Hello, 911.

My son has an addiction to the telephone. He nearly hurt himself climbing the back of the couch to reach it on the bar so many times that we tried two different things:

1. Move the couch.
2. Move the phone.

Neither one truly worked. The couch just needs to be on that wall for optimal room function. Now, with the phone gone he still climbs up there in hopes of discovering it accidentally placed there. (We have left it there on occasion instead of taking it to the cradle.) Before you get worried and think the little guy has been seriously injured, that is not the case. But we're going to need to teach him that 911 is only for moments like that and not just to call on any occasion.

The other day he got a hold of my cell phone and accidentally called 3 people. If you have been pranked recently - it may have been my son. I apologize. When we realized that my dear husband, not wanting another temper tantrum (as is usual when the phone is taken away) took the SIM card out of my phone instead and quickly gave it back. We knew that these phones can still call 911 - but seriously, what were the chances. Unfortunately we didn't know that this particular model of phone changes the the Internet button (topmost right button) into an SOS button. All he had to do was press that button twice. (Once for 911 to be prepared to dial, twice to put it on Speaker and dial away.) Who designs these stupid phones anyway?

Luckily for us it was on speaker! Here is what happened:

I heard:
OP: "911, please sate the nature of your emergency. Hello... 911. Hello?"
At which point I ran over and grabbed the phone:
ME: "Oh my gosh I am so sorry, my son has been playing with the phone. I'm so sorry." Of course the dear little one starts screaming at the top of his lungs because I have taken his most prized toy away.
OP: "Is everything okay Ma'am?"
ME: "Yes, I'm so sorry. I don't know how he got you, he's only 13 months. Oh my goodness. I'm sorry."
OP: "That's okay Ma'am. Is everything okay there?"
ME: "Yes of course, I can't believe this. Oh my, I'm sorry."
OP: "Ma'am is it just you and your son there?"
ME: "Yes, and my husband is here too."
OP: "Okay Ma'am, is everything okay between you?"
ME: "Yes, oh, seriously, it was just my son calling by accident, I'm so sorry."
OP: "Okay then. You might want to turn off the phone."
(Ha ha - tried that one, he can turn it back on already.)
ME: "Oh yeah, okay I'm sorry. Thanks."
OP: "Alright Ma'am have a good afternoon."
ME: "Thanks. Bye."
(AAAAHHHHH!)

Let's just say the phone is no longer a toy. We did buy a toy Spiderman cell phone for him to play with though.

What to do with the Fun Money...

Well, as you all know the dates have come and gone. We all have that Economic Stimulus money. Well, I hope we've all received it. The day after we got it we went and made our first purchase with it. A BBQ! Yea! In Provo we had a small charcoal (table size) BBQ that took forever to get warm and even longer to cook. That same night we cooked up some seasoned chicken and grilled some Yellow Squash. Yum. Talk about delicious. Hope you're all enjoying your cash.

How does your garden grow?

Gardening is actually something I enjoy doing. I think I had forgotten that after the years of living in rentals. But this year I have my very own (alright, I share with my husband - ha ha ha) flower gardens! I must admit I didn't really know where to begin. I mean - perrenials, annuals, sun, shade, vines and ground covers were just the beginning choices. It's true, I felt overwhelmed. So I did a little internet research and learned a whole lot. But now it's experiment time!
I bought a ton of plants at a local High School Plant Sale. Did I mention that when I realized how much a flower garden can cost I nearly choked? Luckily the sale saved me a TON of money. Next year I'll be buying there again. So now I just have to plant them all! Unfortunately, it's been raining so much I'm not sure I'll ever see enough sunshine to motivate me to go outside.

Singing His Praises

You could say I was spoiled this Mother's Day, and that would be an understatement. It must be that my awesome husband hasn't forgotten how difficult pregnancy can be, or perhaps, he just can't get labor out of his head. I'm sure that the endless hours I have spent caring for our son have given me some Mommy points as well.
I really wasn't sure how this Mother's Day could be better than the last. I mean, last year we were in Canada with my family, our tiny new baby, and we had him blessed. I got a beatiful necklace then. But somehow my husband managed to wow me again.
He had several gifts wrapped: a snow-cone maker and some of the snow-cone syrups (yum), a lavender bath set, and several other gifts (some were just things he picked up at the store and decided to wrap to throw me off and for laughs). Then, he wrapped little notes onto 3 roses with gifts for me to use later:
1. Lunch at Ipanema
2. Spa time
3. Dinner and a Movie without the kid
I'd say he went over the top, but then he might take something back before I get to use it. He truly spoiled me.
I only have one problem with all this - There's no way to beat that on Father's Day!