Year End Review

2007 is coming to a close..wow. Can you believe an entire year flew by?? I definitely had more than one thing that kept me unaware of how fast time was flying by. 2007 had its ups and down....lets just say that it was a more than interesting year. Here is my year end wrap up.

I hit this year off with a bang. I spent time with some old buddies for New Years and realized that I was so far beyond the house party phase. As we stood around the keg and they passed around a joint, I was longing for my baby. I spent the entirety of that party showing off my son's picture on my camera phone. Nobody understood....but this was definitely the precursor to what the year had to offer.

February came and went. It was another lousy Valentines Day. But I did discover that I will never again be lonely on this lonely overly commercialized holiday. I have an automatic Valentine every year...Jackson! I cant wait to get cut out hearts that say I love you mom! oooo I cant wait!

March-May..not much. I was struggling to lose the pounds I gained during my pregnancy. But it really has been an uphill battle. By May I had lost 30 lbs of the 50lbs I put on. I still have a long way to go. Jack was already 5 months. He was no longer a "newborn" but just a baby. He was losing that newborn look and smell. YES newborns have a smell...and unless you are a mother you will not understand. My friends think I am weird because I say I miss it.

June was the month of my 22nd birthday! I wanted it to be grandioso.. I was unable to really party hard for my 21st...considering I was creating life and all.. My best friend and I share the same birthday so we decided to party it up at a local bar. Friends and family came and it was great. I am always worried nobody will show up to my parties. Guess it stems from some long lost childhood memory. But people did show and it was good. $300 later...I was knocked on my butt by Capt. Morgan himself. I did reunite with some old friends...one in particular that would play a big part in my life at the end of the year.

July-August..Jackson was now crawling. This definitely made life more interesting! He kept me on my toes for sure. I was finishing up summer school with all A's! I didn't even have to sleep with my professors for those grades. yeah!

September-October- Had some school issues and I got sweet revenge on my arch enemy, ahem, 5 times. That is our little secret though.

November- Jack's first birthday!!! I could not believe how quickly a year went by. He was a normal walking and talking human being..thriving on toddler cookies and banana puffs.

Its now December. I have a great boyfriend. I did great in school this last semester and again got all A's. I did sleep with the teacher this time...kidding! I have a great job. I am in good health and I have a WONDERFUL son!!!! Life couldn't be any sweeter.

Thank You to everyone involved. Thank You for every one's help...I couldn't have lasted through without you..Here is to letting go of 2007 and embracing 2008!! Happy New Year!!

Baby Babble

Jack's most common form of communication is well, screaming. But the second most common form would be pointing and going, "da!" Which I am pretty sure means "that". This was all until recently and by recently I mean this afternoon.

We were in the car on the way back from the mall when Jack said, "tree" as clear as day. My mom was in the car so I had a witness.

That makes for seven words now. Mama, Papa, Dada, Nana, Banana, Cookie and Tree. It is amazing to watch him learn and develop daily.

Him walking amazed me enough. It is so funny. He walks like my drunk grandpa..all he needs is a wind suit and a cane and he would be doing the greatest impression. But it honestly took him a week to get a couple steps down and now, about 3 weeks into walking, he is practically running across my living room. But with this new gained experience comes true responsibility. He can now reach for everything. and if you know my family you can imagine how difficult this is....this is because there is clutter crap ALL OVER my house.

I couldn't wait for him to begin talking and now its beginning and I am on the edge about this. I want him to be able to verbalize his thoughts instead of me trying to decipher one of his many cries. But at the same time..nothing is more annoying than a child that doesn't shut up. I mean that the most loving way possible.

For now I will relish in his toddler babble....and chat it up about trees and cookies. My favorite is when you ask him how anything"goes" it started with a cow, which is moo of course. He got that down. No problem. But today when we asked him how his Aunt Madie went he replied with an ever so true answer, "Mooooo!" He is a genius.

Relationship Experiment

Well, I am still a single, working, student mother.. but I will admit that somethings have changed. I am single still.. no ring on my finger but I do have a boyfriend. *gulp* Yup, I said it. It's out there now.. for the world to read. It's a big step. Not that I haven't had a boyfriend before. The list is actually quite long, and I loved them all dam nit! But this new guy, you may have read about him before.. this cat named Andrew. That's him. He must be pretty damn special if I am writing a blog about him.

I wish, kinda, that I had found this blodgom earlier.. but my posts would have been very woe is me, I hate men. Which is great, I actual prefer reading that. But, in the same token I am glad that I waited to do this until I was happy again. It feels good to have things finally feel as if they are falling in to place and write about it.

So this new guy...Andrew. I have actually known him for years. Since High School. If you would have told me that I would be dating him now, I would have laughed in your face. I wouldn't say we got a long.. I merely tolerated him being around my other friends. But he showed up at my birthday party and its all history from there. Glorious history. Nice and cheesy, eh?

But really.. I would never had guessed that he would be the type that he is. He really is a great guy and really adores my son. What more can a 22 mother ask for? I definitely didn't think I would find that so quickly. BUT...there is always a but, I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket.. I don't want to put the cart before the horse.. count my chickens before they hatch..etc.

My last relationship was not the best experience. I actually wouldn't put my worst enemy through what I went through. It was that awful. I was burned.. pretty bad. I was so close to becoming a lesbian and calling it quits. I am actually still in touch with my ex and we are good friends. But during the relationship and right after was AWFUL. I honestly didn't want to see another penis. Ever again.

But, then came Andrew.. not that I have seen anything of his anatomy. But even if I had I wouldn't tell you. I am a lady. He is great to me, my son...I cant let that pass me by. But I definitely have a guard up. I definitely don't want to give in so easy. But I am beginning to think that he can see right through that.

I am gonna continue to let it go with the flow.... keep trying my hardest to not be that crazy bitch I was with my Ex... and see how this goes. Its all too thrilling. Kinda like a relationship experiment.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Baby Jesus! ( I like Baby Jesus the best)

Happy Holidays

Get your yule logs a fired. Get your last minute shopping. Leave your cookies out for Santa. It's Christmas Eve!! Can you believe it? Christmas has been tip toeing closer and closer as each day passed. It's ridiculous how quickly the years go in your old age.

I have spent the day wrestling my over tired son, last minute shopping, wrapping gifts, eating, and I just finished washing my car. Its now 4 and I have to start getting things ready to go to Andrew's family's house.

As a Christmas gift to my hooptie, I just washed my car 3 TIMES. 3 freaking times. You would think after the third wash and dry that it would look sparkling clean and freaking fantastic, but NO. I put my blood, sweat and tears into that wash. It still looks like I went off roading in a dirt pit. The rims weren't even black anymore they were red. I even dried and waxed the thing. Nope. Still dirty. Jeez. I got a nice little shower out of it too. I am soaked to the bone. Thank goodness for South Texas Christmases, its only 69 degrees right now.

My son is napping right now, thank God. He has needed a nap for days now.

My neighbor just brought over goodies and I have some left over from my cookie tins. I am going to turn into a pumpkin cheesecake square soon(Thanks Ashley)

Well I am off to finish the rest of my to do list. Happy Holidays to all!!!!!!!!

Nobody Cries Over Spilled Milk

Nobody except for my one year old. The boy is constantly crying or fussing. I am not exaggerating either. People always tell me.."Maegan, he is a baby. Babies cry." But I am pretty sure that not all children excessively fuss/cry at their mother's feet for days at a time.

Then the other comment I love to hear about my constantly crying child is how spoiled he is. Here lies the catch 22. Do I let him cry at my feet and ignore him? Or do I give in and protect my own sanity and give into his every wants and needs? I usually pick the latter of the two choices. But I know there has to be a happy medium. I just have not yet found it.

I really don't want my child to grow up being the cry baby of the group, but I am pretty sure this is where he is headed. He is already 100% Mama's boy and to add the cry baby label is just giving him a first class ticket to nerdom.

I try, so often, to tell myself that this is only a stage...that I will look back on this blip in time and laugh...but honestly that is hard to do with a screaming toddler at your feet constantly. I mean constantly, people! I am trying to express that point the most.

Crying because he fell off the couch, understandable. Crying because I wont let him stand up on in his high chair...not so understandable. Ahhhh..the joys of motherhood.

Chocolate Dipped Heaven

Chocolate. It makes the world go round. Truly can you think of anything that chocolate doesn't make taste better? I am pretty sure it would make poop good. Go on, try it and get back to me.

I am in the process of making chocolate covered pretzels. They will go in my baked good packages that everyone is getting for Christmas. I am going to join my grandmother tomorrow

and make the rest. Well, juggle Jackson..fight off her psychotic dog Scooter...and try to bake.

I have one busy day tomorrow now that I think about it. I also have my company Christmas party at a fancy shmancy restaurant. Which involves getting dressed up. I am looking forward to seeing how Andrew cleans up.

and if he doesn't clean up well, than I can just drizzle some chocolate on him...

Shopping in the Hill Country

On Sunday my grandparents, Jack and I all got a little fresh air up in Fredricksburg, TX. Talk about a great 'ol Texas town. It was just a snowflake shy of being perfect. The old city's main street is lined with great shops and bakeries. No shopping journey to Fredricksburg would be complete without some delicious fudge, snickerdoodles and some honey. Luckily I left with 2 out of 3.

Fredricksburg features great little limestone buildings which were seasoned perfectly with garland and lights. You could smell the yuletide season in the air.

I got some great accessories, some mint chocolate fudge, some cookies, and a shirt for my mom that says,"World's Greatest Mimi".

One thing that is great about Texas is the wide variety of cities and most are only an hour to couple hours away. They are great day trips and I hope to go again soon..this time with more money!

Easy Like Saturday Morning

Today started out with so much promise. Jackson had spent the night with my grandmother and instead of having to pick him up early, my parents took on the role and said I didn't need to be home until 1ish. I got about 4 extra hours of straight sleep. No baby kicking me in the trachea or slapping me in the cheek. It was extraordinary. I haven't been able to sleep like that since before Jackson was in the equation. At around 11am, you read right...11am I rolled out of bed and got breakfast with Andrew. Tacos....my favorite!

Right after we had ordered breakfast is pretty much where it went downhill. I got a phone call from my parents to come pick up my kid. He was driving them nuts while they were trying to shop. They had the bright idea of taking him to Northstar Mall with no stroller and a baby that got about 4 hours of sleep. They called me about 5 times. Andrew and I said goodbye and that was the last I heard from him today.

I got home and was with Jackson,who was being incredibly cute. Which comes very easy to him all he has to do is just be. My parents took off to run some errands and shortly after they left Jack began rubbing his eyes...My cue to put him to sleep. He successfully went down and was asleep for 4 hours!

I had never been so bored in my life. I stayed inside all day. It was such a pretty day too, a little windy, but gorgeous. I felt like I was stuck in a fish tank looking out on the world and not being able to do a thing about it. I tried to call a couple friends, Andrew included, and nobody was answering. I guess they were out enjoying themselves. Must have been nice. I felt like everyone was at this super cool party and I had to stay home. It sucked.

To pass the time I: read magazines, myspaced, read blogs, had a mini photo session with myself, ate, watched tv, checked the UCM site, myspaced, myspaced and myspaced some more. I hate wasting a perfectly good day on the Internet. I did get a great pumpkin recipe from Mrs.B over at the Starcrossed Blogger.

I still haven't heard from Andrew...Still haven't left the house...I'm still in my pajamas...I did shower!

ok enough woe is me.. but here are some pics from my photo session.

Eat Pray Love

I just finished one of the best books I have ever read in my 22 years of existence. It surpassed One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by flying colors. The magnificent work is Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I am pretty sure by know that you have heard about it on one level or another.

I don't really know what made me pick it up to begin with but I just knew, once I saw the cover that I had to read it and I am certainly glad I did. Her story is completely inspirational. I only dream that I could ever put my thoughts into words like she does. And I am utterly jealous of the life she is able to live.

I think every woman can so closely relate to her words because we have all been were she starts out. We have all been in that depressed darkness, if even only for a moment. I can relate so much to her when she speaks of how she loves someone. I am pretty sure I am the exact same.

I also love Richard from Texas' explanation of a soul mate:

"People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true

soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave."

How true is that? I can definitely see who those people in my life were... and as much as they TRULY hurt me they showed me the way. They are part of the reason I am who I am today.

And lastly I will end it with another great line taken from Richard from Texas lips, " You gotta start wearing your wishbone where your back bone oughtta be."

See not all people from Texas are blubbering fools....

Words to the Wise

Do not attempt to drink two decanters of Sake by yourself. Period. Just ask my mom....you will have to wait until she removes her head from the toilet bowl first.

Can I Get A Doggy Bag?

I believe my baby outing days are over. I have now entered the terrible toddler days and my son has only just turned one.

One thing you have to understand. My family doesn't cook. If you want to eat to survive you must fend for your own, i.e. head on down to Chick-fil-a or whatever other fast food you are craving that night.

That being said, my family gets together at least, AT LEAST, three times a week. I am not just talking immediate family, I am talking: aunt, her two little ones, grandma, grandpa, dad, mom, sister, me and jack and maybe a boyfriend here and there. Yes, its a little pricey. But that's how we do. It is how we spend our quality time. Andrew is always amazed that I know what every restaurant in town has to offer...especially since San Antonio has over 1000000000 restaurants.

He will mention one place and before he can finish I cut him off with, " oh they have the best fried macaroni" or " don't order the blackened chicken there". He is always baffled or answers,"where haven't you eaten?"

So tonight we all went to sushi for my sister's 14th birthday. I was SO excited. I even went on a temporary fast all day so I could stuff my face with Gyoza and Caterpillar rolls. yum. I brought Jackson with me, which was mistake number one. I seem to forget that right around the time the server brings the food, is the magical moment that Jackson gets a case of the sleepies. It always happens. It never fails. This results in everyone at the table getting up with him and walking him around, while I stuff my face quickly without savoring a single bite.

It make me feel bad every time. I usually end up leaving dinner early while everyone savors their dessert. I get to wrestle Jack in his car seat and drive around while he screams his head off. Its fun. I love it. ( I wish you could sense my sarcasm here)

So I think these days are done. I am over it and lord knows Jack is. Even though we tempt him with his own iced tea or grilled cheese. Maybe he is just sick of having a fat mommy and this is his attempt at getting me to lose some extra pounds.

Sick Baby=Tired Mommy

So my son has been stricken with who knows what. All I know is he has a 3 inch booger crust forming around his nostrils and he is hanging on me like a baby chimp. He had a fever the other night which put me in a panic and he would not go to sleep until the fever broke. That was around 3:30 am. So needless to say I walked around in a zombie like state all weekend.

This was not a good weekend to be zombie-like. I had finals today. The result of my finals for my humanities class will be revealed by Friday and I know I have an A in that class, but the final project was not up to par. I just wasn't that into it. But it all boils down to the exhaustion I had all weekend.

My son is now taking a nap and has been for almost an hour, WOO HOO! I should be taking this time to catch some zz's but I am more interested in watching, Notes of a Scandal and myspace.

Regardless of how sick my son may be, he still seems to be in good spirits. He has been playing and wrecking havoc on the living room just like that of a healthy boy. He has recently discovered that instead of sitting on his hippo toy, that it is much more exciting to stand on it. This is really funny, it looks like he is standing atop a segue in the shape of a hippo. He will do his banshee yell until I push him into some stacked blocks so he can push them down. It is really funny.

I hope I can catch up on my sleep after school is over. I have a busy month..I think I might have mentioned this before. Well until then, I will continue doing by best zombie impression. I am getting really good at it.

Tag Your It!

Whoa, two posts in one day?! Break out the champagne, its a celebration. I just got tagged by Mrs. B and now I must list 7 random things about myself. This was extremely hard. After I finish I have to tag 7 other lucky bloggers.. but I only know 3 personally.... so I dunno what to do.

ok so here goes nothing...

1. I can tie cherry stems with my tongue. An art I mastered at the age of 14, which I am sure gave my mom nightmares. It has come in handy at the bar, awkward silence? breakout the cherries!

2. I taught myself how to read at the age of 4 and was inducted into the gifted and talented program in kindergarten. That's right people..double trouble, not only gifted but talented also! Watch out.... Really though, after years of commitment to the group, all it got me was a few extra brownie points on my college applications.

3. I will one day have a lot of money..this whole trust fund thing...I plan to spend my money on innate objects such as a segue, a rocket jacket and a panini maker. Oprah said!

4. I am a tv junkie. I watch: Samantha Who?, Notes from the Underbelly, The Hills, Beauty and the Geek, Americas Next Top Model, Project Runway, CSI, Greys Anatomy, The Office, Survivor...the list goes on. This is only this season..

5. I go out to eat 2/3 meals a day! The only person that knows how to cook in my family is my grandma and she doesn't live with me. Unfortunately. I need to marry someone that knows how to cook!

6. I found some really great friends on an Internet forum group. I never thought that I would do something like this.. ask me two years ago, I didn't even know what myspace was. I text, chat, speak to them everyday and have so since I was pregnant. They helped me a lot during some rough patches.

7.I am a hypochondriac. I could never be anything in the medical field. While looking at my friends biology book I self diagnosed myself with over 5 different ailments, one being and I swear...prostate cancer. Which isn't physically possible, but the symptoms seemed eerily close to what I had. ha!

Ok now I have to tag others...Good Luck with that!

To-Do List Blues

Slowly...going...insane!!

It is the end of the year and everything seems to be creeping up on me. I have a million things I need to do and get done and just not enough time to do it. I must be really busy if I have written two blogs now about it.

So here is my current To-Do list(when in doubt of what to write on here...LIST!)

1. My eyebrows, I am beginning to look like Frida Kahlo's long lost twin.

2. A pedicure- I am most often reminded of this by Andrew, but last night was the final straw. He said my feet resembled that of a Runaway Slave.. horrible right? I am still laughing out loud at that one.

3.My nails done. I have a XMas party coming up and I don't want people to shake my hand a realize I gnaw at my fingers all day long.

4.Change my oil on my car. I believe I am 6000 miles over...is that bad?!?

5. Lose weight. This will always be on all my lists. Even if it is a to do list for school. Lose weight. Always a priority. My other chunky friend just informed me that she is going to a fat doctor today and that she will no longer be my chunky friend. NO FAIR!

6. Get Jack's pictures taken. I need 1year old pics!!! oh and a XMas card pic!!

7. Find shoes for my dress. I have my eye on the ones I want...Oh Nana dearest......

8. My final for humanities. This should be at the top but its not. I am just not that into it. I have to create a new society for humans..how hard is that? We had 1000s of years to come up with ours and look how screwed up it is. I have had 2 weeks...all I know is that we are living in Philadelphia. It is always sunny there right?

9. Pick out recipes to make for Christmas. I got the bright idea to play Martha Stewart and hand out home made goodies for everyone. I don't know where I will fit this in.....No those are homemade, Not Chips Ahoy! Oh yeah and I have an Oreo stamp at home in the old kitchen drawer...that's how that logo got on there. Promise..

10.Find baby daddy...

11. ALL of my work. Its a lot.

12. Talk to financial aid at school

13. Watch all the episodes I have missed on my DVR.

14. Finish reading Eat, Pray, Love....LOVE this BOOK!! GO GET IT NOW...Go on! Now!

15. Figure out what to get my son that he doesn't already have...this will be hard. I am going to have to search far and wide.

16. Figure out what to get Andrew. He may have to wait this one out...

17. Figure out what to get my PARENTS. jeez. I cant say I got them Jackson anymore...

18. Oh and Shave my legs. That would be nice.

That is I can think of right this minute.

All I know is I feel like I am going a mile a minute right now. I am sure it has everything to do with the Starbucks I drank this morning mixed with the extra large coke I am drinking now. I could REALLY use Spa Day in the middle of nowhere away from everybody. Maybe I can pull a Lindsey Lohan and go to Rehab in Malibu....hmm..

Busy Beaver

No not that you dirty minds!! But I was looking for a picture of an actual beaver to put here in the corner and came across this..

I have been sooooo busy the past couple days. I know that December is one of the busiest months of the year but jeez.

I have finals...a HUGE workload...Jackson...that is just to name a few things on my plate.

I realized the other day that I don't have much time to get pictures of Jackson for Christmas cards. Since I am on a tight budget I decided to create my own backdrop and put him in Christmas jammies. This is what we ended up with:

Not tooooo bad but I wanted him smiling and I didn't want the wall to be showing...grrr.. He was way more interested in dropping the glass ornaments on the hardwood floors. Sometimes they would hit the dog, he thought that was hilarious. I have been to lazy to clean up the backdrop so feel free to come by and take pictures. There is an entry fee of baked goods.

School is also coming to an end. I have 3 more days, wooo hoooo! But bad also because of finals. booo hooo. I think I wrote the worst humanities essay known to man last night, but I did it an hour. That's what you get for waiting until the very last minute.

I also have this new boyfriend. YES I admitted to it. whoa that was a big step. Really. I don't mind him being around, his company is actually nice. Nice change. He helps with Jack a lot, but he is one more person that I have to keep up with. I don't mind babe, really! (had to throw that in there so he doesn't get mad)

Back to being busy... I have to write two papers for my English class..unless you would like to write it, $10 a page.