Welcome to my first posting!

I decided to start a blog because I feel sometimes I can't remember what happens from day-to-day in my life. I used to keep a journal when I was younger, but can never seem to find time to hand write everything. I'm a much faster typer ... besides, this way all the grandparents can see Lubbock growing up, too!

Let's start with yesterday. Our water heater was on the fritz again. I say again because about a year ago, it quit working, too. I called the repair guy out and he showed me how to fix it, but Lubbock was a few weeks old, so I couldn't remember what he said. I knew it was the same problem, but had no idea how to fix it. Thank goodness for friends. Jen's husband, RJ, came out after he got off work and all he had to do was pull out some wire and brush it off (it was dirty, same problem as last year) and put it back in. Problem fixed.

I am attempting to make Lubbock a very adventurous eater and in this quest, I gave him tilapia for lunch. He liked it. (Both Kevin and I detest seafood.) He's had a huge bug bite between his eyes since Saturday. I haven't been too worried. But last night, after dinner, he was cranky, so I decided to give him some ibuprofen. This made him very mad and, in typical one-year-old fashion, he decided to throw up all over me. I needed a shower anyway ... at least I had hot water by this point! He's still got a bit of a fever (101.3), so I've been letting him sleep and giving him some baby Tylonel every 8 hours. His bug bite looks much better, so I don't think the two are related, but I figure I'd see how lunch went and maybe call the doctor this afternoon.

I'm trying to save money by using things out of my pantry. I was going to make a cake yesterday, but when I pulled the cake mix out ... I noticed that it expired in 2005. (Meaning we probably bought it in Oklahoma, moved it to Texas, moved it to our rental in Illinois, and moved it to our house we're in now.) That is some well traveled Betty Crocker! I thought at first it was a sign from God that I didn't need cake (believe me, I don't), but then took it as a sign that he wanted me to make brownies instead. Then, I noticed my eggs expired in April ... this was just a sign that I would use Egg Whites and make them "healthy."

I am trying to be a healthier cook, but Kevin is a red-meat and cheese guy. So, it's a big challenge. We had lasagna last night, but I admit it was just the crap out of the box thrown in the oven. I think I am going to make chicken for dinner since Kevin had steak on Sunday night. I also bought some textured vegetable protein product that is supposed to be a good substitute for ground beef, so I am going to try to use it for taco meat this week, too. We'll see if it fools Kevin. I'll keep you posted.

I think I hear Lubbock waking up, so I'm going to go get him.


Later in the day ... he's on his third nap. He's almost a one-nap-a-day kid at this point, so this is a lot of sleep for him. At least his temperature is going down. I've learned that one positive about him being so sick is that he's awfully snuggly! He's a very independent little man and doesn't let me snuggle with him. Since he was about 6 months old and learned to hold his bottle on his own, he hasn't really let me hold him for very long. He always wants to get down and see what is going on around the house. So, I haven't really done much today other than hold him and try to get him to eat something. He ate about half a waffle for breakfast, but didn't touch the grapes. Some broccoli for lunch with some crackers. I normally give him chicken at lunch along with his veggies, but thought the crackers would be better on his stomach.

Well, since he's back down, I think I'm going to try to start some laundry and make a final decision on dinner. My sister, Lauren, should be home soon. (side note: She moved in about two months ago because she couldn't stand to be so far away from Lubbock. She's such a good aunt. We're letting her stay here while she determines in what part of town she wants to live.)