With my son I did his first meal by the book and I did have some reasons for that, but with his sister she seemed to be doing perfectly fine with just breastfeeding so I held out a little over 6 months before sitting her down to spoon feed her. Not only did I wait longer this time around, but I gave her avocado as her first food.

On top of all that they are SO easy to prepare. No cooking or even blending is necessary. Just mash up the avocado until smooth and creamy, add breast milk if desired and you’ve got yourself some homemade baby food!

My little 2 year old has quite the vocabulary, but sometimes he gets ahead of himself with phrases that he doesn’t completely understand, like “Just in case.” For example he says “Let’s watch Ice Age just in case”.

Just in case!?

Just in case you break the DVD and you never get to watch it again?

I don’t understand.

Or he’ll say “I want a banana just in case.” His other one is “I was wrong about you.” I think they say this in one of the Toy Story movies, but regardless he says it to me all the time in his squeaky nasally little voice “Mama, I was wrong about you.”

What I am beginning to learn is that I was wrong about me too.

When I was a little girl I said I would never get married. No one believed me and they would tell me someday you will meet a guy, fall in love, and you’ll change your mind. At 5 years old I was disgusted by the idea and DETERMINED to prove them all wrong.
Fast forward 13 years. I got married about as quick as I possibly could. So I was wrong about me, but what did I know, I was only 5.

I used to think that photography was not an art and would say that photographers were wannabe artists that can’t draw. Now I am one, but I said that in High School so what did I know.

About 10 years ago I would have told you that I was not interested in cloth diapers, or home birth, and was on the fence about epidurals.

Anyone that knows me knows that 2 kids later I am a cloth diapering fool, and natural birth junkie. So I was wrong again. But still, I wasn’t a mom yet, so what did I know.

I have always said I would never homeschool. I have dear friends that do and do it well, but I don’t think I ever could. Then again, what do I know? Although, seriously, I don’t plan on it.

So maybe next time I hear that little voice say “Mama, I was wrong about you” I can just say, “yeah, me too” just in case.

This post is linked up with Mary at Giving Up On Perfect She used to think blogging about your life was egotistical and not something she would ever get into, but as it turns out she was wrong too!

I used to be a scaredy cat. Have you seen the show Monk?

I can actually relate to his character. I’ve never been an obsessive compulsive neat freak, but my list of phobias as a child was not normal. Fortunately I grew out of these fears around the age of twelve.

Here are the Top Ten Things I used to be scared of…

1. Claymation
excerpt from December 2008 blog post “Christmas Movies”
“Ever since I was little the clay creations scared me. These days I can tolerate them somewhat, but I still find it all to be a little bit creepy.”

2. Sloth from Goonies

3. Jesus coming back
This probably had to do with some vintage rapture movie, but I have talked to many other people that as children worried about the hour of Christ’s return.

4. Heights
This included the upper level of the mall.

5. Elevators and escalators
Speaking of heights, these two methods of “going up” TERRIFIED ME. I was always afraid they would malfunction.

6. Crossing the street in Cincinnati.
I was born in Covington, which is just outside of Cincinnati, the city overwhelmed me. A trip to the city made my 7 year old blood pressure go up.

7. High School
When I was younger we would drive past a high school and I would become very fearful. I dreaded the day I would have to go there, like it was some kind of penitentiary. I guess when you’re small the building looks like it is the size of New York city and the teenagers seem so intimidating. With their crazy punk styles and rebellious attitudes. I knew I would never survive High School.

8. Driving
Most people look forward to the day they get to operate a vehicle I dreaded it!

9. Bees
I was/maybe still am allergic to bee stings. I saw My Girl in the theater when I was 9. At the end (spoiler alert) the girls best friend played by Macaulay Culkin dies from an allergic reaction to bee stings. I freaked out, and my dad had to carry me out of the theater blubbering uncontrollably!

10. Truck Drivers
I know this one might seem justified, but stereotypes aside my best friends dad and close family friend was a truck driver and he was a great man, but he scared me.

The reason I post this is because now my little Monk-like phobias are comical to me. I can remember the fear and at that time it was very real, very sensible, but I can look back on it in retrospect and see that I had nothing to worry about. I was safe all along. I wonder how many of my current fears are just as silly. It may be time to stop worrying so much and know that God is in control.

Check out Oh Amanda for more Top Ten lists.

This was our first year to participate in Cow Appreciation day at Chick-fil-a, but not our first time to to get free food from them. I have always been a fan of their waffle fries and lemonade, but I think they really stole my heart when I went through the drive thru with my yellow lab in the back seat and they had a doggie treat to give him! How thoughtful is that? I sent them an email expressing my love for all things Chick-fil-a, and what did they do? Send me a coupon for free food of course. I have gotten free food on multiple occasions when they are promoting a new menu item. At the end of last year I went on a night where you got a green receipt with your order, which was good to use anytime in 2010 to come back and get the exact same order for free (which I did). From the looks of the Life As Mom blog the San Diego area offered free dinner every night last week! Many restaurants have a weekly family fun night where kids eat free or if you really want to go all out you can be one of the first customers at a new chick-fil-a location and get free chicken for a year. I don’t know how they can afford to do so many freebies, but it seems to really be working for them. The best way to find out what is happening in your area is to sign up for the email or text insiders at chick-fil-a .com

We had so much fun dressing like cows. We got 3 meals for free and left without paying a dime. It definitely makes me want to eat more chicken.

This post is linked to Frugal Fridays at Lifeasmom.com

SJ’s latest discovery has been her thumb. I was a thumb sucker once. I remember my best friend being a nail biter, me being a thumb sucker, and our parents being desperate to get us to drop our habits. This soothing ritual lasted until I was preschool age, but I have heard many stories of children being dependant on this method of comfort well beyond kindergarten. I admit to panicking at the sight of SJ with her thumb in her mouth. All I could think about was years of struggling to get her to stop, endless orthodontic problems, and everyone else’s criticism on the subject. But in the midst of all that I am looking at a cute little baby, a baby that seems peaceful and content. That’s when I pulled out my stash of books about babies and hit google to find out as much as I could on the subject. Every Doctor, author, and expert said the same thing, “stop worrying and let your baby indulge herself.”*. Apparently I am not the only mother who has had these concerns.

Not only is it suggested that baby thumb sucking is okay there are even some advantages to using a thumb over a pacifier.

1. Baby thumbs never roll under furniture or a shelf at the store to party with dust bunnies and dead roaches.
2. Thumbs are readily available to a baby when they are in the back seat and you can’t reach them while driving.
3. Thumb sucking babies sleep through the night better.
4. On a shallow note, it’s cuter than the big green silicone Soothie that I am used to.
5. It makes for a happy and independent baby.

After all the research that I’ve done about whether it’s okay for my baby to suck her thumb, the answer was a resounding yes! The only time for concern is if a baby is sucking instead of eating when they are hungry, which if you have seen my 15 pounder this is not a problem. Also if the child is thumb sucking in the formative years of permanent teeth. This scares me a lot, but I am going to go with the experts advice which is to calm down and cross that bridge when/if we get to it.
I may be jumping the gun on labeling my little one when she is still in the experimental stage, but we’ll see.
Any other former thumb suckers out there, or maybe parents of one? Advice and expertise welcome.

*The quote is from What To Expect The First Year

The first Toy Story premiered in 1995. Think back 15 years. I was only 12, a scrawny little middle school kid that had just moved from Kentucky to the Atlanta suburbs. I saw Toy Story in the theater 3 times. It was the first time most of us had ever seen computer animation and we were all enthralled! I couldn’t believe how life like it all seemed! I loved it so much that when it came out on VHS I had to own it. The 2nd Toy Story premiered 4 years later. Do you remember what you were doing in 1999? I was a busy, wild, but not too wild 16 year old living in the Dallas suburbs. When I saw Toy Story 2 I was with my family and my future husband. Of course we were just friends back then, in fact the second time I went to see Toy Story 2 I was on a date with another guy. I just checked my journal to verify this, because I would not have remembered it otherwise. Now here we are 15 years later in 2010 and I am about to be 28. I just saw Toy Story 3 for the first time yesterday with my parents, husband, and two children.

It was Z’s first movie theater experience and it was a good one. Throughout the film the whole audience would simultaneously erupt with laughter, gasp at the suspense, and even fight to hold back tears. Some could argue that the movie itself wasn’t terribly dramatic, but it evoked a lot emotion in me. I’ve got history with these toys. The beloved characters that taught me so much. In the first movie I learned about being true to myself and realizing my calling. The second Toy Story taught me about loyalty and this last movie was really a lesson in growing up and letting go.

From being a kid myself and experiencing computer animation for the first time, to watching my kid light up at the sight of the toys on the big screen for the first time, the Toy Story movies will always be special to me I guess you could say to infinity and beyond.

BREAST. There I said it, not nursing and not just feeding. I am actually becoming a little more comfortable with people knowing that I do in fact have breasts and I do use them to nurture my baby. I remember meeting some friends at a restaurant as a first time mom and when we got there I told my husband “I need to feed the baby, but you go on ahead. If they ask where I am tell them I am nursing. DON’T say breastfeeding!” It actually came up in conversation with the group later and ended up being a funny topic that we could all laugh about.

I wondered how my son would handle the whole thing with me breastfeeding his baby sister. He is a very observant little two year old and I almost feared what kind of questions he would come up with. It’s been three months now and he has adapted to the whole process quite well. A lot better than his mother who has possibly become jaded by a culture that looks at the female anatomy as a strictly sexual commodity. The funny thing is he gets the words “eat” and “feed” mixed up so he always says “Oh No mama! She’s cwying. You need to eat her.” or “are you eating my sister?” One time he actually tried to nurse a baby doll. He said that the baby was hungry and then lifted up his shirt, but after wrestling with the position he dropped the baby and said “he’s too heavy”. Thankfully I don’t ever have to worry about him taking on that responsibility in real life!

I have a friend that has 7 kids and one day she was in the nursery and when doing a head count asked one of her children “where is Seth” and the child responded “mom you’re feeding him”. Yeah, true story. I am not THAT comfortable with the whole process yet. I don’t want to give off the impression that I go around pulling out my boob everywhere, and yes I still say nursing when I feel it’s more appropriate. In the end though it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Here I am thinking it’s some bazaar behavior that will freak out my son and he just looks at it as a part of life, like it’s natural, and he’s right.

I don’t even know how to put into words how I felt at the end of the Lost series. In the past 3 days I must have transitioned through all 5 stages of grief in regards to the finale episode. I think that I have maybe come to terms with the fact that I will not have all the answers and that it is just a show. When Jimmy Kimmel predicted that the end would be the smoke monster spelling “Gotcha Suckas” in the sky I should have known!

The Lost obsession began with my husband and I renting the DVDs from Netflix. Gradually more and more of our friends started to join until there were a dozen Lost fans piled in the living room on the edge of our seats watching one episode after the other into the wee hours of the morning. I was listening to podcasts with recaps and theories. I even had an autographed photo of Terry O’quinn the actor that played John Locke!

My aunt and uncle live in LA as actors and writers believe it or not and they are good friends with Terry (can I call him Terry since they do?). I mentioned my obsession with the show once while visiting them out and California. My aunt told me that next time she talked to Terry she would see if she could get me a souvenir or something.

A month or so later I get a manila envelope in the mail hand addressed to me with a return address from Hawaii. I was perplexed as to who would be sending me something from Hawaii. I opened it to discover this…

“To Natalie, with best wishes. I remember Waxahachie, Places In the Heart, 1983. All the best to you Natalie. Terry O’Quinn- LOCKE”

I was so excited about that photo. I ran around the house screaming like a 13 year old girl at a Jonas Brother’s concert. When my aunt talked to Terry she just asked if she could get something to give to me, and he volunteered to send something himself. When she gave him my address she started to spell Waxahachie, and he said, “Oh, I know how to spell Waxahachie” because he was in a movie that was filmed here. Since then Terry O’Quinn has managed to have a character stay alive on LOST, which if you watch the show, that is a feat in and of itself. He also won an Emmy in 2007 for his role as John Locke.

After 6 seasons of Lost viewers started loosing interest and much like the cast members that were killed off in the show, our little fan club dwindled over time. However for the series finale we made a special effort to get together and celebrate this momentous occasion like old times. My friend made some rockin’ t-shirts. Mine said LOST on top and had the Dharma logo then at the bottom it said “we want answers 5-23-10” we have since joked about inserting the word “still” now that it’s over. SJ’s onesie said “I’m a little lost”.

We had mango quesadillas and fruit on a fish platter as part of the island theme and we all piled in the living room one more time to watch the final episode on the same little square tv that started it all 5 years ago.

Regardless of the ending, I don’t know if any show will ever captivate me like Lost did and I don’t know that I would want it to, but for those of us that were faithful to the end there is some sort of camaraderie. We will always be able to remember the good ol’ days when we were all LOST.