Where Bailey Goes....

Because they are totally buds.

Two Words

Disney. World.

Okay. This is obviously going to be a post that's more than two words. But those are the most important two. For years we have discussed taking the girls to Disney but we've never been able to either come up with or justify the large chunk of cash it would take.

It all started during the superbowl when Darrell saw a commercial for the Universal Heros Sweepstakes. (I don't know if anyone remembers the one with the kid going through the streets in the superman cape.) Well, sometime around April I think he got an e-mail that he was a winner of a trip for four to Universal Studios in Orlando. Round trip airfare, hotel and park tickets. Well, after lots of waiting for news, we finally got a letter with details and Universal helped us set up our travel dates. They kindly gave us the dates we requested, even though they didn't fall in the 8 week notice they require and what's more, they set up our airfare so that we can stay in Orlando for an entire week. This will enable us to spend a few days at the Universal Parks and then head on over to Disney.

Now, I know that sounds a little wrong, but we fully intend to enjoy Universal Studios. We'll go to the parks and play in the pool and spend many, many dollars on their wonderful food, I'm sure. But it would be a travesty to be so close and not go see the wonderful world of Disney.

So, after we've soaked up all we can at Universal, we're going to get in a cab and head over to Disney World. We've booked our rooms and paid for our meal plan. We're slowly starting to map out our itinerary.

We're so stinkin' excited.

And so very, very blessed.

Tipping the pizza guy

So Saturday night we decided to order pizza, which is not so different than any other weekend.  We paid with a check card but I had a couple of bucks in my wallet so I got one out for the tip.  I distinctly remember it being a crisp, new bill because it was kind of thick and hard to separate from the others of its kind.  Sunday morning Darrell asked Bailey to run out and take the pizza boxes to the trash, and seconds later she was back in the house yelling ‘look what I found on the ground!’  It was a crispy new dollar bill that had been loosely crumpled and she was so excited about it that she’d dumped the pizza boxes on the ground and had to go back to retrieve them once she calmed herself. 

 

Darrell’s speculation is that the pizza guy, who apparently gave a bit of a dirty look when handed the dollar, crumpled it and tossed it away.  I hope that’s not the case and the poor guy just missed his pocket as he was putting it away.  But the fact remains that the dollar I gave him seems to have somehow ended up on the ground (either that or a really weird coincidence took place on our front porch.)  And the question is now on my mind.  How much is an appropriate pizza delivery tip?  We have always tipped a dollar usually plus the silver change.  (IE if it’s 18.75 we give the guy a $20 and tell him no change.)  I figure that since the pizza place is already tacking on a $2.00 delivery charge (Actually that’s the low end of the spectrum) they should be responsible for giving their delivery personnel a decent wage.  If we order pizza and it’s sleeting, or the guy has to brave a tornado to get it to us we gladly bump it up to at least $2 depending on the level of peril he had to endure during his journey. 

 

If I’m wrong, someone set me straight – please.

 

Honestly I could be stuck in a time-warp where a $1 delivery tip is parallel to leaving two pennies on the table for a bad waitress.  I’d be the first to admit that I’m still not really used to how much things cost these days – I get rudely jerked back to reality every time I ‘pick up a couple of things for dinner’ at the grocery store and make a $50 dent in my checking account. 

 

And lastly, I have to say that if this alleged act did occur, I would find it despicable.  I think any person who is busy working for a living deserves a certain amount of my respect and I wouldn’t ever talk down to or in any way be purposely offensive to them based solely on their station.  However, I would find it incredibly offensive if a person holding the title of pizza delivery agent thought him or herself too good for my $1 tip.  =) 

 

PS - I know it’s all hypothetical because we don’t know what happened.  It just got me thinking, and when I think, I ramble.  What an unfortunate discovery for the suckers who have made it to the end of this post and are thinking they will never get that five minutes of their life back.  My apologies.  To the rest… how much do you tip?

Father's Day

Of course today is Father's day. I know it's all about Darrell but it's kind of a particularly cool day for me considering I now have the most precious gift, AKA Ethan, to thank him for. The girls and I shopped for an OU polo that he's been wanting, and I had also picked up a shirt and tie that he'd had his eye on (which he discovered on his own even before they leaked the secret to him. I was notorious in my family because of my knack for guessing/discovering gifts. I have nothing on Darrell.) I feel like that was a woefully small offering compared to what he deserves. However, to compensate I did pick up an ice cream cake (his request) and managed to successfully put a big breakfast on the table. He requested french toast which I had never made for him (and required an early morning trip to the store to find the right bread after I realized my misdirection yesterday) and all the regular breakfasty things like scrambled eggs and hashbrowns and bacon.

Darrell's Dad made an appearance after church and we cooked out. He's not always overly involved when it comes to family so we actually haven't seen him for a couple of months. I'd say it was a mostly pleasant visit but the coolest things that came out of it was him letting me scan a picture of Darrell as a baby that he carries in his wallet. It's probably one of the only pictures of him in existence now, at least as far as his dad knows. We need to ask some other relatives (Joe??) if they have any pictures of him as a baby or little kid and try to build a little history.

Anyway, take a look:

All day I've been looking for a picture to illustrate how much this looks like Ethan, but I can't find a good one. The thing is, it just does. He's my boy and I know him. The little smile, the slanty eyes and the cute, pookie little cheeks. I don't think I have any pictures of myself quite this young but I know the resemblance isn't nearly as strong.

So yeah, Boy looks like his daddy :)

Mr. Ethan's mobility is becoming an increasing problem around here. Despite the middle of the living room floor being a smorgasboard of toys he is constantly exploring the outer limits. His first destination is the stereo on the entertainment center (mommy having moved all of the small things up high.) After being repeatedly pulled away and smashing his face into the carpet screaming, he sets his sights on the opposite end of the room which opens to the kitchen. He power scoots accross the carpet and if he doesn't get distracted by any flip-flops lying randomly around he finds the dog's water waiting enticingly just past where the carpet meets the tile. He splashes around in it until he gets rudely interrupted by mom, dad or one of the sisters and repeats the crying screaming and crawling back routine.

Someone told me recently that babies don't have object permanence which means they don't keep the image of a person or object in their mind but regardless if Ethan has the exact object in his mind, he sure knows the locations he should head toward for some extra thrills.

So today, after spending a good hour crawling around on the floor and chasing Ethan around the living room, I moved the pack and play from its seldom used spot in our bedroom out in front of the fireplace. I really don't intend for him to spend his every waking moment there, but I need him to have a 'safe space' so that I can use the bathroom with a little peace of mind.

Speaking of peace of mind, the girls have been a tremendous help with the baby since they got here for the summer. They are big enough, and he is big enough that they can safely move him around, and he's so interactive now it's much more fun than when he was tiny. Of course we've had to have several safety centered talks about dos and don'ts, and from my observation it seems like they've absorbed at least most of what I've told them. I trust them to the point that I'm willing to leave him playing with them on the floor while I go take a shower, and they're careful not to get distracted and leave him alone. In fact, this morning, with Darrell still asleep they convinced me it was okay to leave them with him while I ran to the store so I didn't have to pack them all up and drag them into the store at 7:45. In truth I know they just wanted to play Super Smash Bros. in their PJs, but I went ahead and trusted them, knowing Darrell had already been awake and wasn't sleeping too heavily. When I got home, Ethan was cranky and they were both lovingly bent over the swing where they had put him. They were duly concerned but neither of them acted panicked or like anything was terribly out of the ordinary. Darrell was in the shower and had no idea I'd left. Oops. I figured for sure he'd hear the garage and didn't go in to tell him that I was leaving. They did a good job though, and it seems like they always do, despite the little jealous comments they have made to Darrell. I don't know what's up with that but I hope we can work through it soon...

And speaking of responsibility, I was pretty impressed with the girls ability to keep things together Friday night when Darrell and I were both hit with some sort of little bug. Probably the same thing that sent Ethan home from daycare Wed after having reportedly been throwing up. Ethan was fine with Darrell all of that day aside from some diarreah, but Friday Darrell woke up feeling bad, and it hit me a couple of hours later. We both worked a full day but by the time we got home we needed some sleep. Darrell got a nap in, then mowed the yard while I put the baby to sleep and then we both hit the hay around 8. Bailey had been doting on us, bringing us glasses of water and getting blankets when Darrell mentioned being cold, and after we went to bed she came in a couple of times to check on us -- interrupting my attempts at sleep but her intentions were good at least. For an 8 and 10 year old who have a hard time remembering to brush their own teeth or turn lights off when the leave a room, they came through beautifully. They bragged to us the next morning about how they had locked up all the doors and turned the TV and all the lights off before putting themselves to bed. I do remember them sneaking in for their hugs and kisses at some point.

Anyway, we were both nearly back to 100% by Saturday morning so it was thankfully very short-lived. The girls didn't get bothered by it at all, so that's a very good thing.

Okay, this post has become a novel, as often is the case, but what can I say. Sometimes I just have a lot to say...

PS - Liz since you borrowed a page out of my blog book recently I decided to borrow one from yours as well :)

Seven Months

It's hard to believe that my sweet boy will be seven months old in just less than a week. He's now an official member of the 'big babies' since he is sitting up and scooting around the room with pretty decent ease. It's almost a little sad, although when I see him chilling out on the floor with a bucket full of little toys dumped over in his lap I can't help but get all warm and fuzzy. Even better is the smile he breaks out in when he sees me.

I absolutely love my life.

Here is a picture I took a few weeks ago. Ethan is already taking lessons in the fine art of video game obsession.

And a couple of Ethan that I took yesterday.

Playing so hard is lots of work.

There is a reason why I never make decisions. Especially when it comes to "where do you want to eat." See, I live under this curse which causes my 'choice' to suddenly have a case of the worst service or quality ever. It happens all the time. It's like my own little Murphy's law. If I ever actually choose something, whatever can go wrong will.

Take Primos. I LOVE Primos d'italia. They have this great herb bread loaf that's all warm and soft and... well, herby. Perfect oil, good service and an absolutely amazing pasta dish: Asiago Spinach Pasta, which has spinchach and chicken and all sorts of goodness in it. I love this place but Darrell, who introduced me to in to begin with, is less into Italian than several other choices so I usually try to get my friends to go with me.

So, my rotation is ending and the office I'm working in wanted to take me and the other intern out to lunch and wanted us to pick the place. I tried to get out of it, I really did but when someone brought up Primos I just said "let's go there."

So yesterday was the lunch. It was awful. The bread was crusty, the service was slow (even though there was a table of 16 of us, the place was pretty empty otherwise), and the kitchen was out of Pineapple. They brought all the plates out at random different times so some of us were eating and some were watching others eat. The worst though was Stan, who is my cube-mate. He didn't get his food until the rest of us were nearly done eating. He ended up asking for it to go and thankfully they had the good sense not to even bring him a bill. But seriously.

Anyway, that's not the first time. Seems like every time I take someone to a place I enjoy I end up apologizing for it... what is up with that?

Anyway, having lunch away from the office with everyone was nice. Even our squadron director came, which I wasn't expecting. It's interesting to see how different personalities can be away from the pressure of work.

Now, on to the weekend! Ethan is feeling much better, having shared his cold or whatever it was with me. The girls want to have a cookout with Marty and Reanon and the kids so we'll probably give them a call and see if they are busy and then tonight we will probably go to the Drive-in Movie theater and see Night at the Museum. I'm a little nervous about how EJ will do since it doesn't start until 9 pm, but I'm hoping we can just get him to sleep through it. Other than that I think we'll be doing some housework, yardwork and general all around work. Have to get the girls ready for their day camp that starts on Monday. So, yay.

Six Month Portraits

Darrell took Ethan and got his pictures taken for my Mother's Day gift. I was appropriately thrilled, especially since Ethan had been sick. Here are a few of the shots I loved the most.

This one was the main shot that he picked out. Love the little sideways grin.

The Scooter

Ethan has finally picked up the art of scooting. It's hilarious, he looks kind of like a seal, arching his back and relying mostly on his arms and body movement to propel him along. After a couple of days he is now beginning to get his feet into the action, but just barely. I've got to get a video before he reall picks up the technique.
His first instinct when he sees something he wants is still to roll, which of course puts him farther away, but really he's getting better.

Said child just spit up on my leg and then took off accross the living room floor after something that interested. ...one minute while I investigate a noise coming from a spot beside the couch which I can't see... Oh joy. He scooted to the kitchen and discovered the dog water in the time it took me to write a couple of sentences.

Redirect, redirect, redirect..... My mantra for the days and weeks to come is already playing in my head like an annoying song.