Look Whose Stuff is on UpperCase Living!

Okay, so the vinyl was cut by me (not them - YET) and they are using my image without permission BUT my stuff is on UppercaseLiving.com! How cool, right?!! Wait 'til you see what's next. :D

Alright, alright

I'll upload some pictures! But I don't have the software for my camera installed on the new computer yet. Now that Christmas is over, here are the pics of Aiden that I gave the grandmas:
(And some others the rest of the family hasn't seen)

My grandmother Mimi (Aiden's great-grandmother) actually started crying when she opened her 8x10 frame of Aiden's head shot and, although her vision is failing, she could see his face. I didn't realize until that moment she hadn't been able to see him as he blurred past her all morning. It honestly made her entire day! Thanks, Kels.

The second one is my favorite. I've had it printed in two different sizes for my house! His eyes are sooooo blue! In just the 6 weeks since this was taken they have begun to change color, darkening a bit. Hopefully they don't darken too much, I want blue-eyed birthday pics in March!

I'll upload the holiday pics from my camera when I find the USB cord...

Little Holiday Reminders

This is the time of year when I reflect on what has past, my goals and my aspirations for the upcoming months. The holidays seem to come in a rush and then screech to a disorienting hault between Christmas and New Years, leaving us lots of time to enjoy family, be a kid again and bury all the phones under the couch cushions. This December there have been several occasions when I've been reminded that it is okay to not be perfect. In fact, it's downright best for your family to not even TRY! LOL! Reviewing these last few wild weeks have left me feeling foolish for not letting a few more little chores go and doing more with Aiden, who is growing with each precious second that ticks by. I'm not one who is big into New Year's resolutions so I am fully planning on planning nothing. I'd like to have more out-of-the-house playtime for Aiden and more productive evenings for myself. (Now made possible by the AWESOME new computer Brian got me for Christmas and the INCREDIBLE Bamboo Fun tablet my in-laws gave me!) This also means I can get back to my designing, which I had to put on hold waaaaay back in August when Super Saturday planning began. I've added some gorgeous new fonts to my collection and I'm dying to play with them!

So what's next? This week it's all about family. And after that I'm going to enjoy everything! My sister's baby will be here in just a few weeks, the weather should be turning cold and my schedule looks refreshingly open. Life is good! I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday week and capturing every moment! I'll see you in 2009. ;)

Tay's Day

Children add enjoyment (and spice) to our lives. If you're kinda bland, you tend to get a spicy child. If you're already pretty firey yourself, apparently it gets extra-concentrated before being passed on to your offspring. At least that's my theory.

The hilarity of my life is not lost on me. I might be ready to pull my hair out around mid-day while the chaos ensues around me but before dinner is over, I'm struggling to tell Brian all the details over my involuntary laughter! Today is a perfect example. In 72 hours I'll have who-knows-how-many family members here for Christmas and I decided to brave the grocery store this morning. With Aiden. I should know better by now but I'm working on a tight holiday schedule and the stress is causing lapses in my judgement. I had a shopping list as long as my arm and when I had to park in the only open spot on the end of one of the furthest rows during what would have normally been a slow time of the day, I knew this wasn't going to be fun.

After thirty minutes of being polite to slow-moving strangers who are shopping without an irritable toddler, I only have the first ten items checked off my list and I'm getting nowhere fast. Every aisle is a maze of carts and the crawling pace has me grumbling and Aiden shouting. I was about ready to plow down every single middle-aged man ambling slowly through the mayhem, clutching a grocery list written in their wife's hand, staring blankly at the shelves and looking lost while managing to block both directions of aisle traffic as they squint at the rows of products in front of them. I felt even more hostile when, for the first time, some decrepit, sloth-paced strangers actually began making rude little sighs and sounds in the back of their throats at Aiden's misbehavior as we closed in on hour two of shopping and he hit the stage beyond meltdown that I like to call 'throwdown'.

It always starts off slow, with Aiden's mild boredom turning into misbehavior which turns into blatant naughtiness, hoping it will mean immediate removal from whatever horrid store I have drug him into. Today I was combing the first-aid section for band-aids for about thirty seconds when I turned back towards the cart to find Aiden sitting perfectly still, hands polietly in his lap and his eyes gazing innocently into mine, with thirteen bottles of calamine lotion strewn across his seat, lined neatly in the handlebar basket and shoved into both of the cart's drink holders. The sudden appearance of so many bottles startled me and I let out a laughing "What?!!" because I hadn't heard a sound as he'd pulled them from the shelf!

Not five minutes later we're on the cereal aisle, where I'm trying to quickly pick a hot cocoa flavor while traffic backs up, and I hear the sound of plastic stressing and fracturing beside me. I wheel around to find Aiden removing a long, thin hanging display from the shelf ledge, saying "Oh, no! I break it" while a half-dozen unimpressed shoppers watch over my shoulder. (Where in the HECK are all the grumpy old people coming from today?) I give Aiden a reminder not to touch hanging displays - with a poorly concealed humorous grin - as I wheel us away. I'm trying to keep his discomfort to a minimum so when I see that the baking aisle is moving about as fast as a post office line, I detour over to the toy section to hunt for some stocking stuffers. I'm looking at cars when a man walks by, spies Aiden's spikey hair and playfully says "Hey cool dude!" Without missing a BEAT Aiden repeats "coo dude!" in a delighted voice and then instantly drops to a more serious tone to add "Daddy at work", as if to ensure the stranger knows who this cool dude and his mommy love. I freeze, keeping my back turned, and hold my breath to keep it from rushing out in laughter at my toddler's hilariously random responses! I never saw the guy or his reaction but I hope he wasn't too offended that a toddler pointed out his dad was working when he wasn't! LOL!

I end up finding some tiny Tonka cars & trucks on clearance for 50¢ and a Lightning McQueen book. Stocked with new distrations, I get in the baking aisle line. I select my items and am ambling along, waiting to exit the end of the row when we pass the bags of baking morsels and Aiden begins very loudly and clearly repeating "WANT CANDY", enunciating every word with increased volume. How do you explain that something on this aisle that looks like tiny Hershey's kisses actually doesn't taste like regular Hershey's kisses to a 21 month-old? The place is so full of fifty-somethings I don't even glance around to acknowledge the judgemental stares.

The next episode is in the meat & cheese section where Aiden feels it is his personal duty to ensure that our shred cheese is also mashed before it gets home. When I select a steak, one of Aiden's favorite dinners, he drops the cheese and shouts "STEAK!" I hear a few chuckles from the younger dads around me as I back the cart away, running over the dropped bag of mashed cheese I didn't see, and head for the deli.

Aiden is 'cart surfing' (standing up in his seat making animal noises) by the time we're there and the length of the deli line brings me to a screeching hault. My son's loud and accurate monkey noises - complete with butt-in-the-air bouncing motions - have all sixteen pairs of eyes on me in an instant. A sweet grandmother helping at the deli counter smiles and slightly nods in the direction of a cafeteria cart of popular pre-sliced, bagged & priced deli cuts intended to spare those bedraggled by the holidays. Bless her heart, she even comes over to entertain (the now neighing) Aiden so I can sort through the pile to find turkey & swiss cheese. Of course the second someone else pays him attention, Aiden plops his little bum on the seat and gazes at her in angelic silence, with the same melting smile that makes you pay ridiculous amounts for a grocery store Lightning McQueen book.

Second to last stop is the produce section and my least favorite place to have Aiden. Every fruit & vegetable I place in the cart is followed by pleading and a temper tantrum, only to be interrupted by the next fresh food and corresponding temper tantrum. (These have started over completely raw steaks as I put them in the basket, too. Ridiculous!) I almost felt relieved when I bagged up three jumbo heads of broccoli, knowing Aiden wouldn't be going for a sixth round of 'Mom, WANT!' and fake crying. Stupid me.

I'm trying to sneak strawberries in the cart without him seeing when a broccoli floret hits me in the cheek. I glance up and Aiden cautiously says "I fro....?" and then looks at me as if to say 'could you please name that vegetable for me?' I try to keep a serious face as I ask "Did you throw broccoli at me?" but seriously, I'm only slightly better behaved in public than he is. He thinks about it for a second and repeats "brocoyucky". I can't contain my laughter! I'm trademarking the name because I'm certain millions of children will agree it is, indeed, brocoyucky and any book with such a humorous title would be wildly popular among the refuse-to-eat-it crowd!

The last item I need is vanilla ice cream so off to the frozen foods we go. I notice Aiden is oddly still, like he's watching something. I had just pried the broccoli from his little grip for the fifth time and in a much more menacing mommy tone told him he was to not touch the brocoyucky again. I pull the ice cream off the shelf and as the fogged-up glass door swings shut, it reveals Aiden, head tilted all the way back with his hands wrapped tightly around the thick base of the largest broccoli stem, trying to shove the entire head into his mouth. He looks like a giant trying to swallow an uprooted oak tree whole. Stunned and exasperated, I shout "SON!" He jumps and then, in one rapid move, quickly pitches the broccoli over his head into the basket and shouts back "NAUGHTY BROCOYUCKY!"

I'm barreling the cart towards the checkout lanes, promising myself I really will run over anyone that gets in the way of my plan to get this child down for a nap as soon as possible. I'm in luck and find a cashier just finishing up a transaction with no one else in line. Unloading the cart brings back all the same tantrums I endured while loading the cart. When the broccoli goes on the conveyor belt, Aiden's hissy fit hits a new level and a can of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup, most likely thrown with the intent to hit me, lands nicely on the moving conveyor belt and rides up for it's turn to be scanned. Now we have a new problem. His sippy cup, my coupon organizer, the already-paid-for cough perscription and a shoe hit the conveyor belt next. My verbal requests to not throw anything else on top of the produce go ignored so I have to stop unloading the cart and leap to catch him as he leans too far over to dump his fruit snacks on the moving black belt next. I save the fruit snacks, get him re-seated, unload the last few things and push he and the cart ahead of me for the bagger to load. I'm doing controlled inhales and exhales at the card swipe machine while Aiden is the bag boy's problem for a moment. And then I see it. Coming defiantly and triumphantly down the conveyor belt at the very end of the line is the empty, crumpled foil fruit snack wrapper. I've been outdone. Against all odds, more spice has been added to my already crazy, spiced-up life and he's the best one yet. He constantly reminds me that I simply will not be allowed to take anything too seriously or ever be too stubborn because it's useless. He's teaching me that when those empty wrappers come down the line in life and they're nothing more than a fleeting moment's inconvenience, JUST LAUGH!

Tay's Totally Cheating 'Best Ever' Pancakes

Sometimes my kitchen adventures catch small appliances on fire. And sometimes they result in an amazing new concoction . My pancake recipie is one of them.

When Brian and I were first married I couldn't make pancakes from scratch to save my life. They always turned out AWFUL. Last month when Brian made a batch following the same old recipie, they tasted worse than mine ever did. (In Brian's defense, it was the stale baking powder that ruined his batch.) Two years ago I decided to give in and start using Bisquick to make pancakes and I never looked back. This summer, while delirious from lack of sleep, I mixed up the waffle and pancake recipies half-way through making the batter and discovered the pancakes tasted a lot like the ones they serve at The Cracker Barrel. Here's the recipie for my delicious screw-up:

Tay's Totally Cheating 'Best Ever' Pancakes:

2 heaping cups Bisquick
2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
1 and 1/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons cooking oil

May Also Need:
1/4 cup Bisquick for thickening if needed (you might need to add this on humid days)
1 tablesppon milk for thinning if needed

Combine all these ingredients in a bowl and stir until the big lumps are broken up. Batter should be slightly thick, more like a waffle batter. Add another 1/4 cup Bisquick if the batter is too thin or runny like cake batter. (Relax, you can't screw this up! It's Tay-proof.) Spray a hot griddle with any cooking spray and cook the pancakes according to the Bisquick box directions from here. They should make thick, fat pancakes. When you pull them off the griddle, smear each one with butter while they're still hot or drizzle warm melted butter over them if they have cooled. Serve smothered in syrup.

Please Note: NEVER ADD EGGS TO THIS RECIPIE! Or any Bisquick pancake or waffle recipie for that matter. It has been my experience that eggs ruin the flavor and soft texture of all pancakes.

If You Want To Add Nuts:

Add an extra slosh (1 tablespoon) of milk to the batter and stir well before adding extra Bisquick for thickening. Usually you won't need to thicken it.

If You Want To Add Spices:

Throw them in! No special steps required.

Tip: Don't ask me why but the HEB brand of 'Bisquick' (Hill Country Fare All-Purpose Baking Mix) makes the most delicious version of this recipie and is actually what I was using when I messed it all up and stumbled across this yummy combination. ;)

A Minute To Breathe

Okay, I've got a minute to breathe between holiday gift deliveries and jewelry orders so let me catch you up on my (unexciting) life! I've hardly left the house in the last two weeks so Brian and I have planned a much-needed date night for Saturday. I'm sooooooo excited to dress up and go out! I just finished my forty-seventh or so piece of jewelry and I'm so glad I began building up my bead inventory in August. Unfortunately I put off Christmas shopping (which I also normally begin in August and have finished by November) but this year has been a painful reminder of why my shopping needs to be done by Thanksgiving. I'll be better about it next year! LOL!

Meanwhile, I've loved all the custom orders and really gotten to stretch my creativity lately. (Hence, the blog absence.) I cut some vinyl for my house, which just went up on the walls this afternoon (see: other things I should have done by Thanksgiving). I also discovered that low-tack vinyl application tape has the perfect amount of stickiness for removing glitter from a toddler's soft skin without hurting them when they pull a half-dozen glitter balls & snowflakes off your tree to pile in the middle of the living room floor while you have your back turned to hang the vinyl.

I had anticipated the tree being a problem so I bought all shatter-proof ornaments and let Aiden select a 'special' ornament that he can pull off the tree and play with any time he'd like. (He chose a silver Eiffel Tower. He loves my little model ones and about fell out of the shopping cart as he leapt for the ornament version when we passed it at Target. I love his ornament! I was afraid we'd end up with Lightning McQueen on the tree...) However, the rest of the ornaments are off-limits. Or so I say. EVERY SINGLE TIME I'm not looking, he runs to the tree and starts plucking things off. Or I'll hear the light tinkling of the jingle bells, followed by a very metallic PING-JANG-JANG-JANG as they ricochet & bounce across the tile while he shouts 'I fro ball!' or something similar. If I'm not paying him enough attention at the moment (read: in the bathroom), he'll bring me one and give me a very stern 'no no' as soon as he places it in my hands.

Actually, I'm afraid I have created my own problem there. ALL my psychology texts say that children will usually resort to misbehavior when they want attention. It's easy for me to spot this so I'll often stop and ask Aiden if he needs a hug instead of telling him 'no' for the billionth time about throwing the mail on the floor or standing on the open dishwasher door. Only problem is Aiden doesn't seem to understand he can ASK for a hug. Instead, he does something blatant & obviously naughty to get my attention, most likely hoping a hug will follow. Today he barged into the office, crossed the room and threw the biggest fistful of vinyl he could grab across the floor before turning to look at my surprised expression. His little bottom lip pouted out a fraction of an inch as he processed the agitated look on my face. How could I be mad at that pout?!!! When I gently said 'You must really need a hug', he barrelled into my arms and he hugged me like he never has before, burrying his head under my chin and wrapping all four limbs tight around me. I'm not entirely sure what upset him (my attention to hanging vinyl?) but I was completely melted! We played in the playroom for the next hour and a half and then cleaned up and packed some old toys away to make room for new Christmas toys coming. He had a great time and I did, too! He's such a cool little kid. And I'm amazed at how much he can make me laugh! This morning I carried him into the pantry and asked him what he wanted for breakfast. He simply replied 'food'.

Write Something Tay!

I tend to do things in reverse order don't I? Let's back up and I'll tell you about Thanksgiving.

It was a blast! We broke the trip up into two legs, staying one night with Brian's brother Dan and his wife Laura in Dallas. We caravaned the rest of the way up, girls in one car and boys in the other. I had way too much fun talking with Laura! We need to do that every year! Aiden rode with us gals and Dan was patient with my just-at-the-speed-limit driving. When I suddenly blew past them on the highway doing 85, heading for the nearest exit with Laura rapidly punching buttons on the GPS, they didn't have to call and ask why. Aiden had woken up and was howling for food. We stoped almost in the middle of nowhere at an A&W that was inside a gas station. It was very easy to tell the holiday travelers from the locals. LOL!

All the in-laws made it up to OKC on Wednesday and so did Brian's cousin Melissa that also lives in Houston. There were 9 kiddos, including newborn Kyra, so Aiden had plenty of playmates! I enjoyed all the girls and even went with them to go see Twilight again. (Ugh. It's just as bad the second time.) We had a nice meal - or as nice as you can have with Aiden throwing food around my MIL's elegant carpeted front dining room - and then we had Christmas with everyone on Saturday. We had some gifts we were excited to give and I was SOOOOOOOO thrilled to get a Bamboo Fun designer tablet!!!

Black Friday was a lot of fun for me, too. I had a list of places I wanted to go and when I was ready before my other SIL's were, I stopped at Old Navy first to kill time until I met them at Khols. I never made it to Khols. Instead I loaded my cart at Old Navy up with a whole new set of work out capris (the gym needs to hurry up and open!), several pairs of $4-and-under denim & khaki capris and gobs of maternity items I found for $1.99 and $3.99. (No, I'm not pregnant. This is for late next year.) The best deal of the day was the cute denim cropped shorts I got for $1.99. Seriously! Black Friday rocks!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes, I did fall down the stairs at my in-laws. The holidays wouldn't be complete without the thud-thud-thud of my body crashing down the steps at least once. (Growing up I never lived in a house with stairs. That's my excuse.) And yes, I was wearing my Twilight 'Accident Prone' shirt when I fell!