8.20.2011

where a kid can be a kid

there is a litmus test you can use to determine if your kid is officially a kid (and not an alien and definitely no longer a half baby/half toddler). the test --> take them to Chuck E. Cheese. if they run around like a chicken on 4 Loko for three hours, scarfing pizza, dancing, and throwing a pirate's bounty of tokens into blinky machines that spit out tickets you can use to buy plastic slinkies and temporary tattoos? you've got a kid. if they try to shoot you with a raygun? throw a cup of water on them! aliens hate that. so sayeth Mel Gibson.
my "kid". or should i say my "kids"...
can i just tell you how sad i was to not get to partake in this pizza? like drooling-out-my-tears level 10 (on a scale of 10) sadness. stupid gall bladder motha effa! and then like three lines worth of this %$+!@!!!!!!!. Chuck E Cheese's pizza is a new-and-improved recipe too... and the boys had no qualms about eating it in my face either, jerks. love em, but come onnnnn! cut mama a break. buy her some shoes. give her a backrub. something.
ok, the fact that Otto wanted to ride this carousel 5 (five!) times in a row? that kinda equals a backrub for my soul.
and whenever he legitimately won tickets -- this is kind of a funny thing, because on a lot of the games you just throw a token in, some contraptiony thing happens, and then random tickets spit out -- but whenever Ot legitimately won tickets, like above, he was so proud he would grab his tickets and run all the way across the restaurant to the stage and show Chuck E! omggggggg it was the cutest -->
unfortunately, Mr. Cheese was resting a lot of the time and wouldn't look. haha. Ot didn't seem to mind.

we had so much fun! and my kid got to be a kid (remember when that was the Showbiz Pizza motto?). i used to have a Showbiz album i got on my birthday and i would play it over and over and over again and sing along in this deep bear voice, "Happppy Happpppy Birthday Babeeeeeeee" to my little record player. the hot thing to collect back then was little plastic charms and i used my tickets to buy an Oreo charm with a bite taken out of it and another charm of a tube of lipstick. ack, remember charms!!!???

-lindsey
note: lucky ducks that we are, we were given a complimentary meal and tokens in exchange for my writing an honest post about our experience and the new pizza recipe at Chuck E. Cheese's. the opinions stated are mine all mine. 

8.16.2011

"i'm gonna wash you like a train"

otto was using a dishtowel to "wash" our arms and faces this afternoon when he comes up with this gem. kids are so awesome.

in a mini-update on me... i'm having a hard time adjusting to the "gall stone diet" and feel pretty cruddy and tired. low-fat, non-dairy was like my life when we were vegan for 5+ years but that was almost 10 years ago. i'm ok with all the fruit but i miss butter... a lot. so who knows if my ol' we-just-moved doldrums are inching back in (stay back, you damn doldrums!) or if it's like a physical reaction to the whole gall situation but i just feel sleepy and cranky. also i am the proud owner of 2 new pairs of sweatpants, so you know those badboys are lulling me into a catatonic place (because new sweatpants are amaaaaaazing!).

some really fun posts are on the way though. we took Otto to Chuck E. Cheese this weekend and he was hilarious. and then today i took him to a raptor (like owls, eagles, hawks) sanctuary center and it was pretty neat and woodsy. he really loves snow owls but vultures? he doesn't trust em for a minute! also my friend sarah made us some pickles and i wanna show you pictures because that's freaking awesome (gift me with pickles, i'll love you forever).

hope everyone is good. i promise to stop cuddling with my george washington book soon, but for tonight, it's me and the patriotic hottie with wooden teeth, all the way til my 8:30 bedtime. ::yawn::

-lindsey

8.13.2011

this time last weekend...

this time last weekend i had some serious stomach stuff happening, not gonna lie, but it was pre-gall stones attack so i was just rolling with the punches and we decided to road trip it to the Oregon Coast for a beach day. it was cold, windy, downright brisk! but it was also gorgeous and awesome and i wanted to share...
no feet!
found some driftwood. took his jacket off. i was like, "Otto, are you crazy? it's freezing!" but he wasn't havin it. meanwhile...
i put myself in charge of "minding" the picnic blanket by wrapping myself in it and not moving. ps. mama needs her hair did.
mama also needs a pedi. mama, lately, is a trainwreck. but it was totally worth passing gas while freezing on the beach, for this -->
a little bit of magic, right? and next time i won't be all secretly dying inside. also, next time i'm wearing pants instead of a skirt (read: comes from Arizona, wasn't prepared).

hope everyone's having happy weekends! eat an Oreo for me!
-lindsey

8.11.2011

i was thinking of calling this one "the gall" or "romancing the stones"

so just when i was all set to get back on this blog horse and ride, i end up feeling crazy sick for a few days and then wake up Tuesday morning at 1am like this...
and my hair really didn't even look that good. that fun lasted until about 9am. ugh.

so after a day at Urgent Care, 3 liters of IV, and an exhaustive round of ultrasounds on the ole belly it turns out i have a big cluster of gall stones, plus my gall bladder is all jacked to heck. i'm officially a hot mess.

anyways, it looks like i get to have gall surgery sometime pretty soon to remove the kit and caboodle. in the mean time i'm on an everything-restricted diet that's centered on oatmeal, avocadoes and blueberries for the next few weeks.

has anyone else gone through this? recipe ideas are greatly appreciated. as are any other coping tricks. i'm just trying to fend off another attack until i can consult with the surgeon at the end of the month. they said if it happens again in the meantime i have to go into the ER for emergency surgery. no bueno.

xo,
Lindsey

8.06.2011

beachward, ho!

today we are packing up our pale selves, grabbing Starbucks on the road, and driving about an hour west of eugene for a day at the beach. an ocean beach! we have a kite that i'm hoping to launch and i am dreaming of someone (someone please!) selling beachside icecream. i hear the beaches here are cold and choppy - the sea, she be a fickle lady, arrrgh - but i don't care. i'm just really looking forward to exploring a little of our new state, getting my feet sandy, and feeling a little salty breeze and hopefully sunshine on my skin.

i hope everyone is having great weekends. [to those of you in san diego today, my cup of jealousy runneth over! see you at BlogHer12 though] xoxo

-lindsey

8.03.2011

wordless... a river runs through it (eugene i mean)

ok, i am a huge title liar! there will be words, but just a few. after our playdate on saturday, Otto and i walked down to the river's edge and watched the water for a while. Otto was literally like, "whoa!"...
 if he looks extra pink-cheeked here it is 100% raspberry jelly from our bagel breakfast.
like whoa ♥

-lindsey

8.01.2011

Otto's Big Boy Room Makeover

so i was all kinds of tempted to call this post "Jewels Phone App and Snuggling George Washington" because i'm still rocking this uninspired-womp-womp funk and spent the last few days snuggled up whenever i could, under covers, either playing this phone app that's like the old 90s game Bejeweled or reading my George Washington bio "Washington, A Life". so yeah, i just won the 2011 So Cool She's Fonzie, Ayyyyy award, right? but i'm honestly trying to jump my motorcycle over these blues. i really am! ayyyyy.

we even went out this weekend. socialized! on a bagels-and-coffee-in-the-park playdate with Katherine and Rylee of Little Miss Rylee blog. that mama is rad; totally fun time. and then on sunday we went to a neighbor's little boy's first birthday party. i made friendly with a few moms at that party and we might all go swimming with the kiddos later this week. see, Lindsey, things are looking UP! i says to myself. still, the Jewels and Founding Father are calling my name, "lindsey, come snuggle, i can not tell a lie, i need you and more cheetos, lindseeeey, don't shower!" must. not. snuggle. dead. president. any. more.

ok, i'm pretty sorry about all that nonsense. if you're still with me i'll totally butt-thump a jukebox to play your song. ayyyy. and now, onto a few pics of Ot's new big boy room. he really loves it...
we're really excited about the shiny red clock. now in the mornings when Otto wakes up (usually having crawled into bed with us) (and usually at the first sign of sunrise, like 5am, egad) we put him in his room with the baby gate up and show him "when the big hand gets to *this* you can wake us up". it's a teeny step towards telling time and he's been really great about it, watching the clock and playing independently every morning for about 30 minutes before the whole house JUST HAS TO GET UP. clock win!

ok, that's all i got. xoxo,
lindsey