in love.

with zappos.
seriously. i have a problem...

after my one shoe debacle, i've just decided to go with reliable. and free shipping. and free return shipping!
somehow i became a vip member. i think it was when i called about my slippers mentioned in the squidward boots. however it happened, i couldn't be happier.

i have since bought one more pair of boots. ;-)
i think it's my british obsession. and of course now that i have them, it is warm and not rainy. oh well, i'm prepared!

then we bought ben two pairs of shoes last week. well, one pair are already destroyed...okay not totally but the white is now black on the toes. which is fine by us. it means homey is having a good time at daycare and crawling like crazy and playing outside! and even better for me because i could indulge in shopping! i'll use any excuse.  true shopaholic, right?

so he had these and these{well, of course there are no linkies for this pair... whatever} i did take a picture, maybe i'll upload the pics from the camera some day.

anyway.

yesterday at like 7 in the evening i ordered these. and they were here today! for free. free overnight shipping! pure awesomeness and that is why i'm totally in love with zappos and will be buying from them forever...

i already have some sandals picked out for beaner. just have to take him to be sized in like june-ish and then will order from my second favorite online shopping site. of course amazon has to win!

is it sad?

that i just want to color in one of ben's birthday gifts?

seriously, it is distracting me as i try to finish up in the scraproom. it's gonna feel sooo good to cross something off the list! actually, it's the last two things! woohoo!

we made it.

through the weekend.
no bottles!
he's only fussed a few times. and has gone to bed rather smoothly.  surprising since we haven't stuck to much of a routine this weekend... 
hoping he isn't too terrible at daycare tomorrow.  fingers crossed.
and we've officially packed up the bottles! only sippy cups for us. think we scared grammy with that one! she asked about bottles when she babysat this evening. told her he hadn't had one since friday. i think i saw her eyes bulge out of her head a bit. ;o) but they made it!

tried to take the 12 month pictures today. not sure i got anything decent. will try again and share that post someday! am really kinda relieved that this project is over. thinking i will do monthly-ish updates with a photo from that month. did i already post that here? if so, sorry. i'm babbling...

have been working away on my projects. feels so good to clean. to purge. thinking that i'm on track to finish by may! hoping, hoping, hoping.

and a ben pic.
playing with gigi's christmas gift.
his facial expression cracks me up!!

he bought me

daffodils.
sigh. i love him.
love that he thought to grab some when he was at home depot/lowes {home improvement store} buying me containers to hold my wrapping paper.
such a sweetie.
;o)

cold turkey.

saw the pediatrician today.
lots going on.
we are quitting the bottle and formula cold turkey!
i am so not a fan of crying. had the hardest time with we let him cry it out during the night. so much so, i had earplugs. ;o)
hoping this isn't too terrible.
i'm thinking the hardest time will be the goodnight bottle. nick's upstairs with him now. bless him. and no i don't have the earplugs in... yet!
today he did have one bottle. i gave it to him around 10. i know. i said i don't have the patience for crying it out! he hasn't had one since and he did great with solids and milk.  he's been drinking milk for a few months now and he loves big people food. loves it. so i'm thinking it shouldn't be too much of a problem during the day. it's that new bedtime routine that we're gonna have to figure out!

and he still has an infection in one ear. say hello to zithromax. again.
thinking we are holding off on tubes. for now. considering three different antibiotics have all been within this month. it's technically only one infection. not three. just a really resistant one. spent a ton of time with the doc on this topic: research on speech, hearing and development, risks of all these antibioitics, no more bottles... so cancelling those appointments monday. hoping that he can hang on a month or so.  hoping we are making the right decision.

and saw some strung out mother while we were there. she walked into the waiting room and nick said 'whoa' and i agreed. she just looked rough and high. then when nick is walking around with ben he turns and looks at me all big eyed... mouths that there are two cops back there with them. nice. saw her outside by herself when we were leaving and the cops were still there. wondering if it is some dcfs thing or what. but freaky nonetheless.  and i love that our doc always apologizes for his crazy friday afternoons. totally understandable by me. i find that i'm so much more patient when i'm at doctor's offices now that i work at one!

and now nick is downstairs and our little bean is asleep. only took about five minutes of crying and i think that was because he was so overtired from our busy afternoon. after the ped's office we got him two new pairs of shoes at big n little and ran to target for his antibiotics and some other random items. i <3 target!

k. off to watch purdue lose... sigh. i am such a pessimist. ;o)

i hope he's right...

being the pessimist that i am, i don't think he is....
but.
how cool is this?

okay... i think i'm done with the tourney. no promises tho! ;-)

happy first birthday bean.

he got a muffin today. ;-)

think he was confused at first. totally trying to find the frosting! and i'm not sure what he thought of the candle!

here are some fun muffin shots.

i'm thinking the last one would have been hysterical from another viewpoint. oh well. still cute!

and uncle kevin making ben laugh... so adorable.

one year post coming sometime this weekend...