I am missing kent tremendously. Being a single mom at home is not bad at all- but on vacation it's not nearly as easy :) Napping and sleeping and eating and doing EVERY other activity just seems to take more energy when we aren't at home! Hooray that he arrives tomorrow!
Here's what happens when we run at three in the afternoon instead of eight in the morning.
Poor zeb had a long day of missing kent. When kent called this evening I handed the phone to zeb so he could say hello and the first thing he said to kent-unprompted- was "come home, papa. come home now". He's recently started using the word 'now' with all of his requests. I don't think that he's trying to sound so demanding- he just really likes the word.
2. I went to the doctor today because a number of things have been bothering me. When I fell the second time back in may, I hurt my elbow and it hasn't been healing properly. Luckily it's not a joint issue- or anything really internal- it's just the scar/scab. It almost looks like a blister. When the doctor saw it she immediately asked "does skin cancer run in your family?". She knew it was the result of a fall so when she asked that it shocked me- mostly because, YES skin cancer runs rampant in my family! Apparently I have a hypertrophic scar and they very very rarely turn into cancer. ahh. She poked in it with a needle- scraped at it with a scalpel- and I've got to watch it for four more weeks to see if it starts to go away or else I have to get it removed.
Happy six months, kid. Granted, this half birthday post is sixteen days late- but in my defense his six month check-up was on Monday of this week. He's a lovely 26 inches (does anybody really care about how many inches long he is?). I can't even say 26 inches tall because that's a lie. Really he's like six inches tall- maybe 18 inches when he's sitting up.
He's 17 pounds and eleven ounces. That's the important statistic at his age. I'm impressed that he's made up all that weight from his first month of starvation. This kid definitely fits into his skin now.
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions for cakelike brownies (adding 1/4 cup water, 1/3 cup oil and 3 eggs). Fold in chopped nuts. Pour batter into pan. Return to 350°F oven; bake until brownie is just set and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
3. With electric mixer in medium bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add peanut butter and confectioners' sugar; beat until just blended (it will look lumpy). Add milk; beat lightly to loosen mixture. In separate bowl, whip 1 cup of the cream and gently fold into peanut butter mixture. Spread mousse evenly over cooled brownie. Refrigerate 1 hour.
4. Heat remaining 1/2 cup cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until just boiling. Remove from heat; add corn syrup and chocolate chips. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Pour glaze over chilled mousse and spread to cover completely. Return to refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
homemade brownies-
A group of us all went and got (free!- thanks to a new friend who needed hair models) haircuts today and kid swapped during the appointments. I am very happy with my haircut and Zeb loved his day. The park we went to had a bunch of dump trucks and tractors in the sandboxes for the kids to play with. I'm shocked that they just keep them there- and that they haven't been stolen. We'd never ventured into the parks of Sylvania (the part of toledo where katie holmes is from- or her parents live there now or something)- but I think we'll be returning. they are really nice- and really fun. Apparently there's a place called "fossil park" where you can go and dig for fossils in a shale quarry- FOR FREE. Zeb would be in heaven digging around in the dirt and I would love the fossil finding part! We'll be going soon.
and the parade wouldn't have been complete without the creepily freakish dilapidated doll and misfit toy vehicles. It appears that the parade "regular" invited a friend to bring his car along too. This time I got close-ups. Why on Earth do people do things like this? and why do they parade them around in front of little children? I shouldn't be questioning these people, though. I love that they do it.
And here's the back of the royalty car. It scares me waaaay bad. Click on the picture to get the full effect. check out that doll head. eww.
after the hot hellish run home- we cooled off in the pool. Zeb spent most of his time blowing at dandelions.
after our swim, Kent and I went and saw a movie- AT THE THEATER! we hadn't been to the theater since Christmas 2007- and we only went then because my parents paid for us all to go :) Usually we don't like to spend that much money to see a movie- but we've been waiting to see Harry Potter for what seems like FOREVER. It did not disappoint. 1- we had no kids (thank you cyndi!!!) 2- We got tickets for five bucks a piece because Kent is in the air force!!! it cost us HALF of what we thought it would! and 3- we loved the movie. I realize it did not follow the book perfectly, but we went with the realization that it wouldn't. What it did capture- it captured perfectly. Plus, I don't remember all the details of the book anyway. Kent did fill me in on everything that was missing however.
After we got home from the bay- I let the kids roll around in their diapers for awhile.
Ike loves to rip apart zeb's carefully laid train tracks. He's definitely going to love trains. Really he has no choice in the matter because we aren't buying new toys for him.
And here are two new recipes I've tried this week. I forgot to take pictures so neither are mine- but they look pretty darn similar. The blttb was delicious!! and I liked the brown sugar chicken quite a bit- but not nearly as much as I thought that I would (considering the heinous amount of brown sugar!).
BLTTB- bacon lettuce tomato turkey burgers
Crockpot Brown Sugar Chicken!
Ike had his first real enjoyable swim today. We've had bad luck at the pool with cold water- or a sleeping baby- or just a grumpy baby, but today was perfect. Ike just hung out in his little floaty and loved it. Zeb also loved his fabulous pink car floaty (with a working horn and turning steering wheel!) thanks to Roxanne- our friend here at Heather Hills.
I slicked Ike's hair back in this picture above- and he looks like such a little man.
For dinner we used this fabulous new product a friend recently introduced to me. Classico's pesto sauces. You can print off a coupon here. WOW. They are beyond divine. Tonight we used the sun dried tomato pesto. Just spread on chicken and bake. Also add to your favorite white or red sauce (we did a homemade flour/milk white sauce with canned tomatoes) and serve over multigrain pasta.
And even though the day was so great because the rugrats were NOT present- here's the token kid pic. Ike has been SUPER constipated the past two days. He finally let it all out today- but the boy was trying so hard this morning that milk came out his nose. Poor kid. And completely aside from the pooing issue- Ike has been looking so much like Laney to me lately. I guess that means he's got me in him- although that I still don't see.
Since this freebie is such a great one- I wanted to remind everybody about it! Today starts Kraft's FREE GROCERIES promo. Today through the 23rd kraft will buy your groceries (25$)! There are a few rules (only at participating stores and certain kraft products) but they aren't too strict and WELL WORTH twenty five dollars! Happy shopping. Just click on the kraft picture for all of the details.
This morning he had to head off at five so I got up with him to make him some food (the dang kid is dropping pounds like he's at fat camp or something) and say goodbye since I won't see him for awhile. I told him I wanted to take a picture of him in his "doctor" clothes. He wasn't too happy about the request- but he did entertain me. Check out his shoes- we've been searching for a great deal on some brown dress shoes and I picked these ones up for nine bucks yesterday.
Kent had the kids tonight while I was gone to yw- and when I got home they were both awake but happier then they have been all week. I finally got zeb to agree to head to bed when I told him he could take his trains. It only took him about seven tries to get them all in his hands. He is such a fun two year old. We had the terrible terrible 20 month old but he's been a great two year old so far. I hear that three is actually the roughest. I can't wait.
He didn't love the snowcone all that much. He tasted it-played with it- and then dumped it out. He must take after his dad with the non sweet tooth thing.
He had a really rough day today- but luckily LOVED being outside and was all smiles the entire evening. I'm not sure if he's teething- or constipated or what- but the kid was seriously uncomfortable today. It was so sad. I videoed his sad little cries and whimpers earlier in the day so I could show kent how terrible it was. I'll have to post it tomorrow. I think I'm just not used to this little kid's cries. It was the most he's cried EVER in his life. I'm hoping whatever it was is over and that he (and I) will be able to get a good night's sleep tonight.
Unlike his monkey bar falling adventures at the playground- these falls don't end in tears. 
