Product reviews, parenting articles, and advice for first-time moms from the experiences of real-life mommies.

Baby Whisperer on Oprah

You Know You Live in Texas…

This is not my list, but when my friend, Karen, sent this to me, I laughed so hard that I just knew I couldn’t keep it to myself.  Tell me which one had you rolling in the comments section below!  

You know you are in TEXAS in AUGUST when:

1. The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.

2. The trees are whistling for the dogs.

3. The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.

4. Hot water now comes out of both taps.

5. You can make sun tea instantly.

6. You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.

7. The temperature drops below 95 and you feel a little chilly.

8. You discover that in August it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car.

9. You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.

10. You actually burn your hand opening the car door.

11. You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m.

12. Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, ‘What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death.

13. You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.

14. The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper.

15. Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.

16. The cows are giving evaporated milk.

John Mayer Concert!!

Our wonderful friends, Jon and Terri, invited us to join them on the lawn at the John Mayer concert at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands recently. And it was A-W-E-S-O-M-E! It was HOT and it was HOT. And if you look at the picture here and see John in the middle, you’ll know what I’m saying about that second HOT…

Yes.  That’s John Mayer.  With a newly shaved head and NO shirt.  (You can click on the pic to see it a little bigger and get a better look.

Did I mention that he had no shirt on?  

Now, granted it was hot as holy Hades (as it always is in Houston in August) and any shirt he may have attempted to wear would have been soaked through with sweat within 30 seconds on stage, but…  All I know is all the women in the SOLD-OUT crowd were fanning themselves (and not just from the temperature heat) and all the men were wondering when he got so buff.  :)  And while I’m sure some of the ladies were upset that he shaved all his hair off, I kind of like it because, well…  it reminds me of another shaved head on a man that I’m totally in love with – yes, that’s you, honey.  So, for John, the shaved head was definitely a plus in my book!  :)

Looks aside, the concert was absolutely phenomenal.  The quality of musicianship from the ENTIRE band was probably one of the best I’ve ever heard at a live concert.  Even from Sting.  And I REALLY like Sting.

John did several solos that were beyond phenomenal, but the long solo during ‘Mercy’ was so incredibly off-the-hook that everyone who was there will be talking about it for years to come.  Not only did he play a great shredding solo to start with, but then he played behind his head.  And then he held the guitar by it’s neck with one hand and played it.  But the real OMG! moment was when he laid the guitar on the floor of the stage and continued to play it while crouched down over it.  That was it.  I was done.  He could have ended the concert then and there and I would have happily oozed to the car and sat in traffic to get out of the parking lot.  Yes, it was THAT spectacular.

But, thank God that was not the end of the concert, because there was so much more great music to enjoy!  He did a great job of playing to all of his different fans, and when he started playing “Crossroads” by Stevie Ray Vaughan (one of his inspirations to start learning guitar, btw), Shawn and our friend, Jon, were both done for the night, too.  (You see, they’re both big SRV fans, and SRV was really big in Texas, so when John Mayer started playing SRV, they were both really happy, and well, I think you probably got the connection by now…) 

But, one of my favorite things about the night was his interaction with the audience.  Always smooth, always humble (wha, wha, what? A superstar like John Mayer, humble?  Yip.  So awesome.), always witty.  At one point I leaned over to Terri and said, ”I think he reads a lot.  I mean, he keeps using those big college-level words like ‘expository’.”  :)  She said, “Yeah.  My personal favorite was ‘cocooning’.  In fact, I’m going to start using that phrase – ‘I wasn’t being cocky, I was just cocooning myself in positivity.’”  Well, whatever you were doing John, it worked, because we all loved it!

So, I suppose I’ve rambled through all of this enough for you to know that I had a great night.  And this is my way of sharing my joy and also my way of saying THANK YOU to Jon and Terri.  What a perfect evening!  :)

I’ll Give You a Cookie If You’ll Just Finish Your Cheetos!

Yes. You read that title right.  And yes.  That’s an actual statement that’s been used in my house recently.  sigh.

I’m constantly amazed at our children and the things that they choose NOT to eat.  Like finishing their cheetos so that they can be done with lunch and get dessert.  It’s not like I’m asking them to eat asparagus or brussel sprouts or even broccoli (they LIKE brocolli).  But when they choose to wage war at the dinner table, somehow they always wind up the victors.  Because either way it goes, the parentals wind up frustrated and losing their cool.  And then it’s just amazing that a 3 year old can have more persistence than a 35 year old.  So many questions I have for God…

So, if you’ve ever made the mistake of engaging in this war, too, then you’ll LOVE this recent post from one of my favorite bloggers, dooce.  This post made me laugh so hard that I was crying.  And when Kate came in to ask for Fritos an hour before dinner time, it just made me laugh even more.  So enjoy.  And be sure to tell me your favorite part, cuz I’m still laughing at the comment about the iPhone and other first world conversations…