Budget Me This Batman

I need to create a budget. I absolutely hate, despise, loathe am not a fan of budgets. Mainly because I am so bad at sticking to them and because within a month there will be about four things I forgot to include in the budget and about six things I under-budgeted on. UGH!

Let's back up here a little bit, shall we? I've mentioned before that I can be a bit fanatic when it comes to paying our bills. That has not changed one single bit. Actually, it might have gotten a bit worse over the past year because Stonewall does not have a job lined up once his leave is over (he's on leave until the end of November). I'm not in panic mode yet, but for the past year I've been trying to delay the panic mode for as long as possible by making sure we are as far ahead on our bills as possible, so come December our savings will keep us going for a few months.

While Stonewall was deployed I did a pretty decent job of saving money and not dipping into the savings. Looking back I know I could have done better, but I also could have done a lot worse, so I'm not beating myself up too bad. Now that Stonewall is home and spending money as well...we need a budget.

God knows I love my husband, no matter what his faults and one of his worst faults is spending money. He works hard for his money and he likes to spend it on more than just bills. I can't say I blame him for his way of thinking, but I've realized over the years just giving him unlimited access to our checking account is a straight shot to disaster. Well, technically it's a straight shot into our savings with the overdraft protection.

In the past we've always used account A for paying bills, groceries and emergency funds such as a broken water heater. Any leftover money at the end of the month goes into savings. Account B was our spending money. This account is linked to our savings, so an extra $20 of spending wouldn't cost us $45 in bank fees for going over our limit. For the most part we've always put more into our savings then what we would take out. Our savings would only go up a $100 or so every month because of our extra spending, but it was still there just in case.

Now with the "No Paycheck" zone looming ahead I'm getting fidgety about our savings. I've managed to save a couple months worth of bills while Stonewall was gone, but I'm worried it will slowly dwindle away now that he is home. I'm not going to blame it all on him as I tend to want to go out to eat more when he's home and I buy Lil' Mootz new clothes every other day. Either way, we CAN NOT spend our savings! Even just $20 here and $15 there in overdraft could be a car payment come December.

I've decided that we really need to create and stick to a "spending" budget, as I've got our bills and savings budget pretty under control. When we were buying a house two years ago our mortgage broker (that's the right term, I think) told us about a budget solution he learned from another couple. Every week we are going to take our "spending money" account and split it up into envelopes. Each of us will get one envelope for personal expenditures. We can spend this money on whatever we want, shoes, Wii games, a night out with the boys. However, once we run out of money in our envelopes, that's it for the week. On the other hand, if there is any money left over at the end of the week, that can be stashed away for a rainy day. We'll have a second envelope for eating out. We LOVE to eat out and we could easily go through an entire weeks pay at our favorite restaurants. A third envelope will be for gas. Finally, we'll have a fourth envelope for Lil' Mootz and Etc. This envelope is for things we should be buying together, such as clothes and toys for the boy and paint for when we redo the kitchen cabinets or mulch in the spring.

Soooo...that's the plan. I'll let you know in a few months how it's working for us. Keep your fingers crossed for us that we a)stick to the budget and b)Stonewall gets a job.

Family Photos and Picnic

Hello all you pretty people out there! I hope everyone had a great weekend and got lots of rest. Our weekend was busy, but very enjoyable.

On Saturday we traveled all the way to the Hatsboro area for family pictures! I was super pumped about this. After Stonewall left for the deployment in January I was so bummed when I realized that I only had one picture of Stonewall, Lil' Mootz and myself together. When Amy at Heart and Soul Portraits (I've bragged about her here, here, and here) told me she was starting a program for military families I was very excited to have her take our first family photos.

Like usual Amy did an amazing job. She is so great at getting Lil' Mootz to focus on her and getting him to smile at just the right times. Even when he was so over the whole "getting his picture taken" thing she was still able to coax some smiles and giggles out of him. We took several family photos and we got some of just Lil' Mootz and me and Lil' Mootz and Stonewall.

**Can I just say that when Stonewall and Lil' Mootz were posing together I was grinning like a friggin' idiot. It was so beyond words to see them together, father and son, getting their pictures taken TOGETHER!**

Amy also took tons of pictures of Lil' Mootz by himself. Some in just his diaper, some with his little tushy in the air, some in a tin bathtub and finally some in his little monkey costume Auntie Carsley bought him. Let me tell you, I just about died from cuteness overload. Lil' Mootz is such a handsome little boy and he sure does love to ham it up for the camera.

Yesterday we had a "Welcome Home!" picnic for Stonewall. Our family and friends joined us at our house for hamburgers, hot dogs, and lots of other goodies. This picnic was actually more than just a welcome home party for Stonewall, it was also the first time most of our guests had seen our house. Up until the recent house revamping I haven't been too keen on giving tours. However, after all the hard work to get things spruced up for Stonewall's return I was very eager to show things off.

Stonewall also got to finally meet my (half) brother, S., and his family at the picnic. I've been eager for Stonewall to meet them because, aside from being awesome peeps, they are family. Plus, Stonewall and S. have many similar interests like having a huge obsession interest in the Civil War (and by interest I mean going to the extent of re-enacting...and it may seem like, "Oh, that's kind of cool" but you have your husband yell at you for trying to throw away a beat up tin plate and a wooden lamp that would make better firewood because, and I quote, "Are you crazy, woman!? Do you know how much these things cost?!"...yeah)(well, S. may not be at this point yet, but he's interested in trying re-enactment, so I give it 2 or 3 re-enactment before he wife, M., knows exactly what I'm talking about), golfing, wanting to fly planes, and camping. I think the first meeting went very well.

Now it's back to the grind.  I hope everyone has a great Monday!

Back To Nornal...

And by normal I mean completely new and different because, "Hey! We have a son now!"

These past few days have been amazing and surprisingly pretty stress free. Stonewall and I are both trying to start a new routine with each other and with Lil' Mootz and so far things are going smoothly. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that they continue on this path.

As predicted, Lil' Mootz is quickly adjusting to Stonewall and accepting him as a second caregiver. He smiles at Stonewall when Stonewall enters the room, he laughs at Stonewall's funny faces and voices, and he reaches for Stonewall to pick him up. Lil' Mootz has given me quite a few surprises such as falling asleep in Stonewall's arms during a particularly fussy moment. This is practially unheard of as Lil' Mootz usually refuses to settle down for anyone, but me. I was so happy though when it happened and Stonewall was, of course, on Cloud Nine.

Stonewall and I have had one or two little moments when we bumped heads. However, quite unlike the past, we were both quick to laugh at ourselves and just move on. I think it has taken a yearlong deployment for us both to learn how to pick our battles. I know we're both still on eggshells a bit, trying to keep the other person comfortable and trying to prolong this second honeymoon stage for as long as possible. However, I'm definitely feeling as though things have changed. Stonewall and I have both changed and for the better.

It is so good to have Stonewall home. Sleeping in our bed, showering in our bathroom, eating at our table, cuddling with me on our couch in front of our TV. It is completely amazing to be able to laugh at his jokes again while I'm sitting beside him or brush against him when we pass in the hall. I've missed all these things so much and I'm just so ecstatic that Stonewall is finally home.

On a seperate note, Stonewall went to a career fair yesterday. Keep your fingers crossed that he lands a job before his leave ends in November.

A convo Stonewall and I had while getting his suit ready for the career fair:
Him: Babe, don't let that suit fool you. It may be a (he said a well-known designer, but I forget who), but I got it at a consignment shop.
Me: Babe, don't let that suit fool you. It's a Merona. I got it at Target.

The End.

A little less than a year ago I downloaded a deployment countdown onto my desktop, so I could keep track of this year's progress. I set the return home date for one year exactly which would mean according to my countdown Stonewall will be home in 40 minutes.

Unfortunately, that is not accurate.

He will be home in 40 minutes and 11 hours.

In less than 12 hours this year will be over. This sometimes horrible, sometimes wonderful, always uncertain year will come to an end and my husband will finally walk through our front door.

I know I kind of left everyone who was reading Twitter on Tuesday hanging. Stonewall made it back to US soil on Tuesday (looks like Murphy was spot on) and we were able to spend a wonderful hour with him in Ft. Dix. That hour definitely made my Top Ten Favorite Hours Ever.

Part of the fun was that Stonewall did not know we were going to be there to greet him on Tuesday. The look on his face when he saw us for the first time and he realized his family was there to greet him home was priceless. He just lit up and gave us the biggest smile and started waving at Lil' Mootz. We saw him say to the soldier beside him, "There's my boy!" It was really an amazing moment.

When they finally broke away from formation, I don't think we could get to each other fast enough. For the first time in nine months my husband was standing in front of me and he was beautiful and so handsome. Hugging him, he felt like my husband, kissing him, he tasted like my husband and leaning against him, he smelled like my husband. He was everything I tried so hard to remember this past year.

Lil' Mootz wasn't quite as enthusiastic as I was. About 15 minutes before the soldiers showed up Lil' Mootz got tired and grumpy. He took a very short nap before I woke him up because we could see the soldiers coming across the parking lot. He was very unsure about Stonewall at first. And Stonewall was unsure about Lil' Mootz. The last time he had seen his son Lil' Mootz was 9 pounds and a newborn. You could tell Stonewall was still in that newborn mode and Lil' Mootz, I think, could sense Stonewall's hesitation.

Towards the end of the hour though Stonewall was making Lil' Mootz laugh. Lil' Mootz was also mimicking Stonewall and blowing raspberries. I have no doubt that within two weeks the two of them will be like peas and carrots.

It wasn't nearly as hard to say good-bye once the hour was up since we knew we would be seeing each other again within days. Since Tuesday I've been trying to get things in order at work and to get our house clean because I knew any day Stonewall would be calling to say he was coming home. This evening Stonewall called and said he would be home tomorrow.

Another deployment successfully completed and finally over. Like I said in my post the other day this past year has been such a roller coaster. It was absolutely miserable at times and it was also full of completely wonderful moments.

I'm a firm believer in everything happens for a reason. Even though a deployment 5 days after Lil' Mootz was born, well, sucked, I know that there was a reason for it and somewhere along the way we'll realize that reason. We both already know we learned a lot about ourselves this past year and we'll figure out sooner or later why we were meant to know the things we know now.

I'm heading off to bed now for my last night sleeping alone. Holy macaroni! It is such a crazy/awesome feeling knowing that!

I Believe You Have My Stapler

My mom, who also happens to be my boss, took my stapler last week because her's broke. So now I just feel a little but like this:





PS Is anyone else annoyed because there is no spell check in the new post editor?

Help! Question About Adobe

Question for you all...

What are the differences between Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator?

Here's the deal - I want to start my own invitation/stationary design business. I use Microsoft Publisher and I'm pretty happy with it. I understand it and I know how to manipulate it to get what I want. However, the more I learn about this type of business I'm finding out that Adobe seems to be the "choice" software. And I know nothing about Adobe...except that I need Adobe reader for PDF files.

I'm trying to learn more about Adobe, but there are just so many versions out there that I don't know which is the one I want. All three of those programs sound like they could be what I need, but I'm not sure which is the BEST choice. Plus, Adobe software is expensive, so I'm not about to make a purchase without knowing with 100% certainty I'm buying the right thing.

So for invitation design (print, not internet) which Adobe software is the best option?

The Truth About This Past Year

I wish I had kept a journal this past year while Stonewall was gone. I don't really count this blog as a journal because I'm not 100% open on it. I'm honest, but I don't write everything that I'm feeling all the time. I thought about keeping a seperate journal or a private blog, but that was just one more thing I didn't really have time for.

Actually, that's just a good excuse for saying I was too lazy.

Looking back over this past year, specifically the last nine months, I feel like I used that excuse a lot. "I'm too busy" or "I'm too tired" or "You try taking care of a baby, two dogs, and a house."

Anyway, I kind of wish I had recorded how I was honestly feeling this past year. I know I was all over the place.

This past year was like nothing I've ever had to do in my life. There were times I hated being in this life situation. I hated being a wife who was a mom who's husband was deployed. I would get so mad at Stonewall for not being here.

Just to be absolutely clear, I've never hated Lil' Mootz and I've never regretted our decision to get pregnant even though we knew a deployment was coming up. I love my Lil' Mootz more than my whole life and on those days when I was feeling miserable he was the bright spot in my day.

That didn't change the fact though that there was more days than I can count that I was so frustrated with being the only parent in the house. I hated that on the nights I was most tired, I was being woken up by a crying baby at 6:00 in the morning. I hated that on Sundays when I wanted to relax I couldn't sit for more than 15 minutes before I had to get up to make a bottle or change a diaper or clean up spit up or let the dogs out.

There were so many ups and downs this year. Lil' Mootz has made me laugh more than anyone I know and he's made me feel so proud and happy. On the other hand, with Stonewall being gone I've cried more and I've never felt so alone. I've never been more thankful for our familes and then there were times when I couldn't stand a single family member. Some days I felt like the strongest woman alive and other days I thought I would not even make it the day let alone this whole year.

Now with the year almost over and Stonewall mere days from sitting beside me on the couch again, I'm wondering what I accomplished this year. Who am I now? Because I know I'm not the same person Stonewall said good-bye to last September. Am I better? Worse?

I didn't have a list of goals to accomplish like so many other wives have posted on their blog. So what did I do this past year? Stonewall is coming home to a healthy happy little boy, two dogs, and a house that's better looking then when he left. I've paid off some credit cards and it's possible I may have gotten a smidge more organized. Those are all very good accomplishments. I'll pat myself on the back for those.

However, I didn't put as much money in savings as I had wanted to. I didn't lose as much weight as I wanted to and now I'm worrying myself crazy that Stonewall won't like how I look now. I'm 27 and I'm still going through an identity crisis when it comes to my career and sometime within the past nine months, it's only gotten worse. I'm trying my hardest to support Stonewall's career choice when he gets home, but I don't know what the best decision for him and for us is.

And the icing on the cake, I am so incredibly worried about how we're going to fit back into normal life when our "normal" life doesn't include a baby. How will Stonewall adjust and how will Lil' Mootz and I re-adjust? From things I've heard and read it's like this will be the "make it or break it" part of the deployment. Can we fit together again?

Stonewall and I have a rocky past. Especially when it comes to adjusting to life after a deployment. This time though, it's a whole new ball game. It's not just Stonewall and me anymore. Lil' Mootz, the most important part of us, is here this time. We can not behave like we did last time. We can not screw up like we did last time. We can't.

So that's how I'm feeling tonight. It's kind of all over the place, I know. Today was a frustrating day. Maybe that explains a lot, maybe it doesn't.

Stonewall called me on Saturday and told me when I can expect to see him. I'm just so happy this year it over. When he told me I started crying out of sheer happiness. I am so ready to have him home. Even with all my wonderings and worryings, I know having him home is always better than having him gone.

Dancing In The Streets!

Remember Lil' Mootz's Auntie Carsley? The crazy red-head from Cayman who gave away Rum Cake to one lucky reader?

Well, she got it into her head that she wanted to make a music video. So she got a group of friends together and they sang and danced their way through George Town in the Cayman Islands to Jason Mraz's "The Dynamo of Volition".

The dude on the cell phone in the orange shirt would be Auntie Carsley's husband, Uncle Brentus. And you can check out the fabulous red-head herself about 2 minutes and 45 seconds into the video.

Things That Make You Go Hmmm: We Don't Plagiarize So You Can!

I subscribe to a website that sends out "Work At Home" jobs. (I'm mainly looking for little writing jobs I can do in the evening and whatnot.) Today one of the ads was for a company that "produces quality academic projects to be utilized as a guide for students in writing their own work."

In other words: You tell us the criteria for your term paper and we'll write it for you.

No, I'm serious. That's really what they mean. See? "You tell us the term paper topic and the exact criteria and our writers produce a completely original custom term paper that is 100% plagiarism free." Straight from the horse's website.

And this isn't just ANY freelance writing company. Oh no. "With 10 years experience and an excellent reputation, we need top level, motivated writers who want to work and earn an income that is limited only by the writer's speed and and proficiency in researching and writing." (Do I even need to comment about the irony of the double "and" in this sentence?)

And just to keep things on the up and up, all hired help should know this, "Please keep in mind that plagiarism and the theft of intellectual property is not tolerated and all work is scanned with anti-plagiarism software.

So let me get this straight.

I have to produce 100% original work, at least 10 pages a week, with all sources while following academic writing standards and citation that will pass inspection by anti-plagiarism software.

Then, you'll turn around and sell it to some college student who doesn't feel like earning his own grade, so he'll write HIS name on the title page and turn in MY work as his own hard work?

I am SO relieved that I have found a company that stands on strong principles and has a solid moral ground and frowns upon plagiarism.

All those parents of college students can rest easy tonight knowing that while their child may be cheating, they've paid only the finest company to make sure they won't get caught.

Murphy's Law Says...

Stonewall will be stateside on the 15th.

How does Murphy know this?

I have three appointments on the 15th. Pip has a vet appointment in the afternoon. At work I have two meetings, one in the AM and one in the PM, I need to be at.

Danielle, Stonewall's sister, is in court three times on Tuesday. She wouldn't be able to find three different people to cover for her.

Deb, Stonewall's mom, is in training at work the same day. She can't miss it.

Murphy's Law says Stonewall will be calling to let us know we can meet him at Ft. Dix on Tuesday.

I did get to talk to Stonewall today. It's pretty much a waiting game at this point. He's waiting to catch a flight back to the states. So he could be back in the good ol' US of A in two days or nine days.

Who knows.

I swear, this past month has been slower than this entire year!

It's Like Having A New House!

So what's a girl to do on a long weekend when her husband is due home practically any day now? Clean the house?

Sure.

Go shopping for a few things to spruce the house up?

Sounds pretty good.

Completely revamp the entire first floor of the house?

You betcha!

As of late the idea of moving rooms around on the first floor of our house has been tossed around. Or rather, several family members have been (strongly) suggesting that I should move the rooms around to make everything more user friendly.

Well, after some hemming and hawing and bribery, I decided to take the advice. Since Stonewall is expected home very very very soon I spent this extended holiday weekend getting the house ready for him.

Do wanna see the photos? Do ya? Do ya? Do ya?

You know you do. And you know I want to show everything off. (I meant to take "Before" pics, but I forgot, so here are the "Afters".)

This is now the dining room. It used to be the living room. As you will see in the new living room photos, our furniture is kinda big, so it seriously overwhelmed this space. The curtains will be moved to the new living room. I never had curtains in the dining room, so I'll be getting those eventually. (Actually, I have a curtain problem, but that's a whole other post.) I also need to move the dining room light into this room.

The best part though, sometime within the very near future (as I stated, I can be bought) we are putting in a breakfast bar! We will be cutting a hole in the wall where the giant framed picture is in photo 2, adding a counter top and some bar stools. Our kitchen is on the other side of the wall, so it will create a nice open feeling between the dining room and kitchen. Yay!

This is the new living room. It used to be, well, it wasn't really anything. When we first moved in we called this the Library because we had grand hopes of building bookshelves on all available wall space. This past Christmas we called it the Tree room because this is where we put our Christmas tree. This room is also called the Fireplace room because as you can see there is a fireplace in this room. Once Lil' Mootz was born I had a fabulous idea of turning this room into a reading/playroom. However, through it all, though it never was officially titled this, this room has been the ever impressive Storage room.

I'm not sure why it took us two years to figure out that this should be the living room, but we're not always the brightest crayons in the box.

As you can see, huge furniture, but it really fits this room nicely. Sometime this week we'll also be moving the TV in here and hanging it above the fireplace. However, that includes some fancy electrical work, so I have to wait for the pros because I don't want to die by electrocution or burn my house down.

Once upon a time we were also going to paint this room (notice the blue outline around thw windows and fireplace). That never happened though. I've super excited though because I have been promised that it will be painted ASAP! Now I just have to figure out what color I want to go with.

And finally, my favorite new room!

Lil' Mootz's playroom! This was previously the dining room. You can kinda see in the third living room picture how the two rooms are attached, so Stonewall and I can be lounging in front of the TV and Lil' Mootz can be playing contently with his toys and we can easily keep an eye on him. I am just so excited for him to finally have a space where he can spread his toys out and crawl, crawl, crawl to his little heart's content.

I'm also super LOVING the floor. I bought four of those rubber ABC block mats that they sell at Toys R Us and I just stuck them all together to create a mat that would fit the entire room. It's cushy enough that if he falls he won't whack his head (too hard) and it's so much easier to clean than carpet.

Quite the improvement, huh?!

I guess you can't really tell since you didn't know what it looked like before, but trust me. HUGE improvement.  Stonewall is going to love it!

The Day of the Penn State Nittany Lions

Today is THAT day.

The day that thousands have been planning since they bought their season tickets nine months ago. The day when State College becomes, once again, the third largest city in Pennsylvania.The day the 82 year old head coach, affectionately known as JoePa, will follow his team of 43 years wearing his customary tie, khakis, and sunglasses.

Today is the day that the Penn State Nittany Lion football team takes the field for the first time of the 2009 football season.

It is a glorious day in Happy Valley.

Today thousands will park their cars in the fields surrounding the stadium, grill their burgers and hotdogs, toss their frisbees and drink their beers at the greatest tailgate in the country. Today hundreds will line up outside the "Waffle Shop" for the traditional game day breakfast. Today fans of all ages will crowd the downtown sidewalks and stores as they shop for the perfect PSU football game attire. Today religious fans will start asking, "If God isn't a Penn State fan, then why is the sky blue and white?"

Today ia the new season of the best four quarters of a PSU fan's life. Today crazy university students will paint their bodies in support of their fellow student football players. Today the best dressed college band will march across the field playing the Pennsylvania State University Alma Mater. Today the Nittany Lion will begin a season full of one-armed push-ups.

Today the Penn State football team begins another winning season.

And you have a choice to make.

You can sit back, cheer one of those losing teams and hang your head in shame.

Or...

You can put on a blue and white jersey with no name across the back, paint a paw print on your cheek, make as much noise as possible with each touchdown and when those cheerleaders scream, "WE ARE!" you answer with all your bleeding blue heart "PENN STATE!"

Finding the "Welcome Home, Stonewall" Dress

I'm so excited because my Grandma is taking me shopping on Wednesday to look for a "Welcome Home, Stonewall" dress! I checked out the store websites for all the stores near us and I found quite a few dresses that might be the perfect "How hot is your wife?!" dress.

My favorite two are the light purple flavored and pink flavored (yes, I said flavored) dresses. 

And then, of course, we have the second part of the, "Welcome Home, Stonewall!" outfit.

You thought I was going to say shoes, didn't you?

What?! It's been a whole year, people! I want to look damn good for the entire welcome home affair.

Tongue Tied

My Lil' Mootz was born tongue tied. Or in medical terms he has a short frenulum. You know that piece of skin that attaches your tongue to the bottom of your mouth? That's your frenulum. Lil' Mootz's frenulum connects to his tongue at the very tip of his tongue, so he is incredibly tongue tied. Lil' Mootz is unable to stick his tongue out of his mouth. When he tries to the tip curls under. He also can't blow raspberries, but he desperately tries. It's so cute, but so sad.

You can see it pretty well in this photo:



Being tongue tied can cause problems throughout a person's life. The first time is during breastfeeding or feeding out of a bottle. (Luckily, Lil' Mootz didn't have a problem with either of these and he's a very big eater, already weighing in at 20ish pounds.) When a toddler is learning to speak being tongue tied can prevent a person from learning to speak clearly. Then in later life being tongue tied can cause a person to have cavities and other oral problems because they aren't able to use their tongue to clean and pick their teeth.

Just a little fun fact, being tongue tied is genetic. I have cousin who was tongue tied. There was another family member on my mom's side who was tongue tied, but I can't remember who.

I've been wanting to get this fixed since day one. True, a person who is tongue tied may never have a problem, BUT a person who is tongue tied may have problems. I didn't want to take the chance.

Unfortunately, every doctor Lil' Mootz has seen has been against getting this fixed. UGH! Finally, during his six month check-up Lil' Mootz saw a doctor that thought getting his frenulum snipped was an excellent idea and gave me a number for a pediatric surgeon.

Today, Lil' Mootz had his tongue tied situation snipped! And he was so incredibly awesome about it. I was so proud of him!

I really have no idea why physicians are against snipping the frenulum. Lil' Mootz's appointment was at 3:00. We waited for the surgeon until 3:45. The surgeon came into the room, looked under his tongue and explained the reasons for wanting to get the procedure done. At about 3:52 I put Lil' Mootz down on the table and they swaddled him up, so he couldn't fight. 3:53 the surgeon swabbed the numbing stuff under his tongue (he started crying at this point) and by 3:54 the surgeon had snip-snipped and the nurse told me I could pick Lil' Mootz up.

A two minute procedure and I had five pediatricians tell me it wasn't worth it until Lil' Mootz was older and we knew if he could talk properly. And if he couldn't? Months of speech therapy. Two minutes or months? Hmmm...tough call.

There was a little blood, but the second I picked up my Lil' Mootz he stopped crying (well, not the second because I went and bumped his head on the giant light, so that earned an extra tear or two) and shoved his sucker into his mouth. In the car I gave him a bottle, so fifteen minutes after getting his tongue fixed he was smiling again.

All evening he's been crawling around, playing, laughing and getting into things he shouldn't be. You wouldn't even know he went through a mini surgery this afternoon. I can see him playing with his tongue and trying to get used to the difference. He's so funny because he keeps sticking his tongue out! (I tried to get a picture, but "stubborn" is a word he knows well.)