Where you started!

art courtesy of curly girl designs

I can't hear you- I have surfers ear.

Conner has gone to the doctors three times in the past two weeks, and you know it is serious when he goes to the doctor. He is not one to go but maybe once a year as it is. Seems he has a condition called surfers ear, and the entire ear canal passageway has closed and he cannot hear out of that ear at all. After so much exposure to the cold water the ear wants to protect itself and it keeps closing over time. So now it is officially closed.

He had a really bad ear infection that just kept getting worse and he finally went to the Dr's, after peroxide drops and ear candles at home. He got some ear drops and some other meds, those didn't clear it up either. So he went back and got a wick stuck in his ear to keep it dry and to allow the drops to go deep into the ear. He still can't hear after all of those attempts.His right ear is 100% closed and his left ear is 95% closed. I thought he was just ignoring me for a while and then after three weeks of repeating everything I say 4 times or more, I realized the severity of it. He found out yesterday that he will need to get surgery in order to get his hearing back and to open the ear canal again. He wont be able to surf for 2 months.
I am sad for him, and I know he is annoyed by it.

This Is How I Roll

Check out van's new wheels. This is his first time walking with a little assistance. A natural already, running over zeke & doing a little victory dance!!

Organizational Wall Art

I found these awesome little wall art calendars on susyjack, I need art on my walls and organization as well and these are perfect!

I love her work, it reminds me of things I think in my head but don't have the time to create. She has some great stuff and I found her on etsy one of my most favorite places to visit for inspiration and all things handmade! I have a little shop Squeak & Bubble
that i am working on!

Help Fight Autisim

Every time you watch the video here, Five for Fighting will donate $0.40 to Autism Speaks. This funding goes towards research studies to find a cure. They are hoping for 10,000 hits. However, I know the blogging community, and I know what we can accomplish. Please pass this along to all of your friends and family.

Found it on: my thoughts, ideas & ramblings

Heather Kendall Designs Shell Artist

My Sister has some great pieces on sale right now, this mirror is located in San Diego and measures 6' x 3', and is on sale now for $5200.00.
This piece is a true work of art. Love your work!

What she does best is custom pieces like these below, anything you can dream up she can shell. She is super talented and her work has been featured in several design publications such as Garden Design, Southern Living & DuPont Registry. Don't forget Valentines day is right around the corner!
Check out more of her designs @ Heather Kendall Designs

feeding a 10 month old

Conner fed Van tonight, things got a little messy!

How to choose a president without wasting time.

Are you still trying to sort out the candidates to find the one that best exemplifies your beliefs? Are you sick of actually listening to them? You're in luck! American Public Media has designed a computer program, Engage '08: Select a Candidate, to help you find your best ideological match. Think of it as eHarmony does politics.

I love this little survey it really helps you narrow down the candidates and see who is supporting what you believe in!! It certainly is not Bush after his unconstitutional order last week that tried to overturn a ruling by a federal judge in Los Angeles who had directed the Navy to avoid conducting its sonar exercises within 12 miles of the coast and in the area between Santa Catalina and San Clemente islands, places where whales and dolphins are abundant. Yes it is important to use sonar and train the navy to defend us from submarines but do it somewhere else you big dummy!

Dwell for target

I know I already wrote about this one, but I am so excited for Dwell to launch their new line at target. I am so impressed with Target's choice of companies to co-brand with.
Target is Wonderful! They are starting to carry many great baby products too. Babylegs, Skip*Hop, Boon, Peanut Shell, Hotslings and now Dwell. I am sitting here drinking red wine, eating cheese and oranges, so I thought I would post some of the pics I got a peek at.

The Baby Collection launches this month. The Home Collection comes out in February!

photos: OhDeeDoh

Happy Martin Luther King Day!

Happy day today! I took a photo of my little fishy.

I think he likes the way his teeth feel on his lips now!
4 teeth, 10 months, crawling, favorite place to be in the water, favorite toy - mom's celly or the dogs.
Hobbies: giggling, and walking (holding onto mom or dads hands of course), patting people I love and hugging and kissing.
Things I dislike - getting my diaper changed, being strapped into anything.
I am in love with these little pieces of Art from modern dose,

So today didn't really seem like a normal day in a week, I guess since it was a holiday. Rainy, and I felt ill all weekend I took today to gather my thoughts off of the floor and organize them somewhere around eye level where I could make sense of them.

Love it, need it, got to have it!

I saw this rody horse today at a friends house and fell in love, I mean Van saw it and fell in love... I think I heard him say he wanted it for his birthday too.

Puerto Rico

Our trip to Puerto Rico was a breath of fresh air- literally. No work all Play and a little time to kiss in the sunset! Well we did do a little work on Stefan and Summers house, but that was fun and I learned how to use a nail gun!

Free Rice

You can help out, by testing out your vocabulary and donating rice to the United Nations! I love this site. What a great concept.

Baby Eats

Van eating his organic steamed carrots, more please mum!

Kids Parties

Pottery Barn Kids has a new line of party supplies. They have some cute ideas. {Most of which you could just do yourself.} So Van's first birthday is fast approaching and we just started thinking of a fun theme and a good place to have it. It needs to be fun for the adults mainly, kids will always have fun when they see their parents with a smile on their face. I was thinking I would do a carnival theme, then I stumbled upon this!

Dwell @ Target

Oh swell. DwellStudio is releasing a line at Target!



Domino Mag

Blue Skies Ahead...

Well this week has flown by. Yesterday I saw three accidents in 3 hours while I was out. It kind of freaked me out a little bit. Conner was in an accident yesterday too but I didn't see it, Zeke was riding in the car with him. They are both okay but Conner was a little shaken up afterwards so Van and I took him lunch and went to the beach together afterwards. It was nice, I never do things like that. We had fun exploring the beach together!

Today while I was talking to my neighbor on my way out the door, I forgot that I left the front door open. Thank God I took the dogs with me, but I left the front door open to the house for a couple hours. I like my neighborhood but it is not the safest in San Diego, so I ran upstairs and tried to get Zeke to protect me. I checked all of the closets and showers, no burglars. whew

We met my cousin Jeff for dinner this week, and he taught Van a few things!!!!


There I said it now it is out and in the open.

have a good one.

toys "not" made in china

So yesterday I decided that I am not going to buy Van another toy that has been made in China, after seeing recall after recall I started looking up some of the toys that he got for Christmas to see if they contained toxins or lead. I found a couple good websites that have toys listed by brand or the country it is made in, so you can see if a certain toy is dangerous for your baby. If I can control what toys he plays with, I should be educated enough to know if they are harmful or not! Right?

Here is one toy he got for Christmas, and the materials it consists of. I found out there is arsenic in the handle of the book and chlorine on the plastic pages.
It is such a cute book with all of his family members in it and I know he likes it, maybe I will transfer the photos to a natural fabric book.

This website above oompa is great, they are concerned about what toys are made with and only supply healthy toys that are made in Europe or the US. I love everything on their site!

Van's First Christmas

Yummy winter chili recipie

It's getting colder outside! In 15 minutes, this easy recipe will take the chill off. This is our favorite!

Ingredients: 1 pound ground turkey 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 16 oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed 1 16 oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed 1 28 oz. can chopped stewed tomatoes 1 tablespoon chili powder 1 tablespoon cumin powder 1/2 cup salsa 1. In a large pot, brown turkey with chopped onion. 2. Add beans, tomatoes, garlic, chili powder, cumin, and salsa to turkey mixture. Cook until hot. 3. Serve with cornbread, cooked pasta, cooked rice, or on top of a baked potato. Sprinkle with cheese if desired. Makes 4 servings.

mi familia

My family is so amazing! Conner and I had a whole week in Puerto Rico together while my sister & my nephews took care of Van!
My mom and my other sister took care of him too! I loved having help with him, it makes life so much more relaxing.
I was really missing him on the last day of our vacation. We snuck in while he was sleeping and when he woke up in the morning, he could not stop smiling and laying his head on Conner's chest. It was so sweet.
I am putting together a little slide show of our two weeks away! Come back soon to see pics from Christmas and Puerto Rico!