Name a cute thing about Flurg

Mike: His eyelashes.
Me: His dimple.
Mike: His chubby thighs.
Me: His chubby cheeks.
Mike: His dancing.
Me: His church-boy hair.
Mike: When he snuggles into my neck when he's sleeping.
Me: That is cute.
(Pause for mutual reflection on that mental image)
Me: His top tooth poking through.

Yep, we played that game.
We'll probably play it again.
Anyone wanna fault us for it?

Ouchie stuff

Insecure? Me?

Why...do you think I'm insecure?

Did someone SAY that I'm insecure?

No, it's OK, you can tell me, I want to knooooow!


Yeah. Having one of "those" weeks. Today I realized that my 2 week tour of the grandmas begins in LESS THAN A WEEK and I had 2 feelings.

First: WOW that came fast.
and Second: THANK. GOODNESS.

I'm feeling particularly like I need to be surrounded by people who are obligated to love me, y'know what I mean? So this trip is coming at a good time.

And because I'm feeling especially vulnerable, I've already kind of been regretting writing this.

That's right, before I even wrote it.

And now I'm gonna go crawl into my hole for a while.

Baby steps, baby footage

Story #1 (!)
So I was just like sitting there, on the floor, in an empty classroom at church, my friend was there, my baby was hangin out, practicing his mad standing skillz, MK's new baby was lying down between us...


Then my baby looked at us, looked at the baby, and then he took TWO STEPS!
[And then he attempted to gouge that baby's eyes out.]

On this his eleven month birthday, my baby walked. Two small steps for a baby, one "HOLY CRAP I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M IN FOR" for mommykind.

Story #2 (Trying to make a long story short)
It went like this:

1. I bought a ticket home in August for me and Babyflurg since I won't have childcare (babysitter's on maternity leave) and it was cheap.

2. We mentioned it to Mike's mom, and she was visibly upset (I know 'cause video chat).

3. We found another cheap ticket and booked me & J to visit her too.

4. For her birthday*, Mike culminated a few months' footage into this to announce the good news:



5. She rejoiced exceedingly.

And then I posted my very first baby video on the blog.

The end.


*Remember this birthday awesomeness from last year? Definitely worth a rewatch.

Help a sister out

Ok, listen. I know I've asked a lot of you lately, between the auction and doing next to nothing to win free books (wait--why did that second one feel like you were doing ME a favor?).

But this next thing is important too. My sister is trying to raise money for a personal cause that is really important to her. And this is how.

What is she selling?

1. Gourmet pesto
2. Gourmet marinara
3. Chocolate lava cake batter
4. Her famous artichoke dip

Who can help?
People living in:

1. Boston
2. Dallas
3. Phoenix/Mesa
4. Denver

(I will be in all of these cities in the next 2 months and will hand deliver the goods to you. I KNOW!)

How can you help?

1. Place an order
   
2. Pay what you can. Think of it as a donation with a really yummy prize attached.

Why should you help?

1. She is an EXCELLENT chef
2. Yum yum yummy
3. You can really help her out
4. Good karma
5. You're a good person
6. You want to be a good person, but don't know how to start
7. Because I said so
8. Pretty please

Shoot me an email for more info or to place an order.
Thanks, people.
Really.

Sugar baby

Becoming a mom has been surprising in many ways. I don't think I had many assumptions about it beforehand, but there are some things that have outright shocked the hell outta me, mostly in regards to my own feelings.

I don't think I knew how much I would love it, for instance. Of course, I knew I would like my kid and stuff, but the level of Oooo I can't get enough of this guy-ness only grows every day. And that--I don't think I expected.

(Seriously. I hate being away from him these days. But that is for another post...)

Another thing that has surprised me (or maybe I just never really thought much about it before) was how concerned I am about what kind of food goes into my baby's little perfect, unmarred, theoretically contaminant-free body. I'm not preachy about this or anything, I'm just saying that for me, deciding what his meals are is a much more thoughtful process than I anticipated.

And as my baby's first birthday quickly approaches (can you friggin believe that? not me), I have actually spent like, TIME pondering the Cake Dilemma. What Cake Dilemma, you ask? Yes, that's because you are a normal person. But I am finding that I cannot stomach the thought of my baby shoving fistfuls of processed sugary chocolate sweetness into his tiny, perfect mouth, even if it makes for a great photo-op.

(May I reiterate that I am not judging your choices in this matter? 'Cause I'm really really not.)

Oh I know this is a time honored tradition. I know I'm being a little fuddy-duddy, and I know that by the time kid #3 comes around I'll throw all my ideals out the window. But hey, this is just where I'm "at."

To conclude this part of the story, let's just say that yes, I will be making a non-sugar cake for my Flurgie Pie that he can smash/scarf at will. That's right, I am. (interested? go here)

ANYwho. I've been pretty conservative (dare I say anal?) with my baby's sugar intake thus far. I don't want to have "that kid" who's never had sugar before, so goes crazy at his friend's house or hides chocolate under his bed. But still. Am hoping to limit his exposure for now. Though I have given him a few bites of frozen yogurt before (which of course he LOVED), mostly because these days it is IMPOSSIBLE for me to eat anything in his vicinity without him guilting me into sharing.

Sometimes I have to eat his food before he decides he'll eat it. There's a lesson in there somewhere...

So flash to last night, when Mike and I were packing up to deliver a plate of cookies to some friends. I laid the plate in the "under" part of the stroller and returned to the kitchen, while my inexplicably cranky baby wandered around the hallway, being cranky.

And then he suddenly stopped being cranky.

And then I wondered why.

And then I turned around.

And you can imagine what I saw: my little J had maneuvered himself under the stroller, grabbed the plate, and was halfway through a cookie, and could not have been more pleased with himself.

[insert adorable picture we didn't have time to take]

His little face was covered in gooey, sugary, chocolatiness. And I didn't have the heart to stop him.

So last night, my baby had his first full-sugar, chocolate-laden, crammed-with-all-kinds-of-badness, bonified cookie.

And he lived.

And still I'm somehow consoled by the fact that at least it had oats in it.

The proverbial drumroll

You guys.

Seriously? What does it take to make lurkers comment?! Ah, the eternal blogger question.

I know there are more of you out there. I know because you tell me you are reading, even though I had no idea you were. And to you I say:

If the possibility of the coolest book (possibly EVER) mailed to your door isn't going to get you out of your little virtual spider hole? Well then I don't know what.

Moving on.

So. Here is the part of the giveaway that I really hate: disappointing people. Ok, I know you aren't like holding your breath or placing all your future dreams on winning this thing, but still. I've entered many-a-giveaway myself, and haven't won any (except this one, which had nothing to do with luck, but had everything to do with you). And every loss hurts a little.

What I'm saying is, I'm sorry I don't have 32 books.

Also, because I have a problem with needing to make people like me (I'm seeking therapy, don't worry), I'm going to do something that parents are told never to do:

I'm not going to follow through with my punishment.

And I'm giving 2 books away.

With that, the [randomly picked, I promise] winners:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

7   20

Timestamp: 2009-07-21 03:29:49 UTC

Hooray for 7 and 20! Which by my count are this Erin (sorry other Erin if that got your hopes up) and Darcie (of whale-creating fame).

Congratulations, gals! Send me your address [turleybenson at gmail dot com], I will send you pages of crazy deliciousness.

And thus endeth my first giveaway. Whew.

Hmm...

If only 10 more people weren't afraid to delurk...

Friendly reminders

You have 4 more days for my giveaway, y'all. So far I'm giving only one book away. If I have 12 more commenters, I'll give a second away. We can DO this!

Also, RE the auction (yeah, and this isn't the last you'll hear about it either), several people have asked what they can donate. We've sorta narrowed it into categories.

1. Handmade goods--past examples are blown glass pieces, woven baskets, jewelry, photography
2. Tickets--theater, community event, sports
3. Services--e.g. massage, manicure, photo session and the like
4. Cold hard cash--you can always just donate money to the cause which is, of course, the point.

We are going to set a date of August 20th for donations to come in.
And then we'll probably still take them after that, to be quite honest.

If you want to simply donate money, go here. Or talk to me.

For info on the cause, go here.

Not done with marriage

So, remember my marriage posts? Come on, I know it's been a while, but try to think back.

I'll give you hint.
Here's the first post
And the second one
And the third

Well, there's at least one more I've been meaning to write. It's about a little movie you might have heard of (and I'm not being sarcastic, the movie is little, and you only MIGHT have heard of it.)

I heard about it when it was first released. I have to admit, I kind of p-shaw'ed it, right off the bat. Then someone else mentioned it, and pretty soon 4 or 5 different people had recommended it.

Then Mike and I started having some bad weeks.

Then one night, sort of in the middle of the rough patch, and after we had put the Flurg to bed, I had a strong feeling that we should watch the movie.

(Are you like, wanting to kill me for not saying the movie title already?)

So I checked our On Demand listings, and there it was. And even though it cost us $4.99, we pushed play.

The movie was Fireproof.
Starring? Kirk Cameron.

Ok. That fact either strongly intrigues you or totally repels you, I know. It's funny, because I am a pretty devout Christian, yet for some reason I totally eschew 99% of Christian pop culture. So knowing that Kirk Cameron was in this movie, I kind of expected a heavy handed, cheesy, preachy movie.

Was it heavy handed? Not like I expected. And as a Christian I actually appreciated the Christian aspects of the movie. However, you don't have to be one to get a powerful message from the film.

Was it cheesy? Listen. It wasn't nominated for an Oscar. But in this case, you can easily decide to look past certain shortcomings and instead see the bigger picture.

Was it preachy? I honestly did not think so.

In fact, I'm gonna go ahead and make a very broad, blanket statement here--something I don't often do:

I think every single married couple out there should watch this movie together.

Yeah. I just said that. I don't want to overstate, or build expectations, or whatever. But I'm not exaggerating when I say that watching this movie changed us. Before the film, we were irritated with each other, acting stubborn, unappreciative of one another..etc..etc..

As soon as the movie ended, we looked at each other and said, "I'm sorry." Really. It was that immediate. And though we've had some less than perfect days since then, I can honestly say that we are no longer "having a hard time."

So here is my recommendation: whether or not you are in a marriage rut, you need to see this movie. And if you ARE in a rut, or feeling prideful, or constantly critical of your spouse, or wishing they would change, or pretty much annoyed every day, or wondering if you made the right choice marrying your spouse, or any variation of these things,

You need to see this movie today. Together, ideally. But if he/she won't watch it with you, then watch it yourself.

I promise you, it will do you a world of good.

(And I'd like to note that the couple in the film has been married 7 years. I'm just sayin'...)

How to deal, courtesy of the Gilmores

Last week I had a sad day when I realized that one of my guilty little pleasures had come to an end.

Backing up a bit, I always made fun of Gilmore Girls when it was aired originally, mainly because of the INSANE amount of dialogue. SO unbelievable that anyone on this earth could think and talk that fast, let alone 2 people, let alone a 14 year old girl. Almost as annoying as those ridiculously wise and eloquent-beyond-their-years kids on Dawson's Creek. Puh leeze.

But then reruns started to coincide with my baby's naps, and as it turns out, sometimes you need a ridiculous little escape from "believable" and for me, Gilmore Girls was just what the doctor ordered. I'd catch an episode here and there, and kind of follow along with the plot twists and whatnot. But then the last coupla seasons, I became really hooked.

Last Thursday I saw the series finale. It was, I have to admit, pretty good TV.

But this post is not about that episode.

It's about an earlier episode, one of the more genius episodes of any show I have ever seen EVER. You know, one right up there with the musical Buffy episode and when Kara Thrace comes back in a spaceship after exploding in a nebula.

Roll tape. (Feel free to skip to 1:25.)


Genius. Pure and simple. If only we could all hash out our issues like this, the world would be a better place.

Even the insane amount of dialogue* doesn't bug me. Instead, I kinda want to slow clap as I slowly rise to my feet.

And then invite my whoooole family over for dinner, sit them down and say, "Aaaaaand GO!"

*(Seriously though, can you imagine memorizing lines for this show? Sheesh.)

How to sew green, or HOLY CRAP I MADE SOMETHING!

As some of you know, my friend MK had her second baby about a month ago. Her FIRST baby (who is now almost 2, and I think we get to call him a baby until that point) is having a wee bit of a hard time with it. This is the same baby that I used to babysit sometimes, and who got to be my sort of "test subject" on occasion on what it was like having a baby in this apartment. He will always have a special place in my cold, shriveled, teeny tiny heart.

He also likes buckles.

So somewhere along the line I got it in my head that I wanted to get him something special that would be just for him, that would help occupy him when mommy was tending to little baby E, that could help keep his attention during church...

And naturally, it HAD to have buckles.

So first I searched online to see if such a toy existed. I found this one and I almost bought it like seven times. Then I found someone's blog that was doing a giveaway for that very same toy and I thought--FATE! I'm TOTALLY gonna win this!

I didn't.

Then, my dear friends, I decided something that may have changed my life forever.

I decided to MAKE one. And this was my process:

First I bought some of these.
Yeah, I went to a fabric store and everything. I got 4 sets of buckles and straps, and I came home and hand sewed the straps on. No big deal.

But then I had no idea what to do next. So I pulled in a consultant. Under a ruse of a friendly dinner at our place, I invited the area expert in all things crafty over and she happily brainstormed with me.

So the idea started forming.

And then I asked you if I could borrow your sewing machine. I borrowed one (thank you very much!). (PS it was a Singer, not a Brother, but I think very similar. And I liked it.)

I thought, "Man, I wish I had buttons and zippers and stuff to add to this strappy toy thingie."

And then I thought, "But I'm really cheap, and I don't know if I can handle another trip to the fabric store so soon."

And my next thought was, I believe, the turning point of the whole thing.
I thought, "Why not use parts of old clothes I was gonna throw out anyway?"

And that's exactly what I did.
And then I wound a bobbin. Thrilling.

I cut up a pair of baby pants that had zippers up the sides.
And a pair of baby overalls that had lots of snaps.
And a raggedy bib with a velcro closure. Then I stitched his name on an old pocket.

And many [MANY] crooked stitches, redos, mistaken closures, etc etc later, it all came together.
I am fighting...FIGHTING the urge to post close ups of all my mistakes. It would just make the post way too long. I find great comfort in the fact that little L will never give a flying buckle about any of them.

And I'm deciding, rather, to just focus on the fact that I did this! All by myself!

I thought my first show of craftiness was a fluke, but hey. I suppose in this brave new world, anything is possible. I might even be the next her*.

*yeeeeeeeah right!

A giveaway, people!

But first, CONGRATULATIONS to Bridge! She had a large male child today. And he is soooo cute. Why are there forty-seven states between me and that baby!

And so, partially in celebration of that blessed event, and partially because... I just wanna, I hereby announce:

MY VERY FIRST BLOG GIVEAWAY!!! I know, right? You're all IT'S ABOUT TIME!

Well folks, I actually have been mulling this over for quite a while. I'm not quite so crafty that I feel comfortable giving something handmade (though s t a y t u n e d for a full report of a parTICularly creative and fruitful holiday weekend in this household. Prepare, my friends, to be impressed).

So anyway, I've been thinking and thinking about what to give away, you know, wanting it to be cool enough for you guys and stuff (seriously). And then on our date night a few weeks ago, Mike and I hit my favorite bookstore and one of the books on the table jumped right up and into my bag. In FACT...

TWO OF THEM JUMPED.

And so, without further blah blah, I give you... the giveaway:
Oh folks. This book is GOOOOD. It is called The Secret Life of Food and it has the funniest, craziest, most creative ideas on how to style and serve food at all occasions.

I give you a few of my favorite examples:
Did you see that? SUSHI CUPCAKES, PEOPLE! These are made of candy, coconut, cream, and other various sweet delicacies. ADORABLE.

And who WOULDN'T want to come home at the end of the day and see this under the bed:
Ok, admittedly, some ideas are more usable than others. But there are some great Halloween ideas, and many fun general party foodstuffs.

You want this book. Trust me.

Here are the rules:
You have until July 20th to enter.
Enter by posting a comment on this entry.
I need at least 25 different commenters before I will part with this treasure. (Anne, tell me if that's rude:))
AND
If I have 40 commenters, I will give TWO books away ('member? cuz 2 jumped into my bag.)

I will pick winners at random in approximately 12 days.

And.....GO!

Baby, love, Chicks

Scoff if you will at the following statement; it is true, nonetheless:

The Dixie Chicks are a part of the soundtrack of my life.

Oh, Nelly. I love me some Chicks. That's right, and I'm not afraid to say it. Now, I'm not a big music person. What I mean is, I am definitely NOT "in the know" about the latest bands and what album you HAVE to have, but something about these gals just gets me, and always has.
I once longed for wide open spaces.
I have at times wanted a cowboy to take me away.
And I too, think Earl had to die.

I also have some very fond memories of attending a Chicks concert with a certain group of gals in Dallas back in '00. Oh the memories!

That horrible year of my life when all that bad crap happened (ahem, 2007 I'm looking at your ugly face), this album walked me to work and back every SINGLE day. All the anger, angst, sorrow, worry, hope I felt during that time had a voice. And that voice was one Natalie Maines.

I challenge you to find a song that captures the heartbreak of infertility better than the chorus of this gem:
http://www.rhapsody.com/dixie-chicks/taking-the-long-way/so-hard/lyrics.html
(sorry, you have to actually push the play button there. IT'S WORTH IT.)

...Or a lullaby more fitting and beautiful than this song (I sing this to my baby every night):


And now, the Chicks are once again giving me some love. I'm not quite sure how we discovered this, but my baby has a favorite song, and it goes a little something like this:

(Sorry if you were expecting a video of my baby; I wish I had one to post.) He KNOWS this song. He gets the biggest grin on his face when those first beats start goin' and then? He dances. Big time. He waves his little arms as if conducting music, he bounces his little bum, and he rocks his body. I love it.

Thank you, Dixie Chicks. Again. I have a feeling this isn't the end of our relationship.

And another...

I think I've found the best way to get comments: ask for advice! Thanks for all your advice. Because of that post, a friend of mine is loaning me her Costco Brother sewing machine for a month while she's out of town, so this will be a great way to try it out to see if I want one. I think for the limited amount of sewing I'll be doing, that might be a really good option. Thanks everyone!

Um, I need s'more advice though. Car seats. I need the next step up car seat that can be both forward and back facing, and possibly also converts to a booster, though that's not absolutely necessary. Ugh, I HATE making these decisions! Just drop one at my doorstep with a bill, would ya?

Also, I'm not spending over $200. I know, I'm a horrible mother. Unless you really really think I should.

And also also, have a great holiday weekend, y'all! We have absolutely nothing planned. So there's that.

Lastly, blog nerd=Blerd. Bam. Thanks, Emily!

This, that AND THE OTHER

Want to hear what a big blog nerd I am (has anyone coined a term for that yet? you should.)

I keep a list of potential blog topics in a spreadsheet, in case I'm ever stumped for something to say. Please [lie to me and] tell me I'm not the only one.

I just have a few random things on me mind this evening. No spreadsheet necessary.

Nope, my baby is not better. If forced to make an "either/or" decision, I'd say he's worse. I know it could still be swelling, but the doc said that would go down after a day or two. It's been more than that. Argh.

Flurg had a lovely playdate with the lovely Elliott today. I horrified myself by being genuinely jealous that the very advanced (I've always said so) E can already clap, wave, and point. Turns out I have a little "stage mom" in here somewhere. Must be the Texan in me.

Speaking of baby abilities, Flurg is full on standing now, unassisted. He does it for several seconds at a time, but actually prefers to stand ON things. Like the bed, or a pillow, or a book, or my stomach. No joke. I need to get pictures of this.

Can anyone recommend (or warn against) a sewing machine for less than $200? I've decided that I need one, and that is my limit. Thank you. Also, can I come to your house tonight to use yours for 20 minutes? Thanks again.

And if you could also tell me where I can get access to an indoor pool with my baby for less than $50/month? That would be great too. (That's what the local YMCA wants.)

And lastly, I've been meaning to do one-a-them giveaways for a while. Stay tuned....