High Five for Friday

High Five for Friday at From My Grey Desk time again!  Y'all enjoy your weekend.  I'm looking forward to a nice, quiet weekend at home with my hubs and my three little monkeys.

1. Things are cooling down finally in N. Texas.  We are down to the 80s. Ha, it's sweater weather!

2. I found another use for empty baby food jars! I hate throwing things out.

3. Caught Mark trying to hide the TV remote in his book box last night. High five because I found it before it got buried in there and the Hubs goes crazy looking for it this evening.

4. New expression!

5. Now that it's cooler, I can light my scented candles and make it really feel  like Fall.

Have a great weekend!

This and That

It seems all that I've been doing is posting summaries.  I hope to do better.  I'm so glad the weather is getting cooler. By cooler, I mean in the low 90s instead of the 100s.

So here's the week in a nutshell:

Job Hunting
I did not get the marketing job.  I'm thinking it might be a good thing because the office location was less than ideal.  I wasn't feeling completely safe in that area.

I have another interview scheduled for next Tuesday with one of my former vendors I used to work with.  It's a business development position so I don't have high hopes.  Sales is not my thing.

Weekend Recap
We had a wonderful weekend without the kids in California.  We flew into LAX and checked into the Ritz-Carlton Marina Del Rey and then had a lovely dinner with the bride and groom along with their out-of-town visitors at an Italian restaurant. After dinner, we all went to a nearby bar for a few drinks and then back to Adrian and Crystal's apartment to hang out. Everyone was drunk by this point. And were indulging in herbal inhalation. I felt a little too old for this type of gathering, but these were nice, fun people so I didn't mind it much.

View at the Ritz-Carlton Marina Del Rey

On Saturday, we went to Peet's Coffee and then checked out to drive to Pasadena.  We checked into the Westin, grabbed some lunch at M's old stomping ground (Lucky Boy Burger), and got dessert at an old-fashioned pharmacy and soda fountain.  And then, OMG, we went to the Norton Simon Museum! We had a wonderful time and the museum was so much more than we expected.  They had a whole gallery devoted to Degas' works and even a Botticelli and a Raphael! They also had a bunch of Rodin's bronze sculptures in the front lawn.  No "Thinker" but it was impressive nonetheless.

Norton Simon Museum

After an amazing afternoon, we went back to our room and changed for the post-wedding party.  Crystal and friends did an amazing job transforming Adrian's childhood front yard into a beautiful reception area. We had a fun time and it was nice seeing M's friends from way back when.  It's been a long time since we last saw them.  All in all it was a nice weekend getaway with my Hubby.  I enjoyed it and now that we know the kids are OK staying with the G-parents for the weekend, I'll try to plan more of these.  Haha.

Fall Decorating and Etc.
I started decorating the house for Fall last week and I'm satisfied with it.  I picked up a few new pieces this year, but I did not go crazy.

M and I have been mulching for the past 3 days.  I can't say that it's been fun, but I'm proud that we decided to this ourselves.  We didn't even get into an argument once! Now our beds look so nice and clean without the weeds sticking out in between my rosebushes.

I also replaced our pots of dead plants with live ones! Ha! We now have colorful pots of mums, Gerbera daisies, and snapdragons.  I also hung our Fall wreath and pulled out our scarecrow man from the garage.  To complete the decor, I bought some pumpkins and placed them by the front door.  Viola! Fall has hit our house. Now if only the weather would cooperate.  I can't wait to be able to wear sweaters.

Randomness

Just some random things going on right now with the Fishers...

1. Mark is walking like he's been going it for months.  Walking, walking.  My baby now is a toddler.

2. Went to lunch with Terry yesterday with Mark.  He was so well behaved and got lots of attention from the nearby table.

3. After a week of fevers and general crankiness from teething, my Mark is back to his happy, sweet little self.

4. Checked Michael's progress at school and he's doing really well.  The lowest score is in writing at 87 out of 100.

5. Matty has decided that he likes lacrosse after practice yesterday.

6. Surprised my boys with lunch today at school.  Michael said, "Mommy!" when he saw me.  Love it when he's happy.

7. Went to the DMV this morning to get my licensed renewed.  M came with to keep me company. It was like a date!

8. After struggling with Matthew to start reading something else other than comic books and "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series, he's discovered that he likes the "Magic Tree House" series.  He's reading #4 - 4 books in a week.  Good boy!

9. M and I are flying to CA for a friend's wedding.  We are leaving ALL the boys with the G-parents for the weekend.  Nervous is an understatement.

10. Biting my nails waiting to see if I'm going to get the job that I interviewed for. Again, made it to the final 3. No phone call yet, and it's almost end of work day.  I hate waiting!

 

TGI Friday

Well, hello, Friday.  Good to see you again.  It's been a rough week, not really bad rough, just busy rough.

Marky and I went to CA to visit my family and to meet the newest addition to our family. He's very cute and takes the title of Favorite Nephew. I had a lot of fun shopping with my whole family! Marky was very curious about Ben.  At first he didn't show much interest, but towards the end of our trip, he wanted to go over and touch him all the time, especially in the the face. My dad has some great pictures of them together on his camera.  I just need to figure out how to get so I can post.

We also had a great time at Ben's 1-Month Celebration.  It was good to see our extended family! My cousins are all grown-up!  Crazy how time flies.

We flew home on Wednesday.  Mark did great on both the flight there and back.  This kid is now a professional.  He slept most of the time so he made it easy for me.

Marky has been sick this week.  He's been running a fever since Monday and has been very cranky and clingy.  He hasn't been eating well and sometimes refuses his bottles or only takes a few ounces.  Yesterday morning, he threw up all over our bed so I got really nervous and took him to see his pediatrician.  Pediatrician thinks it's teething.  I hope that's what it is, but I'm still concerned. I'm keeping a close eye on that CAT.

I had a job interview yesterday and I think it went really well.  They've asked for some samples of eblasts and flyers, and scheduled me for a 2nd interview for next Tuesday, so I'm in the top 3. I'm hoping the outcome will be different than the last time I was in the top 3.  I didn't even get the courtesy of getting an official rejection. They just never called me back.  Very professional.

Weekend News

I'm not sure how to classify this weekend.  Was it good? Yes, for the most part, but I got some tragic news about a someone I worked with for a number of years.  And of course, when you've worked together for over 4 years, you become friends, even if you don't do anything together outside of work.  So, yes, I got some tragic news about a friend of mine.  She decided to end her life this weekend.  I don't know many details and I don't know what led her to make this decision.  I know that she has been out of work for over 2 years and broke up with her boyfriend recently.  I'm not sure if those were reasons enough to drive her to want to not live anymore.

I know that we've been trying to get together for a lunch date, but then I has to postpone.  Then there was the family vacation so I we couldn't meet up until after we got back.  Then when I got back from vacation, I needed time to settle back into our routine so we couldn't meet up that week.  Then it was too late. I don't know what I'm trying to say, but I keep thinking that maybe I could've done something to prevent the outcome.  I know it's ridiculous to think this way, but still.

Anyway, I just couldn't help thinking about her after I heard the news, so I thought I'd write it down and hopefully find some peace.

Our weekend was pretty quiet.  The boys played with their friends. We are enjoying game-free weekend.  Soccer and lacrosse games start next week. 

Tonight, we are celebrating M's birthday with a dinner at home.  His birthday is actually tomorrow, but he has a soccer game so he requested that we have it tonight. His parents are coming over, so I hope the food turns out well! I'm planning on roasting a chicken and serving it with potato au gratin.  Whoop! I'll let you all know how it turns out.

Took some pictures of this little cutie this weekend. He is WALKING!

Ten Months!

My little boy, you are ten months old!  I can't believe how fast you are growing.  You want to be a big so badly.  Please slow down.

You are a professional crawler and stair climber.  And you are WALKING! You actually started taking steps in your 9th month.  You are crawling all over the house.  I mean ALL over.  You go upstairs and inevitably end up in your brothers' room.

You are a babbler.  When you are in a good mood, you babble, babble, gable.  You say dada and mama, but I'm pretty sure you don't really know what is means yet.  Even as I write this, you are crawling around to the dining and living room.

You love going up the stairs.  In fact, we have to put up a gate so you can't get access. We did not have to do this with Matthew or Michael.  We have also had to childproof - another new for us.

You are starting to play games with us.  You love it when we chase you up the chairs.  You scream with delight and start crawling up as fast as you can.  Then you look back sown on us and dare us to chase you up again.  I have so much fun playing with you.

The tupperware is your favorite thing you play with.  You stack them, throw them and push them around.  It keeps you entertained while I do things around the kitchen.  You are also very fond of the vacuum cleaner.

You are getting to be so much fun!

Baby food is not for you anymore.  You would rather have table food, so that's what we've been feeding you.  You will eat anything now as long as it's not pureed.

Things to Remember:

Weight - I think you are about 20-21 lbs.

Height - I'm guessing you've probably grown an inch to about 30

Head - a little over 19 inches last month - maybe add another inch for this month?

Teeth - You added 2 more top teeth for a total of 6!  There are 2 full bottom teeth, 2 full (big) top front teeth, and 2 partial top teeth.

Food - You will eat anything as long as it's not baby food.  You want to eat whatever we are having.  It's a challenge getting you to eat the mashed up baby food. You've had:

• Veggies - squash, green beans, sweet potatoes, corn, asparagus, and anything else we eat
• Fruit - bananas, blueberries, strawberries, mangoes and pears.  Your favorite is probably the blueberries.
• Meat - Chicken, beef, pork.  You loved the steak and pork chops we gave you!
• Formula - You've cut down on formula since we've started giving you table food.  We don't usually give you one during the day unless you are extremely fussy. Then, we'll give you a bottle. You still have 3 bottles at night though. I'm not sure if it's for  comfort or hunger. 

We feed you solids 3-4 times a day, and snacks throughout the day.  Typical breakfast is bananas with oatmeal with some blueberries.  Lunch is chicken, veggies, and blueberries, and dinner is pretty much the same as lunch.

Sleep - You are napping 2-3 times a day anywhere from 1-2 hours. One morning nap and 1-2 afternoon naps. For the past week, I've been putting you down for your nap on the couch so I don't have to hold you while you are sleeping.  This is a huge relief because I can get some time to myself.  I'm hoping this will last. We usually put you down for bedtime between 9-10 and you'll sleep to about 8-9. You're still waking 1-2 during the night for a bottle.  SUCKS!

Clothes size - You're wearing 6-12 months clothes; I've been buying 18 months clothes though.

Diaper size - Still in size 3, but I think we will move on to size for after we deplete our supply.