Everyone needs a Bristol

Often times Brian and I encounter another married couple that has a good mutual "guy" friend. Two of our neighbors have one. We have one too. His name is Bristol, and often times, we will actually use the term, "Oh, he's like their Bristol".

The last time Bristol was in town for the weekend, he not only tied a tie for me for use in Brian's Father's Day Photo Shoot, but he also made Logan laugh so hard I thought, numerous times, that he would shoot milk out his nose. The laughter doesn't stop there, because he has, many times, made ME laugh equally as hard. Never have I met another person like Bristol. Bristol was even the lucky recipient of these words from Brian: "If anything happens to me, I give you permission to marry Lindsay". Hey, it takes a big man to fill those shoes.

I could go on and on and on... but I won't. Bristol wouldn't want that.

So, three cheers to Bristol. Now go drink a beer.

18 Month Sleep Regression... You are NOT my BFF

Logan has decided to revert back to the old days when he would NOT sleep at night. Why, God, WHY?! We were perfectly content with the 8pm - 6:30am (OR LONGER) that he had been totally down with for months and months and MONTHS. But no. Two nights in a row he has been up at 11pm, tossing and turning when we bring him to our bed (yes, we are THOSE parents), and when I am finally about to lose my mind around 1am since I have yet to go to sleep, we put him back in his bed where he will scream until 2am. That is ONE HOUR of screaming. And the worst part? It's not a crying scream. Oh no... It is MOMMMMMMMYYYYY, sob sob sob, MOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM, sob sob, MAAAAAMAAAAAA. So, you know, just enough mixture of sobbing and calling for me to make my heart break into about 4 million pieces.

I have hope for tonight though... oh yes sir. This boy is TIRED and needs some sleep. Tonight HAS to be the night, right?

But isn't he cute?

Somewhere between and mullet and a rat-tail...

...was my poor boy's hairdo. So, mom got out the scissors yesterday and chopped it off. I have to say, it was bitter-sweet, and you better believe I put every last strand of hair that left his head into a baggie to save for all eternity. Yes, I did. (And yes Kelly Bartlett, I STILL have the positive pregnancy test from when I found out I was pregnant with my little mullet-head!).

I just tried to cut straight across the back and around the ears because we still want Logan to have that long, shaggy hair, but just not a do from the 80's.

The last pic on the bottom is Logan and Wrigley impatiently waiting Daddy to walk through the door after being gone for 10 days!

Oh handsome man...


Hmmmmm... not sure how this turned out, but he is mullet/rat-tail free!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good - Brian is home from Canada!!! YAY!!! So glad to have you back, honey.

The Bad - I don't get a vacation.

The Ugly - somewhere in the Amazon and Congo may live a spider 5n feet in diameter.

That's right, you heard me.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I HATE spiders. HATE. Like, hate in the way that I once followed a spider around my college apartment until Jenny or Stacey got home because I was sure that if I attempted to capture/kill/smoosh the spider, it would sense and know my plans, and as my hand or foot would near the creature, it would JUMP onto my body and attack me. This is the same reason that I made my neighbor come into my house to remove an already dead spider from my kitchen. You know, because maybe it was just pretending to be dead and awaiting the perfect moment to ATTACK! Ha, spider. Lindsay - 1, Spider - 0.

But, I am pretty sure that in a fight with the Amazon spider beast, I would be the one losing. It was a show on History Channel called Monster Quest. Ever seen it? We kinda got sucked in. We watched an episode once about the alleged Dog Man that lives in Southern Wisconsin. Now, in case you are wondering where I get my irrational fears from, my MOM was convinced that the Dog Man was living in her back yard, just waiting for my Dad to leave out of town before he would jump out of the trees, eat her dogs, and learn how to open doors. Love you mom.

The show was pretty interesting, and all I can say is that I am glad that I am not anywhere near the Amazon or the Congo. Or Texas, because apparently, Texas has something called the Camel Spider that has been known to bite while you are sleeping, injecting venom into your skin so you can't feel it eating chunks of your flesh. No, I can't make this stuff up. The researchers where only able to locate a spider with a body 10 inches in diameter - so overall, probably 2 ft. wide with it's eight furry legs. Hey, when you're talking spiders, what's the difference between 2 ft, or 5ft. I mean, really... Either way, I'm calling the neighbor.

Ahhhhhhhh....

One thing to truly cherish, as a parent of a baby or toddler, is the rare occasion where you are able to have a full meal, from start to finish, without interruption. No flying sippy cups. No sharing all the food off your plate. No need to worry about hearing "I WANT MILK"....

Today, I had an uninterrupted meal - IN PUBLIC.

Logan and I did some Saturday shopping at the mall. When I realized it was lunch time, I looked down at Logan and realized he was ASLEEP in his stroller. Did you hear that? He was SLEEPING! I went to Panera, ordered myself a sandwich, and a sandwich and yogurt for Logan (for when he woke up of course, because you better believe I was in no rush to hurry that). I sat at the table, my perfect little prince dreaming sweet dreams in the stroller next to my chair, and I ate an entire meal without interruption. It was glorious. When I was finished, I tickled Logan until he woke up, and fed him his lunch while he was in the best mood ever.

Plus, Brian comes home today after being gone FOREVER!!!! (OK, so maybe he hasn't been gone forever, maybe it has only been 9 days, but it has been a LONG 9 days).

What a good day.

I Google

I like to Google. Google and I have formed a friendship, as I know that

1. Google will always be there
2. We all know, the internet doesn't lie
3. Along with number two, the internet is never wrong... right?

So I google everything from recipes, to ear infections; coupon codes to homemade finger paint pointers, from blogs to tips on getting that icky ammonia stink out of cloth diapers.

I google so much that a friend recently gave me a nick name: McGoogle.

The point of my story is that in my recent googleing in found an awesome Tomato Soup recipe!!! I modified it a bit and it turned out delicious!

Tuscan Tomato Bisque

Two regular sized cans of low sodium Chicken Broth
One 28oz can of diced tomatoes
One 28oz can crushed tomatoes
Two cups of baby carrots
Two Tbls balsamic vinegar
Two Tbls minced garlic
Olive oil
Milk
Oregano
Fresh Basil
Pepper
Parsley
Salt

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot, add the garlic until it smells delicious. Add both cans of tomatoes, the broth, and the balsamic vinegar. Add the spices to taste (pretty much equal palm-fulls). Add the baby carrots. Boil about 20 minutes (until carrots are tender). Blend the soup with hand blender. Add milk slowly while blending - add the amount of milk until you reach desired color of the soup. I added about 3/4 cup probably.

I served the soup with 3 Cheese Grilled Cheese. I used shredded sharp cheddar and shredded swiss for the inside of the sammys and used parmesean on the outside of the bread. Oh the yumminess.

Logan ate dinner for an hour. ONE HOUR. He ate more soup than I did.

One. Uno. First ever.

Today is my first day as a blogger. A blog virgin if you will. I figure that now that I spend my day with individuals that can't quite form sentences yet... well, that I should probably have a place for my thoughts. That, and I have the world's most adorable boy that does brilliant and fabulous new tricks each day that I must share his ingenuity with the world.

For example, today: today I asked Logan to put the wipes away. My little right-hand-man carried the wipes right into the kitchen, grunted and stood on his tip toes, and set the wipes on the counter. My sweet boy. I said "thank you honey" and he replied "love you mama". Oh my...