Oh the adventures we've had!

Yesterday Larry got off of work early and we took advantage of the opportunity. First, we joined a tour of the Anthony Thomas Chocolate Factory and watched them make chocolate buckeyes. You can't take pictures in the factory, but here's a picture of us with the biggest buckeye in the world, and it can be yours for the bargain price of $3,500.00!

Larry is a happy man anywhere that he can find lots of sugar!After that we something else we've been meaning to do since we moved to Columbus; we went to Hocking Hills and spent the afternoon letterboxing and hiking. We decided to walk to Ash Caves first

Next we hit old Man's Cave and I don't have any pictures that really do it justice.

After hiking around to the Upper Falls at Old Man's Cave we drove up to hike to Rock House, which ended up being our favorite site of the day. It's a good things we were following some letterboxing clues or we would have missed the entrance to the cave. Again, the photos don't even begin to show you how cool it was. Here's the entrance:

inside (the pictures are a little bit blurry because it was dark in ther eand we had to use a night time exposure)

And here's Creed's first letterbox (I can't tell you the name of it because I wouldn't want to spoil any secrets). Hopefully there will be many more.

After all of that we were pretty tired and we got back to Columbus just in time to go to dinner and then head home for bed. Unfortunately, we didn't get a lot of sleep because I woke up with intense stomach pain around 2:30 in the morning. Larry and I couldn't figure out what was wrong, and I was bawling so we felt lucky that my parents we there and we could leave Creed with them and head to the emergency room (Larry was all sentamental, "Awe, our first trip to the emergency room together!")

After lots of tests and lots of vomiting, we still aren't sure what was wrong, but I feel soooooooo much better! There are all sorts of theories: my intestine was folded over on itself but self corrected, my gallbladder had sludge in it, etc. They said that 40% of the time they can't figure out what causes belly pain, and I seem to be one of the lucky ones with no clue what happened. I have never felt anything like that before and I hope that I never do again. They offered to keep me in the hospital another day, but with a two month old at home who needs to nurse and a husband who starts his rotation in the ER today and could treat me just as well at home as in the hospital, I decided to tough it out at home. After some more pain medication and a nap, I actually feel really good. I was able to take it easy today while my parents went to the Memorial Tournament (thanks for the tickets Jill!) so I didn't feel guilty about laying around. My friend Julia drove me to an ultrasound this afternoon, which gave us a chance to catch up. We went to high school together and I was shocked and excited to see her in church on Sunday. Her husband is just starting medical school at OSU so she was able to see where her husband will be spending a lot of his time and I was able to find out what's she's been up to.

It all worked out really well, but I could go without anymore adventures for a few days. My parents leave tomorrow and I'm really going to miss them. I really love watching scenes like this

and this

Oh ya, and of course we love seeing this around our house!

Two months!

Here are Creed's two month pictures. First here he is in his blessing outfit (he doesn't want you to think that he's indecent all the time!)

And here he is in the buff.

What? Did you say he's becoming husky?

Creed is shocked that you would be so rude!

And here's his one month picture so you can use it as evidence that your accusations aren't unfounded. He certainly has gained a few pounds, but you didn't hear it from me!

Creed's blessing

Larry blessed Creed in church yesterday (kind of like a christening in other religions) and we were lucky enough to have a lot of friends and family there. My parents came to visit from Utah, and my little sister Marissa and her husband Mike drove up from Tennessee. I wish that she wasn't standing behind me in this picture so you could see her cute pregnant belly. She's expecting a boy at the end of the summer, which means Creed has all male cousins on both sides of the family. My little brother Eli just emailed us from his mission to say that having all nephews is the best thing in the world because we don't need anymore girls around the house. Can you tell that he grew up with three older sisters and no brothers? Every time my family gets together they break out the games (and you have to watch out for Marissa, she cheats!) Too bad Larry had to go to bed early so he would be ready for work at the crack of dawn.

My favorite conversation of the night went something like this:

Marissa: This game is just too easy!

Mike: What do you mean? You've lost every round.

Marissa: Uh, I mean too easy for YOU!

And Mike had to try to impress dad (his old professor) with his engineering t-shirt and skills

If you didn't know us I think from these pictures you would guess that Mike was related to me instead of Marissa, wouldn't you?

Where have we been?

We've been avoiding the house as much as possible while we got a new roof and new siding. I'll spare you the details, but it's been a long week! Creed and I still managed to have some fun with our friends Nikki and Audrey on two shopping trips (hey, that's as thrilling to them right now as any other play date). Don't they look like they are really enjoying themselves?

And since I had a chance to give Audrey a present that I made for her, I can finally show it to you.
It's the first one that I've made so it's far from perfect, but I had fun making it. I've improved since then but I can't show you pictures yet, because they are more gifts. I love monograms on everything and it was a good opportunity to buy some cute fabric so I couldn't resist.

My parents are coming into town today because we are blessing Creed in church this Sunday (kind of like a christening in other religions). I'm feeling a little guilty because I totally spaced the fact that they are going to be here the week of the memorial golf tournament and my dad is the biggest golf fan I know. Had I realized it earlier I probably could have begged some tickets, but now I'm afraid that it's too late! I guess we'll just have to find lots of other fun things to do to keep my parents entertained!

I'm the best cook ever!

Ok, if you know me, you know that I'm a horrible cook. I inherited my creativity from my mom, but I also inherited a disinterest in cooking from her. she says she fells like cooking is a waste of time because you can spend ages cooking and at the end of the night you have nothing to show for it but a pile of dirty dishes. I just don't really know how to cook so there are very few recipes that I know how to make and the few times I've come across a new recipe and gone out to get all of the ingredients I've been so disappointed when the meal wasn't even very good and i tried so hard. I've pretty much given up but now that I'm staying home and now that we have a little one to think about things have to change.

Larry and I have decided to try to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables (we're really good at buying them, but then we let them go bad in the fridge) and to branch out and try to cook some actual meals once in awhile. Before we went to the grocery store on Saturday night (what a glamorous life we lead when heading to the grocery store is the most exciting part of our Saturday) we each had to pick a new recipe to try. We decided to start with recipes from the Kraft Foods magazine since they're so easy and we're not exactly chefs (do you get this magazine? It's full of really simple recipes and the best part is that it's completely free. Click here to subscribe). I picked the quick and easy Porkchop Simmer and made it last night and it actually turned out edible! I grilled some asparagus. I had no idea how to cook it, but I came across directions on the Restaurant Widow's blog. If you live in Columbus, you have to check out this blog. I forgot about it for awhile until my friend Nikki reminded me about it by sending me a link to a review of a restaurant, and it's full of helpful info.

Anyway, I was so proud of my dinner that I took a picture to remember it by (yes, I know that's lame!)

And as long as I'm talking about recipes, I thought I would share a recipe for some cookies that I made on Sunday. It only has a few ingredients so it's incredibly easy (just my style of cooking!)

Oreo Cookies (from my friend Melinda's mom)

1 box of devil's food cake mix

3/4 cup of shortening

2 eggs

Mix ingredients together and bake 7 - 10 minutes at 350 degrees (I usually end up cooking them a little bit longer until the tops begin to crack)

Put cream cheese frosting between two cookies.

So yummy!

Weekend Wonders

Saturday Larry had his first day off so far this month! I love seeing him like this with Creed. And I realized that I haven't been taking or posting any pictures of myself, so incase you forgot, here's what I look like.

And Creed was looking rather dapper today so I have to post this picture of him hanging in his crib isn't he adorable? I can't believe that he's almost two months old!

The looks of Creed

Creed has a serious side and a silly side

and every once in a while, we catch a glimpse of his sleepy side

Last night

Last night we watched Nacho Libre and during the movie I looked over at Larry and saw this!

and like father, like son!

Growing up

Creed and I had lunch with our friends Nikki and Audrey yesterday. I wish I remembered to take a picture because Audrey is only a week and a half younger than Creed and he looks like he could eat her! She gave him this new friend.

And he puts his arm around it and cuddles with it when he's tired, which I think is adorable!

Sometimes he still seems so little but then I compare these pictures
Suddenly he doesn't seem so small. We've already had to move the straps and headrest up.

Progress on Creed's Room

Creed's room isn't quite finished, but it's starting to come together, and my family asked for pictures so here they are. His crib is finally set up, and I think we're going to hang that huge letter C on the wall above it. I think I may try painting a brown star behind it, but we'll see.

We finished repainting Creed's dresser and adding hardware to it. I think I'm going to hang the pigeon pictures above it. The changing pad will go on the dresser, but it's in our room for now.

What else does it need? Any suggestions mom?

Pigeon Close-up

I finished the pigeon paintings. Now I just need to hang them up in Creed's room!

And don't you think that I NEED this stuffed animal to go with the pictures?
They also have characters from Mo Willems other books, Knuffle Bunny and Leonardo the Terrible Monster.

Happy Mother's Day

Larry was on overnight call last night so my first Mother's Day started without him, but he was there to greet me and Creed when we got home from church and he was in the middle of making lunch and cupcakes. As you can see I was very spoiled (ok, maybe I bought to Doris Day dvds for myself and told Larry they were his gift to me for Mother's Day). My favorite gift? Larry watched Creed and let me take and nap and while I was sleeping, he caught this picture of Creed smiling!

Wonderful Wednesday

I'm a little behind around here so I'm just getting to telling you about our Wednesday. Creed and I went delivering. I know that I've talked about it here before, but for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, delivering is a tradition that I started in high school. On days that I was feeling awful or I was just plain bored I would pick up a bunch of something (bagels, popcicles, cheap magazines, whatever) and then I delivered them to whoever came to mind; people that I thought could use a little cheering up or people that I hadn't had a chance to visit with in a while, etc. It's the best way to cheer yourself up and it's also something that I like to do if I'm having a hard time with my goal of a daily act of service that I wouldn't normally do (I haven't done very well with that goal since having Creed so I'm really working on that now). Wednesday I delivered lotion, but I still have a few deliveries left to make another day. And Creed and I made it home in time to see this site.Oh yes, that's OSU's new Outstanding Housestaff Member!!!!! The medical students vote on the most outstanding housestaff every year and this year Larry was selected. They only chose 3 of the 600 residents and fellows and I'm so proud of him. He'll be receiving his award at the commencment services in June. And I also have to mention that Larry absolutely HATES mowing the lawn so that's always a big act of service on his part.

And last, but not least, I had to include this picture of Creed. Someone around here is really chunking up and it's not me! I swear he's wearing a diaper, but you can't see it under there.