Happy Birthday to Me!

Despite a nasty cold, I had a good birthday weekend. It started with flowers from John:

 

Then we went to eat at "Rib and Loin" which has really REALLY good BBQ. I had a craving for a BBQ pork sandwich, so it was fun to out to eat . . . for once! My tummy paid for it later, but I think it was worth it . . .

Saturday I went shopping and got some great new clothes. Sunday I was sick but still had a good birthday dinner with my family. I decided to forgo the usual Halloween decor for my b-day and went with black and white. My mom picked out the plates and the pretty Japanese lanterns (I get so sick of balloons with Charlie around!). She made me my favorite dinner: grilled teriyaki chicken with pineapple (she makes the BEST teriyaki glaze . . mmmm!). She also made me 28 cupcakes for me to blow out . . . thanks to Charlie and my niece Caroline for the help! Half were devil's food with vanilla frosting (strange combo, but so good!) and yellow with milk chocolate frosting. And yes, my tummy suffered again but I promised it I will be good until Christmas when I can binge again!

 

I love the paper John picked out for my presents! He got me all the seasons of "LOST" on DVD that I didn't already have. I'm so happy to have them all now! I got some gift cards and shopping money from some other people so I'm a happy 28 year old camper!

 

 

B Boy Charlie

This post is mostly funny Charlie pictures so I'll do a quick rundown of what's going on. Last week I was having horrible cramping and I almost went to the ER. I was able to hold out and went to the doctor the next morning. He gave me some medicine which helped some. I'm still having some cramping but hopefully it'll all work out.

Great news on the Etsy front! I sold 2 purses in one day! That was crazy. I've sold a total of 6. I'm working hard to make new purses for Hodgepodge and I'm excited but nervous about it. Wish me luck!

Last time I posted a picture of Charlie doing his "Joker face." Now, I finally got a picture of his "Batman face":



The Batman face is always mad yet slightly confused at the same time. When he's Batman, he always has to have a cape . . . and that cape must be his monkey blanket. No other blanket will do. The straw hat is a recent addition to his costume. He found it in a closet, put it on then did his favorite thing to do right now: he looked at himself in the mirror. When he saw himself in the hat, he said, "Look! I'm Joseph Smif!" (That's "Joseph Smith" in Charlie speak)

Here's another picture of his "Joker face" (complete with dark lipstick . . . a side effect from a grape popsicle):



If that wasn't scary enough, check out this face:



The one doesn't have a name, so I'll just call it his "Emo Face."

Charlie loves dancing. He loves to watch "So You Think You Can Dance" and imitate the dancers on that show. Right now he is very much into breakdancing. He is great at doing "flips" (somersaults). Here are some pictures of him attempting a "freeze":

Not bad for a 2 year old! He's been practicing this so long that he does get a little hang time in the air. Problem is, he has a bad habit of doing his tricks face first. Right now he has a scabby rug burn on his forehead from all the flips and freezes he does. I have a feeling we'll see him starring in "Step Up 14."

Primary Talent Night

Last Friday, the Primary at church hosted a Primary Talent Night. I'm in the presidency and we had been planning this for awhile. We were in shock at how many people showed up. We got about three times as many people as we planned for. It was great. The kids had such unique talents. We expected five versions of "Chopsticks" on the piano but got anything from a Spiderman gymnastics routine to a Shakespeare monologue.


John and Charlie watching Anna Ward and Kierstyn Meredith doing a gymnastics routine.


Miles Dexter burning it up on the guitar. He is so good! I bet all the little girls have a crush on him now . . . heck, I think I have a crush on him! He's so darn cute.

Charlie can't wait for his birthday next month. He asks every day for a "Batman" cake. We have the old "Batman" cartoons (well, the ones from the 90s) on DVD and he watches them and acts them out constantly. He wears his monkey blanket over his head for a cape and talks in a raspy voice when he's Batman. Occasionally, I get to be Robin or Catwoman. I need to get a video of his different "routines." The one he loves to do the most right now is to say (in his raspy Batman voice) is, "I am vengeance. I am the night. I . . . AM . . . BATMAN!"

He also has a "Joker Face":



I'm frustrated because potty training didn't go over so well. I don't think he's ready so I'll try again in a month or two. Hopefully I'll have a little more energy by then to deal with it! Charlie is a pretty independent kid and has always been good about playing by himself. Lately, though, not so much. He wants to play all . . . the . . . time. It's kind of annoying. I know that sounds mean but sometimes it's overwhelming when I've got things to do. Hopefully he'll get over it soon!


Charlie holding Tiger on his shoulders just like his dad does to him.



Great news in Etsy Land! I've sold 4 purses! I sold one this week literally hours after I posted it, which was super exciting. I'm having a good time making these purses and having a shop on Etsy. I've had a couple of blogs talk about my shop and that was nice too. One did an interview with me and the other was a nice little review from an old friend (her blog rocks . . . check out her other posts, too!). I'm planning on getting a booth at Hodgepodge (a craft fair here in town) in October. I'm going forward with it, even though my health isn't the greatest. Someone might have to prop me up, but I'm determined to make it--LOL!

I'm also working on a screenplay I'm planning to enter in the Nicholl Fellowship competition in May. It's hard to balance it all but I love it. Each of these things satisfies a different part of me. I'm grateful to have found these interests that fill my life and distract me from being sick.

'Roid Rages

Well, I've been totally neglecting this blog. This month has been kind of crazy. My mom got pneumonia so I've been trying to hold down the fort. She's still pretty sick and will go to a lung specialist this week.

As far as my health goes, I have good news and bad news that's actually the same news. Follow that? Last week I was scheduled to have my blood tested as I do every 6 weeks. It's usually to measure my TSH. At the beginning of the year when I was feeling horrible, one of my doctors found that it was low and put me on thyroid medication. Ever since then, my TSH has been "normal." This has been super frustrating because I've felt anything but normal. Not to mention, my endo said that my thyroid antibodies are super high and my thyroid itself is swollen. Those symptoms would point to thyroid disease, except for the fact that my TSH was normal. This has been so frustrating since I don't feel normal. Especially lately, I've had an increase of the symptoms, especially extreme fatigue. This time around, FINALLY, my TSH levels were low, even while on my medication. Of course, that's bad because it shows there is a thyroid problem. To me, it's good because we're getting closer to finding out exactly what's wrong. So, they upped my thyroid meds and hopefully, I'll start feeling better. It can take up to 6 months to feel the effects, so I'll try to be patient. It could take even years to get me on exactly the right amount. At least we're getting somewhere!

This past month I made two sales in my Etsy shop! One of them was one of my friends, but she paid so it still counts, right? LOL. I'm still trying to learn the ins and outs of Etsy. I'm grateful to have this random hobby to keep my busy when I'm not feeling so good. It's something that doesn't require a lot of concentration but does take a lot of time. Very good when you need to occupy yourself to try to forget how miserable you feel! I would like to have a booth at HodgePodge this year (a craft fair in town), but I'm hesitant because of my health. Keeping my fingers crossed I'll feel well enough to participate. I'm also working on a script, hoping that I'll have it ready on time for next year's Nicholl Fellowship Competition.

John is doing well at work as usual. He's started playing basketball at the church on Wednesday nights. It's a fun "boy" activity that he and even my brother Ethan have started to frequent. John also (gulp) got his first set of golf clubs with his birthday money. He got to play with his brother the other week and he said he needs to practice. We all know what that means . . . speaking of absentee husbands, doesn't football season start in a month? Oy, vey. Nice knowing you, John . . .

Charlie is cute as ever. I'm really enjoying him at this age. I hug him and kiss him all the time . . . he's very good about giving kisses on the cheek so I ask for them all day. I'm going to get them while I still can! I'm totally backwards . . . as a baby he drove me nuts and now as a toddler, I can't get enough of him! He always has something funny to say. He is so darn expressive. He loves to act out scenes from his favorite movies like "Wall-E" "Toy Story", "Up" and "Finding Nemo" . . . not to mention his current favorite, Batman. This week, he asked me to be Robin which made me feel pretty good! He's getting very good at using a "big boy" cup. We're creeping into potty training very slowly. John took him to pick out a special seat (Lightning McQueen, of course) and everything. Only thing was, he refused to sit on it for the first two weeks! I had one afternoon this week where I literally locked the two of us in the bathroom and proceeded to demand, bribe and eventually beg him to just SIT on it. Didn't work. Finally, I have gotten him to sit on it twice. Let's hope he warms up to it . . . I'm afraid he won't be able to serve a mission because he won't be potty trained.

Sorry for the lack of pictures . . . hopefully I'll do better this time!

Fireworks

On Monday, the three of us went to the fireworks show on Signal Mountain. Everyone gathers on the golf course to watch. I have never actually been to them . . . a few times I've watched them from this house, but this is the first time I've ever actually gone to the golf course. It was a lot of fun. It wasn't too crowded and the weather was beautiful. It was a clear night with a light breeze. I enjoyed and was even impressed by the pretty decent fireworks. I finally got to use the fireworks setting on my camera. Not bad! (Seriously, do people really take that many pictures of fireworks to warrant a setting for them?)

John took Charlie to watch the fireworks downtown on Saturday the 3rd. I wasn't feeling well and as many of you know, I'm not a big fireworks fan anyway. You know that one kid who goes nuts when they hear the loud booms and screams during the entire fireworks display? Yeah, that was me. I still have a problem with loud, sudden noises . . . I'm sort of like a shaky little chihuahua that way. Anyway, John took the camera, but no pictures. : P

Charlie LOVED the fireworks on Saturday and begged for days to see some more. John said he wasn't even scared. Then, on Monday, at the much smaller, quieter show, he did this the entire time:

I guess my latent childhood fears of fireworks became manifested in him. At least he didn't cry or scream . . .

Rochelle, Rochelle

(Sorry, Rochie. I couldn't help myself from naming this post that! You "Seinfeld" fans know what I'm talking about!)

Last week my good friend Rochelle stopped by to visit. It was SO good to get to see her and her kids. Rochelle is so unique and cool. I love her voice . . . those of you that know her know what I mean. She's got this awesome, chill tone to her voice that reminds me of listening to Blind Melon. But, as she puts it, she's not "hippity-dippity." She is her own woman and I love it! I'm wound up so tight and she just knows how to calm me down. We always have tons of fun when we're together.

Rochelle lives in Maryland and stopped in Chattanooga to visit with me and Charlie on her way to Mississippi. Rochelle and her kids Sophie and Micah had lunch with Charlie and me. It was way too short of a visit! We haven't seen each other in years so it was so fun to get to catch up. Rochelle finally got to meet Charlie and I got to meet Sophie! Unfortunately, it was around Charlie's naptime so he was crabby. Rochelle, I promise he is more fun than that!!! :) Here are some pics from the visit . . . now, you must understand it was super hot and humid and we were miserable taking these pictures! BTW, Brian, where did you get Rochelle that "Thesaurus" shirt? I have to have one! : )

Rochelle with Charlie and Micah on top . . . Charlie LOVED Micah! Don't they have the greatest hair? I'm so jealous of that beautiful red hair . . .

Sophie's famous "funny face." I love this girl! I was tempted to trade her for Charlie . . .

Sophie teaching Charlie how the "funny face" is done.

Awww . . . so cute! Hey, Haddads! I think an arranged marriage is in order . . . whadya' think? Better get Sophie's dowry in order . . . ; )

When Charlie Met Bobby

Charlie loves the mailman. He can hear the mail truck a street away. He'll bound to the nearest window or to the driveway if he's outside and watch the mailman deliver the mail. Occasionally, the mailman will wave or say, "Hi" which makes Charlie's day. One day, we had a package and the mailman came to the door. As I was signing for the package, Charlie came to the door. His eyes were practically bulging from excitement to see the mailman in person. The first words out of his mouth were, "I'm Charlie." (We're in desperate need of the "stranger" talk!) The mailman answered, "Hi, Charlie. I'm Bobby." (Is it just me, or is Bobby a weird name for an elderly mailman? He looked more like a "Gene" or a "Clive" . . . not a "Bobby"!) Entranced, Charlie said, "Hi Bobby." For the next week, everything was "Bobby" this and "Bobby" that. About a week after Charlie first met Bobby, we had another package. Charlie was in another room and didn't hear the door. I opened the door and what does the mailman say? "Well, where's Charlie?" I almost died. And it doesn't stop with Bobby!

When I get my allergy shots every week, what is the first thing the nurse asks me? "Where's Charlie today?" He's only been there all of twice! Every time he comes, "Nurse Britney" gives him a sticker . . . then he talks her into giving him two. I get the shot, he gets stickers. No wonder he loves that place . . . Finally, I was at Hobby Lobby last week and the fabric girl asks me, "Where's the little one today?" Again, he's hardly ever at Hobby Lobby with me and yet, he's what they remember. I guess I'm a pretty lucky mom to have such a memorable kid! Let's hope they remember him because he's cute and not because he's horrible . . . he's a little bit of both so it could go either way.

On a final note . . . we've finally made the transition to a toddler bed! I say "we" because Charlie kept all of us up three nights in a row. He was getting up or falling out of the bed every 2 hours. It was a miserable few days but he finally got used to it. Whew. Glad that's over. Guess it's time for the potty now . . . heaven help us.