cobwebs.

every single time i hear the word, "cobwebs", i think of a movie called "drop dead fred". if you haven't seen it, you should. it's pretty funny. i watched it as a kid. spencer and i loved it. there was a pretty inappropriate part regarding cobwebs...and it's always stuck with me. probably because it was inappropriate. isn't that how it happens with kids?

not to get off subject (oh heck, who am i kidding...i LIVE off subject)...but there was this one time my mom recorded "alice in wonderland" for us. yes. you all know the movie/story/book. well, we had satellite. and illegal one if i remember correctly. some type of unscrambler or something.

this of course meant that we got pretty much EVERY channel. the good, the bad and the ugly. well, apparently, when mom had set the recorder, she didn't realize that the channel she was recording from wasn't disney.

nope. it was the spice channel. if you're familiar with this...shame on you. :) just kidding.

so, fast forward to when she replays it for us.

i remember it like it was yesterday. me and spencer. we were young. i'd say 9 and 6 maybe. sitting on the big oriental rug in the living room. right smack dab in front of the tv.

all of a sudden, alice wasn't wearing any clothes. and the chesire cat was doing weird things. to alice.

you get the picture.

i remember thinking, "what.in.the.world.?!". and of course, spencer...being spencer. said something like, "uh..mom. what is this about!?".

my mother doesn't run. she can't. i take after her.

but that day...my mom ran like the house was on fire. she ran screaming in from the kitchen. waving her arms like a crazy person. screaming for us to "look away! look away!".

of course this only made us want to watch more. this peaked our interest.

i'll never forget it. it's pretty funny now...looking back on it.

anyway...cobwebs. my head is full of them. so here is what is on my mind. sorry for this rather boring post...but ten years from now, i'll look back and wonder what we were doing.

i love where we live. yes, it's far out. but it's smack dab in the country. from our front porch, you can see mountains. but not a single other house. it's wonderful. we finally have back porch furniture and i sit out there every day and read. it's heaven on earth. pratt could spend his entire day outside.

i worry about pratt now more than ever. i guess because he's moving around so well. i found him with a piece of bark in his mouth yesterday. this DID NOT help my neuroses. i've decided to vaccum every single day. i mean, what other choice do i have? and the rainbow forces me to WANT to do it every day because of the crap i get out of my one and only rug in this house. i keep telling myself that i love ace and yoda, but all the hair makes it hard to remember sometimes. i'm just hoping that pratt will grow up with a love for animals. and this will make it all worthwhile someday.

i've somewhat cured my own adhd. i didn't really ever have it. but i sort of did. i would walk away from something in the middle of it. without finishing. i've gotten better about this. i've had to. because i now understand that moms don't have more time. it's just that we are able to do more in that time. i just got this. 8 months later...i'm on it. i'm a slow learner.

pratt is apparently following the 42 day challenge as well. he is super skinny. and won't gain weight. i weigh him daily. he's growing like a weed, and i'd like to believe that is where the food is going. it's making him taller. but not wider.

for the first time since i had him, i have more than 2 pair of pants that fit me! yay hannah! thanks to my sister and mom for my mothers day gift...and clint for allowing me to spend whatever i need on new clothes. i'm up to five (and this is a HUGE number for me) pairs of pants that fit comfortably....and that i love to wear. i have others...but these are my favorites. i hate spending money on myself. but i've realized that having clothes that fit me...well, it's priceless. it really is. but if any of you are still wanting to turn me into clinton and stacy...bring it on. i'll happily wear mom jeans just to get them to my house!

i've been eating lots of fruit lately. with poppy seed dressing. reminds me of my childhood. i'm going to make chicken salad today. and maybe some muffins or something. i'm getting excited about summer. and what it means to us.

we joined a church. and have started attending a sunday school class. it's all really new. and makes me miss maumelle even more. but i know it will get better. growing up is hard to do.

oh, pratt has now eaten (and liked) cucumbers and strawberries. he'll only eat a few bites of each...but it's better than nothing. it's like you have to get him at exactly the right time. or he's totally not interested. i don't understand it. all in time, i guess.

off to get ready. i think we will head to the park today. it's so pretty outside. a week of pretty. we've needed it.

love to you all.

pratt's first...

trip to see baby parker. of course, i forgot my camera. but sarah and zane were there. and sarah is good about her camera. she got a picture of pratt and zane. sorry about being a "grabber" zane. we're working on manners!



and...his first snowcone. banana to be exact. we got worried because he liked it so much. i'm pretty sure he probably already has a cavity. we'll do shaved ice only next time. nothing says "summertime" like snowcones.



ps. kris allen was just voted american idol. I AM SOOOOOO pumped! i'm shaking all over. just wanted to document this. way to go sweet kris allen!

a few pictures.

while i know these are pretty random pictures, i think one day pratt will appreciate them. one of my favorite things to do is go through old pictures. not the posed pictures from my childhood. but the random ones. the ones where everyone looks "real".

so here are some "real" pictures.

a little bit of yoga. maybe some downward facing dog? and next, he'll grab those weights and do some curls. take that tony horton.



a pitiful, sad face.



watching "intervention". one of our favorites. even though the entire time we watch it, dad says, "i can't take it anymore...this is so depresssing." pratt and i love it!



chewing dad's finger off. he literally chomped down on it last night. like an alligator. like, leaned over and bit clint's finger. hard.



life in pictures. there is really nothing better.

enjoy your days.

my little man.

i think nana gave pratt this polo a while back. if memory serves, she gave it to him at christmas.

it's blue and white striped. and has little buttons to hold his collar down. very much a "big boy" shirt. because the weather was cool this weekend, we put it on him.

and when i got done crying (because he looked like such a big kid or just because i'm craaaa.zae.)...we took some pictures. i mean, seriously. is he the cutest kid or what?

i know, i know...i'm his mom. of course, i think that. :)

dear pratt.

dear pratt,

when you turn 45 and get married...remember what i'm about to tell you. or maybe you should use this when you're 40 and looking (for the first time) for the right girl.

the other night, your daddy and i were in the bed. we were just laying really close together talking. i was asking "girl questions". i love these. i know your daddy hates them. but i love them. (you'll understand one day what these are. things like, "tell me your favorite thing about me." etc.)

i asked dad if he ever wondered about being married to me. if he ever wished he were married to someone different. he said, "no, of course not."

and then he went on to say, "i think that pratt is proof that me and you are supposed to be together. that we were meant for each other."

i kept repeating his exact words over and over again in my head. i didn't want to ruin the moment and grab a pen and piece of paper from the nightstand...so i just kept saying it over and over and over again. hoping that i wouldn't forget.

it was perfect. exactly why i was asking those silly "girl questions" in the first place.

as you get older, and you get mad at us. for not letting you take the car out at night. or not letting you have a cell phone when you're 10. please remember that we love you.

and that we are always doing the best we can. i can promise you that. i can promise that we will always try to do what's right for you.

we may fail.

no...we will fail.

but we will always make every single decision about you..concerning you...with love. lots and lots of love.

xoxo, mom.

eight whole months.

my baby turned eight months old yesterday. eight months. that's over 200 days.

i have no idea where the days have gone. oh, to turn back time. i'd even relive those hard, difficult, dark three months. just to keep him little. small. needy. not quite so independent.

i'm still making his foods. i buy organic when i can. applesauce and prunes come from gerber. other than that, he likes cauliflower, edamame, aparagus, peaches, blueberries, blackberries, bananas, sweet potatoes, butternut squash. and even pineapple and watermelon. but he's only chewed on it. oh, and gerber yogurt bites. yum.o. the veggie of the week is spinach. we're going to see how he likes it.

he is taking between 6 and 8 ounces every 3 to 4 hours. he sleeps from 8 to 7. approximately. some nights are different. he still takes an afternoon nap between 3 and 5. it's just easier that way. otherwise, he is wayyyy too fussy at dinner.

he can help us, help him, get ready. he pulls his arms out of the sleeves and can put them in the sleeves. but he has to feel like helping. sometimes (most times) he would just rather try to roll over on his belly as opposed to having his diaper changed. but he still loves to have lotion rubbed on him. he squeals and closes his eyes and grits his teeth with excitement. it's pretty cute.

he loves to sit in his highchair and watch us eat dinner. he loves to eat necklaces. loves to read books early in the morning. loves to watch the very lonely firefly finally find his other firefly friends as they all light up. loves to play patty cake. his favorite part is when you "throw them in the pan". he laughs hysterically.

he is his fathers child in that he would prefer to spend all day outside. or at least in a place he's never been. he loves the bright lights of a grocery store. loves to watch people in restaurants.

he is getting much better about letting us rock him to sleep. or just lay with him to sleep. he still sucks on his two middle fingers when he's a. hungry or b. tired.

he naps every two hours. approximately.

he will be crawling within a few weeks, i think. he's up on his hands and knees. rocking back and forth. he just can't seem to figure out how he's supposed to move once he gets there. he sits up all by himself remarkably well.

he mumbles, "mamamama", "dada" and "kit" (as in kitty). but i'm not silly enough to think he knows what he is saying. it's all just mocking what we do. and those are the things we most frequently say to him. well, except for the "kit" part. he pretty much called the cat out the other day. and he recognized the one in "the very lonely firefly".

however...i must say this. i think we underestimate what kids know and what they understand. just because he can't communicate with words doesn't mean that he doesn't understand. i didn't realize that until recently. i guess it takes having your own child to realize that. it's sad, really. i mean, i know he has so much to say...and yet, he just can't get it out with words. i guess that's all the more reason to continue signing to him.

he still sleeps to lullabies. and wakes with a smile on his face. he loves to be held while you make his bottle.

he likes to help get his arms out of the carseat. not so much help put them in it. if he could, he would burn his carseat. he hates it that much.

he LOVES water. and spends his entire bathtime, trying to grab the stream of running water. i tried to explain the difference between solids and liquids to him the other night...but i'm not convinced he understood. we're going to teach him to swim this summer at the lake. the condo has a pool. so we'll try there.

he loves his daddy. and begins to squeal with delight when he sees him.

my most favorite thing he is doing right now is this. when you hold him in your lap, periodically, he will bend his little head back, with those big eyes of his...and look right directly into your eyes. and he'll smile. then he will bend his head forward again. ten seconds will pass, and he'll do it again. bend back and look at you.

tears come to my eyes every single time he does it.

he is 30 inches long which is off the chart. weird, yes. bizarre, yes. is it possible that we got the wrong kid at the hospital? yes. i mean, we're not tall. and i don't know where this is coming from. one day it just has to catch up with him. he almost weights 18 pounds. skinny little fella.

he is the light of my life. and as poptart said, he is perfect. and i'm never allowed to complain about him.

well, poptart. just wait until he's a few years older. and bad. and throwing things. objects...and fits. then you can tell me that he's perfect :)

here are his eight month pictures.





and here are a few pictures i got outside.

this is his "i'm an 85 year old man and i'm fake laughing" face.



just checking things out in the backyard.

these crocs taste like blueberries, mom.

his first time to eat dirt and pinestraw. total boy. total.total.boy.

waking a sleeping baby.

last night, clint had a friend over. our friend from maumelle, derek, drove out to see us. the initial plan was going fishing or gigging. but because the water is up so high, that was not really possible. well, i don't think it was. but i'm not really sure what they did. i guess they were just "boys" out on the river. i know they had fun. i can't wait for the day that clint and pratt can just go out in the boat.

well, by the time they got back...around 8, pratt was fast asleep. we had dinner. watched sweet kris allen soar to the finals on ai, and then derek headed home.

around 930, clint said, "i think i'm gonna wake up pratt. is that okay?"

had this question been asked of me seven months ago...when sleep was worth more than chocolate around here...i would have screamed like jack does on "will and grace". that high pitched...can't make sense of what you're saying...fast talk...scream.

but because pratt is such a good sleeper, i said, "sure."

clint said, "you don't think it will mess up his schedule?"

i'm telling you...i wanted to make out with him in the kitchen. i mean, it was like all i worked so hard for...he got it. he appreciated it. all the reading. all the worry. all of it.

so, we woke him up.

and let me just say this. he is TOTALLY clint's child. he never smiled. he was in a daze the entire 20 minutes we attempted to talk/play/love on him. he was not having it.

so once clint got comfy on the couch, pratt fell fast asleep. again.