Poll: Name Change

I love learning the maiden names of women who married and took their husband's last name. I did, although I wish I had at least thought before I acted, because I didn't. (Although I can't say that the result would be different.) I feel that the move from my maiden name to my married name was pretty lateral. My sister? That girl totally scored! Her married name kicks our maiden name's butt. Then there's my friend who went from Leinweber (pronounced line-webber) to Gordon. Can you believe the luck?? Another score! However, my dear cousin Natalie went down. (And yes, I've already posted about last names. I promise this is a slightly different take--and it's interactive! You can take a poll--fun, right?!)

Anyway, I'm frequently window shopping for a new last name for my family of three. Last names like "Sugarbaker" or "Lickliter" still top the list. So many possibilities!

But let's pretend for a second that before Chuck and I got married that his last name was "Figgit" or "Knipl" (yikes--a real last name! See here.) or something equally bad and mine was "Stewart" or "Watkins" (a duo of fine, solid last names). If this were the case, Chuck has indicated that while he would be 100% supportive of me keeping my last name (much more so than he was in reality), he wouldn't take mine. This baffles me! A chance to kick "Knipl" to the curb? I'd take it in a second if I were him.

Now the interactivity: Ladies, if you had a great last name and your fiance had a very unfortunate one, would you keep yours and encourage your husband to take yours as well? Or keep yours and he keep his? Or would you switch to his unfortunate one?

And gentlemen (all one of you, Todd), same thing. Would you take the better name or keep your own?

Let's take it a bit further: let's pretend both parties of an engaged couple have horrible names. Should they just pick a new one? I'm not sure I could do this, but I think I'd really like to!

Where Can I Rent a Boy's Boy?

Oh how I want this boy to be a "boy's boy." You know, a ball-playing, rough-housing, sports-watching, animal-touching boy. This doesn't mean that I don't want him to be kitchen-playing nor doll-playing. Rather, it expresses my concern that I won't be able to give him these first qualities because they're simply not in me. Thank goodness I have a husband, right? Mostly right. Chuck is good for the ball-playing, rough-housing, and sports-watching (you know, when Rhett starts watching TV and has a bedtime late enough to allow it), but neither one of us can provide him a good animal-touching experience. Poor kid.

The other night right before bed, we were enjoying a lovely evening on the porch when I spied a caterpillar. I so wanted little Rhett to touch it and examine it and play with it, but when I jumped when he got close, I knew there was no chance. He did enjoy watching the little bug, however, so maybe there's hope? And in full disclosure, Chuck did better than I did. He at least got him on a leaf and then on his hand. That is much, much, farther than I got. It's hard to do those things when you're standing ten feet from the critter.

Made by e: Latest Projects

I tried to copy this, but it didn't turn out nearly as cute as the original. Oh well. Ha. Like babies care.

A set of freezer-paper stencilled onesies.

An "I Spy" book that ended up costing $90.
(inside the book)

Two gifts of appliqued onesies.

Halloween candy corn banners to be sold starting late summer. Interested now? Let me know.



Update: Blogger was totally lame today and I accidentally deleted two comments. Note to cousin Emily--I got these designs via Microsoft's clip art page. Just do a search for animals (or whatever). Although I try to support Microsoft as little as possible, this is the best resource I've found for my artistically-impaired self. Let me know if you'd like me to send you the document I created with these images and more!

Another Something That May Be Funny Only to Me

As I was putting Rhett down for a nap on Wednesday, I was overwhelmed by the love I have for that little boy. Especially at nap time doth that cup of love runneth o'er. He's a really great napper, sometimes even running to his room when it's nap time. This day was no different. As I was petting and caressing my sweet little son, he apparently would have no more of it. He said to me, "Go away mom." I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. So I did both. (Not really, but I wanted to.)

Happy weekend everyone.

What Say Ye?

Chuck and I are interested in getting a sandbox for Rhett. We think he'd love it. I'd prefer to stay away from plastic but to buy a new wooden one can be quite expensive. So being the proud people we are, we think we can just make one, never mind that neither of us has much (read: any) experience with power tools. But we like problem solving, and Chuck is my lead designer for all of my crafting projects. What do you think? Can we build this?

I Think Someone Else Likes Spring Too

Crying in My Cheerios

Do you remember the 1980s movie, "Splash? The one where Daryl Hannah is a mermaid rescued by Tom Hanks? I do. Do you remember the scientist who is desperate to prove to the world that Madison is in fact a real mermaid? He has this line in the movie: "What a week I'm having." I think he and I are having the same week, just played out a bit differently.

Among other tragedies, the only one I want to mention is the incredible bad luck I incurred during a run on Monday. I wasn't able to run until the evening, but it was a beautiful evening and a beautiful run. However, I must have done something very wicked to my leg because I have the most incredible pain I've ever experienced (remember, I had an epidural with Rhett so I never experienced that kind of pain). So now, besides the obvious not able to run, I am also not able to easily play with my son, or even walk the dog. I am so frustrated I can't even type this without crying a little.

To make myself feel just a touch better, I bought these. That's right. I bought both. And when they arrive, I'm making these immediately.

Why Math is Important

At McDonald's the other night, I see the following items: 4-piece, 6-piece, and 12-piece McNugget. The 4 piece was $1. The 6-piece was $2.49. The 12-piece was $3.79. I can't even begin to enumerate how many things are wrong with this if you want six or more McNuggets.

Tell me that even if you hated math, you still see the problem with their pricing? Please?

See, knowing math can totally help you save money and eat like crap AT THE SAME TIME. I love math.

Books-A-Billion

Every day at our house we experience a book explosion. It doesn't matter that as soon as Rhett goes to bed, all of the books are returned to a bookshelf in the family room. Twenty-three hours and forty-five minutes later, the books are scattered all over the room again.

As a side note: I'm sure that I could ameliorate this problem. I admit to being addicted to buying books at the thrift store. But honestly, I can't pass up the beauties I find there. (Remember these? The one on the bottom, "Otto Goes to Bed," is now one of Rhett's favorites.)

But still. It's really getting out of control. So what do you guys do? I was thinking about rotating his books. Something like sorting them into four sections and putting out only one-fourth a week and then rotating. Would this work? Where would I put the three-fourths that aren't being used? (Can't keep them on his bookshelf as they'd all end up back in the living room.) Any other ideas?

And if you have any ideas for organizing/displaying stuffed animals, I'd love to hear those too.

Flashback Friday

The greatest thing about this picture? It wasn't taken anywhere near Christmas. We thought it would be funny to put on our dad's robes and make like the Three Wise Men. We just happened to have the star balloon.

And I Thought I'd Have a Hard Time Filling the Hours

As yesterday's mercury topped 86 degrees and I faced my first day back as a stay-at-home mom with no husband to help (I know, I know, my life is so hard), I thought I'd bust out our uber-fancy pool. I filled it in the morning (don't know about you, but our hose water is freezing), and let it sit in the sun all day. As soon as Rhett woke from his nap, I put him in his swim trunks, gave him the two empty yogurt cups, and let him go crazy.

Who knew he'd sit there for AN HOUR AND FORTY-FIVE MINUTES? I could have watched an entire movie. He sat there pouring water from one yogurt cup to the other and then back in the pool. And he had this funny way of employing a double knock method of getting the water in the first cup. It was hysterical. And he kept it up long enough that Chuck got to enjoy it as well. Three cheers for the pool!

In sad news, I seriously injured my sewing machine. This was totally my fault (sewing something too thick) and it's got to go back to the shop. Doesn't it know I have projects in the works? Argh.

The End of Spring Break

It's over. My lovely week-plus with Chuck and Rhett has come to an end. (You can't hear it, but I'm totally crying.) I love when Chuck's home. He is one of the most involved dads and he helps me out tremendously. He'll dust, vacuum, cook, attend to any and all of Rhett's needs...basically do anything I ask. How could I not love this?

But whenever Chuck has to go back to work after long absences (think Christmas break or storm of the century break) I start getting anxious about being alone with Rhett all day. I really struggle to know how to fill the days.

The reality of him not being around is just starting to sink in. I think that we could easily both be stay-at-home parents if we had enough money. Now to figure out where to get enough money so that we can make that a reality. Any ideas?

P.S. It's been in the 80s this week. That's right: 80s. And yet, my parents are getting snow. I'm not sure which is worse.

What We Did During Chuck's Spring Break: Friday and Saturday

I think we wore Chuck out. By the time Friday and Saturday rolled around, he was begging, nay, pleading to stay closer to home and find more laid back activities. That's how I heard him anyway.

These past two days were spent more Easter-focused, or at least Easter-egg-focused. This is Rhett's first real experience with Easter eggs and Easter candy. We threw some eggs in the backyard and let him find them. As soon as he learned what was inside the first egg, he didn't want to even bother finding the others. It was, "Rhett eat egg! Rhett eat egg!" until we opened that egg!

And in a true Easter miracle, a bird decided to nest less than six inches from our front door. Sorry, but we weren't having any of it. I'm scared of birds and don't want to think about it getting in my house. We're horrible people; we know. Rhett found it interesting however.

Lastly, with only hours until Easter, I got the Peeps bunting done. See the tutorial from Dana at her blog, Made, here.

Happy Easter everyone!