10 Months Old!

Wow, how this last month has flown by. It hardly seems possible that Cory will soon be a year old. New things this month include 7 teeth, crawling like crazy, pulling up on everything, and standing unassisted for short periods of time. He also makes tons of noises with his mouth/tongue/lips like motor boat noises (which produces spit everywhere!).

Mommy takin' pictures of me in my diaper...
Look how much bigger than the bunny I am now!

I like my booties a LOT!

I get one in each hand and go exploring all over the house with them!

Me and Daddy being cute!

Mommy gave me a haircut tonight in the bath...
and I ended up looking like a rebel.
Look out world!

Message from my mom this afternoon said my Bro called and they were in Tok, Alaska. Any Alaskan buddies want to tell me how far (driving time) that is from Valdez? I'm assuming they're the lion's share of the way there now! Last night staying in the Yukon it was negative -!!! 42 degrees! Brrr!
Here's a picture of the crazy couple, with dog, the morning before they left.

Check out the cute chair being given away at Love Shak Baby by Mason and Matisse. I want to win that for Cory!

Conduct Unbecoming a Human

I have always known since my mother was a high school teacher that "sports are king". If a student/person is an athlete they will get a hundred second chances and "exceptions" that any other student or human being will never get.
Today I was reading the comics on the Seattle Times when a headline in the sidebar caught my eye.

Convicted of assault and accused of rape, star player received raft of second chances.

Now, before you go read the article (it's long) let me just summarize a bit. Anyone heard of Jerramy Stevens? Used to play for the Seahawks. Signed last year to Tampa Bay. Supposed to be an up and coming star... if he could keep his act together.

This is the worst example I have ever seen of someone getting away with "murder" simply because he's an athlete.

Stomping on a fellow students head (resulting in a broken jaw) while in high school. Plea deal.

Still being signed to the University of Washington football team. (on scholarship)

Raping a girl who was drugged by something in her drink.

Arrested but, never being charged due to the fact that he was a football star.

Driving away from the scene of an accident and receiving a ticket rather than a misdemeanor charge (as is appropriate under Washington law).

Dropping out of college (yet claiming to have graduated) to play for the NFL.

Having multiple run-ins with the law for DUI's (yet still driving and never really having his license revoked and never spending more than a few days at a time in jail).

This guy has never learned that his actions have consequences simply because no one wants their "team" to lose a star player. The actions of the King County prosecutors and athletic administration at the UW are despicable. The fact that everyone says he's a "good kid" who is getting straightened out when evidence points to the contrary is simply sick and wrong. How long are we going to let him get away with this before someone else's life is damaged or destroyed entirely? (not to mention the girl he raped)

I don't know what we can do about this. I hope everyone who has 15 minutes reads the article. Think about it. What do you do when someone gets in trouble? Are you blinded by the fact that they may be "star" potential or simply who's kid they are?

Let's make our world a better place. YOU are responsible for YOUR actions no matter who you are, football player, politician, teacher, anyone.
What kind of message are you sending your kids?

The Bro's Arctic Adventure

My brother and his girlfriend and his dog left on Wednesday for parts far north. They packed up all their stuff in his Dodge diesel with canopy and snowmobile trailer in tow and headed out. He has a job in Valdez, Alaska as a guide for a skiing company (maybe heli, I'm not sure).
So far they've made it part way through British Columbia. They got to Kamloops on Wednesday night and stayed an extra day there since the Bro went to the doctor and got diagnosed and a prescription for pneumonia. Yesterday they headed out again, but this morning he called my dad up to see if he could look up tow companies on the internet. The trailer had gotten a flat tire (on brand new tires no less) and they didn't realize it until they'd worn it all the way down to the rim and it was so mangled it wouldn't come off.
That's the latest I've heard... keep in mind that it hasn't been above about 20 degrees F all week here where we are and they are heading North...
Poor Bro. I hope he makes it without more adventures since he's supposed to start work Feb 1.

My New Band

Otherwise known as a silly meme. But since Emily from Fenicle tagged me oh, like forever ago and I'm so bad at getting back to anyone lately... here is some random silliness for the day.
And sorry, Emily, but I can't think of 7 more random things about me so I'm doing this instead.

I actually saw this first on Amy's blog and then just today the lovely Jean from Working Momma 24/7 posted it, so this must be the latest and greatest to hit the blogosphere.

Without further ado I present to you...

My New Band:

Words and Pictures Museum

And their new album:

Sunlight Remains to Them

and the cover:
I just love this picture! I think if I ever did produce an album I would use it for the cover! The funniest thing was that the caption (I think it was on Flikr) was posted all in Spanish.

If you'd like to play along simply follow the instructions below.

1. Click Here
The first article title on the page is the name of your band. (If it’s the entry for a real musician or band, cheating with a reload is probably a good idea.)

2. Click Here
The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.

3. Click Here
The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

I'm tagging... Kailani, Piper, moosh, Cecily, Rhen, and You!

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And I almost forgot. There's a cool giveaway going on over at Drea's Reviews for a Sleepy Wrap. It looks like it would hold "bigger" babies and I've got one of those! So check it out - oh wait, maybe I don't want you to enter so I can win it! ;)

Mom, Look at Me!

This weekend has been kind of crazy and we've had weird internet - like I could get to my google mail, but not to any major news site. And I could get to Seattle news sites, but not to MSN. Bizarre.
Anyways, so I haven't been able to post ASAP about our big news...
Cory has learned how to stand up by himself! We were playing a game Saturday night with some friends and he was trying to crawl between the 2 Brian's knees to get to the cards. But then he stood up and let go and we noticed that he was just standing there! Way to go big boy!

Hey, look at me!

I'm gonna get to those cards no matter what!

This standing business takes concentration!

PDA's at Costco

Today my dad came and picked me and Cory up to take us to get Brian's car back from the body shop. (Yay, it's finally all in one piece again... now nobody hit us please!)
First though we went to Costco (because my dad has a card and I don't) to get passport pictures taken for me and Cory. We pull into a parking space and I notice there is a couple in the next car making out. I laugh, get out, get Cory and by this time I guess the couple decided they needed to get out. They stand at the back of their blazer size car and make out some more. My dad mentioned to me on the way in that the girl kind of gave him a sheepish look while getting out of the car.
We are slow getting Cory into a cart and by the time we walk over to the picture section the same couple is standing there looking at a TV. I try to avoid looking at them.
We get our mug shots taken (and seriously Cory knows how to have a mug shot, he's not smiling at all and it's adorable!) and they tell us it will be 15 minutes. So off we wander to find the gigantic package of TP and test all the samples they have out for lunch, Yum! We come back, get the pictures, go through the line, etc. etc. By now I have forgotten entirely about the couple...
Except that when we get in view of the car they're standing behind theirs again making out for all they're worth! At this point I'm about to bust out laughing and not even care if they hear me. He's got his hand up petting her hair and everything! I laughed all the way to the auto shop!
I couldn't believe it! 1:30 in the afternoon in the middle of a busy parking lot! And they looked roughly my age. Good times!

On a totally side note: the auto shop detailed the inside of Brian's car. When I saw that all I had to say was Hallelujah!

Welcome to the exciting life in our hick(ey?) town!

Weekly Contest Roundup

Hello, would you like to win a pair of diamond earrings? Do you have a blog? Today might be your luck day because Goldsmith Jewelry is giving away a pair of diamond studs worth $1500. For that price I think it can buy a little space on my blog! The only diamonds I've ever owned are on my wedding ring (and yes, I like them VERY much). I have a pair of Austrian leaded crystal earrings that might pass for diamond... but it would be cool to have real ones. Although for $1500 I might not want ones that big! Anyways, they are offering this prize as a "grand opening" of their new website. They were a brick and mortar store only before. So check them out!

Next up is Crazy Hip Mamas who with the help of Better Today is hosting a giveaway for $100 to the Container Store. Since I'm in the process of purging organizing trying to get rid of a little bit of junk at my house this would come in handy! You know, since I have baby stuff that I'm not exactly going to give away right yet! The criteria for their contest is to tell your best organizing/decorating tip. Well, I would have to say it's easier to decorate when you're organized! And it looks better, too! So, start with the organizing. There's this rule that if you haven't used something in a year then you should get rid of it. I'm slowly working up to it. There are a few exceptions (like scrapbooking supplies that I just haven't used yet), but for the most part I think this is a pretty good idea. I haven't gotten too far on my purging organizing throwing a bit of stuff away, but I have given away some stuff on FreeCycle. You guys ever heard of that? It's AWESOME!!! You've got good stuff that you just don't use, but you don't know what to do with it (or who to give it to) so you post on there and people email you that they want it and they come pick it up. So I guess that's my tip! Google search FreeCycle plus your city (or nearest large town) and sign up! You can get some good stuff, too! The key is it is all given and received for Free!

And for your feet... a $100 to Onlineshoes.com! By MomFinds.com
Maybe, just maybe they have something there I can wear... I have the hardest time finding shoes that actually fit me!

Happy contesting!

Your Opinion Please

Awhile back I was inspired by themooshinindy and her friend who took these pictures. I thought it would be fun to try and do a photo shoot myself. So on Tuesday my brother's girlfriend, Annika, came over and we had some fun. Shh, don't tell, but I think she was a model in another life because she knows how to pose already (and I wouldn't know how to tell her to otherwise!)

We have the best weathered fence right in our back yard for taking pictures!


And then we walked over the park because they have this new play set that's all red and gray and mod looking that I thought might make for good backgrounds. I don't like it quite as much as the fence though.

Annika normally makes goofy faces in pictures so I got a few of those too...

And I have some more cute poses, but I didn't get to them because I was messing around in photoshop... and I discovered that you can lighten the shadows and darken the highlights to even out a photo. Who knew it could have such a HUGE difference! For one thing notice the difference in the fence between photo 1 and 2 above. Then because my pride was wounded about this picture from my sister-in-law's wedding this summer I messed with it.

Before:

After:See how the faces were in shadow and the background was so light? All you need is the image->adjustments->highlights/shadows and it does it for you. Even 5% on the shadows makes a HUGE difference!

The wounded pride bit came when my mother-in-law took in a photo collage to have printed as Christmas cards. The photo place asked if she had permission to print one of the pictures on the card (that was done by the professional) but not mine. She asked the lady why mine didn't look professional and the lady said "oh, because the background is too washed out, a professional would have had better light". Ugh! If I had a fancy dancy stand alone flash mine might look like that too, but I don't have that kind of money! Or really the inclination.
All this to say I am actually hoping to maybe do some senior picture photo shoots. So I'd really like your opinions! What do you think of the photos above? Are they senior portrait worthy? Is there something lacking? Would you pay me (not a whole lot) to take your pictures?

And because yesterday was "National De-Lurker Day" now would be the perfect time to leave a comment! Tell me what you think!

And maybe I'll post some more pictures later! If I have more time to "mess" with them!

Your Weekly Cory Fix

This is my adorable son and what he's been up to lately... quite literally ;)

First up is Beggar Boy. He has totally figured out when we have any kind of food and he wants some. He will crawl over to us and either try to climb in our laps or stand up by us and beg. It's mostly really cute until it's something he can't have and then he gets mad... hmm, guess I'm going to have to work on that.

It also doesn't matter if he's just finished eating or not, he wants what we have!

Next is the boy who likes baths.
When I turn on the water he wants to climb up and see what's making the noise.
It's really cute!

Then we have Ghost Boy. He's figured out he can stand up in his crib and then he'll never go to sleep so we put this afghan over the top. It also helps if we go in the room for some reason (okay, all the time since our computers are in here) then we don't disturb him. Then when he wakes up he just stands up under the blanket and we have our own little ghost.

Watching Daddy play on his computer.

See, even Daddy likes to take naps with the Bunny!

And finally we have Book Boy. He has figured out where we keep all his books and likes to crawl over, stand up, and proceeds to pull ALL his books off the shelf. If he's going to be up for awhile I just leave them on the floor because if I put them back... 5 minutes later and they will be down again! (also please notice the tongue sticking out - this is hard work!)

He also makes opening and closing his mouth like a fish faces! It's really cute... until you're trying to feed him and he keeps opening and closing his mouth so you can't get the spoon in!

Come back tomorrow and I will (hopefully) have some pictures up from the photo shoot I did with my brother's girlfriend this afternoon. I was quite impressed with how some of them turned out! Please don't judge too harshly!

And if you want to win your own camera to take awesome pictures... check this out! Momsational is giving away a Nikon CoolPix P5100 12 Megapixel digital camera
How crazy is that?

Internet Goodies

It's really kind of crazy the randomness of things I have won off the internet in the last few months. Who knew people were actually giving away quality things for free? And they're not that hard to win either since the majority of the contests seem to have maybe 200 entries. As compared to some major sweepstakes where there are probably thousands of entries all across the country.

The coolest thing by far is this fancy clip I won from HeadGamesBlog. It's called the Ficcare and it actually holds all my hair tightly in a french twist. I picked the bright blue one!

Then I won a "Super Mom" t-shirt and $100 worth of coupons for free Tyson chicken from Momsational. Now that's something I can use! Too bad Fred Meyer is the only store around here that carries Tyson, but hey, free chicken is good!

I also won this Merry Christmas America book that's all about the over the top light displays we do... unfortunately it's mostly about the East Coast. I won this from a contest where you entered once and they picked a bunch of winners all for different things. Figures I would get the one of maybe 2 things I wasn't interested in! Oh well.

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Now here are some contests you can enter right now.

First there's $100 gift certificate to thebabymarketplace.com from mommyknows.com You can get an entry simply by leaving a comment on any post there. A second entry can be had by blogging about it (like me!)

Then:
A Cowboy’s Wife is having a contest on her food blog! You can win a Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer and she’ll ship anywhere so everyone is eligible!
The winner will receive a brand new
Hamilton Beach 4.5-qt. Eclectrics Stand Mixer, Pineapple Yellow!!

About the mixer:

From Hamilton Beach’s “Eclectrics” line, this all-metal stand mixer comes with a host of accessories - a Flat Beater for cakes and cookies, a Dough Hook for bread and a Wire Whisk for whipped cream or pudding. The 4.5-qt. stainless steel bowl comes with a Pouring Shield that helps prevent splattering while in operation. The pouring shield has a built-in chute for adding ingredients. Powered by 400 watts, the stand mixer has a two-way mixing action to ensure all ingredients are incorporated into the mix. The quick-release, tilt-up head assists when removing the bowl. 9 x 14 x 14-in. When you’re ready for a kitchen re-do, don’t call in the carpenters! Instead, “counterscape” your kitchen with Hamilton Beach’s retro-designed, affordably priced electrics in happy, sun-saturated colors. Their “Eclectrics” line includes updates to those classic appliances from the 1950s. All of their “Eclectrics” are available in six colors: Apple Green, Moroccan Red, Pineapple Yellow, Intrigue Blue, Sugar White and Licorice Black.

Wouldn't that be cool!!!

Finally:
You can win $100 bucks a month from The Big Bald Blog by leaving comments and/or subscribing to feeds from any of the blogs below, and also by posting about this contest (like this!)
Here are the participating blogs donating money for free!

1. Mixed Market Arts
2. JoeTech.com
3. Link Bait
4. Gorilla Sushi
5. CK Marketing
6. The Big Bald Blog
7. How 2 Blogger

Now, how's that for some crazy stuff you can win on the internet!

New

That stands for new sounds and new teeth. No wonder the poor little man has been so crabby the last few days (well, other than the fact that he still sounds like he's about to lose a lung when he coughs :(
Just in time for the new year I noticed yesterday (when randomly Cory was upside down to me) that he has a new tooth on the top. It is also on his left side so that he has 3 teeth on the bottom and 3 on the top with both the "extras" on the left. A little lopsided! Tonight Brian noticed that the one on the right top looks like it will be popping through any time. No word on that bottom right one and the left one is almost completely grown in already. Odd.

This morning of course we did NOT get to sleep in (although we stayed up WAAAAAY too late!) because you know, babies don't understand New Year's and they want to get up and play at their regular time. So we pulled Cory in bed with us which means he wanted to explore us, the windowsill - which he can reach and pull up on - the nightstands, and whatever else he thought was interesting at the moment. In the process while we were trying not to think about getting up it randomly occurred to me that I didn't think I'd heard him making the Ga sound before that he was now making. I don't think I've heard him make any sounds that originate in the throat before today. He'll be talking soon and I'm not sure if that will be good (because he can tell us what's wrong/he wants) or bad (because I'm sure he will be a non-stop talker)!