Video from Today

Today, I awoke full of energy, which for me, a non-morning-person, is very rare. I got up, got some things ready for Elijah's breakfast, and then got him up when he awoke. Did the whole routine, and had some fun play time.

The energy has continued throughout the day, for the most part. You wouldn't know it by looking at my home, but I've been able to get a lot of things done today. We had another fun time this afternoon, right before his nap time, and I managed to catch our new game on video. When I don't have a video camera in my hand, I get a LOT more laughter out of him...possibly because I can be a bit crazier, move a bit faster, etc.

I also love hearing him say "Mama." I'm sure there will be a day when I'll hear "mommy, mommy, mommy" eight thousand times and be annoyed by it, but for right now, the sound of it makes me deliriously happy!

So, I'm amazed that I was able to shoot, edit and post some video all on the same day! Here it is.

Up, dressed and reading the mail

Our morning was a bit of an adventure...I didn't notice the, um, mess when I got Elijah up this morning. I got the sippy cup and he was drinking milk before I noticed that my arm felt damp. That can only mean one thing. Sure enough, his sheets were a mess, as was I, and for all I knew, every part of his body. I got him in the bath, and went on from there. By breakfast, I was pretty tired! I don't know why he's not sleeping right now; it's nap time, he's in his bed, and still talking to himself and yelling now and then. He looked so sleepy, but this is looking like it might be a one-nap day. Oh, well.

Time for some coffee!

Hi!

Moving things out of reach

Guess who discovered he can pull papers off the fridge? I had to
quickly move everything to higher ground.

In the children's book section:

Cute book with a very eye-catching title!

A Boy and His Car

Labor Day Weekend

We had a very low-key weekend; no specific plans. It was our last weekend before the new church launches! (Soooo excited about that; more about it sometime later.) The only adventure we had involved Elijah falling and chipping one of his front teeth. Yikes!

It's hard to see here, but here it is:

We didn't even have a dentist for him yet. But a quick call to the pediatrician (they were actually open on Saturday morning!) got us 2 referrals, and both dentists called back right away. By 10 a.m., we were holding him down for his first dental exam and X-ray. No major damage, fortunately! But the dentist recommended that we come back in on Tuesday to have it bonded.

(Side note: we did discover something unusual: he has 2 extra front teeth---baby teeth---behind the ones that are already there. So it's possible that he may have other extra ones, or missing ones somewhere. The dentist said around age 3 we may have to have these extra ones removed because they're growing up and back, and they could interfere with his permanent teeth when they come in. Darn!!!! I feel sorry for him already...dental work is no fun. Not to mention expensive. Maybe we'll have dental insurance by then??)

So, on Tuesday I entered the dentist's office with much trepidation, not knowing whether they were going to have to give him drugs or what...but they weren't kidding---it was a really fast procedure. From the moment we walked in the door until we were back out at the car was about 5 minutes. We had to hold him down on the chair (I had his legs, the hygenist had his arms, and the dentist had his head), but they just painted on the plastic bonding material, cured it with a UV light, and we were done. No restrictions on activity, eating, or anything. Amazing.

Poor little dude...he did NOT like being restrained like that. Afterward, he hugged me tight...held on to me like never before. Fortunately he let me put him in the car seat. Here's to hoping he's not deathly afraid of anyone in a white coat from now on.

And here's the "after" photo:

It looks just like it did before, though the bonding material made his tooth slightly thicker. And it's funny, in this photo it looks like a slightly different color than the other teeth, but it doesn't look like that in person. Must be the flash on my camera.

So now I just have to pray that the tooth is healthy and doesn't turn gray at any point...I'd love for him to have his baby teeth until they're supposed to fall out!

I'm hoping for NO more adventures for a very long time. But with him heading into his toddler years, and being a boy, I'm not too optimistic!

Ugh, not now!!!

In the midst of one of the busiest weeks of my life (ok, I exaggerate; I'm sure there have been others), I am coming down with a cold. I have been burning the candle at both ends, which I'm sure is the reason. Plus, the little dude has had a runny nose for a couple of days. (I would add a photo, but I have a thing about photographing him with all those boogers. Grosses me out. Wait a sec, did I actually just write "boogers" in my blog?)

So I have at least six design projects to finish (some haven't been started yet....shhh, don't tell anyone), plus a rehearsal for worship team and I fear that I'm losing my voice. Noooooo!! I am chugging the Throat Coat tea (I swear by that stuff...it tastes bad but does the job), downing the Airborne, etc., and lots of water. The only thing missing is sleep. So, with that....

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Make Your Own Street Signs!

While designing some street signs for the elementary school environment at our new church, I stumbled upon a really great website that allows you to type in your text, click a button and download a PDF or an image of a street sign. Then I was able to open the PDFs in Illustrator, make some final tweaks, and voila! Kindergarten Street on up through Fifth Grade Drive were done in a flash.

I'm kind of a font geek, so I already have 20+ street (and highway) sign fonts. And I could have done it myself. But this saved me SO much time. Here's a link, in case you want to try it!

And oh my goodness, Wigflip.com has lots of other fun little tools, too! I could waste hours here. But I won't...lots of other graphics to crank out tonight!