Bravo!

The past week John has really figured out some things. He loves the new walker we bought for him. He likes to stroll around the house and today he even transitioned from walking behind the walker then moving from the walker to the couch. He can even cruise around the coffee table. Still not a big fan of crawling though....

As we were eating dinner today John figured out how to clap his hands. He got real excited about it....most likely because WE got real excited about it and encouraged him to keep clapping. He clapped all the way to bedtime....

Please, No Pictures....

Swimsuit season is just around the corner....are you ready?

Here we observe John pondering his adorable gut.....

Happy 11 Month Birthday, Little Man. We love you!!!!!!!! XOXOXOXO

Park Peculiararities

Since I've been jogging at the park with John the past month I've seen some strange characters on the track. You never know who'll surprise you. My first run in with crazy was the 2 slightly overweight women wearing sauna suits...

Now these suits don't look so hot (no pun intended) on average looking people but on two slightly plump women jogging? Comical. They kinda looked like a spaceship dropped them off in the park and they were running away from aliens.

Then there was Zeus jogging the other day. The old man with a mustache and flowing white scraggly beard that extended past his hairy shoulders. As he ran the beard billowed in the wind. Yes. I said "billowed". He got some looks.

Then today I saw a man in a green plaid kilt carrying a backpack around the track. I don't really know what to say about that....


A footnote regarding the finger:
It looks gnarly today. I've tried to keep it covered up with Neosporin and Band-Aids to avoid seeing it. And thank goodness I have a full bottle of Vicodin left over from John's birth. Those little pills keep the finger throb at bay so I can get some shut-eye.

Happy Bloody, Blunt Trauma Birthday!

I am blogging to you this evening with nine working digits. Why, you ask? Because one finger is heavily bandaged. At approximately 5:10 PM I was standing in the kitchen chopping onions for my Spanish rice recipe. I was all set to cook Kyle's birthday dinner. I think you know where this is headed....with one swift chop I SLICED OFF MY FINGER!!!!

Well, not the whole fingertip more like the side of my fingertip and finger nail. Shock. Horror. As I'm rinsing my finger desperately in the sink I'm a little panicked because my fingertip is no longer rounded, it is flat on one side and the blood keeps coming. Calling 911 seems too severe but I feel underqualified to deal with the situation at hand. I call Kyle.

Me: "I've chopped my finger off!!!! Come home!!!!!"
Kyle: "How bad is it"
Me: "It won't stop bleeding and it's flat on one side"
Kyle: "Go across the street to the neighbors' immediately. I'm coming home."
Me: "what if Kathleen doesn't know what to do either?! I'm calling 911"

Shortly after that, the fire truck arrives. I greet the firemen on the lawn with my bloody paper towel and a sheepish smile. Hi, it's me. I'm the dork that cut my finger with a kitchen knife.

The head fireman was very nice, I must say. He glanced around my entry and in a serious tone asked "Is the baby home?" I said he was asleep and he turned to his comrades and in an equally serious tone said "Turn the radios down, guys. Baby's asleep". Why, thank you, fire man. Thank you for respecting my home's tranquility.

At this point Kyle comes peeling in the driveway only to see the firemen joking and laughing and my finger in a Band-Aid. Obviously not an ER moment here. Hey, I panicked, so sue me. A little hydrogen peroxide and several Band-Aids later I'm ok, just in a little bit of pain and a throbbing fingertip. I suppose my "incident" didn't merit 4 fire men, 2 paramedics, 1 ambulance, 1 firetruck, & 4 concerned neighbors in our yard but...whatever...

So where does the blunt trauma come in? Earlier this morning I was checking on our fritzy water heater in the attic. I pulled down the attic access panel but I couldn't reach the other parts of the ladder that folded out. Well, when I finally did reach them the whole ladder came tumbling out onto my head and knocked me silly. I felt like a cartoon character that was just knocked over the head with a frying pan and seeing stars circle my head. Seriously? All this in one day? I told Kyle he owed me a big thank you for being the lightining rod that received all his bad luck on his birthday.

Happy Birthday, my dear Kyle. I love you to pieces and I'm glad you suffered neither blood nor blunt trauma on your birthday....however, be warned....my birthday is just around the corner ;)

I'll spare you the picture of my slanted, redesigned finger but here are the remnants of the nail and flesh that were happily mingling with the chopped onion....the little pieces in the center of the blade.

Looks like someone's gonna be buying one of these suckers soon....

The Bethancourts: Vegas Version

We are back from Las Vegas, Baby! Speaking of babies...this was our first trip without the little one. I was really anxious about leaving him and left my mom a 2-page instruction sheet and called her every 3.25 hours to check in and get the latest report. He survived, we survived and now we're a family again.

We spent Sunday checking out our hotel, the Wynn, walking through The Venetian, sunning by the pool, and eating a fab dinner at Tao restaurant. And that was pretty much all the fun Kyle had because he spent the next 2 days at a conference.

I spent Monday morning walking through the Venetian, Mirage, Treasure Island, Paris, & Bellagio hotels taking pictures (I'll post those later). The Bellagio was my absolute favorite of all the hotels I saw (which wasn't too many but that's my fave). Monday afternoon was spent at the pool working on my tan. Monday evening I dragged Kyle back to the Bellagio because he HAD to see it. We watched the fountains in front and then we walked through the Cesaer's Palace complex. All these hotels are just so huge and gigantic and the amount of luxury stores was mind boggling. I've just not seen so many stores of that caliber concentrated in one place. I vowed if I won any significant money on gambling I would buy myself a Marc Jacobs bag or Christian Louboutin shoes. However I am back in Houston with neither so that doesn't say much of my gambling success.

Speaking of gambling....a most tragic occurence when I found myself trying to kill 15 minutes and decided that I would play a few rounds of Blackjack until Kyle was done with his reception. I played a few rounds the day before with Kyle. I know the rules. I am hip. I can do this myself. I sit down and give the lady my $30 trying to look like a "pro"...(uh, what pro plays with $30, by the way??) She deals out the first card and I'm waiting for the second card. I give her a puzzled look and she said, "This is Casino War". I gasp incredulously, "WHAT?! I thought this was blackjack. I don't know how to play this. CEASE & DESIST! Give me my money back, theif!" (I didn't actually say that last sentence). So she guides me through the first round. Somehow I had to bet another $10 in order for her to put down the second card and then she took my chips. I felt like some one did a hand-waving jujitsu move in my face and then socked me in the gut. I grabbed my remaining $10 and stormed away furious. In essence, I just held a lighter to Andrew Jackson's mug. I could feel the lump in my throat coming....oh, no....don't cry you sissy! At that very moment Kyle calls my cell phone and the first words that come out are "I am SO MAD!" and the floodgates open. At this point Kyle probably thinks some terrible Las Vegas nightmare has befallen me. "What's wrong? Are you OK?" he asks desperately. "I just lost $20!!!!!! WAAAAA!!!! (blubber) I'm so retarded! (blubber) I didn't read the sign at the table (...blubber....blubber....)" Then Kyle laughs, most likely relieved I'm not in a car headed to jail or something. He comforted me and said it was OK but the gambling stopped right there for me.

I'm happy to say that on our way out of the hotel Kyle played a last round of blackjack and won back 50% of the money we started with so....there! I shake my fist at you, Wynn! My husband got you back for taking my $20!!!

Hog-Ridin' Crew

Didn't know the Bethancourts were the Harley-riding kind, ay? Believe it....

This weekend we had Kyle's cousin Jim and his wife Wendy over for lunch. We visited with them for a bit until a loud rumbling noise broke the still Saturday afternoon air. My sister in law, Christina, and her husband Chad had come by to join us for lunch. And, yes, they arrived via Harley. Chad took me for a spin and the ride just confirmed that I am indeed a scared-y cat without an ounce of daredevil-ness in me. I told Chad he was under strict orders not to harm me since I am a mother now and I have grave responsibilities to my child.

Speaking of my child......

...here John is waiting anxiously for someone to come home....(are those tiny blubbery legs just delicious, or what?!)

Here's John working on his laptop....just like Dad...very important business...and keeping an eye on Fox News in the background.