Random Roundup

1. Haley has an ear infection. Apparently my daughter inherited my high tolerance for pain because when I took her in on Friday the ear infection had already ruptured. I had no idea anything was even wrong with her until I noticed some drainage in her ear. The doctor assured me once again that I was not the world's worst mom and gave us some ear drops to heal it right up. This morning she was good as new.

2. I turned 29 on Thursday. There is something very doom and gloom about 29...it is basically just a holding point for 30. I can hardly believe that I am so close to leaving me twenties behind. It was an amazing decade.

On to more exciting birthday news...I got to celebrate twice. On my actual birthday Justin and Haley took me to dinner at Texas Roadhouse (best rolls ever). They also got me a new bracelet and a really sweet card. I couldn't have asked for a better birthDAY. Then Saturday night we got together with friends and family at one of my favorites spots...Texadelphia (best cheese dip ever)...for cheesesteaks and a few brews. It was a wonderful night only made better by arriving home to a giant cookie cake. I love my life...even if I am turning 30 in 365 days.

3. I bought some picture flashcards the week before last in an attempt to be a better mom and have been trying to use them with Haley. She doesn't really like to sit and go through them as I had originally intended, instead she takes them all out, spreads them on the floor, and then walks all over them. When she is done making a mess she jams them all back into the box and proceeds to carry it around the house repeating over and over "flashcards, flashcards, flashcards". It is hilarious. The way she says flashcards has got to be up there on her list of funniest things done to date. Justin and I can't help but laugh every time.

4. Justin and I added a few more movies to our have watched column.

Movie: 500 Days of Summer
Buskirk Review: 4 Stars

Movie: Time Travelers Wife (only watched by myself)
Buskirk Review: 3 Stars
Sara's Tear Jerker Review: off the charts!!

Random Roundup

1. Haley had her 18 month checkup last Thursday. She is growing like a tall skinny weed; she is in the 95th percentile for height but on the 55% for weight. The doctor said everything looks great. On a negative note I think Haley has decided to hate the doctor's office. As soon as we set foot in the cheerfully colored patient room and she heard the crackle of the paper on the exam table she went ballistic. She cried and screamed and cried some more until we finally let her crawl around on the floor and play with every odd thing in my purse. I think at one point her tools of fun were a nail file, some anti-bacterial foam, and a hair tie. Thankfully Haley is not the first baby to cry through an appointment. Our doctor just talked a little louder and we moved through the appointment as though everything was cool.

2. Justin and I watched a couple movies last week. Apparently we are now getting into the comedy section of our queue. Here are a couple of reviews for you:

Movie: Hot Tub Time Machine.
Buskirk Review: 2 1/2 stars

Movie: I Love You Man
Buskirk Review: 4 1/2 stars (Just might not agree but I thought it was hilarious!)

3. Friday night we got together as a family to wish Kurt and Agata safe travels. They are headed to Italy for 2 weeks to visit Agata's family and do some sight seeing. Listening to all their plans half made me want to get a passport and hop in their luggage but then I thought a 9 hour flight in the luggage compartment might not be very pleasant. I will have to settle for Surfside beach and trips to the outdoor Pearland mall for now.

4. Saturday morning we went to IHOP. I love IHOP. What is not to love about pancakes, hash browns, and OJ?!?! I loved it at 4:00 in the morning in college when I was battling too many beers and I still love it now at 8:00 in the morning when I am trying to restrain my toddler from putting syrup in her hair. Their food may not be all that amazing, their service never the best, but the place always smells like bacon. I love IHOP.

5. Justin missed out on IHOP but instead got to get up at 4:00 in the morning to go fishing to catch nothing but back pain. I love my husband more than I could ever express but I will never understand the obsession with fishing. Fishing to me is less exciting than watching a pizza bake.

Big Girl

Our little girl is 1 1/2 years old today! She is growing up too fast.

Happy 1/2 birthday munchkin! We love you.

Sorry for the less than stellar photo quality. Let's just say that photo shoots are way easier with an assistant.  Plus, I promise, she smiles...alot.

Random Roundup

1. Last week I got my first trial run of being a stay home mommy...sort of. Haley was sent home from school Monday and Wednesday with fever so I got to stay home with her all day on Tuesday and Thursday. As a side note I think there might actually be something wrong with the daycare thermometer because I never recorded over a 99.2 degree temp once she was home but I am not going to speak up...she did have a runny nose which needed to be mommy monitored. Ha. I love getting to spend the day playing and snuggling with my little girl. She is such a joy right now always wanting to play and read...and give hugs. It is amazing all the cool things she can say and do now. I am constantly in awe. As a trial run for staying home I think it went pretty well. I can see where there will need to be some adult time interjected throughout the week but for the most part it was a blast. I can hardly wait.

2. Buffalo Chicken Pizza Friday.

Based on past Random Roundups, and today's, it seems like our family eats a ridiculous amount of pizza. I promise I do cook dinner from time to time and it is generally healthy. Ha.

3. So after staying home with a booggered little Haley last week wouldn't you know that I would come down with the worst case of the cold yet. Justin had a little go round right before Haley, then it was Haley with the sniffles, and then me with the full blown cough, sneeze, chills, common cold. How is it that the mom always get the worst of it and have to still keep plugging a long. PS. There is nothing harder than having to get up in the middle of the night when you can hardly breath to rock your toddler back to sleep while trying desperately not to sneeze or cough. I love being sick.

4. Justin, Haley, and I attended a little pool party on Saturday to wish our friends Brett and Sophie and their little girl Annabelle farewell. After working in the US for about 2 years they decided it was time to head home to Australia. It is sad to see them go but I know they must miss there family terribly and this will be a good move for them. I know it is hard for us with Justin's family living in Nebraska and missing them all the time but just imagine if they lived on a different continent. I don't think international living is the Buskirk future.

5. Friday night, along with the pizza, Justin and I watched 17 Again. I am almost embarrassed to write that I put this movie in our queue but I was pleasantly surprised in the end. If you are looking for a deep sophisticated movie this is not for you. This was much more of a funny family movie with some romance mixed in.

Movie: 17 Again
Buskirk Review: 4 stars

Random Roundup

1. Saturday night we had some friends over for a little Fiesta. No real reason just an excuse to get together and have some fun.We had fajitas and queso (yummy) and then after dinner we all settled in for a little friendly competition. We played LCR and Guts. I think Justin ended up losing $20!!!! Ha. I tend to be a fan of the free games. Maybe next time I can get a rousing game of Go Fish started up.

2. If you are a fan of Central Texas BBQ in Pearland Texas I suggest you call in your food before hand or get it to go on Friday nights. I was starving, it was already 7:00 (yes we eat on a seniors schedule), and we ended up having to wait in line for 45 minutes. I was so irritated by the time I got our food that I thought I might explode. Fortunately the food was delicious...and as soon as I took a bite of the peach cobbler their slate was wiped clean in my book.

3. I am ridiculously tired today. I imagine it has something to do with it being Monday and my office being really slow. It am drained of the energy to come up with more witty snip its from last week so this will be it. Sorry.

Random Roundup

1. I tried my skills out on another new recipe. I am not sure if skills is the right word since the most difficult step in this recipe was boiling water but I am going to go with it. I saw the recipe the week before last on the Tasty Kitchen blog and thought it looked right up our alley. It came together real quick and tasted pretty good. Here is the link to recipe. We added a little extra cheese to ours (of course) and had it will green beans and garlic bread. Yummy.

2. This weekend Justin left town, yet again, for a fishing trip to Seadrift. He was gone Friday through Sunday. It was a group of about 10 of them and I think they had a pretty good time. The weather was really hot but they still managed to catch some fish and have a little fun. Justin even won a $1.50 in the Saturday night poker game. As you can see from his winnings it was high stakes. Ha.

3. Since all our men were out of town for the weekend we decided to have a little girls weekend of our own. We had a lot less booze and a majority of our participants were under the age of 6 but we still had a blast. Friday night my niece Lucy had a girls only birthday party with some of her friends so we spent our first night of Girls Weekend painting finger nails, eating pizza and cake, and making tie dyed shirts. Saturday we charged up with a breakfast at Cracker Barrel before spending the day shopping over at Baybrook. During all the down time in between we just enjoyed relaxing and visiting. When even found time to watch some new movies. It will say that it was, hands down, the best slumber party I have been to in the last 15 years (and the only).

Movie:  Remember Me
Buskirk Review: 4 stars

Movie: Up in the Air
Buskirk Review: 4 stars