Candy from a baby...

Just thought I would share the picture that we are including in our seasonal cards this year. Partly to wish you all Happy Holidays and partly because he's just. So. Darn. Cute.

Oh, and to those who might wonder... "Happy Holidays" is truly a greeting to all from me. No, I am not going to "rebel" and just say "Merry Christmas" because Christmas is not the only celebration this time of year. Even for Christians, we have the New Year. Plus, I have many non-Christian friends, so out of love for all of them (and a bit of laziness on my part) I send Season's Greetings cards, say Happy Holidays, and wish everyone Peace in the New Year.

Did I lose a few days?

I have been having the oddest morning. Typepad seems to have developed a black hole of sorts and many of my favorite breakfast reads have had a few days of posts sucked out of existence. Hmmmm.

I suppose I'd best get something fresh out there for those craving new blog content. I have nothing lengthy and captivating, so I present you with Santa's grab bag of blog content:

Gabriel is finally sitting up on his own. He had been doing the froggy-style sitting for a while, but now he is doing real, honest-to-Pete sitting. It's great. Of course, now he never wants to be reclining, so the bouncy seat has lost its charm.

Rolling over is another story altogether. He won't do it. He hates being on his tummy, period. He sleeps either on his back or his side (which he alters himself throughout the night), but he won't roll over to his stomach. Personally, I don't blame him. Why on earth would he want to work at getting himself into a position that he doesn't like? Sounds logical to me. He's brilliant, I tell you.

Oh, and he hates meat. HATES IT. I have tried grinding up real meat, and I have tried the disgusting little jars of meat. Nope. HATES IT. He does like yogurt, and he will be trying tofu this weekend. I'm actually not concerned about the meat- I just want to be sure he's getting enough protein. And he loves veggies and fruit, so we're good there.

It is most certainly NOT beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. How the heck did it sneak up on me so that it is now only a week away? How, I ask you? How?

We are about the enter the year of the lean. Our budget has had to be trimmed to the core. We are not extravagant people. Really. But now, between my three months of unpaid maternity leave, renovating the kitchen, and a surprise repair at the apartments we own (sewer collapse- over 10K, OUCH!), our finances basically suck. Had it not been for the sewer, we would have been just fine. No one can really predict those things, so I don't feel like we were irresponsible (we had saved up the money for the kitchen stuff and the leave, so those were planned), but these days it is just not that easy to have tens of thousands of dollars lying around "just in case." Thankfully our parents are helping us with loans, but it is going to take us at least a year to pay them back and begin to rebuild our savings.

And on the heels of the financial crisis, I feel like a big jerk because I have nothing, yes nothing, to put under the tree for the baby. His first Christmas and I have zilch. Ok, the kid has a better wardrobe than me because my friends and family can't seem to help themselves, and he has toys coming out of his wazoo because my parents saved ALL of my toys, but I still feel guilty. I suppose it's better to stiff him on a gift this year than next. Maybe I'll wrap my old toys that he hasn't seen yet...bad mommy.

Ok, now I am depressed. Bah humbug.

Must get some good baby hugging in soon- that fixes everything :-)

Momma? Yes. Hot? Well...

In my daily stumble through the blogosphere I discovered that my standing on the blogroll of the lovely Karen has been updated to the category of “Hot Momma.” First of all, I am tickled that she of the unclothen ovary has a link to she of the agar plate. I mean, come on, it’s like having your name show up in the paper and not in the police blotter. But now I am feeling the pressure of being “hot.”

But what is hot, really? Being the left-brained individual that I am, I decided to take a look at ol’ Webster for some advice. Here’s what I found:

Main Entry: hot
Pronunciation: 'hät
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hAt; akin to Old High German heiz hot, Lithuanian kaisti to get hot

So far, I really like the Old English spelling “hAt.” Let’s continue...

Having a relatively high temperature; having heat in a degree exceeding normal body heat

Definitely not. In fact, my normal body temp is only 97. I’m cool, y’all.

Capable of giving a sensation of heat or of burning, searing, or scalding

No, I’ve never caused another human being to experience a burning sensation, if you know what I mean.

Having or causing the sensation of an uncomfortable degree of body heat

Haven’t had a hot flash since my Clomid days- can’t be that.

Suggestive of heat or of burning or glowing objects

Ok, my hair *is* a bright shade of red

Of intense and immediate interest; unusually lucky or favorable; temporarily capable of unusual performance; currently popular or in demand; recently and illegally obtained; electrically energized especially with high voltage

Popular *and* illegal? Nope, I’m well out of high school, thanks.

Radioactive

Well, I was for one day when I had surgery

Stormy; angry; sexy

Now we’re getting closer

Alas, the true meaning remains elusive. Although, many thanks to Karen for thinking that I’m hAt. And Kudos to her and the other gals who made the Best of Blogs book. If it weren’t for the infertile blogosphere, I wouldn’t have made it to Hot Momma status with my sanity intact. You are all queens in my book.

I blink and another month goes by

Honest to gawd, I keep thinking that I just wrote a post. Must give it time to set for a minute...mustn't write another too hastily...just get some more of that work and life stuff done and then I can write another.

And then I look at the posting date and realize that, yet again, I have let another month slide by in between posts. The funny thing is, I really like posting. I know that I'm not in the "who's who" of blogging, but quite honestly, if I was I don't know how I would keep up with it. Blogging for me is an outlet of a sort, and everyone in this world needs an outlet.

I think the thing that has really been keeping me from being more frequent, interesting, and persistent with my posting is collecting my thoughts into a reasonable format. I have the greatest blog ideas as I am on my way to work, in the shower, or falling asleep. All of those places and times when I don't necessarily have the luxury of jotting down some notes, and even if I do the essence of why the post was important in the first place doesn't make the translation.

So, as soon as I can get a direct line from my brain to the blog, we'll have some great stuff happening around here.

In the meantime, I would like to throw out my thoughts on something of great importance in the world, namely the upcoming season finale of the Apprentice. I don't watch a lot of TV- hell, we don't even have cable- but I really like the Apprentice. Mostly. I absolutely hated all of the candidates from last season, especially the one from my hometown who was the bitchiest little spoiled brat on the planet...but I digress. I have watched most of this season (I can't be bothered to tape TV shows when I'm not home) and have been a lot less dissapointed than I was last season. I am thrilled that the two people I thought were the best candidates are the two going head-to-head this Thursday. And I already have my bet placed (not literally) on what The Donald's "big surprise" will be at the finale. He'll hire them both. Hell, I would. I might be way off, but now you all know what I'll be doing on Thursday at 9pm.

Ok, back to reality.