Pop Up Videos

These videos have no pop ups, but how many of you sang that title in the VH1 Pop Up Videos melody? Is that the right word? Melody? I don't like that word very much. It also reminds me of a character from Hey Dude.

These two videos go together to prove that dogs and kids are practically the same thing.





Beck wasn't into doing the gestures with the song, so this was the best I could get.



Austin is America's largest urban bat colony (according to this site). We've seen the bats from above and below the Congress Bridge in downtown Austin (below was better), but one night as we were driving home on the freeway from somewhere, we saw tons of bats. We turned around to see them from under the bridge they were flying out from, and I got a video. You can't hear them very well (or at all, maybe), and it's a real shame you can't smell them. When I felt their pee falling into my window, I was done.



Lastly, Beck and the Spice Girls will entertain you for a few seconds.

Songbird

Beck: Rumor has it?

Me: Yep!

Beck: Oh. Rumor has it!

You just don't know

You know how you're a great parent before you actually become a parent? Things are always different when you're there.

Well, not everything. I've never been a huge fan of babies/kids, but I figured (hoped) it would be different when I had my own. And it really is. So that part wasn't different than I expected.

I always thought I'd have three kids. Maybe four. One or two were completely not an option because that would be way too boring to be an only child or only to have one sibling. Recently I've been feeling like one kid would be fine. Not because I don't like parenthood, but I just don't want to start ALL OVER. And Beck is so much more fun now than during the whole baby phase that I'd like to have a baby and then skip the first year. Maybe I'll completely change my mind when I have another baby...surprise is the name of this game, anyway.

I was really oddly happy when I juiced a zucchini last summer and Beck drank it. REALLY ODDLY HAPPY.

Today Beck peed in the toilet while standing. The REALLY ODDLY HAPPY thing happened again.

This parenthood thing is weird. If you're not there yet, just you wait.

Look closely at our 'staches.

P.S. The other day Beck was saying, "Mommy, wook! Wook, Mommy!" I went to see what was so exciting, and I saw that he left a log (not the wood kind) on the bathroom floor. The REALLY ODDLY HAPPY thing didn't happen then. If you want to see a picture, let me know.

Sunday Bloody Sunday

On Sunday, I was smart. Rily smart. As I was about to leave for church, I stepped on our air mattress* to get my phone. In my high heels.

We went to church and came back to this sad sight. Is it site or sight? Now we sleep on the couch. So far, I don't mind. You all probably know that I'm an amazing sleeper. I've thought about going pro, but I'm not quite sure how.

Excuse the disarray.

I tried a new 'do that day (a faux braid), and now I almost do this every day. It's so easy that it's pretty much equivalent to not doing my hair at all. But it looks better. From certain angles.

Matt had to go to downtown Austin that evening because one of his projects (Chase Bank) was opening the next day and he thought his superintendent was stressed. Beck and I accompanied him on his voyage, and B wore his Clark Kent glasses that he refused to wear on Halloween

Then he tried on my sunglasses. Upside down. With a finger up his nose. Boys.

He also let me try on his CK glasses. Talk nerdy to me.

*Remember how we're poor? Yeah, we've been sleeping on an air mattress since we've lived here. Neither of us have minded because it's actually pretty comfy. Just maybe a little ghetto...we'll look back and laugh.

The Beast

Remember my post about my lovely neighbor? Well, I have so much to update you about! I'll make a list.

1. "I know who you are."

[After that, each time we saw her, she was so friendly. Our nice neighbors were always talking about how much they hate her, but I didn't know how much of their stories to really believe, but I would always think back to the "I know who you are" story, so they could be telling the truth. I just hadn't really seen anything myself.]

2. Beck and I were playing during the day, and yes, he was running back and forth a little more than usual, but he just loved playing this game. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. I opened the door, and the neighbor goes, "Can you PLEASE keep your child from RUNNING and JUMPING on my head?!?!" I was shocked, and I said, "OK..." As she walked away, I said, "You know he's two, right?" "What?!" "You know he's two?" "I KNOW HE'S TWO! BUT I CAME UP HERE AND NICELY ASKED YOU..." I stopped listening at this point and just said another, "OK..." Lesson: You can be really rude, but if you include the word please in your sentence, you're nicely asking someone to do something. Good to know.

[I no longer talk to her when she comes around and does her super friendly act.

Also, sometime between these two run-ins, Beck threw his ball into her fenced-in patio area. We were like, "Well crap. That ball's a goner." It was like our own version of the Sandlot. Matt ended up holding Beck from his feet and dangling him over so he could grab the ball. Success. During this, I decided to call the precious little darling The Beast.]

3. Evening. Matt was outside with the nice neighbor (really, the actual nice one), and Beck and I were hanging out in our apartment. Matt came in and said, "A cop just pulled up and went into the downstairs neighbor's apartment." I thought that was weird. All the different options of why he was there ran through my head. Was she dead? Was he here because of us? Matt went back outside for a while, then came back and said, "Yep, she called the cops on Beck." The cop had come out and asked if Matt or the nice neighbor lived upstairs. Matt said that he did. The cop then explained what she was upset about, but he also said he had a two-year-old and knows that you can't really control them. (And why should you stop them from being two?!) He also didn't have any sympathy for her since she was yelling at him about us. He said she'll probably call again, and that he'll have to come back out, but to try to deal with her until she moves out. (But that's not until February, which is when we move out.) WHO CALLS THE POLICE ON A TWO-YEAR-OLD?!

[After that, I got a pretty hardcore glare as I came out of my apartment one day.]

4. Today. Daytime. We had the sliding glass door open because it's actually starting to cool down! Beck was standing in the living room watching a movie, and I was in the kitchen or walking back from my room. I don't really remember, but my point is that it was quiet. Then I heard yelling outside. Basically she yelled up to us through the open door and threatened to call the cops again if I didn't make Beck chill. Uhhh he's not even moving! I couldn't believe what just happened, so I called Matt and told him. I decided to go talk to the office about it since there's nothing else I could really do. I cried, then I went to the bathroom to make myself a little more presentable to go to the office, and I was totally shaking. I won't lie...I'm PMSing, and it sometimes makes my bad emotions get even worse. Writing this out also makes me feel stupid for being so upset, but I was (and still am). Beck and I went over to the office, where I swear the girl has a crush on Matt. I'm down with that since we'll probably get preferential treatment! I filled her in on the latest incident, and of course I cried at the end. This crying thing should be over in a day or two...hopefully.

So basically we need to be sleeping, gone, or quietly laying on the couch without breathing too loudly to make sure The Beast doesn't get upset.

Matt's more worried about Beck pleasing The Beast than I am. He is two (have I drilled that into your heads enough?), and I'm going to let him be two. I tell him no all the time, but I'm not going to tell him no when it's a perfectly acceptable thing to do. I'm going to let him run to his room because running is so much more entertaining than walking! I'm going to let him do normal two-year-old things. He's not jumping off the couch or bouncing balls on the ground. Damn it, he will be two!

_________________________________

Story that kind of goes along with the post:

I got the mail while coming back from the office and opened them when we got back to our apartment. Two pieces of mail made me cry--one bill and one random act of kindness that is making me cry as I think about it. Yeah, I'm a psycho right now. Beck heard me sniffle (what a stupid word), and he goes, "Nose?" and I nodded. He went to the bathroom and after quite a while, he came out with this:

Oh my gosh. Cutest munchkin ever. Makes me tear up just looking at it! I don't like being a psycho crier!!!! Hormones, go back to normal!!!!!!*

LONG post! Did anyone even read it?

*extra exclamation points especially for Clint.

Bad News, Beck

I was on Baby Center and decided to see how tall Beck may be at age 18, according to the Height Predictor. I double and triple checked the info I had to input, and it kept coming up with something I did not expect.

He might end up being short (Sorry, Buddy. My fault.), but I really don't think this is accurate.

Won't you be my neighbor?

from

Matt has been living in Georgetown, Texas for about six weeks in an extended stay hotel. Last week he moved into an apartment, so last Saturday Beck and I moved down. We're on the second story, and a lady lives underneath us. Our neighbors to the side told us that she complains about EVERYTHING, so we've tried to be really good about noise and what we let Beck do. Obviously we don't let him throw the basketball on the ground, we don't let him jump up and down, we don't let him play Dashboard Confessional so loud that it shakes things on the walls. You know, normal obnoxious stuff. I do let him be two, though (so playing Barney that loud is ok), as long as it's not too loud or annoying. I had never seen the lady, but she showed up one day as we were outside talking to our side neighbor. As she walked up, Beck waved at her energetically, so I turned around to look at her, thinking it would be interesting to see how she responded to him. Surprisingly she waved back (she seemed a little reluctant, but how can you ignore a kid that's waving at you while everyone's watching?). Then Matt said, "How are you? We're your upstairs neighbors." She kept walking, never looked at Matt, and said, "I know who you are."

Woman, you just earned yourself some relentless toddler jumping.

Two Years Ago

Shoot, I'm a few minutes too late posting this. This is a post for AUGUST 13.

Well, at 10:48pm Utah time, it was two years ago that I had Beck. Here's the birth story if you want a refresher or never read it.

Happy birthday, babe! You're my favorite munchkin in the world.

August 13, 2009

August 13, 2010

August 13, 2011

P.S. Fun fact: I learned yesterday that the heart problem I had during labor is called tachycardia.

My last day with my one-year-old

Does anyone else have an eye that closes more than the other when you smile?

Mormonland

Beck, my mom, and I went to Utah for about ten days (Beck's last free trip). We were busy the whole time, and I didn't run at all for 12 days. It's hard getting back into it.

I got some dental work done (and a new fun smile).

 I saw the jungle my condo now has.

 

I painted some rooms in my condo (thank you mom, Kaylene, Grandma #4, and William). Goodbye blue and purple.

  

Beck got to be part of my cousin's son's birthday party and also got a cupcake.

This video is so cute, but I'm not sure if I can make it portrait instead of landscape.

My friends got married. I hooked them up!

My cousin also got married, but I don't have any pictures. I REALLY wish I had a video of my cousin Todd and my mom dancing at the reception. It was goooood. My other cousin goes, "Does your mom embarrass you?" I said, "No, not anymore." He goes, "Well she's embarrassing me."

And now we're back in Texas, meltinggggggg!

One year ago

I randomly looked over at my slideshow gadget that always runs on the side of my computer, and I saw this picture. It's almost exactly one year ago today.

6.5.10

I don't know what's up with me. I need to update this stupid blog, but I just don't have the motivation. Soon, though. Soon. Maybe all of my blogging energy is used up running. I still need to write about my half marathon that was about a month ago and also a 10K that we ran on Saturday night. Then in about two weeks we'll be running a mud run 10K in California. Yeah, that's pretty much all I do. Run and watch Barney. I never thought my kid would watch Barney, and now I wake up with his songs in my head. That's the life.

Blog Boredom

I should update my blog. I guess I'll just go through my camera and show you what's been UP.

In December we (Matt) poured concrete countertops over our existing countertops. They're not quite finished, but here's a preview.

Before, about to pour.

After, but with some imperfections we're (Matt) is trying to fix.

Beck was banished from the kitchen during the process. 

Matt's new toy

Beck was playing with a ziplock bag of fish rocks. They flew EVERYWHERE.

In the hinges. They're still there at this moment.

On top of all the drawers and doors.

I made Hasselback potatoes that ended up being pretty boring for how long they took. More seasonings needed for next time.

Olive doesn't like when Matt holds her up to the ceiling. She holds completely still.

Tape and paint

The nice thing about buying cheap furniture from the thrift store is that you feel free to do anything to it. I got inspired to paint stripes on to my table. So I did.

Before:

During:

After:

14 : A picture you love

Looking back at this photoshoot from last April is funny because Beck is so little and fat. And he only has two teeth! Cute little munchkin.

Day 26

I didn't think of anything to write yesterday for A Funny (True) Story, so I may come back to that. (And maybe not.)

A Child I Love

Duh.

Christmastime is here

And so is the Santa hat.

This is reason 397,048,305 Olive hates me.

Thankful

Last year on Facebook a lot of people wrote something they were thankful for each day until Thanksgiving, and this year some people are doing that on their blogs. I guess I'll do that too because 1. it's a good thing to do; 2. it makes me blog without really thinking very hard; 3. I want to annoy you. We'll see if I remember to do it.

Day 1: I'm thankful for my monkey boy.

I had to cut out one of those pieces of tape. Not my best mom moment.

The Little Engine That Could. The short version.

The volume on the baby monitor is usually turned all the way down so we just see the lights going, but this night the volume was up, and Matt's version of the book was very entertaining. I didn't get the best part on video, and now I can't remember what it was. I think it had something to do with the description of the grumpy engine. Hope you like it.

I breed model

My friend Stacy took pictures at Beck's birthday party, and I was so excited when she posted some on her blog. Go check them out now. I loooooove 'em.

Stussy, hope ya don't mind I used the pic! I know you photographers are very weird about that stuff. :)

Flashin'

Look how fat and bald he was. This was New Year's at "the cabin" in Sundance.