First Ball Game

A couple weeks ago Charlie got to go to his first baseball game. He went to see the Lookouts with John, his dad, Matt and his cousin Lyric. I heard they had a blast!

 

 

 

 

In other news, I went to the endocrinologist again this week and my labs came back. My TSH is supposedly "normal" but my thyroid antibodies are super high and my thyroid is enlarged. Not to mention, I've been feeling bad again lately (although, I've been told your TSH can be "normal" but your body may take 6 months to feel how your levels reflect). My doc thinks I have some form of Hashimoto's disease but it's not a "classic" case as he put it. He kept me on the same dose of hormone and added a new medication to help with some of my symptoms. The new med made me nauseous all week, which was not fun. Thankfully, my body's getting used to it and I've gotten most of my appetite back. I go back in 6 weeks for labs. I'm hoping things will start to get to "normal" within that time. It's frustrating but what can you do?

I have yet to sell anything on Etsy but it's still a fun experience. If you want to keep up with all the projects I'm doing, check out my other blog,
bibliobags.blogspot.com.

Charlie is doing well . . . we finally put together his toddler bed and he started sleeping there two nights ago. John and I are totally sleep deprived from the transition. Charlie is extremely picky about sleep and if something is just a little bit off, he'll wake up over and over again. It's like having a newborn all over again--NOT FUN. Last night, he started screaming so I went in his room to find his bed empty. Scary. It took me a good 30 seconds to figure out he was stuck under the bed! I still have yet to figure out how that happened. Sigh. It's always more interesting with Charlie around . . .

Chalk it Up

The other day Charlie and I were playing with sidewalk chalk. Well, Charlie drew a few scribbles until he found that tossing chalk was more fun. The monster truck, Batman symbol and Charlie outline were my creations. My mom was concerned when she came home and saw a tiny chalk outline on the driveway . . . I thought I'd save the police the trouble . . . JK. He's lucky he's cute . . . check out the chalk all over his face!






I've got to share some of these funny Charlie quotes from the week before I forget . . .

Charlie has invented what he calls "kiss bites." He goes to give you a kiss only to bite you instead. These week I was introduced to the cousin of "kiss bite," "hug bite." You can imagine what that entails.

One afternoon, Charlie was sitting on my lap holding his stuffed tiger. He told Tiger in a sweet voice, "I love you, Tiger. Want to know something? Guess what, Tiger? I got a present for you. Wanna know what it is? You get to smack Mommy!" Before I could even say anything, I got a face full of stuffed tiger.

The next day, Charlie made a fist with his hand and covered it with his other hand. He goes, "Mommy, got a package for you!" He pulled out his fist and punched me while yelling, "PUNCH!" (The way he says it sounds more like "Paunch!")

Ah, boys. Before you think my child is criminally insane, I should share some nice things he said. Even though he's only 2, he notices things. I was in the middle of making a book purse and happened to walk by him carrying it. He gasped and said, "Cool purse, Mom! Good job!" That made me feel good because I was in a really bad mood. Another day he saw me wearing a new hoodie and said, "I like your new blue shirt, Mom." He didn't even know I'd gone shopping! He's going to make a great hubbie someday!

Movies, Pancakes and Heels

It's been a busy week! I guess I'll start with last weekend. On Saturday, John and I FINALLY got to go out on a date (thanks for sitting, Grandma Flynn!). We went to see "Iron Man 2." It was good but to tell you the truth, I only saw it a week ago and I don't remember a lot about it. It's not the most memorable movie but you can't go wrong with Robert Downey Jr. Sunday night was huge for John and I because it was the "LOST" finale. Yes, John and I are a couple of crazy "Losties." We stayed up until almost 3 a.m. watching it (we had a bunch of family over at the house so we had to wait until everyone was gone and in bed . . . not to mention we had a 30 minute "intermission" thanks to Charlie waking up)! John had smartly taken off work Monday so we slept in big time. That afternoon, we took Charlie to see "How to Train Your Dragon." Luckily, one theater in town still had it in 2D . . . we were not about to pay an extra $6 for 3D glasses when we knew Charlie wouldn't wear them anyway. It turns out we were the only ones in the theater! Score! Charlie was super good and only got out of his chair a few times. This is the first movie he's seen in the theater since "Up" one year ago. It was so nice to not have to worry about him throwing stuff at other people or talking, etc. I know this sounds insane, but I liked "How to Train Your Dragon" better than "Iron Man 2"! Maybe it was because I had low expectations but it seriously is a good movie!

On Tuesday, I finally got to see an endocrinologist. My appointment wasn't supposed to be until June 8th, but they had a cancellation and so they let me take that appointment. Dr. McLean is my dad's endo so that's why I went to see him. What I thought was going to be a 45 minute appointment took four hours. He asked me all sorts of weird questions and I got a full physical (again!). He is thorough to be sure but I am grateful for that, even if it's really annoying at times! He dictated with me in the room which I thought was weird. It was nice in a way because it made me understand why he asked the questions he did and so on. Then, as he's talking to his little recorder he says, "Patient is extremely pale which could be an indication of (some long latin sounding word which I had never heard of!)." WHAT?! He didn't say a word about my skin color in the appointment. I about died. So now I guess my skin is so white it's clinical. It's a symptom! LOL. Way to raise my self-esteem! ;) Then, I had to go to the lab for more testing. Can I just say that phlebotonists are the cockiest professionals ever? And I come from a family of lawyers, so I should know. JK, JK. Anyway, my veins are really small and I ALWAYS have a hard time giving blood. It usually takes nurses a few tries to get a vein. Every time I go in to have a blood test I warn the nurse that my veins are small and that it'll take a few tries. Without fail, the nurse nods and smirks as if to say, "Yeah, whatever. It won't be a problem." Well, 6 pokes and 3 nurses later, I finally was able to give up 7 more vials of blood. Add that with my weekly allergy shot and I can tell you I'm SO sick of needles! I'm lucky I don't have a fear of needles, shots or blood. Nevertheless, I'm so done with being poked. Anyway, I don't know when I'll get the test results back but I go back to see the endo in 2 weeks. Hopefully we'll get somewhere soon . . .

My Etsy shop is doing great! No sales yet, but that's okay. I've only been up for a week! I've gotten lots of great feedback and hearts. Even if I don't sell anything, the experience is totally worth it. I've gotten to "meet" lots of really talented people. It truly is an awesome site and if you like handmaking things, I would definitely recommend starting a shop. It's so fun to meet people just as quirky (or even more so) and passionate as I am. It's a very community-based thing so it's very cool.

Some Charlie stuff:


We had a first last week! For the first time, Charlie cleaned his plate at dinner! When to take into account the entire dinner was doused with sugar (pancakes and strawberries), it's not that much of an accomplishment. :)




Charlie having fun in a pair of my heels. In his defense, I think he just liked the loud noises they made . . .

Charlie has also learned how to put shoes and clothes on by himself. They don't always go on the right way but he's becoming such a big boy nonetheless.

New Blog!

In my whirlwind of self-promotion (hah) for BiblioBags (see previous post for what the heck I'm talking about), I've started a brand spanking new blog. I've decided to start posting all my art/craft projects on my new blog:

bibliobags.blogspot.com (it's public by the way, no sign-in required)

So, my new blog will be all my creative stuff (it's not just a big commercial for my bags, I promise! It's all my artsy projects, good and bad) and this blog will be family updates, etc. Make sense? I can't believe I'm just now doing that. I really didn't want to keep up two blogs but it's common sense. I always felt guilty any time I did a post about my projects on here rather than Charlie. So now, family stuff = "Charlie in Charge" and artsy stuff = "bibliobags." I hope I can keep it straight!

Also, if you're on facebook and I haven't nagged you yet, check out my business page. It's called (you guessed it) "BiblioBags."

Thanks to all of you who've been so supportive and helpful in getting the word out. I love you!

My Etsy Shop

It's finally here! My Etsy shop, BiblioBags, is finally up and running. I'm selling book purses and handmade cards. (The address is bibliobags.etsy.com just in case the link isn't working . . . I've been having trouble with that lately)

I set it up last night and I was so excited to find out that someone had already chosen one of my bags to appear in their Treasury! A Treasury is just a roundup of different items someone likes. It can be organized by theme or color. It's really nice because then your item gets more views. Here's the link to the treasury (the "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" book purse is mine).

Even though it was really stressful to get together with everything going on, I'm already having fun . . . and I haven't even made any money yet! I'm definitely glad I did it. Be sure to check it out and spread the word. ; )

"Yeah, but I'm taller."

I always feel like I have to have pictures on my posts. Here's a project that I can show you (meaning it wasn't for etsy). Just a cute graduation card. (By the way, the pics are posted out of order . . . ) I made a few of these for girls at church who just graduated high school (they haven't gotten them yet so, shhhh!). I still have to glue some yellow paper in and write the message, but you get the idea. I can't take credit for the design . . . I got it from a book. Cheap, I know!

I've been super busy lately with doctor's appointments, dealing with Charlie and trying to get my etsy shop together.

So, as far as the health thing goes, things are moving along. I'm starting weekly allergy shots this week. The nurse said I wouldn't feel any results for 6-9 months, but at least I'm doing something that will help in the long run. Plus, my doc's office is minutes away from Hobby Lobby . . . I think these shots will be more expensive than we thought. :) I also scheduled an appointment with my dad's endocrinologist for June 8th. I'm happy I was able to get one that early . . . that's very early for this doctor. Again, I have to say, WHY does it take so long to get in to see a specialist? If you're doing bad enough to have to see a SPECIAList, why do they make you wait so long?

Charlie. Charlie, Charlie, Charlie. He's growing into his two-year-old-dom. This past week, John was on business trip for 5 days. It was honestly the hardest 5 days I've had in a long time. This 5 day trip was harder than the month long trip he took when Charlie was just a baby. A lot of the difficulty was just fighting all the aches, pains, exhaustion and mood swings that come with this thyroid junk. Plus, Charlie was quite the turd. Sorry, no other word for it. For example, he's picked up a lot of "not nice" words from the "Toy Story" movies. His favorite line to use is, "Shut-up, you idiot!" We've used a variety of punishments and every now and then he pulls this one out just to test us. Being as tired as I was this week, I heard the "I" word a lot. I warned him to not use the word. Twice this week, he declared in a sing-song voice, "I love idiot!" Whoo boy. I told him he couldn't watch the "Toy Story" movies until he stopped using those bad words. I thought that would make him upset but he doesn't seem to mind. Quite the attitude, that one. A few days ago, I was blowing bubbles for him to pop and I made one the size of a soccer ball (I've gotten pretty good at this!).

Me: Whoa, Charlie! That bubble is bigger than your head!

Charlie: Yeah. But I'm taller.

Now, on to my etsy stuff. All my "products" are finished. I thought that was the hard part. Eh, no. It is soooo much work to put an etsy shop together! It's really overwhelming and stressful. I'm so not good at running numbers, picking prices, figuring out the cheapest way to ship things, etc. But, hopefully, once I get the shop set up, it won't be as hard to add things. I'm selling book purses and handmade cards. Hopefully I'll have it set up within the next 2 weeks. I'm also setting up a blog, too. I don't know how I'm going to keep up with 2 blogs, but we'll see! This is really just a part-time gig. I feel guilty I'm not writing as much. It's really hard for me to concentrate when I'm so tired and writing is nothing but concentration. The book purses have been good for me. They don't require much thought to make and it's fun. Plus, I have a photographer for a husband so I would be crazy to not capitalize on that. I think I would always regret it if I never tried to sell the things I make. It's something I've always wanted to do. But, if it starts to take over my life I'll have to shut her down. Don't you love how I'm already assuming I'm going to sell things? :)

"Hokey"

It has a name.

The day after I posted the story about Charlie and his headband, he was playing basketball. He called for me.

"Mom, you see my hokey?"

Me: "Your what?"

Charlie: "You find my hokey?"

My first thought was, "What in the . . .?" Then it hit me. Could his "hokey" be that girl's headband he wears to play basketball? I looked around and finally found the brown stretchy headband and handed it to him.

"Thanks, Mom."

He immediately strapped it on and was ready for action.

We have yet to figure out where he got the term "hokey." My mom thinks he got it from watching March Madness (that is around the time he started wearing the headband). Virginia Tech's team are the "Hokies." John balked at that theory. "I don't watch Virginia Tech."

Although, I remembered a really weird instance that could prove my mom right. About a month ago, we were in Bi-Lo picking out a movie from the Red Box machine. A guy in his 60s walked up and started playing with the skill crane. I thought it was really weird this guy was by himself fishing for stuffed animals. He wrangled a stuffed "#1" hand with Virginia Tech's logo on the front and gave it to Charlie. I didn't know whether to be grateful or creeped out (okay, I admit I was more creeped out . . . I'm cynical, I can't help it). Charlie said, "Thank you," and John said, "Virginia Tech? Are you kidding?" John claims it was a joke but I must point out that there was a Georgia Bulldog on the top of the toy pile. So, "Mr. Friendly" popped another quarter in the machine to try for another toy! I didn't know whether to feel bad that he spent another quarter or creeped out at his persistence (I was creeped out again). Mr. Friendly didn't get anything that time and it seemed he was out of quarters. He told Charlie to have fun and be good and walked away . . . with only a box of cookies in hand (to lure some more children away I can only guess). John said he was probably just one of those ministers who goes out of his way to do nice things so they feel obligated to go to his church. I didn't smell preacher on him . . . I smelled pedophile. But then again, my nose is a part of me and it's a very cynical nose.

Anyway, I would have posted a picture of the stuffed hand but I think I gave it to Goodwill. It was just too creepy. But, the other side of the hand does read, "HOKIES." Maybe he heard John and I talk about "Hokies" and that's where he got it. Either way, I think it's really funny and cute to see him take his "hoops" so seriously. I could be a basketball mom. It's the only sport I can somewhat follow and it's INDOORS. I could handle that.