Web Diving

Sometimes I'll get started looking at one thing and end up in a completely different place. Leaping from one idea to the next is one of my favorite things making me think that my ideal job would be as some sort of researcher or fact checker. Today I was reading a post about supposedly haunted abandoned hospitals and started doing image searches on the places, I found some great images that I blatantly stole for the purpose of blogging with them. SSSSHHHHH.

Some of the images, like these suits left to decay are kind of creepy.
Then there were things like this beautiful fireplace where it's just sad to think of them sitting there rotting.
I just thought this was very creepy and lovely. Most of the old hospitals were tuberculosis sanatoriums's so they are full of windows.

But the pictures I liked the most were the ones showing things that were geared towards kids as in the below pictures.

The clown thing of course creeps me out the most.

Fun Stuff

I'm pretty sure I never put this picture on here and I noticed it on my comp today and wanted to share. Jason spotted this great graffiti a block or so from our house when we were out walking with Eli (when it was still nice enough to leave the house with Eli). It instantly became my favorite graffiti ever and I snapped this pic with my camera phone. We're going to be very sad if the city ever decides this doesn't qualify as art and paints over it.
This second thing I found while taking a Saved By The Bell quiz on http://www.mentalfloss.com/ which is one of my very favorite sites. They always have interesting articles and fabulous links. I did very well on the test and was so excited about this graphic that I stole it. I hope that you can actually purchase this on a t-shirt as this is my favorite ever episode of Saved By the Bell and Steph and I have been mocking it ever since I first saw it. Not that caffiene pill addiction is a laughing matter; once way back in 1995 I took two NoDoz and couldn't even blink for like 18 hours. Scary stuff.

Obsessed

I'm now kind of slightly obsessed with menu planning and am collecting recipes like a crackwhore collects- well you know what she collects. I've been going to Foodnetwork.com and Allrecipes.com and getting sent links from my internet buddies (thanks Shellie) for crockpot and casserole recipes. Who knew that I could enjoy cooking as much as I enjoy eating. My next round of new ventures includes eggplant parmesaen, cheddar apple quiche, and lime chicken thighs with jamaican rice and peas. My grocery list is just going to keep getting more and more interesting.

Eli has been fairly good spirited the past couple of days and is doing so well with his walking. Soon I'll no longer be able to call him baby Elijah but rather he'll be known as toddler Elijah, the thought makes me sad. He did wake up screaming twice last night, which is unusual nowadays. Nothing seemed to be wrong he just wanted tucked back in. Jason theorizes that he was having bad dreams, what sort of nightmrares do you think a baby has?

Stuff

Today I need to start by writing a thank you ode to our IT guy at work.

Dearest Darling Jeremy,
I know that I often make ridiculous requests of you, requests involving teaching me how to download the songs that aren't supposed to be on my computer onto discs which I will need you to supply for me. Or that week when I made you move my computer 3 times. And also I feel bad for that time I kind of backhandedly called you a rascist after learning that your pet ferrets (who you clearly adore) are named Boo and Whitey. Of course he's named Whitey, he's an albino ferret. Jeremy your patience with my shenanigans has not gone unnoticed and I laud you with thanks.

Emily

Ok, I feel better now.

In other news I started my plan to make a real meal every night this weekend. What money I had leftover after paying utilities is gone, but my freezer and cupboards are pretty well stocked with REAL food which makes my mom very happy and proud. I need to remember to clip coupons so I'm not spending so much, but I am saving money by eating leftovers instead of buying lunch every day. Tonight I'm making orange chicken ala Cyndie's recipe. If it sucks I'll surely let her know.

And in other new things news I'm learning how to crochet. Not being crafty has hindered my progress a little but today I finally learned how to make single stitches. You can see the evidence of this in the picture below. It's a blanket for Eli. It's shaped kind of like Italy and made of yarn that one of the supervisors dug out of her grandma's attic. I'm impressed with myself.

Your eyes aren't decieving you it's a blanket smaller than a piece of paper. And yes I am available to teach you how to make your own tiny blankets.

The February Blahs

For me February has always been a hard month, it's been winter forever (or at least it seems like it has) and we've got at least 2 more months of cold weather, zero sunshine, and ice to look forward to. As a teenager February was always the month where I cried the most and missed the most days of school. I still have a mix-tape (yes an actual cassette) of sad songs entitled There are 90 days in February. So maybe it was a blessing that Eli was born in my least favorite month. He brings joy to me daily in the schmaltziest sense of that already schmaltzy expression.

Showing off his new style yellow fuzzi bunz, looking dapper, he's actually lying down on the ottoman not standing up being gripped by his ankles.
Cuddling with daddy, one of his favorite things to do. Daddy can make him laugh no matter how mad Eli thinks he is.
Eli's new favorite food is spaghetti. He looks good eating it.

Here's a short video I took last night. We've been trying to catch Eli walking on camera for a while now and this doesn't show his walking skills to great advantage but he makes a darn cute face at the end of the video. And yes that is 90210 in the background.
p.s. spell check still isn't working. excuse all mistakes please.

My Temper Doth

Get the better of me sometimes. Like this weekend when my mother-in-law was visiting. I'm not going to get into it, it's been rehashed enough times in my actual life that I don't need to get into it online as well. Suffice it to say the visit didn't go well and I'll be feeling the repercussions for awhile. I thought instead that it'd be fun to discuss some previous blowups.

-I am 8 and I have a neighbor named Timmy. Timmy is spoiled and has a lot of toys that he is not obliged to share with siblings. One day Timmy is visiting (we rarely invited him to play but he often showed up) and is flaunting a toy in front of us and not letting us touch it. So I deck him. I hit him square in the face with all the force of my 8 year old spaghetti arms. It felt very cleansing until he scratched me with all the force of his uncut 8 year old nails. I still have a scar that runs down my chest and our mothers never spoke again.
-I am 20 and riding in Michelle's car on some sort of freeway, we have extended our vacation to the great annoyance and inconvenience of others. My mom calls (on my very first cell phone that we ran up a $400 bill for on that trip, hi AT&T!) and proceeds to tell me how irresponsible and inconsiderate we are being. So, I throw the cell phone as hard as my 20 year old spaghetti arms can. This feels extremely cleansing until Michelle's windsheild cracks and she's so startled that her car swerves into the other lane.

And there are a thousand tiny instances of me freaking out and screaming and behaving innappropriately. I've decided halfway through this post that they're neither interesting nor flattering. On to pictures.


We got Eli his very own baby cell phone for his birthday since he was always so fascinated with mine. He loves it! It was only $9 and you can bet your ass that should we ever lose it I'll buy two more.
I decided to let Eli have cake after all. We did it during his small party Sunday night. Jordin Sparks was singing the National Anthem before the game started and Eli was thoroughly enjoying this new addition to his life called processed sugar. He went directly into the bathtub after this.
After his bath and about half an hour of hardcore walking he passed out in my lap. of course thanks to the sugar he didn't stay passed out, he woke up at 1 am 3 am & 5 am. Annoying.
Also my niece is six months old now and very cute. I don't blog about her much but she likes me and I like her.

Excuse any spelling mistakes in this entry I can't get spell check to work.

Happy Birthday Baby Elijah

One year ago today I was in labor, at home, trying to wait as long as possible to go to the hospital. I also didn't want to miss Grey's Anatomy. One year ago I did not know what Eli looked like or sounded like or how much I would love him and how all consuming that love would be. Now I know.

May I present to you Elijah- a year in pictures (severely condensed)

At first he looked like this, not smooshed at all because i pushed him out like a champ.

At 4 days old it was already clear that he was the best looking baby in town

He loved daddy, a lot.

Sometimes he liked to play with my bra.

Sometimes he went a little cross eyed.
He started wearing cloth diapers and got vaccines

He fell in love with a stuffed monkey named Dangles.

We celebrated our first mother's day. Eli wore a funny hat.

He found his feet and decided they were excellent toys.

He learned about playgrounds and swings and fun in general.

He went to a Pirates game and didn't get too upset when they lost

He rooted for the Steelers and didn't get too upset when they lost either.

He dressed up like a monkey

He took a lot of naps with daddy, less with mommy.

He met Santa and was not entirely pleased about it.

He learned to crawl and cruise and play and brush ladies hair.

He got heartbreakingly adorable.

New Safety Measures Implanted

Eli still fits in his infant seat for ten more pounds, but we thought it was time for him to sit up and see the world. We figured since we were buying a seat that would take him through toddler hood why not opt for the best safety wise. So we got Eli a Britax Roundabout in the cowmooflauge pattern. Adorable. It goes up to 40 lbs (in Eli weight he'll probably be 5) and will be front facing when he's ready. He looks kind of anguished but it's actually very cushy.
We finally got a gate that keeps him out of the kitchen! Yea! The doorway is very wide and for awhile we were using a big green Tupperware tote and a kitchen chair. He's push the tote out of the way or crawl under the chair. Very frustrating for mommy. So we bought and installed this great one hand open gate that swings on a hinge. We love it. Eli's not so crazy about it, but hey safety first!
Note his Mr. Mischief shirt it's our latest fabulous find from Target. It suits him to a T.

He Just Keeps Getting Cuter

The little man in my life is just over a week away from the big 1. A whole year down. For me it's very bittersweet, I know that he's just going to keep getting bigger, that he will never again be my tiny baby. On the other hand we're so close to talking and running and all that good stuff, I know he has a lot to say and I can't wait to hear it.
Lately his moods have been fairly mercurial, screeching like an angry bird one minute and cuddling up to me all smiles the next, here are some of his good smiley faces. I'll leave the tantrum pics for another blog.
On the ottoman which he loves to climb on. It's a pretty baby safe solution to the coffee table conundrum.
Playing on the floor, cheesing it up when the flash starts going off.
He so often looks drunk in pictures, but I swear to you no alcohol was served in the taking of this picture.
Sweet giggly guy. And his ears are just as big as the day he came out. We probably have awhile before he grows into those.
Happy Happy Birthday Eli!

Retail Therapy

-I can honestly say that tax return time is just about my favorite time of year. Especially with the addition of Eli, one more reason to worship the boy. We got our W2's today and I went right to H & R Block on my lunch break, forgetting to grab Eli's social security card, so I couldn't finish. I can say that they're estimating my return at 3x what I got back last year. My house will soon be full of furniture, for that let us give thanks!
-This news probably should have come first but I'm a greedy bitch so it's item #2: Eli started walking! Yesterday he took 10 steps by himself! He giggles the entire time he's doing it and looks like he's drunk. Cutest. Thing. Ever.
-I tried on wedding dresses for the first time Tuesday. Alfred Angelo had the exact dress I'd been ogling online in the store in my size. It weighed ten-fifteen pounds. I had to dive into it. I looked fab. I also got to wear a tiara. Awesome.
- Tuesday was my big retail therapy day, I took half a day from work and went shopping. I advise everyone reading this to follow suite, it was refreshing. Best finds of the day were super discounted Banana Republic jeans and an amazing winter coat at Target which I snapped up for only fifteen dollars! Shopping makes me high.
Almost standing up by himself.
Yea! Look Ma no hands!

I love when he looks like he's up to no good
Playing tug of war with Truman, I love when they wear each other out.
Dr. Truman knows how to play to the camera.
He climbed in there all by himself. And I'd have been an idiot not to get it on camera.
We need to buy Adelaide a dog bed, luckily she's resourceful.

He's a Cardiologist

Last night after work Suz and I went to Butler and picked up the pup. He's sweet and adorable and smells like puppy and likes to nuzzle. Now if we can get him housebroken he'll be perfect.

Dr. Truman Rabinowitz-Klein M.D. 4 months old and he's already a mender of hearts. You can just call him Truman.
Jason's already pretty crazy about the little guy too. Last night he took him downstairs so they could snuggle and play Playstation.

I can't help it...

I love taking care of things. Which is why we're getting a puppy. Tomorrow. No disapproval please, I got Jason's permission and that's what counts. The newest member of our rapidly growing Dukes/Witcher clan is a 4 month old dachshund boy. I have yet to see him, but I'm sure it'll be love. My fondest hopes are that he will potty train easy and become best friends with the Lady Adelaide. Pictures to be posted soon of course.
-Eli's first Christmas was awesome, he got a million and one very fun and cute toys. I made a big dinner and didn't screw up anything (yay me!), nor did I ruin the lasagna when my dad came to dinner New Year's Eve. So I'm two for two people.
-Speaking of New Year's Eve I was asleep by a quarter after eleven. I know, I know I suck. I was just so very very tired. Jason woke me up at midnight to kiss me and let me know it was 2008. I celebrated that for 23 seconds and then went right back to sleep. Which was probably for the best since Eli got up bright and early as per usual.
-I had 12 blissful days off work, and my house was a lot more organized at the end of it, though I still have a laundry issue. I hate putting it away. Must work on it.
-No actual resolutions were made this year. I am however going to start trying to eat healthier. The "plan" is to make a healthy dinner that Eli and I can share every night. The leftovers will be put away for my lunch at work the next day and for Jason's lunch at home. This will be healthier and save money! Two birds--One stone.
-The weather here is in the low seventies!!! It's kind of a day only thing and we're going to the park. Adelaide's last walk as the only dog.

Eli ripping into his little piano Christmas morning, he did a pretty good job of getting the wrapping paper off. He's wearing his sock monkey pjs from Aunt Suz in which he looked dashing.
Very mad that we put him in his outfit from Aunt Adrienne. Still pretty darn cute.
Happy boy! I love pictures where he's crawling at the camera smiling, looking like he's up to something. He usually is up to something, the boy is quite the handful.
Walking behind the push toy Grandma got him. He loves that thing, he learned how to turn it and he just walks around and around the living room grinning and determined. Anything in his path gets run right over.
Oh, Jason proposed Christmas Eve! That's right we're making it legal. The plans are for a March '09 wedding. I'm already online planning.