Good News

Well, two quarters, one dime, one nickel, and one penny later, the CD player has been salvaged. I think the guys at the audio place I called got a small kick out of my story, but they were willing to attempt to shake the coins out, so I took it in today. They warned me that often this maneuver would end the life of the system completely, but I was willing to give it a try. He told me he'd only charge me $10 to check it out, and if it didn't work out, a new audio system would be no more than $200. (I told Gilbert that would be my Christmas request.) But, thank goodness, we didn't have to worry to that degree. Wait. Let me rephrase that. I wouldn't have to worry to that degree. Thirty minutes after dropping it off, it was ready to go. He said it wasn't as easy as shaking the thing and the change falling out, but whatever they did, it works! Hooray! Just thought you'd like to know.

Take me out to the ballgame...

Take me out with the crowd...


Buy me some peanuts...

And Cracker Jacks (or cotton candy)...

I don't care if I never get back...

Let me root, root, root for the Cubbies...

If they don't win it's a shame...

For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out...

at the old ballgame!

I'm Married to a Man in His 30's!

Gilbert is 30 years old today! It seems sort of crazy, but I think I've been harassing him about this day for the past year, so it doesn't seem as crazy as it did a year ago. However, that means it's my turn to be harassed, because I'm not too far from reaching the official "30's around the corner" point myself. I personally think he's glad to have finally arrived at this point, because I think he's been hesitant for as long as he's been looking to be a pulpit minister to tell people he's in his twenties. Thirty just seems to have so much more...hmmm...clout behind it than 29 does.

Anyway, my mom has always been good about making an issue of monumental birthdays. For example, she thinks turning 25 merits an extra special gift. I guess some of that rubbed off on me, because even though we were pretty broke last month, I really wanted to do something special for Gilbert's monumental day. I mean, you only turn thirty once, and these big birthdays only come every decade or so. So when I found out Coldplay was going to be in Chicago, I couldn't stand it. I whipped out the credit card (which is normally only used for major, critical things--doesn't this qualify?) and bought tickets. That was in the first half of June. And here's the really exciting part--I mean, I'm shocked. I kept them a secret until yesterday afternoon, when I went to see him at the office, had him open the tickets, and said, "It's tonight. We're leaving right now."

I had lined up a "slumber party" for Cole with his good pals the Andersons (Thanks, guys!), cooked up a story about something we were doing last night so Gilbert wouldn't make plans, and the surprise was on. It was so exciting, and he had absolutely no clue what I was up to.



Let me just make myself clear. I absolutely, totally STINK at surprises. I either can't stand the wait and have to tell, or I can't make decisions on my own, so I have to ask for input. But I did this totally without Gilbert's help! Woo-hoo! I did get a help from Mandy to work out some details, and I got the elder's permission to kidnap Gilbert from the office early, but I am really so proud of myself. (By the way, I decided I was going to post a factual, objective account of Gilbert's birthday celebration, but I couldn't help myself. I had to pat myself on the back. Sorry.)

I hope he understands, though, that he shouldn't expect anything else like this at least until his 40th. And even then I may still be worn out. I mean really. My energy's gone.

**By the way, the concert was GREAT! If you've ever seen Chris Martin perform on t.v., let me just tell you, he has every bit as much energy live in concert. We had a really, really great and memorable time.

What an Awful Mommy

Just look at my poor baby's face.


I put him on the bed to watch cartoons so I could take a shower before we left for a wedding. I knew I should have checked on him. I thought about checking on him. I called out to ask if he was okay, but I never actually, physically opened the shower curtain to lay eyes on him. When I finished and finally opened the curtain, he had Gilbert's razor in his hand. He was smiling. Not mischievously. Just smiling like he was glad to see me. It wasn't until I started the, "Oh, my goodness! Are you okay? We don't play with Daddy's razor!" that he even considered something might be up. I checked him over for blood. I checked hands, and then I noticed a small spot of red on his cheek. I calmly told him we were going to go clean up his boo-boo. It wasn't until I started cleaning that I realized how long it was and that he had a little nick also on his lip. Then the tears started. Not his. Mine. He said, "Sad, Mommy? You okay? You okay?" Then he started kissing me. The more tears I cried, the more he kissed. He nuzzled his face against mine while I washed his cut. It was the sweetest thing.

I needed my blogging family to tell me stories of ridiculous parent blunders that resulted in injuries so I didn't feel so bad. I for sure didn't want to drag him to that wedding so I could tell over and over the story about how I took a shower while my two year old played with a razor. But I did. And I don't think anybody scowled at me like I thought they would. A few even shared stories of their own mistakes. So I guess I'm over it. Until next time I look at that sweet, marred face. Which will be, like, in the next 10 seconds.

Mischief

I just want you to know that this boy has taken at least twenty cents worth of change and stuck it in the CD player of my van! Oh, I was so thrilled to finally have a CD player. I've never had a vehicle that had one, and how short lived it was. I know this is nothing like having a gallon of paint poured in my kitchen floor, but I'm sure this is just the beginning. It's going to be a long road until the light at the end of the two-tunnel. And rumor has it, three's not a whole lot better.

And like I said...twenty-five minutes after completing this post, I'm here to tell you about a new shenanigan. Check out these pictures...


Can you tell what he's done when he woke up from his nap? Take a closer look...


I came in to get him up, and I get the cutest, "Hi!" I figured he was up to something. Then he picked up his stripped-off diaper and waved it at me. Like I said, it's gonna be a long road...

More Pictures from Gran's

I can't tell...do you think he's had fun?

A Week in the Land of Crawfish and Family

I wanted to put together a little photo-journal of how we spent our last week. We took our first double-digits trip with Cole to Louisiana to visit Gilbert's family. Actually, with the exception of Italy, it was our first double-digits trip since we've been married. By double-digits I'm referring to 12 hours. We were nervous and had the idea of stopping to stay somewhere overnight if we needed to, but we made it the whole way without stopping for more than about 45 minutes. And that was only once!

We left at about noon, eastern time, on Tuesday and got there at a few minutes before midnight, central time. With the exception of Cole waking up an hour before arriving at our destination in tears, saying, "Mommy! Hold! Hold!" everything went extremely smoothly. Let me just show you what fun we had...

Happy as a clam in the car. This is almost six hours into the trip and we hadn't stopped one time. We hadn't even busted out the DVD player yet! Check out that "car-seat hair."

Gilbert's also happy as a clam, drumming on the steering wheel to the tune of a little Coldplay.

Wednesday night we had fried catfish, compliments of Gilbert's cousin Ronny, who is a great fish fryer. Cole loved it.

Cole "playing" Playstation with another of Gilbert's cousins, Ty.

Napping on the way to Gilbert's dad's parents (we stayed an hour and a half from there at his mom's parents) on the 4th. And yes, that's a cell phone on one ear and blankie on the other.

Having fun with the water hose.

Cooling off even more in the ice chest.

Getting ready for a boat ride on the lake with Daddy and Paw-paw

"Wheee!"

Waving to fellow boaters.

Four generations of Kerrigan men (plus Mike's mom)

Being spoiled with pure sugar lemonade straight from the can in honor of being in the presence of grandparents and great-grandparents

Ready to hit the road for more spoiling with grandparents. Cole went home with Gilbert's parents to south Alabama.

And I think they're having fun...




The only thing missing from the trip? Zio Randy.

And here's the greeting Gilbert and I got when we re-entered the Hoosier state:

Welcome home!