http://www.pleonast.com/user/bean recent pleonast.com entries by user bean en-us http://www.pleonast.com/user/bean?l=5&entryID=592696 maybe you thought i was joking, but i really did go to kentucky last weekend to see her, and to soak in some fall goodness. went to jackson's orchard, got some hot apple cider and a fried apple pie..mmm....went to several junk/thrift/antique stores and found some nice bargains, but had to settle for just a few items (a lampshade $4, two throw pillows $1-2 each, and an armchair $35), as we didn't have room in the car for everything i wanted. silas was such a good road trip companion, but i am thankful my parents came too! this was also a good experiment to see if silas is allergic to cats, since we stayed with becca, who lives with four of them. i'm happy to say that silas does not appear to be allergic. i guess that means we can go get a few for our house, right? just kidding - i really don't like cats. i'm more of a dog person, but i don't like dogs a whole lot either. i guess if i had to pick something, i'd say i was a fish person. they don't get all up in your business. speaking... 2008-10-29 http://www.pleonast.com/user/bean?l=5&entryID=583122 still no tooth, but he's still showing all the signs that he's about to get one. poor baby has been miserable long enough! but on a good note - he's five months old today! i'm so glad it's fall, even though it hasn't exactly arrived in texas yet. i can see and feel traces of it occasionally, and that'll just have to suffice for now. every fall i get "homesick" for kentucky because it's actually a season there. :-) maybe i'll take a road trip soon... the channel is recording another album, this time in our house, so it gives me a good excuse to get out of the house. i'm sure this album will blow your minds. (i really don't like that expression so of course i had to use it). time for some oatmeal...mmmmmm! andy's birthday is october 6 - leave him some birthday wishes! 2008-10-03 http://www.pleonast.com/user/bean?l=5&entryID=573360 i'm about 99% sure silas is going to get his first tooth any day now. he's had a runny nose, more drool than usual, and bouts of fussiness for the past two days, in addition to his usual chomping on whatever he can get in his mouth. i can see the little crack in his gums where the tooth will emerge - i just hope it happens soon so he doesn't have to be miserable much longer! in other news, we bought the office season four the day it came out and watched all episodes in one day. i will never do that again - i felt cross-eyed and weird all evening. we don't have tv, so we have to wait each year for the new season to come out on dvd, and i guess we just couldn't wait to see what happened (although thanks to brent for spoiling the last episode for me)! anyway, what a waste of time! i tried to make up for it by doing something active every day afterwards, but i still regret it! speaking of the above...we rearranged our house quite a bit so that the tv is no longer the focal point. no tv i... 2008-09-09 http://www.pleonast.com/user/bean?l=5&entryID=568825 i've saved these stories for awhile, but her recent "nurse encounters" reminded me that i need to share... here are two interesting nurse stories: 1) one evening i was in the restroom and i heard the nurse come in our room and ask andy a question. with her thick indian accent he had a hard time understanding her, so i heard her repeat herself over and over until he finally responded, "oh, i don't know." she then popped her head in the restroom door and asked me the same question, which i couldn't understand. after she repeated herself a few times, i figured out she was saying, "are you moving the bowel?" why she needed to know that, i'll never know, and what an interesting way to phrase it! when i responded "no" she grunted, then scurried out of the room. 2) when we took silas to his first appointment a few days after he was born, the nurse or assistant, or whatever she was, began by asking me a series of questions. as i was feeding the baby r... 2008-08-29 http://www.pleonast.com/user/bean?l=5&entryID=560362 so many wonderful things going on - i'm about to burst! *after much hard work, colby's graduating w/his master's degree this weekend. we're leaving in the morning to go to the dallas area for his graduation, and then plan to visit the aquarium on saturday. this is silas' first trip! *ashen gets to come on said trip! *becca is coming next week!!! woohooo! ok, i'll stop using exclamation marks now. 2008-08-08 http://www.pleonast.com/user/bean?l=5&entryID=552953 both times we've planned a trip to visit some of my family members out of town, silas has come down with a cold (or allergies, we're not sure which it is). maybe he knows how crazy everyone is and he's scared to meet them (he already knows holly, so i guess she's OK in his book)... yesterday we were going to go to church with holly and tj and amber and amanda were going to meet us there. just as we started to leave silas sneezed twice and a ton of snot came out of his little nose. since then he hasn't done THAT, but he's had a stuffy nose, a cough, he threw up last night and was extremely fussy all day yesterday. needless to say, we didn't end up going. hopefully some day soon he can meet his (second, or once removed?) cousins! today he seems to feel much better but he sounds pretty bad with his congestion and all. it's so pitiful. this sickness is much worse than the last time, but at least he doesn't have a fever. andy and i had a rough day yesterday; we both broke down in tears ... 2008-07-21 http://www.pleonast.com/user/bean?l=5&entryID=548868 silas turned two months old a week ago, so we took him for his two month checkup yesterday. he's still just perfect, and luckily hasn't been vomiting for the past almost two weeks. last night he slept 9 hours straight, which is a record for him; usually he sleeps 5-7 hours. he weighs 13 lbs 5.5 oz now, so he's becoming my own personal trainer, which is fine with me! andy's work schedule is back to normal for now at least, and it's so nice having him home for the day at 1 PM! i think i'm a little bit spoiled... andy's mom came into town tuesday and wednesday and watched the baby while we went on a double date with kim and colby. we went to the paramount to see young mr. lincoln. andy and i try to go to at least one movie at the paramount each summer b/c that's when they have their classic film series. if you're in the austin area and have never gone, you should! a lot of times they play double features for the price of one, so it's a pretty good deal. we got an even better deal this t... 2008-07-10 http://www.pleonast.com/user/bean?l=5&entryID=545976 what did i used to talk about before silas came along?? he has totally consumed my life, in a completely wonderful way. :-) he's starting to smile a lot more now when we talk to him - it's adorable! his two month checkup is next tuesday already. i can't believe it! we had to take him to the doctor yesterday b/c he's been vomiting and has nasal congestion (which she thinks is related to him overeating/getting too much....we'll see). but he weighed in at 13 lbs 5 oz and is in the 97th percentile, so maybe he does "overeat." ok, so other than silas...hmmm...well, cantaloupe is in season and it's mighty tasty. i could seriously eat a whole cantaloupe every day. in fact, one summer we did that and have never regretted it! also, it finally rained here the other night; silas has only seen rain twice now in his lifetime. andy worked about 70 hours last week, so we hardly saw him at all. this week he gets thursday through saturday off, so i am REALLY looking forward to that! oh, a... 2008-07-02 http://www.pleonast.com/user/bean?l=5&entryID=543329 silas is trying to sleep right now, but at the same time he's giving everything he's got to try and poop. every now and then he pulls his knees up to his chest and gives a little grunt. andy was talking the other day about how funny it is that pooping is a baby's biggest challenge/hardship. if only our lives were that simple. when i took him to the doctor last week, silas weighed 12 lb 3 oz; he's definitely having no problem putting on weight even though he's been throwing up some with his cold. i'm still losing weight (probably b/c silas is eating it away), and yesterday was able to put on my pre-pregnancy jeans, which i was VERY excited about. today we have a play date with our fun neighbor - luckily he's feeling well enough to go! well, i'm going to eat breakfast and do some laundry and dishes now - got to take advantage of these little windows of opportunity while he sleeps to get stuff done. :-) 2008-06-25 http://www.pleonast.com/user/bean?l=5&entryID=541294 silas got his first cold this week. he has been so pitiful, and it was really emotionally draining for me and andy to see him like that. luckily he's feeling much better now, but his nose is still a little congested and he has a little cough, but only at nighttime. the doctor says it's nothing to worry about and gave us some suggestions that might help his nose clear up sooner than later. i'm excited about giving andy his father's day present tonight (his first ever!) - go wish him a happy (belated) father's day! here's a video of silas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR2BaA_huWI 2008-06-19