I woke up this morning with big plans. I wasn’t quite sure what direction our day was going to take us, but we were going to work towards accomplishing one of the many design goals that are swimming in my head.

When I stopped all of my plotting for a few minutes to snuggle my little DS, I realized he was feeling a bit warm. Fever? 100.0. Not too high, but nothing I’m willing to ignore. I was trying to figure out if I should take him to see his pediatrician (who is probably one of my top 5 favorite people in the world) when he told me that his ears hurt. The decision was made for me and we headed over to the doctor’s office.

Turns out that there is nothing wrong with him other than he may be heading into a cold. We ran to the drug store for some Children’s Sudafed (per doctors orders) and went home to snuggle on the couch. It was then that I remembered two of my favorite blog posts from this week:

Kimba at A Soft Place to Land had a great post on taking the time to forget everything else you need to do in life and just enjoy rocking your child. One day, it will be the last time you will ever rock him, but you won’t know it at the time. I actually read this on Wednesday evening when DS was already asleep, and I went and got him out of bed to rock him. We’ve been rocking at least twice a day since then. He absolutely loves to be rocked, and I absolutely love rocking him. Thanks for the reminder, Kimba!

The other post I loved this week was by Melissa over at The Inspired Room. She pointed out the beauty of taking your time in decorating your home. It doesn’t all have to be done immediately, and it’s actually fun to really think about what you want to do before you actually do it. This point was really good one for me to read, as my obsessiveness and compulsiveness don’t make it easy for me to slow down. Our impromptu doctor’s visit forced me to take a break today, and it was actually kind of nice to not think about my home today. Thanks, Melissa!

Sometimes it’s good to throw your plans out the window, relax, and snuggle with the ones you love.

An entire box of Nilla Wafers helps, too. Hey, at least they were reduced fat.

My darling sister and her super cute fiancé probably got little sleep last night. No, not because of that…get your mind out of the gutter. That’s my baby sister you are thinking about!

The reason I mean is that they were in Miami to see their Florida Gators crush the Oklahoma Sooners! I’m a University of Texas alum myself, so the entire National Championship game was hard to stomach in the first place (we were ROBBED!), but I was definitely rooting for the Gators to beat our Big 12 rivals to the North.

As my sis and future BIL are two of the biggest UF fans out there, we decided to incorporate a little Gator Pride into their upcoming wedding ceremony. What better way than for the world’s most adorable three-year-old ring bearer to carry a stuffed gator down the aisle instead of a boring ring bearer pillow? I think we’ll tie a ribbon around it’s neck to hold the rings. That being said, I’m on the search for the best looking gator out there. Here are some options I’ve found online:

This one is cute, but I’m worried that the hazardous waste in his swamp has turned him an odd color.

I’m concerned that this one is going to want to live in my bathtub after the wedding, and he just doesn’t fit into my decor.

Here’s a more realistic gator, but he apparently sings and dances a la Big Mouth Billy Bass, so I think we’ll pass.

Maybe with this one, I won’t have to worry about DS dropping it or throwing it at someone as he walks down the aisle.

Wait, isn’t that just a green BJ from Barney and Friends?

I think this one is really cute, but his eyes make him look a little hungover. Come to think of it, knowing my sister and her friends, this would actually be a good choice.

Clearly, I still haven’t found the perfect gator, so the Great Gator Search of 2009 continues. I’ll probably end up dragging DS all over town looking for “the one” until I get frustrated, give up, and just order the singing gator online. Perhaps I can figure out how to change the chip inside of him so that he sings the Gator Fight Song.

Have you seen any cute gators out there?