My little musician

For Christmas, Aunt T sent LB this toy called a Mozart Cube. I highly recommend it- it doesn't sound as annoying as other toys, and it has different instrument buttons, like the piano and harp. Also, it can be cycled through 8 songs so you don't hear the same one over and over... in theory.

LB has decided on a favorite one, already. Hubby and I got sick of hearing the same one over and over, so we pressed the big blue button to choose another song. Our smart little guy didn't like those songs, so he pressed the big blue button repeatedly until he found the one he liked.

*sigh*

So I guess Hubby and I really are stuck listening to the same one over and over because no matter how many times we change the damn tune, LB changes it back.

He also received a baby grand piano from our friend Y. It's so cute- it has big colorful keys and lots of other cool buttons all around it, plus there are plastic "pages" to turn. He really likes that! He'll sit there for hours okay, who am I kidding, minutes, and just pluck away at those keys, turn the pages, and flip the switches on the back.

It's still a little early for golf clubs and nunchucks, so we're not sure how much of Hubby's interests he'll have, but it's looking like I passed on the musician gene. I just hope he chooses my trumpet and not my flute (yup, I'm sexist).

Mele Kalikimaka!

Christmas day with LB was so much fun. He wasn't into the wrapping paper, like I thought he would be. But once the presents were open, he loved playing with all his new toys. Hubby and I had already bought presents for us, so we opened our stockings. We both ended up going to the same place to get stocking stuffers! Our new fave store is Lush, this organic bath supply store. I got him bath bombs (his favorite) and he got me some exfoliating body bars. I also got him a japanese/english pocket dictionary and he got me peppermint-chocolate cookies (YUM).

We had Christmas dinner at a friend's house. There were lots of people, and lots of good food. LB was kind of cranky, maybe had too much excitement that morning, so we left a little early. But it was a good time!

Last night, we had some thunderstorms, and the lightining (which Hawaii hardly ever gets) knocked out the power at 6:45pm. Hubby and I realized that it wouldn't be coming back any time soon, so we brought out the candles, flashlights, and wind-up radio, and we played Scrabble. When he woke up to go to work (yes, on a Saturday), the power was still off, and didn't come back on until about 10:30am. It wasn't bad- we have city water, so we didn't lose that, but hot water was scarce and I didn't want to take a cold shower, so LB and I spent the whole morning in our pjs. He loved playing with a flashlight (it was dark at 6:30am when he woke up)!

I'm still waiting on some Christmas packages from family, so once they get here, we'll have like a 2nd Christmas.

The most wonderful time of the year

Christmas is such a weird time. As the song goes, it's the most wonderful time of the year. I agree to a certain extent. I'm loving today. And I'm going to love tomorrow. But leading up to the big event is such a pain in the butt!

Here are a few of this holiday season's biggest pains in my butt:

1. Shopping. Don't get me wrong, I like to shop. Anyone who knows me knows I love a good deal. But when people start getting trampled to death, or push and shove, it becomes less of a fun adventure and more of a matter of survival. Who wants to deal with that during the happiest time of the year?? And don't get me started on the parking...

2. FedEx, UPS, USPS. I like to send presents. I like picking things out for people and wrapping them up and sending them along. But I despise long lines, outrageous supply and shipping costs, and slow customer service.

3. Understocked grocery stores. There's nothing more disappointing to me than looking for something simple like bread flour and not finding any in the two nearby grocery stores.

4. Obligations. I love a good party, but I hate feeling spread so thin. There are so many social functions and volunteering to do, it got a little ridiculous. Next year, we will be new to CA, so fortunately we won't have much going on. I think it should be limited to family (of course), one work function, one volunteering event, and whatever friends' functions one can handle.

5. Diet. Now is not the time to start losing weight, I know. But, all I want to do is not gain weight, and that's troublesome with all the yummy treats and good food around!

An anniversary

Ten years ago today, Hubby and I met on our blind date. It seems so long ago, and seems to have gone by fast at the same time.

My friend S called me up that day and said, "I need you to come on this blind date." She had met Hubby's friend B in a club, and her parents wouldn't let her go out with B unless it was a double date (hey, we were 18!). S had set Hubby up with another girl, but she got sick the day of the date. So, she decided to call me.

I really didn't feel like going. "He's in the military," S said. In all honesty, she knew that's all it took for me to go- I'm still a sucker for a man in uniform. So I agreed to meet at her house at 6pm, then the guys would pick us up around 6:30.

Hubby and B were right on time. Bonus! I love when a guy's punctual. S and I made our way down the stairs, and I immediately assumed Hubby was S's date and that B was mine. I was surprised (and ecstatic) that Hubby was my date because I knew the second I saw him that I was going to fall in love with him.

We went to the Salem theaters (which is now a BabiesRUs... ironic) and bought tickets for "There's Something About Mary". We purchased a later show, so we killed some time at Breckenridge. Hubby taught me how to shoot pool, then we got owned by B and S!

We arrived at the theaters and watched the movie. Hubby and I laughed at the same jokes, and I'm pretty sure he held my hand... hard to remember that far back! I knew that if we had the same sense of humor, we'd get along great.

After the movie, we looked for a place to eat. Bickford's was closed, but they had a payphone, so I used it to call my sister, T. I wanted to tell her I found the guy I was going to marry. :) But she wasn't home, and we ended up going to Dunks instead. We talked about what we did, what our interests are, etc. And, I got my first smooch from him, right there in the parking lot (how romantic, huh?)!

At the end of the night, Hubby and B saw me back to my house, and I gave Hubby my number.

The rest is history!! :)

So that's how we met, ten years ago. Now, we've been married for 4 1/2 years and have an adorable son. To celebrate, Hubby and I got massages today and went out for some dim sum, then relaxed at home as one happy family.

LB's personality

Now that LB is more like a toddler and less like a lump of baby, his personality is really shining through. For the past 11 months, he wanted nothing to do with a pacifier. Even as a newborn, he didn't like it all that much. But just this past week, he found his "old" pacifier (I use quotes because it's all relative, right?), and now he loves crawling around the house with the thing in his mouth, while blowing raspberries.

Cute.

He can also shut doors, which I found out when he shut himself in our bedroom. It's pretty much baby-proof, except for the toilet paper, which is baby-accessible... and which I found out the hard way, because when I went looking for him, I found him covered in an unrolled roll of TP.

*Takes a short break to get LB out of Mommy & Daddy's bathroom. Had to open closed bedroom door. As I was saying??....*

He also now likes his jumper. You know, the swing that suspends in a doorway? He would scream when we put him in it, but I tried it again today, with crossed fingers, and he loved it. It also probably helped that I hung it on the garage doorway, so he had fresh air blowing on his face.

And he's become a little picky eater. He doesn't like anything that has "peas" in the ingredients. I tried to be sneaky and buy the "vegetable chicken dinner", but it didn't work. Sometimes he'll eat it if it's mixed in with sweet potatoes. But he loves yogurt! Every day for lunch, he has one of those Stonyfield organic baby yogurts. He evens laughs as I'm peeling back the lid, maybe in anticipation.

Oh, and the voice... he loves to hear himself scream. Usually it's in a public, quiet place, like the doctor's office or the exchange. I hear that this stage lasts awhile, so I better get used to it. I'm trying to teach him "shh", but with an 11 month old, that's pretty useless. I always know who has kids and who doesn't judging by their reaction to LB's screaming- the people that do, smile and say "oh, how cute". The people that don't, give me dirty looks and roll their eyes. I just grin and bear it.

LB also has so much curly, blond hair now that people sometimes mistake him for a girl. It doesn't bother me much, but it makes me think I should get his hair cut soon!

Just a boring update

Hubby came home yesterday!!! He was only out for about a week, but it's nice that he's here and that we can celebrate Christmas. We're done with all our Christmas shopping stuff, so no need to worry about that. We're having dinner with our neighbors tomorrow, then again Christmas Eve, and dinner at a friend's house Christmas Day (after the presents and all). It's nice- I don't have to worry about anything but cooking, and that can be done with a baby around! It was getting a little difficult doing things that required a sitter. It seemed like for about a week straight I needed one, but finally I just couldn't take it any more and stopped doing those things. Just didn't need the stress, you know? :)

We do have one sitter-required thing- our massages on the 23rd. I'm so excited. It seems hard to believe that Hubby and I had our first date 10 years ago... It just seems like it has all gone by so fast! It'll be nice to relax and get an hour long massage. I've had one before, in FL, and it was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. I'm hoping this time will be like that, too... but if we're both wicked relaxed, we might need a DD to drive us home! :P

Still looking into flights back home for the spring. It's getting better- the prices have dropped from the outrageous range to the mildly offensive one. Which is nice, because I'm going to need to do something with Puppy. The kennel might be too expensive, so I'll probably end up flying him with me... *sigh* It's just a huge pain in the a$$ with all the paperwork and stuff. We'll see what I end up doing. It might be worth the extra money to keep him here and keep my sanity intact.

Hiatus

You'd think with all the cooking I've done lately, with the holidays and everything, I'd have a butt ton of recipes to put here. But, I think the holidays are zapping my brain because I've forgotten to post recipes for, like, two months now. So I've decided to take a little hiatus until after the holidays... and the deployment... and LB's first birthday... so pretty much don't expect anything from me in that department until, like, February. :)

Today is the last "obligation" on my calendar, YAY!!!! It's not actually something I have to do, but it's more like mandatory fun, as the military would say. I'm decorating a boxer for Hubby. During halfway night, they show off these boxers and the guys have to guess which one their wife made. Sounds wicked easy- I mean, all I have to do is put a little inside joke on mine, and I'm golden.

I still haven't even bought the boxer for tonight. Not only are the holidays zapping my brain, but they're also zapping my bank account. This Christmas, my family and Hubby's family got the same things from us. I won't say because I don't want to give it away! :) But, they're small and meaningful, and I think they'll like them. I just didn't go crazy because now that we're isolated in the middle of the Pacific, it's a little more costly to send things to people. I also sent a little something to M, but nothing outrageous... but I know she'll love it.

Preparing for deployment also kind of sucks, because it take some moolah to get the business end taken care of (6 months worth of toiletries, yikes), plus more moolah for the fun stuff (halfway night boxes, placemats, and other activites). I actually broke down and bought a few Lean Cuisine dinners, simply because I can't justify buying a pound of beef for one person... I don't want to eat beef for three days straight!

But even with all this going on, it's shaping up to be a fun Christmas. LB is mildly interested in the tree. He loves to tear things up, so opening presents will be really fun. He'll probably be more interested in the wrapping paper than the actual presents! Hubby and I are getting massages on the 23rd, the 10th anniversary of our blind date. We're also having dinner with our neighbors a couple of times, so that will be nice. I don't want to say that I'm a homebody, but more than ever lately, I just don't feel like straying too far from home. Probably because I have a baby constantly attached to me and he won't fall asleep anywhere but his crib. :P