Sick!

Stink-eye

We have learned some new tricks in the Pruitt houeshold. And by "we" I mean "Jesalyn," but I guess that's a given nowadays right?  Anyway, she now knows some of her body parts.  We've been trying to work on this for a while now.  She knows where her eyes, nose, ears, feet, and belly are.  This kid thinks that belly's are the coolest thing.  And don't get her started on her belly button.  You ask her where that it and she immediately lifts her shirt and points to it and then she wants to go to everybody in the room and find their belly button (you are now forewarned.)  

I have taught her to hug.  Oh my goodness, it is the sweetest thing in the whole world.  She puts both arms around your neck and squeezes, just the right amount of pressure. Like she's giving you a hug, not trying to suffocate you =)  This is a pretty big deal for Jesalyn.  She has never been much of a snugglie baby.  She's much too busy to sit with you or lay on your shoulder, so for her to give you a hug, it just wants to melt you into a pile of chocolate on the floor.  

Another trick is she is still not eating.  Oh....wait....that's not a trick???   Right, that's just something she is doing to drive us completely crazy!  I'm seriously not exaggerating.  The only meal she will eat now is breakfast.  And that's because we give her something carby (e.g. biscuits, waffles...)  For the rest of the day she won't eat.  All she wants is crackers and milk.  She won't even eat her baby food anymore (which was always our backup if she didn't want what we gave her.)  I don't know if I've mentioned this, but she is getting four teeth in at once, four!! So, here's to crossing my fingers that once those molars come in she will get her appetite back. *please, let her get her appetite back!* 

By far, the funniest thing she has learned is what we call the "stink-eye." I don't know how to explain it without showing you.  It's the look you give someone when your mad at them.  Except she's not mad, she just thinks it's funny.  She'll give it to you and then flash you this big smiley grin. It's hillarious.  I've been trying to get a picture of her but she doesn't like to perform on demand like I want her to.  I finally got one, but it's not in focus and the lightings not the best, but it will have to do. So, just picture this 10 times better okay?

Just Because

Stress Induced Crazy

If you are friends with me on facebook, you may or may not have seen my post last week about "The Great Remote Control Search" underway in our household.  We've always had a problem, as I'm sure most households do, with keeping our remote control in one place.  It just always seems to turn up missing. I remember one time, about a year after we've been married it turned up lost. I mean, big time lost.  We searched and searched and just couldn't find it.  We ended up going out and buying a new one.  About a year later, I'm not exaggerating on this, I found it laying at the bottom of one of my laundry baskets.  *heres a some insight to one of my vices that not too many people know about.* I hardly ever fold my socks and put them in my drawer.  Because I wear sandals (aka flip flops) pretty much all year round, I never really need socks, except when I'm running and have my running shoes on.  So, I have one laundry basket that is full of random, un-put-together socks.  Underneath all these socks is where I found the remote control after all that time.  

For years, Jarrod has said that we just needed to tie the stinkin' remote down.  That way we will always know where it's at.  Yes, it sounds like a good idea but seriously, who ties their remote control down. We are adults here and that just sounds ridiculous.  Doesn't it?  Well, after last weeks huntdown for the remote control, probably paired with the stress of not finding a job yet and watching Jesabear all week, he finally broke down and did it. I came home from work to this:

 As silly as it is, I always know where the remote is now, and (don't tell him this) but it's kind of nice =)

In other news, Jesalyn has now learned how to climb into her rocking chair in her room.  She is still living up to that monkey name I gave her.  She climbs up into it and rocks for a while, and climbs back down.  I found her in her room the other day just sitting there so proud of herself for what she had done. 

**for those of you wondering, where we ended up finding the remote control last week: it was in the couch, where we had previously looked probably four times. =) **

CMA Quotes

I don't know if y'all watched the CMA's last night, but being from Nashville, it's kind of a big deal.  And not only do we watch it here, but we all talk/text/facebook/twitter about it while it's going on.  The following are some quotes from last night festivities.

"Why are the CMA's using the Star Trek symbol??"

"Man, Reba's boobs are huge!"

after Taylor Swift's Song "Back to December"

"I understand you're singing the word December over and over but the hook is 'I fell in love with you in the fall' how about some leaves?"

"Only Beyonce can do Beyonce."

"Kid Rock may be born free but he wasn't born Nashville.  They can have him back!"

"I'm over "I need you now" like I'm over Taylor Swift....Soooo over"

"I just cannot change the channel yet because I like seeing all the movie stars."

The names are not added to protect the privacy of the people who said them.   Feel free to add some of your own quotes from last night.

Food Schmood!

Okay, I’m begging reaching out for help here.  I’ve told you all that Jesalyn is a picky eater.  It’s getting to the point that Jarrod and I don’t know what to even feed here anymore.  Yesterday, all she ate, food wise, was a biscuit with jelly on it and part of a banana.  She munched on gold fish once.  So what did she fill up on?  Milk.  All this child wants is milk.  She won’t eat anything.  I tried giving her some corn, she ate 5 pieces and then spit the rest out.  I tried some of our pasta we ate for supper.  Ate 4 bites and wanted nothing to do with the rest.  She will normally eat bananas but only wanted half yesterday.  Maybe she’s coming down with a cold or something and just isn’t hungry but we are getting desperate.  I need any and all ideas y’all might have fixed for you little ones that they liked to eat.

 

Keeping it real...

I'm feeling very pensive today (I also think I'm getting over a bug or something.  Do the two relate? )
I woke up this morning and just laid staring at the ceiling.  I have today off so I wasn't in the "crap, I overslept!" state that I normally am in.  Jarrod was still sleeping and Jesalyn was in her bed stirring just slightly.  She wasn't awake yet, but I knew she would be in the next 20 minutes, so I just laid there thinking.  What I was thinking was "Am I happy with where I am in life?" Whoa, that's one of the big questions.  That's like a question you ask when your going through "the mid-life crisis" deal.   I'm here to tell you that there is a mid-mid-life crisis that most people go through.  In this crisis, your not tempted to go spend your life savings on a teeny tiny sports car (mostly because you don't have a life savings yet,) or to go and get a tatoo on your lower back to prove your still young.  No, this mid-mid-life crisis is after you've graduated from college/high school and have been in a job for a while and you stop to think "is this what I want to do for the rest of my life."  When you think of a career you don't normally think of changing jobs several times so you want to make sure your doing what you love.  Now, don't get me wrong, I like my job, I like the people there and the work isn't so bad, but am I going to spend the next 30 years there? Possibly.  I could do it.  There are definitely positions above me that I could work my way up to.  But do I wake up every morning knowing that I am living out my passion?  That I am helping people become better??  No.  All I can say is that I'm paying my bills by doing something that I don't hate.  Is that enough???

We are still in an apartment.  Don't get me wrong, there are days when I know that houses and nice cars are just...things.  What makes life joyous are the people inside those things, and the love that fills it.  And I know that it takes time to be able to save for a home, but at the same time, there are days when I don't care. I want a home. I want to have a place that Jesalyn can grow up in.  When she's older she can say "I grew up there" and be pointing to one place not several different places.

This mid-mid-life crisis is also a struggle with leaving the younger self aside and "growing up" if you will.  When you have a child, this pretty much finalizes it. No, they don't tell you this in Lamaze class or "What to Expect When Your Expecting" but since we are keeping it real....  I don't have to, but I will preface this with saying I love my baby girl more than anything on this planet. She is my world!  But, when you have a child, it's not so easy to just leave and go out for the night with friends.  There is a part of me that wants to "hang with the girls" a night or two a week.  It's hard to establish strong friendships with people when you're only available one night a month.  Yes, I could just do it, go out, but since I don't see Jesalyn all day while I'm at work, my only time to spend time with her is at night.  I would gladly miss any night out to see that sweet little smile looking up at me, or hear that amazing laugh she has, but it's hard not having any close friends near me (outside of my husband of course.)   I guess I need some mommy friends, or a babysitter.  That's the thing about living in a city with no relatives...no babysitters.  Jarrod and I don't even get to go out together. 

These are just some of the things that have been on my mind lately.  I hope it made sense.  And if it didn't, at least it felt good to get it out.  Thanks for listening =)

Mommy vs. Steve

 My daughter might possibly be learning to say Steve (as in Steve from Blue’s Clues) before she says mommy.  I know that I have previously said that she can say momma and she can, but for some reason she says it very, very rarely and it’s never when I’m around.  If you say to her “where is mommy?” she points to me, so she knows who I am.  And on rare occasions if she is crying, sometimes you will hear her say “mmommmmomm.”  But she has never….ever…put the two together.  Does this bother me?  Only sometimes.  I know she will say it in time.  I know that some syllables are easier to say than others.  I know that for some reason everything is “dada” to her…everything.  I know this…so I don’t let it bother me. Instead we make it a game.  We’ll point to her and say “Jesalyn,”  and she just smiles and pats her chest.  Then we point to Jarrod and say dada.  She pats his chest and says “dada.”  And then we point to me and say “momma” or “mommy,” and she pats my chest and with her sweet sweet voice says “dada.”  Does she do this on purpose?  Who knows, but she’s too stinkin’ cute to get mad =)  

The other day she was in her high chair, muchin’ on some gold fish and watching Blue’s Clues (her new obsession) and Steve came on the TV.  She got so excited.  Her legs started kicking and she started squealing.  Jarrod and I always try to be excited with her anytime she’s happy so we played right along; “yay, Steve!  It’s Steve!”  And then what do I hear come out of her mouth?  “Sttttv”   Jarrod and I look at each other to see if she actually said it.  She’s at the point now where she jibbers all day and we try to make out what she’s trying to say.   Jarrod looks at Jesalyn and says “ I think we need to learn to say mommy before we learn to say Steve.”       I mean come on!  Steve? I’m way more fun and cooler than Steve right?    We just laughed.  What else could we have done.  I can be objective and see that it’s funny that my one and only daughter that I carried for 9months and spent 15 hours in excruciating pain during labor with so she could enjoy this thing we call life, would say “Steve,” a man who dresses in the same clothes every day and who’s best friend is an imaginary blue dog instead of “mommy” first. 

Steve might have won the battle this time, but the war will be mommy’s!  =)

                   

                VS   

Halloween Time

Yes, I know I change my blog design the way I change my hair…all the time. What can I say? I get bored!  Halloween 2010 for us was busy.  I should have taken more pictures to document, but sometimes you just get wrapped up in the fun and forget to take out the camera.  This weekend, one of our friends, Kyle Weber, came to visit.  He came down to do a photo shoot, but stayed with us because you know we’re super cool.  If you haven’t seen Kyle’s work, you must check it out: www.kyleweber.com  He’s totally awesome and affordable too!  He even took some photos of us.  We are horrible parents and haven’t had any “professional” photos done yet, so we were pretty pumped to have some done.  Stay tuned for the finished product. 

Get ready to boo…we didn’t dress Jesalyn up this year.  I know, I know, but we don’t have family around here to show her off to and she’s not old enough to walk around and trick or treat or eat the candy.  So, we saved the money and just didn’t participate this year.  She did have a witch’s hat that she put on to help me pass out candy.  I, on the other hand, did dress up for Halloween, for work anyway.  I went as a 20’s flapper and my coworker went as the mobster.  It was a last minute idea, but I think we pulled it off okay.

On Saturday after work, we went down to the Franklin Pumpkin Festival.  It was fun, but super super packed!!!   Jesalyn tried a homemade donut for the first time.  Oh my goodness people, you should have seen her eyes when the sugar hit her lips.  She actually dived for another bite while Jarrod was holding it when he wasn’t feeding her fast enough.  This girl is her mother’s child I’m afraid.  She loves sugar, and all things carbohydrate.  I guess her dad is the same way. She really had no chance, poor thing. 

Speaking of food. I think I have the pickiest child on the planet.  This whole transitioning into table food has not been easy.  She is a texture girl so she’ll put something in her mouth and if you watch her face, it’s like she likes the flavor but then the texture gets to her and you see the food slowly being spit out of her mouth.  Or she’ll eat two or three bites of something and then all of a sudden, like it magically changes to something else, she decides she doesn’t like it, grabs it out of her mouth and throws it on the floor.    So frustrating.  This is the same girl we find chewing on carpet pieces and usb cords.   Things she does like?  Crackers…of all kinds, graham, gold fish, Ritz, saltines.  Bananas, cheerios, sweet potatoes, and she still eats her baby cereal/oatmeal.  Except now, daddy  puts cinnamon in it.  She is loving some biscuits with jelly on it in the mornings too.  Are you seeing the pattern? Carbs, carbs, and more carbs.  Non carb stuff?  Taco meat, apple sauce, we’ve tried green beans and corn.  Those are both iffy. She has to be in the mood for them.    She’s still drinking a bottle, but there is now milk in it instead of the formula (thank goodness!) 

She still has 8 teeth, but there is a 9^th one creeping in on the bottom.  Everything else is pretty much the same.

Here is a picture we took at the festival.  Doesn’t she just crack you up with the glasses and the “sassy” shirt?!