Omelet Italiano

As one who only knows her way around a kitchen by proxy, I am quite pleased with myself for creating a fabulous breakfast this morning. While Bradley dined on organic banana and pear juice, I created what I am calling an Italian Omelet. I sauteed some onions, shredded a few fresh basil leaves, diced some tomato, and threw in a generous helping of mozzarella cheese to glue it all together, and it was, as Rachel Ray would say, YUM-OH!

I was going to add some meat to the mix, but the veggie combo seemed like enough this morning, although I suppose if you wanted to crank it up a notch, ala Emeril, you could add pancetta and make it super Italian, whereas I was going to use plain old deli ham. My only other complaint was that the mozzarella cheese was a little too mild to cover all of the "eggy" taste of the omelet, so I would try a bolder flavored cheese next time to balance everything out. Again, I'm grabbing at straws here, and am by no means the cooking experts my sister and mom are, but I would suggest maybe asiago cheese? I'm up for other opinions though.

Anywho, you can tell I've been watching a lot of the Food Network lately! Every now and then I get a hankering for a good omelet, and having just purchased fresh basil for another recipe, I figured I would innovate a new way to use the herb since I rarely use all of a fresh herb before it goes bad. Look at me being all thinky. So don't be jealous. I may have spiders, but I also have fabulous breakfasts.

Lexington, spiders, and roses, oh my!

Enough with the drama... what happened, happened, and I'm ready to move on.

I miss Lexington so much, and am glad to have made the trip although it was done and over far too quickly. I tried to purchase beer on our way up that morning at a gas station to bring to the BYOB Keeneland tailgate, and was told, "you're in a dry county, hun, you'll have to go 30 or 40 miles up the road to buy alcohol." Right. Dry counties in Kentucky- I had completely forgotten those existed!

The weather was great for Keeneland. In fact, I got more sun that Saturday in Kentucky than I have the whole time I've been in Florida this year! It happened to be the Delta Zeta Alumni tailgate that day, so I was able to see many of my sorority sisters that I'd lost touch with over the years (besides the occasional Facebook stalking to see what they are up to).

There was even an unexpected guest to our tailgate tent that day... a poor drunk fraternity guy who, no joke, had his name engraved on a brass plate on his belt... R.M. Donahue. (He must be a Farmhouse, one person said) The kid was so hammered he didn't talk, but stumbled around and slumped over on our cooler while several of us tried to find the people he was with, and kept making guesses at his name: "Ryan? Richard? What's your name? Do you have your wallet on you? Where are your friends?" Meanwhile, poor drunk Mr. Donahue had the awful sense enough to try and grope the ladies who were trying to help him before his friends discovered his whereabouts several minutes later.

Brian and I also got to run over to where Katie (of Beth & Katie, aka "the twins") was tailgating and hang out with her for a little bit. She looked fantastic and it was great to see her. Plus that Bourbon slush they had there was delish! Ellen met us inside the gates at Keeneland, and the place was such a madhouse that the three of us kept getting separated, and we spent our whole time at the races fighting crowds. I barely saw a horse, much less saw them race. I placed a bet on 2 races, having no clue about the odds, so I went with the "red horse" and the "pink horse" (naturally) and lost them both.

After enjoying a much too brief visit to Keeneland, it was time to head over to the church for Sarah and Braden's wedding. The bride looked amazing as usual, and the reception was a blast. Anyone who knows Sarah Scott knows that her wedding reception was going to be one big dance party. I didn't get any pictures with Sarah with my camera, but here's a shot at the end of the night with Lana, Rhonda, and the hydrangea!

Where was Bradley during all this you may ask? He spent the day/night with Grandma and Grandpa B in Tennessee. They loved having him there, and from what I understand, he went for a wagon ride, sat outside on the swing, and had a very eventful trip to Target where he racked up some new toys and clothes.

Bradley was an angel on the car ride home. I know these trips are going to be more difficult as he approaches the toddler years, but so far the 7 hour trip has been a breeze.
In other Bradley news, today was a first. He found his way over to the dogfood bowl and helped himself. I caught him mid bite and scraped the brown kibble from his mouth and wiped it out with a washcloth, but the damage had already been done. I guess I should just be glad he's taking the initiative to self-feed!

On the domestic front, I saw and smashed one of the biggest spiders I have ever seen in my backyard yesterday. I'm going to pretend he was living all by his lonesome and there are no more of him in the world. Let's hope. This picture is blurry but I'm grotesquely fascinated with this 8 legged monster. And besides, I'm creeped out by seeing it so you should be too.

And finally, to conclude: something pretty to look at. My pink rose bush is all in bloom again, so I cut some of the flowers and arranged them in bud vases on my dining room table. Even though they are shedding their petals already, they make me happy just looking at them. And this is to make up for the ugly spider picture so you'll keep reading my blog.

Bradley's First Easter

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Crawly McCrawlerson

Guess what?! The day I never thought would arrive has finally come (insert witty outlandish daydream here)... no, not that! Bradley is finally crawling!! Finally, at age 10 months and 3 days. And since I'm not going to be one of those obnoxious moms on Babycenter who announces to total strangers that her DS/DD is crawling (That's dear son or dear daughter. Get with the lingo), I'm announcing it to YOU! Yes you, friends and family, and silent lurkers alike.

I am one proud mama today. Seriously. Who knew that I would be brimming with pride over my son traversing two feet on his hands and knees? If I am this bubbling with pride over this, just wait until he wins the Heisman trophy!!

Bradley at the beach

It's been cool here lately, but this past weekend we were able to take advantage of the nice weather and hit the beach- well, the fake beach anyways- but we had a few hours of sun and sand nonetheless!
Bradley loved the sand, and was content to sit and play in the shade. I took him to the water's edge and put his toes in, and Brian got his wish of finally getting a picture of him and Bradley on the jet ski.

10 month tidbits

Today Bradley is 10 months old. To celebrate the occasion you can hop over to YouTube and check out the new channel devoted to all things Bradley, complete with a video created today to commemorate his 10 month b-day. Yep, we've gone and created an account to post all his videos. Before you know it, clips of him bouncing and spitting up will be going viral. This is the channel the world has waited for.... or at least our family anyways.

No doctor's appointment this month, so no official measurements, but here are a few 10 month tidbits:

• Eating 3 meals of solid foods a day (fruits, veggies, & oatmeal) and still nursing
• Eliminated a nighttime feeding on his own, so he sleeps for 8 hours, eats, then sleeps for another 4
• Still scooting backwards and getting stuck under furniture constantly
• Always wants to play standing up, and tries to pull up on everything
• Still has just the 6 teeth (4 on top, 2 on bottom)
• LOVES Gerber Puffs to self-feed- I use them as a distraction while I get his real food ready, or in between bites so we get to eat our dinner too. I've heard one mom refer to them as baby crack, and I'd have to agree. Bradley knows what the Puffs can looks like, and lights up and laughs when I ask him if he wants some.

Speaking of the Puffs, I sing "Puff Puff baby" to Bradley to the tune of "Ice Ice Baby," which he loves. That makes me the Puff Mama, and Brian the Puff Daddy, or Diddy for short.

Presently pontificating

Most of the blogs these days are about Bradley... but this one's for me.

I am a present. I don't know if you know that about me, but I am. This was a keen observation made by my friend Stephanie about me yesterday while she and I were hanging out, and our rugrats were playing on the floor.

I loved her insight, and heartily agreed. Stephanie is one of those people who have their hand in everything it seems, and she knows everyone, and makes friends easily. She is my idea of a supermom. It also seems that Stephanie is a good judge of character, and she's having a tough time figuring me out... because I am a present.

Here's what I took that to mean: all wrapped up in a pretty package on the outside, but the best part is what's inside the box. And I readily admit I'm not one to open myself up completely to new people. It takes me a long time to warm up to people and let them know the real me. But once the bow is loosened, and the paper torn off, that's when a person gets to know the real Amanda. Where the present part comes in is that once you are in, you are in for life. I will be loyal and trustworthy, and a great listener. I, am a present. Guarded? Definitely. Too cautious? Perhaps. But I'm happy with who I am, and patiently seeking the next friends I will open myself up to.

new season, new leaf

Spring is here, the weather is getting warmer, Bradley is getting more mobile, and I'm making every effort to get us out of the house more. When Bradley was a newborn (and for many months therafter) I was so overwhelmed with being a brand-new mom, not to mention being a new wife in a new place, that I sort of spun my wheels every day trying to accomplish menial household tasks, and never getting "enough" done. This led me down a spiral of shame for not accomplishing more, and left me feeling guilty about wanting to pursue activities and friends outside the home when I had so much left to do here on a daily basis.

No more. I have turned over a new leaf. Bradley and I are still doing Kindermusik once a week, but I've also got my brand-new library card, and have several opportunities looming in the background through church activities and military spouse's clubs. I vow to get out of the house and make new friends in order to keep my sanity! I'm researching yoga classes in the area and have just started to get to know my neighbor 2 houses down who's also a stay at home mom who has a little boy 6 months older than Bradley.

I refuse to get bogged down by all the "stuff" I have to do and base my self esteem on what I accomplish each day, because at the end of the day, I know it is so much more important to spend quality time with Bradley than keep a clean house if I have to choose.

Reality Bites (and HITS)

In the wee hours of the morning as I was snuggled in bed sleeping, I was petting Lego, one of the dogs we are currently watching for our friends Wes & Jess while they are gone. As I pet Lego, he bit me suddenly, causing me to act swiftly in popping him good on the bottom. And pop him good I did, only as my hand made contact with the dog I became faintly aware of my surroundings, and then heard a bewildered Brian say, what the H-E-double-hockey-sticks??!!

Yes, it turns out my incident with Lego was a dream, and in real life, I slapped the heck out of a sleeping Brian! Whoopsie! I apologized profusely to my husband, but couldn't stifle the giggles that came pouring out as I did. It was just too funny not to laugh, and also too funny not to share, so there you go!

things are looking up

Finally, we have some sunshine here after 3 days straight of nasty thunderstorms, and what am I doing? Sitting inside blogging! Typical. I do plan on taking B for a walk once he wakes up from his afternoon nap though, so my fair share of the outdoors is coming.

The ncaa tourney is still going on (I picked 6 out of the 8 teams left correct- how am I doing in the family brackets, mom?) but I am barely paying attention to the games. It's far more exciting to stay caught up on all the news surrounding Kentucky firing 2-year coach Billy Gillispie! In Kentucky a season without a national championship is a failure, and this latest coach just led our team to its second worst season in school history! That doesn't bode well for those in Wildcat country, so see ya later BG!

In Bradley's world, things are looking up... because he's started to pull up on furniture, and us, and anything he can get leverege on to prop his chubby legs to a standing position! He still hasn't mastered the forward motion of crawling so maybe he'll just skip that phase altogether and go to walking, who knows. Here's the little guy standing around on the job:

I did catch him in quite the predicament this week though- Bradley managed to scoot himself backwards on the floor in his room until he was under his crib and stuck! Luckily I snapped pictures and rescued him before he got too far under his bed!

Trying to stand up on his own

Oh, you wanna know how he rolls? That's how.

A big shout out and thanks to Ellen who sent Bradley his first UK baseball cap! Of course it's enormous on him right now but he'll grow into it in no time I'm sure. He wore it while playing in his room this afternoon anyways because he just couldn't wait to wear it! ;o)

Ari, we bought the Battle of the Sexes game yesterday and are returning it today because in short, it sucked, but playing it last night did make me laugh and think about Claude naming Old spice as one of the spices in All Spice.

The rest of our Saturday will consist of going for a walk, grilling out, and probably watching basketball on tv tonight. Brian's mom, Grandma Anna, is coming tomorrow to spend the day with us so that will round out our weekend nicely. Hopefully the rain is really and truly gone because I thought I was going coocoo for coco puffs there for a minute, and hope you out there, wherever you are, are enjoying your weekend as well!

9 month photos

Here are Bradley's 9 month pictures, taken by Franklin,TN photographer Wendy Tate.

The Murdochs

Laura and George are now married! It's been too crazy to post anything else, but stories and pictures are coming soon. Congrats, kids!

**update** here's a link to the page of Laura & George's photographer, Andy Mullins. There are a few pictures up here, and more to come.
http://murdochwedding.mullinsimages.com/

The worst film of 2008

It is official.  Laura & I watched what must have been the worst film of 2008.  I dare you to find a worse one than Nights in Rodanthe.  Based on a Nicholas Sparks novel, I saw previews for this movie a long time ago and saw Richard Gere and Diane Lane, got all misty-eyed at the preview, and thought, I must see this movie.  Man am I glad I didn't pay money in the theater to see this!!

It was so bad, I hardly know where to begin.  So let's start with the plot.  The book was cheesy and far-fetched to begin with.  It's a far cry from the brilliant romance of the Notebook, and even while reading it I thought it was a waste of my time.  So that should have been enough to keep me away from watching the movie.  But the 2 costars drew me in, which is what I believe the movie producers expected, because nothing else would.  They apparently blew their whole film budget on attracting these 2 stars, and all I can say is Gere and Lane must have been hurting for work.  James Franco plays a small role, and if I were him, I wouldn't even list this film on my resume' lest it get out that I had anything to do with this movie monstrosity.

Significant changes were made in the plot line from the novel to the screen to make the film version work.  They didn't work, however.  One scene was created that wasn't in the novel at all, and it included a ton of "extras."  Laura remarked, "they could have cut this whole scene and used the money they saved from hiring all those extras to make the whole movie better."  I laughed hard, and couldn't agree more.

There is one fake hurricane scene that is so ridiculous it made me chuckle, and this picture was a far cry from being an intentional comedy, yet it succeeded in making Laura & I laugh.  There are several other awkward scenes where you actually feel sorry for the actors saying the lines.  The only gratification in the movie was seeing the ponies (another budget blower, I'm sure), but I won't ruin the significance of them in case you decide to rent Rodanthe on a Friday night when you need a good laugh.   

Even if you are a Nicholas Sparks fan, you will find this movie cheesy, totally unbelievable, and a total waste of your precious time.

9 months old!

Today is Bradley's 3/4 year birthday... in other words, he's 9 months old.


He goes to the doctor on Monday, so I don't have his official weight/height, but so far Bradley's been tracking along the 50th percentile for weight. I have a hunch he's a little short for his age though, because my little chunky monkey has a gut, so he has to make up for that extra weight somewhere! Other mile markers at this point:

• He's up to eating 3 small meals of solid foods a day, plus still nursing 6 times.
• Loves to stand when supported, and practices walking with me holding his hands
• 3 1/2 teeth have popped through- 2 on the bottom, one on top, and another will be coming through any day. Still no pics of these though, because the little booger won't open his mouth up long enough for me to snap the picture
• Scooting backwards using his arms (as you will see in the video below)
• Favorite toys are still his exersaucer and stackable rings
• Still not sleeping through the night. He goes down for 4 hour stretches and then wants to eat. I've given up thinking things could be different in this realm.
• Loves to be outside, especially swinging and going for walks
• Babbling a lot, but no real words yet. Surprise, surprise though, Bradley loves the sound of his own voice, and thinks everyone around him wants to listen to him squeal and holler! (hmm, a child that loves to talk... I wonder where he gets that?!)

This is a short clip of Bradley bouncing while holding onto his crib- he was mighty proud of himself!!

Here's Bradley at 9 months, demonstrating his scooting backwards across the carpet!

the Sideshow

I'm sorry, but I was under the impression that I undertook the project of creating a slideshow for Laura & George's wedding rehearsal/reception. What it's turned into however, is a sideshow!

I have worked tirelessly on creating this collaboration of pictures and music for over 6 weeks now, and it's getting a bit ridiculous! Who knew that making one of these things would be such a fiasco? But when you're gathering pictures from multiple places, scanning old pictures, employing no less than 3 computers, and 4 different slideshow programs, and trying to add mp4 files to programs that only accept mp3 formats, using programs that only allow you to add one song when you need many, and every time you re-save the pictures they get out of order, or you have different numbers of pictures saved in different places, it's all kinds of fun let me tell you! I'll spare you the rest of the details, but I am a firm believer now that Heather's husband Jacob is a genius, and my work here is finally done. You people coming to the wedding better OOH and Ahh and chuckle over this production while it's playing like there's no tomorrow!

Bachelorette Bash

Well, the wedding is officially ON! We gals survived the bachelorette party on Saturday night, and the snow early Sunday morning before heading back to civilization. Leah's parents' lake house in Winchester served as the perfect getaway spot for 12 ladies to eat, drink, and be merry. Laura got showered with some naughty and nice lingerie, and we played some awesome games.

For the first game everyone grabbed their purses and got points for all the items called out that we had in our bags. I thought sure I'd win this one (well, truthfully, I think I'm going to win every game I play), especially with my mom items in tow, but alas, I possessed no risque items, and those were worth the most points. The next game was an ongoing Bingo game that we played all night till someone got a bingo. Each card was different, but filled with wedding and bachelorette-related words that the bride could conceivably say (except for Wangs... who actually says that?).

Finally, the game that I DID win was a questionnaire of how well we know the bride. Considering it's my sister getting married, I hope I'd win this one. So did Leah. As the party planner she arranged for the prize of this game to be a cute pink frame, knowing how much I love the color!

Later in the evening, and several drinks later, we played "Pin the Macho on the Man!" We had more fun laughing at the rapist expression on the man's face than anything else. Yes, he looked shady Leah said, but the only other alternative was a big black man! I'll take the Rapist. (That's therapist, Mr. Connery)

Laura grilled at her own party, not able to relinquish control in the kitchen, but the burgers, dogs, and sides were fantastic. And of course, what female bash would be complete without a Dance Party USA happening once it got a little later, the music got a little louder, and inhibitions were a little more gone? As matron of honor and big sis, I was supposed to take care of Laura and make sure she was okay throughout the night, but it ended up the other way around. I even ended up with a "bachelorette bruise" on my knee that I have no idea where it came from. I guess going a year and a half without drinking hardly at all will drop one's tolerance to alcohol considerably.

I still can't believe in just 9 short days my little sis will be Mrs. George Murdoch, but I'm sure excited for the big day to be here.

NRA Publicity photos

Disclaimer (And I don't even know 'er): I hate guns, and see no reason why Joe Schmo should have one in the house.

That said, Grandpa B pulled out one of his hunting rifles the other day to show Bradley as a joke, and I grabbed my camera as fast as I could because this opportunity was too funny to pass up!

Cock Blocked

I've been silent on here about the Kentucky Wildcats this season, but after what can only be described as a humiliating loss against South Carolina, I have to rant and rave!  My beloved Cats cannot figure out how to handle the ball.  Tonight they turned it over 20 times.  It took Patrick Patterson until the end of the game to finally figure out how to muscle his way into the paint to get shots to fall without being blocked (SC had 20 blocks in this game... totally unheard of!) and Jodie Meeks, our star player couldn't make anything happen.  The rest of the team was practically silent... unless they were turning the ball over again, that is.

This was a must-win game to put us on top of the SEC east, and we've sucked it up so much again this year that there's widespread talk of Kentucky not even making it into the NCAA tournament.  What a frustrating time to be a Wildcat!

And the Oscar goes to

... I have no clue! Because I went to bed early last night. 2008 was a bust for me as far as seeing movies is concerned, so I had little vested interest in the awards last night. True, I do love watching the Academy awards for the fashion parade, but these days my Oscar knowledge is limited to the family dog, and the grouch from Sesame Street!

I read the recap in the paper this morning, and I'm sorry to have missed seeing Kate Winslet finally win her best actress award, but other than that, it doesn't look like I missed much.

I did get to catch some of the awards in between rocking a sleepy baby who for some unknown reason would Not stay asleep last night. I saw my favorite-Tilda Swinton- and the bevy of other actresses hand out the best supporting actress award, and I wanted to topple off my couch and into the tv and attack Tilda with some eyeliner. (Yes, I know, I need to give it up.) And I also saw a host of men handing out the oscar for best supporting actor. What, I texted Conley, is up with Christopher Walken's hair??!! I saw one shot of Marisa Tomei and she looked gorgeous. On the flip side, SJP & Goldie Hawn both looked haggard. But that's about all the first hand knowledge this DIVA has about movies' biggest night, but oh, that hour of uninterrupted sleep I got before Bradley woke up again was bliss!

Aw Ricky, I wanna be on the show!

Upon pursuing the Facebook status updates last night, I saw where my friend Kathleen had posted an update encouraging everyone to vote for Ricky Braddy on American Idol. Wait- THE Ricky Braddy??!! The one from Nashville who went to Belmont that I did a musical with? Was the gist of my comment to Kathleen. The very same, was her approximate answer. If you don't believe me, you can follow the thread on our Facebook pages. But I digress.

Ricky sang the male lead opposite of me in Pull-Tight Theater's production of Pirates in My Pants (or Penzance, take your pick) a few years ago. He's also the reason my 65+ year old director had to step in at the last minute and sing the part of the 21 year-old love interest with me, completely grossing me out with his lewd gestures. Stupid Ricky. Stupid strep-throat. But of course I am kidding... only about the part about Ricky being stupid.

He is a fantastic singer, and went to Belmont earning his commercial voice degree. I have no idea what he's been up to since, but now he's earned a spot on reality-mega-hit American Idol. I feel like Will Ferrell in Elf at the prospect of actually knowing someone on the show! Ricky!!! Ricky!!! I KNOW him!

I don't normally watch American Idol, but this has piqued my interest. Assuming he makes it past the next round (AI-avid-follower Heather gave me the inside scoop today and told me Ricky didn't get much air time, so that may hurt his chances) tune in to your tvs and vote for Ricky if that's your thing. Yep. That's about the extent of my excitement today.