Must have steering wheel.

Good thing we spent a bunch of money on strollers, since this is the only thing he will tolerate for more then 3 minutes at the Mall. Awesome.

My week in pics + a little more

Most of these pics are blurry bc I don't have a normal camera right now, just a cellphone.
Random flock of turkeys in Walnut Creek. Whoever says wild turkeys don't make people happy? This was maybe the highlight of the week. Gobble, gobble.This was the low point. Read more here.
This was another, slightly milder, low point. Thankfully I caught him mid-throw with my bronzer and $42 foundation. The brush was the only casualty.
I was trying to take a pic of Rod "Droiding." We are always checking our smart phones, like a duo of losers, until the very last minute before drifting into slumber land. He clearly didn't want me to take the pic, which is why I'm posting it. :)
Blurry but still presh. He barks like a dog every time his bath is over because he gets to be a puppy.


This was a cool/horrifying/thought provoking article I read.
I finished reading this book and I HIGHLY recommend it!

It really sucked when this happened...

While my back was turned the little buddy decided to run his Tonka truck (see below) into the fence, flip it over, and smash his little face/eye (gasp!) into the corner of the metal edge.
He was just two weeks old here...
So of course he was screaming, I was hyperventilating, and thankfully Rod was home to be level-headed and orchestrate the ER trip we had to take because LZ's eyelid was gashed and bleeding.

I'm sure I brag about my kid, (probably more than most moms...) but I will say he was one tough cookie. After the initial scream that lasted about 2 minutes he was totally fine, smiling and once we got to the ER, was way more concerned about the bracelets the nurse put on his leg then the actual bloody gash over his eye.
Because of his pleasant state of mind, Rod and I were kind of embarrassed that we rushed him to the ER, making excuses to the different nurses and doctors like, "Oh he's the first kid," "Maybe it was just a surface scratch," "We just wanted to be safe than sorry."


Well, 2 stitches, a 3 inch needle, and papoose/straight-jacket thing later--we were glad we were "over-protective" parents.
After they took him out of the straight-jacket and removed the head mask that was on him so he wouldn't see the needle (it sounds really cruel but I was glad they did it, the last thing I would want is a suture headed for a toddlers eye without him fully restrained). He looked like he had gone a few rounds with Mike Tyson; hair all sweaty, eye puffy, and doing that little breath-catching thing babies do after they've had a good scream. Heart breaking.
The nurse gave him a little green puppy that he kissed and kissed in the ER, and he refused to go to bed tonight without it. I'm so proud of him. I can only imagine how scary and confusing a situation like that must be for a 14 month-old. I'm also grateful that it was only 2 stitches and no permanent eye damage. Phew. There must have been a few angels looking out for the buddy. As for Rod and I, we survived our first (of hopefully not too many) ER trips with our kid.

Is it worth the hassle?...Yes, it is.

I decided to take the Little Buddy with me on a jaunt to J.Crew in Los Gatos. One of my besties, who I sometimes call Pineapple Fanta, is getting married and I had to return one of the two bridesmaid dresses I ordered. Along the way, I found a few things to covet.
Jellies!!! These are cute, right? I thought it might be nostalgia taking over. Didn't every girl own at least one pair of jellies? I know the blisters were well worth it to my second grade self. I almost bought some of these ballet-flat jellies, but refrained. I might go back...
We headed over to my other favorite store, Williams-Sonoma, where we didn't stay long because I forgot the stroller. You can see how this particular store could be a disaster waiting to happen with an unusually fast toddler.

A slightly more expensive indulgence. I have a Ruffoni copper saucepan that I got when Rod and I got married a few years ago. Ah, to have a stockpot. This is something I admire every time I go in this store. They never go on sale.
Thank heavens I don't bake! Although this is something rather affordable, I thought these little space cadet cupcake cases were precious.
You can't tell by his face but he was really into the cut-outs.
Its good to get some fresh air. I know I can get lost in the minutia of day to day responsibilities of just keeping the house clean and my child fed. Even though this entire trip lasted about 30 minutes, it was well worth chasing the little guy around. I got to drool over cute clothes and expensive kitchen gear, and he got to pet a few puppies and run wild in a few stores. Both were satisfied.

Waiting for the Garbage Man

Look at how intense his waiting face is?

There are a few things in life Landon is willing to wait for. One his his Daddy. The other--the Garbage Man. He will sit quietly for long periods of time if there is a promise of the garbage man. He'll even wake up in the middle of the night and cry "caw caw" (car) instead of "Mommy," and then of course not go back to sleep until I have read him the truck book I got him at the used-bookstore at least a few times. I love those nights.

I'm not going to lie. This new phase of toddler-hood has been difficult. Especially with moving to a new house. Every stage has its joys and challenges, its true, but I feel like ever since the newborn phase, things have gotten progressively easier...until now.

Landon has gotten really verbal, months 12-14 were basically just a parrot stage of repeating words we would say to him. We were impressed. Lately, however, the words have digressed in to some sort of pigeon English where he tries to form sentences with made up words and he looks at me with such earnestness and says something like, "Cu-co Co day Dad coabu doh mama do dah" and then gets really frustrated when I have NO IDEA what he wants. Tantrums ensue and mommy wants to pull her hair out.

Thank heavens there's Elmo. I have a whole new respect for Sesame Street. Landon is beyond obsessed, in fact, sometimes "Melmo" is the only thing that can calm this kid down. Its cars, trucks, Elmo, sports, and the backyard.

He's still a very sweet boy, just exerting independence and the ability to run really fast can be a dangerous combination, which keeps me on my toes, literally. You know it's a bad sign when your toddler says "Oh no!" a lot (clearly I am saying that too much)...at least its not a curse word.

We also got him a new car seat. The first time we put him front facing he gave me this look of "Why have you been keeping this from me!?" He was really excited and now asks to go for rides in the "caw."

As for Rod, he's busy working his brains out. I am busy trying to still move in (I think I am starting to come to terms with the fact that it is going to take a few months for this to happen) and trying not to lose my identity, completely.
And isn't this image just, well, motherhood?

Hello to the blog of my 30s

I realize I am kind of a non-committal blogger. There's the private blog. Then the hils health blog, then the healthgirltv blog...its getting hard to keep up with me, and I'm not even a Kardashian.

Wah-woh.

So I have decided make it mainstream. Its just easier that way. 2 blogs. One for family/personal stuff, the other for health related anecdotes and recipes, etc. This way, I can just show up in your reader. (I'll be honest, if you are private, I'm VERY RARELY, if ever, checking your blog...not because I don't like you but, because google reader is just so easy to scroll through and I forget otherwise).

I've decided to discontinue my private blog. I know, I know--but what about protecting your children from all the weirdos out there? Well, you see, I started my first blog back in early 2006 when I didn't really realize that blogs we not exactly journals/anonymous cyber-vomit. The blog address was angelhil for cryin' out loud. Like I knew any better. It was 2006. sheesh.

Now people blog, they tell you their name, you can facebook them, spokeo them, etc etc. I'm starting to believe that its going to become harder and harder for people to be able to hide info anyway. And now I have a filter, albeit a small, partially broken filter, but lets just say I won't be blogging about things as dramatic as my tumultuous dating life of past years.

So there you have it. I might eat my words someday and go private again, but for now, I'm going to share my life...however suburban it may be.

1. www.healthgirltv.com
2. http://stablebutnotboring.blogspot.com