The Prodigal Blogger

We are BACK from our long blogging vacation!! I'm not sure why it's been so long since I've blogged last. Howie and I have been staying home most days because I'm trying to get him on a good nap routine, and we live out in Timbucktoo with no internet. But a blog update is WAYYYY overdue, so here we go. (This was supposed to be accompanied with some pictures of recent events, but I left our computer with all of our pictures on it at home in our rush to get out the door... with baby, baby's bag, baby's seat, mama, papa, mama's purse, etc.)

Josh and I have been watching a lot of football with the NFL season in full swing. That's been pretty amazing. I caught Howie trying to watch the Colts game yesterday evening... already a fan!! We don't let him watch TV, but if we did, I'm glad to know that he's already developed good taste in NFL teams.

Remember all of our wildlife stories from our apartment? Well, there have been several more nasty bug encounters since the last story, so many in fact that Josh is trying to kill bugs in his sleep. We were in Peachtree City for the weekend, and Josh's mom, knowing that he is a proficient spider killer, introduced Josh to a huge spider on their back porch and asked him to get rid of it. Josh made a valient effort, but the spider seems to have fallen to the ground before we could be sure that it was dead. I'm sure it was at least a little injured. (Mr. Desch also sprayed huge amounts of bug killer in the general area where he fell.) Anyway, we all went to bed and thought maybe the spider would be back in his web the next night. I didn't sleep well that night because I'm currently sick, and at one point I saw Josh get up out of bed. I asked him what he was doing, thinking he was probably just going to the bathroom, and he mumbled some half-asleep gibberish... what I made out was "I'm going to look for spiders." I, being fully awake, thought this was hilarious but I also wanted him to be quiet because Howie was sleeping in our room too, and I didn't want him to wake up. I asked Josh again where he was going, and he repeated that he was going to look for spiders. He was almost out the door when I finally convinced him to get back in bed. His exterminating services are being called upon so often that he's ready at a moment's notice, even when he's asleep.

I've been reading cookbooks a lot recently- I kind of read them like normal books, over and over. I just love cooking, so I always like to read the cookbooks in search of a good recipe. Josh and I are currently on a pie kick, specifically, PUMPKIN pie. Neither one of us has ever baked a pie, but we're going to try. We got a pumpkin pie at the Fresh Market a couple of weeks ago, and it was sooo good. I had forgotten how good pumpkin pie was!! I've always been intimidated by pie crust, but I'm gathering up my courage and we are going to attempt to make one. My aunt Martha makes the best pies... we'll have to ask for a tutorial when we're in Peoria next time. But for now we're on our own. We'll keep you posted on the results. So anyway, this latest forage into the cookbooks was a search for the perfect and most fool-proof pumpkin pie recipe. While I was looking I came across a chapter in one of the cookbooks called "Side Dishes and Salads," or something like that. As most of you know, I am not a fan of condiments, with the exception of ketchup on french fries. I do not care for mayonnaise, mustard, any kind of salad dressing, etc. Most of these things that qualify as "salads" are held together with some combination of condiments. So this chapter made me shiver a little bit. Then I came across a recipe called "Snicker Salad." What? A salad made out of Snickers? Aren't salads supposed to be green and leafy? Or at least be made of mostly healthy things? Oh no, this salad was made up of chopped up Snicker bars, part of an apple, and Cool Whip. That is definitely NOT a salad in my book, but I guess if more salads were made with candy, more people would like them!

In Howie news, he turned 3 months old this past Saturday and started giggling this past week!!! It is the cutest sound I have ever heard, and Josh and I will do whatever it takes to make him giggle. It's still pretty hard to get a giggle out of him, so you usually have to go to some extremes to be rewarded. Before I had Howie I always vowed that I would never be one of those parents who talked tons of baby talk to their babies. Well, that's definitely out the window. I've been talking baby talk like crazy since Howie was born. There's just something about that sweet little baby face and chubby cheeks that makes the silly words come out. Last week I got Howie to laugh by saying "Ooga Booga" over and over. Whatever it takes. Whole sentences have their place, but there's nothing like some good old baby talk to make Howie smile. Josh has discovered that Howie likes to be lifted up and down, so he does that to make him laugh. That's too much work for me, so I resort to baby talk and old-fashioned tickling.

Well, that's partial update on our life. I can't believe it's already October!! 2007 is just flying by. I'm also getting excited about Christmas!! I put some Christmas music on the other day just for kicks... I know it's a little early, but what the heck.

Love to you from us in Georgia!!