A New Pet Peeve

Today I am having to get some errands done.

Cajun Baby has three teeth that have finally made it through his gums on top, but he's still missing a front tooth - it's coming still. Yes, he has fangs...my top eyeteeth came through first, too. Go figure.

So, most of you know that this does not make for the happiest baby. He's very social and loves getting out of the house, but he'd had enough by the time we had hit the grocery store. He was quietly fussing in his car seat (I am a glutton for punishment and lug the thirty-some pounds into the store because of the flu germs going around right now) and every once in awhile making screeching velociraptor noises (wouldn't Daddy be so proud). I was trying to keep him happy, pick up some essentials, and remember what Cajun Man had requested for dinner.

Unfortunately, I was failing at keeping Cajun Baby happy.

I turned down an aisle looking for some sort of quick lunch things for me when a middle-aged woman I have never seen before stopped me.

"Are you Cajun Man's wife?" she asked.

"Guilty as charged," I answered. I was going for humor at this point. Cajun Baby looked at her expecting her to notice him and talk to him or at least coo a little bit.

"Is he still a deputy?" she asked.

"No," I said. I was expecting her to have some sort of law enforcement related question or complaint for me to pass along - this happens a lot in our small town. "He is working in the nearby metropolis now....."

"Well, I just thought you should know that he gave me a ticket five years ago and I didn't deserve it," she interjected before I could finish my sentence. At this point, Cajun Baby is clearing his throat and fake coughing to get her attention (yeah, my baby thinks the world revolves around him).

"Well, I guess that's subjective, isn't it?" I replied as I tried to squeeze my way around her cart.

She stepped in front of me and asked, "What do you mean by that? I wasn't breaking the law and he gave me a ticket."

"I've never had anyone come up to me in the grocery store and stop me to tell me that they were breaking the law and my husband gave them a ticket." Cajun Baby was staring at her and I could sense the meltdown coming. She wouldn't pay any attention to him and obviously she should have been.

"Don't you think that says something?" she said.

"Yes," I answered. "I think it says that there are two sides to every story and that my husband knows the law better than the average Joe. I also think he was very capable of doing his job or you would have gone to court to fight it and they would have dropped the ticket."

Cajun Baby started to wail.

"Maybe I did," she said.

I started to back up, so that I could turn around...but I wanted the last word. "If you had," I said, "would you really have stopped me here to complain about Cajun Man?"

It would have been the perfect line to leave on...but I got stuck ignoring her in the check out line as I waited for her gazillion groceries to be scanned.

Yeah, she's lucky I didn't throw a tomato at her.

Just a side note for those of you reading who have been given a ticket when you didn't deserve it:

I'm not saying that you deserved it. I will say that I have felt that way in the past, too. I learned a lot once I started dating Cajun Man. I was amazed at the people that would complain to me and then once I asked Cajun Man about it, they were very clearly breaking the law (ie going fifteen or twenty miles over the speed limit). The other thing that shocked me were people's reactions to getting a ticket....really, people? Name calling, spitting, racing him back to the police station to complain about a ticket because obviously your speedometer that has never been calibrated is much more accurate than the thousands of dollars of equipment that is calibrated often.

I've learned that really, it is not worth the paperwork they have to do, to make up nit picky ways you are breaking the law and then chase you down for it.

The only time I have ever heard complaints about police is when the complainer has been caught breaking the law.

I probably shouldn't have entered in that conversation with that woman, but the fact is she brought up a ticket my hubby wrote five years ago...five years ago. Really? It just made me want to make a point and stand up for my husband who did a great job as a cop....and being a cop is really not all fun and games.

Which I made and then had to endure her dirty looks as her next month's groceries were scanned through the check out line. FUN!

I still say that the four minute conversation was totally worth it.

Happy Birthday, Cajun Man!

This is my husband on his last day of being 31.

He promises to only be mature after today!

You changed my life.

You healed my soul and my psyche.

You made my dreams come true.

You built dreams with me.

You push me to be more and love me for who I already am.

You are proud of me...

and you understand how important those words are to me.

I love you....

and so does someone else.

Cajun Baby wanted to say a special Happy Birthday to Daddy....until he snapped the elastic strap on his face. Then he wanted nothing to do with it.

I hope you have the best birthday week ever!

An Announcement

After being asked four different times today, I am happy to announce...

I

am........

NOT

pregnant.

We have no immediate plans to add to our little family. I am loving the stages we are in (minus the four new teeth that are starting to give Cajun Boy trouble - 1 of which is through the gums) and feel no deep or strong desire to mix it up yet. So unless there is some divine intervention, Cajun Boy will be an only child for a little bit longer.

I have spoken.

The End.

Moth Flu....What?

I wanted to post an email I got from my sister-in-law the other night.

I was feeding Cajun Baby and checked my email on our iPod...she sent it at 4:02 AM and I opened it at 4:12 AM. I almost died holding in my giggles as I was feeding our baby.

Maybe it shouldn't have been as funny, but you know...sleep deprivation and all that.

PS My sis doesn't call my brother, 'Brother J,' however I don't use real names on the internet, so that is my term for him today.

To: Cajun Family

From: Jay&Jay Family

Absolutely unbelieveable....

It's 3:30 a.m. and I can't sleep cuz I simply can't believe what just happened. Totally freaked me out!

Brother J was up at the barn feeding horses around 10:00 ish last night. I was at the house on a business call with a lady in Guam. All of a sudden Brother J came panicked and running through the front door (only it was locked and I had to hurry and unlock it). I had the phone on my ear trying to have a professional conversation when he was trying to tell me something and he was quite upset.

He said, "I have a miller stuck in my ear." My brain (that was trying to have 2 conversations) could not interpret what he was saying. I tried to get off the phone as quickly as I could, but it took me a few minutes cuz she was a talker.

Then I got the story... he was feeding the horses and a miller/moth dive bombed him. He tried to swat it away, but the crazy thing went IN. I mean IN!

I asked Brother J... are you sure? That was the wrong thing to ask. He was SURE. His ear was bleeding where he had scratched it so hard to try to get it out. Everytime the miller fluttered to try to get itself out it sent an intense pain through his eardrum and entire head. I looked and looked and couldn't see anything but it was obvious by his pain level that he wasn't mistaken.

I asked him if I needed to take him to the hospital and he said yes. The last time he has seen a medical doctor was for a sports physical for college football 15 years ago.... so I knew it was serious!

On the drive to the hospital I kept thinking, oh my gosh... he has a bug inside his head! The poor guy... everytime it fluttered it just about doubled him over. In fact, it did a few times! I felt soooo bad for him!

The E.R. doctor was able to get the stupid thing out. They tried several things to get it out (unsuccessfully) and then ended up sticking a needle sized tweezer tool deep in and out it came... still alive! Absolutely unbelieveable. It had been in there for about 30-40 painful minutes by the time they got it. They could not believe how far in it was! He said it felt like there was a baseball shoved back behind his eye socket!

How absolutely bizarre!

They gave him pain drops for his ear which was very, very inflammed. He is also on antibiotic because there was so much "moth dust" inside his head that it could easily cause an infection. They were able to flush most of it out, so hopefully he will be fine!

The worst part was that we had to come back and finish the chores up at the barn. I wanted to go get hats but he wouldn't let us. I was scared to death. I covered my ears the whole time we were up there. They were flying over his head and he kept scooping the hay like no big deal. I was standing over there like a baby covering my ears (and probably will for the rest of my life... just kidding). He informed me that he refuses to be scared of a miller! I told him, "People do get struck by lightening more than once you know!" That conversation went nowhere... LOL!

As bizarre as this is, the E.R. has seen it before with both millers and June bugs! That is soooo it... I am not doing chores at night without something to protect my ears... that is just too stinking freaky!!

Anyway, Brother J is sleeping well. He was exhausted before all this happened. As for me, I can't seem to sleep. Was hoping writing this would make me tired!

The bad thing is that we have been working with 2 insurance companies this week on getting an added "accident policy" cuz our luck hasn't been so good this year, but hadn't signed up yet. I was feeling kinda bummed about another medical expense, but then realized even an accident policy might not cover this one.... who gets a miller literally stuck inside their head????

WOW!

It finally appeared...

Our elusive first tooth

has

finally

come in!

Yeah, Cajun Baby!

Cajun Boy - September 2009

This is just a post to catch some family and friends up on pictures of our baby boy!

He's completely mobile now. He rolls wherever he wants to go and loves to hide from me. I went in the kitchen for a bowl of cereal the other day and came back to no baby anywhere! He'd rolled into the bathroom and hidden behind the door. I could hear him, but I couldn't find him for a few minutes - there's quite a few doors to try and figure out which he's pounding on. He thought it was hilarious!

We've spent a lot of time doing laundry lately. My wonderful cousin, Christy, sent a HUGE bag of toys and clothes from her baby boy. Cajun Boy has started to be better about entertaining himself and it is so funny to watch him try to find something to do when he's bored. He loves our huge turquoise tub. He rolls to his side and hits it and studies his reflection.

So much fun!

So much EXHAUSTING fun!

His new favorite play place...under the recliner part of the couch on the floor next to the trash!

Those dang teeth!

After crying all the way through a nap, he's still smiles.

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for this little boy!

Ready to go football-ing.

Teething bites...literally.

At my nephew's football game.

At my brother's birthday dinner.

Thanks, Aunt J, for taking cute pictures of me and my mom!

I'm so glad when Daddy comes home...from Wyoming.

I love my Dad's hands.

I thought it would make a good scrapbook page with Cajun Boy's hero shirt right above them.

He's saying, "Ma...mamama....mama....ma."

He also says that when I lay him down and he's not quite ready to go to sleep.

Doesn't that just tear at my heart strings.

I handed him a sheet of stickers that came in some junk mail.

I didn't think he'd know what to do with them.

It's amazing how fast his little mind figures everything out!

The Mullet

I have a thing about mullets.

They make me giggle like I'm a ten year old boy and somebody just farted.

I saw this perfect example at my nephew's football game

and I had to steal my sister-in-law's camera to capture it on film.

Thanks, J - for being a good sport.

New Slave Labor

If you grew up in my family, you have memories of the nights after a hunt where we stayed up late and butchered whatever was killed.

My job was to write on the meat packages.

I hate raw meat, so even doing that was a hardship.

The smell - YUCK!

I married a man to do my share of the work. Isn't it great how that worked out?

Now my baby wants to be part of it. I say, "More power to ya, little one!"

You can fight your Daddy for the first taste!

Homemade Root Beer Recipe

Homemade Root Beer

1 gallon water

2 3/4 c. granulated sugar

1/5 bottle of Root Beer Extract

1 lb. dry ice

Put 1/2 gallon water in container plus sugar and extract. Add dry ice. Put top on. Pour water in opening. Let bubble until it stops. The dry ice cools and carbonates to make a delightful drink.

Caramel Corn Recipes

Microwave Caramel Popcorn {similar to Cracker Jacks}

1 c. packed brown sugar

1 stick margarine or butter

1/4 c. white corn syrup

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. butter seasoning

1/2 tsp. baking soda

In a four cup casserole or bowl, microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir. Microwave until mixture comes to a boil for 2 minutes. Add 1 tsp. vanilla and stir.

In a brown paper bag place 4 quarts of popped popcorn. Pour caramel mixture over popcorn and microwave on high for 1/2 minute. Shake bag and microwave on high for 1/2 minute. Repeat. Tear open bag and spread popcorn on wax paper and let cool. Break into small pieces and eat or store in covered container.

Caramel Corn

1 stick margarine or butter

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. corn syrup

Bring to a boil all ingredients and pour over popped corn (approximately 9 quarts). Stir until well coated. It will become less sticky as it cools.

Flavored Popcorn Recipes

Cinnamon Popcorn

1 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. margarine

1/2 c. corn syrup

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. red food coloring

1/2 tsp. oil of cinnamon

3-4 quarts popped corn

Microwave first three ingredients on high until they reach a good rolling boil. Boil for two minutes. Stir in oil, color, and baking soda. Pour over corn in a heavy paper bag. Microwave bag on high for 1 1/2 minutes. Open and stir well. Pour onto wax paper. Cool and dry. Break into small pieces and store in air tight container.

For Peppermint Popcorn, use 1/2 tsp. peppermint oil and 5 quarts of popcorn.

Fruit Flavored Popcorn

12-16 c. unsalted popped corn

1/2 c. butter or margarin

1 pkg (3 oz) favorite fruit-flavored gelatin

1/4 c. light corn syrup

1/4 tsp. baking soda

Place popped corn in heavy paper bag and set aside. Microwave butter on high in uncovered -quart glass mix and pour bowl for 45 to 60 seconds or until melted. Stir in gelatin and corn syrup. Microwave on high, uncovered, 2-3 minutes or until mixture comes to a full boil, stirring once. Mix in soda until well blended (mixture will foam up). Pour over popped corn; toss to coat evenly. Microwave on high, uncovered, 4-5 minutes or until mixture is evenly coated, stirring 3-4 times. Turn onto waxed paper; spread out and allow to cool. Break into small pieces. Store in covered container.

Crafting for Junior-etta!

My baby is asleep and I'm taking a break from typing out flavored popcorn and homemade root beer recipes.

I've been crafting this week. This is more what I thought motherhood would be like. You know, I'd read all of those blogs that talk about their free time during naps. Well, Cajun Boy is sleeping so much better that I can do things during his naps. Woo-hoo.

{I should be cleaning!}

One of my best friends is having her first baby.

{She's already practicing with Cajun Boy - he wasn't sure of all of those women and the laughter that kept erupting every few minutes!}

This friends gave me the courage to be myself because she was always herself.

She respected who I was, my religion, and the standards that I lived by without question.

I became the woman I am in large part because of the young woman she was.

I know that without her, I wouldn't be who I am.

I pray that Cajun Boy will someday have a friend like her to make being a teenager so much easier than it could be.

So I went to work because making it myself

with my own two hands

seemed much more fitting a tribute to our relationship.

It's a hang up I have. You know I really like you if I gift you with something homemade.

{Maybe you'd rather I didn't really like you!}

Her theme is a Pink Baby Zoo.

Some of my materials are more Baby Safari, but in small town Kansas the fabric choices weren't the absolute best. I thought it turned out well, though.

I made a diaper case to hold diapers inside her diaper bag (and keep them clean). I decorated a wipes case, so that it matched. I sewed decorative panels down the center of cloth diapers to make burp cloths and I hemmed up a swaddling blanket that will be big enough for her Junior-etta. Then because Mom and I found some cute paper and wash cloths to match, they got thrown in, too.

So much fun and such a confidence builder. I hope that she likes them.

It meant a lot to go through the motions and make them.

Love ya lots, A!

Love Junior-etta lots, too....can't wait to meet her.

What a lucky little girl to have you for her Momma.

Happy Birthday, Jay Jay!

This is my brother

He was eight when I was born and when he was in high school he wrote a paper about how excited he was to have me around...that attitude may have changed when he realized how much work a little sister really is.

I feel blessed to live close to him, his wife, and their four kids.

This brother let me move in with him and his family for a summer so that I didn't have to go back to our small town. Then that summer when our mom was diagnosed with cancer, he held me while I cried.

He was the brother that I ran to when I move

d from Utah. I felt like the biggest failure ever. I had gone to BYU and left without graduating or getting married. I was having panic attacks and was working on getting an ulcer from a job that I didn't know how to do right and felt like I could never do enough to get the job done. He encouraged me to stay and heal before I headed home. I stayed for three months and by the time I left, I was stronger in my relationship with myself and my Heavenly Father. I look back now and know that time prepared me to meet my husband.

He even gave me a job when I decided that I needed to do something different.

He's the brother that has nursed me through migraines and allergic reactions. He's the one I call when I want to double check what my doctor says or when I went a more natural way to do things.

He never asks for anything, but gives and gives and gives.

On the lighter side, he's one of the funniest men I've ever met.

My favorite memory is of him splitting his church pants one Sunday doing cartwheels across the living room floor.

He's the one that made me think that I was the absolute coolest fourth grader in the world. He took me dragging Main Street, to get my hair cut, and to the movies. He let me be the first one to hug him after his football games - always. He let me wear his football jersey, instead of his girlfriend.

I could go on and on, but instead I'll stop here.

I love you Jay-Jay!

Thanks for being my brother.

Happy Birthday to you!