My Heart Melts Like Butta

So last night I was watching our son walk around aimlessly searching for something to get in to. Little did he know... when he got to the kitchen cabinets, they would be impossible for him to open. He couldn't understand what was causing them not to open so he tugged and tugged and tugged some more and nothing. All he could see was this white bar that was keeping it closed. He tried to reach his arm in there to feel around and still nothing. He tugged so hard that he finally got frustrated and began to cry... he then moved on to his next target - the dog and cat food cabinet, but it too was locked down.

You could see the wheels turning as he was trying to access the situation... off to the bathroom he walked and toddled (which he does with more frequency every day). He was so proud of himself for thinking... "Ah ha I have outsmarted the moms... I will have victory with these two cabinets." Once again... he reached his little hands up and placed his fingers around the brushed nickel cabinet openers and he yanked as hard as he could almost throwing himself back into the tub... NOTHING! The cabinets held and opened maybe an inch... he immediately looked up at us as to say "What have you done WOMAN," in his best Stewie voice imaginable - well in his and our minds anyway.

He learns so quickly... now we have to worry about him lifting the toilet seat, which he saw me do once this morning and now makes it a sport of lifting and slamming the lid down. I cringe every time in fear just waiting for the day his little finger gets smashed... I guess we will be making a trip to Home Depot this weekend for a toilet lock. Now we have to be really cautious about him seeing us open the cabinets by pushing the latch down. Before too long I just know he will get the hang of that too. Don't get me wrong - we did leave him some cabinets to explore and "work" out of.

So the thing that melted my heart was when he was tired of trying to figure the cabinets out for the night he perused around the house from room to room looking like a peacock preening because he was walking. He gets so excited and proud of himself at his accomplishments! So we watched him skate around the room on his little feet and then he walked right up to us with arms outstretched telling us in his own way he wanted to be picked up. We picked him up and he planted a big wet open-mouthed kiss on us with a big smile to boot.

I never knew that I could love someone as much as I love him. My heart just melts like butta when I think of him...

What Natural Disasters Can and Will Teach You

So the flooding in Georgia is hit or miss. The 17 Metro counties in and around Atlanta got hit pretty hard with the west side of Atlanta getting hit the hardest. The most deaths have occurred here unfortunately. We actually were unable to get to work today because of the major interstate heading into Atlanta was shut down due to the Chattahoochee River rising above the interstate and flowing over it with waves like you would see at the ocean. Cars were stranded on the downtown connector and the rivers, creeks and streams busted at the seams! I had no idea that would happen. I was more concerned about getting home last night than I was about getting to work this morning. But I didn't think into the future as to where all the water would end up after it fell to the ground.

Now we have to worry about the trees and all the water that has saturated the ground... and of course let's not forget the rain that is expected this weekend.

It is crazy to think just a regular rain storm could do all of this. There was no hurricane, no tropical storm or tornado... just plain old rain, but a bunch of it all at once. I was glad neither of us tried to venture in this morning by using the detours that were in place, because by rush hour this evening they had shut those down too. There would have been nothing worse than not being able to get to our son!

So anyway back to what natural disasters can and will teach you... you have to be resourceful and smart! The photo journalist in me wanted to stop and take shots of the rising water as I headed home yesterday, but I have to think about my family now and besides Mother Nature is so unpredictable. Everyone knows it only take a few inches of water to carry a person away and only a few feet of water to take a car off of the road. But yet I saw people yesterday repeatedly trying to drive through water covering the roadways.

It is times like these that makes you realize how much you take for granted the ability to be able to turn on the tap and know the water is safe or that you will always have a route to get to and from work. Or it makes you realize that if something happened to your main route, you better have a back-up plan.

Years ago while we were on vacation in Indonesia visiting relatives we learned some valuable lessons about water and how to make it safe in order to be able to bath and drink it. We have put those lessons to good use the past couple of days. Our lil guy was bathed tonight in a tub full of water that we had boiled on the stove first. We had to use ice cubes to finally cool it down to a temperature that was acceptable for him to bath in. We also thought it would be useful to keep the water in there and not drain it so we can add water to it for his next bath in case the Boil Water advisory stays in effect for a while.

And what is even crazier is that after all the torential rains we have had the past few days, the sun comes out and makes it all seem alright on the surface when there are so many suffering from the loss of personal possessions or loved ones lives. It all happens in an instance... cherish what you have and don't take things for granted... ever!

Finally it has Happened to me...

Okay so I have realized over the past few weeks that I have reached the place I thought I wouldn't reach for years to come. I find myself switching the radio station because I don't know the current song on the radio or even understand the lyrics they are singing. I then switch it to the soft rock radio station and sing every word! Yeah you heard it... the soft rock station! I have become my parents... if I start listening to Yanni... there better be an intervention in my near future.

Blogging Takes Commitment... may win "Most Likely to Have a Mental Breakdown"

Geez this starting a website and a blog thing is not easy! I never thought I had much to say and now I definitely don't think I do. Ha ha ha. The pressure is tremendous to try and think about topics that folks would find interesting.

I feel like I am back in school where popularity counts. I am not going to get "Most Likely to Succeed" this month or even next. I might have a shot at "Ms. congeniality" or "Most Likely to Have a Mental Breakdown" for the traffic I sit in on a daily basis around Atlanta.

I have never lived in a place like this before in my life... growing up if you had to drive an hour to go somewhere you were going on vacation. Now I drive that and more everyday and let me just tell you I am not going on vacation: I am going to work, to see friends or to go to a major attraction around town. You should see the amount of miles I have on my three year old car! It is unbelievable. It has nearly 85,000 miles... I will probably have to pay them to take it as a trade-in.

Not to mention all this extra time I spend in my car... it has slowly become a trash can... with papers all over the place, boogie-wipes from lil man and on-the-go food wrappers. It drives Mama T nuts, but then again her drive is not nearly as long as mine is everyday. I just threw away a baby bottle that I found under my passenger seat. It was from when we road tripped to North Carolina in June. I dared not open that bottle for fear of passing out behind the wheel and causing additional traffic delays on I-285. I could just imagine the traffic reporters now saying... there is a stalled car in the left lane on westbound 285 that has a mysterious green gas emanating from it... STAY AWAY!!!

I need to win the lotto and pay someone to drive me around... or better yet just stay home and roll around in my money! Ahhh dreams are fun and now you have a small insight into what I think about behind the wheel. Don't worry folks I am sitting at a desk as I type this... I am not behind the wheel.

Pucker up: Tomato Sauce, Icing and Wet Sloppy Kisses

So yesterday our lil guy's social calendar was chock full. He had his first sign and sing music class with KinderMusik which he thoroughly enjoyed. There are three other kids in the class, a set of twins and another lil boy a bit older than him. We sang songs and worked on our signs so we can use them with our children.

So this is funny... Tamara the instructor set up different stations for the children and parents to utilize different signs and one of them happened to be a food station. You would use the sign for eat, more, please and thank you. Well the minute Ethan saw Tamara with the containers of food he started cheering, clapping and squealing. THE BOY LOVES FOOD!!!

We had to move the station to allow the other children to participate in it. Too funny... next class will be better and more educational I am sure. It was a lot of fun to see him interact with the other children.

So after class it was off to Wally-world to buy a gift for his girlfriend at daycare. She turned one on Sept. 10. At the age of 6 months, Mama T was picking him up from daycare and she was talking to the teacher when out of nowhere she looked over to catch our little guy in the act of kissing Dionne. He grabbed her face with both hands and pulled her to him and planted a big wet one on her. Uh oh!!!

So then weeks later Dionne traveled to see family and I heard all she wanted to do was kiss all of her cousins and her mom couldn't understand where she had learned that. I saw her one day after school and was telling her about our lil guy kissing her daughter and she said ohhh that is where she must have learned it. So then later in the week Mama T saw her and she said Dionne's daddy wants to meet your lil guy. Well let me just tell you... Dionne's dad is a big guy! Ha ha ha

Back to yesterday... we picked out her gift and wrapped it and headed to the party. There were some other kids from his daycare that he recognized and of course one of his teachers was there too. It was the cutest thing... the minute Dionne saw him she reached for him to hug him. Awww so cute baby love! Her mom and dad just laughed... it was great! We had such a great time and really enjoyed the music they were playing... lots of old school Run DMC, Houdini and such. Every time people would walk up to him and ask what his name was and we told them... they would say oh this is the boy who kissed Dionne... we have heard all about you! Ha ha ha... he is 10 months old and already has a reputation.

So while we were there he had his first spagetti with sauce, which he proceeded to get all over Mama T and his first cupcake with icing which he got all over me! We have pictures of both of course! And of course we have a picture of Dionne and her mother with Mama T and lil man. The ladies just loved him and he was lovin' the ladies. He is the next generation of Mclovin...

He has another party to go to today... no little girls will be there today though. That is okay... he needs to rest.