1 year & 3 months, 19 weeks

I usually don't do political posts, but a thought occurred to me while I was trying to fall asleep one night.


America is like a restaurant.

There's a great neighborhood restaurant that you love with lots of different types of food that changes often and you always enjoy it. Yes, there's some scandals and health code violations, but other than that - you keep coming back.

Then they change the menu.

Not much. There's still a few of the same dishes, but the overall format has changed to a buffet style. You can stay and eat, or you can go to any of the other hundreds of restaurants available.

Oh, and the prices have changed. Not much, but there was a bit of a problem with some people walking out without paying, so they had to make some adjustments. Don't worry though - loyal customers will get a coupon to offset the raise in prices.

Are you still staying? You don't have to. You also don't have to complain quite so loudly because there are many other options. But the owners have changed and now we have to accept the changes and embrace them - or change ourselves.






In other news.... Tater Tot can:
walk
dance
run
sign "More" consistently
sign "Cracker" less consistently
put her arms above her head for "On Top of Spaghetti"
play with her friend Lilly
swing
do circus tricks with Daddy
point to her belly consistently
point to her nose, eyes, and ears a little less consistently
be my best friend.<3

15 months, 18 weeks

All right. It's been a month. Time to get back on board. Once a week until the baby comes. I ...... promise??

Time to play catch up...

So there was Easter. It was horrible/awesome. We left Wednesday night on the 31st and drove through the night to Pennsylvania, arriving at 5am at Spud's mother's house.

Gramma Spud trying to eat some piggies.Grampa Spud playing with Legos (Spud's second favorite toy - the first, of course, being Mr. Potato Head)

Then it was bath time and time to drive to Grammy's house (2 hours away).

We spent Thursday night at my mother's, then Friday visiting friends and eating at some of our favorite Pittsburgh places. Primanti Brother's sandwiches on Thursday with my mother in law, Sheetz MTO's on the trip to my mother's, Eat n' Park with my parents, and Elephant & Castle with friends. The only thing we missed was Quaker Steak n' Lube - but that's for next time!!

Saturday we had a photo shoot with my parents (my dad drove up from North Carolina for Easter), my sister and my niece, Hash Brown. So happy to have (almost) the whole family together - Uncle Home Fry had to work.

Cousin Hash Brown, Aunt Curly Fry, Grammy, Grampy, Mama, Tater Tot, Spud

Easter Sunday was spent at Spud's grandparents house, Bud and Hash. Once again, we got another family photo - except for one missing great-uncle.Mama, Gramma Spud, Grampa Spud, Great-Grandma Bud, Second Cousin Yam, Great-Grandpa Hash, Second Cousin Wedge, Second Cousin Tuber, Great-Uncle Murphy, Spud, Tater Tot, Great-Aunt Chip

I hope you appreciate how much serious creativity that caption required.


We left Sunday night and got back to Kentucky at 6am Monday morning. It was a very long trip and I was very happy to be home... until we had to leave for a doctor's appointment. Had to check on the Small Fry!

Baby Small Fry - 16 weeks

Sucking (his) or HER thumb!

14 months, 14 weeks

Baby #2 at 9 weeks
(Sorry I'm slow at taking cell phone pictures, sending them to my email, downloading them on my computer and then uploading them onto here. Whew!)


And not to be outdone...

1 year, 7 weeks and 13 weeks

Hello and welcome to Migraine City! We're located in the curvacious Pregnant County, which is also home to Mood Swing Town, Heartburnville, and the rocky bluffs of the Acne Mountains. Visitors to the area with children can expect a sense of Deja vu or be completely surprised with each and every visit!

Optional tubal ligation upon departure.

58 weeks and 10.5 weeks

One of my favorite mommy-blogs is written by Stacey Anymommy (www.anymommyoutthere.com) (who doesn't know I exist) wrote a post last year about improperly securing your child in their carseat and the risks. I've been reading her blog from the beginning and have gotten up to March 2008 already.

The following post had a link from the Washington Post about forgetting a child in a locked, hot car. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022701549.html?hpid=topnews
Do not read this if you are overly sensitive like me. I cried several times, including at work, thinking about these poor babies dying by themselves in a boiling hot car. I am so disturbed by this, I promised myself that I will always check my backseat for my babies. I won't get a car with tinted windows hiding my view as I exit the front seat. And, somehow, someday, I will try to do something to prevent others from having to suffer through this.

I an so disturbed and haunted by these stories. My prayers are with these babies...

13 months and 10 weeks

What used to be a weekly update has dwindled from twice a month to barely once every month or two. My apologies. Work has taken over my evenings leaving me very little time with my family, and during the day I'm so busy picking up sippy-cups and scrubbing cat vomit out of the carpet, that blogging is the last thing on my mind.

Sleep, sleep, and more sleep!

'So, Karen,' you may ask, 'What's up with the title of the blog? Is Tater Tot 13 months plus 10 weeks? That would make her 15 1/2 months and you bad at math!'

As you may have noticed, nearly all of my posts have Tot's gestational or birth age in weeks, months, or years. Yes, she is still 13 months (or one year, one month. Or 57 weeks.) But there's a special surprise coming!

Baby Small Fry, due in September!

I tried to wait as long as I could, but I'm not very good at secrets! So here you go!

And, good news- I found a midwife in the area! We're meeting with her next week to see if she's my best option, and I feel so positive about this birthing experience! I can't wait. The hospital has changed. The nurses are more lax. There are doulas available. And I can finally use that birthing ball!

But there's time for all that... 30 weeks or so...

52 Weeks

Happy Birthday Tater Tot!