Bardsley(s) and Me

Ella's Glamour Shots

2011-02-05T20:32:00.000-08:00

Ella Catherine Bardsley

2011-01-16T19:15:00.000-08:00

Introducing

Ella Catherine Bardsley

Born 1/11/11

12:19 p.m.

7 lbs 14 oz

Eating my words

2010-08-31T06:34:00.000-07:00

A previous post in April 09 went something like this:

Andrew: "I want you to buy me a baby sister."
Todd: "We can't buy you a baby sister!"Andrew: "Well then I want you sell a baby sister."

Just to be clear there is no baby sister in the works either naturally or on the black market anywhere. We are still our little Bardsley unit of three. Perhaps another pet will be added to our family but I can't guarantee it will be a girl especially because out of the three dogs and four cats I have ever owned, not one has ever been a girl. I think I was destined to be surrounded by boys.

So now in August I am totally eating my words. Happily. :-)

The Winner Is...

2010-08-29T08:14:00.000-07:00

Team Pink!

Team Pink or Team Blue

2010-08-27T06:11:00.001-07:00

We have invited some of our family and friends

To be there when we find out

If our little baby is a future Girl or Boy Scout.

Who is in favor of Team Pink or Team Blue?

Our guests will wear the colors to vote for the gender of Bardsley Baby #2.

Wearing Pink or Blue proudly is a must.

The winners will be treated to a round of drinks on us!

This Saturday we will be joined by several of our friends and family for dinner and a very special cake dessert. The only people that know the gender of our little baby is the sonographer, the nice lady at the front desk of my doctor's office and our cake baker. Jerry with Cakes By Jerry in Cedar Park, TX will be dying the cake batter either pink or blue. After dinner on Saturday night, Andrew will cut into the cake and share the secret that our little baby has been holding onto for the last 20 weeks. Soo... what do you think it is?

Scorpion In My Pants

2010-07-27T06:06:00.000-07:00

I wish the title of this post was some kind of metaphor for something silly but the truth is, I really did find a scorpion in my pants. My little friend hung out in my pants for an hour and half before he made his presence known by tickling my bum while I was at work. I immediately grabbed it from the outside of my pants and streaked down the hallway with my pants coming down faster than I was running. It stung my thumb in the process but wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.
Now this isn't the first time I have found a critter in my pants but this time he hung out a lot longer than I would have expected. Todd is no stranger to scorpions either. Several weeks ago a dead scorpion slipped out of his pants onto the kitchen floor and since we have moved to Georgetown he has had one crawl under the arch of his bare foot and another tickle his bare chest while he laid on the floor. Although I have been stung twice and the pain was really mild both times, I worry about Andrew and the baby. Our monthly pest control spray isn't quite doing the trick. Any suggestions are welcome!

Pregnancy Moments

2010-07-07T12:39:00.000-07:00

I had completely forgotten how ridiculously stupid I get when I am pregnant although it is nice to at least have an excuse for the next 7 months for odd behavior and loss of everyday works like the word plum. Plum. P-L-U-M. I was staring right at the darn thing and I could not for the life of me remember the name of this little purple fruit that I see every Sunday at the grocery store. Amazing. So this brings me to "pregnancy moments" because it seems like I am always having a moment of some kind. At least now they have a name... for awhile anyway. So a few of my favorites just in the last week alone:

Moment #1
I have washed my face with shampoo the last two mornings in a row. Seriously. What is that about? One says Olay and the other says Dove. One is on the top rack and the other is waaaayyy at the bottom. How does this happen?

Moment #2
Agreeing to pay CVS $160.00 for a prescription for prenatal vitamins. Granted the moment I handed my card over I regretted this and got my money back. Apparently (and this might count as a moment too) you can buy over the counter prenatal vitamins and I had no idea. How did I not know this?? Did I somehow forget am I just that unobservant?

Moment #3
Gagging violently and very loudly immediately upon entering Andrew's summer daycare and then crying out even louder "Did someone vomit in here or what?". I was greeted by the director who kindly advised that they had just waxed the floors and asked "are you okay ma'am?" while Andrew looked on horiffied by his mother's embarrassing display. I then abandoned him and I do mean litterally abandoned him because he later told me that I left him all alone and he was scared (or did he say scarred?). So I fled to his empty classrom and introduced myself to the tiniest toilet I have ever seen just long enough to revisit my breakfast. Afterwards I had to walk down the hall of shame car passing teachers and parents who all had that "awww poor thing" look. A few had the "ewww what is up with her" look. At least I have an excuse and when I start showing I can finally prove it.

If it's a boy

2010-06-17T17:30:00.000-07:00

If it's a boy can we name him Wolfy? Or Luke Rubenstein?
If it's a girl can we name her Doodley?
I tell Andrew all of the time that no idea is a bad idea so I have obliged (somewhat) and agreed to add it to the list of possible names. For what you ask? For the new Bardsley baby joining our little family in January. That's right. Our quiet, schedule oriented, perfectly budgeted little life is about to get a major shock to the system but we could not be more excited or nervous (you pick) about the impending arrival of a new member to our family. Actually I just get tired thinking about it but honestly I get tired just thinking about doing anything these days. I haven't even clipped a coupon in weeks. I actually threw one away yesterday because I was too lazy to put it away. The Shock Of It!! I am almost certain that at this very moment the local CVS is putting out missing person fliers looking for their "coupon queen" who has gone MIA. I better check in with them soon. Even the pharmacy keeps calling me asking me to visit. Or maybe they just want me to pick up a prescription. Either way, I know they miss me.
But I am just way too exhausted to make the effort. Maybe next week. I keep telling Todd I know it looks like I am just laying here doing nothing but seriously I am totally swamped over here building a baby and creating life so could you hand me the remote?

Lego My Cupcake

2010-03-06T16:01:00.000-08:00

Andrew's 5th birthday...

The Great Pumpkin

2009-10-26T17:29:00.001-07:00

I cannot believe we are celebrating our 5th Halloween with Andrew. Gone are the days when we actually had a say in his choice of costume. Last year I had to trick him into wearing a pirate costume. He actually cried when he figured out he couldn't be Spiderman for every single Halloween.

So long Charlie Brown. Hello Transformers.

We still have the pumpkins. At least until begging and bribery have lost their persuasion.

That's when the blackmail kicks in...

Finnardsleyton Birthday/Reunion Cupcake Tower

2009-08-16T21:06:00.000-07:00

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Denise!!! You did an amazing job helping me get these bad boys out for Jan's, Steve's and Mary's Birthday. We had such a great time at the Reunion and can't wait for the next one. I will be posting more pictures soon of the highlights of our trip...

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T07:31:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

2009-04-11T20:44:00.000-07:00

Baby sister

2009-04-03T05:50:00.000-07:00

Andrew: "I want you to buy me a baby sister."
Todd: "We can't buy you a baby sister!"
Andrew: "Well then I want you sell a baby sister."

Just to be clear there is no baby sister in the works either naturally or on the black market anywhere. We are still our little Bardsley unit of three. Perhaps another pet will be added to our family but I can't guarantee it will be a girl especially because out of the three dogs and four cats I have ever owned, not one has ever been a girl. I think I was destined to be surrounded by boys.

Cover your ears

2009-03-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

Warning:
Contains language not suitable for young children or even some adults.

So a not so sweet and fuzzy conversation occurred between Andrew and myself yesterday afternoon. He was explaining that he was a "bad guy" on the playground today and that he had a "bad guy name":

Me: "What kind of bad guy name did you give yourself today kiddo?"
Andrew: "F%@&er!" (rhymes with Stuck Her)
Me: (Pausing for a looong time to determine the best reaction for this awful word) Andrew, we need to talk about this word. Do you think it good word to use?
Andrew: "No"
Me: "Why did you choose this word? Did you hear mommy and daddy use this word?"
Andrew: "Yes. I thought you were teaching me to use the word because you said it."
Umm... Not good Jennifer, not good at all.
Okay so clearly the conversation went on for awhile after this but ultimately we decided that a really good bad guy name would be "Stinker" and that Mommy & Andrew made terrible choices that will warrant soap in the mouth in the future. I am fully expecting a call from the school at any time now.

Lucky

2009-03-24T07:07:00.000-07:00

Andrew was in a very good mood yesterday and sometimes those are hard to come by. On the way home from school he was given a lollipop from our bank. He studied it, licked and smiled and began a conversation with me:
Andrew: "Mom, are you very lucky a lot?"
Me: "Andrew...I am so very lucky everyday because I have you."
Andrew: "So then that makes me very very lucky because I have you Mommy!"
Later he was kind enough to include Daddy and Mommy and to top it all off, before he fell asleep last night, he stared at me lovingly and smiled and then kissed each cheek, each eyelid, my chin and then my nose.
Back to reality this morning when he threw a bag of graham crackers on the truck floor and yelled "You clean it up!" Obviously that didn't go over well with me but will all of his buttering up yesterday it could have gone worse for him today. How is it that he is already old enough to learn this art form that I perfected in my teenage years?

Space Cowboys

2009-03-08T15:53:00.000-07:00

I am too lazy to write captions or blog about these pictures. I just thought they were really cute. Andrew said he was Super Awesome Cool when he got all dressed up. We agree.

Bacon Mints

2009-03-05T11:35:00.000-08:00

I finally got a care package out to Brad this week and I thought it would be fun to share the contents of his package. We got him the essentials really. Like a ton of Beef Jerky from a little "choppin block" about 30 miles north of us that has the best jerky ever, cookies, deoderant and Bacon Mints. You heard (read) right. Bacon Mints.

A few other treasures include:

Bacon & Cheese flavored crickets in case the chow hall's food is just really bad one day.

Gummy Army guys so he can take a bite out of the competition. Okay that was stupid.

Pop Rocks because I always wanted to know what happens when you eat pop rocks and drink soda. I am just too scared to try it myself. Brad seems adventurous.

Four leaf clover stone for good luck.

Fortune fish for fun or maybe to give him heads up about the bad guys.

A stretchy ball hat in hopes that we will get some goofy pictures out of that deal.

Glasses for him and his friends that make stars appear on lights or fire.

A plush donkey because his heart is lonely since his "donkey friend" seems to have left him.

Finally a compass so he will find his way home. Quickly.

What's up now Martha Stewart?

2009-02-23T18:16:00.000-08:00

Four dozen cupcakes for the kiddo's 4th birthday party.

It took me about 4 hours to get the marzipan just right and another 4 hours to bake, ice and decorate.

It took the kids exactly 1 1/2 minutes to inhale them and ask for more.

Thanks to Once Upon a Cupcake in Orange County, CA for the ideas.

I probably would have bought them directly but I don't think they would have made it safely to Texas.

Pay it Forward (I love that movie)

2009-02-13T12:05:00.000-08:00

Pay it Forward... kind of
Originally posted by Donna...
The first 5 people to respond to this post will receive something made by me to you. My choice. Made especially for you. Of course there are some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It will be done sometime this year.
4. You have no clue what it will be... it may be a story. It may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may draw or paint something. I may bake something and mail it to you. who knows? not you, that's for sure.
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
The catch is that you must re post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on their blog.The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did will win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!! Oh and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!!

For Brad

2009-02-13T08:38:00.001-08:00

Just ask him about it his valentine in Iraq. He might deny it but I have all the gossip. :-)

Why you should be nice to your wife who blogs...

2009-01-21T09:38:00.000-08:00

No caption necessary

2009-01-20T22:00:00.000-08:00

Conversations with Andrew

2009-01-20T06:36:00.000-08:00

Jennifer: What are you staring at Andrew?

Andrew: I am staring at you Mommy.

Jennifer: Why?

Andrew: Because you are beautiful!

Jennifer: (Holding back tears of joy) Oh that is very sweet. Thank you.

Andrew: I am just teasing! I am looking to see if you farted.
For the record. I did not. I am guessing Todd was dusting the room before he left for work.

Andrew: What did Martin Luther King do?

Jennifer: Well... He had a dream.

Andrew: What did he dream about?

Jennifer: He dreamed that his children would not be judged by the color of their skin. He dreamed that America and all of the people that live here could play together, work together and live together and forget about what they look like.

Andrew: Was he nice? Did he dream that he was a hero?

Jennifer: He was very nice. He worked very hard to achieve peace for all of us so I guess that makes him a hero.

Andrew: Like Spiderman?

Jennifer: Um yes, kind of like Spiderman. Only he used his words not his hands to fight crime.

Andrew: What do we do on Martin Luther King Day?

Jennifer: Well we remember him and what he stands for. We can also do things to help our community or neighborhood.

Andrew: How long does he have to stand?

Jennifer: He stands for Peace so probably a long time.

Andrew: Obama is our president.

Jennifer: Yes he is.

Andrew: Will he come to my birthday party?

Jennifer: He is probably very busy cleaning up a big mess, but we can send him an invitation.

Andrew: Mommy, I like Obama. He stands for Peace.

Yes he does darling. Yes he does.

Merry Christmas from the family

2008-12-26T19:31:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year was awesome and we wanted to share a few highlights from the past week with you. Hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas.

Introducing my very best friend Emily. She is an extended member our family and could not be more awesome.

North Pole Train ride on the Hill Country Flyer complete with hot chocolate & cookies, story telling, carolers, and a visit from Mr and Mrs Claus. I shouldn't be surprised by this but Andrew was overwhelming more enthusiastic about the led flash light I had in my purse that he used to blind the passengers in the train and homeowners that reside alongside the railroad track.

I was every bit as excited as this kiddo to see the big man until I saw what he was handing out...

Um yeah. That is a train whistle. Kind of cute at first. A little annoying after a few minutes but darn right excruciating after Santa finished handing them out to the other 20 children in our train car.

Santa Claus threw up in our living room.

Thats right folks. The living room is overflowing with gifts and this kid is absolutely ecstatic... over a box of juice.

The gift that keeps on giving.

Thanks mom & Toni.

Andrew won't forget this gift anytime soon and neither will we.
I am guessing the neighbors won't either.

Hallelujah everybody say cheese... Merry Christmas... from the family!

My dad is also lost in the sea of wrapping paper in this picture but I had to crop him out because his facial expression kind of made him look like he was in pain. Sorry Bob!

Texas Renaissance Festival

2008-12-17T13:39:00.000-08:00

He said it. Not me.

Okay... See now that is something I did say.

This guy's voice literally sounded like a squeaking rubber ducky.

Todd proving to us all that he is a manly man of great strength by dinging a bell next to a guy in a skirt and tights. Please note that he did actually ding the bell, impressing us all.

Carpooling to work

2008-12-17T11:12:00.000-08:00

Yeah right. Just another fabulous day in the life of Jen and the Bardsley boys. This was a good day. Todd rode shotgun while Andrew was yelling (once again) "Go super sonic fast!". And once again the pilot complied with his request. Poor Todd nearly introduced us to his lunch as we circled Lake Georgetown but he held it together. Our pilot was nice enough to fly over our house and circle it a few times so that we could get a good look at our neighbor's back yards. We learned a lot that day about our neighbors. It was awesome. Good day for the Bardsley family.

If the shoes fits...

2008-12-17T08:33:00.000-08:00

Wear it. Although I bet a size 10 shoe is a little big for this guy. I am just saying!

Oh and I think somebody has been practicing dodging hurling objects.

Multi Tasking

2008-12-17T08:00:00.000-08:00

Andrew looks at this picture and thinks it is hilarious now.

Give it about 15 years and his girlfriend will think it is even funnier.

This was not photo shopped

2008-12-17T07:55:00.000-08:00

Not all bodies of water in Texas are brown. We have proof! This beautiful man made lake is about 1/2 a mile from our back yard. We don't spend nearly enough time there but this summer Andrew loved being dragged around behind the boat in the tube. He wanted to go "super sonic fast" and we complied. Never mind that super sonic fast is actually just slow enough that even a fishing boat from 1952 passed us up at warp speed. Which by the way five minutes later we had to tow it to shore because it broke down. Right now this lake looks more like a pond but it should be back to it's full glory by spring.