Poo in Blue

There are so many gosh darn cute things available for babies these days. Although we do our best to stay away from gimmicks, sometimes you can't resist. Like blue jean diapers. My Aunt Jill insisted, so who am I to say no to something that makes a cute little wittle tush even cuter?!

Problem being Landon is much more mobile these days and it is becoming increasingly difficult to catch him on camera without a blur effect. We tried our best. First we tried outside for the true Texas look, but I've bred Landon to be a house baby for now so he wasn't feeling it.

"Why is it so hot? Where is the carpet? Where is my piece of watermelon? Oy vey, I want to go back inside!!!"

Then we tried inside and it went a little better:

"No, seriously, do I get a piece of watermelon after this?"

Then all the accessories started coming off and we got down to basics:

"Still waiting for that watermelon treat."

Lastly, I thought I'd throw in a blurry shot of Landon in one of his favorite poses these days. We like to call it SpiderBaby. He so badly wants to stand up! Sorry, bud, hang in there.


Did I mention that Landon loves watermelon?

Damn You, Food Network

Saturday afternoon's line up on the Food Network channel was dedicated to fried foods. Of course this meant that Erik and I were inspired to have a fry fest the following day, especially after watching back-to-back "Throw Down with Bobby Flay" episodes in which the challenge was chicken fried steak.

The last time we tried making it was a few years ago and it didn't go so well. But lessons were learned and this time the oil was hotter, so everything turned out FANTASTIC!!!

I should have put the gravy on the peas, too.

- About a pound of round steak, tenderized (or just buy cube steak). It was easy since we live in South Texas where there is a section at the grocery store just for this cut of meat. Its always stocked on the weekends so us country folk can all get fat and stay fat together. That and ribs - the ribs section is always overflowing with selections, too.

- A cup of flour with a few shprinkles of garlic powder, pepper, cayenne, salt for the dry coat.

- A cup of buttermilk with 1 egg (plus salt and pepper) for the wet coat.

- Dredge in flour mixture, dredge in buttermilk mixture, dredge one more time in flour and then cook for a couple minutes each side in 360 degree oil.

Don't be too impressed: We cheated on the country gravy and bought a pre-made seasoning packet. Remember that whole thing about keeping ingredients simple and not dirtying extra pots and pans? McCormick helps me with that. Plus I have leftover gravy for some biscuits in the morning. The gluttony shall continue.

The fantastic hubby cleaned up everything after dinner. He can be quite the dish gnome himself at times. Aah, my hero! *Batting eyelashes.*

Grandma Visit is Over. Sniff, sniff.

Grandma Marian was here this past week helping out around Casa del Halvorson. Hallelujah, extra help is so so very nice. Unfortunately her help around the house only reinforces Erik's belief that if you leave a dirty bowl on the counter, a dish gnome automatically takes care of it for you. *Sigh*

Fortunately (or unfortunately) Landon was a huge fan of Grandma and wanted to wake her up every few hours during the night to tell her so. But it was just a phase and he's back to sleeping normal as of her departure. They got in plenty of snuggles, play time and stroller rides. Thankfully the heat broke for a couple days (meaning 95 degrees instead of 105 degrees) so they were able to take some early morning walks. She even helped out feeding Landon:

"Is she qualified to do this? Can I see her authorization paperwork?"

Grandma was down here to help us particularly while Landon is healing from minor surgery. It's been a bumpy road, but in the end the little guy's wee wee (that is the actual medical term for a boy's anatomy, no?) was circumcised this past week. I haven't written much about the minor ordeal since there is some understandable sensitivity from Erik's male perspective, but all is well that ends well.

It worked out that Erik was around a lot since his flights were at night. It also worked out that Marian got to see plenty of development leaps from Landon - crawling, standing, taking steps along the table and couches, etc. He is rapidly advancing every day. It is mucho scary.

Hanging out on the front porch with "Ox" - a recovery present from Aunt Schming

We always feel a bit bad about visitors coming down to Kingsville since there isn't much to do or show - even if there was, it's not fun to do any of it while an oppressive heat lingers right outside the door. Whidbey Island definitely has this place beat in the scenery department.

Anyhoodles, Grandma is already missed. Landon crawled to the guest room this morning - perhaps to see where she was hiding, but in the end had to amuse himself with a desk chair that looked ripe for bonking his head on.

Happy Fathers Day 2011

Today was a nice leisurely Sunday as we celebrated Fathers Day, although - as with any Sunday - it did go too fast. Landon gave Erik the Daddy Hugs book since he likes the author's other books so much (of Where is Baby's Belly Button fame). There were some other little gifts related to woodworking, Erik's new hobby and quintessential dad pastime.

The day was rounded out with some barbecue ribs and sweet potatoes. I prepared the slab Babs-style since my mom made the BEST ribs. My brother James and I are comparing notes on each batch as we tweak things to match her method as well as we can.

Yes, the $1 beer koozie was one of the most well-received gifts of the day.

Erik is a wonderful dad... all he has to do is smile and Landon lights up and goes from zero to sixty on the hyper giddy scale. He's got good dad arms; the kind that can hold Landon non-stop if baby needs to cuddle for a while. And we've been doling out some extra cuddles lately as Landon is learning his exploratory boundaries... lots of nose bumps and head bonks going on as he pulls himself up into mischief. We are coming up with creative solutions (ex: velcroing an acrylic front onto our TV cabinet... now adorned with a million mini fingerprint smudges) but you just have to let baby fall on his bum sometimes I guess. *Sigh*


Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful guys in our life. It's such a blessing to think about how happy we are in our little family unit, but we can't forget that pivotal people like our dads have shaped us to end up here.

What the What?! Part Two.

Well hallelujah, Landon is back in full spirits and is his good ol' slap happy self again. It'll take a while for the sores to go away, but he's looking better every day. Combined with his new babbling skills, he is getting extra kisses from us for being so stinkin' cute. He really likes to say "da da da da da" and hearing his little voice just melts every worry away.

I, on the other hand, am going downhill. After reading over and over that adults rarely get Hand Foot Mouth Disease (and if they do, its very mild), you could imagine my surprise as my throat started to feel like fire earlier this week, followed by chills ("Erik! Why is the AC blasting?" Erik gives quizzical look as I huddle under blankets) and then fever ("Erik! Can you turn the AC down to 60?" Erik gives quizzical look as I remove all clothing). This fun cycle goes on for a while.

"Umm, Mom? I'm not a doctor or anything, but uhhh, you don't look so good."

Now I don't remember the last time I had a fever mixed with the chills; maybe 15 years ago…? I was convinced I was on my deathbed and heavily weighing going to the ER. Erik - being reasonable from his non-feverish perspective - told me to take a couple Tylenol and wait until the morning. The fever finally broke but I didn't have the energy to drive to Corpus to go to the clinic the following day. That I'll do tomorrow. Just in time, too, as little uncomfortable bumps are popping up on my fingers and on the bottom creases of my toes.

Tonight's prayer: Please oh please oh please dear God of Blistery Discomfort, please be kind to me. If this goes in the direction of Landon's progression, the worst is yet to come. If you do need to go all crusty on me, I have a narcissistic request that you spare my face and a practical request that you spare my right hand. With love and devotion, Kate.

Landon's cute crusty foot in recovery: Day 8

What the What?!

So ironically after I posted Landon's 7 month photo on Facebook to an incoming slew of wonderful comments about how adorable our little guy is, the next day something was brewing. And it wasn't adorable. Or cute. Or even okay. It was straight up a little something I like to call "What the what?!"

"Gimme' a break; I can't be super cute all the time." *

Healthcare professionals officially call it Hand Foot Mouth Disease. Now I've never heard of this before, but I guess it is really common. That, however, does not ease the heartbreak of seeing my baby boy so uncomfortable and covered in crusty sores. It kind of look likes chicken pox.

This was the first time I ever felt Landon with a fever. Picking him up from his crib and realizing he was super warm was the first moment of panic. His head turning in disgust and crying at my attempts to feed him his favorite foods was the second moment of panic. The lethargy - another notch. By late afternoon - boiling blisters on his bum. The next day - more blisters popping up on his (you guessed it!) hand, feet and mouth. What an aptly named virus.

A couple of deep breaths, a lot of soothing (only a mom would snuggle a crustball this much) and the ever prominent mantra of "This, too, shall pass" will bring us through the next few days as this fades out on its own.

* Not a great photo, but I am sparing the viewing audience the ones I have that were close up and with flash. [enter: involuntary shiver]

7 Months

"I'm 7 months old!!! Woohoo!!!"

Current Likes:
- Giving razzberries and crawling up mommy and daddy
- Carrots, squash, sweet potatoes
- The "Where is Baby's Belly Button?" and "Open the Barn Door" books
- Animal sounds
- Learning to increase crawl speed

Current Dislikes:
- Mom trying to pick boogies from his nose
- Dad playing on iPad and iPhone (also known as iDad mode)