Palm Beach Baby

I've definitely caught a case of Baby Fever...  Everyone I know is either pregnant or has a newborn.  I'm thinking we'll succumb to peer pressure pretty soon, so I'm on the hunt for the perfect nursery.  This one in Ft Worth is simply too fabulous for words!  For a full description check out Nursery Notations, an awesome blog dedicated to making each nursery as unique as the baby that sleeps there!

I'm planning to get rid of the generic ceiling fan we currently have in the study when we convert it over to a nursery.  This sunburst lighting would add the perfect retro touch while giving baby something fun to stare up at.  I'm also in the market for a new glider and ottoman since our gigantic one won't fit in the small space.  This chair and fuzzy pouf would be perfect!

Not sure if I could talk hubby into the picture wall, but it is really cool!  It rolls on like wallpaper.  I love the stylish crib (also a great space saver) and bedding.  I'm in love with the unique valance!

Happy St Patrick's Day!!!

Hubby & I at Brady Tavern

Hubby and I met our friends, Mr & Mrs A, for a 'quiet' dinner out at Hey Mambo last night.  The thinking behind this was, it's an Italian restaurant, no one will be here on St Patrick's Day.  It actually wasn't too crowded, and we enjoyed the beautiful weather at an outdoor table.  The food was delicious, but the cocktails and wine were even better!  Being a holiday and all, we decided to check out the new Brady Tavern for an after dinner drink (or two, or three).  I had heard great reviews and was not disappointed!  The inside doesn't look too different from the old Lola's, but the menu was full of fun drinks, both 'old school' and 'new school' and the food looked great.  Hubby and I will definitely be back for dinner! 

Waking up this morning, I realized I did learn three things last night...

1. Hubby's green drinking pants still rock!
2. While I'm not Irish or Catholic, I love any excuse to go out on a weeknight and act like a 22 year old!
3. Despite #2, I am waaaaaaaay to old to celebrate St Patrick's Day!

Monkey enjoying a green cupcake earlier in the day



Zoo-mba!

Monkey and I enjoyed a fun morning at the Zoo this week... along with the rest of Tulsa!  Not sure why I thought the Wednesday of spring break wouldn't be too crowded, but we had fun regardless. 

I did notice an interesting phenomenon...  Remember in your early 20s how Halloween was an excuse for 'nice' girls to wear trashy clothes? ie "slutty" nurse, "slutty" cat, even "slutty" policewoman...  Well, apparently, sunny day + trip to the zoo = daisy dukes and tube tops for some moms out there.  Not sure that getting a tan is quite that important to me, but it made for good people watching! 

Here are some pics of Monkey enjoying the animals...

Rockin' his shades while enjoying the Meerkats

On the seesaw with Mommy

Laid back lunch in the Bob

Brushing a goat at the petting zoo

I have to wonder if they slipped these goats some Benadryl,

they were seriously the most docile animals I've ever seen!

Just a few seconds slow on getting the most perfect "Monkey" shot!

New Year New Me!

Old New Year's pic of Hubby and I from pre-Monkey days when we used to do fun things on NYE like have people over, wear silly hats and stay up until (sometimes even after) midnight!

Obviously, I have been very delinquent in keeping up with my blog.  I guess all of the eating and drinking during December got in the way.  Oh, and the shopping!  Can't forget the shopping...  Anyway, in the spirit of the new year, my resolution is to spend more time 'blogging'.  Hubby will be so thrilled!  It's not that I don't love talking about myself, it's one of my favorite pastimes actually, but finding things to write about that anyone besides myself might find remotely entertaining has been tough.  And I'm the worst when it comes to technology so uploading pictures can be a bit of a challenge.  I have about a hundred from Christmas that I will work on sharing, hopefully by Valentine's Day!  

My other resolution has been to get in shape!  My Christmas gift to me was a trainer.  Not much of a gift when you consider I'm paying someone to torture me, but I'm hoping I will appreciate it in the long run.  As we're starting to think about Monkey the Second, I would like to have someone to hold me accountable to my workouts before and during my pregnancy.  Maybe this time around it won't take me two years to lose the 'baby' weight!  My trainer is this really funny lady from South Africa and her whole deal is reshaping your core, strengthening the muscles along your spine and improving balance.  She claims that she will give you that boy look with no thighs, hips or tummy.  I've never had that shape in my life, so if she succeeds it will be a miracle!  One of the things she recommends are those crazy toning shoes.  I'm attaching a link to puma and a picture of the pair I just ordered. PUMA BODYTRAIN  I have a feeling I may break a neck in these things before I notice a result, but I'll keep you posted!

I Heart Mrs Prindable's

Candy covered ball of deliciousness

My in-laws introduced us to Mrs Prindable's a couple of years ago and it has quickly become an obsession.  They sell amazing apples drenched in caramel and then topped with any kind of chocolate you can think of.  I had to ban myself from ordering them for us, but if we happen to get them as a gift it's fair game!  So I was super excited when a box of four minis arrived on our doorstep for Halloween.  Thanks G and Pops!!!  It definitely takes the sting out of being too old to trick-or-treat!  Here's a link to their website if you need a treat for yourself!  Mrs Prindable's

Monkey Is 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Breakfast of champions!  Passing up Belgian waffles for yogurt, applesauce and capri sun.

Wilson Fire House

Monkey hearts cupcakes!  Well, the icing at least.

Monkey turned the big 0-2 on the 4th!  He started his special day with a homemade breakfast of Belgian waffles and whipped cream, of which M ate none.  Apparently, he's more of a L'eggo man.  I thoroughly enjoyed them, though.  Then we took him to the playroom to show him his big gift.  After his teachers told me his favorite toy at school is the dollhouse, I researched boy houses and found him the cutest Fire Station.  It took H and I a couple of hours to put together, but I think it was worth it!  I have to say the biggest hit of the day were the Mylar balloons I had waiting for him at home after school.  M seriously cleaned up in the gift department this year, but I think the balloons were his absolute fav.  We had G, Pops, Aunt S and Gaga A over for his favorite meal of tacos, black beans, rice and cupcakes.  Yum!!
On Saturday we had a birthday party with all of M's (ok, really my) friends at the place where M and I take gymnastics class.  M loved all of the attention at both parties and had a bit of a hard time coming off of the birthday and sugar high once it was all over.  Luckily Christmas is right around the corner!

Monkey in his natural habitat - the gym!  He found a stuffed chihuaha that he called "Pea" and carried around the whole party.

Monkey plates and napkins

Sad Monkey!  Started crying during Happy Birthday song.



Can't be bothered to pose...



Pulling a Britney

Usually Britney Spears is not my go to parenting role model, but I was a little desperate today.  After rushing in to pick Monkey up from school five minutes late (shopping emergency), dragging him to the car and wrestling him into the car seat I realized too late that he had no water in his sippy cup.  This probably sounds like a small problem, but M will cry the entire way home if he doesn't have his after school drink.  I weighed my options, unhook him and pray for his cooperation (yeah right), leave him buckled in the car and run back to the water fountain (too afraid of child services) or give him the only fluids I had available, my watered down diet coke.  What would Britney do?  Yes, I gave my almost two year old diet coke in a sippy cup today...  Sure, it's not Mountain Dew, but still not one of my prouder moments.

Happy Halloween!!!

 



Monkey in his stroller at Boo Ha Ha

At the neighbor's visiting their pumpkins

We had the best Halloween!  This was really the first year that Monkey 'got' the concept.  Last year we had his birthday party on Halloween, and I think he was just a little overwhelmed by the whole thing.  This year I tried to prepare him a little better.  We read every Halloween book I could find, watched the Halloween episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse about a million times and talked about dressing up and trick-or-treating for the whole month of October.  We went also went to the Whiteside Carnival and Boo Ha Ha as dry runs for the big day.  So needless to say, I was pretty much over Halloween by the time it got here.  But luckily M was not sick of it!  My friend A invited us to her mom's house to get all the kids together before the dads took them trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.  M was very excited to see A's daughter dressed as Mickey Mouse.  After tugging on her ears and poking the belly of her costume, he spent the rest of his time chasing her around and 'talking' to A's mom's dogs.  Very exciting!  Finally, the dads took all of the little ones out to collect their treats.  Hubby said M was a trooper but finally just pooped out.  M started sitting down in the grass and eventually laying down for a rest in between houses.  He did admirably for his first time out, though! 





Heading out to trick-or-treat with dad



Sleepy Monkey going home













Brownie's

Hubby, Monkey and I made the most wonderful discovery - Brownie's!!  Apparently this is a Tulsa institution, but it took us a whole nine months of living here before we ventured in.  It looks a little, how shall I put this nicely, unkempt from the outside.  But we were feeling quite adventurous after our trip to the Whiteside Halloween Carnival, and a little desperate for somewhere close and quick since it was already past bedtime, so we thought we would give it a shot.  Boy, am I glad we did!  For starters, we had the nicest waiter ever.  The menu only has about five items on it, but he went to great lengths to make sure we were well informed before we all ordered, you guessed it, cheeseburgers.  We also tried the fries, coleslaw and chili, of which Monkey was a super fan!  Luckily the food was served fast because we were only there about twenty minutes before M reached his breaking point and we had to go home to put him down.  Before leaving H and I got a slice of the banana cream pie to go and enjoyed it while catching up on DVR after M was in bed.  The perfect end to a perfect night! 

Halloween Happenings

Monkey is all set for Halloween.  This year he's paying homage to G and Pop's dogs and going as a dalmation.  I got the cutest costume at Pottery Barn Kids.  We bought ours a while ago, but they still have the treat bags online, so you get the idea.  At first M wouldn't try it on for me, but I finally wrangled the hat over his head and took him to the mirror to see how cute he looked.  He slowly began to swing the ears back and forth, "woof, woof"ed and gave his reflections a few kisses.  We have no self esteem problems in this house!  Since he's still a little young for full out trick-or-treating I've been looking for some other opportunities to show off his outfit.  Tonight we're going to Whiteside Recreation Center for their Halloween Carnival.  I just found out about this one today - thanks B!  On Saturday we're going to the Boo Ha Ha festivities on Brookside.  I don't think we'll be up early enough for the pancake breakfast but it should be fun!  And Monkey will be happy to have another chance to check himself out in costume!

A Lady Who Lunches

When I first enrolled Monkey in Mother's Day Out I had elaborate visions of how I would spend all my new found free time.  The most frequent day dream was that I would morph into a 'lady who lunches'.  I'm sure you've seen them around town.  Invariably she's the most fashionably dressed woman in the restaurant.  The one you know has three kids and a full time job but still manages to have nary a chipped nail or hair out of place.  I just knew it, this would be me!  Minus the additional kids and job of course.  All the better because I would have time to get a manicure and go to the gym let alone wash and dry my hair.  Sadly, this has not been the case.  Most of the time I'm lucky to get a solo trip into Target in between all of the other day to day errands I try to squeeze into my days 'off'.  But today was different!  My friend B and I were meeting for lunch as we both had a few precious kid free hours.  Of course, said lunch had been rescheduled a few times already due to Monkey's ear infections, but today he was healthy and we were on!  The plan, meet at 11:30 at Wolfgang Puck Bistro.  Small problem, Wolfgang isn't open for lunch yet (sign on the locked door says lunch to begin Jan 2011).  After a brief call, we met down the street at Sonoma Bistro & Wine Bar.  Back on track, we enjoyed a delicious meal, great conversation and best of all, no spills, tantrums or dirty looks from other eaters!  I may not be able to go out for a long, leisurely lunch every week (or even every month), but it sure is worth it when I do!  Chipped nails, messy hair and all...