Runaway Horses Can Sense if You Are Kind and Will Slow Down

Y'all, seriously, the heat is turning my brain to mush.  I haven't posted anything because I just cannot think of anything to say ... I can barely hold a conversation with anyone at this point. 

I officially went back to work this week.  I complain a lot about being self-employed because it is stressful, but it did allow for me to take more than 12 weeks off for maternity leave.  However, all good things must come to an end and so I went back to work "for real" this week.  I've had some test runs, letting the boo-boo go to my mom and dad's for the whole day (I would go in and work then ... while I have been on maternity leave, I've been going in periodically for whole days and half days throughout, so it's not a complete shock to the system), and survived just fine.  It's almost better now that I'm working all day long - I'm distracted, at least.  However, just because I'm distracted (and busy) doesn't mean that I don't keenly miss the little guy all day long.  Luckily, my mom is doing us a favor right now and keeping him, so I'm certainly not worrying about him all day since he's with Nana, and she sends me text updates so I know what he's up to.  We're going to do Mother's Day Out when the school year starts, and then being self-employed will come in handy again since I can come and go as I please and don't have to keep specific office hours, so we'll get to spend afternoons together.  So, it's sort of like I'm a part time SAHM, but not really.  I'm just thankful that my mom lives close by and is willing to help us out right now - daycare is expensive, yo!  She told me that Jones rolled over back to belly today, so I'm hoping I can get some video of that soon and let everybody see how advanced my boy is.

So, me going back to work is the only real "news" we've got around here.  We barely leave the house because of the heat, so I can't report any interesting outings.  We had a good weekend - friends came over Saturday night and we visited and played spades and had a delicious cookout.  Sunday we went to North Little Rock (Dog Town!) and went to Alan's hometown church with his parents and showed off Jones - Grandma Betty and Grandpa Richard were so proud and we got tons of compliments on our progeny.  And can you blame anybody for thinking this is the best looking baby ever:

Love the boots and hat!  This was taken before a visit to my grandparents' house in Van Buren County.  My grandparents owned and operated a cattle ranch for many years (now, obviously, they're retired) and are very "Western", so I thought they would get a kick out of this outfit ... plus, it's cute, I don't care who you are.

Tummy Time!  I try to get fancy with the camera sometimes and do black and white pics.  I'm practicing with it right now because I want to take some to use for Jones' birth announcement ... it's not too late for a birth announcement, right?

The Harry Potter movie blew the box office away this weekend.  I'm hoping we can go see it in the next week or so ... I like to go when the theatre is not totally packed, and it will probably still be pretty crowded this weekend.  And, on the topic of Harry Potter, more of my favorite passages, this time from Book 4, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire:

"Harry crouched behind the headstone and knew the end had come.  There was no hope ... no help to be had.  And as he heard Voldemort draw nearer still, he knew one thing only, and it was beyond fear or reason:  He was not going to die crouching here like a child playing hide-and-seek; he was not going to die kneeling at Voldemort's feet ... he was going to die upright like his father, and he was going to die trying to defend himself, even if no defense was possible ..."

"At that moment, Harry fully understood for the first time why people said Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort had ever feared.  The look upon Dumbledore's face as he stared down at the unconscious form of Mad-Eye Moody was more terrible than Harry could have ever imagined.  There was no benign smile upon Dumbledore's face, no twinkle in the eyes behind the spectacles.  There was cold fury in every line of the ancient face; a sense of power radiated from Dumbledore as though he were giving off burning heat."

"Mrs. Weasley set the potion down on the bedside cabinet, bent down, and put her arms around Harry.  He had no memory of ever being hugged like this, as though by a mother.  The full weight of everything he had seen that night seemed to fall in upon him as Mrs. Weasley held him to her.  His mother's face, his father's voice, the sight of Cedric, dead on the ground all started spinning in his head until he could hardly bear it, until he was screwing up his face against the howl of misery fighting to get out of him."

"'Remember Cedric.  Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort.  Remember Cedric Diggory.'"

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

You Can Never Really be Yourself and "Let Your Hair Down" if You're Sporting a Wig

Well, not a lot of publish-able stuff happening around the Ward household.  The heat is making me lethargic, both  mentally and physically.  When I first found out I was having a baby in May, I had all of these visions of taking him on walks with the balmy spring air spurring us on.   Apparently, that's not in the cards for babies born in the Spring or Summer of 2011 because it is too hot to walk down our driveway, much less go for a walk in our neighborhood.  So we're hanging out in the house a lot.

So, we're one week away from the last Harry Potter movie!  Get excited, right?!  I'm looking forward to it, and looking forward to seeing all of the Harry Potter fans lined up at the Picwood to buy tickets.  We probably won't go see it on opening night, but hopefully we'll see it within a couple of weeks of opening.  On that note, an excerpt from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that is a favorite of mine, as promised:

"'I knew your father very well, both at Hogwarts and later, Harry,' [Dumbledore] said gently.  'He would have saved Pettigrew too, I am sure of it.'

Harry looked up at him.  Dumbledore wouldn't laugh - he could tell Dumbledore ...
'I thought it was my dad who'd conjured my Patronus.  I mean, when I saw myself across the lake ... I thought I was seeing him.'
Harry shook his head.
'It was stupid, thinking it was him,' he muttered.  'I mean, I knew he was dead.'
'You think the dead we loved ever truly leave us?  You think that we don't recall t hem more clearly than ever in times of great trouble?  Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself most plainly when you have need of him.  How else could you produce that particular Patronus? [...] You know, Harry, in a way, you did see your father last night ... You found him inside yourself.'"

And now, as always, more pictures of our little wizard:

Look how much he's grown!  Thought I'd put these side by side so everyone can marvel at Jones' growth!  He's a little chunk now ... we went to weigh-in last Friday and he weighed 11 pounds and 12 ounces, which is more than triple his birth weight (in under 3 months)!  I decided we'll only go to weigh-in once a month now, since he's obviously not having any problems gaining weight, and it's kind of a lot of work to get up to St. Mary's for weigh-in every week.

The grey onesie with the tie and glasses is probably my most favorite outfit that I received for Jones.  You can't see it, but it's got a dollar bill on the side of it, to the right of the glasses.  I call it Jones' "banker onesie" ... anyway, it's super cute.  I'm going to put him in it a lot so we get lots of wear before he grows out of it.

In the spirit of Harry Potter (and because, honestly, I can't really think of anything interesting to talk about right now ... I'm telling you, the heat is getting to me), enjoy (and get excited!):