The Ultimate Honey-Do List

My alternate title for this post is "How to Get Shit Done" but I know some fine folks have my blog in their blogroll and who needs to see my incessant cussing on the side of their blog? See? I'm considerate!  Anyway, remember I posted a little household to-do list here, and then my birthday wish list here? Well I was afraid that I wasn't reaching my husband effectively so I decided that my lists had to be put all in one place, somewhere he couldn't miss them.

I chalkboard walled it up. This way, it would stare at him everytime he sat down to eat at the kitchen table. Plus, anyone who stopped by could see all the things that weren't checked off. I was hoping that would shame him into getting shit done. Guess what? It totally worked. As of today, the list isn't even up anymore because with the exception of one thing (the shutters) everything has been completed. The final item to be crossed off was my smartphone. I have now entered the mid 2000's and will be oversharing the minute details of my life even more via twitter and the facebooks.

So yeah, if you're having trouble getting things done, shame yourself or someone you love with an entire wall of tasks. They will love you for it. Swears.

Happy weekend friends!

Sandy Beach*

*When I was younger, we had an awesome dog named Sandy. A friend from high school would call her Sandy Beach. It always made me laugh for some reason. Just thought you should know.

So last week, my friend Adrienne invited us down the shore. I had wanted to get down to the beach to get Gabe's 11 month photo shoot done anyway so the timing was perfect. She was down there spending the week with her fam at her aunt's house and said that there was room for us to stay over. I hemmed and hawed because I'm such a homebody. Call it what you want, but if John's home at night, I don't like not being there. How ever will he find something for dinner?!?! Kidding. Sort of. I like my routine and my little fam together as much as possible. But doing the drive to and from the shore is a bit much for one day with Gabe, and since John was planning on working a little later, I decided that I would stay over. Keep in mind that Gabe has never slept anywhere besides the hospital and then our house, let alone in his pack and play. I was so nervous he wouldn't sleep or that he would wake the whole house up in the middle of the night. But everyone told me to shut up, it would be fine. And it was. And it helped that A's family are all night-owls anyway, we wouldn't have been waking anybody up, even if he hadn't slept like a....baby.

So anyway, we went to the beach and did our little photoshoot, then changed him into his swim trunks and headed down to the water. At first, I stood him up and let the water wash over his feet but he hated that. So we picked him up and held him in the air for awhile, which he is definitely a fan of.

After he checked out the entire beach, which was thankfully pretty much empty at 5:00, he decided that he was okay with the beach portion of this place.

We plopped him down on the hard wet sand, but he didn't want to put his hands dirty. Hmmm, sound like anyone we know? *coughJohncough*

Eventually he did.

He'd drag his fingers through the sand.

Then wipe them on his pants.

He was havin a good ol time.

Then he took off.

He'd stop and pose every once in awhile.

He'd stop and dig in little pools of water.

But mostly he crawled.

He would crawl, then stop, start laughing and then start crawling again. It was the funniest thing ever. EVER. And A chased him for what seemed like hours.

He stopped and did push-ups. Ok, not really but it looks like it.

Then he'd die laughing when we went to pick him up to wash him off.

Then he'd pose some more.

Then he'd be trucking again.

I'm pretty sure he loves it here.

1st Birthday Invite...Check!

The invitations have been mailed and most likely received now. And for real, how cute are they?

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Here's most of the inside, minus the stalky info

I think they set the tone for this shindig quite well. And obviously any opportunity to dress this kid funny is right up my alley. Oh and to answer any questions, no, costumes will not be worn or required at this party. We're not that weird. And you know what's sweet? I didn't pay a dime for these babies because Shutterfly hooked me up with 50 free invites. Totes not a commercial for them, I just think it's pretty awesome that they value bloggers that much.

Anyway, since I got the invites for free, that left me a few pennies to spend on making the envelope cute. When I saw these labels on one of my favorite party blogs, Cakes Likes a Party, I loved them and asked Annika to change them up just a bit to fit my theme. Btw, Annika is totes my party hero. If you like taking a theme *almost* too far, then go check out the parties she throws, they're amazing.

So meanwhile, it's T-minus 25 days until this party and I am surprisingly calm. I've got lists upon lists of things to do and am steadily checking them off. I hired a stellar young fellar to be my right-hand man the day-of.  I've done trial runs of all my menu selections. I've designed, cut and applied 48 custom water bottle labels.  I've cut out 250,000 (approx) small red gnome hats to make garlands.  We're moving right along...

I Thought I Was Done Dating

I thought wrong. Apparently now I've got to date moms. And ask them out. For playdates and shit. Go read my friend Kelly's blog, Southern Fried Children, to see how my first time went down.  Then go like my FB page and I'll tell you how the story ended.

 I know, I'm a guest postin' fool lately! Why aren't I this popular in real life?

Mexican Food & Bloggers

What do you get when you combine two of my favorite things? A family dinner with my pal Lizzie Beth! She recently bought a new crib (well probably two cribs...a house and an actual crib...she recently found out she had an inside baby) so John, Gabe & I went to see both. Um, sorry inside baby, but the house was a little more exciting. It's always fun seeing places in person that you've read so much about on the interwebs, ya know? Anyway, her and JEGS took us to their favorite Mexican joint that was the perfect combination of not-a-chain and not-a-dump. We highly enjoyed it.

I hate when pregnant chicks look better than me non-pregnant. Bumm to the er.

You know who else highly enjoyed it? Gabers. More specifically, he couldn't get enough of the roving mariachi band. As soon as they came round the bend, he didn't take his eyes off them.

So I guess if that whole lifeguard gig doesn't work out, then there's certainly a pair of bedazzled pants in his future.

Unless he was just trying to steal the guy's tips. In that case, good for you Gabe. It's about time you paid for dinner. And speaking of dinner, it was fantastic. Although, to be honest, I'm not sure I've ever had bad Mexican food. And when you've got a nice feller making your guac from scratch at your table, well, not much can beat it, ya know?

So if you and your family ever want to host mine for dinner, we'd gladly take you up on it. But please make sure there's entertainment. Otherwise, I'm definitely hiring a mariachi band to follow us around to keep Gabe from doing the restaurant screamies.

Have a frigid weekend friends!

Cue Baywatch Theme Song

David Hasselhoff ain't got nothin on this kid. Eleven months old and already out there saving lives and looking good doing it.  While most of the country is experiencing a disgusting heat wave, Gabe's staying cool at the Jersey shore where he got a job as a lifeguard. I coudn't be prouder.

So what if he can't technically walk yet. Dude can crawl out to the sea and doggie paddle his way to the shark attack.

You're right Gabe, sharks are scary. You can paddle your way out to the jellyfish attack.

Keeping his eye on the ocean at all times..

Uh oh! Someone needs my help!

But the ocean air feels so nice, I'll just be a second.

What? A guy can't enjoy the salty mist on his face?

You got a problem buddy?

Oh wait, someone needs my help. Woops.

I'll just grab this here lifesaving doo-hickey...

Nah, forget that, I got this on my own. Here I go!

Gee guys, I could have used some help out there. I had to save all those jellyfish victims myself.

What are you smiling at? It was exhausting!

Oh? A photo op? Okay, I suppose I can pose for a picture. I am the hero today after all. No thanks to youse guys.

I'm ready for my close up. Is this gonna make the paper?

Well Gabe, it'll at least make the blog. You were certainly the cutest thing in Wildwood, NJ this week. Happy eleven months! You are such a big boy these days and we get the biggest kick out of you. This past month you...

- Chat up a storm. Your newest sound is goo goo and ga ga. I didn't know babies actually said that, I thought people made it up. But it's pretty darn cute and I like to think that you're just practicing saying Gigi (for my mama).

- Mastered "so big!"

- Got your hairs cut for the first time!

- Eat pretty much all solids, besides veggies.  You don't mind those in purees at all.  It's been slow-going but I'm trying to feed you whatever we're eating. You know, except when we're eating poblano peppers or something. You, my little buddy, are welcome.

- Had your nursery re-done! You'll probably never care but your mom does. And she loves it.

- Took some steps! And you did it while your daddy was home, so thank you.

-Went to the pool and the beach and we realized you really dig both of them! You like floating around the water and occasionally splashing your hands in it. And the sand on the beach? Forget about it. You were in heaven, crawling up and down the beach, cracking up the whole time.

-Met your most favorite thing on tv!

- You stayed overnight somewhere that wasn't your house! And you slept in a pack & play, which you haven't done since you were about 3 weeks old! I was so so nervous that you wouldn't sleep well or go down at all, but you were a pro.

Aww man, Gabe, you're totally my fave. I'm not going to go on and on about how there's only a month left until you turn one. But omg, seriously, a month! I'm not acting like time flies so fast anymore because I really am soaking up every second we have together. We still cuddle multiple times a day and I hope that lasts for as long as possible. I love you more than pretty much anything ever.

p.s. Thanks to the Wildwood life guards who volunteered to be in the shot right as their shift ended. I think it added a little legitimacy to this month's photo shoot, which was our first ever on-location shoot!

p.p.s. To those that ask every month, nope, I don't plan on doing this every month after he turns one. I say that now.