mood as of late has been STELLAR! He has been an absolute joy to be around this week, full of smiles, laughs, hugs and kisses. The tyrant that wanted nothing more than to beat the shit out of me or the dog has taken a back seat for the time being and I couldn't be happier.

Bath time has always been hit or miss for this dude. If he is not in the mood then HE IS NOT IN THE MOOD. Last night though he was having so much fun that I asked the hub to get the camera so I could take some pictures. He was laughing as I was telling him "ewwww" because he kept sucking bath water out of the washcloth.

Seriously, look at that mouth full of teeth!! The gap between the big one in the back and the front tooth will not be there much longer as more are working their way in now. Anyway, back to the bath. He was full of giggles and smiles. Then it happened. The smallest little grunt, but I knew exactly what was taking place. Of course, since I had my camera I had to document. Of course because I really need you to understand the joy of the situation I am going to share the picture with you. Turn away if you are squeamish.

Yep, my son took a dump in the tub. Yup, he also had corn the night before. He of course also found this to be the funniest thing EVER and all I could do was laugh.

Onto step two...drying off. Leyton HATES being dried off because he knows that eventually mommy is going to dry his hair. He does not like his doo messed with. I got Leyton a robe a long time ago at the Goodwill Outlets but didn't realized until last night that it probably fit. Holy solution to our toweling off problem Batman! That kid LOVED the robe. He just kept strutting around the house in it and the perfect part was, he kept the hood on so his hair got dried off.

Well, to be honest...the really perfect part is how freaking adorable he looks in a rob.

The Lake of Dreams Book Review

noreply@blogger.com (Stacey B) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:41:00 +0000

As a big fan of The Memory Keepers Daughter, I was very excited to get the opportunity to read and write a review for The Lake of Dreams.

Lucy is currently living in Japan with her boyfriend Yoshi, when she decides to go home to help her injured mother. She has not been home years, leaving shortly after her father's funeral some 10 years prior. Shortly after returning home she discovers some interesting letters and an old blanket and sets off to find out more details about the item. In doing so, she rekindles with her previous boy friend Keegan whom she left behind.

While at times I found the book a tad boring and full of unnecessary detail it was an interesting read. It was interesting to watch Lucy try to trace back through history to discover the true meaning behind the items she discovered and in turn also finding herself....even though it didn't quite end in the way I expected it to! I'll keep that to myself though as not to spoil anything for anyone. I would recommend this book to fans of Kim Edwards!

This was a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.