July Recap... Damn it's been a Month!

I didn't mean to go missing from this blog for so long.  Damn it!  It bugs me that I can't keep my blog posts going at a steady rate.  I'm going to regret it 15 years later when the kids are off to college.  Each time I have one of my lulls in blogging, I hear my middle school science teacher's voice saying, "Shirley, you have so much potential, but your inconsistent." - blah, blah, blah.  Screw you Mr. X, for being right!!!!

Anyway I had a good reason for being away (at least for July).  I hosted my sister's baby shower at the end of July.  I had to make my first neice's celebration extremely special.  Not only because of my neice, but because my sister is extremely picky. LOL!  Anyway, most everything was hand-made for the party, and so every waking minute that I had, I worked on this damn baby shower.  For the ENTIRE MONTH.....
I'm serious guys.  Dishes took longer to get washed, laundry heaps got larger, and vacuuming?  No time for vaccuuming.  My area rug may as well been made out of Golden Retriever fur.  Luckily, I had some shower help from 3 of my sister's friends, my sister herself, and my new Cricut machine.  I had been needing an excuse to get one, and MAN!  Do I LOVE that machine!

And yes with my Cricut machine, I went a little crazy with the shower planning, but wouldn't you?   I complained about how there wasn't enough time for this shower, and yet at the last minute I took on a crazy project of personally etching stainless steel bottle openers with some MacGuyver sh!t I found on YouTube.  I could've died.  It was awesome. (Pic with the nail polish party favors below)

Throw in a national holiday, a bridal shower, and Folks - you got yourself my month of July!  How was yours???

-Shirley (Mama Ruff)

P.S.  July Recap video in ~30 seconds

June 2013 Recap: Instagram and 1 Second EveryDay Video Style

Wow!  I thought I'd neglected this blog for a couple weeks, but man!  It's almost been a month!  I guess all my free time (what free time?) is being taken up planning for my sister's baby shower (I bought a Cricut machine and it's been a highlight of my month.  Man!  I'm such a crafting loser!).   I've also been fighting a war on ants in my house (they're cray-cray!)

So June was filled with lots of weekend outings from a trip to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, to a benefit concert at AT&T Park, to visiting Lemos Farm, and ending with a trip to Lake Tahoe.  But to get the real scoop on what my Ruffians have been up to, watch the video below, won't you?  It's an iPhone app my sister turned me onto. 1 Second Every Day.  And I thought it was perfect to start adding to these month-end recap posts!

The beauty and simplicity of it is why a video obsessed girl like me loves it and hates it.  I found my self instead searching for "5 seconds everyday", or at least "3 seconds everyday", because 1 second everyday just isn't enough.  No cigar.  It just wouldn't be the same.

If you make anything with the app, please share with me.  I love to see what other people create!

-Shirley

Soon, he'll be driving that car!

OK, so it won't be THAT soon, but this little guy is making good progress growing up!

I don't want to compare my two sons, BUT....

Tater is making such great progress in the speech development department!  He's far ahead of his brother who was evaluated for speech therapy around this age (1 & 1/2) which caused me to write this little diddy feeling like a failed mama back in mid 2011. 

Don't get me wrong...  Tater can't jump for shit and still drinks from a bottle (both of which were milestones Diego easily made at his 1 year mark).  So it just goes to show that everyone is different.

I just wish I would have been able to have something to compare when I was going through Diego's speech therapy drama two years ago.  It may have been an easier pill to swallow when advised that Diego needed speech therapy back then.

Here is the latest in Tater-Talk:

1. Caca  (just like his brother before, he really loves this word)
2. More
3. Duck
4. No
5. Da (Yes)
6. Pop-up (balloon)
7. Yeah
8. Baba (bottle)
9. Mama
10. Dada
11. Brother
12. Mac
13. Book
14. Banana
15. Milk
16. More
17. Wow-wow (dog)
18. Turtle
19. Bubble
20. Ball
21. Papa (Food)
22. Baca (Tablet)
23. Hello
24. Fish
25. Sock
26. Shoe 
27. Snake
28. Co-Co, Co-Co (for Coca-Cola: meanwhile he brother calls it "Cola-Cola!")

At this rate, he'll be joining the ranks of his brother saying things like,

"Mama don't bother me" 

or 

"Mama, you're messing it up!"  in no time....

-Looking forward to it...  ;)     Shirley (Mama-Ruff)

1.5 yr/old!

Tater, you're 1 & 1/2 today!
 
The other day we had a late dinner at the Outback Steakhouse and our waitress asked me if she could get you anything to drink.  At first I said no since I brought your bottle filled with water, but after realizing the tantrum that might ensue after you saw that your brother got a kid-sized Coke and you didn't - well I changed my mind!

The waitress smiled and flirted with you a bit, and then she said, "I'm not there yet, my guy is still little."

I asked her how old her "guy" was and she said, "21 months."

I furrowed my brows and said, "Oh, then your little guy is older than mine!"  I pointed to you and said, "This guy's almost 18 months!"

She was caught off guard and said very slowly (as if she was still thinking if what she was about to say was rude or not), "Oh!  He's....... a............... really.............................big boy?"

I just laughed, and said, "Yes, he's huge!" Just like his older brother, he scores in the 90th percentile for just about everything that the doctors measure. 

At 1 & 1/2, you're a big man on campus, Tater!

Other Tater Tidbits

• You say over 20 words and use them consistently
• My favorite word that you say is "Turtle".  I bought you a Turtle cup with a swirly straw.  Whenever you see the cup you point to it and say, "Tuh-tul!  Tuh-tul!," and you don't stop until I pour you something to drink in it.
• You get cranky around 9-9:30pm.  That's when I tell you it's time to sleep and to kiss everyone good night AND YOU ACTUALLY DO IT with no complaints.  I never thought I'd have a kid who goes to bed willingly, but you do!
• You also have a favorite blankie and walk around holding on to it, like kids on TV do!  Once again, I never thought I'd have THAT kid!
• There was a brief moment where you started crying during bathtime like your brother, but then I started bathing you two separately and now you're back to being a fish!
• Although you don't wear me out the same as you did last year, you still seem to have a goal of getting me off the couch at 5 minute intervals, max.  
• You still love Qori so much but lately you've gotten into a hitting phase and sometimes you pull his fur.  I yell, "Don't mess with my Qori!" a lot these days.
• I joke that you're a rock-star and I can see you trashing your hotel room when your older.  When you get mad, you grab things and throw them like an angry rock-star.
• You pretend that you don't understand when I say one word - "No".  But you immediately stop what you're doing when I say six words:  "I'm going to take it away!"
• You have a deep, raspy voice.  Perfect for imitating horse sounds, as I've come to find out.  Spot on, Tater!
• You still have a very healthy appetite and you are willing to taste-test anything, it seems
• Sometimes, you can set your brother off by just staring at him or getting too close to him.  Some people might wonder what's wrong with your brother, but we KNOW YOU Tater: you sneaky devil!  The deeper the dimples, the sneakier the Tater!

-Shirley (Mama-Ruff)

I'm not a 3yr old!

I don't know what it is, but lately my nails have been breaking easier and my hair.... oh my hair..... I mean I never had GREAT hair, but it never gave me big problems growing up.  But now, I'm an old lady and things are going downhill!

So I started taking Biotin supplements right around the time I started my 80% clean eating diet.  It still hasn't been very long, but I feel like my nails are at least a little stronger.  And last week, I couldn't wait for my nails to grow before I bedazzled them.  I had a craving to bedazzle them NOW.  So I picked up some nail stickers from my local store.  I tried to find the most bedazzled, yet work-appropriate ones I could find.  (Does that even exist?  LOL).

My manager and a couple other ladies at work commented on my nails.  According to them, they liked them.  Or did they?  hmmmmm.  It's possible they were just being nice, but I don't care either way.

I've been "wearing" these nails for over a week now.  They're holding up well and I'm quite enjoying them.   They're the Kiss brand.

So I was working 1:1 with my manager today and she mentioned that she stopped by her local store and took a look at the nail sticker options.  She said she found some cool, textured nails that almost feel like fur.  I'm not sure what she was talking about but I thought it was something I would get on board with (what can I say, I'm more daring when it comes to nail fashion).  She said she thought about it for a second, but then decided she wasn't three years old, but it would be something great for me. 

Ouch!  Sounded like a diss, huh?  I don't care though.  I run with my pack of ruffians, the wannabe leader of which is 3 yrs old.

-So if I can't beat 'em, I join them - Shirley (3 yr old Mama Ruff)

Family Benefit Concert

Over the weekend, my company threw its yearly benefit concert with surprise acts at AT&T Park (home of the SF Giants).  The lineup was great with Demi Lovato, Train, Pitbull, and Nickelback.

With two kids now, I couldn't really be all up in the crowd trying to get pics of the stars like I used to, so we stayed in a very nice grassy area and I focused my camera on the family instead.

It was a beautiful day in San Francisco...

PS.  My pic of the litter is the pic of Tater sitting on making it to third base ;)

Karma

Remember when Tater beat the shit out of my eyebrow, and I threatened him with Karma?

Well, let me tell you folks: that shit's real!

I mean it's practically on his eyebrow too! 

Only this was a little different.  Tater had an existing small scratch right on that spot.  On the way home from daycare my dad's house, my dad gave Tater a little green balloon to play with in the car.  On the way home, the balloon popped in the car and scared the shit out of me!  Then there was complete silence.  A few minutes later, DD told me that his brother's face was hurt.  I freaked out for a second, remembering I hadn't heard him stir after the balloon popped.

Oh my god!  Was he unconscious!!!!!?

I called to Tater at a red light to give me some sign of life!  He moved his hand.  I couldn't see his face since he's still rear-facing, but knowing he was responsive made me feel so much better.  When I got home, I was confronted with that big ass bloody spot!

No crying, screaming, or curling into the fetal position like his wimpy Mama did the other night.  No depression.  He was still happy go lucky Tater!

I could learn a few things from this little Tater Tot! - Shirley (Mama Ruff)