Phobias and coping

I've been informed that it's been a long time since I posted anything. Relax, adoring fans, I'm still kickin'. Here are a few things to catch you up on what's been going on (or around) in the Light world.

1. Vomit.
If you know me well at all you know I can't even stand the thought of the V word. It's a deep psychosomatic fear of mine that I've had since as long as I can remember. Don't know how to explain it, but just the twinge of a stomach ache will send me into sweats/panic attacks and don't even get me started when someone else is sick! Like one time when I had to babysit my nephew and he projectiled all over the living room. I called my mom to clean it up and basically stood there like a statue the rest of the night. I love my nephew, but my fear was greater. I don't know how many times I've heard, "What are you going to do when your kid throws up?" and my answer always was, "Call Joey and tell him to come home and clean it up. Duh." Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have all but conquered my phobia (as far as my child is concerned). Max and I were enjoying a nice episode of the Wiggles after a nice breakfast of cinnamon raisin pancakes (Max's new fav.) when without warning the rugrat spewed chunks everywhere...numerous times!! I sat in shock for a minute and recovered enough to haul him to the tub, my slippers filling with you know what. I managed to clean him, our clothes, the blanket, the carpet and disinfect the bathroom without a mental breakdown (Joey said our house smelled like a swimming pool, bleach is my friend) ...Then I got sick. Two hours after arriving in the mucc for a nice visit with Nana, my turn came. Nine hours later, basically sleeping with my head on the throne, dehydrated and hoarse, I realized I hate being sick. So far Joey has been spared, but if I see any minute sign he may be next, I'm heading for the hills!

2. Craigslist.
I couldn't possibly make this post totally about vomit, I had to end it on a positive note. I love craigslist. I loved Ebay, but all the annoying fees are pulling me away to Craigslist. I sold all the left over napkins (unused, but opened) from Max's birthday for about $5. I really believe the trick to selling stuff online is that it has to be crap- like party napkins. Oh but Craigslist, how it has made our Christmas! Needless to say with a car and a house this year, we are a on a budget for presents. However I discovered Joey has lots and lots of greasy metally thingies in the garage that are very popular on Craigslist. Don't worry, I haven't sold his truck (again hee hee)... yet.

They grow up so fast

So if you haven't heard already, Max is walking. He hasn't perfected it yet, but he looks even more like a monkey when he walks like an ape. I edited the video, but for some reason it won't rotate here, so just cock your head to one side to watch it.

He really is growing up so fast. We had a first this week- my first call to Poison Control. Ah yes, who doesn't enjoy the taste of liquid bandage on a cool morning? Luckily, Max only licked the applicator brush, but he thought it was quite tasty. The nice man at the poison center told me not to worry unless he started vomitting, which he didn't. We thought he may have sealed up his taste buds for a while, but he actually had a good appetite that day. Needless to say, Joey installed ALL of the child cabinet locks as soon as he got home from work... not that that will deter Max.
We went with the Pyrahs and Grand-Pyrahs out to Lattin Farms this weekend for Max's first encounter with goats. He absolutely loved the goats and attempted to rip their ears off. I was pleasently surprised to see the goats didn't bite his fingers, especially since Max was practically giving them a dental exam. We're thinking about getting a goat, more as a play mate for Max. Here are some pictures from the day:

Oh Gourd!

As you can probably tell we carved pumpkins last Monday. Joey thought it might be too early, but I thought nothing of it. Well, yesterday Joey's pumpkin sank in. Curse you global warming! It's still about 75 outside and now our Jack-o-lanterns look like old men! Max really had fun squishing the guts. That's what it's all about, right? At least our pumpkins will be too mushy to be picked up by hooligan kids and hurled into the street on Halloween night! THAT is what it's all about.

Max looking thoroughly thrilled about the whole experience

Joey taking out his aggression on the pumpkin. No need to thank us, Scheels, for the free advertising.

In Your Face, We're #1

Max's first birthday was quite the fete. Don't know if I could count how many people we had at our house! Like always, I got caught up in the details of his cake and got in a little over my head. Joey thought I should make Curious George's eyes red like he was an attack monkey, but I thought better of it. Max didn't go crazy with his cake like I was expecting, but he is definitely my son. Every time he passes the cake he says, "mmmm" and holds out his hand, dying for another piece. I'm hoping the square foot of cake we have left over from the party will disappear soon... and not into my belly! Here are some pictures from the party. Thanks to everybody for coming, it was a blast!

Love this one of Sarah. Classy.

I'm glad to be done with the first birthday planning and now it's on to more important things- getting rid of the bottle and reign in the tantrum monster!

Model Behavior

It's really hard to believe Max will be one is just over a week! He has taken a few steps and I swear he can say, "soft". He's not the most gentle little person, so we've tried to teach him to stroke people's faces softly. Now he just says, "sofff" and then slaps me across the face.

Anywho, I took him to get his pictures taken last night. He was a HUGE crab the entire afternoon, so I figure the pictures would be of his snotty nose and red eyes. The boy is a ham! As soon as she got out her camera he was all smiles and actually sat still! I'm thinking of becoming a stage mom.

Check out the photographer's blog for some of Max's pics.
http://bluelakephotography.typepad.com/blue_lake_photography/2008/10/index.html

Ode to the Escort

Oh how I've loved my little purple car. Oh how I loved the zippy little car that got atleast 30 mpg. The faithful purple beast was always reliable, but all good things must come to an end.

Truth of the matter is that the Escort was on it's last leg. We figured we needed to be rid of it before it got rid of us. Joey has been dying to test drive anything since we got married, but I absolutely detest car salesmen. I also hate spending large lump sums of money. So I told him to pick out a car and I would say yea or nay. Joey found a great deal on this 2005 4-runner. It's got 3rd row seats and power everything. I've never had power windows and locks before! And it's fabulous to have a working gas gauge! Max loves the smooth ride and would rather sleep in the car than his own bed. Joey thinks this will be a great family four-wheeling rig/camping transportation- HA!

So, as Joey cleaned my Escort, I put it up on Craigslist. Within 3 hours it was gone! Joey was sort of melancholy about selling it since we've had that car our whole marriage. I guess it's sort of the ending of an era, the Purple Era.

Laugh it up, Fuzzball.

In my life I have endured many hardships inflicted on me by my siblings. For some reason I was labeled the minority child of Latina descent. With that label came many embarrassing derogatory comments. I have developed a lot of character through the years letting their constant assaults roll of my back. I thought I could leave it all behind me when we moved to Dayton. Then look what we discovered in the flower bed next to the front door. *sigh*