No longer my baby

Yesterday we took Short Stack to the doc for his one year appointment. Everything is ship shape and he's right on schedule as far as weight, length, speech and physical developments. He told us it's ok to put Miles on a diet consisting of 100% regular food and change his bottles from formula over to whole milk. So today I used the last bit of the can we had and am now giving him nothing but regular milk in his bottles.

My baby's no longer an infant. He's growing up on me. It's the most bittersweet thing I think a parent ever goes through.

Rod Blagojevich's Theme Song

So everyone now knows this egomaniac is the first governor to be impeached and booted from office in over 20 years. Tonight I send out a suggestion to the former governor: call Bob Seger immediately and license this (most horrible song in history) as your theme song.

This is a town where everyone is reachin' for the top
This is a place where second best will never do
It's ok to want to shine
But once you step across that line
No matter where you hide I'm comin' after you

No matter how the race is run
It always ends the same
Another room without a view waits downtown
You can shake me for a while
Live it up in style
No matter what you do
I'm going to take you down

Shakedown, breakdown, takedown
Everybody wants into the crowded line
Breakdown, takedown, you're busted

Snow Day!!

This is the second snow Miles has witnessed but I'm not sure the first one counts, since he was only a few weeks old and fell asleep on me during the pictures. So, this morning we got him all bundled up, put him on his car and ventured out into the courtyard! The novelty lasted all of about 10 minutes before he started realizing how cold it was and demanded to go back into the toasty warmth of the house. However, we did get some really cute pics of him before the tantrum.

Happy Belated, Short Stack!

Yesterday was Miles' actual birthday but it was pretty uneventful. At exactly 8:10 yesterday morning I lit a candle, Matt and I sang happy birthday and then blew it out for him. He was, of course, unimpressed with our tribute but instead wanted access to the lit candle.
Later we took him to Huey's for lunch where he flirted with all the waitstaff who kept coming by to see the "birthday boy". He had his fill of fries, bread and roast beef from my french dip.

It was last Sunday that made him the star of the show! Earlier in the afternoon I hosted a potluck for my online SAHM group. Miles was intimidated with all these adults and kids invading his home and pretty much had to keep both Matt or myself within view at all times.
However, when they left and the visitors for his party started to show up he switched gears. I put on his "Fun to be 1!" t-shirt and he became the toast of the town. Just like his Mama as long as he's the center of attention he's happy. ;) He loved his first taste of cake and destroyed it as he sat in his vintage high chair. It's second generation, passed down from his Uncle Preston who also ate his very first cake sitting in the same spot. All his friends were very generous, getting him lots of great gifts that he proceeded to play with the whole day following his party.

It's been a long road to get where we are now but we're proud to say we "made it" through the first year. 1 year down, on our way to 2!!

Miles' Un-Birthday

Today was Miles' original due date. By this time last year I was HUGE, swollen, cranky and scared. At least this year I'm not scared! ;)

Betraying my generation

It's my blog so I can say this safely and without fear of reprimand: I am not an Obama-head. I didn't jump up and down screaming, "THANK YOU, OBAMA!!" this afternoon as he was sworn in yet had not completed a single presidential task at that time. In fact, I would have missed "the moment" altogether if Domino's pizza hadn't hijacked my phone number and called to give me a special deal, seeing as how I've never ordered Domino's in my entire life. But since they called me at exactly 11 o'clock this morning I got up just in time to see the loons in Washington do cartwheels once he put his hand on that bible.
Those of you who have known me for several years know that I am right leaning. What you may NOT know is that I have adopted several new beliefs over recent years. One of which renounces many of my traditional Republican viewpoints and adopts more controversial, radical ideals among them the firmly held notion that both parties have it wrong. Dead wrong. That's right - both Dem's and Repub's holding any political office are dishonest, conniving, whimpering con artists hellbent on taking as much money from the general American population while providing as little in return as possible. Do I sound jaded? Yeah, I probably do. Do I care? Nope. I've done too much reading about what really goes on behind closed doors in the White House to trust another president ever again - Obama included.
But if you want to know what really scares me here's the meat of the situation: I have a vague sense that Obama means what he says. He appears to be an idealist, someone who thinks that he can truly make a difference in the world. What exactly that difference is has never been defined and I find it amusing that people don't even care what that difference will be. They're just so happy to have someone liberal and of mixed race in office that nothing else matters. So you see, it's not Obama himself who really alarms me. After all, the president is little more than a puppet of which Congress controls the strings. What keeps me up at night is this: the absolute blind devotion of his followers. This guy is a bona fide rock star right now - he can do no wrong. He could rape a small child within the next month and the media would say, "Oh, well, no biggie. I mean we've ALL done that at some point or another." That kind of heedless reverence is truly disheartening.
It also means that horrible decisions will be overlooked simply because everyone "loves" him so much right now. PLEASE people remember that, at the very base level, Obama is a lifelong politician. This earns him a degree of untrustworthiness as well it should. He WILL lie to us during his presidential career over and over again - you can bet the farm on that. Because of this fact America's sudden infatuation with him alarms me. I feel as if Orwell's 1984 is coming to life and there is nothing I can do to stop this train from approaching.

Unlike the 53% of the population who voted for him I am, today, feeling dread and unease about the new administration. And the very fact that everyone else is elated magnifies my fears tenfold. In the meantime I can only hope for the best, but expect the worst.

Somebody loves pizza

In the future we know to order two pies: one for us and a medium cheese for Miles who will proceed to eat the entire thing.

Wolfchase Mall Playdates

So I'm learning that Miles does NOT care for crowds. We've attended 3 playdates this month already and at every one he quietly observes, snuggled close up against me the entire time. At a Wolfchase mall playdate I left for 5 minutes to fill up his bottle and by the time I got back he was crying hysterically. I heard one of the ladies saying, "Look! There's mommy! Here she comes!" I asked if he had hurt himself and they told me, "No, he just realized that you were gone." My little man is the sweetest.
We won't be attending any more playdates this month and the next time I'll see all the Bluff City Mommies is at my very own potluck on the 25th! I'm excited to see how I'm going to be able to pull off both a potluck and a one year old's birthday party on the same day. Matt and I should be headed out to Party City later on today, to see what kind of decorations they have in stock. I'd like to go with a snowflake theme but if that's not possible I'll go with blue and white. Next weekend is a big landmark day for the Bradshaws. We can hardly believe an ENTIRE YEAR has already flown by!! I still remember 2 am feedings, sleeping in shifts and trying on all the cute, tiny onesies. I was going through Miles' old clothes the other day and found a couple of those "straightjackets" we put him in to keep him from inadvertently scratching himself. I just can't bring myself to throw those away.
In more current news, Miles is now standing from 5-10 seconds at a time! Most often he starts clapping when he does this, thrilled with the sensation of defying gravity. I've yet to capture it on tape but believe me, I'm working on it.

Lunch Playdate

Wednesday Miles and I met up with a bunch of great moms called the Bluff City Mommies group. We originally met everyone at the zoo back in September but my lazy butt hasn't made it out to a single function since. Nevertheless, I promised to get Miles out to meet more kids this year so we went to Rebekah's home where we were all fed potato soup, salad and sandwiches for the little ones.
I had no idea how Miles would react since it was a small space with a LOT of noise. There were about a dozen kids running around, of various ages and he was at first intimidated. He sat in my lap the first half hour, pressed up against me and cuddling his blankie. I finally put him on the floor so that I could make our plates and when I came back in the room he was pushing a toy truck! I was so excited, thinking he'd broken out of his shell until a bigger kid accidentally stepped on one of his fingers and he started crying.
Lunch was an even bigger ordeal since everyone with a baby knows if you are holding said baby you will not be allowed to eat your own meal. He kept reaching for my salad even though I was giving him bites of chicken to munch on. If I left the table to get something else he would stand in place and cry as if I had abandoned him so I put him on my hip and started to learn how to self serve left-handed.
After lunch the adults wanted to stand around and visit but Miles didn't like this concept. He played for about 10 more minutes until another baby crawled up to him and stared at him for a moment. This totally freaked him out so he sat on his butt, looked over at me and began howling, complete with REAL TEARS (something that rarely happens). He would not even allow another one of the ladies to try and comfort him. I concluded he was tired and in dire need of a nap so we thanked Rebekah for the lunch, said quick goodbyes and left. You can probably imagine what happened next. The moment and I mean the MOMENT we walked outside and got to the car guess who was all smiles and giggles, back in his regular good mood?
Ah, kids. Ya gotta love 'em. Mainly 'cause you're stuck with them til they go to college.

I hate resolutions

Especially ones designed for new years. At the end of the year you realize you've either forgotten the original resolution or you've attempted and failed, making the whole process disheartening. I sound cynical, don't I? Imagine that.
Anyway, I've been thinking that there are two things I need to change in my life and 2009 is as good a year as any to accomplish them.
1) I need to find a good sedation dentist. Both Matt and myself have had horrible, painful childhood memories of dentists who had no regard whatsoever for our comfort levels. This has made us absolutely petrified to start a relationship with a new one. However, I've located a couple of sedation dentistry offices here in town and thought I might as well go ahead and give one of them a shot(no pun intended). I am aware of having at least one cavity that needs to be removed and after all these years of neglect I'm certain it won't be easy to fill. Friends, I need your well-wishes because this year I resolve to actually step into and hopefully stay for more than 5 minutes in a dentist's office.
2) I need to get Miles out of the house more often. Now that the cold weather has set in walks in the park (something he LOVES to do) aren't really so much of an option. But I've discovered a Midsouth Mommies group that meets up about once a week. Sometimes it's a mall playground, sometimes someone's home, sometimes Chuck E Cheese. All of these are wonderful opportunities for Miles to meet other babies and also chances for me to bond with some new grown-ups. I've already booked Miles and myself for 4 playdates this month, including a potluck I'll be hosting at month's end.

2008 really, really sucked in many different ways for my family. My 2009 resolution is to have the courage to make this year really, really rock.

By the way, I'm a New Year's hero

Well, not really. But that's certainly the way Action News 5 re-wrote my story to sound. I was only unloading laundry.

In any case, enjoy the spin and watch my "inadvertent foiling of an attempted robbery" on video. http://www.wmcstations.com/Global/story.asp?S=9602718

Merry (Belated) Christmas!!!

We've been low on cash and haven't had internet over the past week so the Miles Xmas pic is a little late but here it is. Now updated on 1-1-09 with the official Miles & Santa pic!
Hope everyone had a great holiday season.

Ok, this is just hilarious

"Westboro Baptist Church" is at it again! (I put the name in quotes because I think most of us can agree these people aren't really a church.)

Church seeks 'Santa Claus will take you to hell' sign to accompany Nativity display

A Quick Update on Short Stack's Progress

* He really, really enjoys turkey. He ate a good bit at Thanksgiving dinner and some thinly-sliced deli meats from Mama's sandwich at Lenny's Saturday night.
* He had his first taste of McDonald's chicken nuggets last Sunday (minus the crunchy coating) and loved them so much he would grab Nana's hand and pull the delicious morsels to his mouth where he would bite down on her finger unintentionally.
* He also enjoys crackers and Nilla wafers, both of which he makes a HUGE mess of each and every time.
* He is cruising like a pro and crawling fast like a spider.
* He is blabbering constantly and is just days away from his first real word.
* He's going through a "clingy" phase and has to be in Mama's lap or on my hip all the time. If I'm not around he cries to be in Matt's lap. We're hoping this will pass soon.
* When he's hears music he'll grin, clap his hands together and rock back and forth sometimes even to the beat!
* He's slowly figuring out the sippy cup but prefers the bottle over all else. Oh well, I'm in no hurry to ween him of his "baba" anyway. One of the few things that reminds me he's still a baby.
* He has been excellent with Xmas decorations. He's hardly touched the tree and barely even notices all the other shiny, sparklies around the house. Baby-proofing has been very easy for us since he just doesn't care to put everything in his mouth the way most babies do.

As parents we realize how truly, truly blessed we are with our short stack. We are thankful for him in everything we do in every moment of every day.

Bradshaw Tree 2008

Thus far in the holiday season we have been tree-less. The artificial tree we used last year had seen better days and we threw it out once the season was over. While pondering where to find the best bargain on a new one Matt surprised everyone by going out last night and bringing home a real, live Christmas tree! This is our very first live tree and I'm only hoping the needles don't fall out en masse, making a huge mess all over the living room floor. Regardless of the upkeep that is to come it is a thing of beauty, isn't it? What I love most about our tree each year is how much history and personality it displays. It is covered in ornaments that Matt's mom mailed us a few years back and also many knickknacks from my childhood. Almost every year of our lives is represented. And this year we have the joy of buying Miles' first stocking! The Bradshaw house is now filled with the Christmas spirit and we can't wait to share the pride we have in our festive, embellished home with family and friends. Matt and I have discussed having a potluck one weekend this month. Anyone interested?

Also, if you'd like to see video footage of Miles helping us trim the tree and his wonderment at all the decorations check out our channel on Youtube.

Congrats to Mott & Penny!!!

Just got the news this morning that our friends Mott and Penny have a bun in the oven. Man, there must be something in the water here in Memphis these days. Congrats, you two crazy kids! Having a baby totally rocks and we can't wait to meet the little sprout.

Giving Thanks

On this American holiday the Bradshaws will be hunkered down at home, minus the turkey. Instead, we will be sampling the glories of the Todd family dinner this coming Saturday so that all family members may attend.
In the meantime, I would personally like to give thanks to my favorite little dude for bringing so much laughter and wonderment into my life. 2008 has been a year of much loss and many hardships but our "short stack" has been a joyful distraction from all the harsh cruelties of the world. What was life ever like before he came along?

From our family to yours, have a safe and fulfilling Thanksgiving.

10 Months Today!!

Why The Chinese Are Morons

BEIJING (AP) - A newspaper published by China's ruling Communist Party is blasting the latest Guns N' Roses album as an attack on the Chinese nation.
Delayed since recording began in 1994, "Chinese Democracy" hit stores in the U.S. on Sunday, although it is unlikely to be sold legally in China, where censors maintain tight control over films, music and publications.
In an article Monday headlined "American band releases album venomously attacking China," the Global Times said unidentified Chinese Internet users had described the album as part of a plot by some in the West to "grasp and control the world using democracy as a pawn."
The album "turns its spear point on China," the article said.
China's Foreign Ministry did not respond to faxed questions about the article, although a spokesman speaking on routine condition of anonymity said: "We don't need to comment on that."
Spokesmen for the Culture Ministry and State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, government bodies that regulate album releases and performances, could not be reached for comment.
The Global Times article referred only to the title of the album and not to specific song lyrics. The record's title track makes a reference to the Falun Gong meditation movement that was banned by China as an "evil cult" and warns "if your Great Wall rocks blame yourself," in an apparent message to the country's authoritarian government.
Songs from the album could be heard on Internet sites such as YouTube and the band's MySpace page on Monday and it was not immediately possible to tell whether China's Internet monitors were seeking to block access to it.

Technology, meet Shel

Yesterday was a fun-filled day for yours truly. I've been in the market for a new phone/service provider since both have been royally sucking for me lately. My phone drops calls almost daily and I pay WAY too much for minutes I never even use. I dropped by T-Mobile on Union and, lo and behold, they were having a "grand opening party". Considering they opened a month ago I was a little baffled but hey - they had a clown who was doing face-painting! They also gave me two spins on a loud, obnoxious wheel of prizes where I won a $10 gift card to use at Walgreens and a bag with a cup and keychain, which my son thoroughly enjoyed chewing on.
Well, I pick out my phone which is a slider design, something I've always wanted to try. The guy ringing me up tells me they're having a drawing in a few minutes for a free Bluetooth headset so I drop my name in, just KNOWING I won't win. Well, when they called the name of the contest winner it took me a minute to realize that they had actually said the name Bradshaw. Yes, I won something! w00t!
You may now all turn totally green with envy over my string of good luck. ;)