Where in the World?

Just for kicks and giggles, I added a new gadget to my blog. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you'll see a map of the world. When someone visits my blog, the map will indicate his or her general location with a pink dot (I chose pink because I'm a girl, despite my son's occasional claims to the contrary). If said visitor is currently online, the dot will flash. But please don't worry. This map does not tell me who visited from each location, how many times you visited, how long you stayed, your address, phone number, political affiliation, annual income, weight, height, favorite reality TV shows, or whether you passed gas in the last fifteen minutes. You have to pay extra for all that stuff, and I'm cheap. So, I hope you don't feel as though your privacy/anonymity is violated too much. After all, that's what Facebook is for. Thanks for stopping by, fellow Earthling!

Busy Bee

Well, it seems as though Evan has inherited my compulsion to keep busy by moving objects around for no logical reason or purpose. He spent about ten minutes this morning taking four granola bars in and out of their box. Enjoy. But please ignore my messy kitchen floor. And the boo boo on Evan's face.

Goodbye, my friend

I like weird stuff. Do you like weird stuff? I mean, sure, there are things almost all of us like. Christmas. Cookies. Betty White. But then there are things that not necessarily everyone likes. But I do. Things like (in no particular order) prunes, pirates, unintentionally funny bad English grammar, rain, mushy cereal, TV shows about ghosts (this could be a post in itself...probably will someday), my baby's jammies with the feet that look like dog heads, addressing Christmas cards, and clipping coupons (even if I forget to use them). And up until today, included in the list was GemsTV. About a year-and-a-half ago, I discovered GemsTV in the middle of the night while suffering from pregnancy-induced insomnia. It's one of those home shopping channels that sells all sorts of pretty jewelry--all the livelong day. I don't know why, because I don't purchase jewelry all that often, but I instantly found this channel comforting, entertaining, and just a little bit addicting. There was just something about seeing one sparkly bauble after another come on the screen that had me mesmerized, at least for a few minutes at a time. Oh, one weird thing? I never ordered anything. Well, at least, not until today. For whatever reason, today was the last day GemsTV was on the air. They had a big "going out in style" sale, and ::poof:: all the pretty baubles were gone. I'm sure Brendan was relieved that I decided to order a simple silver necklace rather than those tanzanite and diamond rings that always had me drooling. I guess I just wanted to say "thank you" to GemsTV for being a guilty pleasure for me these last couple of years. Er...um...and I guess I kind of wanted to take advantage of their clearance prices and treat myself to something shiny. I no longer suffer from insomnia. Having a baby wake you up several times a night will do that. But if I ever do find myself wide awake at 2:00 a.m. without a child to care for, it will be with a heavy heart that I watch that shampoo infomercial with Melissa Gilbert instead.

Sweet Spring

I think every year I forget how much I love spring until it's actually here. If every month could be like March and April, I'd be as happy as Larry. The craziness of the holidays are behind us, the oppressive heat of the summer is a distant memory, and our local hills are alive with lush green grasses and wildflowers, rather than the ugly, dry kindling of summer and fall.

In addition, there are flowers like this in our backyard...


Easter eggs...


For the first time, t-ball...


And these fellas walking down the street in front of our house...


Summer, please take the scenic route. No need to rush. Spring is welcomed to stay as long as she wants.

That's One Small Step for a Baby...

...one giant leap for the Conrad Family! I'm going to let the video speak for itself!




Evan just started walking (as in two steps or more) on Tuesday. He takes a couple more each day! No foolin'! :)