I like.....

to call this my "Sexy Big Gulp."

Look Ma, no hands!

While Leyton is a complete dare devil, he is taking his time with standing and walking. It's been quite obvious that he could stand on his own for quite some time but when he does find himself in this position he immediately drops to his knees. It's also quite apparent that he could take steps on his own if he wanted to, but out of hesitation he doesn't do that either. I'm fine with this as I know it just opens up a barrel of worms I'm not quite ready for yet.

Today, while watching his Daddy outside blowing the patio he decided it was time to get comfortable standing on his own. He was so proud of himself and I now know I must prepare myself for him walking.

Leyton is also fighting a tooth coming in and it's created a variety of crankiness and fevers this weekend. He also does a lot of what I call Bull dog face. I was taking pics and managed to get this shot and realized, I am head over heels in love with this child. Those lips, those dark eyes, those full checks on his square jaw line. That wispy surfer hair that is so equally mine and his daddies. He is the perfect combination of the hubby and I and I couldn't ask for more. I love you baby.

Don't mess with Mama Bear!

Let me just lay a couple things out for you.

1. I generally think I am a nice person. It takes A LOT to get me fired up. Most of the time when I do get fired up, I'm fairly low key about it. There are times though. Times in which I am so fired up I want to scream.

2. As a mom, when you are at home with your kids, there is not a lot of "you" time. Something as simple as a shower can be a complete luxury. A luxury that normally occurs during sleep time. This might be a nap, this might be when your kiddo goes to bed. Either way, sometimes a shower is a complete escape.

3. Throw into the mix a dog, a dog that barks and protects the house when someone comes to the door. This is not an ideal situation when a baby is around, but we love the dog and he is just doing what he feels he must do. It makes me crazy at times, but it's something I have lived with. For the most part I know when someone is coming over and I know what measure need to be taken.

Then enters, the solicitor. Today, the solicitor woke the mama bear. Leyton was down for his first nap of the day, a nap that is typically two hours. It is the nap where I can get stuff done. I loaded the dishwasher, checked in on work, shuffled around laundry and finally decided on a shower. A shower in which I would FINALLY shave my legs so as to look less like an actual mama bear. Leyton had only been down about 40 minutes so I knew I had plenty of time. I washed my hair, scrubbed my body and was just finishing up with my first leg when I heard it.....the dog. The bark was a wild one too so I knew that it could only mean one thing...someone was at the door. Then I heard Leyton, screaming his head off. I cannot tell you the rage that filled me at that moment. So, what did I do?

Well, I stepped out of the shower....dripping wet, shaving cream running down my leg, threw a towel around myself, threw open the front door and yelled directly at the two suited up men who were ringing the bell for a third time "I AM IN THE SHOWER, YOU HAVE WOKEN MY BABY, GET THE HELL OFF MY PORCH!"

I think I handled it well....I mean at least I grabbed a towel right?!

Thrifty Adventures!

Hello! Welcome back to Thrifty Adventures!! It's late here, but I'm getting my Thursday post in. Sorry for the slacking the past couple weeks...it's been hectic here in Thrifty land.

One of the reasons was there was family in town for my son's birthday. The Queen Bee of thrifting herself....my Mom! My Mom has always been a lover of the thrift store. I knew when she arrived that I wanted to take her to a couple of my favorites. We made it to The Goodwill Outlet first where I found these great wooden apple bowls!I have a collection of wooden serving items that I got for my wedding and these bowls fit perfectly! There are actually three of them and I'd wager that all together they cost 75 cents. I have already used them at the big birthday party.

The next trip was to Thrift Town, where my Mom found this great quilt. I actually don't know what it cost, but she got a wagon for Leyton for his b-day and though it would be good in there. I dare say, it is perfect!

My mom and I thrift in two totally different ways. I'm a scanner. I can walk in and see something from across the room. My mom is a seeker. She can look through each and every single item till she finds the perfect ones. What kind of thrifter are you? Do you scan quickly or spend time in the thrill of the hunt? What did you find this week? Be sure to link up and check out Katie Jean to see what she found this week!

The Beach

This past weekend my niece Carey was in town and we decided to head to the beach! I haven't been to the beach in YEARS. We made the drive to Bodega Bay to give Leyton his first experience with the beach. We stopped and got some lunch and a kite on the way and then set up on the sand. Leyton loved it! He crawled around, threw sand around and put quite a bit of sand in his mouth. He was completely oblivious to the crashing ocean but I did finally take him for a walk down to the water to get his toes wet, which I can't say he loved too much. Our beaches are cooooold here!! It was such a fun day and so nice to get out of town and experience something new with my kiddo, plus he looked super cute with his sun screened nose.

Fits of Cough

I've been a bit absent on the blog as of late. Problem....I've been sick, overwhelmed and just needed a break! I got sick on Easter and that damn cold just would not go away. It teased me for a moment, thankfully around Leyton's birthday, but then came back with a vengeance shortly thereafter. I was spent. I was getting 2-3 hours of sleep a night because of coughing fits. That sleep was mostly done uncomfortably on a couch so I did not wake up the rest of the house. An almost month of coughing and I felt like I had tried EVERYTHING. I did prednisone, an inhaler, every cough remedy over the counter product known to man, a series of antibiotics and on and on and on. Nothing was working, nothing could be found that was wrong.

Saturday morning I woke up so frustrated I could hardly think straight. Nothing I had been taking was working and I just didn't know what else to do. For some reason though I decided to try something different. I decided to use my allergy nasal spray. I haven't been using this at all because since I was pregnant with Leyton I really hadn't had too many allergies.

Guess what people.....PROBLEM IS SOLVED!!! Rounds of doctor's trips, emails, medications and sleeplessness and the whole time it was allergies?! I could kick myself for not trying that earlier but I'm thankful that it finally seems to be over.

One little monkey jumping on the bed.....

Can you guess where this is going? Tonight I was cleaning house and at the same time playing with Leyton on the bed. He crawled to the other side and sat down, a decent way from the edge but making me nervous none the less. Then I made the mistake, I said the words "Get over here" as I went for him. Of course, those words make him run and in a quick moment he threw himself backwards....and right off the bed. He hit on his right shoulder and head, on the hard wood floor. Tears ensued and nothing would comfort him. I gave him to his daddy so I could put clothes on, preparing myself for our SECOND trip to the E/R and likely a mark on my file for CPS to have a look at.

When I came back out there he was with daddy as happy as could be. He's showing no signs of being injured so for now we are going to call it a close call and I will NEVER be putting him on our bed like that again.

On a funnier note, I just so happened to also take this video today. I came home early after only getting 2.5 hours of sleep last night due to coughing. This doesn't mean a ton of rest though with a kiddo at home. I was lounging on the bean bag in the "play room" and Leyton was behind me reaching over the dogs food bin so he could tug at the vacuum. All of a sudden it got really quiet. Too quiet. I turned around and there he sat, ON TOP OF THE FOOD BIN. That little punk has learned to climb. Not only that but he knew he shouldn't be up there so he sat as quiet and still as possible. I got a video of him doing it again and then moved the food bin out to the garage. Pretty soon I have a feeling the only way to make this place safe is to remove EVERYTHING from the house.

12 Month Check Up

Today Leyton had his 12 month check up! He hasn't been in for a check up since 6 months so it was fun to see how much he has changed. His stats were as follows:

Weight 25lbs 12.8oz
Height 31 1/2"
Head 19 1/8"

The biggest thing on him is by far his head. Coming in at the 96th percentile. That never made a lot of sense to me but the doctor explained it today in simple terms and basically said if Leyton was in a room with 100 other boys, his head would be bigger than 95 of them. Wow. We'll just go ahead and say smart kid!!

In other exciting news Leyton will be making the switch over to milk and I am hopefully on my last can of formula. He also got the go ahead to eat anything we do, except honey. Tomorrow we're going to try a peanut butter sandwich and see how it goes over.

Man, I'm still blown away that it's been a year. I sure love this kiddo.

Cheesy Crap

With a title like that I can assure you we are going no where that you think we are going! About a month or so ago I learned of a site called Free Crappy Portraits. The concept is simple, you email them a photo and a "crappy" artist will draw that photo for you and email it back. I of course HAD to send one in. I decided to go with this one.I knew I wanted something with both Leyton and myself in it. Then I TOTALLY forgot about it. Until today, when my email box said "Your Free Crappy Portrait." I then opened it up and laughed my ass off. I mean first off, the person isn't a terrible artist. It's pretty cute actually. What cracks me up is all the cheesiness going on in their portrayal. I had to give them a bio and I believe I told them something about us being big fans of cheese. This will no doubt be framed and hung in Leyton's room. Thank you Shiori!

Quidam

I was lucky to get 4 tickets to Quidam, my first Cirque du Soleil show. I have always wanted to see a show, but haven't even really watched one on tv. I think I felt like it was something that should be seen live to get the full impact.

It truly was an amazing show. A weird show, but amazing. The morbid side got me though and had me wondering how many people have died during this show and from results on Google it appears that quite a few. Most during practices, but some even during a show. Man, that would suck to see.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to see another one of their shows, maybe next time I go to Vegas!

Cake Monster

Leyton's first birthday was fantastic! Taking into account that Leyton woke up at 2:45am, took two ridiculously short naps, had a nose that resembled a water fountain and a tooth that is driving him batty....he stayed in pretty good spirits.

We had a Moose A Moose and Zee D Bird theme from Nick Jr. When it all came together, I was soo happy with how it looked. We had a Moose A Moose cake for Leyton. Some Zee D Bird cupcakes for the guests. Moose and Zee plushies for the boys and girls. I also took the monthly shots and made a banner to hang on the wall which was one of my favorite things and is now hanging in Leyton's bedroom.Leyton had a blast playing with the kiddos and when it was time for his cake....let's just say he liked cake. Or, the better description would be that he LIKED frosting. After a quick birthday bath, it was time to open gifts. Of course, Leyton was not interested so it was up to mommy to open everything.All in all, it was a fantastic day. I had a ton of fun with my little man and can't wait to watch him grow in the upcoming year. You can see all the pictures from his birthday on Flickr!

One Year

It's been a year, a whole 365 days. Last night Leyton even woke up at almost the time he was born, though I can't say I was as excited last night as I was the first night. Now I'm sitting here listening to my son say "Uh Oh" over and over again, laugh and sing. All the things you can say about your children are such cliches. The thing is, they are all true. I love this boy more than anything, he makes me a better version of me. I always knew I wanted to be a mommy, but I had no idea what being a mommy would actually feel like until I saw him for the first time. With each passing day, I love him more. I just wish those days didn't pass so fast!

I love you gigs, Happy Birthday!*Being that my son is a total dare devil now we were unable to capture the 12 month photo in the chair. Most of those photos he is head first trying to dive off. So, we had to resort to the floor!

Bird Feet

Tomorrow is my little dude's birthday. I have no idea how I feel about that. It's so fun to watch him grow and see all the little changes, but damn.....really a year already? So last night is struck me at 9:30pm that a year ago I was being admitted to the hospital to be induced since my little bugger was not budging. You can read all about that here. It's crazy to think back on that now and to think of all the things I would do differently if there ever was a second time around. On the same note, no matter how things went it really ended up with the perfect outcome, I came home with Leyton Maxwell Ball.

I've spent today getting ready for the party. The theme for his party is Moose A Moose and Zee D Bird. If you don't watch Nick Jr then you likely have no idea what I am talking about. They look like this.

Since Leyton was LITTLE he was drawn to Moose A Moose. Now, don't go thinking we just threw him in front of the tv but I will admit it was fun to put on some programs. Moose is the host, comes in in lieu of commercials and sings songs and plays games. Leyton LOVES him. Stops dead in his tracks when he hears him. It was only fitting to celebrate with the Moose. I'm still working on the cake for Leyton, but here's a peek at the cupcakes for the other peeps. Now, you finally have the answer to the great bird feet tweet last night! Can't wait to show you more party shots....see you with those on Sunday!

Thrifty Adventures

Blogger was a jerk yesterday and got me all distracted, so it's Friday now and I'm not going to fake it.....come back next week for Thrifty Adventures!!! Big thanks to Blogger for being a jerk.

It's a hard knock life!

I know I just talked about this recently, but my Grandma is in town and brought a HILARIOUS picture that I just had to share with you. As a kid I was VERY VERY into music and wanted nothing more than to be a singer. I have memories of singing along to the car radio, only I would face backwards and look out the rear window, because you know...we didn't need seatbelts back then! I did this because I thought just maybe, if someone in the car behind me had the station on they might think it was actually me singing it! Hilariously ridiculous!

When I was 8 years old the most important thing in the world to me was "Annie." I loved Annie. The reason, because she could sing. I can remember singing along with that movie and that album over and over again, convincing myself that I actually was Annie. So, that year

on Halloween it was only appropriate that I be Annie. Only I didn't want to be the cute little red dress Annie. I wanted to be straight out of the orphanage. I have fond memories of this and yet not a single picture. Thankfully my Grandma showed up with a whole bunch of photos to see if I wanted them and there in that stack was none other than a shabby photo of me, at 8 years old, as Annie.

Cars

When I'm buying toys for Leyton I try to buy more general toys. Toys that aren't necessarily boy or girl. That said, he does have a couple cars. Once he found a car it was over for all other toys. He absolutely LOVES them. I had to search the house to see if I had any others he could play with. He is fascinated by the wheels and can spend hours pushing them around the house as he shuffles along on his knees. He's hoping that some cars show up for his b-day this Saturday! It really is fascinating to me that he instantly knew what to do with it. We've never played with them or shown him a car, but as soon as he found it he "drove" it around.

Have a seat!

Yesterday when I came home the neighbors were cleaning out their garage. They had the most amazing bench out front and I told them if they ever thought they wanted to part with it they should let me know. Well, guess what?! It was already on Craigslist so my wonderful neighbor carried it right into my house!!

Now the question is....leave it like it is....or redo it? By redo it I mean put new fabric on and paint the metal. What do you think? What would you do?? HELP!

Happy Mother's Day

This is what Mother's Day is all about! We like to think he is training himself to mow the lawn later in life.

Music Man!

Thanks to everyone that entered to win some of my favorite music!! There were four of you and I decided that ALL FOUR OF YOU will win a cd! I think I even have all your emails so I will send you a message and get your address to mail your cd to. I hope you enjoy it!!!

The Great Outdoors

The weather is nice and Leyton's bday is right around the corner! My mom is in town from Florida and we are having a blast spending time together and getting the place ready for the party. We thought today we'd go check out some outdoor furniture to try and make the back yard a little more friendly. Thanks to Target and my mom's hard work trimming and sweeping...the yard now looks FANTASTIC!! Now, if people actually RSVP and come to the party they will have a place to sit.

Good people!

Sometimes in life you come along people that are just Good People. It's so wonderful when it happens and so often never gets talked about. Today I thought I would focus on the good!

Recently Kate and I went to a craft fair at Cal Expo to see if we could find some vendors for GETty Crafty. There was a woman there selling hair clips and I was in love! I don't even have a girl and yet I had to walk away with two clips. Unfortunately Holli from Holli's Blossoms is moving and can't attend the fair, but that didn't stop me from getting more clips! First I asked if she could make a couple owls for Getty and this is what she came up with. Not only that but she decided to donate 50% of proceeds from the sale of these owls to the Getty Owl Foundation.

Then I asked if she would like to make a SMA Awareness ribbon, which of course she did. You can also buy these and 75% of proceeds will go to the Getty Owl Foundation.

I couldn't stop there! Leyton's bday is coming up and the theme is Moose A Moose and Zee D Bird. I thought some Zee clips might be cute for the girls and of course, Holli did not disappoint. Not only that but when she sent the package she included a hand painted clip holder for Miss Getty!Thanks so much Holli! Now, everyone, go forth and shop with Holli. Her stuff is fantastic and she is an awfully nice person!!

Thrifty Adventures!

This week on Thrifty Adventures I'm going where I haven't gone before....clothes. Clothes are not something I get often at thrift stores. Well, I get stuff for Leyton quite a bit but I really have to be in a certain state of mind to want to sort through the clothes. This means I rarely have the patience to shop for clothes for myself.

I went to Deseret this week and first found this adorable outfit for a little girl! I know, I know...I have a boy. I got this for that store, you know the one that Katie and I are going to open on Etsy if I get my butt in gear! Anyway, look at the detail on this cute jumper! For $2 I had to have it.

Later I was looking in the women's clothing and some embroidery caught my eye. I ended up spending $3 on this.
Technically I think it's a muumuu, it's from Vermont Country Store. I wasn't sure if I was getting this for myself or for the shop. What do you think? Cute or totally old granny frumpy? I thought maybe with my platform shoes, great jewelry and the hair did it might look cute but maybe I'm crazy.

What did you find this week, linky up and let me know. Be sure to check out Katie Jean and see what she found this week.

The Pied Piper

Today I noticed that through Google I have 102 followers! Call me crazy, but I was definitely excited about that. See, I have been blogging for a LONG time! For years the only people that read were friends and family. Then I started getting some lovin from strangers and slowly but surely the blog traffic started to come. I have quite a few email subscribers, but seeing the Google number over the 100's seems like reason to celebrate!

I wanted to do something fun for you. Give you something that is important to me, but isn't going to break my bank. I decided to go with music. I've actually been wanting to do this for a while so I thought this was as good a time as any. I LOVE music. I always have. I learned to talk by singing. I wanted to name my first dog Barry Manilow. I thought I would marry Eddie Rabbit. I had a serious record collection before the age of 5 and would spend tons of time spinning vinyl in my room. I remember the lyrics to songs after about 2 listens if I like the some, and sometimes even when I don't. I used to sing with the piano player at a local restaurant when I was a kid and I was certain I would be a star. Songs take me to certain times of my life. They are full of memories filled with laughter and sometimes tears. Songs can stop me in my tracks like nothing else.

That said, let's have a little giveaway! I'd like to give you my favorite tunes of all time. It might be one disc, it might be two...this is going to take some serious thought on my part. To enter, just leave a comment on the blog (no Facebook comments will be counted) and let me know how long you have been reading Pill's Place. Make sure I have a way to contact you if you win! For an extra entry, let me know what your favorite song is! Deadline to enter is Sunday at 12pm PST and I will announce TWO winners shortly thereafter. Winners will each get a disc(s) of my favorite music and some Pill's Place surprise goodies!

Happy entering!

THE BEST BIB!

I'm just going to throw it out there for you....Leyton is a piggy when it comes to eating! He has no interest in spoons and would much prefer smearing the food around and shoveling it into his mouth by the fist fulls. This typically means that a TON of food ends up on him and even more in his highchair. I started taking off his clothes while he ate to save some of the mess I would have to clean up after. Problem was it still got ALL over the highchair and I found myself washing the cover almost daily. Then I found a bib.

I bought this bib because it was cute and I wanted to put one in Leyton's Easter basket. Then I started using it. It is seriously the best bib ever! It is made by Circo and only sold at Target. There are a couple things that make it great. It is a great material. After eating I rinse it off and hang it from the hanging baskets in my kitchen to dry. It is also a good size and covers the whole front of him. Then there is the pocket. I have had bibs with pockets before but most of the time the pocket folded down or just simply did not work. This pocket is AWESOME! It is stiff and seems to catch every single drop of food that falls down the front of Leyton. Wait, it gets better.

The pocket has Velcro on the sides so you just unhook it and voila, the food comes right out! Makes it super easy to clean. I highly recommend that any mommy with an eating kiddo go out and get one. I now have a bin full of bibs that never get used because this is the only one I go for!

Proud

Oh no, here comes that ridiculous girl from Pillsplace with a rather heavy post that includes no photos! You know, that kind where she gets all serious on you for a moment. I don't do this often, but this blog is a place for me to clear out my thoughts, give a taste of what is on my mind and things I'm working on. Today is just one of those days.

Last night I was watching The Amazing Race and was just about to find out if Team Pinky was going to have a long enough time violation to be given the boot when a broadcast suddenly cut in, looking almost fake quite honestly, to tell me that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. I may make a joke on Facebook that I was a little sad I missed the end of The Amazing Race, but in honesty I do know that is an important message that people need to hear. For many, it is going to give them closure. He was an evil person, he did an evil thing and he got away with it for far too long.

On the other hand, for some reason I am feeling at odds. In fact, dare I say that it is making me feel a little less Proud American? To be honest, I am feeling sad. Now before you all cry witch and burn me at the stake...let me clear things up and say that I am not sad he is dead.

What I am sad by is how many people had to lose their lives after 9/11 in order to kill ONE MAN. One man who I feel will just be replaced by another horrible person. I would love to be optimistic, but I don't feel this brings an end to anything. We will still have troops overseas, we will still have fighting, we will still have Americans dying. I am thankful to those that fight for us everyday, but I am saddened by the amount of people that have had to die to bring justice to this one man.

I'm also slightly disturbed. Last night the news was of course ALL OVER this. The clip that they kept coming to were the people chanting and swarming the streets in front of the White House to celebrate. Looking at this crowd of hundreds I feel like I saw not a single person over the age of 20-25. It was a bunch of kids. If their hearts were in the right place then good for them for being so proud of the USA that they felt the need to celebrate. Sadly what I saw was a group of people that looked like they just ran out of the local kegger so they could chant and hopefully get their face on the news. My impression was they weren't in it for the meaning, they were in it for the party.

This is a case where I hope I am cynical and wrong, because otherwise I just end up feeling sick to my stomach.

Teeth ARGH!

Leyton now has 5 teeth, with a 6th one creating all kinds of havoc. You can look in his mouth and see the tooth under a thin layer of skin. You will think that it must be about to pop out. Then the next day it is gone as if it was never there!! This round of teeth is wrecking havoc in the sleep department. Leyton almost refuses to nap for more than 30 minutes. At night he goes right down, but wakes up quite a few times during the night. Plus the snot, oh heavens. I don't think the snot is ever going to end. Here's to hoping the tooth pops out soon so he isn't miserable on his birthday!