Growing Up, Holding On

It has now been more than a month since my wonderful little boy turned a whole year old. I haven't written about it until now because it has been too difficult.

My Little Man on his Big Day (with Grandma)

As most of you know TJ is my first child. That's exactly what made his first birthday so hard for me. I wasn't aware until I had him that it was even possible to feel so many contradicting emotions all at once. At the same time I am excited for him to get older and terrified of him not being a baby anymore.

I can't wait to see who he becomes. It amazes me already to see what a strong personality he has already developed. TJ is most definitely his own person. He has mannerisms that are all his own, not adopted from either myself or my husband. I am thrilled to see him develop more every day and I look forward to more birthdays, to more words in his vocabulary, to school and loose teeth and scraped knees.

Lurking right alongside this anticipation is fear and sadness. I know that to me it will always seem like just yesterday that I brought him home from the hospital. I already find myself missing the tiny baby he used to be. I also know that as he grows older it will be harder and harder to imagine that the little boy with the missing front tooth, or the kid with piles of homework getting ready for that first awkward middle school dance, or the young man leaving to pick up his date for the prom is the same sweet, cuddly baby that slept on my chest just yesterday.

Us about a week after he was born.

But until then he's still mine to cuddle with on the couch. Mine to hold while he sleeps. Mine to kiss and snuggle and make funny faces with and he will be for a while. So happy birthday TJ, even if it is a little late. Mommy loves you.

The night before his party wearing the sombrero at dinner.

The box is always the best part (TJ is on the left his cousin is on the right).

The boys playing with the balloons! 

Happy boy on his birthday, even with a big owwie on his nose!

Get Rich Quick Schemes

The internet is full of them and oh how I wish they worked. From obvious scams where you pay money and the company is supposed to send you magical money generating software to companies that you actually "work" for doing online typing jobs and they pay you a certain amount for each job. By now we pretty much all realize that these are scams so why am I talking about them? Simply because I have encountered a rash of Tweets offering "unlimited earning potential." It's really kind of cute how they think I'll actually be interested.

In other news my Mary Kay business is getting off the ground quite well! If you live in the Yakima, WA area shop with me online at http://www.marykay.com/jjones419! I love Mary Kay sooooo much! I'll have to show you before and after pictures of me from using the skin care products. The difference is astounding.

I'm also looking into becoming an AFLAC rep. I'm just not sure if I'll be any good at it. If anyone has advice on this please let me know in the comments.

Um, Guys...The First Amendment Is Not Optional

(Yes I realize this is two in a row about the Westboro Baptist Church but I feel like this really needs to be said.)

So, the Westboro Baptists have been protesting soldier's funerals again like always but this time the hometown of one fallen soldier decided to fight back. I know this sounds like a great idea and a lot of people are saying that this should happen more often. However, all the supporters of the actions this town has taken are missing a vital point. The police assisted a group of citizens in restricting the First Amendment rights of an entire group of people!


I do not agree with the message of the Westboro Baptist Church and it sickens me that they can spew such vitriol at the very people who are ready to lay down their own lives to protect the rights of people like Fred Phelps and his little band of hate mongers but the fact remains that they do have the right, granted by the First Amendment, to try to convey their message. Just because it is hurtful and disgusting does not mean that steps can be taken to silence them.

Believe it or not I say this because I truly love this country. I love the fact that we have the freedom to question our government, to protest, to attempt to change things and do what we feel is right. Honestly, I am equally as disgusted with the people in Mississippi who conspired to restrict the rights of the Westboro Baptists as I am with the church members themselves. If the roles were reversed and their message was the most popular belief would you want them to have the power to silence you?

I Just Want to Cry

I know that I shouldn't but I watched another documentary about the Westboro Baptist Church. Usually even thinking about them makes me so incredibly angry I can't even think straight but this documentary made me profoundly sad.

Fall From Grace delves into the history of the church and includes interviews with people working to oppose it but what really touched me were the interviews with the children being raised in this environment. Kids are the only people who truly love unconditionally. They have the ability to trust others and love everyone they meet. Children are not nasty or cruel until they are taught to be. It sickens me that the members of the Westboro Baptist Church are openly teaching the innocent children who depend on them to teach right from wrong to hate.

I can honestly say that at the core of my being I ache for these poor people. It isn't their fault that they grew up in a home with a father who is so obviously mentally disturbed. As children we idolize our parents and the model that they were provided is irreparably flawed as a human being.

I am so sad that the illness of one man has poisoned the lives of so many. Instead of hating the Westboro Baptist Church we should be praying (if you are a person who prays) for them. Instead of trying to fight them we should try to show them the love that has clearly been denied to them. Instead of screaming at them or provoking fights maybe we should give them hugs.

Yo Gabba Gabba is Going to Make Me Kill Myself

So just in case you didn't know I have a little boy who will be a year old on Tuesday (I'm trying not to think about it).

Yes, in fact, he is judging you.

His favorite TV show in the whole wide world is Yo Gabba Gabba (yeah, I know, no TV before two years but you haven't met my kid) and now it is showing up in my dreams. By the way, if you haven't seen this show check it out! Go ahead, I'll wait. Okay, now you understand why this shit is freaking me out. To make matters worst we bought him a Brobee (the green one) cuddle pillow and now one of these characters is lurking in my house.

Have you ever come into the living room after getting a nice cup of coffee in the morning only to find a scary ass green monster lurking around the corner right at knee level? I dare you to not crap your pants!

Et Tu Google?

So I recently switched from Firefox to Google Chrome because the new beta of Firefox was making me crazy and I didn't want to go back to the current version since the problems with that were what made me download the beta in the first place. I have loved Chrome. It works well, it's zippy, and the extensions and add-ons are fantastic. I did however have one issue.

Really? Seriously? Google Chrome couldn't find www.google.com? This seems to be an issue that the guys at Google might want to look into. On the plus side that was probably one of the funniest things I've seen all week.

Hot Water Wars

I am in a current and constant battle with my neighbors over the hot water. Unfortunately, my apartment complex requires me to share plumbing (including the hot water heater) with several other tenants. This means that when I go to take a shower chances are I am going to get either frozen or scalded at some point due to a neighbor flushing their toilet or turning on their sink.

Most of the time this isn't really an issue because it only lasts a few seconds but occasionally (like today) my neighbors are determined to suck every last drop of hot water out of those pipes. This didn't happen until the middle of my shower which meant that now I have one shaved leg and one unshaved.

(I was going to put a picture here so you could grasp the true horror but my stupid cheap camera couldn't handle the current paleness to make it show up so you'll have to use your imagination. Hopefully when my tax return comes in I'll be getting a new one.) (Camera, not leg. That would be weird. Crossing my fingers for Husband to agree to the Nikon d5000. But I digress.)

I know a lot of you (I like to pretend that there are a lot of you that read this) are wondering why I didn't just finish shaving later, like now instead of writing this. Answer, I write in spurts between dealing with Son who is almost a year old and driving me out of my gourd!

I'm thinking of getting my legs waxed as well next time I go in to have my esthetician abuse my lady bits. I never did before because lady bits are sensitive and legs can just have a razor scraped over them real quick but it might be worth it to save time. Plus, Autumn is so freaking awesome that you don't even care that she's ripping hair out of you body with hot wax!