Legos and Lollies

Coop and Dada are building blocks in the bathroom. It's the sweetest sound on earth. They are giggling and discussing tunnel architecture and revving matchbox car engines.

I'm knocked out with bronchitis and a double ear infection to boot. Sick. Sick. Sick.

Today I was wrestling a cranky toddler at immediate care as he emptied pantyliners and lip gloss out of my purse onto the floor, just sure I was getting punked (parental translation: getting "punked" is like a modern day Candid Camera). Worst part, I have no voice. How is a Mama to tell her little love and her big love that she loves them with no voice? How is she to tell her little love to climb down from the middle of the kitchen table or to kindly put the plunger back in the closet? How is she to sing "Rain Rain, Go-Gah Way at bedtime? Or how is she to offer unnecessary commentary during American Idol? The answer? She's not.

Thank heavens Chris came home tonight. Just in time for a lolly in the bathtub.

Oh how I love my two sweet boys!

No Use Cryin' Over Spilled Milk

Who knew you could actually take for granted that your car smells normal?

I discovered this truth this past week. Mister Cooper drinks his "chachi mih" (translated: chocolate milk) and eats his "panies" (pancakes) on the way to Ms. Staci's house every morning. Yea, it's a terrible shame. We don't get to sit down together around the breakfast table four days a week. Instead we fly around the kitchen warming up microwavable pancakes, sloshing chocolate milk about. It's glorious in it's own on-the-go kinda way.

So. Coop drank his chachi mih on Monday. Monday turned to Tuesday. Tuesday turned to Wednesday. And before you know it it was Friday morning and I was driving to work (sans Coopie 'cause he was having him a daddy day), and out of nowhere a dead animal nestled itself somewhere in my car. Mysteries of mysteries. I dry heaved (hove? jk.) all the way to work. I rolled down the windows and contemplated opening the trunk. I applied peach scented hand sanitizer fifteen times and batted my hands around to mask the smell.

I screeched in the parking lot of work with my head clear out the winda and threw it in park. I spent all of 3 minutes scouring the car for the dead squirrel or spider monkey. There it was.

In the floorboard of the backseat.

Mister Cooper's chachi mih cup. FROM MONDAY. Slammed up against the door. Lid popped off. Milk ehhverywhere.

Oh my gracious. It's been three days. We have scrubbed and foamed and vinegared and baking soda-ed. We have googled horror stories of people trading their cars in after such nonsense. Heavens to Betsy. It. Is. Foul.

Wanna carpool with me this week? ;)

Out of the clear blue sky we got hit with an "unresolved matter" back from the days of kudzu this week. I have tried to resolve it three times now but for some insano reason, every single time I try to make a phone all about it, I end up a blubbering mess. It's not just the ridiculous left over financial reminder, it's really not. It's just that dealing with it brings up all that hubs fought through last year. It brings ugly tears just thinking about it, but within seconds, my tears turn to absolute JOY for what God has seen us through. I know the doctor's office thinks I am mentally unstable. I finally called Friday and spoke in a British accent and reported that I was calling on behalf of the Davis family. They couldn't take my payment info quick enough. Giggles.

Speaking of giggles, I am in full party planning mode for Coop's second birthday party. SECOND. Seeeeeeeehcond. Gesh. I'm having ridiculous amounts of fun thinking of ways to shower our little man with lots of love.

Think mustaches and bow ties and photo-opt props and little manwhiches and pretzel rod cigars. Ridiculous, and so much fun, no?

It's a good distraction these days from the oober hard time we are having on the baby front. We are so incredibly enamoured with Coop. We love him upside down and inside out. We would go to the ends of the earth for him. He has given us the best gift in all the world. He has allowed us to become parents. And we LOVE it. We LOVE him. And the ache in our hearts for another little Davis baby is just indescribable.

God's sovereignty in it all is so abundantly clear to us. Doesn't change the fact that I cry and cry and cry and we pray and pray and pray every single month. God has answered so many ginormous prayers for us over the past year. He gave Chris life. A second chance. He brought us insurmountable joy through the birth of Cooper. He has graced us with His strength and comfort and amazing peace. He is teaching us something these days. And we sure don't want to miss it.

I fell asleep last night praying my heart out about it. I prayed for God to teach me how to pray about it. You see, this fertility business has me stumped. That's how I know it's exactly where we're meant to be. It is one of the absolute most difficult things to "give up". You take this med on this day and this med on that day. You chart. You pee on sticks. You go for tests. It makes it super duper hard to a) "forget" about it and b) pretend that you have absolutely no role in it. We know that God will provide. That's not the question. We know that we get to have fun in the process. That's not the problem. It's just this bizarre journey that is teaching us SO much about our faith and about how big our God is and how small we are.

My friend Natalie blogged a few months ago about how thankful she is for her experience with infertility. I'm gonna have to second her. Without it, we wouldn't be drawn to Him. We wouldn't realize the amazing grace that comes through His blessings, no matter how big or small. We wouldn't be on our knees. Our little miracle to-be wouldn't be half as prayed for or half as waited on. In a way, I almost feel honored. I feel humbled. God's not through showing us His power, and that is a mighty beautiful place to be.

Bang! Bang!

Ok. So I thought the Frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity's had changed my life (and oh, it did), but tonight I discovered something that absolutely knocked my socks off. Get ready. Bang Bang shrimp. That you make at home. That's right at home. For less than ten bucks and in under ten minutes.

I know. I was skeptical too. I really was. But when I went to pick Coop up from his drop in class at Crimson Academy (cannot say enough incredible things about this place) and found him in the corner, on the floor, laying face down making "carpet/snow angels", singing "night night night night" while everyone else sat in circle time eating their snacks, I knew it was time to have a low key stay at home kind of afternoon. (Poor baby, Dada's out of town (STILL), Mama's been gone, he started a new weekday gig, and now a Wednesday big boy school gig too...he's absolutely EXHAUSTED and completely out of whack. In a throw the remote at your head and crash his car into the wall kind of way).

Lori told me about this Bang Bang recipe last week and I tucked the sticky note in the side pocket of the diaper bag for a rainy day. We stopped by her house today to give her and Coop's girlfriend Landree hugs and Great American Cookies and Lori reminded me of the shrimp.

I pulled the recipe out tonight, took Coop for a drive in the Kroger neon green Car-Buggy, and am SO GLAD I did.

Holy yummy.

I am a die-hard Bonefish fan. If you know me, you know this. We even had our wedding rehearsal dinner there. They are phenomenal. We go for $5 Bang Bang Wednesdays every week in the summer. Their House salad (with side of bleu cheese crumbles) is heaven on a chilled plate. Love them, love them, love them.

Still, it was a stay home in ugly pajama pants kind of night, remember? So we scooped up the ingredients...all THREE of them and headed home. Coop built with legos while we talked about notsomuch laying on the floor making carpet angels next week at big boy school and I whipped up these little babies in less than ten minutes.

Here's the run down:

Get yourself 1 box of frozen popcorn shrimp (I know, I know, but believe me, you won't regret it, I promise), a bottle of Kraft's Hot and Spicy Mayo, and a bottle of Franks Red Hot Sweet Chili sauce.

Go home and pan fry the shrimp on the stove top (I used a little olive oil to help get the shrimpettes golden brown and crispy). Mix 1/2 cup of the Hot and Spicy Mayo with 1/2 cup of the Sweet Chili sauce and toss the shrimp in it. You could skip the whole "tossing" part and dip them or drink the sauce with a bendy straw too, whatever suites your fancy.

I'm saying. [Mom, are you reading this????] This dish will change your life. Me and my ugly pajama pants ate one too many before building more legos, sliding down the bus slide 15 times, and soaking in the tub while rocking out to Chris Brown and Justin Bieber for 45 minutes.

Yes, he is wearing Santa Suit jammies. Yes, it is January. Psych! (Did I just say 'psych'? Must get sleep.)We're a total mess around here, but not that much of one. This pic's old but it made me smile today, so I thought I'd share it.

We ended the night Facetiming with Chris. Coop decided he wanted to show Daddy how he wrestles with me while he is away. Camera rolling. He did a spin move, spider monkey crawled his way on top of my head and promptly tooted in my face.

What. are. we. going. to. do. with. this. lovemuffin?? Heaven help me, being his Mama is the absolute best thing that has ever ever happened to me. Toots and all.

Home Sweet Home

Welp, one more frozen hot chocolate (no shame) followed by a looong flight home and a disappointing drive through a big fat closed-Varsity (I got off the plane and all I could think of was a slaw dog, go figure), and this Vegas Mama is HOME SWEET HOME!

I couldn't wait to get my hands on our little Pistol Britches! Our convo on the way home went something like this:

Me: "I missed you so much baby! Did you have oh so much fun??"
Coop: "Poppy toot".
Me: "Oh Poppy tooted?"
Coop: "Ball go night night".
Me: "So Poppy tooted and your ball went night night?"
Coop: "More sweet tea mama?"
Me: "Maybe in a little while Coopie. So tell me, what did you do? What did you see? What did you eat?"
Coop: "Eat cookie?"
Me: "You ate cookies?"
Coop: "Tank you Mimi. Ollie go pee pee. -Breaks into song- Do Lord, oh Do Lord..."

Is it possible to love a little person so much it hurts? I think so! Now to survive the looooong days ahead until Daddy gets to come home. "Daddy eat Mellow Mushroom on airplane Mama?". Love.

PS. Emily had her baby!! Welcome Sweet Baby Rylan! Oh my word, what a cutie pie!!

Doll. Baby. Congrats Bell Family!!

These Boots Were Made For Walkin'

Shoo-wee. I think I walked approximately 500 miles today (and I would walk 500 more, da-da-da-da-da-da-dumdididideedidoo).

This picture makes me smile. It's outside the Forum Shops at Caesar's, where I entertained myself for HOURS today while Chris worked. We swung by as we traipsed about the Vegas Strip late tonight. Who knew it was so fancy on the outside?

There's a whole lotta fountains here in Vegas. Coop would sure love them.

There's a whole lotta sparkle, glitz, and glam too.

Take this enormous Disco Horse in the lobby of the Venetian, for example. Glitz! Glam!

And a trip to Vegas wouldn't be complete without a Gondola ride through the canals casino/mall.

Love this man so much! Most especially because watched the Miss America Show with me and helped me recover from what happened when I tried to take a "spa bath" in the hotel room.

Ahem. They ain't kiddin. Front row seats to my very own Bellagio Water Show in the hotel bathroom. This trip just keeps getting better and better :) 

Viva Las Vegas!

I should clarify. The whole "faux cigs" and "table top dancing" did not actually happen last nght. The boots did actually happen, and they were oh so fun, I have to admit.

It's just Jill and I have this crazy habit of texting each other most inappropriate and outlandish things just to make each other giggle. I don't need an intervention or a week in rehab. Truly, promise. 

Side note: there were actually half nekkid girls in cages in our lobby. I shudder.

What we did do last night was sip frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity's under these adorable lights:

Oh my gracious. Let's talk about this "Frozen Hot Chocolate" business. De. Lish. It was so yummy and so romantic. Think of a chocolate milkshake, a mug of hot chocolate, and a Frosty from Wendy's all wrapped up into one. Topped with dark chocolate shavings. Yes, it was that good!

We browsed the shops at the hotel and contemplated whether or not Coopie needs a tiny terry cloth robe or suit of armor. I have seen 128 men wearing aviator sunglasses and it still hasn't gotten old. Lots of lycra, sparkle heels, and also 80 year old women on scooters. It's glorious. 

Oh, and I played the penny slots. Lost two dollars. That was enough gamblin' for me. Cha-Ching!

Hubs is working super hard, so today brought tons of shopping, people watching, and Gigi's Cupcakes (my first ever)!

Oh my gracious! This place is hilarious. Can't wait to see what we get into tonight!

Oh. My. Stars.

I just typed the following text to my friend Jill:

"I saw half naked girls dancing in cages last night in hotel lobby. Don't worry, between my knee high boots and faux cigs, they were actually intimidated by me. Turns out they won't let muffin tops dance on tables, no matter how stellar your boots are."

One problem. When I went to hit "send", somehow it went to my mother in law instead of my friend Jill. 

Totally. Dying. 

Totally.

Oh, and totally having ridiculous amounts of (not so scandalous) fun!