Babble

I'm in the mood to babble a bit. Not like Chase does (actually his talking is more like a pig squealing or a lion's roar!)... but rather, I don't feel like settling on a topic and I just want to write what's on my mind.

Eric's sister Katie came to visit last weekend and she probably thinks that Chase is the worst behaved baby ever! He's getting one of his top teeth right now and he's been so fussy the past week. He'll be happy and playing, and then out of no where he'll just start screaming! Poor guy! We had an interesting trip to the grocery store yesterday... I was walking up and down the aisles while Chase was screaming at the top of his lungs! Not crying, just screaming. I tried everything I could think of to soothe him while I continued to shop for what we needed. When we got home I realized that I forgot about 10 things, which doesn't surprise me! I hope that tooth pops through soon! The only problem is that it won't end there... there's more to come!

Speaking of grocery stores, how did I ever live without a Publix in Maryland?! I love that store. The people that work at ours are so nice. Every time you pass one of them, they ask how you're doing and if you're finding everything okay. I guess sometimes it borders on annoying... but I'd take that over grumpy shelf-stockers any day! And I love that they help you out with your groceries, which is great when your baby is screaming his head off or it's pouring down rain. Last time I went there during a rain storm (which is like every day here), the bag guy insisted on walking us out with an huge umbrella. Chase has his favorite cashiers and bag people too. He loves this one lady, Deb, so I always try to find her line.

I wish there were more shows on TV that I wanted to watch. I mean, I don't want the TV turned ON more, I just want there to be some good stuff on at night when it IS on. Our TV is only on from 7:30-8am in the morning for the news, and then from 8-10pm at night after Chase is in bed. But the problem is that the only shows we watch come on on Thursday: The Office, Earl, Scrubs, and Survivor. And usually there's a football game on that night that Eric wants to watch as well! I miss LOST and Amazing Race. We don't like crime dramas. And we've tried watching some of the new shows but none of them have really caught our interest. So we usually end up watching something on Discovery, National Geographic, etc. Or just turning it off and reading a book or magazine, or playing Scrabble. I guess that's not so bad.

I had forgotten how nice it is to sleep for 8 hours in a row! And what it's like to go to bed and not expect to wake up again in an hour! If anyone ever needs some advice (or just sympathy) when your baby doesn't sleep, I'll be happy to provide some. I think we've read every book and tried every sleep training method. Hopefully we're done with that until the next one! Or maybe we'll just get lucky and our next baby will be sleeping through the night at 4 weeks!

I wish I wasn't so terrible at cooking. There was a time when I thought I was really good at it.... at Clemson when I made the same 2 or 3 casseroles really well and everyone loved them. But anything else, I always manage to mess up! It's like a big joke in our house because I inevitably forget some ingredient, try to use something else instead, and it turns out all wrong! Even easy stuff like pudding or mac n' cheese. Sometimes I can't even figure out where I went wrong... I follow the instructions perfectly and it still tastes like styrofoam or something. If I could have super hero powers, that's what I'd choose: the ability to cook! And to think of new stuff to make, that's key too. Here's an example of 2 simple things I always screw up: smoothies and baked potatoes. My smoothies tend to be so bland no matter what I put in them and baked potatoes always end up crunchy or overcooked. Anyone have a perfect, FOOL PROOF recipe for those? :) I think our gas oven kind of throws me off too, since I've never had one before. Yeah, I'll blame it on the oven.