Because a 7 month old isn't enough to keep us busy

This is what we are doing this weekend.. Is it strange that we are actually excited about it?
I'll probably be off-line for a few days now, will post when the floors are done!

A few firsts

Ben gave Kai asparagus for the first time last night and this morning he kept talking about how bad his pee smelled.. If that is the price we pay for having a kid that will eat asparagus without a fuss, I'll take it! Kai has not really turned away from any of the foods we have offered so far, although I am sure it is just around the corner. He doesn't seem to be too fond of bananas (?what!?), but will eat them fine mixed into his cereal and he doesn't quite know what to do with anything hard like a cheerio or a teething biscuit.. He puts on a look of confusion and just spits it out, like this:

Our green bean monster

Life will never be the same.. & I'm so glad..
{in love}

58 minutes left of my birthday!

Just thought I would give an update of my fabulous birthday. Kai did eventually stop screaming.. but was pretty cranky all day actually.. which is not normal for him.. teathing maybe? constipated? something sure was up, but hopefully we'll get back to being the happiest baby on the block tomorrow.

I never did get through my yoga time, didn't read, go to lunch with Kelly or nap, but we have plans for lunch tomorrow, and I will read at least a little bit I promise.. I did however get my vehicle tags (nothing like the last minute!) had a fabulous dinner with Ben AND had 3 {yes - three!} cupcakes.. I also did get something I've been wanting for years, and no, it's not the zit.. I'm in my 30's for goodness sake - will they ever go away?

Today I am 32

Yippeee! It's my birthday :)
Ben made me these fabulous Chocolate Carrot cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting..
um, yummo.

Today I want to :read: :do yoga: :nap: :go out to dinner with Benny: :go out to lunch with Kelly: :eat cupcakes: :try to pretend Kai is not the screaming banshee upstairs:

So far I have:
- started a 30 minutes session of yoga 2 hours ago.. I am 20 minutes through..
- eaten a cupcake.. and about to go back for #2 to block out the screaming banshee

Special Deliveries

Kai received four fabulous books today from Amazon from a mystery giver! Eric Carle/Sandra Boynton and more.. If you are the one who sent the books - PLEASE let me know so I can properly thank you. There was no packing slip in the box and Amazon can't help me..

We also received a book from Toys R Us about a month ago that was not meant for us, (Psycho-Cybernetics anyone?) but when I called them they couldn't help me either.. So someone may have also sent us something from Toys R Us that never got here.. oye vey..

Mystery gift givers please make yourself known! I really do want to thank you :)

**Update: the givers have been found!! Thank you!

Adorable

Don't you just want to eat him up?
and no, HAHaHA, Ben did not knit this hat.. although he probably could, b/c he is an awesome knitter.. we got it at the Children's Place.

Yoga

Seven or eight years ago {wow, really?} I went to my first Yoga class which was held at a local middle school as part of the community night courses. I think I paid $40 for 6-8 weeks of classes which were held in the library, all the tables and chairs pushed out of the way, stacked on top of each other, sometimes with people between the book isles. The class was packed & I was hooked. I would go home and practice my balance poses and I could feel my body getting stronger, more flexible and amazingly, I felt more calm in everyday life.. it was probably all that breathing the teacher made us do. :) My practice has definitely ebbed and flowed over the years, taking classes off and on, mostly when I can find a community course to sign up for. I even made Ben take one with me when we were first married.. I also made him take a dance class.. he really does love me :)

Anyway, my problem is that I don't understand why I can join a gym for $30-40 p/month and yet if I want to take a yoga class from a studio in my area it costs $18 and up! PER Class! So, if I want to go once a week it costs significantly more than my unlimited Gold's membership. Argh. I do understand that going to a dedicated studio will give me access to much better teachers and will advance my personal practice which is exactly what I want, but I just can't afford it.

There are a few centers out there (NY & So CA) that are community based and charge a donation of $10 p/class. I wonder if changing up the concept a little more and just charging a monthly fee for unlimited use, like a gym, would actually work? Why can't it be both a drop in fee of $10 p/class for those who only want to go a few times a month or don't like to commit to anything AND offer a monthly unlimited for like $50.. even $60 would be a bargain compared to what is currently available, but I still think too expensive. My understanding of yoga is that it is to help bring peace to all who practice, teach kindness, humility, charity and recognizing the Devine in each of us. Why is it priced so that only the rich can afford to learn? Why is it not available to everyone? It doesn't take anything but a mat and a teacher.. really, not even the mat is necessary.. just the right attitude I suppose.. and a teacher..

Is anyone interested in learning yoga anyway? Maybe it is just me.. I would need members to fund my little dream studio.. ?volunteers?

Namaste

He slept ALL night!

So Kai has been sleeping through the night technically I suppose.. he can go about 7 hours usually and I think that is considered "sleeping through".. But, we are still waking him at 10pm and at 5am to feed him, which is on our schedule, but it doesn't seem like sleeping through to me.. and liquid cereal is considered a solid, which doesn't make sense either, but whatever.. Anyway, he went to bed kind of late last night, woke about 12:30am to fuss for a few minutes, put himself back to sleep and didn't wake up until 8! YIPEEEEE! We decided not to wake him at 5, just to see what would happen and I still can't believe it :) & he woke up happy, which is pretty much in my top 5 favorite things in life so far..

It's Festival Season!

I just love to go to outdoor festivals. I love finding new ideas in local art, the people watching is always great and just strolling with my hubby in the sun makes it perfect. Last fall Ben got me my first turquoise necklace, several years ago in Miami we bought a piece of art by Jonathan Blum similar to this one..kind of.. and I recently made a diaper bag after being inspired at a Piedmont Park show, can't remember her name, but would surely give her props - very creative.
The next show we will be at is the Inman Park Festival the end of April. Inman Park is a fabulous neighborhood in town and they do a tour of homes as part of the weekend, we can't wait!

Ridiculitis #2 & 3

These two scenarios just happened minutes apart.

#1
Preface: I am the one in our relationship who throws things out. I do not like junk, clutter, maybe-one-day-I'll-need-it stuff. Ben hangs on forever and ever and ever and we are constantly battling over this. Here in our conversation ensues in the kitchen as we are baking a cake together, awww.

Me: So we need to get new batteries for the camera, right? Yesterday I threw out the dead ones that were in the camera and I tried the ones in the cupboard, but they were dead too.
Why were there dead batteries in the cupboard? Why didn't you just throw them out?

Ben: I thought maybe they just needed to rest for a while.

WHAT?

#2
As we are working on the delicious chocolate hazelnut cake {yum} we get to where we have to fold the chocolate into the egg whites. Folding in seems almost impossible to me with only one person b/c how in the world do you slowly add the chocolate while you are folding with the other hand? I am just not that co-ordinated :) So Ben ends up folding while I hold our really heavy pan in my weak left hand & scrape with my right.. It is getting REALLY heavy and I say we should switch jobs b/c it REALLY hurts now. He says "well, I think you should be the one to hold the pan b/c you are the one who goes to the gym. And, I just finished folding the laundry so I have recently had practice folding and I am very good at it." a few minutes later.. "I am also very gentle and this is a very del-i-cate job"

Uh huh.
love you honey, my delicate hubby.