bri's pics

check out bri's blog--she has an awesome tree pic on there! :)

Frenemies!

When Two (the cat) first moved in, Ari barked at him nonstop, while he hissed/spat/clawed back at her. It was pretty damn annoying--we wondered if they'd ever get along! Now, they're always next to each other. It probably helps that the cat is no longer allowed on the couch (after barfing on it!) and I think he thinks he's a dog now... He's always laying around on the floor--and sometimes he and Ari are even sleeping on each other... Not that they don't still harass and chase each other around--but I think they like each other! weird!

Cadiem and I have been running errands the past few days, getting stuff together for our trip--it's funny how people are so drawn to babies. Everyone wants to see what he looks like. One lady at Target even asked permission! Hahaha. Today I was in Kroger getting beer for our housesitter, and I kept passing the same woman who just couldn't quit looking at him :)

Anyway--we leave for AZ in a few hours--I'm almost packed, haha. I still have to pack up Jeff and the baby. Our flight leaves at 5am... Jeff is planning on ordering a bloody mary, to start off his vacation. The flight attendant is going to think we're nut jobs!! Hahaha.

I got Cadiem some new feety pj's and a little beanie with airplanes on it for his first plane ride :) Yay! New picture opportunities!

Emperor Stripey Head (3 months tomorrow!)

Cadiem looks like a tortured child in this pic, but I swear he was grinning two seconds later. Haha. We've spent the past few days teaching Cadiem to teach himself to sleep--and it's working! YAY!! I just put him down for a nap 5 minutes ago--and he's on his way to sleepy land :) Normally, this would involve "patting and shushing" anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour and a half... Which, as you can imagine, got pretty frustrating for both of us! I wish we would have tried this sooner--we just felt guilty leaving him in his room by himself while he's still awake. But he doesn't seem to mind. We just swaddle him and lay him in his crib. If he fusses or cries, we'll stick around and comfort him until he's calm again. Then he moves his head from side to side until he falls asleep. It's actually kind of entertaining to watch, haha. But he's worn a little bald stripe around his head. Hahaha. Poor baby! Hence, Emperor Stripey Head :)
We're counting down the days until we get to Arizona--I can't wait!

Eric & Nichole had another BBQ on Sunday--I probably had a little too much fun... Haha. Jeff had the day off and felt like chillin', so he and Cadiem hung out all day :) I think our Aerogarden tomato plant is going to eat us in our sleep--we had to use a kabob stick to stake the thing up. It's huge! It has a lot of tomatoes already too, I can't wait to try them. Jeff got me an anthurium plant for Mother's Day, "the love plant". Haha, but I can't responsible for the love plant's well being. I kill plants! It's amazing that my little cactus, Senor Spiney, is still alive. I found out the other day that Jeff gives him water now and then. Haha. I wish I had something more exciting to talk about! I'm boring :( Okay, time for homework!

Cadiem is 11 weeks old :)

I can't believe he'll be three months old next week. It definitely goes by fast! I posted a few cute videos on my pic site if you haven't seen them already. We were trying to get him laughing--but we missed it! Cadiem had a checkup last Monday--he's grown a couple inches longer, and gained two more pounds :) He also is making new noises, the other day it sounded like he said "wow!". Jeff has been helping cover vacations at work--he's basically been gone from 9am to the early morning--ew! So less sleep for both of us--I miss sleep! Someday... ;)
In other news, Ari is changing her evil ways! We've been leaving her out of her crate at night--and she doesn't pee! I'm extremely impressed! However, I think she does a little night exploring... Judging from her poo today (brace yourself!), she somehow managed to find a rogue piece of asparagus from our dinner. HAHAHA. Gross, huh?!
I'm becoming immune to poo/pee messes between Ari and Cadiem. We've already been through three onesies and a couple of blankies today. Haha.
Anyway--I swear I have other things to talk about! Last night I got to go out to dinner with Gene, Nickie and Nichole. The girls and I started out at Cabo for a margarita and then went to see Nickie's wedding dress, which she looks beautiful in :) Then we went to Poor Billy's for a tasty dinner. Jeff got to get out too, he went to Rivermill for a beer when I got back. He happened to run into one of his good friends (also named Jeff) who is going to house/pet sit for us while we're in AZ! That saves us around $500 or more (our dogs need shots on top of boarding fees)! Woohoo! What a relief!
School started again yesterday, I'm taking a couple classes... And a couple more next semester... And then FINALLY I'll be at VT. Yay! Okay, that's all I've got!

Happy Mother's Day! :)

Baby clothes rant!

What's up with the snaps? I don't mind them on his normal clothes--but pajamas should make it really easy to change a diaper. It's hard to be stealth during the night when you have 8 snaps to open and then close again. Who thought of this? Maybe I should start designing baby clothes. I think I'd be pretty good at it! Cadiem is a bit too long for his 0-3 month PJs, so we tried some from our "next size up" pile :) And they zip! Brilliant! Except--it zips all the way to his neck... Why couldn't they do a logical mix of snaps and zips? Snap at the top, zip at the bottom. Why is that so hard? The sleep dresses aren't too bad, but you have to watch for the poo-plosion. I think they drag the diaper down or something... I'm sending a letter to Carter's!
On another note... Cadiem's hair is coming in--his old man head is disappearing :) But he has a bald stripe on one side of his head--I'm not sure how that happened! He doesn't sleep on the same side all the time--and most of the time is on his back... Hmmm...

Poor Ari Lynn...

Ari has gone from curious about Cadiem, to forlorn-depressed-dog... This has taken the form of spiteful peeing. Her favorite spot is right outside the door to the baby's room. Several times after once again getting Cadiem to sleep, I've emerged triumphant, only to step in pee. Evil little dog! When Jeff catches her, he yells at her in jiberish--in a really deep voice. It sounds like the Swedish chef from the muppets, but angry. Haha. It scares the crap out of her! She's also been following me everywhere I go. I'm trying to pay more attention to her--so hopefully she'll stop soon :)
I booked our plane tickets to AZ today--yay! I'm so excited to go home :)

9 WEEKS!

I can't believe it's been over two months! I've been able to get out more, which has been awesome. Jeff and I both went to the "Fork & Cork" wine festival here in the burg along with several friends. ERIC! Where are the pics!?
As you can see, Cadiem was chillin' in his cool new Maclaren carrier... That is, until he peed on it! Hahaha. At one point we took him back to the car to change his diaper--and not even a minute after we had him changed and back in the carrier--he somehow managed to pee all over the carrier and Jeff. But luckily we had the stroller with us :) There were several wineries I hadn't seen before, always nice to try new ones. We only got to a few, we had to leave pretty early since Jeff had to work--but it was nice to see everyone :)
Cadiem and I also went over to Nickie & Gene's later to hang out with everyone.
My class is finished on Friday--yay! And I think I'm probably going to take one or two classes over summer... Bleh! But, gotta keep going! We have to leave Blacksburg someday! Haha.
On top of that, it's going to be a busy summer! We're planning several trips to take Cadiem to meet the rest of the family. Arizona will be the first stop... And then two trips to Florida to see Jeff's mom and sister--and then Bri & Nate. Plus a little mini-trip to Roanoke for Nickie & Gene's wedding :) Which I still want all the details for Nickie! Wino!! haha.